Lack of Time

It's funny how you imagine yourself being able to get everything done on your list and check it off. But as you dig into your list, time seems to double and before you know it you are all out of time and you have relaxed on other areas. Our blog, has been one of those things. lol. I find myself having a hard time getting the time to sit down and blog or even catch up on all of my photo taking of the boys. Life at our house never seems to slow down. Of course it's Springtime, so that means soccer and baseball have started. I am still full time subbing at Dadeville in the 1st grade classroom. I love teaching and look forward to getting my masters completed this summer and then I will just have student teaching and I will be DONE!!! Teaching is part of a passion that I have had for awhile now, and it is something that I can do and still be active in my children's lives. I wanted to do something that I would have summers, weekends, and holidays off with them. Family is so important to me and I want to make it a priority. Of course Matthew is preparing for the busy summer of camps, camps and VBS. This will be my second year as the preschool director. Looking forward to that, and working with all the little guys and teaching them that Jesus loves them. In the next few weeks I hope to get photos downloaded and our blog caught back up. So please be patient, and know that I am probably at a soccer, baseball game, or up at the church doing something. Or you can really dream big, and think that maybe I'm on a beach somewhere soaking up the sun and enjoying a good book. Haha!! Or reality can set in and I'm probably up to my elbows in laundry and cleaning. May you all have a great week.

March 2010

I know, I am terrible at keeping caught up with this blog. But I promise to get better and to keep it updated. We have had a crazy and busy winter but we are looking forward to spring and summer. Please stay tune to future posts and pictures.

Christmas 2009

Every year we are truly blessed by what God has given us and continues to do in our lives. This year marked our 5th year as spending Christmas together as a family. This year we remained healthy, safe and warm, and was able to spend time with old friends and family and truly celebrate our Lord in Savior's birth. This year we were delighted to wake up to snow on the ground. It is so cool to see a child's innocence and it does not usually happen when it's Christmas. But this year as I was the first one up and drinking my coffee at the kitchen table, Landon comes running down the hallway, excited and clapping his hands. He ran through the living room and not once noticed the gifts that were now under the tree, but that there was snow outside. "Mommy, mommy, there is snow, it's everywhere he exclaimed. Can I go outside and play in it?" He continued to be just as excited and went and woke up everyone in the house so he could tell them about the snow. Finally after about 30 minutes, Landon walked back in the living room to see the gifts and clapped his hands. "Oh Santa came and brought us our gifts". He was so excited, but even more so with the snow. That was the best Christmas gifts I could have ever had, to see his eyes light up at the sight of the snow.
This year we celebrated Christmas Eve at my parent's house as usual. This has been a tradition in our family since I was born, and I'm now 32 years old. Of course this year it was extra special because we had uncle AJ in our family this year. The boys love their new uncle and enjoy spending time with both of them. We did change things up a bit this year and open gifts first so then we could relax and enjoy our dinner. This year the menu had smoked ribs, potato casserole, salad, bread and everything else you can imagine. We were able to enjoy our evening and get home as the sleet and snow began to fall and make the roads a little slick. On Christmas day, we joined the rest of our family at noon to spend time with them and enjoy a great Christmas lunch that my Grandma Melton had made. There is nothing better than turkey, dressing, homemade potato rolls and my grandma's famous, "yellow gravy". Of course we ate too much but we didn't stop there. It would not be complete on Christmas day without our traditional Strawberry Shortcake. It was so good, and I can taste it now as I am typing away. Spending time at Grandma and Pa Melton's house is always special to me. It brings back such memories and the smells of my childhood. Of course we all have grown and just about everyone is married with a family of their own. It also makes me appreciate my family and the values and foundation that was set as a small child.
Later that Christmas day afternoon, we all loaded up and headed to my other grandparents house. Taking the back roads and trying to stay on the road and not in the ditch was a task. But Matthew was able to get us there all safe and sound. Once again there was a huge amount of food, but it was enjoyed by all. Spending time with family that we see usually just at the holidays. I am the oldest grandchild, so it's a little different on this side of the family. We have less in common and didn't grow up playing with one another. But it is always good to see them and spend time with them.
At the end of the day, and of the busy season, we truly enjoyed our Christmas. I feel very lucky to still have all four grandparents living and in good health. As some of the pictures will show, we enjoyed our time and look forward to making more memories.

Quality Time as a Family

God has truly blessed our family in more ways than we can ever imagine. We have four boys that each have their own loving qualities and bring such enjoyment to our lives. One of the most important things we can do as a family is spend quality time with one another. This summer we were able to do just that. We spent time on Stockton Lake on our new boat, which we really love. We spent some time in Branson in a wonderful cabin with family and enjoyed all the fun activities that Branson has to offer. Matthew surprised us with a trip to Kansas City and we had some fun at the Great Wolf Lodge. Of course don't forget the baseball games we attended in Springfield and St Louis--Go Cards. All of these activities sound like so much fun, but one of the best things we did as a family was our little camp fire in the back yard, roast some hotdogs and just relax for the evening. It's those moments that we will cherish forever and always remember the quality time we spent as a family.

Summer of 2009