And the winner is.....

Ms. Sara Joy Spreckelmeyer !! congrats!! I will drop your package off with in the next week or so!! You can contact Brooke through her Roxsey blog and set up a time that works for you and you can contact Jenn Coconut Lime Designs for her custom Cards..Maybe for Baker's First Birthday Party!?!

Thank you all for your inspiring words. They really meant alot. some days I really don't think anybody reads this and not that it would matter because it is really a journal for my children. I wanted it to be a way to record our daily lives and share with out of town family. It has turned into much more then that. It is therapy...where else can I go and feel "normal" ...right here on the Internet..I know there are more crazies out there..no, seriously..thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

I am going to

Draw the winner tonight!! You will get a great package in the mail with lots fun stuff...cd's, candles, bubble bath along with 20 free personally designed cards and a free photo session with Roxsey photo!!

Just leave your comment on this post. click it to take you there!! happy reading, I am now off to wipe snotty noses, chase kiddos out of the garbage and stop one from putting the whole roll of toilet paper down the toilet..What are you going to do!?

11 Months old!!

I have been doing so good keeping up with Carters baby book through blogging so i had to share about him before my forgetful mommy brain turned to mush...

Happy 11 month Birthday My Carter John!! I Love your eyes and your smile! I love how you can say Matthew, Mikey, Sam and O ( for Olivia) You haven't really walked yet, Just a few steps but why should you? everyone will hold you. You are starting to drink milk from a cup and cry when I leave for a moment. You are daring and have no fear from anything! You will go the top of the stairs and yell for Matthew and Mikey to get you. You will hear dad come home and crawl as fast (I mean FAST!) to get to him and won't let anyone else go near him.

You wave bye-bye to everyone. Your a joy to have here. You bring a smile upon our faces everyday. You bug your sister and yet she still wants to "babysit" you. You don't really dislike anything..only not being on someones lap.

can't wait till your first Birthday!! It is the last first birthday parity I get to throw..I get a bit sad but I am excited to watch all your milestones!! We Love you John!!

Not me Monday's....

Here it is...the not me Monday..being honest about your parenting and living to tell about it!!
Click here to read about the other Not me Monday bloggers.

It was not me who gave the kids 2 baths in one day because I could not figure out what to do with them during the day. It was not me who carried the lap top to the bathroom during activity bath time.

It was not me who let her kids watch way to much TV during Christmas break..I mean WAY to much TV. The spent a good amount of time in front of the thing.

It was not me who gave up on cleaning the house the last few weeks and watched TV with them.

It was not me who stayed out way to late and partied like a rock star..just joking I did not party but a simple errand with my best friend turned in to a mini getaway and I left all the kids with Jeremy till 2am. I still didn't want to come home..nope not me.

Pulling the high chair into the living room in front of the TV to buy myself a few more selfish minutes didn't happen either.

It was not me who bought to much junk food for the Christmas break in hopes of bribing my children to behave. Nope..I was not that mom..

I was not the mom who lied to her 3 year old telling her that her cousins could not come over because they had the flu and threw up all over the place and it got in their hair and on their Christmas tree..It was not me who actually told the longest lie just to convince her.

So here is to an great week of routine, activities not involving the TV and a clean house and healthy food!

You Keep..

checking on this sight to see if you are the winner..I know you have..You have turned into a blog stalker..I am now starting to get scared. I will draw by Friday..but I could be just telling you that so maybe you should stalk me some more...

So since I have 3 blogs to post today I will leave you with a recap of the last weekend..

Friday...stayed out way to late with my friend Jenn..like 2am..So she just spent the night here instead of waking up her little one at 2am because we so did not plan on being home that late...

Saturday..it was a blur..I have to say I was a bit mad at myself for ruining hte weekend with being a bit selfish the night before. Made cupcakes, played in the snow and watched TV

Sunday..went to church in shifts...Jeremy took the older boys to the 9am..Olivia was just not feeling it and because we have problems with her staying on the childcare it is not worth it...Jeremy came home and the boys stayed with the babies while Jeremy took me to church. It was very nice to be able to sit in the front with out worrying if that was our number on the screen. We sit in the back next to the isle so if we are called out to get one of them then it would not be such a distraction. It only takes one time and you start thinking.
we then went to a class on growing in Christ and your maturity level. It is 3 weeks and So FAR SO GOOD!! I noticed this morning that Jeremy had his bible out and doing devotions at 5am.

The phone rang at 6:25 am with Jeremy asking me to bring him his work keys..WHAT!? You like work 45 minutes away and I have only had 5 hours of sleep to this point and you want me to what!? yes, I went met him in Bellingham and delivered his work keys. Yes, I am a good wife...

Back when I was...

Younger...I never thought of anything but the next day or the next hour...so I did not ever think that when I was 32( YIKES!) I would be the mom to 3 kids..I always wanted lots of kids till I had one. I love kids, everything about them but they are hard work. They are self centered and in their case that is not a bad thing that is just the way it is. They need you for everything I mean everything and as they get older they start to make choices and you can only hope that you have given them the tools to make appropriate choices..you don't want them to blurt out you have a big booger from your nose..you teach them to do it quietly.
Okay, Okay...so tonight Stinking cutie Carter would not go to sleep, nor would Olivia but that is a different story...the one where mommy needed a time out or a really stiff drink maybe 3..but anyways I was trying to put him down after he had been so rudely awakened by his sister who decided to yell at the top of her lungs " I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED!" and woke him up. So he cried and cried and cried and finally I thought if I pretend that I am going to sleep then he will just go to bed. As I lay there in my bed I quietly look up over the foot board only to see his little head and hear is HUGE voice crying. So I try again, Lay him down, not saying a word, giving him his Binky...then I realize I can't find the Binky...no Binky in the bed, no Binky on the floor, no Binky anywhere..crap, I have to have a least 30 of these in the house (I knew I should have bought stock in the NUK company) somewhere...so here is where the post is going...
I am 32 years old on my hands and knees looking for a Binky in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, stairs and I trying to outwit my 11 month old ( happy 11 month birthday Carter John) by pretending I am sleeping so he goes to sleep!? So, back when I was younger I never thought I would do that..maybe I thought I would have a nanny.
...Thanks again Brooke...I can't stop looking a these pictures

You can win this!!

When I started blogging I was not sure how well I would do with the whole thing...I mean come on who would really want to read about our chaotic life? Crying babies? missing keys? Thursday's thoughts? Messy houses? Crabby moms? Mustaches?

Much to my surprise many of you have given me personal comments on my blog. I do get a bit nervous when sharing such deep thoughts. I mean can you really understand my thought process from writing? Would you take something out of context not knowing the intentions behind it? Would you really care what my 3 year old did that day?

What I have come to find that each one us of has similar stories and that we are all craving some kind of normalcy in our lives. What I love about this blogging world is there are so many of you out there! I am a 'blog stalker" ( Thanks Allison!) that will click on blogs 3 times a day to see what is new and exciting. I do rejoice with you and cry with you fellow blogger friends...

I am happy I started this and look forward to the next year of sharing with you the crazy stuff we encounter daily,weekly, monthly and yearly!




I have put together a few of my favorite things for you..all you have to do is comment this post ( please only uplifting, ego driving, funny comments!)If you say i suck at blogging trust me you will NOT win!!
Next week I will print out the comments put them in bowl and draw the lucky winner...if you are out of state I will mail your package! I will include a few special things for you since you can't take advantage of the local photo session..but I can get your personal cards uploaded to the nearest Costco for you.

Included in this giveaway is a free photo session with Roxsey Photograpghy. This can be in your home or on location (excludes weddings) up to an hour and you can purchase the disks and photos. Click on the link to see her amazing work!!

You will also receive 20 personal cards from Coconut Lime Designs for your next event! You can have birthday announcements, baby announcements, thank you cards and much more designed for you FREE! You can choose a card or design a customize with your choice of font, colors and layout!

So start commenting and good luck!! Can't wait to see who the LuCKy winner is!!


Side Note: IF YOU ARE SIGNED UP THROUGH BLOGGER AS ANONYMOUS PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE COMMENT SOMEWHERE SO I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU CAN WIN!! I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO MISS OUT!!

Good Morning and

Happy New YEAR!! wheww...that is done hurry and click HERE for amazing pictures of my boy!!!

and don't worry I promise my GIVEAWAY is worth waiting for!!


I can't wait to read what you think of his pictures!! Thank you so much Brooke!!

and one more party....

We had the Vrieling Christmas party Saturday...It was the first time meeting Santa for Carter...He only stayed on the lap long enough to take the picture...a great time was had by all!

No Longer Annoyed

with these Pesky key cards!! You know the ones you get from every store? the ones that bank your points or save you money? I love my key cards!! They really do work when you LOST your keys or when your son loses your keys while sledding at dark down at least 7 streets in town and 2 parking lots!

Thank you to the NICEST person in the whole world who picked up my keys went to Blockbuster and had then scan my card to see who the belonged to...and thank you to blockbuster who called me to inform that my keys where safe and ready to be back home...

I have had those keys for almost 10 years!! I was sad to think that I would have to track down a new remote...do they even still make them for a vintage 'mini" van!?