30 and Thriving!

Wow! What a busy, busy week.

Two nights in bed after midnight.

2 nights not getting home until the boys

were in their pajamas or already in bed.

But, today is Saturday. 'nuf said.

One of my favorite things from this week was that

one of my most special friends had a surprise birthday

party. Her husband had been secretly planning it for

weeks (if not months) and it was a ton of fun. Hailey and

I have been close friends since college and it was during

our private investigator days that we located and found her

husband. (more private investigator stories to follow in another

blog).

Hailey looks taller than me in this picture

but normally we are the same height

(she cheated and wore heels!).

30 is a great age to be. We are officialy grown-ups. The mortgages, marriages and master's degrees didn't define us as adults but now that we are 30 the world had better watch out. We are wiser and more

willing than ever to go after what we want!

We are 30 and thriving!

Doesn't 30 look beautiful on her?

Happy birthday Hailey (PIJ)!

Sweet Surprises

Now this cute fellow isn't one of mine. He is my friend Di's sweet surprise. I say surprise because he sure wasn't planned. I've been there and done that. The thing with sweet surprises is that they start out a little sour (well, my attitude about it was sour anyway and I must admit Diana and I have talked enough that I know she felt the same way). When I got pregnant with Owen, Caleb was only 4 and a half months old. I cried and cried and begged Mark to look at the indicator again. The poor man did as I asked and then had to face my wrath when he told me that I was still pregnant. When you have an unexpected pregnancy it seems like there are a million reasons why now is not a good time.

I just had a baby...

I just switched jobs...

I was working on my master's degree and teaching fulltime...

I didn't know if I wanted another one...


This wasn't in my plan ...


All those thoughts ran through my head over and over. As I grew bigger and bigger (and bigger) with my second child I grew almost resentful. I couldn't get past the inconvience of it. But then I had a change of heart. I had Owen. From the minute I held him and looked at him I was looking at love. I already loved him differently then I loved Caleb. Caleb was my first and I truly thought I would have a hard time loving another baby as much as I loved him. I was prepared for him and my heart was ready.

With Owen, one look and my heart was lost all over again. I breathed in his innocence and have never, never regretted him for one second. He will always be my most sweet surprise and he is truly a gift from God. He changed my heart and opened my eyes and I have been praying that prayer for my friend Diana. Now God answers all prayers and sometimes he doesn't answer them the way we want him too but...

...this time he did. Diana, enjoy your sweet surprise.

Some Snow Time!

As soon as the boys saw snow

on Saturday, they informed me

that they had to go play in it. Well ...

only if Daddy and I get to play too!

After Caleb tried to catch some snowflakes with his tongue we had a snowball fight that lasted about an hour. It was Mark and Owen against Caleb and myself. Caleb (poor kid) had the handicap because I can't hit the broad side of a barn.

I love the look on Caleb's face in the picture below. That is mischief if I've ever seen it! You should have heard what he was saying as he got closer. "Daddy, I've got a secret for you..." (heh, heh, heh). And even though he missed, he was so pleased with himself I could only laugh.



















When I thought we were all done, everyone ganged up on me and smeared me in the snow. Even
the dog was biting me! (traitor - who feeds you anyway?!)

Today I love the snow, tomorrow when I have to drive in it I'll probably wish it was all gone, but for weekend fun in the backyard it can be hard to beat!

Bad (Guy) Days

Last Thursday when I picked up the boys from daycare, Owen was a little pouty. I asked him if he was having a bad day and he just hmphed at me. Caleb piped up and said "You know Owen, sometimes I wake up and I am having a bad guy day"

What a great way to look at it. Do I want to be a bad guy today or a good guy? At 6:07 this morning when the kids woke up early I can tell you it wasn't looking good. Don't they know it's Saturday? Just the day before they had slept in till 7:15 and I had been up, showered and blow dried my hair. Did they wake up then? Nope! So this morning as I staggered down the hall and tried not to open my eyes (it helps you go back to bed easier if you don't open your eyes much) and growled at the boys to go back to bed, I was wishing for the umpteenth time that I was a morning person. That when I woke up, I could take a good, long stretch and then smile at the world, ready to get up and move mountains. I tried that when I got up with the boys again 15 minutes later (obviously they are morning people) and believe it or not, it helped. Maybe it is just a choice between having a good guy day or a bad guy day.

Tag "Carrot"

I've been deliberating on whether or not to blog. It's time consuming (and who has extra time lying around) and what if no one reads what you write anyway?! Then you would be wasting the time that you didn't have to waste! Then the other day I was asking Owen what he had done at Pre-School.
Owen: "We played Tag Carrot!"

Mommy: "What's that?" (are they learning about vegetables and I forgot?)

Owen: "You know Mommy - Tag Carrot!"

Mommy to Daddy: "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Daddy (smugly): Yes - ask him to show you.

Mommy: "Owen, show me how to play"

Once I said this Owen jumped off my lap, ran around the room and then came and smacked me on the leg. With the smack came the truimphant yell "TAG CARROT!"
Ohhh.... Now I got it! And once I got it I thought it was the cutest thing ever (for those of you still in the dark it's Owen speak for Tag - you're it).

Because it was so cute I of course had to tell everyone. After a million phone calls I started to think there has to be an easier way than this. Long story short - I am now blogging and you had better take the time to enjoy it!