This is Your Life.

Well, hello!  Thanks for not giving up on me.  I know I have neglected my blog.  I have a long list of things and people I have neglected.  Cleaning and organizing my home are right up there on the top of my list along with keeping this blog updated, putting pictures on Snapfish, and keeping the kids photo albums up to date.  Where does one find the time to be a mom, work, and do all the things that I have been neglecting to to?  If anyone can find me the answer, I would love to know!

This Monday night I had a meeting with my Thirty One team and I shared with them the inspiring words above.  I shared these with my team and shared how these words have been meaningful to me as I make huge changes in my life.  Most of you know this, but I have made the decision to take a leave of absence from my teaching job to stay home with my kids.  One of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, but I am feeling 100% confident in my decision now and thrilled (and blessed!) to be able to do what I've always wanted to do! I won't bore you with all the details that have gone into this decision making process, but a few notes...

1.  For me, being able to stay home with my children while they are young has been my ultimate dream.  While I will be the first to admit, there are days when I know I will go crazy and want to get away, I had the advantages growing up of having a stay at home mom and I wouldn't trade that for anything.  With that being said, I have to say that we had the most wonderful daycare that anyone could ask for.  Our daycare mom was a saint, taught my kids many many many wonderful things, had patience for them like no other, and for that we owe her the world.  For me, leaving our daycare was the hands down hardest part about the whole situation.  I hope to be able to continue to have play dates with many of my friends who have kids and continue to expose my children to many experiences with other children (library story times, ECFE classes, athletic camps, etc) while they are home with me.  I do believe that interaction with other children is very important and I plan to do that as much as possible.  

2.  Money.  That's another tough part about this whole thing.  How does one family go from two incomes to one and survive?  This we have yet to establish and figure out.  I'll tell you that I realize the sacrifices we will make and I am full on ready to take them on.  I have to say that I already feel like I'm a pretty "thrifty" spender in some ways, while I know that there are many areas that I will need to learn to be better!  Every time I have an urge to have the latest and greatest, I will need to remind myself that I am home with my children like I have always wanted to do, and that's what matters.  Will this be hard, yes!  Will it be worth it, yes!  I will never be able to get these years back and as I shared with my sister in law a few months ago...I don't ever want to look back down the road when my kids are grown and wish that I had stayed home and enjoyed every second with them.  Back to money...my Thirty One business definitely helps out in that area and I hope to be able to find a nice family looking for part-time daycare that I can take into my home.  I will keep up my teaching license and perhaps sub a little here or there, but for now my heart is at home with my babies!   

(Disclaimer:  I do want to point out that I realize being a stay at home mom isn't for everyone.  I know many moms who love going to work and that's what is right for them.  I am in no way implying that this is the better choice for everyone, but for me it is.)

Thanks for listening!  I hope to be able to update this blog more often with all my new-found time!  Or should I say lack of time with two kids hanging on me all hours of the day?

Batter Up!

This weekend we celebrated Landon's 3rd birthday...baseball style!

When I asked Landon months ago what kind of birthday he wanted and gave him some choices he didn't want Diego or hockey or Thomas the Train. He's been talking about his baseball party for months!

First off, some thanks are due! I have to give credit to Flipawoo Designs on Etsy.com for the cute invitations. I knew I wanted a baseball ticket style invite and found this one (so perfect!):

The birthday boy!

(Can't believe this little man is 3 already...crazy!)

The decorations... another thanks goes out to Type Wink on Etsy.com as well! A lot of the formats are her creations. Some I tweaked or added to. I also have to thank my friend Missie for some of the decorations. She had a baseball party for her son's 3rd birthday and borrowed me some of the cute stuff!

My vision for the party was to have a "concession stand" for all the food. I decorated the kitchen island as the concession stand.

The beverages:

Personalized water bottles and All Star Sports Drink (Gatorade)

The Desserts:

I made a layer cake and decorated it like a baseball and then made these cute little "popcorn" cupcakes!

The Food:

I put buckets of peanuts and sunflower seeds on the tables for snacking.

Concession Stand Food:

brats and hot dogs with all the fixings (sauerkraut, onions, relish, ketchup, and mustard)

nachos w/jalapenos

Cracker Jacks

popcorn

potato chips

We wrapped the dogs and brats up and sorted them in two bins for easy serving (just like at the game!)

Opening Presents:

Mommy is particularly excited about all the new fun spring and summer clothes he got! He got some fun outdoor toys as well as blocks, two scooters, books, puzzles, and much more! Lucky kid!

The Cake:

(Absolutely LOOOOVVVVE this picture...how cute is he blowing out his candles so hard??)

Landon's birthday souvenir (besides all the GREAT gifts he got) is a autographed by everyone that was at his party baseball!

On Sunday we did our annual trip to Chuck E. Cheese and had fun playing games, eating pizza, and going on rides. Fun! He also got to go to a Wild game with Darren yesterday, just Daddy and Landon! Tomorrow Landon is bringing birthday treats to his daycare friends at Jenny's house.

Landon is pretty proud to say he's THREE!

Winter Update

Time for an update...

I figured I would accomplish a whole list of "I'll do it over Christmas break" tasks and so far I haven't gotten many checked off the list. I guess there's always Spring Break, right? One of my items was to update the severely neglected blog...so here we go!

(I just may go back and do another post about Halloween, we shall see!)

This little diva LOVES to play on the iPad and it's not too often that she gets it all to herself...It's amazing how fast she has picked up on how to slide her finger across, press buttons, and maneuver from game to game. Incredible.

Our annual Christmas tree hunt was a huge success this year. We had beautiful weather, no snow to trek through, and found a wonderful 12 foot balsam fir tree. The kids got to see Santa, meet some reindeer, and enjoy some cookies and cider.

The finished tree...the first time. Let's just say that I put the tree up TWICE this year. Yeah, won't go into too many details to spare Darren's feelings...but whenever I see our new heavy duty tree stand from now on I will remember Christmas 2011!

The first weekend of December we ventured up to Fargo to do our Glur Christmas with Darren's mom, Susan, being home from Phoenix. Unfortunately I wasn't in a picture taking mood as I have no pictures of the annual limo ride or any family pics to share. Next year. I did, however, grab the camera to steal a shot of these two cutie patooties sleeping so peacefully. That's Landon on the left and cousin Sam on the right.

Landon gave Grandma Susan a lesson or two in how to use the iPad.

Gingerbread houses are so much more fun to make with a two year old!

The weekend before Christmas, we celebrate with Darren's dad and his wife. The kids were spoiled...again...with some really cool gifts. Landon got a full size hockey net for the driveway and Addison got her own pink four-wheeler. Darren and I were spoiled with a brand new Keurig coffee machine. Love it.

The lack of snow this month has been very interesting for playing outside. It's crazy when the kids can get bundled up and go to the park in December and play on the swings and slides. We have yet to see any snow piles to play in, but no one in the Glur houseold is complaining. In fact, it snowed a few flakes this morning and when Landon looked out the window and saw the snow he said, "Why is it snowing mommy? Tell it to stop!" I told the snow to stop and sure enough, a few hours later it had stopped and the snow was completely melted. Landon claims it's because WE told it to stop.

Once again, we spent Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house and spent Christmas Day at my Aunt Susan's house. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. Every year gets crazier and crazier at my mom and dad's house as the grandkids get older. This year was especially crazy in the fact that Ashley, Loren, and Jackson moved into their new house on Friday and we finished cleaning and moving them out on Friday night. Now there is a nice big playroom downstairs at my mom and dad's which kept some of the craziness downstairs this year. Hmmm...wonder what next year will be like on Christmas? Crazier yet?

I'm sure my Grandma won't approve of this picture, but it's the only one I took. This year was especially hard for them as they had a house fire just a few short weeks ago. They lost the top floor of their house and are very lucky to have gotten out of the house safely. Right now they are living in a condo in Buffalo until their house can be repaired and restored. They lost all of their photos due to the smoke and heat damage and so each member of ouf family gave them framed photos to hang up to replace the lost ones. They were very touched.

Annual attempt at a kids/grandkids picture...fail...again...

Fred, our crazy little Elf of the Shelf, must have had good things to report to Santa this year, because the kids were definitely rewarded!

Before...

And, after...

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year! I am enjoying my last few days off with the kids and trying to get a few more things checked off my list. It feels good to have the tree down, decorations put away, and house clean and in order again. The office is on it's way to being reorganized and next on my list is to tackle the dreaded job of getting my Thirty One receipts, mileage, and tax info ready to go. Yuck. On a positive note, Darren and I decided that we need a little vacation away for a a few days and are headed to...

VEGAS! Can't wait! We'll be gone January 12-15 and looking forward to some sleeping in, nice meals without screaming children, shopping, relaxing, a few shows, and time together!