Ice-Skating

 My husband has off this week and we really have not done too much... After a full weekend filled with Christmas parties and family gatherings, it was NICE to stay home and enjoy home.

I have been working on my new dining room table project.. only problem is the weather has decided to get cold...boo! maybe on Friday I will get a slight break in the weather...

Today we took a break from home and home projects... and took a trip to the Ice- rink

a "trip" might be what you would call Connor and Riley's 1st adventure on ice-skates... They got better as the day went on but STILL... It was TOUGH!

 I knew how to Ice-skate when I was a child... and I did it once in college...but I am no expert for sure!

We had fun... Slow and steady....

Riley enjoyed going up top and watching everyone..including the Zamboni...

Kitchen Curtains

My wonderful Husband brought me home some coffee bags.... I was really excited!.. It wasn't too much of a surprise because I knew that he was getting some I just didn't know when... for now I have some on display on my ladder in the living room...

 This is my kitchen door before any window treatments.... Please pardon the chipped paint at the bottom window... That is sill in need of molding from when Riley took it out with a bat this summer...

 after my window treatment... I am not sure if it will stay.. it looks a little frayed around the edges and I am not sure I like it....

My one and only kitchen window... I found it very hard to take a good picture... but this is before...

And this is after.. I like this one better than the door because the bag had a nice design on it... Still working out the kinds... I want as much light to come in to my DARK DARK kitchen I can't wait to paint the cabinets white...

 Total like maybe 45 min... so for a quick fix not too bad.... 

~  momma

ROCKcitle

My Husband and I went to a Rockcitle last night. It was a combination of a youth recital and a rock show. The theme was the 80's.

It was a great show! My niece takes guitar lessons and this is how her teacher teaches his students how much fun/ work being in a band and putting on shows really is. It was really cute! people came dressed in their 80's wear and so did the students. 

Some of the children were very young (7 or 8) they were all playing along with the "house band" which was the guitar teacher and his brother and a drummer and occasionally someone on the keys. This was so awesome because it gave each student a chance to showcase their talents abut it also made each student sound awesome to have people backing them up and singing along. I was so impressed with the guitar teacher he was so involved in everything and worked so hard! they rented out an old warehouse and had a stage, lights , fog machines and all. It was really really fun for the kiddo's (and the parents)

Acacia did good... she got up on stage and played and sang her song..."love song" by The Cure

So far I would have to say this rockcitle set the bar very high for recitals... I was very impressed with how much work went into it and I would love to have my boys involved in something like that in their future...

~momma

The Holidays in our House

The Holidays are always a stressful time of year.. especially with two little ones.. and coordinating Nap times... Two sides of the family... all with in driving distance and all with an open invitation for us to join... Its so hard to choose! This year we did Thanksgiving with my husbands family and we will have Christmas with my side (well at least Christmas day) ...  

to make it even better it is at our house!

This is a change ... little disappointing ... and VERY exciting at the same time. Christmas is usually at my Grandparents house..  this year it is just too much for them ... So my little family ( my mom and dad and brother and his wife) are coming to my house! 

This should make everything much much less stressful.. No running from house to house opening presents.. everyone will come to me... Now all I had to worry about was where was I going to fit everyone....

I have been decorating (like usual) and adding some new things too....

From This:

 To this:

From This:

 To This:

I added some Christmas balls to my plain windows....

Each of the boys has a small tree in their room that they were able to decorate with their special ornaments....

 I added a wreath to my hallway mirror...

Yesterday I got a "new" table (from a re-use-it store) It will be

large enough to fit everyone at The same table...

 I also got this yesterday from Craigslist!!! I got two La-Z-Boy recliners!! and they don't have flowers!!

 The best part is they recline!! or wait maybe the best part is they were only $70... haha can you tell I am excited?!?

Christmas came early for me this year... being able to decorate my house and get a new table and chairs so everyone will fit!! Very excited for Christmas day... can't wait to celebrate 

Jesus Birthday with my loved ones

Is it really Chirstmas... ALREADY?

Well It is my favorite time of year once again...

I have been listening to TSO ...since like BEFORE thanksgiving... and I am slowly decorating the house...

I got some tree's last year (fake ones) for the boys rooms so they can proudly display their Christmas ornaments... I was given a slightly early gift:  a few days alone with my husband to GET READY!

 Dining Room:

Back porch.. and Home made Christmas ball Wreath...I got some REALLY old Christmas decorations from Freecycle last year...

Apparently when they get wet the color washes off.. The day after I put it up.. YUP rain...

 Living room:

Living room : Soon to add a Christmas tree...

 Christmas tree shopping was a little different this year... We went without the boys!! the boys were vising his parents for a few days... It was kinda nice, and kinda lonely all at the same time... and it was almost 60 degrees out!.. it was awesomely strange weather for DECEMBER!

Momma has a new SUV! and without the boys I was able to get a Christmas tree inside and I didn't need to borrow my Daddy's truck! ahhh independence :)

 I wanted to go with a rustic theme for Christmas this year so I got kraft paper to wrap the gifts and I used garden twine and I used old book pages and kraft paper to make name tags.. It ONLY took me 3 hours to wrap everything ...

 Honestly I am not the best wrapper of gifts around and by the end I was DONE and they really didn't look as "nice" as I saw them in my head but oh well... I sill like the idea of simplicity... that is what we are going for this year.. a simple relaxing day to celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ... I am backing away from all the glitz and glamor of the season and trying to focus my family on the true importance of the day...

Yup that is pretty much all the gifts under out tree... they were there for the picture but are safely hiding till Christmas eve...

I feel pretty close to done... Just a few more things...

AND I am excited at the thought of having Christmas at our house this year my parents and my brother and his wife...simple and nice!

There Goes the Kitchen Sink

...Well as the title suggests we had an incident with our kitchen faucet yesterday... it broke off...

 (Please excuse the DIRTY dishes in the sink... I was about to clean up after lunch....)

Lucky for me there was no leaking involved in this break... it just fell apart...

It literally just snapped off.... Daddy came home from work a little early, stopped by the local "big box store" Riley was very excited to help Daddy... he is very into his play tools right now and was VERY willing to help out with his tape measure.

 After:

Momma has a new faucet... yesss! so thankful or my Husband!

Recently on facebook one of my friends posted the question "What if you woke up tomorrow and only had the things you thanked God for today" Its embarrassing when I think about it really what do I thank God for daily.. I have so many blessing I truly take advantage of.... from simple "necessities" like indoor plumbing. to the obvious like My Husband, my kids and my freedom to worship publicly. Its simply amazing to me how facebook can be so challenging at times.

Thank you Jesus for  every blessing you have given me, please forgive me for not always seeing the gifts or acknowledging you in the everyday things in life. Amen

~Momma

Missing Summer Already...

Our yard is finally looking better... I say better because there is STILL a HUGE pile of sticks and branches *anyone form anywhere is welcome to come get them!*

Its about this time of year when I need to remind myself that in the summer the tree's are awesome...

... the blisters on my hands tend to disagree... but my fond memories of summer win out..Hopefully...

...speaking of summer.. we went to the pool today!

and the boys had a BLAST... I am so lucky I have water babies!

I had fun too actually the water was warm and it was a nice change from yard work I was excited to go!

It was a good beginning to the week... I have a bunch of projects to get ready for Christmas this year... more on that later

Sunday night

It's been a LOOOOONG weekend.... I have been out of the house most of the weekend... and when I was not working 12 hour shifts! We were visiting family...

....needless to say when we got home today... I KINDA went into a cleaning frenzy...MY HOUSE WAS CRAZY!... as soon as dinner was over, me and the boys swept the dining room and moped... we also did the kitchen and I was vacuuming the playroom and living room... Still going strong... Husband kindly reminds me that it is bed time.. OOPS!...so I type this as my husband kindly takes the boys up to bed...

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing long weekend... let's kick CHRISTmas into high gear!

Penn State update:

Who would have thought that when I went to the Penn State game in September that it would be the LAST game I saw where Joe Pa was the coach. If you read the sign it counts me as someone who has attended a game coached by Joe Paterno...

sad....
very sad... that is how I feel about this enter situation...
sad for the boys that were involved...
sad for the non-profit organization that was (unaware?) of the situation.
sad for the by standards who were rocked by the situation coming out in the open...
sad because people KNEW and said nothing!
Would I send MY boys to Penn State?    YES!
Would I let Joe Pa coach my boys?    YES!
Would I let Jerry Sanduskuy coach my boys? NO!
Who do I blame in this situation a lot of people... mostly those who were on the board of trustees...
But this isn't about me... who I blame...
It's so easy for Me to sit in the court of public opinion and preach about what I think is right.. What I would have done. and what I would like to see happen...
That solves nothing..


From sadness to healing that is my prayer

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. Romans 12:19

I am happy that I was able to attend a game in Joe's last season as head coach of the Penn State football program.

Connor and the Eye Doctor

My big boy went to the eye Dr again today.. and things went MUCH smoother this time.. . This visit was much shorter...
Less than an hour compared to two hours
Riley did not fall and cut his lip 5min into Connor's exam like last time
We did not have to have drops put into Connor's eyes
And I think most importantly after the last visit where Connor angerly told me that he was never ever going to the eye Dr. again... I have been constantly praying for him in this specific situation.
My big boy at the eye Dr. (I don't know if you are allowed to take pictures at the eye Dr. or not so I only snuck this one :)

This is what we learned... Yes his one eye crosses... and no his vision isn't bad... No there is not imporvemnt in his vision when glasses were added... He does have poor depth perception... The Dr. explained that for him watching a 3D movie just wouldn't be as impressive to him .... So no to the glasses (for now as long as his vision remains good).. and apparently no to the new 3d tv's (not that we were EVER going to get one anyhow ).... Just a BUNCH more practice catching a ball :)

After the eye Dr. we went to Toys R Us just to look around... in Connor's words " an entire store for just TOYS?!?" he was VERY excited to say the least. We also got a special treat of Fast Food uck... But to them it was special.

I love when I feel well taken care of,  I felt the Lord providing Connor with a peace about this trip to the eye Dr. ( I could tell by his skipping back to the exam room)... SUCH a change from the conflict he felt about going back to the Dr. even a week ago...

Thank you Jesus!

A Good Use of Leaves

There is a definite chill in the air... in the past two days the leaves on our tree's have come down, and where we once had green grass we now have lovely red and yellow carpet of leaves...

Riley had the idea to run his combine up and down the driveway .. Connor's imagination took over and he yelled look he's making roads! he would follow Riley as he made a path down the driveway.. Then Connor would take his turn with the truck and Riley would follow him around...

Both the John Deere and the CAT loader got a lot of use today clearing leaves creating roads...

we a found a terrific use of leaves