Bedtime

Ya know, sometimes, you just need to give a little. It's worth it!

I went to bed a little early because Brian took the girls to the lake and I knew they would be back at dark. I like doing this because it means Brian will do bedtime since I'm already in bed!

I was watching TV, a bed time ritual for myself, when the girls came in. They wanted to tell me what they did at the lake and Michelle crawls up in bed with me. She is getting all comfy and I tell her and Carolyn that they need to go get their pajamas on. If they will get changed, they can come back and give me kisses before Daddy tucks them in. "Okay, Mommy" they say.

A few minutes later, they come back and crawl back in bed with me. I tell them they can stay for a few minutes but they must go to bed, it's late and they will be bears in the morning. They get comfortable snuggling with me and I am laying there thinking, " Wow, I am truly the luckiest Mom in the World." My kids want to be with me even though I can sometimes upset them. They tell me I am "The Best Mom in the Whole World" and I believe them! It feels so good I don't want it to end.
I remind my self to appreciate all the little things with them, the shoes left all over the house, the clothes that cannot get into the laundry basket, the toys that come out 5 minutes after they have been put away. When I look back in 10 years, 5 even, I want to know that I took a few minutes every day to just stop, give them another hug, to get down on their level to play instead of complain about the mess, let them stay up a few minutes past bedtime, to thank God for them and rejoice that at least THEY think I am the BEST MOM EVER!

First time for everything!

Well, I have finally been one of those moms that has had to leave the store with a basket full of stuff. Home Depot to be exact. I never thought that I was one of those parents that would give in to kids crying and just walk away. Well, I have proved myself wrong!
Carolyn and Leah went with me to Home Depot after bible study and I thought I would get some things to better improve our lawn as well as get a few other necessary items to home improve. Well, never take a baby who has been playing with her friends for the past two hours and hasn't had a nap yet.
I know better than that! WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? Well, I walk out and appearantly the ladies at the front door remembered me coming in and said, "Oh did you not find what you wanted?" Well, thanks for rubbing it in!!! I know that every mom will have this happen to them at least once and I'm sure there are more out there that have had to do this on more than one occasion but I could not believe I let my kids decide whether we would be there or not!!! How dare them!

Snow!

Well, although I can't say that we have near as much as my northern relatives, for Denton, it is a gorgeous snowy day!Leah enjoyed the snow but did not like getting dressed for it or how it felt when she fell down into it!


Carolyn played for awhile but got too cold to make any snowmen. She would much rather spend time in the cozy warm house!

Leah loves eating the snow!


We have had a great time, Michelle and I have spent most of the day outside, coming in every so often to warm up. We are getting ready to have some hot cocoa and popcorn and play the Wii and we will head back out before it gets dark! I think by the time we are done, we will have almost a foot out here! Pretty good for Texas!

Hello? Where have you been?

Okay, I kind of slacked towards the end of the year. Surprisingly, I feel much less stressed since I haven't been on the computer every second I have a moment. Probably more because I have not had many of those moments! And if I am on the computer, I am working, trying to go through emails, and trying to resist Facebook. So, I will give a brief synopsis of our life at the Young's!

Immediately after Thanksgiving day, we decorated for Christmas. I love it! I hate taking it down, as apparently does everyone else. I finally took everything down but did not have the help I did putting it out! But I was okay with that, since I love the holidays! Anyway, we had our 3rd Christmas at home and the girls loved waking up to have had Santa leave presents under the tree! Of course we headed to Houston soon after for their second Santa sighting! The girls have it made! We headed back home so that we could spend some time with Grandpa Lee and Grandma Donna and they gave the girls and us a Wii. We are definitely spoiled now! After all the craziness that went with the holidays, it's been nice to be home for a little while.

Leah learned how to unroll the toilet paper as well as flush the toilet! We have had to start shutting all the doors so that she doesn't waste water. She has also learned how to go down the stairs to compliment her going up the stairs! There are a few that forget to shut the gate so next thing you know, there is Leah looking at us from the landing! She's always so proud too!

Then Carolyn informed me yesterday that she is getting married when she is four. I asked her who she was going to marry and she said " I am going to marry Bryce E from preschool!" Of course, she wouldn't be a girl if she wasn't concerned about what she was going to wear! I reminded her that she already has a wedding dress in her dress-ups. She was relieved!

Anyway, we have just come through sickness in the past few days and I am so ready for the kids to get back to normal and their routines! 2010 will be a better year of stories and little peaks into our crazy life!

I am Thankful

It is Thanksgiving. I can't believe we are into the holidays! Time flies! My girls keep asking when we are going to put the decorations up. They are so excited for Christmas! I have to remind them that we will not put decorations up until the day after Thanksgiving. We need to take time to celebrate each holiday before moving on to the next. As much as I want to decorate, I know that this is the time to be thankful for all that God has given.
I am thankful for healthy, beautiful children. My girls are so blessed to be well inside and out. God has taken care of them and I will never forget that. The girls each have their own personalities and I am glad to be getting to know them more and more as they learn themselves. They are so much fun, even in their challenges! I wouldn't trade it for anything!
I am thankful for celebrating 10 years of marriage to my Brian! We have definitely had challenges and I know there will be many more but we have triumphed through it so far and I know that we will continue to succeed!
I am thankful for a wonderful family. Brian and I have been blessed to put both our families together and have infinite amounts of love given to us and our children! Even those that aren't able to be with us that often are special to each of us.
I am thankful to my friends. They are truly my support and I know God placed each of them in my path. I love that I can have fun and be real with them. And no matter how much time goes between talking to them, it seems as if we were never apart!
There are so many more things I am thankful for that I would never finish writing! I must thank God for each and every thing that I have and that I am. Without Him, nothing is possible.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let them eat cake!

Okay, I know that this happened awhile ago but I do need to share this story:

Carolyn has always been fond of sweets. I'm talking, OCD fond. For her birthday, she had this really cute and special cake that I baked and decorated.


I did not share that she was LOVING the wonderful job I did on her cake and was constantly admiring it in the fridge off and on. Well, in the morning before her birthday party, I open up the fridge to get the cake out so it will not be too cold and there before my eyes, is a huge chunk taken out the side. Definitely the size of a slice of cake. I try to remain calm as my blood begins to boil. I KNOW who this defiler is. Carolyn is in such trouble! I ask her about it and she ducks her head and smiles, or rather smirks. She knew what she did was wrong but it was so worth it for her! I was thankful that I still had icing and could fix this so no one would know the injury. I'm not exactly sure who ended up with that piece, or lack of. Someone with a love for icing I'm sure!

So, then comes September. I worked hard again to make these beautiful individual princess cakes, I made eight of them by the way.


I was so proud of the detail that was involved in getting each girl to look like the princesses that Michelle requested. She wanted Belle, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. I finished them early because I still had Leah's 2 cakes to decorate. I placed them in the fridge, scattered throughout since they were small and left them.

I had to go to Fort Worth in the afternoon the day before. Brian was with Carolyn but he needed to work on the yard so it would look nice for the party the next day. I got a phone call when I was in FW and Brian says, "I know you are going to be upset but I need to tell you that Carolyn has taken bites out of all the cakes." Thankfully I am in public and can't react as much as I think I could have when I hear these words. I take a deep breath, and realize that there is not much need for me to get upset. I can fix it. Thankfully I've already dealt with this situation before and I almost expected it! This Carolyn is something else!

We are at a birthday party over this past weekend and they had this amazing cake (I'm not showing you because it will make all mine look like a kid did them). Michelle and Carolyn sit down in front of this cake, we sing happy birthday and all the while they keep asking for some. Carolyn was in a zone. She would not take her eyes off the cake. I would not take my eyes off her. Her hand slowly crept up to the cake, and then would look at me and pull her hand away. She did it over and over again. It was killing her! Thankfully she was able to practice self-control and made it through to her piece. I would have been so embarrassed if she had taken a hunk of this one!!!

We have some work to do to keep her from going full force to grab cake everytime she sees one!

Where have we been?

Okay, I have not been doing very well with the whole blogging thing lately. I mean, the last time I wrote was in August??!!! Hard to believe that a whole month went by and I didn't write about all the things that went on! Of course, that is WHY I haven't been writing! So, I feel I must post pics from the birthday parties for Michelle who turned 6 and Leah who turned 1 !
Michelle and Her Princess Friends
Leah enjoying her first cake!


Leah's Birthday Package Cake

So, now that all the parties are over, did I mention that they were on the same day? well, why make things easy on myself! No, it actually was a perfect way to do it because I got both done and it was over. Then I honestly don't remember what we've been doing for the past month since then.

We went to the ranch:



Visited the State Fair of Texas




We went to a pumpkin patch this past weekend!


And the Houston Zoo!




So, needless to say, we've had a busy few months and it has been lots of fun! Can't wait to share more adventures!