Thanksgiving Week

Things I am Thankful For....

1. My wonderful husband of almost 12 years!

2. My two very handsome young boys who are turning into men before my eyes.

3. My job! I love every minute of it.

4. Our beautiful house/pool.

5. My friends

6. Music

I am sure there are many more, but that is probably good for now. As we approach Thanksgiving this week I have been thinking a lot about all that our family has been blessed with. We are so lucky. I will be alone again this week as Chad will be taking the kids and visiting his parents in ABQ for Thanksgiving, but one thing I will be thankful for is not having to cook a big Thanksgiving dinner and not having to clean it up! As for me I will be working and sleeping and I didn't feel like Chad and the kids should have to suffer too.

Facebook and old friends

Well, thanks to my husband, I now have a facebook account. I don't understand it completely yet, but I do love that it has put me in contact with some old friends. In high school and my first year of college I had a really great friend named Tomi Morris. She is someone I have always been sad that I lost contact with. Every year on her birthday in January I think about her and have wondered for years what she has been up to. Well, thanks to facebook we are now in contact again. Here is a picture of her and her beautiful family.

Alone Again...

So, here I am alone again for the weekend. Chad left Thursday for his annual Mens' Mexico Trip. They are in Rocky Point building houses and having a major testosterone fest:) Chad looks forward to this trip every year.
Today, for Dylan's birthday, I let him skip school and have a day with Mom. The original plan was that I would pick him up at 11am and we would go to Amazing Jakes for lunch, mini golf, and ski ball. However, I was persuaded to let him take off the entire day if he helped me do chores first. It was great. I had free labor all morning without any attitude and then a great afternoon. I love to see the more relaxed side of Dylan.

For those of you who are wondering, where is Collin? Well, he got into a little trouble at school and instead of telling Chad and I what happened, he lied about it. We talked and HE decided that his punishment should be not getting to miss school to have a "fun day" with Mom. (He is really much harder on himself than I would be). It was extremely difficult for me to not let him stay home with us and I was tempted to pick him up on our way to Amazing Jakes, but Chad reminded me that lying is the one thing we cannot tolerate, so I stuck to my guns.

Monday Night Football

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD!

Well, I don't want to forget my wonderful husband who shares a birthday with Collin. For Chads birthday I contacted several of the couples we are friends with and arranged for everyone to meet a BeniHana's for dinner. Tepanyaki and Sushi are Chads favorite foods!


My mom and I got Chad a new grill to use for hunting, camping, and most importantly TAIL GATING! (more pictures to come on that topic)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD... WE LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Dylan and Collin!!!!

I am truly amazed at how fast the years pass by. When I first had my precious little baby boys all I wanted to do was sit and hold them ALL day long. It used to drive Chad crazy:) Then they started to grow up and everyday since then they grow more independent. They are super smart and they impress me everyday.

This year is the first year that we did NOT have an official birthday party. Instead we gave the boys the money it would have cost us to throw the party (or close to it). We decided they would get $10 for each year of their life, so Collin got $80 and Dylan got $100. Needless to say, they were thrilled with this idea. As their birthdays approached I couldn't help but to feel a little guitly about not celebrating their birthdays, so Chad and I each went out and shopped for a kid. I went shopping for Collin and got him a Beta fish that he has been wanting and the tank, food, etc... Chad went shopping for Dylan and got him a new football, kickball, and a bag full of tennis balls (afterall, he is our sports fanatic). Then, on Saturday the 8th which was Collin and Chad's real birthdays, we let each of the boys invite one friend to take bowling. We had a blast!

Here are a few photos from that day. Unfortunately, Dylan was in a mood and would not let me take any pictures of him. But Collin, Keegan, and Diego were more than happy to pose for the camera:)

Growing up too soon...

So, yesterday morning I was sitting in my recliner reading while waiting for the boys to get ready for school. All of the sudden I realize that I am watching my baby boys, who will be 8 and 10 this month, put on deodorant! For some reason, it made them seem so grown up. They have even started brushing their teeth without me having to ask them repeatedly. It is so fun to watch them grow up, but a little bittersweet. Here is a recent picture I took of them hanging out on the couch (actually getting along).

Halloween

Well, my boys really didn't get into Halloween this year, but my neighbors sure did. Here are a few pictures of their crazy house. It was really pretty cool. The best was the talking gargoyle statue. I don't think you can hear what he is saying on this video because their other sound effects were soooo loud.

Is Anybody Out There??

I am beginning to wonder why I am continuing to update my blog as it would appear that no one is reading it. I haven't received any comments on my blogs in a long time. If anyone out there cares, let me know.

Dizzy Dog

Every now and then mydog gets a little "wound up", and this time I caught it on tape. He is so much fun and I thought he would provide a laugh for everyone. Just in case anyone is wondering...he did keep spinning after the video stopped.