D is for Disney

It seems like so many things in my life revolve around Disney From the constant din of Disney Junior and Disney Channel on TV, to the entire collection of Disney Classic Movies from when I was a kid that the boys play on repeat down on the VCR downstairs, to our vacations. Both boys have been to Disney World and Jackson has been TWICE and once to Downtown Disney in California when he was about 9 months old. Growing up I was all about Disney music and I still have many collectors edition prints and of course the new fangled VHS tapes lol. There is just something so magical about everything Disney that captivates both my imagination and that of the kids as well.

C is for Creativity

If there is one thing that I pride myself on its my ability to be creative - and not just in an artsy craftsy kind of way. Being a single mom for as long as I have meant that I had to get really creative with finances at times, finding creative things for the kids to do, and of course my obvious creative outlet being my scrapbooking. Its not often that I find something that occupies my mind and satisfies my need to create while at the same time being soothing and calming and makes something that my family will treasure forever. I am so blessed by that.

B is for BOYS!!!

Ah yes...I am Boy Crazy! But not in the way I was when I was in high school but still crazy for these boys of mine. Somehow I ended up with not only my own brood of Chad, Jackson and Joseph but also JT's big brothers James and Joshua and Jackson's little brothers Jacob and Cameron. Not a speck of pink in my world. Not a drop of Estrogen. Just a bunch of dirty stinky BOYS but I wouldn't rather have it any other way :)

A is for Adventures

My sweet friend Jenny forwarded this idea of using the alphabet to keep the blog going. She is WAY more organized than I am but I wanted to try it out and put my own spin on things. More of a "theme" than specific things that start with that letter.

So starting at the beginning. A is for Adventures.

Travel has always been a big part of my life. When we were kids every year represented a new road trip. My dad's van went all over the country, California, Washington, Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, and every point in between - you name it - we went there. No matter how much money was tight, there was always a trip to go on.

I have pulled that forward into my kids' lives as well. Just in the past year we went to Disney World, Minneapolis, the Quad Cities, Kansas City, I got to go to Chicago and I just got back from Cancun, Mexico last week. That's not even including all of our little adventures to the park, the Iowa State Fair, the pool, the lake, pumpkin patches, even if its just in our own back yard its so important to have those experiences and Adventures to hold on to and pass on to my grandkids too. I wonder where 2011 will take us?

Bah Humbug

I only WISH I could get more into the "Christmas Spirit" this year. Yes the tree is up - the bannister is wrapped in holly, the stockings are hung on the breakfast bar with care but I just don't "feel" like Christmas. I am just tired. The weather is dreary and its sometimes a struggle just to get my motivation going. *sigh* This weekend may just be the jump start that I need. We are heading down to Kansas City on Saturday - Jackson gets to see his dad and I get to go out to dinner (kid free!!!) with the KC Core 4! Nothing gets you more in the spirit than the plaza lights and free flowing bottles of wine with my 3 best friends.

My November goals ended up being a bit more ambitious than I had original thought but that's not bad - just different. My relationship with Chad is going better than it ever has before - he is being extremely active in the lives of both boys and attentive to my needs too. We are all settled in to the new house - four more loads of stuff have gone to various charities so my life is feeling much more streamlined now. I have been promoted to the Sales Manager at the office which is a lot more responsibility but its also a good way to get my finances in order as well. I have three guys on my team all with their own quirks but its going really well so far!

I'm just hoping for a really happy 2011 to look forward to!