Get Ready, Get Set...

UGH. Here we go....the Christmas rush is on. I LOVE Christmas, I really do. I just hate the pressure that comes with it. I want to try to get Christmas shopping and wrapping down ASAP because then? I can enjoy the boys and the season. Well, the countdown begins. Wish me luck!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great time with lots of family. I hope everyone had as blessed a day as we did!

Thank You!

I just want to take today to thank all the veterans for all they've done for me and this great country of ours!

Happy Veteran's Day:

Mom
Dad
Grandpa C
Grandpa K
Uncles C
Uncles K
Kimmi
Cory (my cousin)
Victor (cyber nephew)

Each and every service man and woman...past or presently serving!

Thanks! I owe you my life and my freedom!

Halloween 2011

Cory was The Crow and went trick or treating with friends. Jay was Freddie Krueger and Logan was Scream. The beautiful Kitty is my niece Brittanie. I have no pics of Ty because he didn't want to go since his girlfriend wasn't allowed to. Sigh...the teen years.

Goodbye 2010

Looking back, I can't say this year has been a good one. Again. Maybe that's pretty typical. The negative has a way of making a bigger impact I guess. There have been some surprizes, lots of changes, and both joy and sadness this year. God even threw in a Christmas miracle. As much as I appreciate that miracle, I can't wait to kick 2010 to the curb and start over with new hopes and dreams for the new year.

May 2011 be blessed for all of us and full of joy, peace, health, and promises fulfilled!

Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day has always meant a lot to me. There are a lot of people on both sides of my family, including my parents, who were in the military. That also includes my cousin Cory currently serving in Afghanistan. I've had several friends in the military. But this year? Some things have made it even more meaningful to me. I was shocked and so sad to learn that my friend Patty's son was killed in action after being deployed for only a couple of weeks. My friend Gina's son was killed in a car accident. He was too young yet to serve but was planning on it and was involved where he could be. The third and final thing is that Cory (my son, not my cousin) has expressed interest in serving when he graduates and since he's in 9th grade, we've been exploring opportunities for him in that area. All of this just brings it closer to home than ever.

So let me just say this: If you have served, are serving, or are going to serve, please know that you have my everlasting gratitude and respect!

Halloween Pictures

I'm taking a bit of an easy way out and just leaving you with some pics tonight. We have for your viewing pleasure: the pumpkins the boys carved, Cory in the process of carving as he did not go trick or treating with us this year, and the boys dressed for trick or treating. The little girl in the pictuere with the boys is Ty's sister. Enjoy!

Happy Fourth and A Note

I hope you all had a happy, safe holiday weekend. We certainly did. The boys were well behaved all day, the weather was nice, and the fireworks were fun. We had snacks, sparklers, and a great place to watch from. I DID forget to take my camera. Bummer lol. Anyway, it was a really great night.

Now. A quick note about my prolonged bloggy absence. I started posts several times but they never made it to "post." There was one that did but I deleted it within a short period of time because it seemed too pity party and attention-seeking. Not that it wasn't true, just...I don't know. Suffice it to say that from about March through early June things were NOT so good. Some of it was dealing with the boys' behaviors but probably more was me. Their behaviors weren't new. We were in a "mega backslide" but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. It's just that after 3 years of dealing with those issues, I was anxious and aroused myself. Feel free to add in a healthy dose of depression and exhaustion from those same years of having children with sleep issues. In other words, they DON'T. Sleep that is. So I don't. Anyway, I was just NOT in a good place. I've never gone too much into detail about the boys' behaviors and it seemed like that was my life. Everything, no matter how big or small, was the straw that broke my back. I didn't know, and I'm still not really sure about this, how much I wanted to share. It made writing hard.

At any rate, things are currently better. I'm still exhausted but not quite as much as before. Behaviors are leveling out for the time being. The summer so far has been mostly rejuvenating, for all of us. My anxiety is much more under control. I have a handle on it now. I guess I tend towards being an anxious person anyway but the last few years with so much out of my control, mainly the court case and the boys' behaviors, saw it grow to a proportion I have never before had to deal with. Anyway, I am dedicating this summer to as much fun and healing (physically and emotionally) as we can get!

More Holiday Fun

It was a nice Christmas. The boys have been SO well behaved, even now. They're playing together nicely and have just been fun to be around. All of them. I love it! I took a lot of pics but not a lot turned out that well. Still, I thought I'd share one of each boy with a present.

Christmas This Year

The stockings were hung in the window with care....



The boys in new jammies knew that Santa soon would be there!




After his visit presents flowed wall to wall...



Hope a Merry Christmas was had by one and all!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a great dinner with my parents; my brother and his gf; and my sister, her dh, and fd.

May you all have as much to be thankful for as I do!

Veterans Day

I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't been already said. I know many vets, as I said last year, so thanks again to them (mom, dad, Grampa's C and K, C and K Uncles, Kimmi, and cousin Cory).

To each and every vet, please know that you have my deepest gratitude and respect. Thank you.

Happy Halloween!

Memorial Day

To all who gave their lives in defense of our country, our freedom...from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

Mother's Day and My Birthday

Today was a very pleasant day. J and L brought Casper to my room to distract me while Cory and Tyler made me breakfast in bed (toast, toaster struddle, and coffee). They were all very well behaved all day, too.

I'd also like to say to all the mothers (no matter HOW you are a mom) and mothers to be out there...

I hope you had a wonderful day today! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Easter!

After a bit of a rocky start we ended up having quite a fun, wonderful day. My sister came for dinner and we celebrated together. It was a double celebration, actually, since it's her birthday too. Dinner was ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, squash, and rolls. Val made and brought her own birthday cake LOL (pineapple upside down...an Easter tradition in our family.)

I hope everyone else enjoyed it, too!

Deja Vu

For some reason the end of 2008 feels no different than the end of 2007. Not much has changed...at this point I still don't have a job and the boys' case hasn't been settled. Both of these things will likely be resolved soon. I have 2 prospects job-wise, one is a pretty sure thing and one is a long term sub position I'm applying for. As far as the case goes everything that can be done on either side seems to have been done. It'll be 2 years in Febuary so the judge is going to HAVE to decide soon. This next court hearing, most likely late January or early February, should see some answers in that arena. Right now I'm pretty stressed about it all the time. I KNOW they can't go home because I've heard first hand the torture they endured there but coming from me doesn't help the court case as my credibility has been called into question by their family.

I don't feel like I accomplished much in 08. It went by in a blur and left few changes to make me take notice. There are SOME good things of course. Looking back I'm proud of my parenting overall. I've helped J and L over some major hurdles and we continue to work on others. I'm proud of the young men Cory and Ty are becoming and that's in a large part due to me. There were some great times that I'll remember and cherish forever...our vacation and a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Eve to name a few. And of course I'm blessed beyond measure by my boys, my family, and my friends. Ah well...bring on 2009 LOL.

To all of you...May 2009 be a healthy, peaceful, joyous, and prosperous year!

Merry Christmas

It's a day late I know but I hope you all had as good a Christmas as we did. The boys loved their presents and were really good, both at dinner Christmas Eve at my parents and here on Christmas when I hosted a turkey dinner for my parents, brother, his gf, sister, and BIL. All in all...it was probably my most favorite Christmas ever!

Whatever you did for Christmas...I hope you had a joyous and wonderful time!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Some things in my life are really hard right now. Still...I am SO grateful for what I have!

I hope you all had a happy, healthy day full of great food and good times with the important people in your lives!