Ten on Tuesday!

I have seen other people do something like this in their blogs. Since not too much has been going on, I thought I would just give ten thoughts on Tuesday!

1) I am so thankful for the month of January....It has been less busy than December and a great time for us to catch our breath!
2) There is nobody I am really excited about running for President. All I know right now is that I don't want a President Obama or another President Clinton!
3) Hayden is finally letting me start to work with him on reading and writing....we have started "playing school" at home!
4) We bought 6 boxes of Girl Scout cookies the other day....I think we only have 2 boxes left!!! Gotta love those Thin Mints and Samoas or whatever their new name is this year!
5) Chris asked me on Saturday what we were going to do for the day. I suggested painting the living room...he agreed and we got it done in 2 days. I don't think he'll ask me what I want to do again for a while!
6) I don't really care about either team in the Super Bowl...so I decided to cheer for the underdogs...GO GIANTS!!
7) Speaking of sports.....Sic 'Em Bears....I am so excited for the men's basketball team and the exciting season they are having this year. What an awesome game against A&M..sorry Pam!!
8) Andrea turns 30 tomorrow.....makes me feel so old!! I still think of her as 10!
9) Ashlyn has started taking golf lessons on Saturdays....she looks cute carrying her golf bag around and she is off to a good start!!
10) How sad...I can't think of anything else to say!! Happy Tuesday!!

How does your garden grow?

For those of you who have been in our backyard, we have had a place designated to be a garden for several years! A couple of weekends ago we finally brought in some dirt, so we will be ready for a garden in the spring! I don't have much of a green thumb, so I am going to let Chris take the lead on this one. He grew up with a garden and has more experience with it than I do. All of us are very excited about it. Here are a couple pictures of the kids "helping" shovel dirt from the trailer to the garden area! Who knows maybe we will have some fresh veggies and herbs one of these days!!

Boys will be boys!!

Hayden has one of his best buddies over today! They go to pre-k and gymnastics together. His mom and I take turns having the boys over depending on our schedules. Hayden and Anthony get a long great, so it really makes for an easy and fun day!!
I keep an eye on them, but I don't have to intervene much! They build forts out of blankets and just do typical boy things. (You can see the state of Hay's room in the background.....we'll clean it later but I am glad they are playing instead of sitting in front of the TV!)
Since I didn't grow up with a brother, I learn a lot from Hayden everyday! Being 4 1/2 is really a great age. I thought to myself recently..."Why don't I remember much about Ashlyn being 4?" Then it dawned on me...Hayden was 1 then and kept me very busy!!!
It's great to watch my little guy growing up and starting to make friends. I am glad he chose Anthony!!

Little House on the Prairie...Just a few random thoughts!

I started reading the Little House on the Prairie series to Ashlyn several years ago. I had read the books when I was young, and of course, I loved the show, too.
I thought it would be something different for us to do together, and we had gone through most of the books in our home library by this point. It's been a couple of years since we started with the first book. (Sometimes months have gone by between books while we read other things) However, we have been reading "By the Shores of Silver Lake" ever since Santa brought it for Christmas.
So here are a few random thoughts about my experience rereading these books with Ashlyn:
1)I recommmend reading this series with your kids or for yourself if it's been a while...I have been surprised at how much I enjoy finding out what will happen next just as much as Ash.
2)I am so thankful to live in the 21st century with all our advances in science and technology, etc. My heart breaks for Ma....her whole day revolves around cleaning and cooking (from scratch). I know they didn't know any different, but how scary to head west without an HEB up ahead or a doctor around the next turn. Those were brave people who settled the unsettled country.
3)The stories are also a good reminder to me that sometimes keeping things small and simple beats all the busy craziness we get ourselves caught up in these days!
4)Maybe it would be nice to go back to the basics in some areas...I (and I don't mean outhouses)!
I don't know....just some random thoughts to think about!!!

My First Blog!

Thanks to my very good friend, Pam, I have started a blog site for our family. I am very excited about it, and I hope to be able to keep up with it! I have really enjoyed reading other blogs, and I think this will be a great way to keep in touch with our family and friends who are near and far!!Now, the trick will be figuring out how to post pictures.....here we go!!!

Oooohhh...I did it! I posted my first picture! I thought I would start with this one..."4 Generations of Girls"! Ash, me, my mom, and Memere! How special it is when all four of us get to be together! And the craziest part is that the photographer was Hayden!!
Looking forward to blogging!!!