A look back...

2003 - John and I started dating

2004 - We moved to Ohio

2005 - We got engaged

2006 - We moved to Lexington

2007 - We got married

2008 - We moved to Orlando and had Nathan

2009 - We moved to Tampa

2010 - We had Logan

2011 - First year in our relationship that nothing major happened.

I'm excited to see what 2012 has in store for us. 2011 was pretty uneventful. Here's wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year!

I was Queen for the day!

One of the presents my parents got for the boys is a huge cardboard play castle. Nathan has been asking to open it all week so yesterday I gave in. At first it was really annoying and I couldn't figure out how to put it together without help. I took a deep breath, told Nate I would try one more time, and I got it!

Nathan said he was King of the castle. He said I could be the princess. I told him oh no no Mommy is the Queen. So he said Logan could be the princess. I told him that wasn't nice and that Logan could be the prince. After a little while Logan got downgraded to Knight.

We were having a ball with the castle. I was busy coloring decorating it while the boys played inside. They played so well for a long time. Did I have other things to do? Yep, sure did. Was there dishes in the sink and laundry in the washer? Yep, sure was. But going into the new year I am going to try to enjoy my kids more. Time passes way too fast. Nathan will be going to school in the fall and before I know it, Logan will too.

Obviously, the house cannot go neglected every time. But when I think about it, the boys are not going to remember how many dishes were in the sink. They are going to remember the day we built a castle. Yes, John goes crazy when the house isn't tidy. But there will be plenty of time to clean later. The time I have with the boys being small is really just a fraction of a moment when you think about the big picture.

I love a quote I found recently "Please excuse the mess. The children are making memories."

Christmas!!!

Christmas was tons of fun this year. Saturday night we cooked a delicious steak dinner! After we tucked the kiddos into bed John and I played Santa. I didn't realize how much stuff there was until it was all together under the tree.

Sunday morning Nathan woke up and came running to our room. "Mom & Dad, Santa came!! Hurry up and come look!!" It was very cute. So I jumped up and got everything ready. Nathan was so excited! Seeing the joy of Christmas through my child's eyes is something I will never forget.

Everyone was very spoiled this year (aren't we every year?). Nathan's favorite presents were Boris and his Imaginext TRex. Logan loved the car toy that Grandma & Paupie got for him. After he opened that he really wasn't too interested in much else. I loved everything I got, especially my awesome new watch. I've never had a watch and I feel so grown up with it! And of course the XBox from Tom was a huge hit.

After breakfast we headed to the beach. Yep, I said beach :) I told John that we never know if we will ever have the chance to do that again so we packed up and headed south. The weather was perfect. The boys had fun walking in the water and playing in the sand.

Christmas night I fixed a ham dinner. Everyone was pretty wiped out from the day. We were all in bed by 9:00. It was such a great day. We are truly blessed!

Netbook Bandit!

The past few days Logan has been obsessed with my Netbook. I keep finding it on the floor :( Well today I caught him red handed! I watched him climb from the couch to the end table to grab it. I ran to get the camera and see just after he climbed back to the couch. What a little stinker!

http://youtu.be/sdRsD8SaAK4

Santa!

Tuesday John had the day off. We headed out to International Mall to take the boys too see Santa. We got there early so we didn't have to wait at all. They had a winter wonderland set up. It was set up to look like Antartica. Right before you see Santa they have a room with fake snow falling. The boys had a blast playing in the "snow". Logan kept squealing with delight!

When we sat the boys on Santa's lap Logan was not having it. He was crying and trying to get down. So they hurried and snapped a few pictures and then Mommy rescued him. Nathan loved talking to Santa. He told him everything he wanted for Christmas.

Later that evening we went to Christmas at the Zoo. I enjoy this yearly ritual of ours. They have everything set up so pretty. Logan kept pointing at all the lights. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there and Nathan wanted to see them. We get in line and when Nathan sees Santa he asked me why he's not the same Santa that was at the Mall. I didn't answer him. I was speechless. I was not expecting my 3 year old to be so attentive. Nathan answered his own question. "Well Mom if there are two Santas then that means I get more presents, yay!"

**As a side note: I don't have any memories of believing in Santa. My grandma is very religious and wanted us to focus on Jesus and not Santa. So she told us Santa was not real when I was very young. I really have no experience with the whole Santa thing. So I have to ask John or make it up as I go.

I really enjoyed the whole day. As we were walking through the Zoo I was thinking how blessed I truly am. I have two beautiful, healthy boys and a wonderful loving husband. I really couldn't ask for more.

What a rude awakening!

This morning John left super early for work. When the sun came up Nathan crawled into bed with me. I was off in the land of nod when I'm awoken suddenly but Nathan yelling "Help!" through the monitor.

I sprang out of bed and ran through the house to Logan's room. What do I find? Nathan had climbed into the crib with his brother and couldn't get out. But that's not all. Both boys are standing there looking at me in their birthday suits. Yep, Nathan apparently thought it was a great idea to disrobe himself and his brother. I asked him why he did that and he said because they both had wet diapers. Fair enough. I calmly explained that it's inappropriate to take off someone else's clothes (yes I will be reminding him this over and over throughout the years to come).

I should have taken a picture but to tell you the truth I was mortified at the site. It was truly a noode, I mean rude awakening! Boys, please don't do things like that to mommy. Well at least not until I've had my coffee :)

What's that smell?

We have a Griswold Family Christmas tree story in my family. This was back in 2000. In our house we always had a real tree. And even to this day I will always have a real tree. Fake trees freak me out. Yes, I'm a tree snob. A fake one just isn't the same.

My Dad had his eyes on the perfect tree. He saw it every day while working on the train near the Indiana/Illinois state line. He told my mom that he was going to chop it down and bring it home. Mom thought he was joking...

Before work he loaded up the car. He packed WD40 and a saw. During a break at work he cut it down. It was much taller than it looked. He put it up on the front of the train to get it back to the yard. Everyone who saw the train was honking and having a hay day about the big tree on the train. On the way back they got word that company officials were at the station. So when they hit a curve where a dead end road was Dad chucked it off the train to pick up later.

After work he stuck the tree in the trunk of the car. Dad said about 5 feet of tree was sticking out the back and dragging on the road. He drove all the way home like that. When he got home he had to cut a couple feet off of it to get it to fit in the house.

What's that smell?? Why are our eyes watering? Oh no! Yep, that smell is deer urine and it's coming from the tree. So what do you do when your tree reeks of deer urine? You take it to the car wash of course! I would have loved to see the faces of everyone at that car wash! Dad got it back home and put it back up. And what do you know? The smell was still there.

Dad tried everything to cover up the smell. He sprayed it with febreze. When that didn't work he sprayed it with pine scented air freshner. Yep, you read that right. God Bless my Dad :) He is always so inventive. The smell never completely went away.

We did end up keeping the tree. Afterall it was a very pretty tree. And after all the work my Dad put into it there was no other option. So that's our version of a Griswold Family Christmas tree!

Sorry it's been so long!

Wow, I can't believe it is already the middle of December! The boys and I took a 10 day trip out to Indy. The timing wasn't the best but I love getting to spend time with my family. I haven't been in Indy (for more than a day) in 2.5 years. 2 1/2 years!!! That is crazy.

I got to see the majority of my family. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. And for most of my family it was their first time meeting Logan. I especially enjoyed seeing my grandmas. Seeing my kids with my grandmas just brings me back to when I was a kid.

We also made a trip to Chicago to see Uncle Tom's new place. It is very nice! Of course the boys loved the stairs. I was having a small heart attack bc of their love for the stairs. We met Tom for lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Nathan loved looking at all the animals. After lunch we walked Michigan Ave. The boys are not used to being so bundled up. It's a fight to just get Logan in shoes let alone a winter coat and hat.

Friday we spent the day at the Children's Museum. It was so much fun! There is so much to see that we didn't see everything. Nathan especially loved the Dinosaur exhibit. John thought he would be scared but he wasn't at all.

It was sad to leave. I hate living so far away. But on the other hand I was happy to get back home. I missed John terribly and know the boys did too. So now back to the hustle and bustle of the season.