Wednesday

So a creative title escapes me...Wednesday it is.  Today was a fun day.  The kids and I met up with Brit and her kids at Otterville and played all day.  I some how did not get a single good picture out of the entire day so this will just be a non picture post (I know boring)!  We stayed until way past nap, and then headed home to rest before "Big School" aka Awana.  Caleb did not nap once again.  We are currently in the process of breaking the binky, and it is affecting his sleep hard core.  It is currently cut almost all the way off, and he still attempts to suck it.  The little stinker snuck up stairs during nap while I was eating, and MeeMaw let him play on her Kindle.  I did not even know he had gone up there....sneaky sneaky.  Needless to say he was exhausted by the time we left for Awana.  He fell asleep on the way there, and then cried when I dropped him off.  His teachers said he only fussed for a couple of minutes but I hated that he was upset.

I joined a Beth Moore study tonight, Believing God.  It was the meet and greet night so it was fun to get to know some new people. I met a girl who actually just moved from my hometown.  She went to my old church and everything. It was so fun to talk about my old church and the people who truly helped build me into the person I am today.  I am super excited to begin the study.

We are home now, Kinlee is in bed, and Nick is giving Caleb a late bath.  I finally got all his school stuff together and I am trying to prepare myself for the crazy day ahead.  Good night friends.

Getting Back to the Grind

I am truly making an attempt to start blogging daily/every other day.  I prefer to not play catch up and I really want to document our lives.

Today was a busy day.  Last night Nick went to his grandpa's to watch the game so I had the kids to myself.  They both decided they were going to fight sleeping last night! Caleb came up with every excuse in the world to get out of bed, and finally I had to lay down the law.  I spent most of my evening trying to get some work done for my upcoming Bridal shows, and then once I laid down to go to bed I could not sleep.  Ugh. I hate that.  I am always so tired but for some reason my mind will not shut off before 1 am most nights.  I read a lot of Bloom, by Kelle Hampton, until I was tired.  Love that book FYI!  Of course, as soon as I fell asleep Kinlee woke up crying....repeat that process for the next five hours. I do not know what was up with her last night.  Needless to say I skipped my morning BNI meeting.  I was to tired and 7:15 was way to early.

We woke up at 8:45 and I had to have Caleb ready to leave for school by 9.  Talk about rushing.  He was in a mood because he stayed up so late, so my morning consisted of a lot of crying, snuggling, and rushing combined.  Once Nick took him, I had to get myself and Kinlee fed and ready because I had a 10:30 meeting to design flyers for the upcoming bridal shows.

Kinlee actually did great at the meeting. She colored on some paper, and pushed some rolling chairs around. Lucky for us the company is family, so they didn't seem to mind her running around too much.  Immediately after the meeting it was time to pick up Caleb from school, so I did not have time to feed Kinlee.  I decided to take the kids to Big Boy for an after school lunch, and the lunch date was actually very relaxing.  Caleb told me lots of stories about school, and demonstrated how he would walk when he got old.  He told me that is how Grammy walks :).  Kinlee spent most of the lunch date stuffing her face as if she was starved to death., and would randomly throw in her favorite words "daddy, Bella, Pa, work, Brother, School".  I love one year old babble.

The kids are now napping away, and I am stressing about all the things I did not check off my to do list today.  I have so much to do to get ready for February business wise, and I am trying to find the balance.  I know I will get there I just hate the process.  I have no idea what we are going to have for dinner, and a trip to the grocery needs to be in my immediate future....yuck! All in all it has been a happy Tuesday though.

Pictures from the past few days.  I do not have a post to go with them, but I want them for my record!

Date day with mommy.  I caved and paid for the train at the mall.   

 My silly tink playing dress up.  Have I mentioned she is all girl? 

 How I spent 2 hours of my life the other day.  Loved it!! 

 My first baby looked like a puppy again after being groomed. 

Christmas

I am almost done catching up from last year!!! Thank goodness. Blogging is not as much fun when you are playing catch up.

Christmas morning the kids awoke to find goodies from Santa.  Caleb received tons of cars, an army tank, and the items below.  Santa scored almost all of his goodies at a consignment sale.  3 dollars for skateboard, 10 dollars for the bike and helmet!! Unfortunately, leading up to Christmas he told us he wanted 5 bikes. A blue, green, orange, yellow and white one.  Santa had to tell him that he only brought one bike.  We thought about having Santa spray paint his Spiderman bike, but we decided to take the chance.  He mentioned a few times that he didn't want a Spiderman one, and that Santa should take it back and give it to another kid.....however, now he loves it.

Kinlee was handed down my old dollhouse, received some dolls and accessories, and we also bought both kids a kitchen.

christmas presents by sarah-white-gardella on Polyvore

Playskool Doll House Pink and White by Daysgonebytreasures on Etsy
etsy.com

KidKraft 2 Piece Blue Retro Play Kitchen - Play Kitchens & Grills at...
hayneedle.com

Cars Lightning McQueen Skateboard - 28" : Target
target.com

Licensed Kids Bikes Spiderman 12 in 614SM00078TR Bicycle
zoostores.com

After we played downstairs we headed up to celebrate with my inlaws.  The kids were sure to check Santa's plate at the fireplace.  They were then super excited to open their "Big One" present.  It was a trampoline, and the kids are loving it.  They were also gifted lots of other great gifts.

After presents we took the annual photo infront of the tree, ate breakfast, and relaxed.  I had to do some organizing on Christmas Day because the clutter was out of control.  However, we spent a lot of time just enjoying each other as a family.  Nick took Caleb outside to ride his car for a while, and Kinlee and I played kitchen inside. It was a great Christmas.

Christmas Eve

After we finished celebrating with my family we drove 3 1/2 hours back home to celebrate with Nick's family.  We always celebrate with his moms side on Christmas Eve, and this year was extra special because Santa was making an appearance.  Doodles Entertainment, graced us with their presence, and it was so sweet.  Mrs. Claus even joined.  They read The Night Before Christmas, and Santa told the Nativity story. The kids were then allowed to sit on Santa's lap to tell him what they wanted, and to pose for a picture. He was the sweetest Santa, and he told every kid that sat on his lap "You know God loves you right? He sent his Son Jesus because he loves you, and that is why we have Christmas".  So sweet.  I loved the way he connected Santa and Jesus.  I had no idea that was part of his services, but I was so thrilled with it.  My kids refused to go near him, so I have no picture of them with him.  I thought after their last experience that it might be best not to push it.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with family, eating, and the kids exchanged their gifts.  After it was all said and done, we came home, and put Kinlee to bed.  It was super late but we let Caleb put cookies and milk out for Santa on the plates and cups he had decorated. We also scattered reindeer food on the lawn for the reindeer to enjoy.  We then snuggled with Caleb, read the Night Before Christmas, and the Nativity story.  He loves acting out the Nativity Story with his manger set that Meemaw bought him, so we did that about 4 times as well.  We finally got him to bed, and Nick and I were up until after 2 am setting up everything.

The only picture I have of the evening

Fun Winter Days

We had a lot of snow shortly after Christmas.  Nick and I took the kids out on the first snow day to play, and they loved it.  Sledding was a huge hit.  Caleb was so sweet and held onto Kinlee so tight.  Kinlee rocked Caleb's old snowsuit, and was so funny. She could barely move in it.  Caleb loved being outside, and played outside with daddy for hours on end.