Holidays

It's the most wonderful time of the year...ding...dong...ding...dong...ok, so that's me singing in blog format...hahaha
I LOVE the holidays between the yumma treats and shopping for myloved ones, and wrapping presents....WAIT!!! Dunno if I like wrapping...ok, I enjoy all of it but the back problems it causes from sitting there wrapping endlessly for hours. I like the way they look when they are all wrapped and under the tree tho...hahaha And I love the excitement in the kids' eyes when they are thinking about what they want and Santa and all that fun stuff.
Leesie is asking a lot of questions this year...I think this will be her last year with Santa. She's about that age when you "find out" the truth.

Maybe I'm the meanest mom in the whole world, but this year I decided instead of the kids making ginormous lists for Santa this year and becoming demanding and expecting too much, I had them make lists of what they want to GIVE to other people for Christmas. I think that will be more effective in their holiday spirit than the usual me me me attitude. Perhaps I'm stealing a little of their childhood Christmas fun, but I just want them to be more thankful for what others do for them and I guess the way to do that is to have them give to others.

We are making almost everything homemade this year. We have gone shopping a few times, but most of our gifts this year are straight from the heart...that's my favorite kind anyway. I love to get homemade stuff because I know how much time and effort goes into those things.
So we had some girlz pictures done a few weeks ago. Maddie would not hold still for the pictures...she kept running off and doing crazy wild things...she is a HANDFULL!!! But she is also so much fun!

I hope the holidays are bringing you all much fun and joy and happiness. I hope you will all have a chance to spend time with those you love thru the holidays!

The Big "D" Word

Life has its seasons and change seems to be the only consistant thing in this world. I always hate to see a season end, but sometimes you can't help but to do what you know is right, no matter how difficult it is.

Robert and I were together for 11 years and married for 10. We had a lot of fun together and got along great usually. We were separated for almost 2 years so after a lot of thinking and evaluating I decided it was just time to let go. The past two years have been a roller coaster for us. We had a brand new baby when all hell broke loose at home and tho it has been difficult to adjust to being a single parent, I do my best to help the girls have a lot of fun, and try not to let life get us down when the rocks hit us in the face and knock us over. Robert has been really good to continue helping us out financially and he has consisantly visited the kids as well.

The divorce wasn't anything nasty or horrible...bittersweet as we discussed all of the details of the divorce and reminisced about the good times. But it is for the best that we ended things and hopefully we will both be able to move on and be happy in our separate lives.

It's really tough to let go of someone you have invested your entire life into and were once so madly in love with, especially after a whole decade and a year of engagement before that. We still get along great, just couldn't be together anymore. I still care about him and hope the best for him. I still love his family dearly and hope to be able to maintain friendships with all of them forever.

So it's officially final now and I just thought I would post a little message to tribute the past decade of our lives together. We have had many good times together, and brought two adorable, precious little girls into this world together. So much for happily ever after, but we will get through it no doubt! We gave it our best shot! There are way too many pictures to post, but here are a few family pictures over the years.