Having Fun

Goals

I am a goal person.  It drives my husband nuts, but it is just who I am.  The beginning of each year is a fun time for me to plan and think about all the fun things I want to do and accomplish.  Usually I bite off more than I can chew, but it's fun to try anyway.

Shawn and I talked with the kids last night about what we wanted our family to achieve this year.  Each person got to choose one word to describe what kind of a family we want to be.  Ethan chose CRAZY, Cole chose FUN, and Liv chose KIND.  So it looks like our goal for 2012 as a family is to be CRAZY FUN and KIND.  That sounds pretty good to me.  We also set a family motto for the year to SERVE, SHARE, & SIMPLIFY.  Serve others, share the gospel, and simplify life.

As for me personally, I have a few goals, other than the regular ones to exercise more and eat healthier.  A few months ago Ethan came home from school in a great mood, but upon his return realized his mother was not so happy because he didn’t get his chores done before leaving for school.  After a few stomping and screaming fits Ethan said, “Mom, I was really looking forward to coming home from school today, but now I don’t even want to be here.”  This hit me.  It hit me hard.  I realized that due to something as stupid as a few dirty clothes on the floor, I had successfully made my child not want to be at home.  My home.....the home I've created to provide for my family.  I try so hard to make sure people feel welcome and comfortable in my home, but my own child was telling me he didn't want to be there. I knew right then I needed to change something.

So, my first goal for the new year is to invest in us.  
Invest all my time and energy is creating special moments.

Moments that will build them up and strengthen them.

Moments that will show them they deserve the best.

Moments that they will cherish forever.

Moments that will begin to shape them into the kind of people they will be for the rest of their lives.

Moments that will let them know they are loved and cherished.

My second goal is to create the best ME.  The best me for my husband, friends, neighbors, and especially for my kids.  I want to be able to give them the best and you can't give what you don't have.  If I want to give my kids patience, I have to HAVE patience.  I need to create the best me so that I can give them all the things the need to grow into healthy, confident adults.

So, here is to a new year with new goals.

Welcome 2012

I saw lots of fun ideas all over the internet about celebrating new years with kids.  Making these clock bags with  hourly activities and treats for the kids was by far a favorite.  In fact, I even got called "the best mom ever", which doesn't happen very often.

I wanted to make some British Christmas Crackers for our Christmas Day dinner, but never ended up getting around to it.  So it looks like they might be our New Years tradition instead.  They are basically just tubes that are decorate with special goodies inside and make a pop when the kids pull on them. Also, something I will definitely do again.  The kids loved them.

We finished bringing in the new year with loud poppers, horns, sparklers, yelling, banging, dancing, balloons, and glow sticks.

Looking forward to a great 2012!

Moroccan Sister

My younger sister lives in Morocco.  She moved there last spring with her husband.  They have been blessed to live in  a lot of amazing places over the past few years.  I get pretty jealous sometimes, but she spoils me with wonderful international gifts.  I have tree ornaments from Jerusalem, beautiful scarfs from Jordan, and this year we all got awesome homemade leather Moroccan slippers, called "babouches".  They are actually really comfortable.  Shawn already decided if he could, he would wear them to work.

Love you Brookie!!

Done

Interviews

Christmas 2011

Christmas came and went.  We are slowly resurfacing.  We have pretty much done nothing for a week straight, other than play games and hang out in our pjs.  I haven't even taken any pictures other than these two (which is a first for me).

We started out our Christmas break by heading to Lake Geneva Thursday after the kids got out of school.  Lake Geneva is a cute resort-like town (kind of like Park City for those in Utah).  We stayed here...

It was a beautiful hotel and we had a nice suite overlooking the lake.  We went and saw Tin-Tin (which the boys loved), went to a beautiful breakfast cafe, and went out to an amazing pizza place.  The boys spent lots of time in the pool swimming, while Shawn and I relaxed in the hot tub.  We came back from our vacation just in time to bake Christmas cookies for Santa and do our family nativity and Tapas party.

Santa came on Christmas Eve.  He did really good this year and got all that the kids wanted.  Ethan got a PS3 and some games, Cole got a new transformer and huge army jet with army guys, and Liv got a new princess doll, and make-up kit.  Shawn got some new clothes, shoes, and weights, and I got a new coat, clothes, and shoes.  The kids have been so happy this week and it was really been fun to have everyone home for a while.  We've played lots of games, watched movies, and ate good food all week long.

I also celebrated another birthday over this week.  The kids were really sweet and Ethan took me out for an ice cream cone (with his very own money), Cole took me out for a donut (also, with his very own money), and Liv spent hours brushing my hair (which is my favorite).  Shawn got me some new shoes and took me out to lunch.  He also made me my very own birthday cake with candles and a beautiful happy birthday song.