Holiday Photos

I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  This year I was totally not prepared but I've managed to get it together just in time and now I can't wait!! I'm kinda glad that I waited so long to prepare because I'm like a little kid right now and can't wait for the kids to see everything!! Christmas is always such a fun time of year and by far my favorite! It's time with family all gathering together and sharing great food. Although this year is special to our sweet little family as this year is our first Christmas together as being married. We have had quite the year so far and some days it's still hard to believe that we were married just two short months ago.  Time sure does fly by and yet slowly creeps away, funny how that works!  We are so excited to embark on this life together and the holiday season is just the start!!

I live in awe every day that this is my life and that this is my tribe.  I'm truly blessed to have these guys surround me everyday and support me through life. Now don't get me wrong we are all human and we have our moments where we may "love them" but not necessarily "like them right now".  Although I will say these are far and few between as we learn more about each other everyday and choose to live our life full of fun and laughter instead.  Brandon and I find ourselves saying that life is to short to be serious all the time so why not have fun (although I'll admit, he's way better at it then I am!)! I'm slowly getting caught up but sometimes I find myself sitting back and watching him with the kids, and it just melts my heart and brings tears to my eyes.  This is what life is, happiness.  Pure happiness filled with kids being kids, playing, laughing and being silly.  

We all had so much fun taking these holiday photos and I'm in love with the way they all turned out!  We wanted some silly one's (because why not?!) and some more down to earth normal one's (but who are we kidding, we aren't the average normal family)!  I had a hard time choosing which one's I loved the most as they represent our sweet little family oh so well!

Ha absolutely love this one!! This show's all our true colors for sure!!! Why not have fun with your kids? They only get one childhood and we need to make it count!! Now don't get me wrong we do have discipline but we pick our battles with them and teach them the important things.  I believe that they need to be kids and play, have fun and goof off.  Which is why I can't wait till Christmas too as their gifts this year was a theme of "imagination", so many great things to build up their imaginations and let them be little! (Side note never did a "theme before but have to say it was an awesome idea and makes shopping oh so easy!)  Brandon and I can't wait to have them open every thing up (and maybe because we both want to play with it all too, as we bought a lot saying, "hey this looks like so much fun that I want to play!").  But if we are honest with ourselves don't we buy some gifts for them only for that fact?  We can't be the only ones?!  My kids are my world and with Brandon coming into our family he has brought us so much joy that I never imagined possible!  The kids love him and run to him with open arms and it's just the best feeling in the world to see them act this way. But aren't these photos just oh so precious?!

I started this blog to keep track of things on our new journey and so that one day I could look back and read all these again and reminisce on those sweet moments. (And this is way easier the trying to print them all off!)  To be able to share them with my kids and show them how blessed we truly are when we loose our way and life gets tough.  We need to remember the good things in life and stay positive. The kids are adjusting and they aren't huge fans of taking photos or doing videos (well who am I kidding Elise loves it, but Riley not so much!) but that's something we are going to work on so we can have all these beautiful memories!! I also want this blog to inspire others as we are all in this life together and most of us can relate to others with just knowing more about them and what they have been through.  This is a goal or a dream per-say and I'm happy to share my life and fun silly stories and events (the good and the bad) with all of you! Stay close to your family and hold tight to what is near and what you have.  Never think for a moment that your life isn't worth anything because look at the people that surround you, they are your life!! Make the best out of what life hands you and above all things laugh!! Laughter is worth so much and is so precious!  

So from our happy little family to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Years!! 

And again here is a little song that I heard just the other day and it's again oh so fitting!!! Enjoy this Holiday Season everyone!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L74IVtuT98

How I do what I do

From time and time again I get asked how I do what I do.  I get asked how I manage everything and how I got to where I am today.  How I have the patience, the energy, the time and most of all, how I pack that all into a day.  Now if I was being completely honest I would say I have no idea how I do all these things. But then that wouldn't really be fair and I wouldn't be giving any advice or crazy knowledge to what I may have experienced.  I'm no expert on any of these topics (as I have mentioned that before) and I'm no motivational speaker.  But, what I do know has take me a very long time to learn.

So how do I do what I do?! A question I hear a lot!! I hear it from everyone and it's the most common question that people ask after they learn I have and run and in home daycare.  Now as I have shared briefly before it can be rewarding and yet challenging.  Some days are amazing and the kids are great and they play and get along, and some days are the complete opposite.  With running a daycare you really never know what your going to get! You have to be on your toes and be ready for anything, kids can do things in a second (as mom's know this happens all the time).  One minute the kids are playing and are quiet and the next they are running around with buckets on their heads and running into walls (literally).  The kids can be so sweet and melt my heart and other days they make me want to pull my hair out.  But with everything they do on a day to day basis the good, the bad and the ugly they are my sweet daycare babies and they are my world.  But how do I do it?  With the old old saying....."Pick your battles wisely" and "Don't fret over the small things".  I know I know a lot of you are thinking oh that's so easier said then done...and your right, it is.  It takes so much practice to learn these simple old sayings.  I'll admit I wasn't the best at following these sayings too, but again with an old saying, "practice makes perfect" it really does.  Learn to let things go, know that the kids are just being kids.  Know what you need to teach them and instill that on them, don't nag them about what they are doing wrong.  Kids are inevitably going to drive you nuts and make you sit there thinking, "what where you thinking!?", but instead of exploding at them for spilling milk, or dumping out the toys or even hitting their sibling, sit back and take a deep breathe and instead of reacting think of what you are wanting them to learn and again instill that in them.  It's hard, trust me I know I've been there way to many times.  But what I have learned not only by practicing this with the daycare kids but also with my own kids is that the reward is so much more!!  These kids have only one childhood and we need to make the best of it.  We need to fill their lives with joy, fun, laughter and smiles!  The more we learn to "pick our battles" with the kids the more we all find joy in the life we are given!!  So again this is something that I've learned to manage and practice and I will say that over all life is better!

So what about just everyday life and how I have gotten to where I am.  Life isn't measured by success and how well we are doing in our jobs (at least we shouldn't think like this!) and my life hasn't been exactly how I imagined but this is the life I was given and I need to make the best of it.  I've learned to live in the now and not to fret over the life I want or what the future holds. I have to stay focused on my life, on my goals and be happy with what I have.  Now that doesn't mean I still don't daydream about what life could be or what if I was to do something different, we are all human and we all think this way from time to time.  But what I do know is that it's best to set life goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them.  Don't let things get you down when life gets hard or something goes not as planned.  This is also like the old saying of "don't fret the small things" and this took me a long time to learn as well.  There are things that happen in life that make us go crazy and we find our first reaction to freak out and stress.  We just need to learn to know that "everything happens for a reason" and that "with every door shut another one opens".  Stressing over things not going our way really isn't going to do anything for you besides being more stressed!  Now i'm not saying I live a stress free life as we all know life is stressful!  But what I am saying is that "when life hands you lemons make lemonade!"  Stress leads to so much more issues and we don't want to do that ourselves so why even stress over something that is out of your control?!  But learning to funnel your stress to something it really helps you live the life of joy and peace.  Just like the kids you only get one shoot at this crazy life so you have to make the best of it and live the life you've always wanted and imagined.

So with all this being said it's how I get through my days, it's how I manage life and all the things life throw at me.  In my house we have learned so much by "not fretting the small things" and by "picking the battles" and by most of all laughing!!! Life is to short to be serious all the time so we laugh!! And a family that laughs together stays together right?!  We are family and we are in this together and though we may not have it all together as a family we have it all!

So you all will learn soon enough, and maybe you have picked up on it already but I love linking songs to almost every situation that I am faced with.  And let's face it there is a song for everything!! So embrace it and listen and just enjoy life as it is handed to you!

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGB7IWklW3s