What is your New Year's Resolution?

I love my children to pieces however, sometimes my nerves are fried, I want to rip my hair out and yell at the top of my lungs (just as they do)...my resolution this year you ask...Try not to get to this point at all or at least not so fast.  More patience is what I need.   I need to focus on the big picture and try not to sweat the little things so much ~ God, please help me to achieve this one!  And of course, my other is to lose a few pounds of left over baby weight! What is your New Year's Resolution this year?  Drop me a line and let me know.

Whirl Wind of the Season...

First, I must apologize for my lack of blogging lately!  I meant to log on and say so many things so many times but have found myself in a whirl wind of the holiday season.  I have so much to tell you, I just don't know where to begin.  I will start with the depressing news... my wonderful minivan, which I almost refused in the beginning, is dying on me.  The transmission is slipping away and I cannot drive it in overdrive any longer so we must get me a new one and soon.  It is so ironic to me that I feel so lost without it when I was so set in my mind that I would NEVER be "one of those soccer moms"  with a minivan.  But the moment my husband drove it up and I opened the back door and saw how much room there was, I have to admit, I was in love at first site.  So now it is with much sorrow that I must bring her to be turned into scrap metal!  I can honestly say I will always have a minivan at least until my children are grown and then I will be getting myself a Harley!!  Also, sadly we have learned of three families who have lost their homes to fires already this season.  I cannot imagine what they are going through and my heart and prayers go out to them.  One was a mother and her 3 year old boy and 6 year old girl.  So sad and 3 days before Christmas!  When my boys heard of this, they so generously said, "We can give the little boy some of our toys!"  So we went to the playroom and went through their mountain of toys and they parted with several things I was pleasantly shocked and very proud of them.  We also found some clothes for the little boy, unfortunately not as many as I would have liked but Curious George is still in a 3-4T.  We also prayed for their family and sent the boxes with a friend.  I so hope it brought them a little comfort.
Now on to the good news...We had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas!  My family came up to our house for Christmas so we had my grandfather, his girlfriend (yes I said my 83 year old grandfather has a girlfriend ~ how cute!), my dad and step mom, aunt, 2 brothers and their wives, and a total of 4 nieces and nephews here.  It was lovely and to top it all off, my daughters god father paid us a visit dressed as Santa for the kids!  You should have seen their faces!  I almost died.  My nephew who is 7, and was sure he was getting coal in his stocking was so excited.  He said to me after Santa left...I thought it was grandpa dressed up but then I saw grandpa sitting in the corner and Uncle Mike, Uncle Ben, and Uncle Tony so I knew for sure it was really Santa!  So adorable and when the party was over and everyone was leaving, he swore he saw "Reindeer tracks" in the snow!  The looks on all of their faces was priceless and it makes my heart happy to know that they will remember this Christmas for the rest of their lives and look back on it as such a happy memory!  All it took was a 60.00 Santa suit on EBay and a very good friend to pull it off!  Priceless! 
We also had Einstein's 6th birthday!  Gosh they get big so fast!  He got to have his first sleepover with 2 of his buddies and I have to say it went very well! 
Then I was busy planning and baking for our New Year's Eve Party which went wonderfully.  We had 9 kids running around playing tag, hide and seek, and just having a good time while us adults played "Catch Phrase", chatted, drank, and just enjoyed each others company.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!  Now Tony and I are looking forward to next Saturday when we attend the annual Fire Dept Christmas Party!  It is always guaranteed to be a good time although I am sure I will have something ridiculously entertaining/embarrassing to tell you about when its over!  Well I am sure I am leaving out some great details but for now I am signing off.  Thanks for listening and I promise not to abandon you for 2 weeks again!  And please leave me your comments, tell me what you think, ask me a question, anything goes.