~some kitchen gifts i've put to use...~

from my dear husband.

from my mom
(i haven't found a recipe with cream cheese that i have not liked)
making cheesecake today for
our new years eve celebration tomorrow.



this is wear i put the cutting board
love how it came with display holder.
my hubby and kids did good for me
this year...every year they do good.



brooke this Christmas~

 the opening of the ipod touch

 just dance 2

i must admit this is a great workout as well.

 brooke whispering to her brother..

 her new hat.

 brooke with her new coat & boots with her friend shelby.

 colts shirt that she got from her uncle Josh...that she loves.. wears it alot...

brady and chuck received a shirt too (i'll try and sneak a picture of theirs too as they love them)

with her new texas sweatpants...she almost got kick out of the movies for wearing the texas pants.

(we know the owners and they asked if she had a good Christmas she showed them the texas pants and they jokingly said "we are going to have to ask you to leave")

brady at Christmas~

 as he unwrapped this he stated "alright, a box"

 only to find inside the box a "flatbill" hat which he has been wanting and his dad finally broke down and purchased him one. of course it is a nebraska huskers hat. his dad is not a fan of the "flatbill" look  but gave in

 another hat (from grandma okie) that you can change your hair color on

looking good in gray here.

loving his snuggie

 

ipod touch.
 they were very impressed with...good job santa! a.k.a mom/dad.

~Merry Christmas~2010

Merry Christmas from our home to yours...

the eve of Christmas~

 the making of the gingerbread house...some memorable quotes as we cherished the moment..

i say "this is going to be good. going to look just like the picture on the box"

kids at the same time say "no it's not"

brooke says as her hands are dirty and sticking to everything "this sucks" (you got to love the spirit of the 13 year old female)

 the finished product as the kids and everyone where worn out from the stress of making in perfect and it was far from...

 i give them a A+ for team effort

 a friend of mine brought over a gift for the family i originally thought wow i love my new HUGE coffee mug
but come to find out it's a coffee canister. LOVE IT!

 here it is in comparison to my real coffee mug...i'm not addicted to starbucks or anything

 at the grocery store my son reminded me of the traditional egg nog that we need to drink this eve over the opening of ONE gift...yes one gift kids...they are asking for more... begging actually.

i reminded my kids next year we should start giving three gifts each for

christmas since it's biblical and all.

the idea stressed them a little but i use the moment to remind them how

blessed they are. we are.

i'm running up and down the stairs in hopes to lose weight to finish the laundry before

Christmas so tomorrow i can focus on Jesus, family, friends and Christmas!

as i go up and down them i notice the decorations that soon will be taking down

and stored away for yet another year.

Sad. (exspecially if you've seen Toy Story 3)

phew time moves fast.

Merry Christmas Eve, Friends!

~friends that cause laughter~

facebook has been good for me.  i know it can be bad sometimes...(if you waste too much time on it, or talk to old boyfriends behind the hubby's back) but for me it gives me close contact to my family in Maine and Boston who i do not see often. (by the way I don't talk to old boyfriends behind his back. i have old boyfriends as friends which he is aware of) anyway it also keeps you in touch with friends. funny friends. Hilarius friends...last night my friend Jill made me laugh yet again by her status.....

"I kidnapped Baby Jesus from my parents front yard. Rang the doorbell and taped a ransom note asking for 8 packages of Smarties, a 6 pack of Dr. Skipper, and some chili dogs to be left under the street light of East K and Highland. It took them less than a minute to call me out!!! Really? I thought I was being tricky. I don't even drink Dr. Skipper!" jill

her parents go to our church and are just as fun and funny.  i can just see them calling her and saying something like "jill, bring Him back!!"

~only in nebraska...

~fourteen years~

 just starting out

(chuck lost the ear ring years after this photo realizing that it truly wasn't cool)

the wedding day!

(i think i just realized what happened it this photo)

sir charles and i have had a lot to go through in our marriage

• pregnant at young age
• pregnant again 9 months later
• starting broke with two kids in diapers
• married young and realized we couldn't be immature anymore
•  my son was lost on a freeway at 2:00 am at the age of 2 in my mother-in-laws care (this is a hard subject and i'll post more about this later but it was hard for me to forgive chuck's mom and chuck for having a mom that could let this happen) let's just say angels were watching over my son that day night!
• been through 2 deployments one lasting 10 months and one 16 months.
• hit a rock in our marriage where God introduced himself to my husband & brought me back to serving Him as well. (not sure why we fight this as humans and not go back on our own. instead we fight it kicking and screaming) God will win.
• after 17 years of chuck working at the same job, i finally let him he finally was able to start his own business.

chuck and i joke alot about being married on the first day of winter being the reason

we've been through so many storms. some i haven't even listed and some being the normal everyday

oneness of being a married couple. then when i look at other marriages around us, i realize we all go through the storms of marriage and life... having and raising kids, not agreeing, agreeing just to avoid conflict, stepping on each other toes, not helping out, saying hurtful things, rolling the eyes when the others not looking, sleepless nights, going to bed mad at one another, being selfish, bringing up past issues.

(i think you can relate and even add what i've failed to mention.)

but for those of us that choose to stay married and fight the fight... it's worth it.... 100%

Christmas Recital 2010

brooke after recital

we bought her a rose to help us say

"job well done"

i thought this looked like her "superstar pose"

love when the girls smile and are enjoying themselves on stage.

"What is Christmas without Christ"

yogi bear

 after heading out of town early this am to Christmas shop for the kids, (leaving them at home to fend for themselves) we decided to treat them to the movies tonight.  it was a relaxing end to a tiring day. shopping is fun but boy am I worn out. the hubby and i hit starbucks first thing and even had a nice dinner (alone) at red lobster. even though it's nice to get away for awhile without the kids, i sure like the coming home to them as well.



~and this weekend... we'll dance some more~

brooke age 5ish

this weekend brooke has more dance recitals. tonight in wallace and then sunday night here. luckily our saturday is free this weekend as we haven't even started to christmas shop and this is the last weekend. (i'm sure the malls will be nice and busy)  i can't believe how fast kids grow. i mean older people tell you to enjoy them while they are home, and before when i'd hear this I was like yeah ok whatever, but i'm getting it now and seeing it now. not even sure why i'd question their comment... after all they are old and have walked the path we are walking so they would know.  both kids have outgrown me (and i'm not that short myself) so looking back on old pictures is a sure reminder that time moves fast....kids grow fast. (last night at her show choir concert she had make-up on and her dad about flipped out)

  age 7 ish helping the younger girls with their dance
(middle tall one)

Christmas program age 9ish

christmas program 11 ish

last year (12)

so this weekend i'm excited for new dances, new outfits, new songs, new pictures

(to add to the collection.)

 she was also asked to dance in our Christmas drama at our church last year. 

2009 recital HERE

p.s. also excited to get started and finish our Christmas shopping in one day this year.

Happy Weekend!

~YOU~

tresan & brooke

sometimes i hate to say it but i am kind of glad we are bringing this basketball season to a close.

my dear daughter is headed to cozad this evening to play her last game this season.

after 3 games last week and all the other activities going on right now

somethings got to give.

brooke's team wasn't so bad this year. i find it hard for me to watch her without yelling though.

it's tough to sit through a sport and not yell (i call it cheering)

"rebound"  "get the ball" "shoot"

brooke found me annoying at her game. i think she finds me annoying anyway

 i knew this because at one point she looks up to me in the stands and says "shhh!"

i then had to ask myself "am I really that bad"

i gave her the "what?? other parents are yelling" look.

brooke told me later she was annoyed by my yelling and telling her what to do because she knows

she wasn't as good as me when i played basketball.

i told her on her second game she needed to shoot more. and she did and missed every single shot.

so in the parking lot she's racing to the car upset and angry.

i say to her "what's your problem" (it's easier to talk to a 13 year old this way (at least at my house.))

she says "you told me to shoot more and i missed every single shot and made a fool of myself"

at this point she's crying as she opens the car door and slams it as she's getting in.

i open my door and get in and proceed to tell her

"if you don't ever try to shoot then how do you ever expect to make a basket??"

with tears in her eyes she says "but i'm not good like you"

i say "brooke renee (using her middle name to get her attention) i don't expect you to be like me.

i expect you to be you and do the best that you can do."

couple days later game three came and as i sat in the stands (still yelling cheering) i was frightened that

my brooke might not shoot ever again in her life and praying she give herself another try.

she shoots even more that game making 3 baskets.

two of which were 2 pointers and one 3 pointer!

another funny part to that day:

brooke's friend kendall came to watch that day and decided to leave shortly after the game started.

during a timeout kendall says to brooke...i'm leaving.

brooke questions her....you're not going to watch me?

and being the friend and jokester kendall is she tells brooke

"no, it's not like you're going to make a 3 pointer or something"

and leaves. so after the game brooke calls kendall and says guess what..i made a 3 pointer.

kendall says oh my gosh, good job. i'm so proud of you.

~B & B Petroleum~

Congratulations to the hubby for the start of his new business today!

your hard work and time have paid off.

~Charles~

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband

who is loving, caring, funny, hard working, loves kids (kids love him)

great guy all around.