We had a wonderful Christmas and the kids are still completely in awe of their goodies. I am still gathering my pictures for that post, so it will come soon. I promised Christmas card pictures and wanted to make sure I delivered. It is so fun to look back at our pictures from years past and see how much we have all changed. The twins are no longer babies, which makes me so sad! Where did the time go???
Things around here are busy as usual!!! I realized that I hadn't blogged since Halloween and decided that I needed to do one before Christmas arrives.
We had a break from birthday parties in November, so we spent most of our weekends hanging around the house doing activities. We did start a new tradition of making a thankful banner. Each night before bed, we would all say one thing that we were thankful for and I would jot them on a small piece of paper. I punched holes in the papers with the intention of hanging them on a string, but never made that happen, but I do have a nice stack of things we are thankful for. The twins came up with unicorns, lunchboxes, teachers, Sambo, Mommy, Daddy, and SueSue. It was a neat reminder of all the many blessings we have to be thankful for and I can't wait to do it again next year.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, Tim and I went to Chicago for two nights. It was our 2nd time to get out of town all by ourselves since becoming parents. SueSue and Malley came over to stay with the twins or to have a sleepover as Brooklyn called it. They played, did activities, and had a GREAT time!!! One of Brooklyn's thankful items was - that Malley and SueSue were coming to stay with her.
Tim and I had a blast as well. We stayed at the Wit, which is centrally located by the Magnificent Mile. We got popcorn from Garrett's, ate delicious pizza at Lou Malnati's, explored Millenium Park, went to a movie, ate a great dinner at Weber Grill, had the most amazing breakfast ever at Wildberry and then visited the firehouse where Chicago Fire (one of our favorite shows) is taped. We did a ton of walking in freezing temperatures, but loved it! It started snowing on our last day there and we were nervous about being trapped there like we were a few years ago, but luckily we were able to get out in time, before the weather got really bad.
It was such a treat to be able to get away and have time alone to focus on our relationship. It is so easy to get caught up in work, kids, appointments, etc., and to let your relationship fade to the back of your list of priorities. As it turns out, I still love Tim!!! Good news, right? I actually love him more now than ever before. He has transformed over the years into a father and a provider for our family and he supports me and my crazy ideas without fail. He accepts me just as I am and makes me feel loved every single day. I realize just how truly blessed I am to have such an amazing partner in this journey of life and I thank God for him daily!
For Thanksgiving, we went to my mom's house and had a yummy meal. It was so nice to spend time with the whole family and to catch up with everyone. I still am in favor of having a family dinner once a week to give us all time to reconnect!
The weekend after Thanksgiving, we went to Abilene to visit my grandmother, Aunt Lovey, Unka Dean, and Uncle Shane. We had a Thanksgiving #2 while we were there and also had pictures taken for our Christmas cards (that still haven't arrived yet - guess they will be New Year's cards). We walked around the mall and ACU and then ate dinner at one of my favorites - Town Crier. It was a short visit, but very fun!
We thoroughly enjoyed the great ice storm. School was cancelled Friday and Monday and we were able to go outside and sled in the backyard each day. The kids had a blast and would ask all day long if we could go back outside. Our backyard has a great slope to it and once we got the right tool - tote lids, we were good to go. Tim and I even took part in the fun!
Tim's birthday was on the 14th and we celebrated as a family by having dinner at Martha's. The next day I surprised Tim with a segway tour around Fort Worth. This was by far, one of the most fun things I have ever done. We went from downtown to the Stockyards and back, all along the Trinity Trails. I saw parts of Fort Worth I never knew existed before! We will definitely be doing this again! After our tour, we ate an insanely delicious dinner at Reatas.
Work is going well for both Tim and I. Tim has been extremely busy with clients, showing houses in the evenings and on the weekends. Such a blessing! I am still learning so much and love that each day is a new challenge. I never know what to expect and that definitely keeps me on my toes. I started doing my first PDAS evaluations, which is still so crazy to me. I am now the person that makes people nervous, which is so crazy. We are fortunate to have a great staff with truly exceptional teachers, so that makes things run very smoothly!
I am also still an Ambassador for Plexus. The all-natural products are fantastic and have helped so many of my family members and friends make positive changes in their health and wellness. They are losing weight, sleeping better, feeling more energy, curbing their appetite, and feeling better overall. I was an Ambassador for 11 days in October and made enough money during that time to pay for our extra expenses in Chicago such as meals, taxis, entertainment, etc. November was my first full month and I tripled the amount I made in October! I have built a great team of 8 people and even got my first promotion to Silver Ambassador! Plexus has been a huge blessing for our health as well. Tim and I have both lost around 15 pounds. I am no longer needing naps like I used to and am not wanting to eat ice cream every night. I am excited to see how this company improves our lives in 2014!
I am going to post our Christmas card pictures in a post tomorrow since there are many of them. :)
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