Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Where Did January Go?

It happens every single year.  We eat our way through Thanksgiving, we shop in December and celebrate Christmas, we end a year while fondly reminiscing the events of the current year and make empty promises for better things for the upcoming year, and after all of that, I finally slow down, rest, and realize that it is February.  January has come and gone and has now become a blur.  Our January is so crazy. And this year has been no exception.  In January, we go straight into 2 birthdays and our anniversary.  And although I know this, these dates always sneak up on me before I am ready to tackle them.

In summary, Beau celebrated a milestone birthday this year......the big 40.  When I turned 40, it was a big emotional event.  I know it is just a number, logically, but on a psychological level, it is much more than that to me.  I see my youth slipping away, the wrinkles appearing, and the gray becoming more stubborn.  But Beau, partially because he is a man and partially because he simply does not care (and perhaps those two things are related) sees 40 for what it is.  A number.  And although I see my failing appearances, I only see that he continues to become more attractive.  I suppose that is true love.  The saying goes that men become more handsome, and women just get old. All I know is that Beau is my guy and I am thankful for him.  In celebration for his birthday, I put together a small gathering of friends and family.  It was quaint and fun and I think I accomplished what I set out to do....make Beau feel special.  I put together a small collage of pictures of Beau through the years.  The only pictures I have of him from his childhood are ones that Aunt Cathy put together in an album years ago.  I was so thankful to have that book.  Also, in an attempt to really let Beau know how I appreciated him, I put together a list of  "40 Reasons Why You Are Special."  Beau isn't one that likes to have a lot of attention, but I know he enjoyed reading my list.  I initially thought it was going to be hard to verbalize 40 reasons (sorry honey), but once I sat down and began working on the project, it was really very easy.  The night was spent eating, playing Cranium, laughing, and enjoying some good old fashioned fun.  In our competitive game of Cranium, the guys played against the ladies, and of course, the ladies won by a mile.  I won't tell the score, however.  The best part of the night was that all the kids from each family got along well with one another.  That in itself is an accomplishment.  Success.


The Bennett Family

The Rodriguez Family

The Hare Family





So thankful for Pinterest ideas.  

Not even 2 weeks after Beau's birthday, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  He was out of town for a few days on a business trip, but he made it home in time to take me out to celebrate.  We decided no gifts.  Just having a quiet meal out together is gift enough.  I can not believe that I have know him for 19 years, nearly half my life.  Although we have had our seasons of ups and downs, he remains my one true best friend and the love of my life.

Every once in a while, I try to change up Beau's fashion.  If left to his own devices, he would wear virtually the same thing for decades.  In earlier years of our marriage, he was much more willing to let me dress him.  There was this lady he used to work with in Florida that always seemed to notice my handiwork and was very complimentary.  However, since we have moved to New Hampshire, Beau has been very resistant to my clothing choices.  But for Christmas, I bought him this hat and vest.  Of course, he didn't wear it until our Anniversary (a month later).  But I'll take it.  This will probably be the first and last time time he will ever wear this hat.

Then, just after our anniversary, we celebrated Oliver's 7th birthday.  This was a difficult birthday for Ollie because he just could not decide what he wanted to do. He started planning his birthday in November and had a dozen different ideas.  When it came down to the week of his birthday, he literally changed his mind multiple times a day regarding where he wanted to eat dinner and what family activity he wanted to share with us.  Initially, Oliver was emphatic he wanted to go snow boarding.  Keep in mind that this is the kid who hates any kind of snow gear, being touched (ie by instructors), or playing in the snow.  Beau and I kept gently hinting that perhaps snow tubing would be a fun idea as it is less intense.   Oliver threw out ideas that included places like Chuck E Cheese, Roller Kingdom, movie theaters, bowling allies, or Florida.  Everything except for visiting Florida was on the table, but he just could not decide.  Not if that wasn't hard enough, but then he had to also choose a restaurant. That too was an impossible decision.  Finally, we ended up at the movie theater to see "Strange Magic" and ate dinner at 99.   But as we were on our way to 99, he saw another restaurant and wanted to change his mind AGAIN.  Everyone in the van screamed NOOOOOO!  Ollie, strangely enough, was ok with that.  LOL.  At the end of the night he got his ice cream cake and was thrilled with his celebration.  I was just glad that the agonizing decision making process was over and that he was happy.

Legos...Oliver's favorite thing.  






Monday, December 29, 2014

Deck the Halls


And now we come to Christmas and all the decorating.  Last year, after Christmas I went to Home Depot and all of their Christmas decor was extremely reduced.  I was able to pick several new decorations at 75% off that I would normally never spend full price for.  Every year after Christmas, Beau and I try to buy a little something new for the next year and after nearly 17 years of marriage, we have acquired many neat things.  But last year after Christmas was by far the most we had ever purchased at one time for the next year.  I was literally giddy.  This meant that decorating for Christmas 2014 would be so much fun.  We have two fireplaces in this house so I get to make two mantles pretty.  I have a beautiful stairway so decorating the banister was fun.






I skipped putting out my villages this year....they are so time consuming.  But I spent several years collecting them because I would buy 2 or 3 each Christmas.  My collection isn't anything spectacular compared to the elderly couple in Florida that lived in our neighborhood.  Each year, he would fill his entire garage with his village and open it up for the public to see.  It was amazing to see and one would have to appreciate all the work that must have gone into that display.  

This year we got to spend an evening celebrating Christmas with our church growth group.  Between playing a scavenger hunt with Christmas tree ornaments and playing pictionary with Christmas songs, and watching the kids play contently with one another, it was a great evening of fellowship.  


Also this year, we went to the neighborhood Christmas party.  She had some piece of Christmas in every corner of the house.  It was straight out of a Martha Stewart magazine.  Every room had a different theme and it was tastefully done.  They have this party every year so she must have it down to a science.  And the food.  Oh my.  The food.  I have never seen so much food and she prepared everything herself.  There was something there for every person's taste.  As I was complimenting the hostess on her party, she told me she started decorating in July.  I am not sure if she was serious or not, but I could believe it.  

Christmas Eve day, we made cookies and decorated them.  They were too ugly to take pictures.  I still have not become a baker worthy of pictures, but maybe one day.  That evening, we attended our church candlelight service.  This is always a beautiful event and wonderful time to worship our Savior.  Two of the four boys did fall asleep, but in all fairness, the lights were turned down low and the music was calming.  Oliver and Carter had no choice.  


When we got home, the boys put on their new Christmas jammies and hopped into bed.  I did not manage to get a picture this year but Carter was batman, Oliver was a minion, and William was a ninja turtle.  They were all a little restless, but it didn't take them long to fall asleep with thoughts of Santa and presents.  
Santa pile

Santa pile

Add caption

Zander got lots of bedroom decor to go in his new room

I got the perfume and fuzzy socks that I wanted this year, a casserole style crock pot, scrapbooking items, and to my surprise, a box of screws along with 3 auto cad designs for layout plans for new shelving in the basement from which I could choose.  I loved them all, but I am most excited about the shelves.  Beau totally knows my love language-labor.  Pictures will be posted later.  


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends and family.  

Thanksgiving 2014



Our 2014 simply flew this year.  As the saying goes, the days were long but the year was quick.  This year saw many new changes, tough decisions, learning opportunities, and plenty of God moments. Spring and Summer are a blur, but things finally felt more normal once Fall arrived.  Our lives began to slow down just a bit.  Yes, we were still busy with soccer, cub scouts, school, homework, but we were back to a schedule.  As I have mentioned previously, Fall is my favorite time of the year.

William and his poppy
This year, my parents decided to visit us for a week during Thanksgiving.  We were looking forward to their visit, especially the boys.  I had the privilege to spend time with my parents by myself in Florida in July and again in August, but the boys hadn't seen them since April.   Once November showed up on the calender, they literally counted down the days until Nana and Poppy's arrival.  As much as I was happy they were here, they simply never felt comfortable this time.  The weather was cold and we had an unusual snow the day before Thanksgiving.  Although it was probably the prettiest snow I had seen since I had moved to NH, my parents did not appreciate it's beauty.  Even with the heat on, the electric space heater at their feet, and blankets available, my parents never warmed up.  In fact, my mom couldn't wait to return to her comfortable Florida weather.  On top of everything else, their hotel lost power so they ended up staying with us during their week here.  We luckily now have an extra room that makes for a great spare bedroom.  Thankfully the boys were on their best behavior the whole time my parents visited.  I was so grateful for that.
Front Porch











The boys had a blast playing in the snow, even Ollie.  They are finally completely independent now putting on all their snow gear.  They even know to use the bathroom prior to putting on everything without any reminders.  Carter keeps outgrowing his brothers so this year the largest snow pants had to go to him and his old ones went to Oliver.  Carter has always weighed more than his brothers, but he is currently the tallest one too.  It is impossible to keep up with clothing him.  The four boys spent hours in the yard playing in the snow on the first day.  But when that day was over, Oliver declared that he was done with the snow for the entire season and that I could pack his stuff away until next Winter.  He's my kid with lots of sensory issues and getting him into snow gear is nearly impossible.  The fact that he wore his snow clothes for an entire day was quite impressive.  That's my Ollie! While the kids played outside all day, I made all my casseroles for Thanksgiving.  I have made enough Thanksgiving dinners to learn what works best for me.  I make everything the day before so that on Thanksgiving all I have to do is make the turkey and warm up all the food from the previous day.

We decided this year that we would move around the furniture in our living room to accommodate our Christmas Tree.  We have this huge entertainment center that we love, but it takes up so much room in our awkward living room. You see, our living room does not have a single wall without windows, fireplace, or glass doors. Therefore, we are quite limited with our furniture layout.  So, we broke down the entertainment center putting the two end pieces together in the corner and leaving only the tv console in the front of the room, now making the room appear much larger.    My parents supervised, while secretly enjoying the fact that it was us and not them making this move.



The sun rising lit up the sky.  Just beautiful.



Oliver dislikes having his picture taken almost as much as he dislikes wearing snow gear.  Ha!

Snow Bunny #1

Snow Bunny #2


This creek is behind our house.  Love the Autumn leaves with the snow



Snowman family

As always, we enjoyed my parents visit.  However, they were happy to return home to the sunshine that Florida is famous for.  As my mom left, she vowed to never visit New Hampshire again past September.  LOL.  Probably a good chance they will never decide to live in New England near their daughter!!!