Selfless

As Christmas season was approaching, we knew we wanted to do something to help show our kids that there is more than toys and gifts. It was also the first Christmas without my Grandma. So we came up with what turned out to be a wonderful event! We invited over several family friends and all the cousins for a "Cookies, Crafts & Christmas" Celebration that was all about giving back. We had a table set up for decorating cookies, a table for decorating ornaments and my Grandma's Christmas tree that was always set up in her room at Westgate Gardens, where she had lived for the past couple of years. The kids had so much fun decorating the tree and filling a tray with beautiful Christmas cookies. There were a few moments of the "I wants" since we made a point that the kids could not eat any of the cookies decorated or keep any of the ornaments. But they were actually the perfect moments to teach about being selfless and putting others before ourselves. Gotta plant that seed at some point, right?! We all then drove over to Westgate Gardens and presented our gifts to the residents there and many of Grandma's close friends. We all held hands and Cory prayed a blessing over the gifts and people gathered. With tear filled eyes we hugged and celebrated this holiday. It may have been our first Christmas without Grandma, but it was her first Christmas with the Lord - and that is a reason to celebrate! And the kids, whether they liked it or not, began to learn the true meaning of CHRISTmas!

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!