January 4th and 5th

Things have been rather hectic the past few days... from school shopping for Courtney, to family dinner, to babysitting.  But I want to make sure I keep up with my 365 Grateful pictures!!

January 4th--

 It makes me feel pretty darn good to sit back and think about the fact that I have 2 grown, adult children!!  Both have graduated from high school... neither have any children of their own yet, and both are taking steps to make the most out of their lives!!  Josh has a full time job and a place he shares with his girlfriend.  He also does his computer consulting work on the side!  Courtney is getting ready to head off to college (3 hours away) to continue her education.  I have done something right, in regards to my children...and for that, I am forever grateful!

January 5th--

Having a little person, in a car seat, in my truck... definitely makes me smile!!  Kara is visiting for a few days while her mom and dad are with her older sister in the hospital.  We are all making the best of it... and having some fun!  I am grateful that I can help out my oldest and dearest friend when she needs me!

January 3rd 2014

Boy, the snow sure came down last night... and these sub zero temps are BRUTAL!!  Kids came home early from school yesterday and they cancelled school today...just when I thought I was going to get a break from kids...lol!
We are on countdown time to our trip to take Courtney off to college.  Yesterday we went and renewed her driver's permit...so she can take driving lessons while she is there.   Now we need to start washing up and packing up stuff.  Unbelievable, really.
Stacy and Brittany are both feeling under the weather the past few days...I am really hoping it doesnt get worse and it doesnt spread through the house.
Tonight is going to be a movie night for our family.  It is just too cold and everyone feels too drained to do much else.

I have been thinking about making a "bucket list' for Stacy and me.  Most ideas that have been thrown around from others are based on travel...which is nice.  But I am also thinking about some other things.  Stac and I will have to sit down and have a chat about it!  I cant wait to share what we come up with!!!

OK... 365 Grateful...  My pic for today-

I LOVE the way, after almost 7 years... he still reaches over to hold my hand when we are on the go, in the car!!  It is the little things like this that mean so much, and I am forever grateful for them!!
I still remember the first time he reached over to hold my hand... 
We had just loaded up the escort, to take it to the relay for life car show... I just shared some crazy news with him, and I watched him take it all in and chuckle.  Then, once the car was loaded, we hopped in his bronco and set off to Berrysburg.  Once we were out of his parent's driveway and heading down the road...he reached over and snatched up my hand for the very first time.

365 Grateful

This sounds like a perfect idea to start off with the new year!!  Every day I will share a picture of something I am grateful for that day.  It may be a big thing... or just a little passing thing that caught my attention if only for a few seconds!  It may be completely silly... or totally serious.  Either way, it will have brought me some kind of happiness that day.

Most definitely...my January 1st picture will be this one-

I can not even begin to tell you how much I love everyone in this picture.  I am so very grateful for the moments we all get to share together!!  I sometimes feel those moment are few and far between... but when I get them, I cherish them and will always be grateful for them!!  Having us all together to bring in the new year was priceless to me!! 

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Today's photo-

Having the love of this little dog makes me VERY happy!!  It is hard to believe that something so small can carry so much love and emotional healing... right when I need it most!!  She just knows when to come and curl up on my chest, or lap to make the world a better place.  What she lacks in looks, she sure makes up in personality!! 
Today she helped keep me warm after I came home from running some errands and also made me chuckle when I didnt think I could...because while running errands everything just seemed to not go very smooth at all!

Where did it go??

Well, December sure didnt stick around very long!!  I cant even believe how fast it seemed to sneak up and then speed away.

I am glad it was filled with plenty of good memories tho!!
We did some hunting as a family... which was soooo much fun!!!  It was Nathan's first year going out, and I think he did pretty good... considering he is 12, has ADD and IS Nathan...LOL!!  We spent HOURS out in the cold, snow, ice... did I mention cold?!?  But we had soooo many laughs and made it a good time no matter what! 
Our hunting season ended with Stacy pulling some rambo moves, while Brittany was eyeing up a deer.  Needless to say neither one of them ended up with a deer.  None the less, it was fun... and funny... and made a great "hunting story"!!

December was also full of cheer, school programs and LOTS of grooming!! 
And of course, there was Christmas! 
We had a pretty laid back Christmas.  Brittany some how talked me into making a ham dinner... even tho I was set on NOT cooking at all...LOL!  Funny how kids can make you change your mind. 
Family came and hung out some.  Then we topped off our day at the new movie theater in Millersburg, seeing "Frozen"!  GREAT movie... GREAT small town theater!! 

We had a fairly modest Christmas this year.  In November we took all of the kids and let them each upgrade their cell phones... for a Christmas gift.  Then on Christmas day they all got a Rainbow Loom... and a few small things they needed.  Nathan got some school embroidered clothing.  Brittany got her comp cheer jacket.  Courtney got a gift card to use for things she will need while away at school.  And of course, Josh got his AAA membership... and his slinky.
I also threw in the traditional Christmas stocking items...  hair care products, toothpaste, dental floss, razors... etc.
Even with our "Christmas lite"... we all had so much fun together!!  Those Rainbow Looms really kept us all busy... including Stacy!!  Who, as an added bonus, was off work for 8 days over Christmas!!  :-)

We did managed to also sneak in a mini cabin trip to Rickett's Glen, over the break.  We had sooooo much fun!!  The bed that was suppose to sleep me and Stacy ended up  holding ALL of us on the first night.  All because my kids, at some point, watched "Cabin in the Woods"....  Worst, but funniest, night of my life!!!  We did some great off roading too!!!  I LOVE MY TRUCK!!  It just crawled through whatever mud, snow, ice and slush that was in front of us... even the really deep stuff!!  No problem!  Stacy got to finally do donuts in it too...which I would never let him do before...and probably wont again.  LOL!
We did end up cutting the trip short tho... no one wanted a repeat of the first night... and Brittany fell on some ice and was in some pain... so we just packed up and headed home. We decided that winter camping really isnt our thing...  we couldnt really do all of the hiking and outside stuff we enjoy most.  The snow and ice that was falling from the sky the entire time made everything difficult... even the truck froze shut... after only a few hours of sitting!!! 

New Year's Eve was the typical for us.  We spent it at home.  Stacy, Nathan and Brittany werent feeling the best.  But we made the best of it.  Josh and Ashley joined us!!  We rented some movies and then watched all of the NYE excitement on TV... until the ball dropped in New York!! 

In between we got a lot done around the house... and in my shop!  Tore stuff down in my shop and did some detailed cleaning and disinfecting... in the things that usually dont get taken apart, because it is just not practical... Like my soap system and in the corners BEHIND my tub.  Oh boy... good times...NOT...LOL!
Let me tell ya... the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas were brutal!!!  I was squeezing appts in all over the place... and even  opened up the Sunday before Christmas for appts!!!  BUT, I did manage to stick to NOT taking any the entire time the kids and Stacy were off! 

So, I guess that sums up the last month of 2013!  I havent really had time to sit down and made too many plans for 2014 yet... other than we have some appts coming up with our adoption agency!!  ;-)  We havent given up... but we did take a much needed break from it all.
That is all for now...  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years... and I am praying we all have a safe, healthy and happy 2014!