My Wanna Be List

SOOO its that time of year...ya know when you make those "New Year Resolutions" and dangit you didn't stick to em last year but this year you will. Well Ive been thinking about mine and let me be real honest I stick to them for MAYBE the first 5 and half days. Basically what it boils down to is I'm a big ole wanna be for about the first 5 days of Jan. Here's my list for 2009...try to be supportive and DANGIT if it kills me I'm gonna make it 7 days this year!

For 2009...

I wanna be... 20 pds lighter and able to run 5 miles with out that O I'm gonna die from that burn in my lungs feeling...hmmm we shall see wont we but I'm not thinking it will happen in the 7 days!

I wanna be... super organized...so organized that when Ben says hey Amber wheres the (insert any item) I can say O yeah that's on the 3rd shelf on the left in front of the (blank) and behind the (blank) OOH the thought of that excites me!

I wanna be...more of a saver then a shopper/spender...wish me luck on this...I can smell shoes and sparkles from a mile away!

I wanna be...better at reading my scriptures...I'm bad at this...really really bad!

I wanna be...caught up on my Scrapbooks...this might happen thanks to my Moms Christmas present this year!

I wanna be...more patient...see here's my problem I'm very patient until I reach a point then something inside me flips and its all yelling swearing and 26 yr old fits...yeah I want to find a middle ground...ya know maybe just an eye roll and one swear word (baby steps!) and then all is fine and calm again

I wanna be...able to put all my hair up in a ponytail and not have any of it short and fall out...I want me some long luscious locks dangit!

I'm sure this list will be revised once or twice before I sign the bottom and commit! Good luck to all of you with your resolutions and let me know if any of you have kept them...maybe it will inspire me!

Santa made a stop at our house!

We hope everyone had a very merry and fun Christmas! We had a great day here and the best part was we got to be together as a family! It was fun to be able to start a few new traditions with our lil family of 4. We missed all our Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, and Cousins tons and tons though and hope next year we will be able to celebrate and share the Holidays with them!

On Christmas Eve we hung out with the Sullivan Family (aka the Sullys) Chaos was had by all and some yummy food...but really what better way to celebrate!?! Julia and I got to cook together for everyone and that was loads of fun. The men and had some Army talk, Julia and I wrapped a few gifts, and the kids ranamuck...how much more fun can 9 people have. We had a birthday cake for Jesus then parted ways and went home to open one gift each. SURPRISE we each opened new PJs!


The kids were not disappointed Christmas morning with what Santa brought...and from the looks of it Santa must have not been sneaking a peek on their bad days bc only good kids would have made the haul they did! Some of their loot included: a doll house, a baby along with a giant horse for it to ride, new barbies, movies, games, new kitchen toys, a remote control monster truck, a helicopter, art easle, a pirate ship, giant floor puzzles, and lots more junk thats cluttering the house! Ben and I just did stockings for each other but he did a great job on mine and I would like to think I did a great job on his! We went and saw Bed Time Stories later in the afternoon...that was a fun trip out on Christmas Day and it was a really cute movie! I'm sad the big day is over but I'm happy to see the Holidays almost gone, I'm not looking forward to taking down all this Christmas garb but I'm excited to see it go...I'm sure I'm not making much sense...guess its just mixed emotions! O and let me add it was 80 deg here on Christmas...hmmm thats just not Christmas weahter!

Now its on to wishing a Happy New Year to y'all!

Oink Oink...Im on a diet now!

Paisley has a million and a half babies BUT her favorite is a stuffed pig that my parents got her when she turned 2. So here I am sitting here looking at my moms cute new table on her blog (which I claim when she passes to the greater side) and Pais asks me to hold her baby while she puts away her clothes. Stupid me says Pais why don't you play with one of your dolls and this is the response I get......

"Mom this is my baby and she looks just like you and your her Grandma!"

O my thanks for that self esteem boost girlfriend! I know Ive kinda been indulging on the Holiday goodies but I didn't think I had totally oinked out...guess the truth is out now!

This pig is such a part of our family it even appeared in some of our family pictures...look close and you'll see Juicy Petunia yourself.

Ben is carrying the pig in this one

Pais has her on her hip in this one

Husband Tag!

I have been tagged twice with this and never have done it then I got tagged in my email (weird huh) SOOO to avoid folding some laundry and mopping my floors (this house needs more carpet) I feel inspired to finally fill it out....O wait and also just because I love him!

How long have the two of you known eachother? since we were in 7th grade...but we werent in touch for all that time

Where did you meet? He says the story goes like this...Hi Im Amber let me see your schedule I think we have every class together...which we did both years of Jr High excpet one class or soemthing like that

How old is he? Almost 27 ...old man ;)

Does he have a nickname for you? uhhhhhh not really

What's your favorite feature of his? Ok I love everything dangit BUT Ill go with his smile bc I love his dimples...O and his lips I cant resist the lips

Is he taller? YES thank goodness...I can still rock the tall shoes and not be taller then him

Who can sing best? Its a toss up, were both pretty much rock stars

Who is smarter? Im going to be honest and say Ben...I would like to think Im smart but he teaches me something new everyday and is always having to correct things I say or think I know

Who does laundry? welllll lately we both do...I really hate laundry and hes such a good helper dangit!

Who pays the bills? Ben does...well I think ;)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

Who mows the lawn? Ben...but I have done it due to loosing a bet with him

Who cooks dinner? Mostly me but he fends for himself really well if Im slacking and when he does cook he makes some fierce breakfast food!

What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? WELLLLL...its a family blog so lets go with just being together! I do love watching movies with him though...but only if he doesnt fall asleep

What is your favorite quality about him? He is such a patient person (which you have to be having me as a wife) hes an AMAZING dad, what you see is what you get and I really admire that bc Im so used to having to be pretend nice and act social all the time and Ben just doesnt care what people think of him (altough this can be bad bc noone thinks he likes them) hmmmm

What do you admire most about him? The person that he is...I admire everything about him

Who is the first to admit their wrong? Im never wrong and hes stubborn so we just let it go knowing that I was right

When and where was your first kiss? he kissed me on the cheek and ran off in the 8th grade...funny huh

Who wears the pants? he wears the pants but I control the zipper and really that is a way more powerful position to have in a relationship!

Will he read this? probably not

Now I tag....My Momma, Moe, and Julia, and anyone else who wants to share about their man!

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere!

The kids had fun playing in the leaves with their friends Timmy and Katie. We have a HUGE tree that covers our whole house and so Ben refuses to rake leaves, so instead he mows them over (we would probably have to rake them every other day so lazy me supports the mowing). We did however talk him into raking them into a pile so that the kids could play...he had to borrow a rake from the neighbors, hes so anti-raking he wont even buy one. So this is what you get when you turn the kids loose in random piles of leaves in the yard...

There was lots of throwing and rolling around

The boys buried themselves

Which inspired Pais to bury herself as well

Miss Katie jumped in them so much she was tuckered out and needed a nap

Timmy caught onto my camera obsession and paused for a cute pic

THEN...Big Brother Daven showed up and thought he was way too cool to get in on our fun soooo we tackled him and DOG PILE! No children were injured in the process do not worry I did not lay all my fattiness on the 9 yr old

If your bored come rake our leaves...the driveway is missing from being covered in them...we'll even let ya jump in them...free of charge ;) O and Julia thanks for letting me torture your kids!

A visit from Santa

We had a very special visitor come to our house...On Sunday night Santa made his way down our street to visit all the lil kids. The Reindeer were resting in preparation for the big day and the elf's were all busy finishing up toys so he was accompanied by a few Richmond Hill firemen and rode in on an Ambulance/Firetruck instead of the usual sleigh. The kids were impressed, well Easton was, Pais informed him when asked what she wanted that she already told the Santa at the mall and she just wanted a candy cane...shes a tough crowd. I have to say I do love all the things this town does for families...it makes living away from family just a little bit easier... but only a lil.

Here's Easton waiting for him...pj's, cowboy boots, and a jacket...nice!

Santa told them hes going to keep a special eye out all next week to make sure their in bed and not out roaming the neighborhood in pj's...thanks for the help Santa ;)

Our Festive Saturday

We had a busy busy day filled with lots of Christmas fun...here is what we were up to

We started the morning off with the Richmond Hill Parade


Eastons favorite part was the Marching Bands and Paisleys favorite was the Disney float

Our friends the Sullivan's were in the Parade and we watched it with our friend Chloe and her mom Sheri

After the parade was over we snuck off to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch (YUMMM) and then we ventured to the Fair on the Square...they had fun rides, fake snow, lots of kids crafts, and even some shopping

We then went and shared with Santa our Christmas wish list and Mom was able to sneak in a few Christmas purchases unnoticed by the kiddos (nice!)

We ended the day with a ride on the train in the "Caboobs" as Pais called it

Merry Christmas Everyone! We are so lucky this year to have the Holidays together as a family since Ben was deployed last year for them all. Many of the floats at the parade today paid tribute to the Service Men and Women who are deployed...please take the extra time this Holiday Season to put them in your thoughts and prayers, both them and their families...I found myself choked up a few times remembering my feelings during the Holidays last year while Ben was gone.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I can not even begin to express my love for Christmas! My obsession started when I was little and no not because of the gifts but I have always always loved the decorations! I remember growing up and feeling like my mom truly transformed our house at Christmas. The memories will be with me forever...the decorations all over, the Christmas music, the smell of Christmas all in the house, my dad making peanut brittle and popcorn cakes....I LOVE IT ALL! This feeling is something that I strive for my kids to remember...yes the gifts are fun but most of all I hope they remember my love for all that is Christmas and the warm feeling I try to bring into our home each year for it!

Here's some of our decorations...

Living Room Tree...Santa delivers to this tree according to the kiddos

Holy Moly I HEART this Nativity! This pic does it NO justice what so ever

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

The kids tree in the "playroom"

This one is in the dining room

I would loved to have 4 trees and sadly I have enough ornaments to do that many but the look on Bens face put the major brakes on that idea! So sad O well maybe I can sneak up 2 big ones next year. ALSO I need a vote here...Ben is super upset that we only have white lights so after hearing all the comments about it I caved and we did colored lights outside (cringe! yeah I know) sooo tell me do you prefer white or colored lights on your tree and house?

One more thing...go to my sisters blog (Alisha Barton) she is giving away some super cute Christmas vinyl for your home so go check it out and leave a comment to win!