Give Thanks

Thanksgiving has come and gone...once all of the commotion settled down I realized I did not take even one picture! How did that happen? Maybe because of the cooking, cleaning, eating, crafting....and just plain fun! This was the first year that I made myself not stress over every little detail and just enjoy the day. There was no fancy place setting, instead Sami wrote a note to each guest stating why she was thankful for them. There was no elaborate centerpiece, instead a crafted banner the kids and I made the night before. No sitting in a turkey coma, instead we made a Thankfulness tree that each guest had a part in and played memory until everyone had a turn to win! It was the most relaxed Thanksgiving I can remember...I let go and just enjoyed the wonderful blessings I am surrounded by! Now we are already on to Christmas...the trees are up, decorations out, present wrapped under the tree-and maybe I'll even extend this stress free idea to Christmas?! Maybe.

Money Intervention

OK...the life of a stay at home mom is not all bon bons and soap operas! I am so exhausted I think I need to go to work for a vacation! Don't get me wrong - very, very thankful to have to opportunity to devote 100% of myself to my family! I have been a stay at home mom in the past but never with 2 kids going different ways, this just puts a whole new twist on things. Between laundry, dirty toilets, piano, AWANA, projects, cooking...whew! Since we made the decision to make this change, so many people have asked why now when both kids are in school. Valid question, this is the time when a lot of moms would go back to work...I struggled for a bit to come up with the "right" answer. But honestly I have come to understand that they need me now for different reasons than when they were babies but no less important reasons. The value of volunteering at the school
and seeing their social interactions for myself, being there to hear those first stories after school, making dinner for us to all sit together and enjoy - priceless!!! I have missed the calm that comes with life being in order, or at least as orderly as it gets with 2 wild monkeys running around.
With that said...here comes the money intervention. I am trying to completely readjust the way I have been shopping and spending our money. I have found so many great blogs and resources for cutting costs and living frugal - being good stewards of the income the Lord has given us. I am working towards slashing our expenses by at least 10% in the next 6 months. That means comparison shopping, coupons, lots of home cooking and homemade gifts! I wanted to share a few of the blogs I have found that I can't get enough of, doesn't everyone love a good deal?!

www.moneysavingmom.com

www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com

www.mommsavers.com

www.frugalmom.net/blog

My Favorite Season

I LOVE fall...everything about it makes me happy - the cooler weather, falling leaves, first fire in the fireplace, hot stew on the stove! The change in season has been more than just weather and leaves for us this year. After much prayer and discussing, we decided that I would give up my position and the surgery center and focus 100% on our home and family. This has been a long time coming and the Lord has been working on us to show us His plan, we just weren't quite ready to take that leap of faith. So silly really....of course He will provide a way for this if it truly His will. Sure enough, He provided the perfect opportunity at the perfect time! I have a few more days to orient those taking over my position but I am already, for the most part, at home. I thought I would breathe this big sigh of relief and feel nothing but joy. Not exactly how it is playing out...I must admit I feel a little lost. I have kept myself SUPER busy to try and feel as productive as humanly possible and I know that over time I will come to really appreciate all that this offers. Among the many busy tasks is finally updating this blog!!! So much has happened and is happening - pumpkin patch, carnivals, Halloween, soccer awards - I will let the pictures speak for themselves! Happy Harvest!

Career Day

A few weeks ago it was Career Day at school and I just hadn't gotten around to posting these pics yet! Sami was a nurse and Matthew was a Genesis Pools guy as he would say. Cory picked up the kids from school that day and they went to a couple of jobs with him. Matthew was telling the crew that he was the "real" boss of Genesis Pools. Evidently he was being quite the character and loving every minute of it! Sami and a few friends at school were all nurses and even had matching scrubs. We made her an "official" name badge complete with a picture! Again, so stinkin' cute!

Soccer Studs

Yaaa...they LOVE it! Matthew even asked if he could spend the night on the soccer field! With Matthew being just shy of the start age for AYSO soccer, both kids are playing in the Naz Sports league and each had their first game this weekend. They are both playing on the Tar Heels but different age brackets. So stinkin' cute!

Back Into the Swing of Things

The hustle bustle of school time is in full swing these days! Sami is really enjoying the 2nd grade and LOVES her teacher. She is making some new friends that she weren't in her class last year and is a social butterfly! She has been bitten by the reading bug, going through chapter books every 2 days or so. We got both the kids library cards and are on a weekly routine of visiting the library for new books each week before dance class. Speaking of classes...Sami has quite the schedule: Monday ballet, Tuesday piano, Wednesday Grandma Day, Thursday tap/jazz, Saturday soccer! I was worried it would all be too much but she seems to be thriving with the busyness!
Matthew has exceeded my expectations in Preschool. He goes 5 days a week and does 1 hour of after school care so that he gets done at the same time as Sami (3:00 pm). On Tuesdays Miss Brenna from Kid's Edition does a class for the preschoolers after school and he is really enjoying that! He will be starting soccer on Saturday's, just like Sami, at the Naz next week. And he is always my lil' sidekick while we wait for Sami to finish her classes. He is starting to really come out of his shell and become a little boy instead of toddler! Health wise he is doing great also! We haven't been to the pediatrician for almost 6 months (knock on wood). We go next week for both kids to have a yearly checkup and are hoping to have results from our visit to UCSF. Then he has a MRI in December at Stanford. If this MRI shows no changes then we can wait 2 years until we go again!! You would never know all that he has been through..he is such a trooper.
As for Cory, he gets left out of the updates all too often. He and Genesis Pools are thriving, stressed but thriving. We just celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the business with a dinner at Tokyo Gardens last week. Amazing to think it has already been a year. I had no doubt Cory would be successful (I am a little bias) but seeing it become a reality is phenomenal!
God is so good...so many times I get caught up in the negatives that I need to stop and remember all that He has brought us through. Today I am counting my blessings!

Happy Birthday to Our Baby

We had the best weekend and birthday celebration for Matthew! It started with a swim party in the afternoon, complete with a pinata! We ended it with dugout seats at the Rawhide game and the signed homerun ball for Matthew! Happy Birthday baby boy, we love you!

St.Paul's or Bust

How can it be?! I blinked and now both of my kids are in school! Sami started 2nd grade with Mrs. Doss. She loves her teacher and being able to catch up with all of her friends after a long summer. She is doing so well and there was literally no adjustment period at all. Sami also started back up with ballet/tap/jazz this week along with the piano lessons we started this summer. She is blossoming into a young lady right before our eyes. As for Matthew, he is amazing to me. I was so worried about starting him in Pre School, especially when we decided to go ahead with the 5 day a week schedule. Cory was so confident that he was ready and would be fine, but I had my doubts. As usual...Cory was right-Matthew has done awesome! I think having him go to a couple weeks of summer school was very helpful, he just fits right in! We are looking forward to this school year and all the growth it will bring. What a joy to be their mother...

Baby "Maggsters"

She is finally here....at 4:00 pm on August 19th Margaret "Maggie" Horton arrived to proud parents Brian and Kari Horton! She weighed in at 8 lbs, 8 oz and 21 inches long. We are so excited to have lil' Maggsters here and healthy!

Dodgers Rule

Cory's birthday present was a family trip to a Dodger game. We had all been looking forward to this for over a month, it would be the first time the kids were able to go to a game and they couldn't wait! We were going to make it a day trip since the game was on Sunday. We started the adventure early in the morning with a stop at McDonald's before heading off to LA. We were about 2 hours into the drive or so when Cory started saying he didn't feel so well. We pulled over and he got some fresh air. We thought/hoped it was just the McDonald's not settling but were fearful the stomach flu had invaded! We had spent that Friday night with some friends and their son had come down with the flu that night. I drove the rest of the way to the game and poor Cory was feeling worse by the minute. We got into the stadium and down to the Kid Korral to try for some autographs when it finally caught up with Cory. He ended up in the bathroom 3-4 more times with awful vomiting but absolutely refused to leave the game. He sat out in the heat and even yelled at the umpire a few times. Despite sicky Daddy, the kids and I actually had a great time. They were so good, loved every minute of it and didn't even complain about the almost 8 hours of driving in one day! They even got an autograph in the midst of it! I have a whole new respect for my husband now... I would have been crying like a baby!

Friendly Fireworks

We celebrated Independence Day with the Arellano's at the Rawhide game then with Papa & Granny in Exeter. FUN! FUN! FUN!

Hannah Hate Mail

Sami is devastated! She has been a HUGE Hannah Montana fan for a couple of years now but that all ended one fateful summer morning...this morning to be exact. I had a couple of appointments so Sami decided to stay with Papa and Granny. All seemed well with the world until I went to pick her up. With a mix of alligator tears and frustration she tells the story of Miley Cyrus singing on a morning show. Here's the note she wrote and "emailed" to give lil' Miley a piece of her mind:

In case you can't read it, here's the interpretation:

"Miley you need to go back and watch the old videos and then watch the videos now. Because I used to love you but also I loved your country songs. But I don't now, I'm sorry you need to change and I mean it! Love, Samantha"

So why all this disappointment and angst you ask? Well, according to Sami, Miley was wearing a shirt that showed her tummy, too much makeup and had a earring on her tongue! Bless that little girls heart....she does listen to me!!!

Afternoon Tea

Sami turned 7 years old on June 4th, unbelievable! As I say every year, how is that possible?! We began the celebrations that afternoon with some Mommy/Daughter time as we had pedicures and some lunch. That evening the family all came over for pizza and cupcakes. Sami was in zhu zhu heaven! Then we had her first ever friend party with an afternoon tea on Sunday. The girls were so cute in their pink hats, homemade jewelry and fancy dresses. We taught them proper etiquette for teas all the way down to keeping that pinky out while you sip. The girls had so much fun being silly and super girly. After the sipping and munching were done, Sami opened gifts, more pedicures and dancing to Taylor Swift of course! Sami says that she had the best birthday ever...mission accomplished!

Last T-Ball Game

Well Matthew did it! He completed his first season of his first sport! T-ball was as much of a success as it can be for a wild 3 year old boy. It was pure comedy out there each and every week. Matthew never touched the ball on the field, but not for lack of trying. With each ball that was hit by the other team Matthew would run for it, stop about a foot away, slide then run off the field to explain to all his fans "I almost got it that time!". Yes, this was with EVERY hit! Then on the way home began the counting of the grass staines on his baseball pants, the higher the number the bigger the smile! So stinkin' cute is all I can say! Can't wait to see how soccer goes this fall!

Blessings

T Ball Madness

Matthew started T ball this week and I don't know who is more giddy, Matthew or Cory and I?! He had his game this weekend and I must gush that I felt such pride and pure joy watching Matthew out there and Cory coaching! They were both adorable and I am sure this is only the beginning of wonderful memories for us all!

Pictures As Promised

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