These are a few of my favorite things...

...listening to Kyla sing. She has a really great voice. :)
...watching Jonah identify his body parts, especially his tounge!
...watching Kevin interact and take care of his little brothers. He loves them!!
...seeing Sean grow up and change into a teenager..who still loves his momma!
...hearing Carter make his ship and gun noises as he flies them through the air.
...Carter's unbelieveable personality. He is such a fun, fun person to be around.
...watching Kyla dance through the house. She is my little princess!
...Jonah's smile. It is really precious and very contagious!
...seeing Sean's face stuck in a good book.
...Kevin's knack of learning every possible fact..and remembering them for years.

Life is truly great and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful and unique children who brighten everyday and make our house into a home filled with such special life.

Six Years Ago Today..

we found out we were pregnant!!! It was also that same day that my gut instinct said girl, and sure enough, we now have the princess of our house!
I'll never forget December 24, 2002. It was the best Christmas Eve I will probably ever have. We had tried to conceive for the previous 3 months, but that morning, as soon as I woke up I decided to test just for the heck of it. Little did I know our lives would change forever from that moment forward. Excitement, nervousness, happiness, and so many other emotions instantly hit. It is one of those days you never want to forget. You don't want to forget each little detail or feeling you experienced at each ticking second. It's hard to believe it's been 6 years already, but it has truly been the best 6 years of my life. I love being Kyla's mommy and feel so blessed by God to be given the chance to raise her, teach her, and most importantly love her every second of every day!! I love you Kyla and am so glad you came into our lives and forever changed our hearts!!

I just have to share...

what I woke up to at 6 o'clock in the morning.

As a mom, I think it's normal to want to have special memories or treasured stories that you can reflect on, laugh at, and share when you child grows up. Well, what I woke up to this morning is one of those very stories that I will treasure and keep and tell in the years to come.
So, this morning, I had plans to be somewhere at 7, so I was planning on getting up around 6:25. However, I was abruptly woken up by our extremely loud musical mice (12 mice that literally play Christmas songs by banging on a bell) at 6am. Kirt jumped, I was confused and then we both knew instantly who it was and what was going on. You see, for some reason our dear, dear Carter is so confused with time, and thinks he really should be up around 5:45 or 6, when really we believe in the sun rule (you don't wake up until the sun's up). Ugh, why does he have to be like I was when I was a child?!?!
Anyway, back to the story...I walked out of our room, and find Carter sitting on our barstools watching the mice do their thing, and seeing his happy face grin from ear to ear. You see, he wasn't supposed to be out. He figured out how to open his child proof door and snuck out. The funny part to me, was that he not only has the Christmas toons going, but he also made sure he plugged the Christmas tree for the full effect. The boy is just so hysterical. I am so grateful God blessed me to be the mother of a precious little boy who is so fun spirited and loves to make people laugh!! I love you Carter and although I am not very thankful for the 6am wakeup call, know that I am beyond thankful for your humor, love, wit and charm. You are truly one special little boy!!!

Exciting Weekend

My list of excited things for Thanksgiving weekend:

1. Kirt has four days off of work! Yay!!
2. One of my best friends', Natalie, is coming down from Virginia today!! I am so excited to see her!!
3. Black Friday. Enough said.
4. Time with family and friends. Doesn't get better than this!
5. Turkey and potatoes. So, I'm really quite plain and simple when it comes to food. I LOVE the mix of turkey and potatoes.
6. Mayer Christmas Party (a tad early..). Can't wait to go to Natalie's house for a wonderful time!!
7. My sister and I are planning on working at the flea market one day this weekend. The hand stamped charms I have been making have been huge sellers, so I figured we would try another avenue on top of online. You can see them here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6350155
http://www.bluepaisleys.com/category_60/Handstamped-Jewelry.htm
8. I'm really excited about what has been happening with Blue Paisleys. I have been so busy and am so grateful!!! I never would have imagined something I dreamed up less than a year ago is doing what it is doing today!!

So, Happy Thanksgiving!!! We truly have so much to be thankful for. Even though times are rough in so many people's lives right now, we are still being shown constant blessings. We need to remember to never let those pass us by.

The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Friday was one of the worst days I've had in a very, very long time. Almost made me want to write my own book titled, "Maria (or Kirt) and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day". Everything started of normal. I was getting the kids ready for school and the younger boys ready to run a few errands after our school drop off. Around 8:30am, my phone rang and it was Kirt freaking out, but like in a shaking and I don't know what to do kind of way (not yelling and out of control). He tell tells me that his tools have been stolen out of his truck. Bags and bags of tools and expensive ones at that. If he were to estimate it would be around 4K in tools of his own, and about 8K of the companies. We have no idea when or where it happened. He swears his truck was locked over night and there was no sign of entry whatsoever. He stopped at a gas station and ran in quickly and the door was unlocked during this time. I'm not a thief and I know they can do crazy things, but I just find it so hard to believe that they would climb into somebody's truck and take so much stuff during a super quick trip into a gas station (..and he was parked right in front). Who knows. However, I do know that I feel very violated. Now, somehow we have to come up with thousands of dollars in tools so he can continue to work. The rest of the day wasn't great either, but it was totally minute compared to the morning.

Regardless of circumstances, I am so thankful I have a God who I know will be with us during this time. I am so grateful for my faith and I can't even explain the feeling knowing that even when things get tough, we will not be forsaken. I am certain He will provide and will reveal Himself through this difficulty. I also pray for those who did this to us, that they may experience His presence, seek His grace and be saved from the only thing that can save them from whatever their circumstances may be.

My Carter Funny of the Day

Carter is so hilarious and is pretty much defined as our family clown, and he knows it. He makes the funniest faces and says the funniest things. Most dinners, all 6 of us are staring at him laughing at his crazy antics. Today, he found some of Kyla's pink lipstick, put it on and then ran to me telling me "I have to go show the mirror". It was too funny. Thankfully, he wiped it off right afterwards saying it was disgusting.

If you walk away for a second...

you get Jonah's wonderful post below. He typed it and posted it all by himself while I was on the phone with my dad. I'm a proud mom. :)

In difficult news, a friend I grew up with passed away November 1st after a 3 year battle with breast, lung and brain cancer. She was a single mom to a 6 year old little boy. We made many childhood memories together, including school, soccer and birthday parties. The last time I saw her, about a year or two ago, she was doing quite well (I think even in some sort of remission) and was so very happy. In fact, one thing I will always remember about her is how happy she always was and her constant smile. My heart breaks for her sweet little boy and how his life will now forever change because of this awful cancer. I pray for her little boy so he may find comfort during this difficult time. Rest in peace Lisabet..we can celebrate your passing knowing your in the most amazing and pain free place, unlike anything we can imagine.