Thankful Challenge

November is usually the start of the thankful challenge. You'll see it all over facebook. people will start it and pretty much be on it every day for the first week but then it will fade out until it gets a little closer to Thanksgiving. I'm going to try my best not to do that.I am also going to change the date of the post every day to keep it from getting lost :)

November 1st- God's Mercy. No matter how bad I may screw up from time to time that doesn't change his love for me

November 2nd- My husband. He may have bad days & we may have bad days together but he provides for his family the best he can.

November 3rd- Serenity & Xavier. Although some days they drive me batty, I have to remind myself they will only be this age once & at the end of the day if I didn't have them I'd be driving myself batty.

November 4th- My Church. It's great to be able to find a church that feels like home :)


November 5th- My Parents. Though neither of them did a perfect job that's to be expected since they are not perfect. They did what they thought was their best and it made me who I was. even if it took me years to realize that who I was was who I made myself be because I used my parents as an excuse. If they had raised me differently or given me a different life than what I had I can be pretty certain I wouldn't have Nov 2nd & 3rd listed as what they are.

November 6th- My Mother in Law. even though it took 10.5 years of her being that before I was able to call her mom I'm glad to know that when my life was going south she was there for me & my kiddos. I love her so much & I'm lucky to have her

November 7th-My siblings & cousins. There is nothing better than being able to grow up & play & talk with people who aren't just your family but your friends as well.

November 8th- My MM's. it's crazy how such a random group of strangers can become such great friends. My may mommies know so much about me & have been there for me through not only raising Serenity (my may baby) but with Xavier as well. they have been there for me being my support, being my courage, being my faith through what has been one of the worst times in my life & even though I've only meet a few of them in real life I feel like I've known all of them my whole life.

November 9th-My Friends.The real ones. The ones that are there for me no matter what. The ones that don't tell me just what I want to hear for fear of losing the friendship. The ones who are willing to lose that friendship by telling me the truth b/c that's the type of friend that makes you true. The ones that you can pick up right from where you left of years ago b/c you are having a bad day and the last things you ever said to each other were hurtful things. The ones that are willing to step away from you b/c they understand it's for the greater good of yourself. Life is not a popularity contest, Life is not about having 20 friends that might come around when you really need them. Life is about those 2 or 3 true ones that risk losing you b/c you really need them to.

November 10th- I've never been homeless. although I haven't always lived in places that were my "own" I've always had a place to stay.

November 11th- Being fat (aka, having food). an odd thing to be thankful for (and not something I want to go back to) but it meant that no matter what I was going through I always had food to eat & never had to starve.

November 12th- waking up every day. even on days where it may be to early for my liking at least I'm still waking up

November 13th-coupons. I think that says it all

November 14th - my car. it sure beats having to walk somewhere when it's 30* or 100* out

November 15th-date nights. as much as i love my kiddos it's good to have those occasions where skip & i can just go out &  spend some quality time together

November 16th-sleeping in. although it doesn't happen often it sure is nice when it does

November 17th-Black Friday shopping. even if I don't need many things I love the rush of getting out there for just that 1 deal.

November 18th- finding family you never thought you would be able to know

November 19th- nyquil, pepto,kids cough & cold medicine. all these wonderful things that are way cheaper than a dr's visit

November 20th- the park. what a better way to entertain the kids and for free :)

November 21st-blogs that help me save money

November 22nd-a husband that loves to cook

November 23rd-self checkout lines

November 24th-the times I get to see & spend with my grandpa

November 25th-being in the right place at the right time. especially when something tragic is happening in someones life & you are there to be a support even if those people are strangers

November 26th- naps. whether the kids are taking them or I am either way I love them

November 27th- lazy days. even when your house is such a mess it's unrecognizable some times lazy do nothing days are just worth it

November 28th- cooking with friends

November 29th-babysitters :)

November 30th-my daughters love for church. she asks every day if it's a church day & the times I tell her it is she gets SOOOOO excited

what's yours?

it's that wonderful time of the year where the baking is about to begin. what is your favorite holiday dessert or cookie? I love a good peanut blossom or even some awesome no bakes. I can't stand letting the holidays go by without a homemade apple pie. but my all time favorite has to be snickerdoodles. I could make a few dozen & sit & eat them all :)

Guess I'm a good mom after all

swedish proverb

oh how I wish we all listened to things such as this.............

“Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.”

bucket list

Do you have a bucket list? Was there something specific that happened in you life to make you create it? Are you actually checking things off of it?
I've always wanted a bucket list but for some reason never made one. It wasn't until my life got turned upside down this summer that I decided I was actually going to start making one. I've decided to put it on here that way if I have an idea that you've never thought of maybe it could trigger a new adventure for you. Plus you can see how "crazy" I am with some of my ideas & also what I actually accomplish. Some of my ideas were also acquired by looking at other "lists".
these are not in any specific order just as they became thoughts I jotted them down and the list is still in progress as well

1.Sky dive
2.Be an extra in a movie/tv show
3.Take my kids to disney world
4.Visit every state & do something touristy
5.Have my picture taken in a Pinup/Boudoir fashion
6.Travel Italy
7.Learn how to crochet
8.Put rag curls in Serenity's hair
9.Put rag curls in my granddaughter's hair (like my grandma did for me)
10.Quit smoking (again)
11.Hit the 145 mark on the scale
12.Watch my children graduate high school
13.Watch my children graduate college
14.Watch my children get married
15.Travel to Ireland
16.Fly first class
17.Celebrate new year's in times square
18.Go on a cruise as a family
19.Go on a cruise with just myself & Skip
20.Travel to Scotland
21.Try to learn to surf
22.Ride in a hot air balloon
23.Travel to Austrailia
24.Go white water rafting
25.Ride in a helicopter
26.Go parasailing
27.Swim with dolphins
28.Travel to Egypt
29.Go snorkleing
30.Go scuba diving
31.Travel to India
32.Sing karaoke in a public place
33.Travel to Greece
34.Travel to Sweden
35.Learn how to waltz
36.Ride a mechanical bull
37.Go to Oktoberfest in Germany
38.Celebrate mardi gras in New Orleans
39.See mount rushmore
40.Learn how to play chess
41.Learn how to cha cha
42.Live near the beach
43.straddle the equator

E.T.

started watching E.T. with Serenity last night and we fell asleep. first thing she asked this morning, "mommy, can we finish watching that alien movie now?"

time to wrap

some people are already putting up Christmas decor, some people are shopping, some are even putting up their trees. so that would also mean some people are already wrapping presents??
well if we are talking about me then that means yes. I've started the wrapping process today :)

little momma

as i sit and print coupons i over hear Serenity having a conversation with one of her babies.

"oh my, you can't do this. you can't just pee & poop a hundred million times. you are really stressing me out."

she then proceeded to take her baby downstairs. not sure if she's going to change her or put her to bed. that stressed out momma might need a day off. I guess I could be a good grandma & ask her if she wants me to watch her for a while :)

Little Photographer

Can we guess what a certain little girl will be getting for Christmas :)

writing companies

I've always said I was going to email different companies to let them know how much I like their products. Of course my main reason behind this isn't just so they will know how much we like the products but in the hopes of getting some coupons :)
I have been compiling a list for a few days now & have started the emailing process. although it may be a dorky thing to be excited about i'm still excited :)

tough year

It's been a tough year & for months now I've been dreading Christmas. But things are slowly getting better. I mean of course we still have every day issues. Kids being kids, bills needing paid but overall I am actually feeling like I can put that all to the side & I'm excited for the Holidays. Starting with that big ol' fat fried turkey on Thanksgiving of course followed by an awesome day of Black Friday shopping.
Then moving onto Christmas. Only have a couple more things to get Serenity & already know what type of presents will be loaded under the tree for the boy this year. Lets just say that Hot Wheels is gonna make a killing off of us this year. LOL

Halloween

Our sweet cowgirl

our mighty boxer

i LOVE halloween. love the haunted houses, love the costumes,love the trick or treating,love passing out candy, love the jack o lanterns. i LOVE it all. this year though was kinda blah. took forever to figure out what Xavier was going to be. Then we took the kids out for a while the other night to some local businesses, Serenity didn't want to say trick or treat & she was freezing and Xavier wanted to just run. Fast forward to halloween night & Serenity is sick. runny nose and a horrible cough. didn't even get around to carving the pumpkins. then to top it off Skip went to the store about about 5 after 6 to get some candy for trick or treaters since we would now be home with sick kiddos & we had 2 kids all night (and they were the neighbors grandkids) Serenity was more bummed about not getting to hand out candy than she was about not going trick or treating. but overall it was nice to spend some quality family time snuggling on the couch :)