Facebook's Fault

I blame Facebook for my lack of posts. If I have something to share, I share it in 5 seconds with a status update. I can even include a picture to go along with my quickly typed words. There is no editing, waiting for pictures to upload. Easy peasy. And who ISN'T on Facebook? My college friends, family, and yes, even my grandparents (I still can't get over that) are on Facebook. So I've shared with all my peeps. Unfortunately there is no website that compiles your Facebook pictures and status updates into a neatly, cleverly designed book. So here I am again, attempting to update myself. The future Melissa who has lost her memory. Lets hope that Melissa is like 90 when that happens, but still.

We finally had a bit of snow this week for the kids to play in. It has been an unusually warm winter (no complaints here), and the kids have been dying for some snow to throw around at each other. We got about an inch, maybe two?, and it was gone by around 2 p.m. :( Good thing I sent them out before it melted.




We had some good news in regards to Husbands job. He still has one. He will be in the same building, same office, same desk, same chair. Just a different company signing the paycheck. It's been a roller coaster since August: yes we have a job, no we don't, we might, etc. We are certainly thankful that it has ended, and with a good result (for us, not everyone knows yet, but we do). Last August we had the bombshell dropped on us that we had two weeks of employment left. Can we say stressful? I went to donate blood a few days later and was denied for the first time in my life. Sky high blood pressure. I have never had HBP in my life, not even during pregnancy. Of course sitting in the waiting area wondering if I WAS pregnant and SHOULD I BE GIVING BLOOD??? probably didn't help either. I wasn't (obviously).

Here's to less Facebook status updates and more blog updates. Hoping to be back tomorrow to post about a certain handsome young man who has a half birthday tomorrow.

Beautiful People

Source: Uploaded by user via Tina on Pinterest

January 2011

The year I only blogged 15 times. Oops. Guess this won't be a "review" for you, but for me it will be a way to make up my lack of "scrap booking"in the form of blogging.

January

Much unlike the current January, last January we had snow. Lots of snow. The girls enjoyed many "snow days" off from school and played outside as much as they were allowed. If it must snow, a foot at a time is the way to go.

That is a foot long ruler!

G would venture out and when he was forced inside, he did a very good job of expressing his displeasure.

R started her first official organized sport, cheerleading. We went through Upward, and R loved every second of it. L also loved it. She would go to practice with R and was right on the sidelines during games making sure the girls did all the moves right.

We heart basketball.

L enjoying popcorn and watching the girls cheer. She was in heaven!

G did not like the buzzers, so he wore these ear muffs. Reminds me of chubby bunny.

It was the cutest thing watching them all do a cheer together.

R lost her second tooth, on New Year's Day at O'Charley's.

Since we had so much snow and cabin fever seemed to rule my thoughts, we had a playmate at Monkey Joe's. The kids always have so much fun there, and it totally wears them out for nap time!

L tried to start a new fashion with her headbands worn like a 70s sweatband complete with a hair tie on her upper arm. She has style, just not sure where she got it from?? (sorry, it's a phone pic!)

I was going to do a whole year in review in one post, but that would be the longest post ever, so I am just going to do one month a day! This will teach me not to blog as I go!

Intentional

I need to be more intentional about blogging. I had the mindset that nothing particularly exciting happens to us, so there is no point in writing about it, but this is our life. Pretty mundane. I need to remember that I'm not writing to draw a crowd or to entertain the reader, I'm writing so we have something to look back on, remember what happened when, and see some pictures together with the story.

So here we go. Intentionally writing when nothing much is going on. :)

We had a great Christmas break. R is back in school today and L goes back tomorrow. She is still three days a week for three hours each day. She is not looking forward to Kindergarten, but that is only because she knows she has to get a few more shots before she goes (we staggered her 5-year old shots).

It is extremely cold outside (20s). No snow, but too cold to go outside. I stare out the window at the frozen pool and dream of summer. Five or six months to go.

I started playing Words with Friends on Facebook and I am extremely addicted. Didn't they used to have Scrabble on FB and then they had to take it down because Scrabble had a fit? I vaguely remember this and I do believe I was addicted back then as well. There was a huge uproar.

I'll have to post some pictures from Christmas. The kids scored a bunch of cool new things. As L just told someone this morning, "I must have been on the nice list, because I got presents!"

In 2012

I will...

finish the baby books I started for R, L, & G.

drink more water.

drink less Dr. Pepper.

run a 5K.

blog more.

That's all I got.

Fantastic at Five

L is five. A firecracker who can be definitely be described as "the spice of life". She is a force to be reckoned with. Still our little mama, who wants to take care of and boss all the littles. I cannot imagine what life will be like next year when she goes to Kindergarten. There will be a lot less mess, but also a lot less laughter and fun.

She can be quite the little performer, singing as loudly as she can to anything that comes on the radio in the car.

This year L is in the Pre-K preschool program. Three days a week for three hours. She loves it most days, but sometimes insists she wants to stay home and play with G instead. She is in her second year of Cubbies at church. She is very athletic, but so far hasn't been in any organized sport. We are going to get her signed up for a gymnastics class soon. It is the perfect thing for L.



My girliest of girls, L pretty much wears a dress every day (some days I have to make her wear pants because we have way more pants than dresses in her size) and glams it up as much as she can. She likes to wear her hair in "two tails" and usually follows that up with a headband on top. Shoes are an important accessory as well, and she changes them a few times a day. Although they never seem to stay ON when we are out in public.

L with her signature "two tails"

A mover and a shaker, the girl can barely sit still to get her hair done. She doesn't really walk anywhere, she gallops and runs. For being so girly, she is strangely borderline tomboy. She can keep up with the boys and has already married one of them (on at least two different occasions).

She had a Rapunzel/Tangled birthday this year. Girl loves her some princesses and fairy tales. Of course for the past year we've talked about a Barbie Birthday, and the week of she changed her mind. Of course.



She is my little L G and I love her very, very much!! We all do.

And what is a birthday post without a picture from her actual birth day.

R Turns Seven

In typical mother-of-three fashion, this post is late.

Our first-born child turned seven this summer. So hard to believe it has been seven years since we coaxed her out of me! R's birth was induced, and after 27 hours of "labor", which included 3 hours of pushing, she made us parents. I couldn't believe they let us just take her out of the hospital to our home without some kind of certificate of normalcy or verification that we would be fit parents.

We have loved every minute of the past seven years and couldn't be prouder of the way she is growing into a beautiful young lady, inside and out. xoxo