Valentine's Week Post 3

Like marshmallows and campfires we're better together. 

Happy Valentine's day to my man. 

Excited to spend the rest of my valentines with you.

#andyletterboard

Valentine's Week Post 2

She is sparkle and sunshine.
Joy and delight.
Strong willed and determined.
She is half of me but more of him.
Passion all wrapped up in one small girl.
"Though she be but little, she is fierce." -Shakespeare
A little bit of Valentine for my BitBit, my #littlegirlandy #andyletterboard

Valentine's Week Post 1

It's Valentine's week and while my hubby and i have spent many valentine's day and sort of feel like it is just another day for people to go out and buy stuff and have huge expectations (wow doesn't that sound romantic, i sound cynical) and truthfully early on we have had some bad valentine's day experiences. but we want to celebrate in a fun way for and with the kids. 

since February i have been leaving them little hearts with things i love about them on their bedroom doors. with it being Valentine's week i thought i would leave them a quote on our Letter board.

Here is Golden Boys.....  

A letter board to the kid who made me a mom.
For the many many adventures you have taken us on
Sports, star wars, grooming, clothes and shoes scattered on the floor.......a little bit of childhood and growing up all tied together.
With three days till valentines I wanted to say i love you and i'm glad you are mine. (When "Winnie the Pooh" won't fit you improvise, "Pooh Bear") #andyletterboard

Snow-mageddon 2018

Our Snow day turned into two days and a two hour delayed start today.

Tuesday we woke up and had breakfast and then played a Monopoly game with the kids.

once that was over we had a little bit of snow that we could go out in.

after my little bit out in it, i went in the start lunch and Little girl called from the door that she needed my phone. she wanted to make a picture of something she made. she went out and took the pictures but i didn't look at it until the next day. 

i just love her cute snow angle. she is so creative. i loved that she used her hat on it and have the angle a face and lashes. 

she pays attention to detail and i just love it.

Coffee Station

I have always wanted a coffee bar area in the kitchen.

when we thought we would do a china cabinet build along this wall i factored one into there

this dresser was my grandmothers and she promised it to me one day

it has been living in my parents house for the past few years

my mom ended up moving it into her kitchen and used it as a coffee bar

she promised me that it was still mine she was just using it for now

once the kitchen was pretty much done i asked her if i could get it and set it up

this is how it all looked once i got it moved it and the coffee pot and items on it

i added a mug rack to the wall

and then i started looked at marble cutting boards to sit the coffee pot on.

at thanksgiving my dad he a huge piece of marble that he was saving for an outside countertop

Golden boy was trying to get in the shed one morning and knocked the piece down.....it cracked

my mom said it had been at the lake house forever so not to worry about it. that dad could get another piece. i asked him if he could break a chunk of it smaller so that i could put my coffee pot on it 

he took a hammer to it around the edges to get to my guesstimated size and the ran a sander along the edges to make them somewhat smoother

i just love the way that it came out

the second picture shows it a little better

now i just have to decide what else to put on the wall above my new coffee bar

i really want a shelf and these are the ones that i am leaning towards

Choice #1 (in the wood color)

Option #2

Option #3

Option #4

Option #5

Option #6

Or just buying an unfinished raw wood edge shelf and metal brackets

What I plan to read in 2018......

my cousin reads an amazing amount of books in a year. you can follow her on Good Reads here and sees a few of her favorite books here.

she wrote this post about what she plans on reading in 2018 and it encouraged me to write one of my own. so here goes......

  currently i am reading Before we Were yours by Lisa Wingate it has been very interesting so far and i am waiting to see where it goes and how this all plays out.


i read a lot of books by Lynn Austin last year so i am sure that i will read a few by her this year.


 i read Finding Father Christmas and Engaging Father Christmas years ago. I remember when the first movie came out and being bummed that i wasn't able to see it. we went to visit my parents for Christmas this year and my mom taped Finding Father Christmas and Engaging Father Christmas (which just came out this year) and i was able to watch them. I really liked them both. It wasn't till i got home that i realized that there was another one in the series. the movie made it look like there would be a third movie but i didn't know about the third book. i placed the order for it on Amazon and i get it in the mail on Tuesday.

Keeping with the same author, Robin Jones Gunn, who has been a favorite author of mine since i was a 10 year old girl.......

I plan on reading Christy and Todd the Baby Years series of three.


 i don't know who recommended this series to me but i have had it on my Good Reads to read list.

 The Boys in the Boa is another one that was recommended to me and it has been on my to read list. so i hope to get to it this year too.

 Savor is another book that i would like to read this year. I have read a few other books by Shauna Niequist and enjoy them. Bread and Wine was the first book that i read by her and loved it.

 Ann Voskamp has a different writing style but i love it. I read One Thousand Gifts and i have her Christmas book Unwrapping the Greatest Gift but i would like to read The Broken Way sometime this year.

these next few have been floating around the social media world and i added to by to read list on Good Reads list......

 Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner


 At home in the World

 Unseen by Sara Hagerty

 I read Katie Davis first book Kisses From Katie and just love it. I can't wait to read her next book Daring to Hope (what a beautiful Soul)

13 years of December.....minus 1

I was encouraged when reading one of my favorite bloggers post, 9 years of Decembers.....

she is intentional about looking back through her blog posts and remembering 

so i decided to do that same.

i have been blogging for 13 years with one of those years only having 8 blog posts the whole year and that last one that year was in May so there was no December that was blogged then.......

My Decembers have been full of some of the same things like posts about the books that i have read every year.......chances to see best friends......

thoughts on life.........52 adventures that we experianced.......myself expressed in words when i can think about the answers later and not spur of the moment answers............celebration of new life..............funny kid experiances............



the gift of hearing................vacations................





Christmas pictures...................mom advice..........first home purchase..................before kids.................



sentiments on friends....................Three Things Thursday

It has been so fun to go back through the Decembers of blogging past.

Books Read in 2017.....

this is one of my favorite posts of the year

I have been recording the books that I have read every year since 2004

I have no idea why I started doing it but I am do glad that I did and it has been so much fun

my goal for this year was 52

here is my 2017 list

lets see if I met that goal

Dad is Fat-Jim Gaffigan

The Mistletoe Secret-Richard Paul Evans

The Baxter Christmas-Karen Kingsbury

Along the Infinite Sea-Beatriz Williams

Duck Commander Family-Willie and Korie Robertson

The Magnolia Story-Chip and Joanna Gaines

Wild & Free-Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan

Raising an Original-Julie Lyles Carr

Yes You Can Heather-Daphne Gray Whitestone

A Family Shaped by Grace-Gary Morland

Candle in the Darkness-Lynn Austin

Never Unfriended-Lisa Jo Baker

Fire by Night-Lynn Austin

Gods & Kings-Lynn Austin

Song of Redemption-Lynn Austin

The Strength of His Hand-Lynn Austin

The Secret Life of Peaches-Jodi Lynn Anderson

Uninvited-Lysa TerKuerst

Wind at the Door-Madeline L'Engle

Love and Peaches-Jodi Lynn Anderson

Love Story-Karen Kingsbury

Present Over Perfect-Shauna Niequist

The House at the Edge of Night-Catherine Banner

All She Ever Wanted- Lynn Austin

Hands Free Life-Rachel Stafford

A Light to my Path-Lynn Austin

My Lady Jane-Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Have a New Kid  by Friday-Kevin Leman

The Prayer Box-Lisa Wingate

Sea Rose Lane-Irene Hannon

Scrappy Little Nobody-Anna Kendrick

Eleanor & Park-Rainbow Rowell

The Chemist-Stephanie Meyer

The Princess Diarist-Carrie Fisher

A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey w/your Kids about Sex-Dr. Kevin Leman & Kathy Flores Bell

My (not so) Perfect Life-Sophie Kinsella

The Keeper of Lost Things-Ruth Hogan

The Seven Sisters-Lucinda Riley

Windfall-Jennifer E. Smith

Talking as fast as I can-Lauren Graham

Little Girls Can Be Mean-Michelle Anthony and Reyna Lindert

On Becoming Pre-teen wise-Gary Ezzo

The Storm Sister-Lucinda Riley

here are my lists from previous years

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Family Christmas 2017

Last year i posted this post, Christmas Through the Years.

I love looking through the family Christmas photos that we take every year. They go back further than 2010 too. We have ones with just Golden Boy before Little girl was born and my Hubby and i took them before we had kiddos.

Here is 2008 Christmas Photo

Here is 2007 Christmas Photo

Christmas Photo 2006 they year before we had kids

Family

My family (the 10 of us)

and silly pictures are a mist to get the kids to cooperate with a good one.  

My parents and their four grand kids

my hubby's side of the family (all 11 of us)

silly us, of course

my in laws and the five grand kids