Happy Holidays

Yesterday I dressed the kids up in their Christmas outfits, grabbed props from the house and forced them out into the cold.  All in the name of getting a good Christmas picture.  I think it turned out pretty darn cute.  Although, trying to do it really fast and moving the kids to four different locations in the yard before they started complaining about how cold it was {sorry kids}, I now realize I didn't loop the Merry Christmas sign over the 3rd rung on the sled.  This is driving me crazy, but I'll just have to get over it.  I'm not putting us through that again.  I also waited too late in the day and there wasn't enough sunlight.

Here are some of the other pictures that turned out cute.

Sydney is so photogenic & waits patiently for her little brother to look at the camera and smile.  I may have to frame this one because it makes me laugh.

I'm trying very hard to keep this holiday season simple, fun and easy.  I will have my shopping finished tomorrow.  And hopefully will have all the presents wrapped and under the tree this weekend.  I want the next few weeks to be filled with meaningful family time.  Time spent watching our favorite Christmas movies over and over. {The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story & Christmas Vacation}.  Lots of outings looking at Christmas lights and listening to Christmas songs. Our tradition of making a gingerbread house and sugar cookies.  Doing Christmas crafts with the kids and drinking lots of hot chocolate. {my diet starts in January}  And of course, remembering and teaching our kids what this holiday is truly about. 

In my efforts to keep things simple, I've decided not to send out Christmas cards this year.  It is time consuming and can be costly.  All for something people throw away at the end of December.  So let this blog post be my virtual Christmas card to everyone. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



A Decade

Allen & I recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. 

We met by the lockers in the 8th grade and became instant friends.  Even as a kid, there was something about Allen that made me feel safe & trusting around him.  We used to drive around and listen to music with the windows down.  I would play him Led Zeppelin and he would play me Beastie Boys. 

Fast forward to the college days, when I started realizing maybe there was more there than friendship here.  I'm a girl who speaks my mind and our relationship began with me calling him in the middle of the night telling him I was in love with him and I thought we should go on a real date.  He thought it sounded like a good idea and was probably a little shocked and confused.  I've probably shocked him a million times more with my brutal honesty. {not always a good thing}

And so we had our first real date in June of 1997.  It was the most nervous I had ever been to go on a date. We had been spending time together for years, but suddenly I was nervous to sit across a table from him.  Isn't that funny?

Fast forward a few years later to December 29th, 2000.  He got on one knee in the snow and asked me to marry him.  Of course, I said yes!  I called my parents to tell them and my Dad's response: "was he drunk?"  That is so my Dad's humor!  My parents LOVED Allen and were thrilled.

And so, we got married on October 20, 2001 and the rest is history.  Three houses and two kids later, here we are.  We've had a lot of fun times and a lot of hard times. We've felt poor and wealthy and everything in between. We've had fun nights with our best friends, camping trips at Blue River and we've gone to a lot of concerts. We've spent late nights dreaming up business ideas to try together, but in the morning we always decide it's too risky.  One day I hope we don't talk ourselves out of a fun new idea to try.

After ten years of marriage, we seem to be more in sync than ever.  We like our simple, semi old fashioned lifestyle.  We like that we have learned to live simply after years of wasteful spending.  We love the same quirky music.  And we still like to drive around listening to music together. 

This is our song.

Backyard Camping

We planned on taking the kids on their first real camping trip this Fall, but work & weather have gotten in the way.  So we decided to camp in our back yard in the meantime. 

We cooked our dinner outside on the fire and roasted marshmallows for smores.

I bought junk food that I usually don't allow so they loved that.  Hey, at least the hot dogs were nitrate free.  They got a nice chemical high from the Cheetos & Oreos & were wired for the night. 

We listened to music, told stories & looked at the stars.  And then we were grateful that we lived in an area just country enough to do this in our back yard!  It wasn't true camping, however, because when we got tired we went in the house & slept in our warm, comfy beds. 

It was so much fun that we decided to start doing it quite often.  Talk about an easy, low key getaway!  If you turn your back to our house, all you see are woods & you'd never know you weren't camping at Blue River!

Cutting The Cord

We've been contemplating getting rid of cable for a while now.  Our biggest fear was losing our dvr box, which we have become so addicted too.  We never watch anything in "real" time & are spoiled to the record, rewind, fast forward & pause options. However, once I added up how much money we were wasting on a perk we didn't use very often, we knew what we needed to do.  It's amazing how many services we pay for because we are told we need them.  Guess what...we don't really need them.

We rarely have our tv on.  We learned a long time ago, the vibe is much better in the house if we turn the tv off & turn the music on.  It never fails, if the kids are getting irritable & whiney, we turn the tv off and all chaos goes away.  I believe it's too stimulating for them & makes them irritable.  Honestly, it makes me irritable.  Also, I cannot stand all the commercials telling us to buy stuff & telling our kids "look what you don't have...tell Mommy to go buy it".  I especially hate the car commercials lately, that are showing the "cool" parents in the new car & the "nerdy" parents in the old car.  Seriously, what is happening to our society?  We're living in a time when car manufacturers are mocking parents and marketing to kids.

So we took the plunge and got rid of our cable & dvr boxes.  We were on a money saving roll & decided to get rid of our home phone too.  We are now saving $120 a month.  With the rising cost of EVERYTHING, that $120 will be much better spent in other areas. There is an initial investment of buying an antenna.  We bought a really good antenna and installed it in our attic.  The picture is great & I was surprised at how many free channels are available.  We also bought an hdmi cord to run from the computer to the tv so that I can watch my sitcoms on the tv.

We are now using Netflix for $10 a month.  It is great!  There are tons of instant streaming options and we always have a dvd to watch.  I was sick & tired of On Demand charging $5 for a movie & Redbox never had anything good available.  So we are loving everything about Netflix. 

The kids are happy about the cartoon & movie options {commercial free & on our own schedule}.  Allen & I are happy about saving money & still being able to watch our tv shows.  We have also been getting better sleep because we go to bed earlier!  We used to stay up trying to watch everything we recorded, but now we just turn off the tv and go to sleep. 

Once again, simplifying has made our life better.  With every day that goes by, I'm more and more convinced that taking it "old school" is the life for me.