10 for 2010

I can’t believe this decade has flown by already. It’s been a roller coaster of a time the last 10 years. In the last ten years I've had two beautiful girls, experienced my first marriage falling apart and had a divorce, made 3 major moves (AZ to KS, KS to NE, NE to IA - I NEVER saw myself in the midwest growing up), started two great jobs and lost one of them, bought my own house, and I met a WONDERFUL new guy, married him and also gained three stepsons.  I guess those are the “highlights” of the decade in our corner of the world.

It’s time to start thinking about the New Year and new decade coming up.

To start, I need to get organized (see #1), so I’m copying another person’s blog and listing my 10 for 2010.

I Love Christmas...Wrapping it up

The last week did not turn out as planned in many ways. We had several plans and many did not happen due to the SECOND blizzard of 2009 and other things happened that weren’t planned. I thought it was a good holiday and the kids kept repeating that it was “the best Christmas ever”, so in my book, it makes it a good one.

Ugh, exes!

Have I mentioned before that I hate exes?!  They really, really suck.  I still need to recap our Christmas week (it was quite different/interesting than planned), but I thought I could skip ahead and tell you about a "nice" facebook message that was left for me by my stupid ex.

I Love Christmas...Busy, Busy week ahead

This will probably be my last post before Christmas, if it is I hope everyone has a happy, safe, merry Christmas. Hopefully you’ll find your stockings full and your wish lists under your trees.


This week as I said is going to be really busy. Today I have a work party to go to called “Top Gun”. Basically we play a bunch of bar games and pick on each other and then the winner gets bragging rights for the next year. For the last few years the Air guys have won, so we’re hoping someone in the “Dump” group wins this year (although it will probably not be me unless my partners help my score).

I Love Christmas...My dream wish list

If I was a really good girl (yeah, right) and the amount didn’t matter, this is what I would ask Santa for this year.

Psst...I have a secret

I'm not a very cook and cannot bake.  There are a few things I cook for meals that are out of this world, but I'm pretty limited.  So when the meal-making falls on my shoulders (Mr. S is great and cooks about half the time), I turn to my secret recipe weapon: KraftFoods.com. 

I Love Christmas...except for when life is too busy

One thing about having five kids is that inevitably there will be several weekends a year when you get NOTHING done because of sports and their activities. This weekend was a perfect example.

After a really long week at work, I spent Friday night running back and forth from our house to the town our kid’s school is in (8 miles away) running JrMsS around to Girl Scouts, then home, then back for Basketball practice, ran to Mr. S’s aunt’s house for a Tastefully Simple Party, then back to pick her up, and then home. I was exhausted to the point of tears that night (more so from the REALLY long week at work, but the running around that night didn’t help).

Decade from Hell?

Did you see this article in Time Magazine? They say that the 2000’s were the decade from hell. We endured not one, but two economic meltdowns, survived Y2K, experienced the tragedy of 9/11, we have been locked in war for 9 years with millions of families spending most of the decade apart or losing loved ones due to them, we’ve had several natural disasters due to weather and earthquakes (tsunamis), and more people are laid off today than at any other point in history. When you look at it this way, it seems pretty grim out there. Is this the darkest hour we’ll face before the sun comes up again?

I swear I don't kill kitties on the weekend

I swear I'm not a kitty killer, but according to my car the other day I looked like one.  Mr.S went deer hunting this weekend.  When he got home Sunday evening, the back of his truck was full of frozen deer blood.  Apparently as it melted through the night, the kittens licked it up and etc. (Gross!)  Then, they decided to walk all over my car!  I walked out into the garage in the morning and my car was covered in these bloody foot prints. 

So gross.

Snowday!

I've never taken a snow day before, so actually taking one yesterday was a huge thing for me.  Growing up in AZ you don't get these, along with no tornado drills and many other things my kids do living in the midwest.  Although it wasn't horrible first thing in the morning, it was only going to get worse through the day.
Mr. S went out deer hunting, so the girls and I had a fun snow day together.  We got up, ate breakfast and watched all the weather reports.  After breakfast the girls suited up and decided to play outside.  Not me, I nested into the couch next to the fireplace with my laptop and something warm to drink.  They had a wonderful time outside, I was totally surprised that they stayed out for over 3 and a half hours!  I kept asking them if they wanted to come in, but they were having a ball make a snow fort and sledding down our hills. 

(Don't ask me what the beach umbrella was for - silly girls)

(Silly JrMsS was running around without her hat)

I finally bribed them in with hot chocolate and soup.  We hung out and watched movies together in the afternoon and made a yummy dinner for when Mr. S got home. 

It was a good day.  I can't wait for the next one (I should have taken today too since we're still under a blizzard warning, but I made Mr. S drive me in since our internet at home is down right now - I can only take one day of being cut off from the world.)
What's your favorite snow day activity?

I Love Christmas...Holiday Programs

Gotta love the holiday programs that go with the season.  The kiddos all had their holiday program last Thursday night.  The thing about this school though is that they sing the SAME SONGS EVERY YEAR - Ugh.  At the girls old school, they did a new program every year, so at least you had something different, but not this school.  Oh well.  I only have to listen to them 4 more years (I've already heard them the last three).
The kids looked really adorable.  The girls were very excited about dressing up in the wedding dresses again and I added a cute little sweater from Old Navy.

Kindergarten (Twin Snowflakes)

(TS2 is on the bottom row in the purple shirt) I was disappointed that we sat so far back, I only got heads and I didn't get TS1 because he was too short.
First Gade (LMS)

Fourth Grade (JMrS and JrMsS)

JrMsS is in the second row right in the middle and JrMrS is below her to the left.
Do you like to go to holiday programs?

I Love Christmas...Top Ten Favorite Songs

To get me out of mu "funk" I'm going to focus on Christmas.  Like I said before I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the songs.  The list below is only my opinion of the top songs.

#10: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Benda Lee.  When I'm in a mood or I'm getting ready for a holiday party, this is a fun one to listen to.

Taking the Low Road Today

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a little neurotic and this blog is my outlet…right? I really wanted to take the high road on here, but today I just feel so low and angry and I don’t really have anyone to talk to about it. So for anyone that doesn’t want to listen to my whining, please stop reading now.

I Love Christmas...

I like holidays, especially when there are days off from work involved.  But there's something about the whole Christmas season that I love.  There's something in the air (or the water), I don't know, but it makes me happy. 

Thankful...

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'd like to put down what I'm thankful for:

• My husband and children.  They are my life, what I live for.  I'm so lucky to have a wonderful husband, and happy (most of the time) healthy kids.
• For my extended family and friends.  Without them I wouldn't have an unbelievable amount of love and support behind me all the time.
• My health.  Although I really take it for granted and don't take care of myself as well as I should, I'm very lucky to be very healthy.
• My job.  As much as I may hate it some days, or wish I could stay at home instead, I'm very thankful for the job I have as so many this year do not.
• All the blessings we've recieved this year.  For everything that surprised us, and that happened when we least expected it to, I'm thankful for those.

Hope everyone has a Happy, Safe Thanksgiving.

Date Night

From the time Mr. S and I started dating, we had a "built-in" date night every two weeks when the kids were at our respective exes for the weekend.  It was nice to have that free night every two weeks to focus on just us and wake up to a quiet house.  In July, my ex went back to his "old habits" and my daughters have not seen him, which also means Mr.S and I don't get date night.  We were so busy this summer with the wedding and then this fall with the kids and sports that we didn't really notice the lack of date night, but now that our schedule is getting less hectic, I've really been missing that special time I had with him. 

When Life is not a Fairy Tale

For the most part I would say that I'm pretty lucky in life.  I have a wonderful husband, great kids, a good job, and a very nice house(s).  I LOVE fairy tales.  When people ask me my favorite movie, the first ones that pop into my mind are Cinderella, Enchanted, Ella Enchanted, Princess Diaries, etc.

Happy Veterans Day

To all the veterans out there (and future ones), Happy Veterans Day.  As the President said in his speech yesterday, your lifetime work means our freedom and safety.  Thank you!

**By future ones, this means my younger brother that is going to enlist in the Navy May 2010.

(Quick fact about me - I enlisted in the Army in 2000.  Unfourtunately, I hurt my back and was medically discharged, but for a short time I served my country.  I'm so proud of all the others that I spent time with in Fort Sill, OK).

Halloween...I'm late

I know, I'm late. Not only am I late, but I stole the pictures off Mr.S aunt's Facebook page since I haven't downloaded mine from my camera yet. Geez...So bad.

Here's the Snowflake Bunch all dressed up for trick or treating:

JMrS is death, JMsS is a Southern Belle, LMS is a Glamour Witch, TS1 and TS2 are GI Joe Ninjas

The Cast

I'd like to introduce you to the cast of this crazy little bunch:
First there's Mr. Snowflake:

This is my love, my best friend.  He's currently 33 years old (don't tell him I told you).  He's a pretty laid back guy most of the time and enjoys hanging out around the house watching movies and sports, grilling, and working on his yard (that man is a NUT about mowing).  He also loves hunting and skiing and if you can't tell also loves the cold weather - yuck!  He also shares my love of traveling and eating/trying new places.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog.  For those of you who haven't followed me and my family on The Snowflake Wedding, here's a little about us:

• Mr. Snowflake and I met in 2007 on match.com.
• I refer to us as "The Snowflakes" because that is my nickname from him.  We were engaged in 2007 in Keystone, CO where we were skiing and I got my nickname (I'm his pretty snowflake)
• We married in August this year at Lake Okoboji, Iowa
• We each had children from a previous marriage, I had two daughters, he had three sons
• Our oldest children are less then 48 hours apart in age, they are also in the same classroom this year at school (makes parent-teacher conferences easier, huh?)
• My youngest daughter and his twin sons are all the same age too, but have three months age difference - my daughter being the older of the "little kids".  She's also in a different grade than the boys.
• Mr. S and I work full time in the AE (Architectural/Engineering) field.
• When we aren't skiing down mountains, chasing kids, going to a million of their sporting events/other events, and participating at activities with the Shriners, we like to chill out at home and BBQ or watch tv/sports together.

So, that's us.  We're just a big "flurry" of activity.
Tell me something about you and your family...