Mary Engelbreit Monday

Some pursue happiness, others create it.

--Anonymous

17 Years Together

Chad and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Friday. So here's 17 random tidbits about us.

Christmas, Christmas Time Is Here.........

This was on Christmas Eve. The kids always open one present and it's always pajamas that I've made. This year I made the pants/shorts and bought the shirts to match. Then, I added the penquins/snowmen to the shirts. I thought they turned out really cute. The kids really liked them too. I always love to see them in their Christmas pajamas!
We had a great Christmas. We looked through our stockings and then made breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, and juice. I don't remember the last time I ate that big of a breakfast. I also don't remember the last time our whole family ate breakfast together! It was really nice and I'm so glad that we decided to do that. After breakfast we went back to opening presents. It was a nice morning and so fun to watch the kids.

We spent the day playing games (santa brought us a lot of games) and playing with new toys, etc. It was just a great day. We made ham and potatoes, but it wasn't a formal dinner at all. We spent the 26th pretty much the same way. Just laying back, chillin', playing with the kids and enjoying the time we had together. It was so nice and peaceful, whilch is saying something. I would rarely describe my house as peaceful! I loved it, though. It was the perfect Christmas for me! (My Christmas tree is even still up! Amazing!) I hope you all had as great a Christmas as we did!

Christmas Eve Surprise.......

Chad had duty on Sunday (Dec 23) so he had to stay on the base all day and night. It was raining that night, pretty hard really. I woke up at about 1:30AM Monday morning to a crashing sound. I knew it was coming from outside, and looked out my window, but didn't see anything. I went back to bed. There were several other small thuds that continued for awhile. I was getting a little freaked out. I actually wondered to myself whether or not Chad would come home at 2AM to see what was going on. (He told me later he would have, he's so sweet) Anyway, it stopped and I went back to sleep. This is what we woke up to. Huge chunks of ice had fallen off the roof! This is our backyard, and everyone else's back yard looked exactly the same.....blocks of ice in a straight line across the yards. The blocks are about 4-5 inches thick. All the privacy fences were hit. A plank on ours broke off completely, but most were just broken or shattered at the top.
It even killed the BBQ, not that it was that great of a BBQ, but still. It was squished like a soda can! The legs are all bent underneath. (this was also the only place that the blocks weren't in a straight line. kinda funny) We're just grateful that no one was out there or the dog either for that matter, because those blocks of ice could seriously have killed some one if they'd fallen on them. Pretty scary!

Merry Christmas, everyone!
From our house to yours!

So, I had a little heart attack this morning.....................

I was trying to be a good mom. Since we got all this snow Myshel has had to walk around the practice field that she usually cuts across, so I offered to give her a ride this morning to school. Anyway.......we were driving down the road, the snow packed road......there was a snow plow coming the opposite direction. It was a big one, a tractor with a plow on the front really. I moved over a little to give him more room, grateful that they were finally coming to plow our roads in housing. it was fine, because there was plenty of room for the both of us. But, right when he passed me, he started to fish-tail a little and then a little more.........The back of that tractor was coming right at me..........I swerved, swiped the piled snow on the side of the road and I kept saying "please, don't hit me, please, don't hit me...." Myshel looked at me and said, "I don't think he can hear you", but I think it helped anyway, because he didn't hit me. I swear he must have missed by inches, though. Ohhh I hate slick roads! When I dropped Myshel off at school she said, "thanks for the ride mom, next time try not to kill us" and then she laughed. It's a good thing I like her.........

Secret Keepers

My kids exchange names for Christmas. Last week I took Noah and helped him pick out his present for McKaylie. Actually the only thing I helped with was paying for it. I told him on the way home that he couldn't tell McKaylie what it was. It was suppose to be a surprise. I really expected him to tell, but I thought I'd at least try. He surprised me. He didn't tell her.

I took Myshel and McKaylie to get their presents tonight. Myshel has Noah and McKaylie has Vance. I reminded McKaylie on the way home not to tell Vance what she had bought him and then I added not to tell what Noah's present was either. I didn't know if she could keep the secret either.

McKaylie was home for less than 5 minutes and was spilling the beans. Actually, it's worse than that. She told Noah that she'd tell him what his present was if he told her what hers was. Of course, he gave in. So, she gave away Myshel's present! and then told Noah what she got for Vance and he told Vance. I couldn't believe it! Myshel is the only one that doesn't know what her sibling gift is.

I told Chad that next year she doesn't get to come with anyone else when they get their present. He said she'd be lucky if she gets to come at all to pick the present for her sibling gift.

Decorating Cookies

All I've heard for the last week is, "when are we going to decorate cookies?" So, last night we decorated cookies. I love seeing what the kids "create". It's always lots of fun.