End of the year fun....

As 2012 draws to a close, I wanted to post a few pics of what we have been up to. Most of December consists of the kids school programs, walking through Christmas lights, and visits with family. Here are a few, enjoy!

Skyanna's Kids Praise class did an amazing Christmas program, with really fun music! They performed in our church chapel. Skyanna wore her beautiful Christmas dress to rehearsal, and then wore this t-shirt for the actual program. Typical!

Here's a shot of us at the Tyler Lights walk thru. Skyanna brought her friend Amanda, and Anthony brought his friend Titus. Look how happy Ben is to see Santa!

Here Skyanna is reading her part in the Polar Express reader's theater that her 1st grade class performed. They all wore pajamas, and watched the Polar Express!

Skyanna and I on our way to a Christmas sweater party! We were up late!
More pics to come before the end of 2012-class party's and a visit from grandma Nancy and auntie Hannah!

It's Never Enough.

The pantry moths put me right over the edge. How is it possible that somewhere between juggling three kids, working full time, and trying to keep order to my house; I somehow forgot to put a lid on some random item of food in the pantry? And it may not even be that-it could be something so small as a smudge of peanut butter or half eaten fruit snack waiting to be found. Perhaps I left a few kernels of cereal out to be feasted on by tiny larva, or maybe the syrup dripped off the lid and onto the pantry bottom. One thing is for sure, just Google the possibilities to make your mind spin!
After reading a full article on the causes of pantry moths, I now realize a few things.

1. I must now seal, wash, and sanitize every item that goes into my pantry.
   
2. Everything-including cookies and rice need their own separate container, with a sealed lid.
3. All my items must be pushed to the front, nothing in the back where it's more apt to be snacked upon by tiny critters.
4. Wrap plastic sealed baggies around syrup and peanut butter containers, in case any leaks out.
5. Rotate all items weekly, (with all my spare time).
6. Keep tiny hands out of the pantry in case they have any lingering food smudges on them, that may in turn contaminate the shelves.
7. REALLY?!
   

What I really learned is this: It's NEVER enough! This goes for so many things in life! Would of, should of, could of. We can only juggle so many concerns and worries before they all start to blur together into one giant cloud of doom. I truly believe that I psych myself out thinking of ALL the things I have to do, and all the steps it's going to entail. I can waster entire hours looking up detailed information and directions on how to do the perfect project online. If I wanted to, I could spend hours looking up the best type of containers to store my food in.

Information is just a click away, and what started out as a simple project to clean out the pantry has now become an entire lifestyle change!

Note to self: Have Adam clean out the pantry while you are at work tomorrow.

Easter 2012

This year we were blessed to celebrate Easter as a family on Good Friday! Adam and I both had the day off together (rarely happens) so we made a big Easter ham dinner, and had the parent's over for an evening of good food and good memories. The greatest thing about being home as a family this day? We got our entire garage organized-and I changed the living room around! I actually added a couch, and it looks more spacious now!

We decide to for-go the traditional Easter egg hunt, and focus more on family and Jesus. Adam sang a lovely song with a great group of guys at church, and the kids went to Sunday school, then hung out with me at the bookstore.

I will say that we did get invited to a friends' Easter egg hunt later that afternoon, and we were thrilled to go! Everyone that is, except Benjamin. He has really entered his "terrible two's" and has now perfected his blood curdling scream of anguish over not getting his way. This talent has pretty much shortened every outing we have had in the last week. It's been especially hard on Anthony and Skyanna, as we have to leave when Ben acts us. Example: at the park, after numerous times of removing Ben from the garbage cans, he continued to run back to them. If discipline at the park doesn't work, we have to go home. It's a bummer for the older two, but hopefully Ben will learn from these experiences.

I've added a few fun pics of the good times. No, we do not have a traditional happy day Easter photo for 2012-but we are for sure not a traditional family! I embrace these memories, and laugh openly at joy of raising strong willed kids! Also, I could not figure out the settings on this page, that is why none of the pics have captions on them. I will say that the one on the very top, with Ben "sneaking away" is the classic Ben move. He thinks we can't see him sneaking away to do something naughty.