Good Morning Sunshine...

 Cole was born, almost 11 years ago

GASP 11 years!

For 11 years that child has started EVERY day with a smile on his face.

He is almost always the first one up in the morning.

Even on weekends.

He bounces down the stairs

comes in smiling to our room to cuddle

He is our blessed child who asks

What are we going to do today?

He got an alarm clock and LOVES to set it so he can get up early.

I actually had to make him set it for 6am instead of 5 am!

Love that sweet smile. He melts my heart when he smiles.

Six years after Cole came

Shelby

um yeah

girlfriend isn't so much the morning bit O sunshine

She'd sleep till noon if we let her

and when her feet hit the floor in the morning,

you can guarantee there is something that isn't right in her world.

Even Christmas morning she rolled over and said Santa's been here

the presents will be there when I get up.

She doesn't WANT an alarm clock

and SERIOUSLY HATES her brother's!

She's so beautiful when she sleeps.

Then there's Joy

Joy is now the first one to go bed

She sleeps on Cole's couch under his bunk.

She's usually the last one up

Some days it's a tie between her and Shelby.

however, Joy spends her day in a perpetual nap.

This is Joy trying to blend in, hoping I don't see her.

I tell you that to tell you the current problem in our home.

Troy.

Troy is NOT a morning person, he never has been

the problem is he is trying to be a morning person.

and he is trying with this. (see pic below)

Yes, it sounds just like it looks.

LOUD and obnoxious.

and in order to motivate him, he puts it on the other side of the room.

Now this is a man who usually hits snooze for over an hour.

Now, it goes off, I scream, he goes hits snooze and

GETS BACK IN BED.

Seriously?

So now we have Cole's Spongebob Clock that sounds like a ship has docked in our house.

Troy's rooster crowing at 5 am, 5:15, 5:30, 5:45 and 6:00

I used to be a morning person,

I'm over it now.

So we have yet another 2 hr delay today and I have been up since 5:30,
I think I'll just enjoy my peace and quiet with Coleman
before the two smallest Hoffman's get up!
Good Morning!

Friends

"The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend." ~Aristotle

"A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." ~Grace Pulpit

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you."  Elbert Hubbard

I have never been accused of being un-opinionated.

No one has ever called me wishy washy.

If fact there may have been times that dare I say

I am over opinionated.

(I blame my parents!)

I am one of those women who if you don't have an opinion of your own,

I'll be glad to share mine.

 

In my lifetime

I am sure my unapologetic opinions

 have drawn more enemies than friends.

 

It has been an interesting lesson, this year and last, in true friendship.

I have learned the depth of my loyalty in my friendships.

I have learned that true friends walk in your life

and choose

to plant themselves, and grow deep roots

roots that intertwine in your life so that you grow together

and there is nothing,

not time, distance or angry words

that can truly separate their life from yours.

 

While some friends may not be in your daily routine

they are daily in your heart

just as you are in theirs.

Those are the friends that when you fall

will squeeze their bodies under you to prop you up.

They will drag you kicking and screaming to a better place.

A place of love.

 

I am blessed to have true friends in my life.

Friendships that have spanned years, love, tears, tragedy and fun.

Friends that give freely and willingly of their hearts.

Friends that know me and love me anyway.

Friends that have put their roots with mine

and have chosen our lives to be together in some way.

I am humbled

If you truly only go through this life once,

I am glad I am going through it with the friends I have.

I don't tell them enough that I love them and would be lost without them.

I plan in 2011 to change that.

 

Calm....

"Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity"

— Novala Takemoto (Missin' (Novel))

No matter how impatient I feel some days,

 how hectic life is

 how stressed out I become

 there is a calm that snow brings.

 

There is a peace the comes

when snuggled in a blanket, 

 inside a warm house sipping hot tea,

 reading a good book and watching snow softly fall.

 

a clean white blanket that covers everything so perfectly.

There is something about snow that propels me to grab my camera

trying to capture the snowflakes in suspended motion

lingering in the air

 

Junk....

Whether it's junk in the closet or junk in my trunk... this year it's all gotta GO!

It seems than in the midst of my stress, I've been packing on some poundage!



Not my toes, my toes do look better!



I have been working out 2-4 times a week for a few months now

It has boosted my energy

improved my daily outlook

made me feel better..

I haven't lost weight -in fact

I gained.

It's not like me gaining weight was a life threatening emergency

until

Troy got on the scale this weekend.

WE are now on a diet.

Of course when an Engineer diets, we must spreadsheet our diet.

So I now have my caloric intake listed daily. (Thanks BABE!)

We are exercising together at night

 in addition to me working out during the day.



I wish Troy had a bright green jogging suit!



So today I got on the Wii.

HUGE mistake.

I now hate my little Mii - my little Mii has a wide butt and big O belly

I call that motivation!

So this year, I'll be cleaning junk from closets and LOTS of junk from my trunk and working on a smaller Mii and ME!

I struggle....

I had such a wonderful day.

I dropped my baby girl off with her Papaw and went with my Mom to IKEA.

It's like the ultimate toy store for overachieving organizers.

Two hours of wandering the showroom...

New kitchens... everything has a place

form and function meet beautifully.

Women go around with stainless steel cleaner.

No smudge prints..

WHITE COTTON COUCHES.



Photo - IKEA Catalog



Photo - IKEA - Drool Marks - Me

THEN

I return home.

Did I mention the black dog?

She's been lying all over our bed because

 she's learned to sneak around and open doors.

She sheds = no white couches for me.

So today, I purchased organizational equipment..

I am not sure it is going to begin to make a dent.



Note the old Christmas photos, along with pom poms. Clearly these items belong together. NOT!



However, it does occur to me that I have a few things IKEA will never have

and

they are worth more than a white cotton couch



I have a princess in training. OK - she's training us.

 

A dog, who is the last one up in the morning and the first in bed at night.
 At least she never runs away!



A husband who now knows I really will post his pic with a New Year's hat!



and Perry the Platypus that goes everywhere with us!



I'll live with a little disorganization for a few more years. This is more fun.

Until then, I'll be drooling over the IKEA catalog! 

Welcome to 2011! It's a BRAND NEW YEAR!

It's no secret to those that know me that 2010 was truly not the year I expected.

 It turned our lives upside down and inside out.

I have spent lots of time going through the grief process of loss

wondering

thinking

wishing

praying

not knowing who I was, what I was or where to go from here.

I have realized ....

I am a mom

who loves her children with everything there is.

A wife

who is blessed with the most amazing husband who loves me completely

A daughter

to wonderful parents who give freely of themselves

A friend,

loyal to the end no matter what happens, I am a loyalist to a fault

and in the end

I am and will always be a child's advocate.

It is who I am and what moves me to the core of my being.

So in 2011, I am done..

Waiting for it to be safe to use my voice to the betterment of children in need.

I am done

Hiding because I am nervous about what others will think

I am done

Not telling the truth about reality to those that need to hear the truth spoken.

I am done

Thinking that I can no longer contribute.

I will no longer be scared into silence when the truth needs to be heard.

2011 will be a year of celebration that I can spend time with my family,

time I have never allowed myself before,

A year of exploration of interests and talents.

A year of learning and searching for where God wants and needs me to be.

A year of listening, to God, my heart, my family, and friends.

A year of growing, in love, spirituality, knowledge and strength.

I only have one life.

I want one to be enough.

Happy New Year.