Team USA

Last week was basically a throw away week. I was so sick. I really can't remember a time when a cold kicked my butt like that! I am feeling much better today and have lots of catching up to do this week. Hopefully I will finish the Christmas posts (before Easter, new goal!) and I have to write about seeing my cousin Holly. But for this morning I just wanted to share my conversation with the boys on the way to school this morning.

We were talking about the Olympics. They have loved watching every second of it. They love every sport. Though snowboarding has been their favorite.

Connor: Mom, can we try snowboarding?
Me: Sure, when we go to New York later this year.
Hudson: Mom, will you buy us a snowboard?
Me: No, we will rent them.
Hudson: Come on Mom, you can get us one on Ebay.
Me: (laughing, and ignoring the Ebay comment) Do you want to do snowboard racing or do tricks like Shaun White?
Hudson: Racing.
Connor: Tricks, but Mom, I'm not ready for the Olympics yet, so can I just go to practice first?
Me: Yes
Connor: I'll save the Olympics for when I am a teenager.
Me: Good plan.

More Christmas traditions

At this rate I just might finish all of the Christmas posts before Valentines Day...well, maybe. The first tradition is our new friend Lucky. You see one evening Lucky showed up at our home. There he was, just hanging out on our television. We were all pretty surprised to see him. Thankfully there was a book beneath him to explain what our visitor was doing there. The book told us that Santa had sent us an Elf to watch over us. He would spend the day at our home and then every evening while we slept he would travel back to the North Pole and report our behavior to Santa. The good, the bad, the ugly...all of it! Then every morning Lucky hid in a new spot waiting for us to find him. Oh, and we even got to name him! The last 2 weeks before Christmas were pretty cool thanks to Lucky. Anytime the boys did something extra nice I reminded them that Lucky was watching and would probably tell Santa. And anytime they misbehaved I would just have to say the word "Lucky" and they would become little angels!Do you think the Easter Bunny could send us a peep to watch out for him? How about The Birthday Frog? I love the Elf on The Shelf! The other tradition I "borrowed" from our friends, The Moseley's. For the past 3 years we get a small cake and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Eve. Usually I get a small plain birthday cake. This year the boys were with me and they insisted that Jesus would just love this cake made to look like a cup of hot cocoa.I love that this is the last thing we do before bed on Christmas Eve as it helps remind the kids one more time what we are truly celebrating!

prayers

When Connor was saying his prayers just now he thanked God for lots of things, but my favorite statement, by far, was:

" And thank you God for my 5 senses. Good job on that"

I really need to write down more of their prayers. They crack me up and touch my heart every night.

Christmas with the Rogers

Back to the Christmas posts. I know, I know..it's February. Maybe I'll get all 3 done BEFORE Valentines day. But don't count on it. See this is part of my New Years resolution to relax a little. But, you probably didn't know that since I never did a New Year's resolution post. See how relaxed I am! This year we started a new tradition with one of our most cherished families. We had the Rogers' over for dinner and a gift exchange.

When I look back at the hard times Brandon & I went through at the beginning of our marriage I totally understand why. AND I would go through it all over again as it led us to our church and people like the Rogers'. At a time in my life when I really need a "Dad" and my own father has pretty much disappeared from my life (and the boys lives) in steps Bruce. I really can't even tell you how much I love this man. He treats me like a daughter. He even calls me daughter. I am so thankful that Tara has allowed me to share her wonderful father. Between him and Pops I really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world. They are two of the best Dad's I have ever met and I get to share my life with both of them. And they don't love me because we share blood, they just love me. Anyway...before I get too sappy (you know I don't like to do that) I wanted to show you what Bruce got me as my special eclectic "from Dad" gift. It is from Ten Thousand Villages, it is beautiful and I hung it right above my kitchen sink. If you ask the boys why I hung it there they will tell you "it is to remind Mommy that Uncle Bruce loves her". Bruce also made Brandon a bible box. Yep, I said made. He is so talented! The boys got more gifts than I can name from Uncle Bruce, Aunt Kathy, Tara & Johnny. They love, love love their Super Mario Brothers game. And Johnny has been very patient playing it with them whenever he is over. They even got some spending cash to pick out their own gifts. So far Connor has bought some dinosaurs and Hudson is stuck on cars that change colors.They also got cool cars...actually Hudson got a fast car and Connor got a replica of his favorite truck...Uncle Bruce's truck of course! The boys opened embroidered towels that Kathy had made for them and Brandon immediately knew what his special gift from Kathy was. He didn't even wait for his turn, he just tore open his box to discover his set of towels with his initials embroidered on them. He loves them so much and uses them every time he is doing a project around the house. My special gift from Kathy was an apron. Erin got one too! I love that Kathy & Tara picked out the fabric especially for each of us. I have been using the same old apron for 12 years now and I love my new one made just for me!!!I love the care and time that goes into each of these gifts. Kathy is always there for me when I need her and I don't know if I can ever thank her enough for all of the kind words she has said to me over the years. And all of the love she has shown the boys is beyond measure and saying thank you just never seems like enough!

Just a quick note about Tara & Johnny...I am so happy that we have had the privilege of knowing these 2 since they were barely teenagers. They are such a special couple and It has been a pleasure watching them grow up. They are getting married in October and the boys are going to carry their rings down the aisle. I am so happy to get to help them plan their special day and I can't wait to give their kids as much love as they give ours! (no pressure guys!).

Sleepover

A couple of weekends ago we had Ryan & Olivia sleepover our house. We figured it would give Brett & Erin an evening alone without having to rush home for the babysitter. Plus, the kids have been asking to have a sleepover for a while. They were great! We had pizza and made popcorn and hung out and played for a while. They all went to sleep with no issue and were in bed by 9pm!! We had to make them go to bed kinda early (for a sleepover) since we had church the next morning. I thought getting 4 kids ready was going to be a challenge, but it was fine. Ryan totally took care of himself. Brandon got Olivia ready except for her hair. OMG that hair!!! There is a reason God didn't give us a daughter! It took us 10 minutes to give that child a messy ponytail. I felt bad about sending her to church like that, but really, I had no choice. This weekend our boys are spending the night over at their house. I think we may have just started something great!

The kids all slept in the boys room. I wonder how old Olivia will have to be before we move her into the guest room? It was Olivia's first sleepover! She was sooooo happy!