So the trip out here was pretty uneventful but it felt like a million things were going on. The day before I left my girlfriend and I decided to take our kids sledding in her back yard because of all the wonderful snow we had gotten. Her youngest child was not able to join in due to being very sick so we took the girls out to the back yard and proceeded to push them down the hill on the sleds. It was so much fun watching how excited they got while flying down the snow with the wind blowing in their faces. At one point they both decided it would be better if when they got to the bottom of the hill they threw their bodies off the sleds and into the snow. The dramatics that were involved were hilarious because you would have thought they had been going 90mph and came to a dead stop. Once the girls were done with their outside play my girlfriend and I proceeded to sled down the hill in as many ways as we could think of. At one point we both tried standing up on the sled and neither of us was successful. Once we finished acting like children I headed out to run some errands and then go home to pack because I had not done anything in preparation for my trip. By the time I got home I got into super mom gear and the kids and I started getting everything together that we needed on the trip. I had previously made plans with my girlfriend to go sledding that night on the big hill with some other friends so I did not get as much done as I wanted. I headed out of the house about 8:00 with her and we headed over to the hill. At the bottom of the hill someone had built a jump so all of the adults tried to go over it with our variety of sledding devices. I decided to not be chicken and go over the jump on a circular tube and everything was going great until I hit the jump and while in the air I relized there was nothing to hang on to the tube with so as I came down toward the ground it was no longer under me. I ate ice and snow and ended up with some in my clothes. I decided at that point I probably should not do that again so instead I took pictures of the other girls trying it. It was funny watching them shoot into the air and land on what felt like was solid concrete. Most of them ate it at one point or another and I am pretty sure all of them would feel it the next day. Once everyone left but my friend and I we decided to try the little jump. I waited to do it until I saw her successfully nail it five or six times just to get myself ready. I was pretty sure this time I would be okay but no that was not the case this time I landed on my side with an arm underneath me and I decided then and there I was just not made for jumps. We went down a couple more times and then headed to my house to play some Halo and rest our butts. As we sat there on my couches in pain I was surrounded by all of the things I needed to pack so around 3am she left and I decided to try and get some sleep so that I could just get everything done the following morning instead of pulling an all nighter. I woke up around 7am and proceeded to fall asleep in the hallway surrounded by clothes next to the heater. By the time I awoke from my really uncomfortable nap it was 8:20 and I was then rushed. I finished all the packing got the kids showered the kitchen was cleaned and the house was all picked up and then I decided to take a shower to get ready for my trip only to find there was no hot water. Now I know some people have the ability to take a cold shower when they have to but not me unless its hot or at least warm I am not getting in there. I decided to let the hot water come back and went on with things I needed to get done. When I was able to I finally jumped in the shower and started to wash my hair when the water went to ice cold…as loud as I could I yelled at the kids to come run to the bathroom and my oldest son showed up outside the door and in my nicest voice possible at that point I yelled “STOP USING THE HOT WATER” and he says to me “were not mom” “ARE YOU WASHING YOUR LUNCH DISHES IN HOT WATER” “Oh yes sorry mom”. My hot water was returned and as fast as I could I washed up and got out. At this point we are running 30 minutes late so now I am really stressed out and hungry. We throw everything in the car make sure all bodies are accounted for and drive to my friends house so she can take us to the airport. She has me drive us there because I speed and she does not and everything is going good until I almost pass a cop going 15 over the speed limit but he left the interstate shortly after and I speed back up again and then there was another cop and I am thinking damn don’t ya’ll have a lunch break soon I am in a hurry. We finally make it to the airport only to be stuck in traffic to get to the drop off point. When I say traffic at the airport I am not kidding it was dead stop and we were only about 1 minute away from the drop off zone. We watched people get out of their cars with their luggage and walk to the loading zone so my friend looks at me and says maybe you should do that… then I get an image in my head of me three kids five suitcases, four carry-ons, purse, camera, stroller, and car seat walking in the snow to get to the airport and I look at her and decline her kind offer. We finally get to the gate and unload and proceed to run full speed (which with a three year old and adhd kid is not very fast) to our plane only to find out that its not even there yet, our flight has been delayed for an hour. I could have finished my hair if I had known that.The kids and I decide to find something to eat so we run to the BK in the airport and as we start back to our plane we see that they are boarding and are almost done so again we are moving with a quickness because at this point I am not missing out plane. I look outside and see that its snowing like crazy and know that if we miss this flight we are not getting on another that day. We make it and have a nice uneventful flight until I hear my son tell his brother “we should bomb China and then all the stuff that is made there can be made in America” I turn around and ask what they are discussing and then inform them they are no longer aloud to talk. Meanwhile Monkey starts to say “we are going down” because the plane is decending for landing so I have to quickly hush her up too. We get off the plane and meet my FIL and then head out to the house. I am glad to be here finally and after I said I was sorry to the kids for turning into crazy mom I became normal again and am enjoying the time I have with family. I have relized that its not a good idea to go sledding and play halo the night before you have to fly especially when you have not packed a thing so if anyone out there has that plan I would come up with a new idea.

Today was wonderful with the kids. When Monkey and I woke up the boys had already left for school. We spent the day finishing up laundry and just hanging out together. Once school was over I picked up D and we headed out to get coffee and find a cd I want for my mother. As we were driving around town the snow started to come down again. There is nothing more beautiful than watching all the dead plants and sad houses be covered in this perfect white sheet of fluffy snow. It makes everything look so clean and fresh and peaceful. I found myself driving down the streets not worried about how the roads were getting but instead smiling from ear to ear because of how happy the snow made me. I could not wait to get home wtih the kids and start playing outside. After we hit a couple of stores I relized the roads were getting worse so I decided to cancel our shopping trip and just head home. I had the kids invite over a few friends and we all went outside to build a massive fort. It turned out great I am so proud. After about an hour or two of our playtime we got a phone call telling us that school was cancelled for tomorrow so we ended up staying outside past ten oclock just playing. I cannot wait to get up in the morning and enjoy some more kid time. I have to pack all of our suit cases for our trip and do a bunch of little stuff around the house but I figure we only live once and it never snows here so I will just seize the day and take a day off and have fun.

First kiss, passion, innocent, trust, betrayal, hurt, youth, now we are grown and I am glad you are happy I will always remember sunflowers and kitchen counter tops.

So all week we have been lucky enough to see a wonderful winter wonderland outside our door because mother nature has seen fit to bless us with snow. I am not a fan of cold but there is something magical about sparkling flakes floating in the air during the holiday season. Making snow angels with my daughter awakens a inner child that wants to build snow forts and have a snow ball fight. We have had two hour delays all week for the kids except on Wednesday they were out of school all day. AAHHH and the tv just informed that again a two hour delay. I am enjoying the snow but we fly out on Saturday afternoon to go spend the holidays with family and I really need it to be nice enough to drive to the airport. I don’t mind the snow coming back after my plane takes off but I really am keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t have delays. So pray that we have an on time flight. Well I have to go change alarms for the kids so they can sleep in and if today you have a chance to play in the snow I suggest laying down on the ground and making a snow angel as you look up into the sky and enjoy the beauty of the day.

I have not taken the family to do a family photo in over three years so this year I thought why not… The last time we were in a photo dressed up together my daughter was under a year old and now she is getting ready to turn four. On Monday I dressed both in red button up shirts with tie and black pants, while my daughter wore a black and white dress and I had on a black and red dress. After waiting for an hour to be seen we finally were taken back to do our pictures. I was not thrilled with the service but I did see a few shots that I was excited about. Once we finished getting up and down, moving here and there we waited again for another hour to start going through the photos and pick our favorites. I finally asked the ladies if I could just come back the following day to go through the photos because it was already 8:30 at night and the kids and I were starving. We headed out afterwards to Olive Garden and had a wonderful meal. Today I headed back up to the photo shop and waited for another 30 minutes to be sat down in front of a computer only to spend the next hour and a half staring at the same photos over and over again. As I looked at the photos I noticed that in over half of the pictures my bra or boob was sticking out for all to see. I was disappointed and asked the lady if my children and I could come back and showed her my reason. She apologized and said pick out the ones you like of what we have and then we can schedule a re shoot as well. I sat for another 30 minutes and then finally asked if I could come back again and go through the photo’s once I had my new photos and she said fine. So Thursday the kids and I will put back on our clothes and set out to take the photo’s again. Lets hope the third time is a charm and that no boobs end up on film.

First love, broken heart, confusion in my mind, you left me but I forgive you and myself I will always love you but I have moved on goodbye.

Okay I am not normally one to tute my own horn. I would say that I am an attractive person but by no means would I describe myself as HOT well that is except to family and friends. I usually use the term hot when I am joking or laughing at myself. Well last night I decided to take some racy photos for my deployed husband. Nothing to dirty just tasteful pictures of me wearing almost nothing. I was really nervous about the pictures because before I started I assumed I would be to critical and end up not liking any of my shots… well I was wrong. I think I took a total of about 50 photos and liked about 30. In some of the pictures I surprised myself because I am hot. I cannot wait to send these to hubby and I am proud of them enough that if someone else accidentally got ahold of them I would not be embarrassed in any way. I just wanted to shair because we all have those rare moments that we feel truly HOT and last night I did.

I love this time of year. It always makes me smile when I walk into a room and see the lights of the Christmas tree and smell the holiday festivities in the air. For me this time of year is not about the greatest sale, or the coolest toy, its about being with my family and teaching my children what its like to give to those who are less fortunate. Each December we go through our stuff and donate as much as we can to good will or other organization that helps those in need. I love cooking the holiday spread of turkey, stuffing, green bean cassarole, rools, potatoes, and anything else that my mouth wants the preasure of tasting.

This Turkey day we are short a family member since my husband is deployed so my mother and brother flew out to eat dinner at our house. My sister E and her husband D also were able to drive up with my nogs (nephew dogs) so we could all eat together. It was wonderful to hang out with everyone and just eat up the conversation and time we had together. I am sad that tomorrow they will have to return to their lives and I will once again be back into normal everyday living. The plus is that for this month I get to look at my pretty tree and all the beautiful lights as I drive around. I love the holidays. They make me happy. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.