Party Planner

Happy New Year

Laurie15 Comments
Happy New Year from our family to yours!
We started off the evening with our own little family party.
My sister and BIL were in town for all the festivities.

We sang…
We danced…
Some of us pouted…
Sang some more…
and then we counted down and the boys did the balloon drop!
Drake loved it! Afterwards, we shipped off the kids, and hosted an adult PAR-TAY and invited some friends from our church.
We laughed…
Played air hockey and darts…

Guitar Hero III…



Sang…

And this time Jason and I were in charge of the balloon drop!

Happy New Year Ladies!!

Party Planner

Christmas Eve

Laurie2 Comments

I know this post is a little late – but it was such a fun family moment and I wanted to be sure and capture it. Can you believe I forgot my camera Christmas Eve? {{bummer}} Tricia just e-mailed me some of the pictures I took with her camera, so here they are.

All the kids dressed up as Nativity Characters and we re-created the scene. Davis and Drake were shepherds and Dylan was a wiseman. They did such a good job and took their characters very seriously. 😉

After the program, it was time for the kids talent show, my boys sang a diddy. They loved the attention! It was such a magical night full of friends, fun, and the warmth and magic Christmas Eve brings.

The next morning after unwrapping presents, we sang Happy Birthday to Christ and the boys blew out a candle. Our wish to our Lord and Savior this year is to be more loving to and understanding with each other.

This is a new tradition for our family and it was such a treat to have cake Christmas morning. 😉

Moviegoer

P.S. I Love You

Laurie9 Comments

Last night Katrina, Katri, and Jenni and I went to go see the movie P.S. I Love You. It’s most definitely a chick flick which I enjoy from time to time – but tend to limit in my life.

Why, you ask? I could go on and on with this topic, but in a nutshell, I guess it’s because I don’t believe in the “Hollywood” version of romance. I think that it’s easy to get caught up in it and compare real-life marriages to what is seen on screen (or in a novel) and it can set up unreal expectations.

What I do believe in is chemistry – and WOW does this movie have it. I can sum it all up in one word: YUMMY!

Go prepared to cry, laugh, and laugh while crying. It’s an unrealistic story, which of course a man would never do in real life. However, it’s absolutely beautiful and well worth your $9.50 and a girls night out.

See what my sister, Lisa, had to say about it.

Reader

Embraced by the Light

Laurie6 Comments

Christmas Day I took some time for myself and finished reading this book, “Embraced by the Light“. Katri let me borrow it and I loved it! It’s one of those books that when you finish it – you feel like a good person and want to be even better.

Basically, it’s about a woman’s near-death experience. But there’s nothing basic about what she experienced nor what she learned. I was surprised by how spiritual and profound it was. As I was reading it, I felt like the author was right there in the room with me teaching me everything I needed to know for the next stage of my life.

I know that it’s not a cooincidence that I read this book, this week. I needed to feel the unconditional love of my Savior and I was completely surprised that I felt it while reading this book.

I’m going to buy my own copy because it’s one that I’m going to want (and need) to read again and again. The author, Betty J. Eadie, and I already share the same beliefs about the “next life and pre-mortal life” and therefore nothing she wrote shocked me. However, be warned, it’s deep stuff!

On a very personal note: This book has made me realize that I need to love my children unconditionally. Until about a year ago, my love for them has been conditional upon their behavior and I used it as leverage to teach and reward. I’ve been slowly realizing what I’ve been doing (it wasn’t intentional) and I have been working hard to change this habit.

As I read this book, I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly impress upon me the importance of unconditional love. I also felt the encouragement that my goal has been a righteous one and the timing it just right for it. My goal for 2008 is to lighten up on my discipline tactics (with the older 2 boys) and show them my love for them, many times a day, regardless of behavior. 😉

I’m completely intrigued by this topic. Have any of you read a “near-death” experience book you’ve been inspired by?

Mother of Boys

Merry Christmas!

Laurie5 Comments

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed the special time with your family.




Ours was a success! Davis said over and over that this was the best Christmas ever. I think it had more to do with the fact that he got to wake up at midnight to help stuff Drake’s stocking and put presents under the tree while playing “Santa”.

He also kept telling me all morning long that, “I was the best mom ever!” It was so fulfilling that he realized that Santa hadn’t been doing this for him year after year – it was me and Jason.

I agree with Davis that this was the best Christmas ever – not because of the gifts but because of the special bond we made with Davis helping us play Santa. I’ll never forget it.

Mother of Boys

Grandparent Post

Laurie1 Comment

We’ve had a fun several days and I wanted to be sure to document our experiences. Jason and I went to both of the boys winter parties at school. I had Drake at Davis’ party where they made these cute snowmen out of socks.

How to Make the Snowman: The body’s a sock with yard tied in 3 sections to make the body, a glove for the hat, a piece of felt for the scarf, 2 brown pipe cleaners twisted together for the arms, buttons for the eyes, and a little light bulb for the nose. All the kids had such a great time making them!

Drake and I went over to meet Jason over at Dylan’s party. We were there a minute or so when Dylan started waving at us. Drake went crazy! He was yelling and shaking – so excited to see Dylan. Dylan came over and grabbed him and they embraced at their reunion. It was so endearing it made my heart swell. 😉

Right after school we took of on a 6 hour drive to Galveston, Texas and our adventure at Moody Gardens. (Drake cried 5 out of the 6 hours. Grrr.)

We hit all the pyramids: The Rain Forest

The Discovery Museum

And the Aquarium.

We also took a ride on the Colonel Paddlewheel Boat. When we lived in Katy – we had season passes and this was a picture I tried to get the boys to recreate:

They were 6 and 4 and a little cranky.

We all went ice-skating, yep even Drake! He lasted one lap. 😉

The sunset on the beach was beautiful!

After a nice dinner, we went to the Festival of Lights. It was amazing and completely breathtaking. We borrowed a stroller from customer service and Drake loved it! {whew!} Davis pushed him around the entire place all day and evening without complaint. It made the day so wonderful and enjoyable.

Saturday, we went to Grandma & Grandpa Rhodes and celebrated Christmas there. They got the boys a telescope that hooks up to your laptop, yada yada yada. I couldn’t tell who was more excited the boys or Jason. 😉

The next morning was a Christmas celebration with Nana, Grandma Betty, and Grandpa Gary.

They spoiled us as usual. We love them so much and were so grateful to be able to spend some time with them.

I was relieved to find out that everyone loved the First Year Books I made. Mission accomplished! Afterwards we drove back home so we could wake up Christmas morning in our own beds.

About Laurie · Business Owner

Shutterfly Book

Laurie14 Comments

I can’t stand it anymore, I’ve got to show you what I completed over the weekend for the Grandparents. I made a Shutterfly photo book that has all 3 boys and some of their firsts, as well as other family photos. I LOVED how it turned out! Here is just a sample of some of the pages.

First photo: Dylan (top), Drake (bottom), Davis (right)

Hospital picture: Davis, Dylan, Drake

First Christmas: Drake, Dylan (top), Davis (bottom)

Food: Davis, Dylan, Drake

Turning One: Davis, Dylan, Drake

All 3 in the same Mickey outfit around 11 months old: Davis (top), Drake (bottom), Dylan right

First Halloween

I also added most of the professional photos I’ve had done of the boys.

I also put in all of our family pictures.

Ahh the memories. 😉 I’m headed out of town for the weekend. I hope all of your Christmas planning is going smoothly and I’ll update you on my trip when I get back on Monday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! I hope you travel safely and enjoy this special time with your families.