Goodbye 2009 & Hello to 2010!

How weird is it that it is already 2010!  I was told by so many people that "when you have kids, the time just flies right by"!  I had no idea how true it was until our little men came along!  And boy oh boy, have the last 3 1/2 years just whizzed right by!  However, the last decade was full of so many things, I don't know how we survived it all! 

* Bryan and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary last year!  I am blessed to be married to my best friend!

* We have lived in 3 different homes since 1999 (and hopefully aren't moving again for quite some time)! 

* Bryan worked at many different jobs over the last 10 years and had a few layoffs.  And finally he was blessed to find one in 2006 that made him happy, as an Animal Control Officer!  And even though he was transferred to a different area in the city last year, he will happily be returning to his ACO position on February 1st!

* I am still working at Tidland (15 years now) and in 2005 I started doing Accounts Receivable and have found it to be a job that I actually do enjoy (most of the time)!

* We went through 3 1/2 years of fertility treatments and miscarriages and were finally blessed in 2006 with our wonderful twin boys, Daniel and Cameron!  What did we do with our lives before they were born?

* I am beginning my 8th year as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and helping plan our local Relay For Life event to raise money to find a cure for cancer!  This has been a blessing to me and I plan to continue volunteering until we find a cure!


* We have lost Bryan's 2 grandma's, one of my grandma's and Bryan's aunt since 1999.  We miss them all very much and wish that our children could have spent time with them.

* Bryan injured his back in 2005 and was out of commission for 3 months.  This ended his dream to be a fire fighter and ended his schooling at PCC in their Fire Science program.

* I had my thyroid issues and had it removed in 2004 (leaving a nasty looking scar).  And then had more "female" issues after the boys were born and had a hysterectomy in 2009 (which made me a happier woman)! 

* I had my 10 year class reunion in 2007 (Bryan had 10 years in 2006, but no reunion).  It totally doesn't feel like we have been out of school that long already! WOW are we old!!!


* My Grandma Dot being diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung cancer last year and being with her as much as possible during this time.

* And of course the financial problems we have had over the years.  And that stupid housing market problem that has left us with our Battle Ground house not sold 2 1/2 years later and leaving us carrying multiple mortgages that we can no longer afford.  (Totally sucks!)


So here is to all the problems, hard times, fun times and experiences that Bryan and I have experienced over the last decade together.  And here is to, hopefully, a better decade for us!  Hopefully one with a few less surprises, challenges or problems.  However, we have grown so much over the last decade, and have grown together through all of our experiences.  What doesn't break us makes us stronger, right?  Well, I would have to say that we are stronger for the better.  And, of course, we are most thankful for our wonderful little boys, which has been the best thing to come from the last decade! 

Have a wonderful 2010 everyone, and here is to a new decade!
(As long as the world doesn't actually come to an end in 2012!)

Jen 

I'm back to school!

Well, cake decorating school that is!  Ha!  My Grandparents signed me up for a cake decorating class, and I'm so excited!  I had my first class last week and learned the basic information.  No decorating at that class, just learning how to do things, the recipe, what we will need, etc....  However, last night was the first class that we actually decorated our cakes!  I had issues with my frosting being too thick when I initially frosted the cake, so I have learned to thin it out.  But the consistency was perfect for frosting.  So we actually practiced, and practiced, and practiced on our practice boards.  Then, we were told, "Ok. Now decorate your cake!"  So I did!  Here is my wonderful work of art! Ha!  I will be practicing like crazy, so I should have many cakes to pass around and you just may get one dropped off at your place of employment or your home!  We shall see!  I brought this one to work with me today and it was devoured in under 15 minutes!  Everyone said it was very good and said I did a great job!  And nobody has become sick yet, so that is a bonus!  Ha!  It was a Cherry Chip cake mix with vanilla pudding in the center, and basic cake frosting! 

And today is Wednesday and I haven't seen my kids since Sunday night!  I can't believe it!  And I am missing them very much right now!  With my in-laws out of town, my parents have been watching the kids every day while Bry and I are at work.  Well, we dropped them off on Sunday night to stay the night (so we don't have to drop them off at 5:30am).  On Monday, my parents said they would keep them again for the night, and Bryan and I ran errands after work, and then hurried home to get the lights up on the house before it got dark out.  Then yesterday, I had my cake class, and my folks said they would keep them overnight again.  Now I assumed I'd be picking up the kids tonight, but they want to keep them overnight again tonight!  So that way they sleep in the next morning.  But since I miss them so much, Bryan and I are going over there for dinner and we'll spend some time with them before we go home!  How weird to not have them at all this week, and even weirder that I haven't seen them since Sunday!  As a bonus, my parents have been WONDERUL about consistently working on the boys potty training!  So maybe this means that they will be potty trained before we bring them home!  (I could only wish!)

Have a good day everyone!  Stay warm out there!  It was 14 degrees outside this morning!  Brrrrrrr!!!!!

My Angel Cake!

 

Side view of my cake! (not perfectly even)

Little visitors!

I know it may be kind of hard to see, but check out a pic of our little visitor we found in our yard this morning!  While Bryan and I were getting ready for work, he went to open the front curtains, and hollered for me to come look at something!  We have decorative deer in the front yard for Christmas, and they had a little friend visiting them!  A very large, white goose!  She was checking them out and was pretty close to them!  We got some pictures at home on the camera, but this was my cell phone pic as we were leaving, and we aimed the head lights at her.  She just looked at us, and went back to checking out the deer!

This comes right after another little visitor we encountered last night, while Bryan was hanging up Christmas lights outside!  He heard rustling in the brush at the abandoned house next door.  He took his flashlight to check it out.  He hollered for me to come look, and it was a HUGE skunk bedding down in the brush and leaves!  Now, if you are from this area and grew up around here, many of you know that the area we live in is called Skunk Hollow.  Well, that would be exactly why!  I have only seen one once, since moving here, but it was at a distance.  This sucker was about 50 feet away.  Hopefully he stays that far away! 

And here are a few pics that my folks sent me of the boys at their house! Enjoy and have a good day!

Daniel popping his head out of the awesome fort!!!

 

Snack time in the Awesome fort with flashlights and lanterns!

 

Well, who needs a bed when you got comfy stairs to sleep on!

 Grammy was all tuckered out, so she took a nap on the couch with her

two favorite Grandsons!

Multiples & More - Question of the week! Holiday Traditions!

Well, our family tradition started when I was a little girl by my parents! Every Christmas Eve, my sister and I were given a new pair of pajamas that we would wear to bed and wake up on Christmas morning with! And also a new ornament for the Christmas tree! It would have our name on it and the year it was given to us! And it usually tied into something we were into at that time of year.  Like the year we went to Disneyland, we got Disney ornaments.  And the year I started playing the Clarinet in band, I received a Clarinet ornament!  When my sister and I grew up and moved out, my Mom gave us our box of ornaments we received over the years! Then we had them for our tree as adults!  I still have my ornaments and use them on my tree every year!  I love the memories that come back as I hang my old ornaments!

And we have continued the tradition with my boys! Every year, they get a new pair of pajamas and an ornament!  I hope to continue the tradition as they grow up, and then give them their ornaments when they are grown and move out on their own! 

Merry Christmas everyone!
Jen

Fun at Disney On Ice!

We had a fun family outing on Sunday at the Rose Garden seeing Disney On Ice!  So this was the first time that we have ever taken the boys to something like this! A big huge event and it was a last minute offer to us! A friend of a friend wasn't going to be able to go, so we got her discounted tickets! Only $8.00 per ticket and we were only 12 rows up from the ice! The boys were watching in amazement at all of the things going on around them and were so cute! I usually talk about things we are going to do a few days in advance so that I'm not springing something on them.  We talked about getting to see "Lion King" since that was one of the mini shows of characters that were coming out that they were familiar with.  That is all Cameron kept talking about! "We going to see Simba"!  Yep! We were going to see Simba and all of his Lion King friends, as well as characters from Little Mermaid, Cars, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy! And they were doing a new presentation of fairy characters from a new movie called Pixie Hollow!

So out comes Mickey, Minnie and the other characters and the boys were doing fine! Daniel was on Daddy's lap, and Cameron was sitting like such a big boy on the edge of his seat!  We found that if they sat back in their seats, the seat would start to fold up on them, or they would come close to kicking the person in front of them in the head! So sitting on the edge of the seat or on our laps was the best way to sit!  Then out comes "Cars" and along with that came a really loud "BOOM", which scared the bajeezies out of Daniel and made him cry! Poor little guy! I thought that was the end of the show for us.  But Daddy did a great job of calming him down and distracting him with what was going on in the show.  Cameron was so adorable to watch just sitting so intently watching the show! He clapped when everybody else clapped (always with a HUGE grin on his face) , and turned to me to tell me (in such an excited voice) what was going on and who just came out!  AAAHHH!!!  I have to admit, I don't know why, but I started to get a little teary when we were first sitting there and the show started!  I didn't actually cry or anything, but felt like I was about to.  I was enjoying watching my boys experience something new and amazing! Part of me thought about how I always wanted these things in my life. To take my children to events and out for new experiences and watch them enjoy themselves and have fun!  And for a fair amount of time in my life, I didn't think these days would ever come.  So I treasure each and every special moment along the way because it is a miracle that we were blessed with such amazing little boys in our lives and I couldn't be happier to be there Mommy!  So one more special moment down, a zillion more to go!

So question for all you mommies out there.....Do any of you get emotional or teary at new and special times you spend with your kids?  Or those "firsts" that are pretty special too?

Have a great day everyone!
Jen ;-)

Please go to sleep!

Yes, it is 11:22pm and Cameron is still awake! I tucked the boys in at 9:00pm, and they were noisy until 10:00, and then pretty quiet.  Bryan came home from work about 10:30, and found Cameron standing at the doorway. I didn't even hear him get up! I do not know why he is still awake, but knowing him, he will still be up by 8:00am and be Mr. Cranky Pants tomorrow and will need an extra long nap!  Good thing I have a massage scheduled for 10:00am and Daddy gets to deal with it!  Then hopefully I'm off to meet my Mom and sister for lunch and then we have a surprise for Mom!  She has been spending tons of time helping take care of Grandma and we felt that she needs a little R&R and time to herself for an afternoon! I can't say what the surprise is because she reads this blog and I don't want her to know what it is!  I'll tell you about it tomorrow!  Hopefully Grandma will be moved back to the facility tomorrow where they can get back to working on the Physical Therapy with her!

I'm looking forward to a special last minute plan for on Sunday afternoon!  We were offered the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to see Disney On Ice!  We agreed to get the tickets! We have never taken the boys to something like that before, so I'm looking forward to it!  It is featuring the Little Mermaid, Lion King, Cars & Fairies!  Our seats are pretty good and I'm just hoping the boys will sit still long enough to enjoy it!

Well, I'm to bed!  Sleep tight everyone! And have a wonderful weekend!

Jen

"Mommy! You're my best friend!"

The most wonderful words to ever leave my child's lips, other than "I Love You"!  "Mommy, you're my best friend!".  Oh how I wish that they would always feel that way, but alas, I know those moments are limited.  So I will enjoy these little things they say as long as possible!  This one was so dearly shared with me by Daniel while I was laying on the couch yesterday.  I stayed home sick and wasn't feeling well.  And when I could, I would lay on the couch while the kids played around me.  Daniel climbed over the side of the couch behind my head and grinned down at me with his huge blue eyes and big childish grin and said "Mommy, you're my best friend!".  I grinned the biggest grin I've grinned in a while and said "You're my best friend too!".  What a sweet little boy!  Then he just became a little goofball and said really funny things like,  "You're Cammy?".  I said nope!  Then he said, "You're Daniel?".  I said, "Nope! You're Daniel!".  Then he said, "You're Caillou?".  I said "Nope! I'm Mommy!"  What a silly little boy!  Then I hear the newest little thing he says to me a lot.  "Mommy!  You're a princess!"  What a sweet, adorable, playful, silly and loving little boy I have!  Cameron in the mean time, was laying at my feet on the couch.  Even though they were loud and noisy and fighting at times while I was home, this is my favorite time I will remember with them!  Curled up with Cameron at my feet and Daniel looking over the back of the couch and saying I'm his best friend!  Do you think I can get that in writing?  I'd love it to be that way forever!  Made my sick day at home just a bit better!