I'm addicted...

to the best drink EVER!!

With the holiday season already upon us, Starbucks busts out this bad boy!

The Peppermint Mocha! YUM!

Is it bad that I think about one of these on a daily basis?

I may have a problem.

Bedtime struggles

I don't know why, but bedtime has become such a struggle lately at our house. Gabe would immediately fall asleep once his head hit the pillow. Now, he's up 1-2 hours after we put him to bed, and he hollers at us saying that he can't get comfortable or that he can't sleep. Graedon just plain doesn't want to sleep by himself. He is always wanting one of us to "fweep with him." know that we will miss them wanting us to cuddle with them one day, but right now, I miss having an evening break. They don't nap anymore, and they are always just constant. Nighttime needs to be adult time.

Bedtime is supposed to be a nice reflection time...a time to settle down, have some cuddle time right before, and then off to rest and get energized for the next day. I hate being so frustrated at bedtime and being so grouchy. Ugh. If you have any suggestions on how to make it better, I would love to hear them. :-)

A Quiet House

I am normally a huge night owl. I stay up late, and I can function fine on only 5-6 hours of sleep. I've always been that way. I also stay up late to catch up on things I want to do while the boys are in bed. That is when I have the house to myself usually. The only downfall, is that I can scare myself because of it being dark, and we live off of a busy street, and my mind will trick me into hearing noises or thinking that someone is watching me through my windows. I know, I am a freak. :-)

Anyway, the past few nights, I have been going to be a little earlier than usual because I haven't been feeling too good. So, in turn, I have been getting up earlier. Normally, I just lay in bed, sleeping or not, until the boys decide to wake me up. This time, I have been getting up before them, and the house is just so quiet and peaceful, and it is daylight so no crazy thoughts are entering my mind.

I am definitely still a night owl person, but I can see getting used to the morning thing as well. Maybe I need to rethink my bedtime somewhat. What about you? What kind of person are you...a morning person or a night owl?

Blessed by great friends

I have awesome friends...no really, mine are awesome! :-) I had several friends call and check on me while Chad was gone. I also had some great online friends who chatted with me and left me words of encouragement to help past the time! I love you all for that. Thank you so much! Chad is now home safe and sound, and my family feels complete again.

Another great little perk are my scrappy girls. Over the years, our little once a month get together to scrap, eat and just socialize, has now become my best friends. I don't know what I would do without these girls in my life. I've laughed and cried with them. We've celebrated babies, holidays and birthdays together. We've ate tons of food, supported each other's shopping habits, and of course, scrapped tons of pages together. :-) This weekend was no exception. Ashley, the pretty blonde, hosted us at her new home for the weekend (isn't it beautiful?). I had a great time, and I think they did too!

I don't think we got too many pages completed, but we shared our stories and our pictures. There were tears and laughter shared as well. There is just something about laughing a crying when a group of ladies get together, isn't there? I had a great time, and I am so very grateful for my girls! Love you guys!
Smile ladies!

Halloween Activities

We had a great Halloween year!! Gabe's costume was my favorite so far out of everything he has chosen to be. He kind of waited until the last minute to decide, but once he did, he was dead set on being that. Chad and I made the proton pack and patches. Chad's dad gave us a pair of welding goggles, and we had some friends give us an official Air Force flight slight that he had. It was perfect!

Gabe's school hosted a Halloween party as well as a Halloween Parade through the school just for the Kindergarten classes. My niece, Taylor is in the other afternoon Kindergarten class as well. She is the bat girl pictured. The kids were so proud to show off their costumes, and it was great that parents were allowed to come and take pictures. Right up my alley!

I was so bummed this year that I had to cancel our annual Halloween Party. This would've been our 3rd year hosting one, but we had all had the flu that week, and I just didn't want to expose anyone to our germies. So, I still had all of the craft items and food and such that I bought for the party. I decided to host a little shindig with just my mom, brother and sister-in-law, my niece and of cours my family of boys. I had Witch's Broom treat bags, Graham Cracker Haunted Houses to decorate, treat bags to decorate, and they also got to pass out candy to the
trick-or-treaters. I didn't anticipate how much the kids loved that!

Last but not least, Halloween Night! Gabe was pumped, but Graedon wanted nothing to do with putting on his costume and going out. He was horrible. He did not trick-or-treat by going
door-to-door, he only went to my in-laws home, and once there getting his huge bag of loot (yes, they go overboard), he was all set. He loved it. In fact, he slept in his Thomas costume. So, I only have the 2 pictures of him in his costume. He actually wore the costume the next day as well when we went out for lunch. He's a child that wants what he wants. He is so strong-willed.

I think we had an awesome Halloween, and I cannot wait for next year! I just don't know how we are going to top the Ghostbuster costume!

Not looking forward to tomorrow

You know the saying, "Tomorrow will be better"...? Well, my tomorrow isn't going to be better than today. Today, Chad is home, and we've been doing family stuff together. We slept in, had a late breakfast together, and then watching the Colts game (yes, they won!). Tomorrow, Chad is leaving for a week-long training session in Kansas City for his job. It's just not a fun idea to think about at all. I just cannot imagine my hubby not being home with us all this coming week. I really think Gabe is going to have the hardest time with it. He's already broken down in tears once today, which made Chad tear up, and then of course I had to cry as well. It's just so hard on our little family. We're not the same if we aren't all together.

If you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers for safe traveling for Chad, and for a good week with my boys, that would be greatly appreciated. I may have to plan a few fun days with my little guys, just to make it a little extra special. Oh, how I cannot wait until Friday. I hope this is the fastest week ever!!