The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Mother

22 years in love as a couple, 17 years of marriage, 4 kids, one happy family... Candlelight dinner!  Isn't that the coolest candle? We are going to attempt to recreate it. The waiter asked us at dinner, "What was the secret?".  John said, "Marry a patient woman like me!" Ha! Patient would never be a word I would choose to describe myself. I answered that it came down to friendship.  You can't get through the many curve balls of life and marriage without friendship. We also both mentioned the fact that we were so young when we fell in love (18 and 21), that we grew up together, experienced so many first together. We are truly part of each other, not necessarily the better half, but certainly the other half of each other.  Together we are whole and our children are the icing on the cake, the glue that makes it all stick (alright, enough analogies already!). And of course, the love...it runs deep around here...breath taking love. We h...

As a kid, you think nothing can beat being a kid on Christmas, but I now know differently.  Nothing beats being a mom/parent on Christmas.  There is so much more joy in giving, than in receiving.  Just seeing the delight in my children's eyes and the sheepish grins on my teenager's face.  I know I'm creating memories for them that will last a lifetime.  Being part of the magic of it all, is gift enough for me. Christmas eve... A lovely afternoon...outside before church. These two love sitting together at this table! Eating all the goodies Nana made. As if playing violin and viola weren't enough, he's teaching himself piano! Jonas is excited that Santa arrived! I finished getting everything ready by 11:00 p.m. The earliest time in the past 10 years! Christmas morning... This is their fake look of shock! Jonas put together this basket for me! So sweet. He can be grumpy, even on Christmas morning....

It's amazing and exhausting just how much energy and effort we all put into making the holidays magical.  Honestly though, I love it...every little detail of it.  Of course, like everyone else, we were quite busy with activities before Christmas.  There was... ~Multiple concerts to attend 1st Chair Viola for Region 11 Orchestra, which included a solo! Our little beginner! My musical duo at their school Christmas concert. ~A tummy bug struck again Poor Jonas...he got it exactly 2 weeks after Lorelei had it. ~Simple gifts to give The parent gift my 3rd grade class made. Simple jar with some chocolates with a free refill, for Bailey and Savannah's Orchestra teacher. Jonas put together a great gift for his teacher, Mr. Kallead, a trout calendar and some animal magnets.   ~Sleepy mornings, ready for Winter break       ~School Christmas parties I made this dress for Lorelei two Christma...

Blogging is a love and a curse.  It's a hobby and like the worst homework you ever had.  I'm a procrastinator by nature, always putting off something till the last minute.  Since I am my own blog administrator, there are no deadlines set, so it is more than easy to say..."I'll blog tomorrow."  I guess tomorrow is today. My apologies for my absence.  I thought I was going to spend a lot of my recovery time from my hysterectomy writing.  HA! Not quite.  I had no idea what to expect from my surgery.  It actually went quite smoothly.  All pathology came back normal and I had no issues that kept me at the hospital longer than necessary.  I came home and plopped myself in the corner of my very comfy Ikea sectional.  You know that awesome corner of the sectional where you literally sink in...that's my corner.  It now has a permanent indentation from me! ;) I thought, I'd watch a little t.v., read some magazines, finish one of ...