Christmas 2012 and a Fresh Start

Christmas 2012
Every year I say "This year we are going to do....", Living the life of retail, wherein your world and finances are comsumed by "Christmas", it gets increasingly hard to create a true Christmas Spirit.  I'm hoping as the kids get older and can understand certain things, that will be much easier.  I wouldn't change the way our life is or the circumstances that have us here.  It is what it is and Mike loves having his own business.  It happens to be in retail, but it pays the bills, allows us to raise our kids how we would like, and we are able to spend wonderful time together.  The last few months of the year Mike gets a little cranky (he'll role his eyes at this), and we all just get exhausted.  There are parties to plan and attend, long, long hours on your feet dealing with unhappy shoppers, rude people, but also grateful people!  There are gifts to wrap, lists to be made, crowds to fight with a toddler running around, and then, in the sum of 24 hours, it's over.  And you think, we survived.  It wasn't that bad.  And you start planning for next year:)  While we love that the last few months allow us to live our lives comfortably, we also relish a fresh start in January!

Reagan has been in hip-hop this year and loves her teacher.  She had a great recital and was so cute :)

We traveled to our parents Christmas Eve and were able to spend a few days with family.  Repetative I know, but we are so grateful for them being close and that we are able to have our kids connect with grandparents and have their own special relationships with them and with cousins.  I didn't have that growing up.  Mike did, and it's something that is really, really important to us.  The kids had a great time and got more than their share of presents. Kade was awesome this year and was genuinely excited about all his presents and the concept of the holiday.  It is currently February, and he still tells Daddy every night, "Merry Chrismess Daddy".  It's turned into a little game who can say it first but we love it anyway.

 Man I love his cute little expressions :)

 This was our "tree" adventure.  We thought it would be fun to cut our own tree down this year.  I mean, we are only miles from some great forestry!  So we loaded up the kids in the truck on a dreary, freezing Sunday and purchased a tree tag in St Anthony (about 45 min away and only another 15 into Island Park).  As we started to drive into Island Park to the designated areas, the rain started drizzling down.  We drove several miles back into the forest praying we wouldn't get stuck in the mud drenched back roads.  We all got out as a family and began walking around looking for the perfect tree.  Then the rain got heavier and the kids got colder.  Notice Kade is missing a coat.  No thanks to the fantastic mom he has :(  Then we left them under a pine tree as we decided to go further along to find one.  The kids panicked because they couldn't see us and Reagan was screaming for us and Kade was bawling.  We threw the kids into the truck and we were all soaking wet, but by gosh, we were going to find a silly tree!! So Mike and I proceeded to get in and out of the truck at different areas as the rain is now pouring down on us.  Soaking wet, kids crying, and not finding a tree...we finally gave up.  Those trees are not as they appear :)  We drove home and the next night we went to the YMCA and found our BEST. TREE. EVER!!! Good times though, right!

We were SOOO glad we finally got snow as well and the kids were pulled around on the 4-wheelers at Grandmas house and then we were able to come home and do some sledding.  There is a perfect park by our house that has just the right size of hills for the kids.  And I love that they are willing and able this year to carry their own sleds back up the hill!

Kade is very creative :)

This was Reagan's earned reward that she loved :)

She also had her 2 lower teeth pulled in November.  I nearly died when I noticed the teeth behind her baby teeth one day.  To think, I ignored her "sores in her mouth" for a month! The permanent teeth magically appeared behind those and they were loose but would not come out.  She thinks all her teeth are going to come out with a little magic air and a nice reward from the dentist.  I fear her freaking out when the next one is getting yanked out!

January also brings promises of new beginnings. It's always a time to reflect on where you want your year to go and what fun things and goals you want to have. We did pretty good on our goals for last year and are excited for the upcoming year, and especially summer! 

Ladybugs

This post was started and then never posted so it's a little out of date :)

I can't believe it's been 2 years today since we vacated Utah and moved to Idaho Falls!  I miss it terribly.  I miss the beautiful mountains close by and all the fun things to do in the "city".  The plethera of shopping options, I miss my/our friends, my job (never thought I would admit to that), and my dear family we left there. But, we were an unhappy little family.  Mike was so unhappy with his job and where it was going, and the ever changing unorganization it became.  We had a rushed life.  Probably a life that we weren't so much content but always enjoying the search for something more. Course, you don't realize these things until you have a new life.  A new, slower paced, I know that I am doing what I am supposed to at this point in my life, life.  It was a great life there though.  We made so many memories and friends there.  It was hard to leave.  But it's also hard to imagine that was our life!  It's hard to imagine getting up and rushing so early.  Shuffling kids around to get dressed, fed and off to daycare so we can be at work all day.  Getting home late and eating crappy, fast dinners :)
Not that our life is bliss by any means.  But we are lucky that Mike gets to be around for school prep time.  He gets to chat and hang out.  He goes to work later and he gets to be home at dinner time. Not almost bed time.  It's crazy obviously around retail moments but overall, it's wonderful.  Reagan loves to be taken to school by her dad :)  Most importantly, I love being home with Kade.  I love the bond I have with him. I love playing hide and seek all day, swords, karate, tea parties, and puzzles when I can convince him to slow down.  I really miss the concept of work. I miss the interaction with patients and my friends I worked with.  I'm slowly beginning to long for some working life again (that doesn't entail a cash register) :o)

It's weird to think about the place we were in as a family 2 winters ago.  It was such a hard, trying time emotionally.

 A few shorts months after moving into our house, it seemed as if we were being invaded by Lady Bugs. Yes, ladybugs. We bought our house from a couple who up and moved and were supposedly very mysterious.  I was convinced they were involved in some Middle East corruption :) I have a GREAT wandering imagination and paranoia!  Anyway, to make a long story short,  It was THE STRANGEST thing!  I mean, we moved in December and it was below zero for most of the next few months.  However, we would randomly find LIVE lady bugs throughout the house, then in our cars, etc.  I was so paranoid about what the whole thing was that I started googling (because the internet is NEVER wrong) why a lady bug would be alive in the middle of a very cold winter!  It was totally freaking me out.
Anyway, I found out some interesting things and I swear to you, it put my life in perspective, and it gave me hope, renewed faith in our little family, and a sensation that someone, somewhere, was watching over us and preparing us for something greater, for something that would put us on a path that we needed to reconnect to.

• Because the life of the adult ladybug is short, it teaches us how to release worries and enjoy our lives to the fullest. When a ladybug appears in our life it is telling us to "let go and let God."
• The name lady bug finds its origins in the middle ages when this beetle was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and called the "beetle of our lady" and the insect is said to hold a link to mothers.
• Ladybugs are very visible, unlike most insects that are camouflaged from predators. In spite of the ladybug's size, it appears to be fearless.
• Seen often as a messenger of promise, the ladybug reconnects us with the joy of living.

And I would never wish our old life back but sometimes I think, what would life be like.  I know I would choose this life over that! 

A Family Journal

When I started blogging all those years ago (seriously, it's been almost 5 years?!), it was just a fun way to keep family that was long distance informed of the comings and goings, and mostly, to see the adorable daughter of ours grow!! Then it mostly became a way for me to journal about the comings and goings and happenings of our family, because I was terrible at putting things down in writing! 
We periodically sit down and go back to the beginning of the blog and let the kids look at all the fun things that are on there, and it's mostly a great way to remember how time has flown and how awesome we have it!  I love blogging.  If only for myself, and a select few that read it, it enables me to put thoughts and pictures down that can then be translated to pages in a memory book.  I can't believe I let so many days and weeks go by without putting the littlest things down so I can remember them a few years from now.  That's already my New Year's resolution for myself :)
That being said, we've had a memorable past few months.  We are in full swing-getting-ready-for-holidays mode at our house.  The craziness is upon us, and we will soon be wondering where 2012 went.
Hiking in Palisades

We had a fun first weekend in October spending it with Mike's family in Utah.  We had family pictures taken and were able to see Matt and Yvette's new addition. 

Reagan and Kade had a great time playing with cousins and we enjoyed an adult dinner out celebrating Mike's parents 40th wedding anniversary.  Great examples of long living love! Some of our pics.

 I love these kiddos!

 

We then had an awesome visit from Auntie Jenn all the way from Pennsylvania.  Although she's not technically "blood", we consider her so, and she's been an amazing friend to me for so many years, and a fun Aunt for my kids :)  My kids are wild and wooley sometimes, but she takes it with stride and we always get lots of laughs, and some girl time it thanks to Mike, and always, always, enjoy her visits and miss her when she's gone!

 She's throwing out the heart love sign for One Direction :)

 Not a bad picture taken by a 6 year old who can barely hold the camera

Herriman State Park

Mike and I were then able to take our first vacation without kids in over 6 years! (That's not counting an overnight stay here or there) We stayed on beautiful Kauai and spent a week just relaxing, reading for hours by the ocean, uninterrupted sleeping, hiking, eating yummy food, snorkeling in the salty ocean, catching up on movies we haven't seen, and being happy just being together.  We got awesome tans and were ready to come home at just the right time.  We missed the kids like crazy, but it was totally what we needed and we came home feeling refreshed and freezing cold!!  Although our sitter was more than excited to see us and did not exactly look tan and refreshed ;o)

 There are thousands of "wild" chickens on the Island of Kauai.  The tale says that in the early 90s a hurrican that wiped out the Island, also spread some random chicken farmers chicken to the island.  They just roam around and nobody bothers them.  I made the mistake of feeding a rooster a chip and he crowed at me for the next 20 mins until I kept feeding him.

 The falls that are famous due to Fantasy Island

 This picture is of Waimea Canyon.  They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.  It was amazing.  We didn't have the camera on this day and the above picture does not do it just.  I think it runs like 10 miles wide and is 2ish miles deep.  This was from one of the observation areas.  Many of the miles that surround this area consist of red clay (dirt).  I would HATE living in those towns.  Absolutely everything is tinted red.  Can you imagine what the inside of a house would be like after the wind blows?!

This picture also doesn't do our hike justice :)  We decided randomly to attempt a hike down into Waimea Canyon.  It was 2.5 miles and I am talking STRAIGHT down into the canyon.  This was the "safe" part of the hike I think! There isn't a drop off into the canyon, or rocks and pebbles everywhere.  We made good time and hiked half way down and then looked up and I chickened out!! I was thinking there was no way I could make it at a steep incline all the way back up! And we weren't sure exactly what was at the bottom so we climbed back up in the 80% humidity and 85 degree weather.  I was sure I was going to pass out :)  It was beautiful though!

Reagan is loving dance, school, socializing, and tormenting her brother.  She's growing so tall and skinny.  Some nights when we check on them before going to bed I can 't believe how grown up she looks!  My sweet, chubby cheeked little girl is no longer.  She really has a zest for life that you have to love.  She is very cranky to do chores, usually will tell you your business, but in spite of the "kid stuff", she is a sweet girl. We are constantly reminding ourselves that we need to be easier on her, because, in fact, she is not 10, just a 6 yr old longing to be 10.  After all, how many 6 year olds do you know that aspire to be a famous songwriter:} (And a note on that, she had 2 teeth pulled this week and was more nervous about it "affecting her singing voice" than any other outcome)

Kade is growing so tall and looking more and more like a boy and not a little toddler!  He has a great vocabulary, is still obsessed with Toy Story, and has officially sworn off diapers for life!!  He has become so insanely, stubbornly independant, very opinionated about what he wants and boy is it going to happen for him.  We hear "don't touch that", "Leave it right here", "I do it".  He's very particular (almost to a point of OCD) of where things go and how he wants them.  It's hard to believe he will soon be THREE!  He is my buddy and the best good boy ever.  I just love spending time with him.  I love reading to him at nap time and most nights I spoilingly (?) hold him to sleep just so I can love on him and kiss him a hundred times and tell him I love him without him brushing away kisses and saying "No kissy mommy" or "STOP kissy me mommy".  But we love them, because in spite of our imperfections, they love us!

Halloween snuck up too fast!! We were entertained by Mavis (dracula girl from Hotel Transylvania), and Woody.  Reagan carved her very first pumpkin and I was sure we would end up at the ER!  Kade was less than interested in touching anything pumpkin and would say "ew, ew, ew".  They were excited to go trick-or-treating and we picked a random neighborhood to go to and it ended up being a development with older, mostly widows.  They were so cute and my not-really-candy-eating kids got more than they wanted.  We were out and in bed in record time!  Kade was adorable and would lift his hat and say "Howdee Parner" each time.  He's been in true Woody mode since then and the hat has hardly left his head. 

 Checking out his Woody Pumpkin

 This was the "trial" face :)

 

 Howdee Partner

We've had random beautiful fall days that we always try our best to enjoy.  The cold, cold winter is fast approaching and we are all in denial.