Oh happy day, Booya!

I wanted to give a little shout out to my Mom today...It was her last day of radiation therapy and we are so glad she is DONE! She has handled this whole situation with bravery, grace, and faith and we are so proud of her. So we celebrate today for her...she was however the one who taught me to celebrate life in the good times and to do your best to find joy in the tough times. We are thankful for her example and amazed by how God has helped her through this time with being surrounded by such thoughtful people, doctors, and daily reminders of how much she is loved. Today I thank God for taking care of our Booya and pray for those who are just beginning a tough journey ahead. And if my Mom does indeed find this blog, we want her to know we think she's pretty special. Here are some of my favorite pictures of her in the last few months.

She loves Disney World and who can resist a hug from Piglet? Of course her favorite color is pink;) 

Coming up with the perfect surprise for Parker this summer while riding Thomas the Train...of course she did!

Ringing around the Rosie with Tinley no matter how many times she has to fall down.

Decorating for Thanksgiving and going all the way themed out with our little Indian.

Making Gingerbread Houses with the kids...and understanding that Parker needs perfection and Tinley needs to use her creative judgement:)

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Reading by the Christmas tree...

1 John 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Wednesday!

Sometimes that first week back after a vacation is...a little challenging. As a teacher, I still get excited about Christmas break, summer, weekends, and snow days. I know some of these things are not quite as exciting if you are not a student or a teacher but that is a perk of my job...you get to be a little giddy about these times.  The great thing about working with 5 year olds is that they are excited about everything! This week they've been a little tired...we came back to school, it's colder than it has been, we have to use our brains again.  After the first few hours of sharing Christmas stories...they were pretty much ready to go back to bed. And the same in my household...Parker and Tinley have had a hard time with waking up and getting going...sleeping till the very last minute...which they may have inherited from me!  Parker has been so out of it, he ran right into the door at school today and got a big knot on his head!  Don't worry, he's okay...just had to review looking where we are going...did he also get that from me?  All our sleepiness aside, it's been nice to see friends this week and enjoy some low key nights at home...and we are thankful that we have arrived at Wednesday night without being late to work and still functioning (besides that whole door thing)! Hope you have found something to celebrate and be thankful for today!  Happy Wednesday!!

2012...Here we come!

I don't know what you guys did for New Year's Eve, but we had some fun times... We kicked off our celebration by heading back to Graham to celebrate with our families.  Throughout our weekend I thought about what the year ahead might bring...


Tinley started off the day by writing down her New Year's Goals...I think saying "no" and "mine" less times a day was at the top of her list (or was that my list?)

Maybe working on going to the potty like a girl instead of a boy...A good start below with Daddy's help.

Maybe...just maybe giving up the beloved pacifier...

And most certainly...Tinley style enjoying life to the fullest :)

Parker's New Years Resolutions...a little different of course. He's been working on how to help others (while still being 5 and kind of a "wanter" as well!) Below he is delivering poinsettias on Christmas Eve. He enjoyed this!

He wants to be brave...so hard for our little sensitive soul in some ways, but in some ways he's so brave already. He and Daddy went for a tiny ride (with a helmet of course) which he loved!

And Parker style being silly and working on those moves! He and his cousins danced the night away on New Year's Eve!

As for us...I think we have plenty just trying to keep up with theirs! We have experienced countless blessings over the past year as we encountered things that were wonderful and things that were challenging. We can't wait to see what God will do in 2012! Here are a few of our other favorites from our celebration below. Happy New Year!

A new tradition for the New Year...

Welcome to my blog...Hopefully this will not be the one and only post since I do have to go back to work Monday! I have never completed a full scrapbook, baby book, etc so I've decided a new try at recording and sharing some of our special moments. It requires no glue, tape and especially no perfectionist spirit ( I hope). If you know me, you know that's not my strongest trait...I do however like to take pictures (we got a new camera!) and try to capture some of our special moments. I wish I could go back in time and add many things from the past that I'm counting on remembering but I've got to start somewhere...so how about here in almost 2012~ Here are a few of my hundreds of December pictures. We had such a fun Christmas season and were blessed to spend time with friends and family...

 Parker at his school party!

Enjoying some Tinley humor!

 Drum set from Santa..not a great picture, but great times (for a little while!)

 Trying out the new roller skates with Uncle Matthew!

This is just me trying to use our new camera! Yay!!