I have been thinking...

...that when you remove the negative people from your life you are so much happier! This is not meant for the people that we have not been around because we can't seem to kick this sickness that has been looming over Candlewood Dr. for the past month! We have been thru 3 cans of lysol, 3 doctor appts to only be told it is "viral", 6 boxes of tissues, tons of soup & crackers, 15 gallons of OJ, unknown packages of cold meds...and I think we might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanksgiving was different for us this year. With me doing childcare out of our home it seems that we never get a break away from everything. SO...we rented a camper and went with Tom's boss over to the Imperial Sand Dunes in Cali just past the Arizona border. The boys spent many hours on the quads and us girls mostly rode the sandrail. We had a good time until the winter storm decided to come a day early and cut the trip short. But it was nice to have the extra day to unpack and get things done before the work week started. Not to mention how nice a real shower and our bed felt! Also it had to better than last year when we spent the entire day cleaning carpets because SOMEONE (not mentioning my OCD husband's name) got on a kick of cleaning them.

Now the tree is up, the outside of the house is partly decorated, some shopping is done and we are ready for a very simple and quiet christmas season. We are cutting back on presents this year. I have been thinking about the 3 gift idea...like Jesus got. Does anyone else do that? We would do 3 gifts for each of the girls, one large gift for the both of them and then stockings. I think we have spoiled our girls every year and I do not want them to grow up and not know the true meaning of the season. I feel they are young enough now to not remember the mounds of presents that they opened in the last few years. Plus most of the toys just get pushed to the side and they go back to the old favorites after a week.

Zoe and Zada are both growing like weeds. Learning new things everyday. And keeping me VERY busy!

Tom is working like a work horse. I am so thankful that he loves his job or I know he would hate all these hours. We are talking 12-14 hour days ... 5 days a week.

Christmas cards are addressed, the letters will be printed tonight and they should hit the mail by thursday morning. I am only a few days behind and that isn't bad for taking 5 days of doing nothing for Thanksgiving.

We hope this Christmas season finds everyone happy and healthy!

ps...no pictures...maybe later this week! I need to get back to blogging weekly

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our crazy home to yours! Santa will be filling our tree in about 6 hours and the girls can hardly contain themselves. This year has been full of sadness and joy equally. The loss of Tom's father and my diagonosis came just a little to close to the holidays for my liking. I know that everything happens for a reason and that everyone has a plan. Tom's dad fought a hard fight and I will do the same . I can't wait to see the joy in the girls' eyes as they open the presents that Santa brought to them. Tom and I are having a very low key holiday. We will be purchasing something but nothing out of this world...it will be a new oak dining set.

I love this view of our tree from the masterbed room entrance in our home...just yummy!

Hope this holiday season finds everyone healthy and happy.

Til' next year...

Life...

Where do we begin...? I guess we will do the last 2 months in list form!

*Zada will be 3 tomorrow! How can my baby be that big already :(
*Jaye & Lisa finally found a house that they love. They have been jumping thru hoops and will hopfully have a closing date soon.
*Tom is working his tail off and the computer business is starting to take off.
*Lisa and I are opening a daycare...so fun!
*Halloween was awesome! Our new neighborhood is very close knit so you weren't worried about the candy (yes we still checked it) and the kids could just have a good time. One neighbor even put up a jump house for all the kids to play in. Zada was a lil scarecrow, Zoe was a bat witch, and Mercedes was Hannah Montana.
*Our new house rocks! It is about 1,000SF bigger than our last house and has an in ground pool with a waterfall! LOVE IT!!
*Mercedes seems to be adjusting well to life in Arizona. It was a tough ordeal for all of us but it seems to be the right choice.
*Tom is playing softball and that is a great weekly activity to take to kids to.
*It has been 3 months since Ali went...it seems like just yesterday...
*Dad (Grandpa Gary) will be here in 19 days to cooks us on delish Thanksgiving Dinner!! Can't wait to spend time with him! I love Lisa so much for sharing the most important man in her life with me.
*I cut all of Zoe's hair off...short...really short. She looks super cute and it was worth her daddy not talking to me for about 6 hours :). He was asleep when i cut it ... oops!

On a little heavier note...Tom & Jaye's father is not doing well. It has been a crazy wild goose chase getting him back to where he needs to be. It seems that the hospital kicked him about and sent him to a nursing home...across state lines...without the families consent. The poor man doesn't want to be anywhere but home and he isn't capable of that yet. Tom, Jaye, Lisa, and their kids will be making another trip back home to see if we can MEDVAC him to Phoenix. He really needs to be where we can take care of him. He needs different doctors, different nurses, he needs the care that he deserves! I hope that everyone keeps Tom & his family in your prayers.

I will update pictures later :)

Happy Father's Day! ....a day late!

Ok...so i really do have one of the most loving hubby's on earth. He puts me and the girls before himself...i could never ask for anything more. A few of the things that have made me love him more over the last 5 years

• his love for his family and mine


• his true dedication to our marriage


• his love for our children


• his silliness


• late nights at home playing playstation


• he learned how to cook!!...and is super good at it!!


• his patients with the girls and i


• his understanding of my stressful job


• how he worries about me...


• he encourages me to get pedicures...cause he knows how much i love them


• he will buy flowers for no reason


• his kisses on my forehead

that is just a few...i could go on and on but some are not to be shared on the internet!!

I love you and i hope that you had a great father day yesterday!!!

Beautiful Weekend

Wow...what a whirlwind the past 5 days came and went. It wasn't all craziness but i didn't want to see the weekend end either. My birthday was thursday...all i have to say is i have some of the best friends, family members, and kids in the world! When Zada saw me that morning she said "happy happy birthday" (if your kids watch sprout you know where that comes from!), Zoe gave me an extra long hug when i dropped her off at my moms (this never happens!), my sister in law surprised me with a bouquet of red roses, my boss was gone most of the day and only came in for about an hour right before i left to bring me my birthday gift ($100 to the Keg Steakhouse!! he must really love me!), my good friend Mari got me 2...that is right 2!! dozen roses and a tres leches cake (yummy!), one of my drivers got me another cake (yes i did share all of this...well at least the cakes), and my husband got me a dozen long stem roses with lilies (my fav!)...and he got me tickets to Kenny Chesney for May 31!! Of course we can't forget my mom...she gave me a gift card,, flowers and ordered in LOBSTER FROM MAINE!! It was the best lobster i have ever had...and chowder...and steamers...i was in heaven!

Mothers day was very low key in our house this year...it wasn't a good day for me. My dad whom i lost 7 years ago in June would have been 59 on Sunday. I was totally a daddy's girl...here are a few of my most vivid memories of him...

*He would take me to his poker parties for me to make money from his buddies
*He always had time to help me with my homework
*He was always there for me when i got my heart broke
*He (almost) always came to my defense when i was in trouble
*He would take me and my brother to the race track
*I never missed a softball game that he was in
*I was with him when he had his first heart attack
*I always went with him to the golf course
*He married my mom on a cold winter night in front of my aunt's fireplace
*He always made sure that us kids never did without
*He bought me a new trapper keeper every year (when they were instyle)
*His best friend gave me the only nickname i ever had
*He always bought me pink roses for Valentines day
*He told me that i never had to learn to drive a manual...that rule still stands
*He couldn't wait to be a grandpa...he never lived to meet the grandbabies
*He wasn't my biological father but he was the best daddy i could have ever asked for
*I still smell my dad's cologne when i am having a rough time...and when i had both
of the girls

I would trade may things in this world to bring my daddy back...it was my true lesson in life that you must take care of yourself. Not just for yourself but for those people that love you and will grieve year after year because of your loss.

And to end this...a few pictures from the weekend:

THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE HOLIDAYS...ONE FOR THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO GIFTS (THERE ARE A FEW THIS YEAR AT OUR HOUSE BUT THAT IS FOR AN EARLY CHRISTMAS) AND TWO THAT IT IS A WHOLE DAY ABOUT DOING NOTHING BUT EATING, LAUGHING AND MAKING MEMORIES WITH THOSE THAT YOU LOVE. THIS YEAR WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE A HOUSE GUEST AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER! MY WONDERFUL SISTER IN LAW WILLINGLY GAVE UP HER DAD FOR 10 DAYS!! (TOM SAYS THIS IS THE MOST HE HAS EVER SPENT ON CHEESECAKE...GARY IS THE CHEESECAKE KING...IT IS OUT OF THE OVEN AND COOLING AS I TYPE THIS!)

WE PLAN TO HAVE A VERY BUSY WEEKEND SINCE WE HAVE 4 DAYS OFF AND A HOUSEGUEST THAT IS UP FOR JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. HE WOULD NEVER ASK US TO TAKE HIM PLACES OR DO THINGS FOR HIM...AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHY WE ARE GOING TO DO IT. THIS MAN WOULD GIVE A STRANGER HIS LOST DOLLAR IF THEY NEEDED IT MORE THAN HIM...HE HAS BEEN THRU ALOT OF STRESS IN THE PAST YEAR AND WE ARE JUST HOPING TO GIVE HIM A LITTLE BREAK AND SPOIL HIM TONS!

THE GIRLS ARE LOVING IT! AND SNOWBALL TOO!

WELL HERE ARE 5 THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:

1-MY FAMILY
2-MY HEALTH
3-MY JOB
4-TOM'S LOVE
5-WONDERFUL DOCTORS FOR MY LITTLE PRINCESS

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR??

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!! GOOBLE GOOBLE!!

117 on the 4th

can you believe that it is going to be 117 on the 4th of july!

we will be enjoying the fireworks show at Tempe Town Lake.

that will be after a big rack of baby back ribs grilled up by my hottie hubby!

then maybe a midnight swim when we finally get home.

dinner at 7pm

fireworks at 9:15pm

can't wait!

hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable 4th!

(i will take lots of pictures of the girls so i can post some new ones!)