2008 A Year in Review

As I think on 2008, there are so many memories that come flooding back to me. This was truly a hard year. I have had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But God was there thru it all. The greatest blessing is having my family and friends.

Here is a picture review (with some commentary) on 2008:

January

February

Tucker turned 1!

March

April

May

This month was too difficult for words. On May 26 my mother-in-law passed away very unexpectedly. The whole family was able to be with her during her last two days. My heart aches knowing that my boys will never know their Nana and that my husband lost his mother. How do you say goodbye? We love and miss you Jennifer!

June

And then God reminded me that he also giveth...

It's amazing how life can change so quickly! June brought the birth of my precious niece Kate. The boys kinda like here too. :)

July

August

September

Tyson turned 3!

We also bought our first house! Goodbye military housing!

October

Stuart turned 30!

Happy Halloween!

November

December

I turned 28. Another year closer to Stuart...

We celebrated our first Christmas in OUR house.

We turned the page on another year of marriage-6 years!

Phew! What a year!

May your 2009 be filled with love, hope, peace and faith.

Blessings!

Here's to Us

Happy 6th anniversary honey!

Reality Check

Christmas is over. The tree is still up. Company is gone. The boys are strung out on new toys. It's 70 degrees outside. We have to drive to somewhere outside of Dallas tomorrow to meet Stuart's brother to get our truck back since the differential broke while Stuart was in Houston last Saturday to see his brother's graduation. Tyson got a stomach bug on Tuesday night and was up-chucking all night and day. Wednesday Stuart woke up with the same bug. Today both my parents woke up with the same bug (and I think that my sister now has the same bug). Tyson went thru three sets of sheets and 5 outfits during his "illness." We got our Christmas tree on Tuesday and it hasn't burned down and it still smells awesome (this was the first time that I have ever had a real tree). Stuart trimmed the entire tree by himself. We have LED Christmas lights on the tree which makes Stuart very happy. I used my wedding china for the first time for Christmas lunch. I did more dishes in the past few days than I have done in my entire life. I got 5 Christmas cards on Christmas eve. That made me extremely happy. Stuart got me a new camera for my birthday. This was entirely unexpected (the past 5 birthdays he got me a new phone) and very welcomed. I took a really great nap this afternoon. My other sister and her hubby came for Christmas lunch and thus I got to play with my adorable niece. My niece loves Tucker. I'm ready to take Christmas down and get on to 2009. Hopefully 2009 will be a better year with much less drama. My 6th wedding anniversary is in 2 days!
Happy day-after-Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

It's All About Me

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yea for Me!

I got my Christmas cards out today-allbeit a tad late, but out none-the-less!

To Do List

Alright, today is Thursday. 3 more days till my birthday (I'll be the ripe 'ole age of 28), 7 more days till Christmas and 10 more days till my 6th wedding anniversary. Yes, my husband has no idea how to plan so three of the biggest events of our lives (and yes I consider birthdays big events) are crammed into one week. Regardless of all that, I still have TONS of things that I need to do before Christmas.

Send out our Christmas cards. This is not entirely my fault that they are going out so late. They aren't going to be ready till tomorrow so I have to mad dash to try and get them to the post office by tomorrow afternoon.
Get a Christmas tree. Again not entirely my fault. We've had a fake tree for 5 years and last year we donated it to Stuart's flight. I had every intention of buying a pre-light tree after Christmas last year but it never materialized. Stuart really wants a real tree this year but he wants to wait till the big day gets closer so that the trees are on sale. We now have a week.
Put lights up outside. This is entirely Stuart's fault. I can't climb on the roof or the ladder for that matter and I'm not allowed to use his staple gun. Company's coming on Tuesday honey...
Decorate inside the house. I have three Santas up. That's it. I'm just tired of Tucker pulling everything down.
Go thru the boys toys and do some cleaning out.
Clean the house and get ready for our company.
Get the rug back in the house that I got sick on. I'm chalking the "sickness" up to my bad weekend. It's been outside but of course the weather has been less than accommodating for cleaning it.
Wrap presents.
Get my husband on the road to Houston for his brother's graduation. He's leaving tomorrow morning and returning some time on Sunday. I really don't like being alone. Not-to-mention that Sunday is MY big day.
Do all the other regular things that us housewives have to do. Ugh. Not a fan of laundry.

And to top it all off, Tucker got a hold of one of our big metal crosses this morning and dropped it on his toe. It didn't break his toe but pulled a good bit of skin off. Stuart wanted to take him to the ER but called our Pediatrician-brother-in-law first and now we are going to the dr instead in the morning. He seems alright now. The band-aid won't stay on his toe because he removes it the second we put it on and the socks that we put on to try and keep the band-aid on get ripped off just as fast. Ah, the joys of boys!

This Is How I Bliss

Thank you, thank you

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you that prayed/commented/said just what I needed to hear from my last post. Thank you, thank you. You girls rock!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

I'm feeling kinda down tonight. Sometimes you just need to vent and so here goes:

I despise Stuart's new schedule. While I understand that this is the best schedule for him to finish more classes in the spring, it totally sucks for me and the boys. Not so much the boys but me. I can't sleep at night. Seriously. When he gets home the only thing on my mind is sleeping. I get really frustrated when he then goes to sleep and leaves me to deal with everything on my own and half awake.

I am really not looking forward to this weekend. It's going to be emotional and hard and difficult and part of me just wants to wear the upset face that I have to hide. Those of you who know, please pray for the whole family.

While I do like being a homeowner, I am not that fond of being an owner of an 80 year old house. It would be great if all the projects that my dear husband started before his schedule changed were completed. But they are not and thus are a glaring reminder of what needs to be fixed.

I hate being broke. Why oh why did I have to get all the credit cards before I realized that I would still be paying them back more than a 10 years later?

I love the holidays but this year I'm just being reminded of all the things that I can't get for my children or my husband. I'm just feeling like a scrooge.

I'm really tired of trying to potty train Tyson. He doesn't care so why should I?

After all is said and done, I read this and am reminded how incredibly lucky and blessed I am. Alright enough "poor me" and back to packing...

Oh the weather outside is frightful

Seriously-it's cooooolllld! The temperature is 32 degrees but feels like 23 because the winds are gusting at 25 mph. I am in need of some hot chocolate.
Maybe it will snow tonight...

Is it the Age?

Alright, today I have come to my wits end with my three year old son. Tyson is in this phase where he whines about everything (mostly not getting his way) and cries at the mere thought of Tucker taking one of Tyson's toys. Are all three year olds like this???

Today I was watching one of my friend's girls. They came over at 1 pm. The boys had already been asleep for an hour so I wasn't too worried about the girls waking them up. The oldest girl (K) is three and her sister (L) is 8 months old. The girls played very nicely and quietly till the boys woke up at 2 pm. Tyson has played with K many times and normally has a fantastic time with her. Today he wanted none of it. He whined and cried because I had to hold L and wanted a snack and didn't want K to play with his cars and didn't want to watch what was on tv and didn't want L to touch anything....ahhhh!

As K & L's mom was on her way back, K was standing at the window looking for her. Tyson said something (I'm not quite sure exactly what it was, but it was mean) and made K start crying. I told him that he needed to tell K he was sorry. Here's what transpired:

"Tyson, tell K that you are sorry. We don't talk to our friends that way and it made her very sad."

"No."

"Tyson, you need to tell K that you are sorry right now AND you do NOT tell mommy no."

"I don't want to."

"Tyson, I am going to count to three and then you are going to get a spanking if you do not tell K you're sorry."

One...Two...Three...Spanking*

"I want to go to my room."

Seriously? Is he really asking to go to his room? On top of it all he STILL has NOT apologized. Grrr.

"Alright, go to your room. But you are not coming out till you can tell K you are sorry."

K&L's mom shows up and Tyson is still in his room. After they leave he casually walks out and says, "I'm ready to tell K sorry."

Wow. The boy is three. THREE.

*Although I do not condone spanking, there are times that it needs to be used. I realize that not all parents believe in this practice; that's fine, just please don't tell me that I am wrong for the way that I parent and that I am hurting my child(ren). I have not nor will I ever hit/spank/discipline my child(ren) out of anger.

ABC

Yes, I know-a survey. But I couldn't help it. I really felt the need to waste your time filling your brain with useless information about me. Isn't it fun?

A
Available: No
Age: 27
Annoyance: People who don't put their children in car seats
Animal: Dog
Actor/Actress: Will Ferrell
Afraid of heights: I have a healthy fear

B
Beer: Not my taste but my husband's
Birthday/Birthplace: Dec 21/St. Louis, MO
Best Friends: Laura
Body part on opposite sex: Shoulders
Best feeling in the world: After eating a fantastic meal, curling up on the couch with some hot cocoa and watching sappy movies
Blind or deaf: Neither
Best Weather: Winter
Been in love: Am in love
Been on stage: Several times
Believe in yourself: Yes
Believe in life on other planets: Not life
Believe in miracles: Absolutely
Believe in Magic: The magic of the season :)
Believe in God: Yes
Believe in Satan: Yes
Believe in Santa: Yes! And don't tell me otherwise
Believe in Ghosts/Spirits: No (But I sure am scared of them when I am alone)
Believe in evolution: Watch Ben Stine's "Expelled"

C
Car: Have 3
Candy: M&Ms
Color: Red
Cried in School: Yes
Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla
Chinese or Mexican: Mexican
Cake or pie: Cake
Country to visit: Aruba
Clothing: Comfortable
Characteristics: I'm a mom...

D
Day or night: Night
Dream vehicle: Toyota Camry (I know)
Danced: A lot in college-oh so fun!
Dance in rain: No but that would be so romantic
Do the splits: Uh, no

E
Eyes: Hazel
Everyone has a heart: Yes, if you didn't you wouldn't be alive
Ever failed a class: Yes

F
First Crush: Wow, can't remember that far back
Full Name: CCD
First thoughts waking up: Why so early?
Food: Anything that I don't have to cook

G
Greatest Fear: Not being able to see my children grow up
Giver or taker: I really try to be a giver but sometimes you just need some back
Goals: To be a good mother and wife
Gum: Sugar free
Good luck charm: I don't really have good luck

H
Hair color: Blonde
Height: 5'5
Hungry: Always
Holiday: Birthday, Christmas AND Anniversary (it's an all encompassing thing)
How do you want to die: I don't right now
Health freak: Goodness no
Hate: "Mommy, we aren't supposed to say hate." But I do loathe the snooze button

I
Ice Cream: Chocolate covered cherry
Instrument: Voice
Iced tea or Kool-Aid: Iced tea

J
Jewelery: Love it!
Job: M-O-M
Jokes: I'm not very good at them. I'm just too gullible.

K
Kids: 2
Kickboxing or karate: "K"ouch
Keep a journal: Too much work, not enough time

L
Longest Car ride: Las Vegas to San Antonio (several times)
Love: Getting massages
Letter(s): Adore snail mail!
Laughing hard enough to cry: Haven't done that in awhile
Love at first sight: Happens everyday
Lions or Tigers: Who are they mascots for?

M
Milk: Is consumed by the gallon daily at my house
Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Mooned Anyone: Nope
Marriage: Almost 6 years!
McD's or Burger King: Chick-fil-A (too bad stinky WF doesn't have one)

N
Number of Siblings: 2
Number of crushes: I have a severe crush on Pottery Barn
Numbers to my telephone: 1-9

O
Overused phrases: "No!"
One wish: Potty trained kids
One phobia: The dark

P
Pizza: Little Caesar with bread sticks
Place to live: Hmmmm
Pepsi/ Root Beer: Pepsi

Q
Quail: Politician
Questionnaires: Remind me how boring my life is

R
Reasons for crying: Hearing my children say they love me
Reasons for killing: The correct answer would be none, but if you hurt my family it might be a different story
Radio Station: Positive, Encouraging K-Love!
Rolling your tongue in circle: Is unique

S
Song: Redeemer by Nicole C. Mullin
Shoe Size: 8
Salad Dressing: Caesar if I have to
Sad: Too many times
Slept outside: Yes! I really need to go camping again
Seen a dead body: Not fun
Smoked: Up my kitchen
Shower Daily: I really try to
Sing Well: Depends on how well your ear is trained
Sing the shower: Not anymore
Stuffed Animals: Used to have a million teddy bears
Single/ Group Dates: Then-single/Now-group
Strawberries or Blueberries: Strawberries
Scientists: Really need to find a cure for cancer

T
Time for bed: As soon as the boys are in bed
Thunderstorms: Are wonderful
Tornadoes: Happen around us too many times
TV: Survivor!
Touch your nose with your tongue: Yup

U
Unpredictable: Whether Tyson will use the potty or not
Umbrella: Needs to be bigger

V
Vacation Spot: What's a vacation?
Vegetable I love: Potatoes
Vegetables I hate: Jalapenos

W
Weakness: Gullible
When you grow up: When will that be again?
Which one of your friends acts most like you: Umm, me and my sis-in-law are a LOT alike
Who makes you laugh the most: Stuart
Wanted to be a Model: No, no and no
Where I live: Wichita Falls

X
X-rays: Provide lots of answers

Y
Year I was born in: 1980
Year that it is now: 2008
Year it will be soon: 2009

Z
Zoo animal: Giraffe
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I have come to the conclusion that Girls Night Out is not only a fantastic idea but it is a must! Last night a couple of my girlfriends and I got together at one of their homes; no husbands, no kids, good food, tasty beverages, and LOTS of laughter. Soooooo muuuuuch fun! It was so nice to socialize with adults, not to mention girlfriends. Truly amazing.

Cheers!

Is it Thursday or Friday?

So Stuart starting working mid shift this week at work. That means that he goes into work at 10:30 pm and comes home at 7:30 am. That's right, PM and AM. Why you ask? There are too many students and not enough classroom space so some of the instructors had to move to mids in order to accommodate the Air Force's newest AGE Rangers. Whatever. What this does mean for our little family is a whole new way of life.

1) Since Stu is gone at night, I am sleeping by myself. I use the word "sleeping" to mean I am in bed, with the dog, waking up every hour because of noises that I may or may not have heard and things that I may or may not have seen walking thru my house. Not fun. Let me also say that I am petrified of the dark, so you get the picture.

2) When Stu gets home around 7:30 am the boys are awake and ready to play with him. He is ready to crawl in bed and go to sleep.

3) While daddy is sleeping the day away, I have to try and keep the boys to a dull roar and prevent them from going into our room and not talk to daddy. I also have to explain several times a day that daddy IS at home but he is SLEEPING so we can't play with him right now.

4) I feel like a single mom since Stu is either at work or asleep but yet my husband is just in the other room.

5) I don't know what day it is. Since Stu's Monday starts on Sunday night, his weekend begins Friday morning. So right now it's Thursday but really his Friday. Nuts.

On a positive note, I got the dishes done this morning. Yea for me!!

Gobble Gobble...a bit late

This year we went to San Antonio for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to see my family and Stu's family. We headed our Wednesday night and had a jam-packed weekend. Thursday was so filled with food I don't know where to start. We had an early lunch with my family and then headed to Stuart's sister's house for a late lunch. In a two hour time period, we ate TWO Thanksgiving meals. Needless-to-say we were stuffed. Thursday night we hung out at my parents house and let the boys play with their cousin Kate. She is precious! She loved her Uncle Stu (he had a very calming effect on her) and was really interested in Tucker.

Friday morning we all got ready and attempted to take a Chisholm/Doss/Brooks family picture. Funny is a good word to describe it.

Friday night we drove out to Gruene,TX to celebrate a baby shower. We ate at the Gristmill. YUMMY! The town was so beautiful-covered with Christmas lights. The boys had fun running around and being outdoors.

Then Saturday morning I went shopping at Charming Charlie's with my mom-fabulous! It's like an upscale version of Sam Moon. Plus it has shoes and clothes. I should have robbed a bank before I went....

Sunday morning we drove home and were welcomed by 52 degrees and windy weather. Ahh, home sweet home!

Knock Knock

2Ts & 3Cs

Tyson, Chase, Cassi, Tucker and Ciera

T C T C

The boys

The youngest ones (soooo sweet)