{cowgirl}

Picked up these adorable pink cowgirl boots on clearance today. There were a couple of other options, but once Paige saw the PINK cowgirl boots...it was all over. And of course, once we got home we had to ACCESSORIZE!! I love this girl.......

{besties}

They are having a sleep-over in Emily's bedroom tonight.



I love how much they LOVE each other. I enjoy the heck out of it because soon, it will be a bunch of: "she stole my sweater, she ruined my favorite shoes..." and door-slamming. Sisters are forever.

{emily @nine}

Her favorite food: pizza
Favorite TV show: Spongebob Squarepants
Favorite color: hot pink
Favorite time of day: time to play with friends
Favorite thing about school: specials (art, music, PE and science)
Favorite thing to wear: what she's wearing right now
Favorite movie: The Parent Trap
Favorite song: California Girls by Katy Perry
If she could go anywhere it would be: Hollywood, CA, because she wants to be a movie star. (what?)
Favorite restaurant: McDonald's and Red Robin
Favorite thing to do at home: play with Paige
Favorite holiday: Christmas

Some things don't change: She's still the silliest kid that I know. She is still really into reading. Right now, it's The Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Boxcar Children books and A to Z mysteries. She still loves to play with her Nintendo DS.





But some things don't stay the same: She is a little bit more interested in her clothes now. She has been changing her earrings almost everyday, instead of once a month. She is much more likely to wear a hair accessory than she was a year ago. And lately, the more glitter, the better.









Her BEST friend: Hands down, her little sister. And the feeling is quite mutual, I assure you. Emily is seriously, the BEST big sister any little sister could hope for. She truly loves to hang out with Paige. And that is SO COOL. They even got a couple joint Christmas presents because Santa knew that they both wanted the same thing....and they could definitely handle sharing. And they did.

Nine wonderful years. What changes will TEN bring? What will stay the same?

Stay tuned......

{christmas 2011}

I could not continue on with 2012 without looking back at our Christmas 2011. It was a whirlwind of activities, and this year, came and ended without a ton pf pictures. But that's okay. I have the important ones. We always take our family picture - mostly because we are all dolled up in our Christmas finery - right before we leave for my Aunt and Uncle's house on Christmas Eve. And no matter how hard I try and get things ready ahead of time, we are ALWAYS in a hurry to get the photo. ALWAYS. This year, our remote timer was acting cranky, so we had to do with the timer on the camera.



And this one is the best of the five photos we took - we are all kind of blurry, and the color is YUCK. And if you look really hard, you can see that Eric and I are both kind of annoyed.....Merry Christmas!


BUT, after all that, we got to my Aunt and Uncle's house and had a blast. The most entertaining present, for both kids and adults, this year were the Connectigons. Thank you Ryan, Julie, Aunt T, Uncle D and Kelly. The girls still play with them everyday.




The most entertaining present for the adults - Paige's squirrel. Apparently, it was rabid.
(Matt, you KNOW I could not resist posting this)


And then we jammied up the girlies - Grant was already sleeping at this point.


Goofed around a bit more.....


And we headed home. I think we pulled in the garage around 11:30pm. Paige was sound asleep. So it was up to Emily and I to sprinkle the reindeer food outside - in very high winds, we were done in seconds. And we set up the cookies for Santa. Emily was in bed close to midnight. It was at this point I realized I left my good camera at my Aunt and Uncle's house.....


So, at approximately 8am, Christmas morning, I snapped this picture. And at approximately 8:10am, it was all over. Emily was very surprised that Santa brought her a DSi XL. It wasn't on her list, but somehow Santa just KNEW she really wanted one. Paige was very excited about her American Girl doll Molly - but she was most excited about her Pinkalicious DS game. It was a very great morning, followed my much toy playing over the next week. Emily has expressed many times, her gratitude towards Santa this year, and has big plans on making him a huge Thank You card.


Hope your Christmas was Merry!

{new year, new outlook}

This year, is going to be good. Maybe not great, but good. I truly don't have a whole bunch of control over it, but the parts that I do, I will.

This blog is not going to be a neglected part of my life this year. There will be posting more than once a week. I will be bringing you a small slice of our life. A slice of our normal, good, life.

So, please, come back and visit. I promise to make you smile.



My mantra for the year: Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

-Mary Jean Iron

{cha..cha...cha....cha....changes}

I have to be very honest. 2011 is very possibly, the worst year of my life so far. And I am not saying that like some adolescent who just had her heart broken by some dude. I am saying it like the adult that I am. 2011 sucked. HOWEVER, there have been some great and wonderful things that have happened this year as well. It's just that the bad stuff had greatly overshadowed everything. Wow....I am really Debbie Downer.

Which brings me to the whole lack of blogging. Lots of changes have taken place around here in the past six months. Eric is no longer working in the basement. He's now working outside the house, some times six days a week. He leaves when it's dark, and comes home when it's dark. That in itself is a HUGE adjustment for HIM.

I am now mostly running the day to day operations of our business. That in itself, is a HUGE adjustment for ME.

All the things that I was able to do for the past few years....I am having to find a new way to do them. I don't have Eric to rely on to watch the girls while I run errands, or help out at school. And that is a HUGE adjustment for the GIRLS.

We are all having to get used to this new life. Everyday there's something new that we have to learn to adjust to. And it's hard. Some days, I feel like I am just chasing my tail all day long.

I am EXHAUSTED. Mentally and physically. Some days, I feel like I just need a moment, but then someone gets sick, or breaks something, or needs to eat........it's been a challenge.

BUT

Things will get better and easier. We all just have to adjust and find our new rhythm. This path that we are all on right now is a good one....it's just going to take a while to get used to it.

Life is still going on around here. And it's a good life.
And I can't wait to see all the great and wonderful things 2012 brings.

{nine}

I will hopefully have a more in-depth post later, but I just wanted to wish my sweet girl a very happy birthday today! Nine years since you were a little peanut. Wow. Love you Em!