2009 here we come

so the plan is we are staying up all night! we will see how long we make it, however we have already had our special homemade rib dinner, ate our black eyed peas for good luck (mom we all had at least one), sparkling juice toast, fireworks, sparklers carried by running little boys, dessert, and have settled in to build some legos! we all agree and we think 2009 will bring us many happy memories and special times. thanks to all who have made 2008 a memorable one for us and our children.

planet earth

we have had great evenings over this break of snuggling up in my bed with the kids and watching an episode of "planet earth" each night. the kids are so intrigued and are fascinated with all the beauty. the scenes of death are a little disturbing, but not we have learned to anticipate them and fast forward. last night wyatt said "this episode is great...it is peaceful and has no killing." then sure enough, not even 30 seconds later...so he says "i should have kept my mouth shut!"

crowds...no problem

typically, a crowded theme park is not my idea of a fun day....however, thanks to a friendly invitation from my friend jennifer, it was a very relaxing and fun-filled day. it was a very atypical one for us...we have not been to busch gardens in probably about a year and we usually go for only a few hours, but this time we got there basically at opening and did not get home until dinner time. the boys legs were sore and owen had a bad blister, but they loved the day! i think since my sister's family and ours decided to do the year passes, it allowed us to feel like whatever we did not accomplish in one day, we had a year to do later on. but in all reality, we really did do most everything we had hoped to. bumper cars was a treat for the boys and grace loved the miniature train ride. my favorite was the main train ride where we were within arms distance it felt from so many amazing animals of africa. for lunch, we were able to eat while getting a last bit of the holidays with their christmas show...that was great and then i was able to enjoy a nice cold beer with jennifer (her one stipulation for the visit was sharing a beer--not a problem). and to end the day, ice cream sundaes on the way out...could not have been better! the kids had so much fun with their friends and cannot wait to return...they keep saying "mommy, we can go WHENEVER we want"....honestly i say, "yep, you are right!"

blast services holiday party--table for 5

i decided that blast services (though it only has one employee---todd) deserved a corporate holiday party so the 5 of us had a FANTASTIC visit to melting pot! the kids had a BLAST! perfect holiday dinner!

baby new year 2008---not for the faint of heart

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all wrapped up

for the first year, i was the first one up...waiting for the kids to jump out of bed and be ready to run down and open gifts! but with some gentle coercion, i was able to get those little christmas cuties up and running down the stairs! everyone got everything on their lists and we heard them exclaim throughout the day "this is the best christmas ever!"

REALLY?

so i definitely do not see myself as interesting or "cool" and i feel that there is really not much "wow" in my stories. when asked "what have you been up to?" really i do not have too much to say. not that i am one that if i did have much to say i would, but truly i just do not have enough to elaborate on, especially anything that does not include stories of my kids. so i decided to set out to think of some things that have happened along my path that did make people say"REALLY?" or "WOW!" i hope to add to the list!!

1. spent new year's eve at the savoy in london...if you are not saying "wow" then you don't know what happens at the savoy on new year's eve!!
2. was a tutor for the florida gator's football team
3. live in a 100 year old house
4. graduated with my bachelor's degree at age 20 and was nominated to be a rhodes scholar but did not accept as i did not want to leave my family and fiance
5. have been with my hubby since i was 15
6. bought my dog from a small breeder in iowa and had her shipped to me...don't worry we paid extra for priority :)
7. gave birth to 3 children with no epidural
8.have three children with all extremely different eye colors (dark brown, bright green, and crystal blue)
9. got all A's in undergrad and grad college except one C in Sex Ed of all things and then 1 B+ in graduate school
10. cut all three of my kids hair and now have added todd to the mommy salon schedule

i am going to try to think of a few things that next time someone asks me "what have you been up to?" i will have some REALLY COOL things to say instead of "really not much" :)