Brynnley got ran over by our Christmas tree!!

She was doing so good with it too!

I have been amazed that my busy bee hasn't really gotten in to the Christmas tree much this year. She did however get drawn in from time to time to the candy canes(esp. the ones the kids put at the bottom of the tree). As soon as all the candy canes were out of her reach, she had no more interest in the tree. Well, I must have missed one....

Yes....the one time she has some alone time with the tree it came crashing down. I was upstairs bringing the laundry up when I heard "the noise" you know that noise that you know could have caused some damage. This little girl is so smart and figures out a way to get what she needs and I am pretty sure she was trying to get a candy cane that was out of her reach. I wish I could have seen what she was doing but I was more concerned at the time to sweep her up and away from some some broken glass. I was amazed that only ONE ornament crashed to it's death!

We all survived and Brynn walked away without a scratch! She loves to create memories so I am sure she wanted us to remember 2011 Christmas with a bang! I think I am just about ready to pack it away now too. All the ornaments that fell off.....they are staying off! My rule is to only set up a Christmas tree once. It helps that we are heading to see family for Christmas. I text Eric to tell him about the fun I was having and after saying, "Oh gosh.....so sorry.....did you get any pictures?" Say what???? I mean I take a lot of pictures but at that moment I was thinking safety over capturing the moment for all the witness. Thomas can tell you all about it. Brynnley has more than moved on. It would be interesting if she tried that one again. That candy cane doesn't look so good anymore does it Brynn:)

Oh man is she ever the cutest though!! Every time I call her name she says, "huh." She is also taking after her sister by getting a plastic sandwich bag for everything and will get one and give it to me when she wants a snack. I have no more space to put them up high in the kitchen so they have to stay put. They are high enough that she can't look into the drawer and she just reaches her arm up high to get them. I figured if I turned them upside down she would reach up and not be able to feel them as she could before and would give up. Yeah right. You think I can out smart a 20 month old?? Nope. She opened the drawer, stretched her arm farther into the drawer than before, turned the box over, and grabbed herself a bag. Take that momma! I am sure is what she as thinking!

So I am back typing after a few hours of having to do errands, have the lock smith come, take kids to and from school, and throw in a few loads of laundry. Wouldn't you know as I am typing, little missy got into my mascara(or chaptick in her world) again! Every time she comes down thinking she struck gold and mom quickly ruins the moment. I just did what every good mom would do and cleaned her lash lips up and put her in her bed to play so I could make dinner. It seems they get busier when you have tons of stuff to do(like prepare for a trip). It's funny because she doesn't get into the decor in the house she just has her go to things she loves to get into and if we give her the chance(like me forgetting to shut my bedroom door) she will take it and will either get my lip gloss or mascara. Thats it.

After a 20 min. break, I grabbed her from her bed(she was gabbing away and playing) and told her not to get into my stuff and I said, "do you understand Brynny," and she said with a smile, "yeah, stand." And now I want to squeeze her with love and eat her up! It's amazing how quickly the frustration turns into love!!

Well it seems like its a Brynnley kind of a day so I will finish off with some journal entrees I want to remember and I know that she will have fun reading someday as well.

Brynnley tooted today and looked at me with big eyes and said,"uh-oh."

I also love lately how she bows her head to pray at the dinner table and covers her eyes with her hands and then smiles really big and yells, "Amen" at the end. She is so cute at family prayer too and often buries her head on the bed with her arms folded. The other night she started that way and lasted the entire prayer. Miracle! She is a joy and Eric and I struggle to ever get mad at her. Those eyes get you every time....especially with her Dad!

This picture is one of my favorite pictures of Brynnley. She isn't moving which is weird. Rarely can I capture a picture of her being still! We love and kiss on this little face so much. And when I say we I mean the 4 of us. She dishes it right back and we love it! This picture would be even better if she had her scrunched nose cheese face but I can picture her doing it just the same. She is a beautiful girl from the inside out! We love you Brynny!

Brynnley also has picked up on a Thomas phrase. Whenever I have to ask him twice to do something, I will tell him I am not going to ask him again and he always says, "alright." so tonight I was putting Brynn to bed and told her she needed to brush her teeth and she said, "alright." Some days I wish I could freeze time. Some moments I wish I could fast forward. I am so grateful for this journey called life and these little people I get to share it with. They teach me so much and make everyday a new experience. Whats even better is that I get to keep them and my sweetie forever!

My little helpers......

The other night Avery and Thomas asked if they could do the dishes. I figured I may have to re due them but was very open to let them try. I must say they more than impressed their mom in how well they cleaned them and placed them in the dishwasher. I loved watching their team work. There was no fighting over who got to wash them, they just worked together until the job was done. They are growing up so fast. I love my children so much. I love that they are mine forever!! I love how sweet and sensitive Avery is. I love how much Thomas makes me laugh. I love Brynnley's determination and love for life. I also love her little angelic face and kiss it too many times a day. She is one smart little 20 month old!! This morning we put her in bed with us at 7 and she didn't want to snuggle so she got out of our bed and minutes later I heard, "come on"..."come on." She had gotten her brother and sister up to go eat breakfast with her. She motivated us all to get going!

There was also a great TEAM effort on the Gardner ginger bread house of 2011. We had a blast and the kids decorated most of it. Eric gets credit for the roof. What can't this man do??? The kids had a blast. Brynnley loved trying to eat the candy.

We have had a few gatherings for Eric's work this week. One of which we were invited to Dr. Hasan's home(one of the Dr.'s Eric will be working with next)to have dinner. We were able to bring the kids as there would be many other kids there and a daycare lady to watch them all so we could enjoy a nice dinner. The kids had a blast and so did we. We got introduced to the best ice cream called Jeni's ice cream. We had heard about it but hadn't tried it yet as it is in Columbus OH. We found out night that here in Ohio they carry it at Whole Foods. If you know my hubby and I, then you know the first thing on our agenda that weekend would be to go and grab more of that delish ice cream. We got different flavors than we hadn't tasted that night and grabbed some Madisono's ice cream too(Dr. Hasan's and his wife love this kind as well). Check out our flavors!!! We had them all out and went from one to the other....double dipping and all! The kids thought all the flavors were really good too. We gave each of them a taste of the Queen City Cayenne(which has some heat at the end of a delicious chocolate flavor) and to our dismay they all loved it. They just asked for a glass of water after the heat kicked in a bit. It's not hot it just tingles the back of your throat just right. Mmmmmmm! The creamiest ice cream we have had yet!

Never judge an ice cream flavor by it's name....the sweet potato roasted marshmallow was pretty good too. I couldn't pick out my favorite!!

A few forget me nots from last week.......

I came into Thomas's room(after Dad had already said prayers and read scriptures with him) and he was in the dark patiently waiting at the end of his bed looking like the picture below......waiting for a story and song from Mom(our nightly ritual together)spider man gloves and all. I should have started recording all the songs I make up each night(only for a good laugh). I make up some pretty lame songs, but he LOVES them and that's all that matters. He typically gives me the theme each night on what the song will be about. Last night it was about a green blanket and the night before about a blue dinosaur. Lately every time we leave the room after the ritual he has to say,"don't let the bed bugs bite." He must tell both Eric and I and then he is out. Last night he said,"don't let the bed bug bite your brain." Ooooh that wouldn't be good!

Brynnley got into my makeup and thought my mascara was lip gloss. And she is the one unhappy about it???? wusup with that??

Me and my sweet girl had fun taking pictures together. She is trying to learn how to take pictures and loves it!!

Momma's back.....

I have been sick the last few days and many things got put on the back burner. I am feeling great now and getting life back in order. Thanks to an amazingly wonderful hubby and some great kids the house managed to survive:) I am one lucky momma! Thanks sweetie for everything!!! I love you so much!

One of Brynnley's food explosions. I am slowly learning to give her smaller portions or else she will clear her plate by getting ride of it in all places but her mouth. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Thomas came down as a super hero. He came to save me when I was not feeling good. Love that boy!! I love that he often gives me the desire to whip out my camera!!

I think he has watched Avery pose too much(hence the toe out hand on hip action)! Oh I love my family! We are so looking forward to the holidays and being with family. I love his time of year. It is actually starting to get colder her is Cincy town so I am ready to bake!! I think the kids and I will bake some cookies today and make a surprise for dad. Sounds great to me:)

FAB-U-LOUS Day!!!

The day started out by slowly rolling out of bed(the week caught up with me)and got Avery on the bus. I vacuumed the life cereal massacre that my daughter created. I think she wants to feed the floor more than herself. She is getting the rest of her teeth and doesn't have a big appetite(unless it's clementines.....she is always up for those!). When she saw that I had her breakfast she ran to the table screaming, "Yay!"...and then just picked at it. Oh well....the vacuum was well fed and just can't get enough vacuuming in a day. I then got ready for what made the day so fabulous and headed out the door. Some of my friends and I started a monthly luncheon at one of our houses and this round we ordered Chinese take out. We all curbed our cravings, got to laugh, chat, and eat while 10 kids played the day away.

One of my friends Amy I and got a pretty good laugh talking about our 5 year old kids. We had them over for dinner last weekend(we each have three kids around the same age.) When they got home that evening she told me that her 5 year old boy told her that he had a big secret and she said he was jumping all around with joy. She finally got it out of him that he had a girlfriend named Avery. He told her that he knew she was his girlfriend when he saw her face. Ha!!!! We got a good laugh at that. I asked Avery later if anyone had talked to her about what a boyfriend was etc. and she said, "No mom. I know you don't want to me have one of those." Oh, okay. Sounds good to me. I am sure she hears her little class mates talk about that but I am glad she listens to something I guess I said. I had to laugh about the fact that he may have said something to her about being his girlfriend and she was probably like, "sure yeah you are a boy and my friend." She still doesn't grasp the whole "boyfriend" lingo. I must say it's kinda weird that we are discussing this kind of stuff. Right now it's all funny and innocent. I don't want the real deal to come anytime soon. It's great to have these little things come up so that we can start chatting about them and she have her know she can trust her parents with all these delicate and maybe somewhat embarrassing matters. I hope she always comes to us with all the topics that kids talk about so early these days. I know our reaction is pretty important too! As for now she just loves to play and have fun with all her friends. I love my loving sweet little girl. Today she told me she helped a friend that fell in the playground. She said she was crying so she helped her up and took her to get help. Avery is a peacemaker and I have felt that from day 1. It's so fun watching her grow up!

To top the day off, I saw the most beautiful sunset that I have seen in awhile. It was penetrating. All I could think about was how beautiful it made me feel and how grateful I am for my vision so I can see Gods amazing creations. I am sure it is Heavenly Fathers way of giving us a little glimpse into heaven. I need to stop and enjoy these creations a little bit more each day.

Bless the cheese......

A few lines from Thomas's dinner prayer this evening.....He LOVES to say the prayer.

"Bless the cheese on my plate that I don't like.....and I see it sitting on my lettuce right now...."

"Bless our food to not be hot...."(after the prayer he asked me if the food was just right.)

"Bless Avery my best friend..."

So he doesn't like cheese and I think he opens his eyes when he prays. Eric and I are still laughing!

Life is a bit busier but all in good ways! I took the girls to Costco yesterday while Thomas was at school. I think the sample ladies got a big kick out of Brynnley. Whenever we got close to a sample that she thought looked good she would YELL, "YAY!" with her arms up in the air. It was pretty funny. She is such a fun little girl. The kids are having so much fun with her now that she is able to talk more and keep up with them. They often play house together and from the last posts you can see Brynnley is a pretty good sport and let's them direct her with whatever part they want her to play. She and Thomas are such good little buddies. As soon as Avery goes to school they head down to the basement to play.

Once again we end the night off with a bang after showers......Brynnley was laughing pretty hard at this idea that Thomas and Avery came up with. The kids are big fans of the wood floors and are putting them to good use........Hmmmmm.....maybe I should put a mop underneath them and they can have fun while cleaning my floors!!

El libro de Mormon..........

I walked into Thomas's room tonight and found him fast asleep, holding his Book of Mormon. Before he went to bed he was flipping through the pages and showing me his favorite pages. He wanted me to turn the hall light on so he could read it some more before he went to bed. What a sweet sight when I checked on him hours later.
I am so grateful for this book. I know it will bless my children's lives as it has blessed mine. The words inside this book without a doubt are from God to us his children. The words found inside are what he wants us to read and know. He wants us to have the knowledge of what the plan is for all his children on earth and how we can follow that plan to get back to his kingdom where we will live with happiness an joy for all eternity. I love reading it with the children every night. They may not fully understand its words right now, but just seeing Thomas holding it tonight makes me feel as though he knows it is important and I am sure his little heart feels the peace it brings. When I was a teenager, I decided I was going to follow Moroni 10, 3-5. I decided I was going to read it and pray to know if it really was true. I picked it up one day and started on page one. I soon read a passage when Nephi said in chapter 1 vs. 3 "And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand..." I will never forget the warm feeling that came over my body and I KNEW in that moment that this Book was true as Nephi had said and that it was the words that God wanted his children to know, to read, and to follow. I didn't need to read the book page by page or even have a full understanding of it at the time. I had the desire to know and the Lord lovingly answered my prayer to know for myself. Since then I have read it word for word and my testimony grows each time I read it. I can never read it too many times. I have had many experiences upon reading it that have strengthened me. It is true. What a blessing it is to have another testament of Jesus Christ. There is no better way to learn of him and his teachings.

David A. Bednar, "Watching with All Perserverance," Ensign, May 2010 "
"Regular reading of and talking about the Book of Mormon invite the power to resist temptation and to produce feelings of love within our families. And discussions about the doctrines and principles in the Book of Mormon provide opportunities for parents to observe their children, to listen to them, to learn from them, and to teach them."

Quotes from President Ezra Taft Benson, (Served 1985–1994)
 “Now we not only need to say more about the Book of Mormon, but we need to do more with it.” ( “Cleansing the Inner Vessel, ” Ensign, May 1986, 5.)

“I have a vision of the whole Church getting nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon.” ( Conference Report, Oct. 1988, 5.)

Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving was a great day. We spent it with friends and had a great time. The kids also had a great time with the Thanksgiving baking. Eric is so good with letting the kids get in and help him especially when he makes his famous apple pie. They squished the crumble mixture for the apples pies and thought that was so much fun! Thomas and Avery each had their own bowl they were mixing and Brynnley wanted her own bowl to mix things as well. Eric put a little flour in hers and right away she started rubbing it on her face. That was one of the highlights of the day.

While I was making rolls, I was walking around the corner and saw Thomas reading Eric's ortho books. He was going through one of them page by page and was mesmerized. He was so into the book that he didn't even flinch or look up for a second when I walked into the room to take a picture. He is such a observant 4 year old boy with so many questions! Oh the places you will go.........as Dr. Suess says!

I never just think of my blessings and all the things I am grateful for only on Thanksgiving, but it is great day to reflect on all that my Heavenly father has blessed me with. I have way to many to list, but I am grateful everyday for my sweet husband and children, my church(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints), my testimony....and faith, and to live in America where I have freedom. These just top the list, but with just these things, I am richly blessed! We are living, we are laughing, and we are loving it!

It's beginning to look somewhat like Christmas.....

Oh yes we did!! We set up Christmas this past weekend, almost a week before Thanksgiving. We are going home for Christmas and wanted to enjoy our Christmas decorations for longer than a week. We blasted the Christmas music(all three kids dancing) and while Eric fluffed the tree, I put garland around the kids pictures along with a wooded Christmas tree on my buffet(that is all the decor I wanted this year.) Sometimes simple is better. And this year I wanted it simple. The kids were beyond excited. I love new traditions! It seems that we add more every year as the kids are getting older. I must say I love sitting in the family room with a sparkly Christmas tree. I love everything about this time of year. It is a bit odd though to be in a state with a mild winter. At least at this time of year. Not complaining though! Note: Brynnley was doing great with not touching the tree however the other day as I was talking on the phone with one of my BF's, she left my sight for what seemed like minutes and had 10 candy canes in her arms and was running for freedom. She cleared all that her arms could reach. So pretty much all the ones that Avery and Thomas did. She was trying so hard to keep them all in her little arms. You could tell she was pretty excited and proud to have conquered the tree of most of it's sweets, but mom had to ruin the moment. It was pretty cute but I had to quickly clear the stripped sweets before she broke, unraveled, and devoured them all! She is my sugar baby!

So tonight went a little something like this....showers, running around, Brynnley can't get enough lotion and was rubbing all over her face, scripture study.......and then some how the bedtime routine turned into.......

I love how when the games began, Thomas ran and got his Indian hat that he made today at school. Now he is READY!

.........then we said prayer and the kids were off to dream land and mom and dad continued to play with the nerf guns(Ha!).....OR even better......they relaxed together in peace!!!

Brynnley and Thomas loved playing around me as I got ready for the day. I had to laugh when I looked down and saw Brynnley trying to cut her own toe nails. I love watching her mimic the things we all do. She loves to explore and figure out the world around her. She is so good at it. I get to put piggies in her hair now except every time I put them in she says, "ouch." She doesn't pull them out though!

I am glad I got some clear pictures. It is hard to take a picture when you are laughing! Thomas matted down his hair and then got one strand to stick straight up in the middle and said, "this is just right mom....now I have a horn."

Thomas being a big goof and wanting me to capture it all....his faces kill me. He makes me laugh more than anyone. He is definitely growing up. He now cleans up his room without being asked(or whining)!!! He is devastated when he can't say the prayer(I must admit I love it when he prays...they are so cute and I always LOVE hearing them....he goes into such detail that I have to bite my tongue to stay reverent as he is so innocently telling Heavenly Father ALL his thoughts.) When he is sent to his room if he wasn't listening or whatever, he always says, "aaalllllright, but I am sorry and I WILL listen," as he marches up the stairs to his room. Oh man is that better than whining! So basically I think we might be phasing out of the whiny phases.....or at least I hope it's here to stay! I never dealt with that with Avery whining, so the age of 3 to 4 with Thomas kinda tested my patience a bit. So it has been pretty nice. Oh and he ADORES his sisters and plays so cute with both of them. They couldn't ask for a better brother!

Bye bye binky!!!

Today was so great as my daughter has finally given up the battle of the Binky. We decided it was time to give up the Binky while there was still a chance. Brynnley LOVES her Binky. I tried to only give it to her during the day when I desperately needed her to give me more time to do whatever I was needing to do. There is a big difference in the pace of life between child #1 and child #3. Some days a 20 min. nap will have to do for the day. She was definitely getting more attached and I don't like it when kids talk through their Binky(which she was starting to do). I didn't feel too bad when Brynnley had her Binky in a few weeks ago as we passed a 7 year old talking to her mom about what clothes she wanted with a Binky in her mouth. I wanted to grab it out of her mouth and take off running but I figured it wasn't my business and she wasn't my child. I just took off quickly before I stared too much in disbelief. Anyways with the help of my partner in crime we were able to keep each other sane while lot's of whining occurred the first two days. It seems there is always an excuse as to why we should wait(for instance her eye teeth coming in) but they have popped through and we know she will survive. I can't tell you how many times I thought of waiting until she was 2 but I knew that only meant more attachment to the sucking device. She was so not her happy self the first few days we took it away but today was a break through(ha!!...that sounds serious doesn't it) and I did a bunch of errands, dropped off and picked up the kids from school, went visiting teaching, and then did another errand all with NO WHINING!! She was even better than when she was corked. I am so happy! Nights are still not 100% but we are getting there. I am just glad it's gone forever during the day and naps. Tonight she almost didn't need it! Oh I am so glad it didn't take weeks!! I am grateful for that!! I was prepared to do it though. I am a BIG believer in following through.....It has worked so far for my kids!

My Brynny is growing up. She is talking so much and creating small sentences. I love how when we passed the target sign today she said, "taget." That's my girl!! She says,"see ya Toma" when we take Thomas to school and it makes his day(she said his name before Avery...must be easier for her to say. Avery is happy that she is now apart of her vocab.) She still loves to explore everything, jump around, keep up with the kids, color, open all the doors(which now all have child locks which so far she hasn't taken apart). I finally got her a mini learning lap top as she is obsessed with mine. If I didn't put it up, I would find her on the floor flat on her tummy typing away in pure delight. It was $15 and she loves it! I loved how she came into the office as soon as she got it and sat hers next to mine. They are so smart. I was going to wait until Christmas to give it to her but when I saw it on sale at Target today I couldn't resist.....and BONUS......it's educational.

The green and white ones below were your favorite kind Brynn. Maybe your kids will like them too?? None of the others would do from the beginning. I loved the glow in the dark ones at night when she would drop it.

I am however a little bummed that the Binky is gone and I never got to partake in these Binkies shown below that I saw today......I also saw a vampire one for Halloween.

I am sorry I didn't get you the $17,000 Shiloh Bradgelina Binky covered in diamonds that could have fed too many hungry babies to count. I am sure your mouth thanks me for the cheap, light weight, very practical one that more than served it's purpose.

Sold by Sears

Catchin up......

Thomas goes through spurts of reenacting certain scenes from his favorite movies. It has been awhile since he has done it. This week he got back into toy story mode. It's funny because he hasn't watched many movies lately or tv for that matter. He started out by marking(with erasable crayons mind you) on the side of his door, woody's growth chart(as seen in the film...not sure which one though). I began telling Thomas that it isn't okay to write on the walls with anything. His reply to me with confidence, "but mom that is what Andy does on his door to measure woody and he didn't get in trouble." The scene from the movie quickly came back into the noggin and I tried so hard to keep a straight face. He then said, "Alright mom I will just clean it up." I had him scrub it clean and told him he could pretend to measure Woody's growing progress with his finger.

Below is a picture of Thomas reenacting another scene from one of the toy stoy movies. The aliens trapped Humpty Dumpty(not in the real movie only found in the movie created by Thomas James Gardner.) He then quickly ran upstairs to have buzz save Humpty from his awful fate. He must have gone on for an hour. I love his imagination and ways of thinking. This boy is always thinking and asking questions.

Another day in the "adventures of Thomas." Eric and I were laughing pretty good when Thomas came up the stairs with the doctors kit and became the surgeon that would save Mr. Gardner's life. He drew me a picture of what the incision was going to look like. He drew quite a few in fact to explain to both Eric and I what he needed to do. One of them had a black spot. Dr. Wety Tomet(that is what we had to call him....we kept saying don't you mean Thomas and he would say, "no, Dr. Wety Tomet) said there was something in Mr. Gardner's throat that he needed to be taken out immediately. I can't remember all the things he was saying but he was hilarious. He would go and explain things to Eric(as though he was the real deal) and I would pretend to be sad and he even took the time out to console me that everything would be fine. I must say he had great bed side manners!!

Moving on to the wee one. I couldn't believe how Brynnley was taking the medical abuse. Thomas was trying to look in her ears, mouth, and even nose as you can see in the pics below. Brynnley was pretty amused by the whole thing and thought it was pretty fun. She would laugh every time he was done with his inspections. Avery joined in as the nurse at one point and Brynnley again allowed them to give her shots etc. I mean check out that nose shot! Ouch!(gotta love his surgical head light. He found his nebulizer mask and figured that would be perfect! When he came downstairs with that on I knew it was a camera moment.)

When all was done she got them back by becoming a vampire!!! She obviously didn't get a clean bill of health. She has another check up in a month once her vampiritis subsides.

Saturday night I went to tuck the girls in while Thomas and Dad were reading and I found them both snug in Avery's bed. Avery begged to let her sister stay in her room and sleep with her. Brynnley did not want to leave either. We have a tradition on Christmas eve where the kids get to build a fort and sleep together(ONE night of the year.) So I reminded Avery of that tradition and unless circumstances were such that they needed to share a bed, it wasn't happening. I just imagined them jumping around laughing until 1 in the morning only to wake up to crabbiness. No thanks! I am still not sure Brynnley will be joining in on the tradition this year. Last year Avery and Thomas did great and it only took a few reminders to go to bed. As soon as we brought the whole, "go to bed or Santa can't come" into the equation they were sawing logs. I am pretty sure Brynnley won't be so easily coaxed. They were pretty cute though and I let them pretend for a few minutes.

Avery shocked me the other day and said she wanted to cute her hair to her shoulders. She has always loved long hair esp. after seeing Tangled. I asked her if she would be sad if it was cut off and she said, "no, it will grow back." Her hair does grow fast and I told her we would donate it if we were going to do that. I kinda want her a bit older so she can appreciate what she is doing. I learned from a friend where and how to donate and the lengths needed for different charities. Anyways, I cut 4 inches to start(in pics her hair still looks long so you get an idea of how long it was getting). I will wait a little bit and then if she still wants it shorter we will donate it. So far she really likes it the way it is and asked me to cut off 2 more inches. She is growing up!! She told me if she cut it short she would be just like mom. As long as it isn't boy short. Love you girlie!!

I can't believe the year is almost over. I am excited to publish my blog with what I have written so far for the kids to have for Christmas. I know they will cherish them so much when they are older(esp. to show their children.) I am going to start a tradition and do a book at the end of each year for them. Until they are older I will put them to the side in their keep sake box. They are the biggest reason for me starting this blog and my motivation to keep it going even when life gets so busy. I have gotten too busy to keep doing their albums on paper and since everything is digitized these days I figure they will have disks of all their pictures, videos, and now memory books from the blog. It's hard with the 3 kids to keep up on everything but Eric and I have made a point at FHE to record them at least once a month with a variety of questions. Sometimes after FHE we will just record them dancing and being goofy. I have LOVED watching the VHS videos(that I need to convert to DVD) from when I was younger. I don't have much but I cherish what I have. They grow up so fast. I know I will enjoy seeing and reading them as well as they will take me back to these sweet moments in a split second.