January Miscellaneous

 Lucy took this shot of me with the boys just before bedtime.  More often than not, by 7:30 or 8 at night, I'm done.  Ready to be just Maggie and not Mom anymore.  But as I look at these pictures, I know that I will miss reading to them every night.  I will be sad that Benny doesn't beg me to "lay down" with him anymore.  

These two crazy cats!  This was before kindergarten.  Evan Fahey is our neighbor and I am soooo grateful for him and his family.  These two were inseparable after preschool.  

Notice the amazing shot of snowy Mt. Etna.  

We met up with the Jones family one Saturday and attempted sledding on Mt. Etna.  It was soo cold and we didn't last too long, but it sure was fun!

Didn't find many pictures from the day, but I love this one of little Sully.  He was only 15 months.  

These next three notes that Lucy wrote to us back then are what keeps her alive the next few years.  Proof that she is sweet and appreciative.  Love that girl so much!

I want to remember the crazy preschool carpool we had last year.  My car always had four preschoolers and Benny.  It was always intense getting them in and out and walking them to their classroom, but we had some great conversations!  Benny always wanted the music turned down and all the other kids wanted it loud.  They always hoped for gum when I picked up after school.  

We had an FHE on goal setting.  I loved reading through some of their ideas.  One of Benny's:  Count to 50.  Oh how I wish I would have saved these!!!!!  I can't read the picture well enough.  

It's so crazy to see Sully's bald head!  We had a day when we had to stay at the school for a bit.  The kids always LOVE when they get to play at the park for a little while when Graham gets out.  

Love this shot of my boys!

Jason loves to make himself a breakfast burrito on Saturday mornings.  Sullivan likes to have a bite or two.  I just remembered why his head was so bald.  He had quite a mullet and so I decided to try and cut it.  Ha!  I found some super sharp sewing scissors.  It looked SOOOO bad!  I took him to the community center salon and they basically had to just shave it all off.  Parent fail.  

This was when I had a double eye infection and had to wear glasses for a few weeks.  No fun!  I'm much better about replacing my contacts more often now.  

Love Lucy's brace face!  

The boy loves himself two eggs every morning.  

Grateful for this family of mine and the memories we are making together.  

Winter Wonderland Dance

Lucy Goose went to her first real junior high school dance.  To be honest, I'm a little annoyed that they don't just have the after school ones that we had as kids.  This made it too "date" like and these guys are too young for that, but oh well.  She went.....she had a great time.

Love these group of crazy girls!

Kendall Jackson, Gabby Andres, Alyah Perkins, Camila Cardona, LUCY, Emmy McCarthy, Bailey Wilson, Sammie Wray

Lucy and Bailey have been on and off best buddies since we moved here.  They are always friends, but they go through long phases when they are inseparable.  I'm grateful for their friendship and the good kids Lucy is able to spend her time with.  

So, this boy, Truman Boller.  At the time of this dance, he had a huge crush on Miss Lucy.  Lucy returned the crush a little bit, but wasn't as vocal or forward.  He asked her to go to the dance with her and she told him she couldn't, but would dance with him there.  (Side note:  We've had MANY conversations about how "going" to a dance with someone is a date and Lucy sticks to her idea that it isn't.  Needless to say....there was A LOT of debating).  She got to the dance and he was waiting for her with these flowers.  Deep sigh.......

Not sure I'm ready for this stuff, but I'm neck deep in it, it seems.  

Happy Birthday to Me!

Jason rocked the birthday cake scene by calling Kalleen and getting her white cake and white frosting recipes.  Nailed it!

Lucy totally and completely shocked me with this gift.  She got all of my family and a ton of my friends to email Jason with compliments for me and/or things they admire about me.  Then she typed them up, printed them, and then cut them out individually.  This jar was filled with little strips of paper that each told me how awesome I am.  It was amazing!  So thoughtful!

This was one of my favorites from Heidi.  

Jason took my birthday off from work and we went SKIING ON MOUNT ETNA!  That's right, folks.  We skied down a volcano!!!  It was so fun!

It was a fabulous day!  We kissed  on the ski lift.  We ate the Christmas chocolates that Kalleen sent us and we felt like rockstars even though we hadn't been on skis in years.  

It was a wonderful celebration of my 35 years.  I felt very loved and very appreciated.  

Now......only 12 more shopping days until the 10th of January!!!

Prayer answered.

So much on my mind that I want to record, but so little time.  Benny's ride from preschool will drop him off any minute and I'm pretty sure that I hear Sullivan stirring from his nap.  I'll start with the subject closest to the surface right now.  

This boy has such a tight grip on my heart.  I've been praying and praying lately to know how to manage him and his grouchy moods.  I fasted for help this past weekend.  I got my answer today full force.  I was going to journal about his baptism back in October, but as I was pulling up pictures to put in the post, my heart just pounded.  I know now that I need to just overwhelm him with love and kindness.  Heavenly Father has blessed me with a heart full of gratitude for this little man.  Is he tough?  Yes, but I can try to soften him a little by making sure that he ALWAYS knows how much his mom loves him and cares about him.  Will that be hard sometimes?  Yes, but I will continue to pray for help and understanding.