A New Me...

Do you ever wish that you were someone different?

Do you ever find yourself daydreaming about:

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a different life

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with a different body

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in a different place

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with different friends

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I don't do it very often, but sometimes I find myself wishing that my life was somehow different. Not that I'm unhappy with how my life is now....but sometimes it just seems like different would be good! And maybe it's not really that I want all those things to be different....maybe it's that I want them to be better.

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a better life

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with a better body

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in a better place

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with better friends
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I don't really make New Year's Resolutions {other than to lose weight...which has been on my list for as long as I can remember}, but I think this year I am going to strive to be BETTER!

I want to be better at everything I do!

Not better than any other person...just better than the person that I am right now!
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To live my life better

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To get in better shape {& lose weight}

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To make my surroundings better

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And simply to be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend.

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I think in the end if I make all those things BETTER, I really will be DIFFERENT. Still me, just a different, better me!

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I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve!
See you in 2010!

Wordless Wednesday: I Think He Likes Kisses!

Christmas Craziness

The title of the this post doesn't even come close to explaining how SUPER crazy the past week has been.

Jason and I {aka Santa's Helpers} spent the three days before Christmas working on a treehouse/clubhouse/playhouse for the boys. And Henry, Grant, and Eli spent the three days before Christmas shuffling back and forth between my parents' house and Jason's mom's house {so they wouldn't see the SURPRISE treehouse/clubhouse/playhouse}! I am still exhausted and all the Christmas festivities ended two days ago.

Here are a few pictures to recap our SUPER crazy and just plain SUPER Christmas!

Before:After:

The boys in their clubhouse on Christmas morning!

There is still a ton of work to do {painting, shingles for the roof, and a few windows} for their clubhouse to be finished. Santa's Helpers had a little trouble getting everything done for the clubhouse because it rained for 2 out of the 3 days before Christmas! Eli trying to get on the slide.

Grant on the slide.
Henry getting ready to slide!

CHRISTMAS 2009

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

A Few Years Ago...

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Pictures

Playing With Our Food!

Eli's Gingerbread House {that I made for him}, Jason's, and mine Grant's Gingerbread House...{what he didn't manage to eat}!
Henry's 'Fishy' Gingerbread HouseWe had a ton of fun decorating our Gingerbread houses...and now there is a little more Christmas cheer in the kitchen:)

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
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I did NOT wait until the week before Christmas to start working on my Christmas cards. I am NOT a huge procrastinator especially around the holidays. I have NOT been procrastinating a ton of other holiday stuff like shopping, wrapping, and decorating!
I did NOT make my children run around outside without shoes on this week. I would NEVER makes their little tootsies freeze just because I thought bare feet would be SUPER cute for their Christmas picture! I did NOT finally let them wear flip flops because they were quietly complaining whining about their feet being cold {and the ground was pretty wet}!

It's My Party...

and I'll cry SMILE if I want to!

Henry

and

Grant

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Earlier in the week, the boys decorated some SUPER cute red lunch sacks to give their friends at school a few goodies. I {well technically my sister and Jason} cut out some little Christmas trees with a fun shaped hole punch and some multi colored green scrapbook paper. Then the boys glued the little Christmas trees to the bags. Grant made 8 bags for his class, and Henry made 24 bags for his class {and he even wrote 'From: Henry' on all the bags}!

Last night, Jason and I stayed up way too late making the goodies {Christmas tree shaped Rice Krispy treats}, loading the bags, and tying them up with some twine! I think they turned out really cute!

Snap Shots and Salad

Yesterday {the first day with sunshine we have had in over a week}, I attempted to take some pictures of the boys for our Christmas cards. I know....it is a week before Christmas and I am just now taking their picture! I am a procrastinator, but when I get started I work fast because the cards are already in the mail this morning! Anyway, I thought I would share a few of the pictures from our "photo shoot" that didn't make it on the Christmas card.

Henry and Grant are getting to the age where they cooperate pretty well with picture taking. Eli, on the other hand, couldn't have been less interested in looking at the camera and smiling. It is SUPER hard to get a cute picture of three little boys! Especially when it is cold outside, and they are running around barefoot because I thought it would look cute in the pictures! Don't worry it wasn't too cold, and I was barefoot too! Luckily I did get a few cute shots with all three kiddos looking at the camera. I will share our Christmas card and a few other shots later on in the week!

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I made a SUPER yummy Caesar Salad with homemade croutons for dinner a few nights ago. It was so good...and easy to make.

For the salad I used the classic Romain lettuce, Parmesan cheese, and {not homemade} Caesar dressing.

To make the croutons, I took some leftover french bread and cut it into small cubes. I melted a few tablespoons of butter and stirred in a little minced garlic. I tossed the cubed bread into the butter and garlic mixture and then baked them on 400 for about 25 minutes { until they were golden brown and slightly crunchy}.

Toss the croutons into the salad and be sure to save a few croutons for your kiddos {who think eating just the croutons counts as eating salad}!

I think we may be having salad again for dinner tonight! YUM!

WINNER!

Thanks to everyone for entering the Real Holiday Helpings $25 American Express Gift Card Giveaway!

I used Random.org to select a winner.

And the winner is.... Heidi from Sacred and Profane!
Congrats to Heidi.
Send me an email with your address and I will pass it along to the people at Real Holiday Helpings...maybe you will get your gift card in time for some last minute Christmas shopping:)

Wordless Wednesday: Oh Christmas TreeS