all.night.long.

tonight while most of you will be with friends, family, at home, wherever celebrating the new year.

chad & i will be with 100+ students & leaders celebrating around the city. an event we all know of & i hate... ALL-NIGHTER!

we have been doing these events (at only this time of year) since we have been youth pastor's... 8 years.

i'm hoping my husband gets smart & will not plan one one year. (ha ha) never going to happen.

i am not a night person. in my college years & o.so.almost ten years ago... yes! but since getting married & having kids i go to bed by 10 or 10:30. that is the way i like it. but on this one night out of the whole year my schedule changes & i have to stay up ALL.NIGHT.LONG.

with the event coming & me dreading i have a little bit of a bad attitude. (i know, i know horrible of me) but while praying & reading yesterday morning i was once again reminded that life isn't always about me or what i would rather be doing.

its about keeping those students out of trouble. having some place so they won't go to that friend's party & drink something for the first time or go a little further than they thought they would ever go, see & hear things that will damage them forever.

this is why we plan in detail a whole night of fun, shred tons of paper, blow up bags of balloons for a confetti drop at midnight, stay up all night, tired for the next two days, away from our own families... for them!

it will be fun. i will have fun once i get there. just dreaded the lack of sleep. so today i will be lazy, stay in my pj's until i have to get dressed & head to the church.

now you know what i'm doing to bring in the new year... what are your plans?

whatever they are... i hope you're safe & its a blast!

talk to you in 2009!

project 365

candy, a blogging friend over at everyone has a story to tell is doing this for the up & coming year... PROJECT 365

a picture or pictures a day.

to capture your busyness of life, the excitement, the highs & lows of life thru your camera lens.

and then post about it.

i have been really thinking about to do or not to do this for over two weeks.

why? i'm not sure.

maybe i'm really scared that i can't do it. i don't like to start things & not finish them.

but the more i think about it. the more i know i need to at least try. i already take A LOT of pictures, sitting down at the computer & blogging about them is a different story.

i do want to post pictures for the family to see & enjoy.

i do (really bad) want to get better at taking pictures. some day i would LOVE to take a photo class or classes at a college. time will tell about that!

PROJECT 365 will begin on january 1st. it will be the entire year of 2009 with DAILY post.

WHY DO IT???

taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)

your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.

so think about it & maybe you will want to join in too!

i'm back!!!

man, its been a LONG time since i've posted anything.

our world has been crazy!

our world is still busy even though christmas is over.

our world has been fun... really fun!!!

i am SO glad to report that k is over the flu & b is over his double ear infection. and in time to enjoy all their new toys... perfect timing!

starting from christmas eve the holiday was great... family, $120,000 christmas lights we saw on ONE house (very cool!), good food, good gifts, priceless excitment on my boys faces, more good food, long naps, nice weather, having chad home so must... must i go on!!!

i hope that you all had a GREAT holiday with your loved ones too.

now, i MUST share just a few of my favorite pictures. i can't share them all because i took over a 100!! pretty sad, but i just love taking pictues :)

my first award...

my blogging friend, elizabeth over at "the mommy" passed an award on to me.

i was pretty excited when i found out.

i have been blogging for only 7 short months & this was my first to receive.

sad, maybe!
but this is my party & i pulled out party hats, balloons & a cake to celebrate!!!

elizabeth awarded me the HONEST SCRAP award.

i need to share ten honest things about myself...

1 - i am the world worst at making decisions, esp sunday after church & where we are going to eat.
2 - i love to shop & then shop some more!
3 - sometimes i feel like the worst mother out there.
4 - i have a BIG secret but i can't tell just yet. and no, no 3rd baby on the way!
5 - i'm scared to sleep at home when chad is out of town. me & the boys always go stay at the in-laws house.
6 - i was raised in a pastor's home and now in full time ministry with my husband. i like life this way & don't want it any other way.
7 - sometimes, no a lot of times i change clothes two or three times until i find the perfect outfit that hides what i don't like about my body. i thought this would stop once i wasn't a teenager anymore?!?!
8 - i don't like people telling me i have to do something because i am on staff or the yp wife. i want to do things/ start something because i have a passion for it.
9 - being a stay-at-home mom is A LOT harder than i ever thought it would be.
10 - i take way too many pictures of my boys & never get them developed. i am going to change this in 2009.

now i am to pass it on to ten people. i choose...
sherri @ bittersweet symphony
monika @ bray party of four
tonja @ on that note
megan @ tales of the trees
suzanne @ happy chaos
kelly @ blessings times two
kami @ no biggie
the domestic fringe
daisy @ just call me daisy
hazel @ sunshine sneezes

thanks again elizabeth for making my day!

hope you all have a GREAT day... its friday!!!

a few of my favorite things...

i have seen quite a few post where friends/people have been posting pictures of their Christmas decorations.

i wanted to do the same.

hope it doesn't bore you... just pictures - no more reading!!!

around here...

kaden is still sick. now brock & chad.

we have fevers, bad coughs, taking medicine every 4 hours, staying in our pj's most of the day, watching way too much tv, & taking naps.

but there is that moments when someone gets a burst of engery & we have a little fun with the wig :)

shhhhh... its a secret!

kaden walked into the bedroom & said "mom, i have a secret to tell you, but you can't tell anyone."

"sure, i can keep a secret" was my response.

he comes close & says very softly, "YOU ROCK!"

i didn't tell anyone with my mouth, but i think its okay to blog about. and brag that my 5 year old son thinks I ROCK!!!

sunday's best...

kaden woke up this morning with a HORRIBLE cough & a fever.

don't you know that your contagious when you have a fever? so instead of making mother's mad at me for getting their kids sick, i JUMPED at the chance to stay at home & get some stuff done. does this make me less of a christian???

the boys watched movies & i had a productive morning cleaning, doing laundry, wrapping a few stocking stuffers and organized my FREE stuff that i have been collecting since going to the coupon class...
3 complete contact solution,
5 toothpaste (4 colgate, 1 crest),
3 deodorant (2 dove, 1 degree)
2 thermacare pads,
suave shampoo & conditioner,
aussie shampoo & conditioner,
2 pantene's 2 in 1,
6 toothbrushes.
not shown in the picture: 2 things of foil, a car that does cool 360 tricks, alieve, and 2 TUMS smoothies.

every couple of hours i take kaden's temp & it keeps going higher & higher. we decided at 4:30 to take him to a 24 hour place & an hour later found out that he has the FLU.

tonight was our connect groups (small groups, home groups, whatever you call them) at our house with 9th & 10th grade students. some were already here when chad & kaden got back home. so kaden had to stay in our room for about 2 hours by himself tonight. he wasn't very happy about this.

i knew what would bring a SMILE to his face... opening an christmas gift!!!

am i a NICE mother or what?!?!

brock then thought he could open a gift. he ran a grabbed something from under the tree. one of kaden's. i let him open it (new underwear) & that was it. he was happy just getting to rip the paper off.

not as easy as it looks...

at the christmas party we went to thursday night we played "dirty santa" & i came home with a gingerbread house.

kaden was not going to let anyone "steal" that gift from me. he held the bag & hid it behind the chair he was sitting in.

so we (he) was thrilled when the game was over & was ready to put it together as soon as we got home.

he had school the next day so the fun would have to wait.

we did it after lunch on friday. just me & him.

man, that icing (glue) is some stcky stuff. i had it all over the place. the picture on the box makes it look so easy. so perfect. so FALSE!!!

kaden thought hard about where each piece of candy went. and on one side he wanted a HUGE heart for me. (i heart him too!)

not even 2 hours later, it looked like this...

i guess i didn't use enough glue! :(

have you made a gingerbread house this year?
i would like to see yours & know how you got yours to stay up longer?!?!
post a few pictures & let me know when you do.

say christmas parties...

we have gone to two christmas parties & we have two more to go to.

funfun!!!

of course i took pictures of the family dressed up & looking so fine!!! ha

busy as a bee....

i've been busy getting things done & of course having some fun too!!!

first, i finished & wrapped all my christmas presents & put them under the tree.

we had some okay weather so kaden rode his bike outside. he just learned to ride his bike last month with no training wheels.

one day short sleeve shirts, the next some SNOW! nothing to brag about, but fun to see coming down. kaden played in it for about 10 minutes.

and of course there has been some house cleaning & laundry. today i got the boys help. the pictures explain it all...

hope you all have had a fun-filled week like i have!

all over again...

i feel thirteen again.

zit.

zit a second time.

zit three & four appear.

now another one!

i have had FIVE zits in the last two weeks.

what is the deal?!?!

proud mama...

i put the pin kaden gave me on my jacket today.

he noticed right away.

his smile was HUGE!

he asked me to lean down so he could see it a littler closer.

another HUGE smile!

followed by a HUGE hug & an "i love you, mama"

MADE MY DAY PERFECT!!!

christmas past....

in years past we have told kaden about santa, gone to visit him, left out cookies & milk for him, he received one BIG gift from him on christmas morning. this year, though, i'm really questioning if that is something i want to continue.

i want my boys to know the REAL reason for christmas(and my oldest does) but is ok to have just a little fun with the story & gifts???

i am trying to figure out if telling this pretend story of santa is ok to tell my boys.

everybody else is doing it, right?

or should i tell them the truth - the real story of st. nick instead of the made-up world's view of santa???

they are both young, its clean fun, right???


what do you do with your children?

i know there is no right or wrong answer to this but i would like your opinion... PLEASE.

santa claus or not???

worth every dollar...

the week before thanksgiving a note came home with kaden saying the school would be having a christmas store with gifts ranging from $1 - $20 for the students to buy for their families. cute idea. kaden made his list & i sent $20 to school with him this week.

i know, i know, a lot of money but i wanted him to be able to buy desecent gifts. he didn't spend it all - brought $1.50 back home! which he asked if he could have!

i pick him up from school, the gifts were wrapped & at the bottom of his tote. he talks about what he got daddy & brock. the excitment in his voice was beyound cuteness.

i hadn't even walked through the door & he already has my gift in his hands ready for me to open. i said we should wait for christmas but he would not hear of it. (a boy after my own heart - i hate waiting to open gifts!!!)

i open it to find this:

i'm not a pin kind of person but it was from my oldest son, who picked it out himself. i was proud! now i just need to find somewhere to put it... any ideas?
i hugged him & he hugged back - like a 3 minuted hug. at that moment the angle pin was worth $20 by itself.

for his dad he bought a little tool set:


for brock he bought something i think he really wanted!