My resolution? Get my food coma on.

So, it's January, right?  And what happens January 1st for most people?  RESOLUTIONS!  Lots of people make some crazy resolutions that they probably won't keep.  Like wanting to lose 60 pounds in three weeks or pay off thousands of dollars of debt in six weeks.  I made one resolution this year: Love Jesus more and be a better wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend than I was last year.  One thing I believe that helps make me better, stronger is some time away.  My husband understands my need for little breaks {even if he doesn't understand it, he pretends like he does and tolerates it! ;)} and this weekend was one of those times!  I headed out on Friday to spend some time in Bowling Green.  

After Paul got home, we headed out.  Where?  To get our food coma on, of course!  And, let me tell you something...Paul LOVES it when we constantly ask him to take pictures of us! 

First stop on the agenda...to pick up Brittany!  Jami was planning to be a part of this trip, too, but couldn't come.  Boo.  We had to trudge on, though.  We had a date with a food coma.

I've mentioned before that when G moved, I wasn't so sure about this whole "new friend" thing.  But, it has been fantastic!  Brittany even said this weekend, "Thanks for including me, I'm so glad you did."  I'm so glad, too!

We headed to downtown BG for dinner.  They both talked about this place called Mariah's where you get the best salad WITH BLACK EYED PEAS ON IT.  Um, no thanks.  I'm an extremely picky eater.  But,  after much threatening prodding, I tried the black eyed peas on my salad.  G & B were both sitting there...staring at me...eagerly awaiting the verdict. The salad WITH BLACK EYED PEAS was so good!  Really good!  And my meal?  Easily one of the best meals I've ever had!  Great atmosphere, great food, great conversation.

So began the food coma.  And along with the food coma began the ongoing list of things that Britt and I have in common.  It's crazy!  I mean, I like Brittany.  I've liked her from the first time I met her.  But until this weekend, I didn't know exactly how many things we have in common:

• we both have MAY birthdays
• we both love all things peppermint
• we both love cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera
• we both have serious issues about telling others "no" ;-)
• we are both miscarriage survivors and have very similar stories
• when eating Mexican, we both usually order chicken fajitas

And, guys, that's just part of the list!  I love it!

After dinner, we went walked around downtown for a bit.  I got some flack about this pic I posted on Instagram.  Hilarious!

Unfortunately, when you post on IG, it crops your picture.  So, for all you haters, here is the pic in its entirety.

On Saturday, we continued in our food coma...

...and we happily helped our economy along by doing a fair amount of shopping.  

 As always, the weekend went way too fast and we had all kinds of fun.  So thankful for these girls and how much they mean to me!  Here's to the next trip -- Eating too much, shopping until we hurt, and laughing until we sigh, just like old women. ;-)

New Year's Eve

I always enjoy looking at pictures of what people do on New Year's Eve.  I live vicariously through them. ;-)  I love watching Dick Clark's NYE show...from the comfort of my couch!  It is just not one of those holidays that Eric and I really get into.  And we are totally okay with that! 

This year, Jami and her crew invited our crew over for a few hours.  We both still enjoy putting our kids to bed at a decent hour since they all wake up at the crack of dawn! Ha!  Jami made queso and some very, very wonderful red velvet cake balls.  I did some sausage balls and wings and we had a par-tay!  

Steve, God love him, seemed sooo excited that we were there visiting with him. ;-)

I don't know if I ever get enough of this sweet girl.  She makes me so happy.

Seriously, doesn't Cam look huge in this picture?  I mean, wasn't he just crawling around on the floor?  Gah!

Maybe I am just sentimental with the start of a new year, but these kids are growing way too fast!! {Sorry about the scary eyes! These pics were all taken with my phone.}

After a while, the boys got involved in a pretty intense game of Wipeout on the Xbox.  Hi-larious!

For some reason, Maggie seemed quite taken with Steve, even with all his weirdness...

And, speaking of weirdness... um, yeah.  That.

We headed home fairly early to get the kiddos ready for bed.  Our neighbors ended up staying in for the evening, too, so they stopped over for a while to visit and have some hot chocolate.  Mmmm...

I honestly don't know how this got started, but Eric felt the need to show off some skillz.  Our neighbor's little girl takes gymnastics and she bet Eric he couldn't do a hand stand.  Pshht.  He couldn't let a five year old show him up!

She tried a few other things too, but he did good to not kill himself. ;-)  Thankful for our friends who helped us {almost} ring in the new year!  We put the kids down, watched Ryan Seacrest for an hour until the ball dropped, and then headed off to bed.  More great family time that I am thankful for.  Happy New Year! 

Snow! Time needs to slow down...

Saturday morning, we awoke to beautiful blankets of fresh, white SNOW!!!  Levi started asking at 6:50 if we could go outside to play.  I told him we weren't allowed outside before 8 o'clock.  He asked why and I told him, "Buddy, that's just the 'snow rule'...you aren't allowed to play in it until after 8 o'clock!"  Ha!  Seemed to work...

At 8 o'clock sharp, they were ready and waiting! 

Seriously, a little pink snow bunny?!  She was too cute for words.  She loved, loved, loved prancing around in it!

At times like this, I am glad to live in a cul-de-sac, on a hill...

They had a blast!!

While Daddy shoveled the driveway, we got into a serious snowball fight.

Even Maggie made a mean snowball, though, her throwing skills are lacking quite a bit! ;-)

Once Eric finished with the driveway, it was ON.  WWE in the front yard.  Levi always wants to wrestle with Eric and snow is no exception!

Playing outside is tiring.  Sigh...

Such a fun morning with our little babies!

After some naps, Eric and I got all gussied up and headed out for an adult evening.  Yay for people who get married and have really nice receptions to go to!!

My second cousin got married Saturday night and we were thrilled for a night out!  The wedding was at our church and then the reception was at a gorgeous place called The Olmstead.  I had never been there before. It was fancy schmancy and I almost didn't know how to act without two little chitlins pulling on my legs or interrupting me.  They had a gorgeous sit down dinner of steak, chicken, potatoes, green beans, salad - way better than our usual pb&j! ;-)  What a great night out with Eric and some of my family.

Took these little pics at lunch on Sunday after church.  Can I just tell you how nice it is to have ERIC present in all of our pictures lately??  SO NICE!  Having tons of fun with my little family of four over this holiday break.  I'll be sad to see it end.

Christmas 2012 -- worth the wait ;-)

I think Christmas 2012 will go down as one of the best ones yet!  We had a fantastic Christmas.  My kids were beyond excited to wake up and see what Santa had left.  Levi came in our room at 3:50 am and wanted to open gifts.  3:50.  AM.  Um, no.  We sent him back to bed and then we actually had to wake the kids up at 7.  Much better!! ;-)

Eric was in all of his MORNING GLORY here.  He would rather have slept until 9ish...

Levi was thrilled to find some Beyblade stuff from Santa and Frank, our elf.

And, little Miss Maggie found a baby cradle waiting to be played with.  Squeals of excitement!

We let the kids open their stockings and one gift before we headed to Grammy & Papa's for breakfast.  Their stockings were filled with fun little trinkets and candy.  I think stockings are one of the most fun traditions!!  Love them!

This little sassy pants got glittery bracelets.  Diva in the making.

I would have to say that Eric and I, by far, enjoyed our gifts from Levi that he bought himself at school.  {The day he shopped, he came home, put our gifts in our stockings and we weren't allowed to look in there! Too funny!}  Levi bought Eric a small pack of screw drivers.  Presh!

And, I got a pretty red rose with a white little bear.  Adorbs!!  Love my boy and his kind heart.

The boys fit in a couple of Beyblade competitions before we headed out.

Our morning was busy, but I wouldn't trade it!!  We headed to my parents house for breakfast.  My dad makes THE most fantastic Christmas morning breakfast.  This is also another tradition that I LOVE.  Biscuits and gravy, pancakes, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, eggs...it is so good!  I love that our kids are growing up with this tradition.  I hope they will always treasure these memories.

Just love these boys.  :-)  Patiently waiting to open gifts...

Once it is gift time, it is mad chaos.  All of the shopping and hard work is done in less than 5 minutes! ;-)  Well, not that quickly, but it sure seems like it!!  This year, Maggie joined in with the big girls in the American Girl club!!  Yea!!  She got an AG Biddy Baby.  And, she loves, loves, loves it!!  Biddy Baby came with a back pack carrier, some clothes, feeding stuff and pajamas to match Maggie.  A two year old girls dream.

Levi got his first "real" Bible and he loves it!!  He has been reading it every day.  He loves thumbing through it and asking us questions.

I cannot describe enough on this blog how much I love all these little people.  The chance for these cousins to grow up together, play together, make memories together...it blesses my soul.

Levi also got two new Lego sets, so before we left for home, Eric got busy and built one for him.  Sweetness right there...

As if we hadn't opened enough gifts, we headed back home for OUR Christmas!

Another thing I will treasure is a charm the kids picked out for my bracelet.  I love my little babes.

Our home should now be covered, because not only do we have a nurse, but we have a doctor in the house! ;-)

And one can never have too much COLTS paraphernalia around these parts! 

Later that afternoon, WE STILL WERE NOT DONE!  My kids loved it!  We headed to Aunt Frances' house for more Christmas!  She fixed a fantastic dinner, as she always does, and it was gift time once again.  And, for real, it is chaos again with the kids!  Love it!!  The boys got Turtle Man t-shirts and Nerf bow & arrow sets and the girls got some major bedazzled kitty purses filled with girlie girl stuff {nail file, lip gloss, pencil, paper, sunglasses, and more!} and an adorable necklace with each of their initials.  My aunt gets them the best gifts every year!!

Maggie started to make her rounds with the men...

...hoping that each time, someone would let her open their gifts...

...and she finally hit the nail on the head with Papa.  He cannot deny her.

 My grandparents...with eight of their great-grandchildren - a perfect ending to a near perfect day.

I hope everyone had a blessed and very Merry Christmas.