The count down begins!

     I am in disbelief! I can not believe Christmas is only SIX days away!!!! I am taking a few moments to myself as both of my babies are sound asleep... This week will be full of madness! Today has been filled with all kinds of cleaning... bathrooms, floors, beds, laundry etc. etc. etc.!!! Although I rush around and sometimes stress out completely while I try to get everything just right before we have company or host people over... I am so thankful for having a home that can accommodate everyone. It is fun to see where Justin and I have come from since we first met :)
     Our plans for Christmas are a little bit different this year, usually we go to several places all in one day but this year one of Justin's brothers will not be in town until Monday so we will have Christmas with his family then. This gives us a small break and hopefully we will be able to enjoy our day with our kids with out being so rushed around. I think this year my family is coming over Christmas eve to spend the night so they can be here in the morning when the kiddos wake up to presents! I've invited my grandparents as well... we should have a house full of fun! Then since Christmas is on a Sunday, it is off to church around 10. After service we will go have lunch with my grandmother and eat her AMAZING lasagna... this is one of my favorite meals ever! (only made by her though) Around two o'clock we will go get James from his mother and come home to have Christmas with him. Usually we would just go straight over to my mother in laws to have Christmas with the family but this year I am thinking about coming home after we get James, baking a cake or cupcakes in celebration of Jesus' birthday, then maybe we will take our goodies over to my inlaws to share :) I love spending time with everyone, I love the madness, the hustle and bustle that comes along with the holidays. I am excited about the time we will all get to share together this year. We are so blessed to have so many places to go and people to see.

 Thank you Lord for each day and each person we get to share our lives with! To Him be the Glory!

A+

     So this is my first Sunday in a long time to be LAZY!! The semester is officially over! I am able to hang out with my friends and family and not stress about what paper is due, what math homework I still have... etc! I have to pat myself on the back for a quick second... I earned 3 A's and 1 B... I am feeling very accomplished! Yesterday Jessica came over and she baked 'till we dropped, today she's back and better than ever (in baking terms). Today's treats include homemade caramel candies, rum balls, and s'more brownies... YUM.

     Today began like any other Sunday morning,  we all rushed around to get to church on time. Today was a good day- we were EARLY! This never happens in the Mann household... I'm doing good to barely make it in time most days :) Today at church our family decided to sponsor a young man from Wera, Uganda. His name is David, he was born in 1998 and he only has one parent living. We are excited about this new adventure and for the opportunity to have a positive impact on someones life. Oh how I wish I could do more... I know that the small payment of $34 a month is going to be huge in Davids life. This means food for this child every day! We take so many things for granted here. We have everything at our finger tips... I can not imagine not being able to provide meals every single day for my children. I am very thankful for our life and everything God has allowed me to have here on earth. I hope that Justin and I can teach our children the importance of giving back and how blessed they are. We are so grateful!
   
     Now it's off to dinner with the family... very blessed.

sweet creations...

After a long day working at the salon... I came home to an amazingly clean house. My hubby cleaned and did our laundry today... I am truly in love :) I decided to cook my first ever of a poppy seed chicken casserole... thanks to one of my clients recipes! It was pretty yummy! After cooking dinner Jess and Preston came over and I watched as she baked her little heart out. We had some delicious treats this evening....

     First up was "salted caramel chocolate thumbprints" We had a grand time with the homemade caramel, it was a tad bit messy and lots of the caramel ended up on the floor. Thankfully there was plenty of caramel for the cookies as well! The caramel was so delicious I could eat it with a spoon...
    
    Next was "chocolate peppermint bark cookies" dipped in white chocolate and peppermint. DELISH! These were so good! I am not much of a baker myself, but I love watching and helping and taste testing my dearest's friends sweet creations!

      Had so much fun tonight, stayed up way too late though! The kids got to play and eat some goodies too! Hooray for the season of baking and great friends to share it with! Until there's more...

Good News!

     Being a mom is hard work! I know... I talk about being a mom and how adorable my kids are constantly, but I just can not help it. Those kiddos are my world. As I sit here eating breakfast with my kids, I can not be thankful enough for my healthy boys. We are blessed. Days like today are nice, I can actually enjoy my boys and not rush around like a mad woman trying to get us all ready and out the door!

     I have to share a sweet little story about my Henry boy. A few nights ago we were all getting ready to eat dinner, and I was trying to get everyone at the table to eat dinner together... as a family (with our crazy schedules, this doesn't happen very often so I try to soak it up when we are actually all together) I ask Justin "Are you going to pray?" He never had a chance to respond because little Henry just began to pray when his eyes shut as tight as he could get them... (and I quote, in the sweetest little two year old voice) "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for food, James, Charlie, Henry, Daddy, Mommy in Jesus name, Amen. Lets Eat!"  I am telling you right now I don't know if I have ever heard anything so sweet in my life. Definitely a proud mommy moment! 

     In other news, we went to see Santa a bass pro this weekend... James was trying to prepare Henry for Santa, telling him all about what Santa does. "He says HO HO HO! and he brings us presents on Jesus' birthday!" I told Henry after his nap we will go see Santa and he woke up came straight to me and said "Mommy I want presents and Santa" Although when we actually got there, Henry wasn't so sure about Santa Claus. All three boys did cooperate though. I have a beautiful picture of the kids with Santa. No body cried or screamed like last year. Henry since has been talking about Santa every day. He can also sing "Santa Claus is coming to town..." It is very fun. 

     I heard some very good news last week, one of my closest friends told me a little secret. I can't express the joy in my heart when I found out she herself was going to be a mother. I am so excited for her and her husband and their family! I am thrilled about the next several months that will follow with baby showers and gifts galore! I especially can not wait for her to get to experience the joys of being a mommy herself, for her to have that feeling of so much love in your heart you feel like you might explode! That feeling that you have when you meet your child for the first time and your feel a love like no other, a love you've never known before until that very moment! She will be such a wonderful mother and I am beyond excited for her. :) I also have the baby fever so I am going to get a little fix! 

      What should have taken twenty minutes or so has taken me almost an hour to blog... writing when the kids are awake is not the best time to do it, but sometimes you just gotta make it work! I can not believe there is only 11 days until Christmas!!! 

Until next time... 

'Tis the Season...

Is it really December??? I can not believe that the thanksgiving holiday has already come and gone! I absolutely love the holidays! When you have kiddos around it makes them so much more exciting and fun! This year after thanksgiving my dearest friend Ashlea and I decided to go black Friday shopping (well I decided I wanted to go and BEGGED her to come) It was a bit intimidating but SO much fun! I believe we will make a tradition out of this (she ended up enjoying herself as well).... We got so many great deals and the memories we made are priceless. I was lucky enough to be in a Wal-Mart while protestors began shouting... I about peed my pants! It scared me! I thought I was going to be shot... but I guess it made for a great story later.
So this week is the last of the college semester for me and I am one HAPPY GIRL! I am so thankful to be able to go to school and finish my degree and each semester that goes by I am one step closer to the finish line. I am looking forward to a much needed break!
The kids are cracking me up more and more as each day goes by! James gave us a great laugh this last weekend... As Justin was putting him to bed they were talking about prayer and James told his dad that he has decided to pray to Santa as well right now, (some of you might find this odd... but the innocence and pure honesty in a child makes me smile) Apparently a friend of his, Preston,  told him that "he had been bad lately and he really didn't think Santa was going to bring anything to him this year"... So our sweet little James said he'd been praying to Santa that he would at least take Preston one gift, even if he was bad this year he deserves some toys :) " Of course I called Preston's mom we had a good little laugh. Those kiddos keep me going! I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they are having conversation... Their idea of how the world is and works is so sweet... So if you are wondering if your kid's believe you when you "hang Santa over their heads" I think it is fair to say they believe. The past two weeks I have been fighting off my sweet little one year old from the Christmas tree... It is so hard to get mad at him when he is in such awe or when Charlie brings me a bulb from the tree and says "no no" in the sweetest little baby voice. Randomly I am finding Christmas ornaments around the house. Henry loves the tree he just says "its pretty mama!" and of course I hear the occasional "Don't touch it Charlie!" Henry also LOVES the lights! We took the kids to see Christmas lights and he oooed and ahhhhed at them all. All the kids especially loved going to Ash and Cory's house to see their Christmas extravaganza! They are way cooler than us... they have a train around the tree, which James loved to operate and they even have  Santa on the roof with raindeer and everything! I am loving this Christmas holiday already and we still have so much more ahead of us! Hopefully I can keep off the ten pounds I lost earlier this year.... if not.... Oh Well! I'm not missing out on my mother in laws delicious homemade chocolate candy, googoo bars are my fav! Thank you Doris Mann :)
On a more serious note,  as Christmas is upon us and the year of 2011 is wrapping up I am so thankful for the time God has given us and the people here that we get to share it with. It is so amazing how everything works out in His timing... my patience is tested daily on that note, but I know that His timing is always perfect :)

Until next time...