Being a mom...

Being a mom is the hardest job that anyone could have, being a stay at home mom is even harder. If I hear "oh you're so lucky you get to sit home with your kids all day" one. more. time. I'm going to kick someone. Now don't get me wrong, I am lucky enough to be home with my kids, but the last thing I do is sit around. I am responsible for making these little people turn into awesome big people, who love the Lord. The decisions I make daily will effect the lives of these three little people. Have you ever sat and listened to your children play? Yep, that right there is your parenting at it's finest. There have been many times that I have cringed listening to Madison and Caden play house. Whoops.

There are many many times where I am ready to throw in the towel and go back to work. And many times that I am ready to pull my hair out....almost daily. But in the end I love my job. For those who think that being a stay at home mom isn't a job, let me break it down for you. How often do your co workers cry and throw themselves on the floor in a tantrum? My guess is not as often as mine. I get it daily, most of the time more then once a day. On top of dealing with tantrums when I say the word "No," I am a maid, these little monsters make quite the mess. I know my house is hardly ever clean, at least not during the day, but how can anyone keep a spotless house with 3 young kids? If you do please, please come and share your secret with me and I will be eternally grateful. I am a cook....at least three times a day, but always more. My kids would eat all day if I let them. I am a referee , I can't count the many times a day I hear "He hit me, she hit me, she stole my toy, and that's mine!" And don't even get me started on the yucky stuff being a mom entitles, things you can't even imagine.... unless you're a mom. I never imagined that I would clean up and touch some of the things I have without even flinching. I guess you become desensitized to it all once you get puked on for the first time. But mixed in with all of that not so fun stuff, you get all of the wonderful jobs as well. I get to be a teacher , an encourager, a nurse to kiss all of the pain out of the boo boos, and a cuddler. And I love every minute of it. God has blessed me with these awesome little ones and it's my job to raise them to know Him and follow Him. And at the end of the day that is what I strive to accomplish.

So while I am constantly exhausted, crazy , and busy, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Every day I am learning along with them. I am learning to make conscious decisions that will mold and shape my kids. I am trying to lead by example and it's tough but with lots of prayer we get through each day. I couldn't ask for anything more.

February

I have been terrible with keeping up this year. Things have been less then exciting around here , other then my best friends engagement. We went dress shopping today, which was lots of fun.

Valentines day was nice. Leo and I went out for a very much needed dinner, where he gave me a beautiful Pandora bead for my bracelet. Then to see The Vow, which wasn't all that great but Channing Tatum is easy on the eyes so it was worth it.

Oh and my ex husband is moving to MO. Which I can't say I will miss him....at all....but Maddie sure does. She was really upset when she came home last night. I explained to her that it was OK to be sad and that she can still talk to him whenever she wants. My heart breaks for her because she really looks up to her dad. Caden doesn't quite understand yet because he is so young but I'm sure he will once everything settles. The good part is I will get more time with the kids now. Co parenting is tough to say the least, but I'm glad I have an amazing support system with Leo because he is such a great daddy.

On the media front, which is old news now but Whitney Houston passed away. It's definitely a tragic loss to the music world. She had her demons of course but she had an amazing voice that will be missed. I love this quote and she sure lived up to it.

And that is enough with the rambling tonight. I didn't really have anything worth writing about but I felt the need to update.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012- My New Years Resolutions

So today is the first of a brand new year. Which symbolically means you get to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Although 2011 was a really good year for us (we bought our very first home), I am looking forward to whatever 2012 has in store for us. I, like many of the rest of the world have set goals for this year! So here they are; I feel like if I list them here , maybe someone somewhere will hold me accountable! :)

1. The obvious, the one that every person has.....lose 30 lbs (take better care of my body overall)

2. Have a closer relationship with God/ Read my bible every day

3. Stop cursing so much

4. Stop yelling at my kids as much, try to approach situations calmly

5. Go to the gym at least 4 times a week

6. Get on a normal schedule, go to bed and wake up at a decent hour.

7. Read 25 books (this is a goal that I didn't reach in 2011)

8. Spend less money/ Have at least 3k in a savings account by Summer

9.  Remove the drama from my life & not always have to be right.

10. Enjoy each day and make the most of it

(you never know when it could be your last)

So there it is, my 10 New Year's Resolutions! So far this year has been great, I went to Sonic for the first time with Janelle, bought 2 new books for super cheap on my Nook (The Hunger Games & Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) & the Raven's made it to the playoffs! GO RAVENS!

and

Christmas at The Schriefer's

Here are just a few pics from Christmas eve and Christmas day:

Christmas Eve in their matching pj's that I made

Silly faces!

Cookies for Santa

Christmas Morning:

My Nephews Devin & Darron with the kids

Elliott's Scavenger Hunt & Farewell

A few days before Elliott left to go home for the year to the North Pole, he decided to play a little game with the kids and leave them clues to find him. 

When the kids walked into the house this is what they found:

" Lets play a little game of hide and seek. Madison, I left you and Caden special clues to figure out where I am hiding. Make sure you each follow the clues to find me.

Clue 1: Start under the table"

Clue #2:

Clue# 3

Clue#4

They were sent to their top drawers of their dressers

Clue#5

Clue#6

So they went onto my phone to find this:

And looked behind him:

Now the night before Christmas eve he decided to have one last hoorah  

and did this (with permission) :

And on Christmas eve, Caden realized that it was time for Elliott to go home with Santa for the year ans started crying :( Poor baby. So after many goodbyes, the kids went to bed and Elliott left with Santa in his sleigh. But not before leaving a little note for the kids:

This year we had lots of fun with Elliott in our home, and I am really glad we started this tradition with the kids because I know they loved it. So until next year....Goodbye Elliott!

Adventures of Elliott

I've been a bit of a slacker lately with posting Elliott's antics. There is really no reason other then laziness. So lets get to it....

Elliott's fishing trip...

Then he pinned all of the kids "unmentionables" to the ceiling of the hallway....he decided to hang out in daddy's sock....

And since we finally put our tree up last week, Elliott made a new friend and got a little "cozy" with the Angel

Last Wednesday, our naughty little elf TP'd the Christmas tree!

The following day silly little Elliott decided to play a game with our advent calendar:

After a few weeks of mischief Elliott decided it was time to relax in a nice bath of marshmallows! He couldn't forget his shower cap!

After his bath he took a few days to hang with Santa at the North Pole and then returned to hang around on his favorite thing....garland! 

And last night he made his feelings quite clear:

Hope you enjoyed Elliott's last few adventures, I know we did! 

The Elf & The Snowman

We found Elliott on the counter this morning. He was making a snowman :) Silly little Elf, he misses the snow so much. It's been in the 60's here for the past few weeks. We were outside no coat yesterday hanging Christmas lights, which of course we didn't get finished and today it's yucky and rainy. But it was weird to be outside in December and it was warm.

I did get the inside finished yesterday! Our tree is up and I made a really cute center piece for my kitchen table. I am really feeling festive this year. :)

This is the cute center piece I made last night.

And our tree, the window has stuff in it now too :)