Blessing #1 My Husband!

Stan and I have been married for 13 years. He is my best friend, he is my soul mate. We met on a blind date that I did not want to go on. Boy! am I glad I did! Stan reminded me of my dad the first time I met him! He is kind and considerate and level headed. Stan supports me in all that I do. He is a wonderful father, he is smart, hardworking and alot of fun. And he makes me laugh every single day!

Blessing #2 My Parents!

I love my parents! They are the most wonderful couple in the world! I am the youngest of 5 children. My parents gave my siblings and I the most perfect childhood. They raised each one of us to be kind, considerate and to always try our best and treat others the way we would like to be treated. Growing up I did not always realize just how lucky I was to be given my mom and dad. Now that I am a parent I know I was given the best of the best! My parents always supported my siblings and I in whatever activities we were involved with. I never remember my mom really yelling at us or feeling frazzled or stressed...and she had 5 children-5 very different children at that! My parnets made every day specila in some small way.
My parents always emphasize the importance of family. They taught us to always look after each other. I am proud to say that my siblings and I are extremely close. Unfortunately, we all live in different states and do not see each other very often but we do know that we are always here for one another and we always will be. I loved how they welcomed Stan into our family with open arms right from the start. They treated him like a sibling and they love him like a brother. I am really looking forward to being with most of my siblings again over the holidays.
My parents are excellent role models on what a marriage should be. I remember my mother telling me right before I married Stan that it is very important to make time for each other weekly. It is very easy to get caught up in your childrens' lives and neglect your spouse. Stan and I took this advice to heart and do make time for each other on a weekly basis.
My parents just celebrated their 51st anniversary last Sunday. They are truly best friends and soul mates. Happy anniversay Mom & Dad! You are wonderful! You are so special to me and I love you with my whole heart!
I created this layout last February when my siblings and I planned a surpsie party for my mother's 70th birthday. It was a small celebration with just my siblings and mom and dad. It was so awesome to be together again and to surpsie my mom!

Blessing #3 My Children

God was so good to bring me 3 heathly children. I love each of them dearly! Yes, I have my moments where I want to ship them off to Grammy & Grampy's house but when I look at the big picture...they truly are my life. Each one has his/her own uniqueness which makes living in our house all the more interesting!

Tucker James is growing up! This past Sunday he presented Stan & I with a letter expressing why he disagreed with a handful of the rules we have in our household. Stan and I were caught off guard. This was a hug wake-up call to me. My little boy is growing up! We sat down with Tucker last night and went over his list with him. It was wonderful to have an adult like conversation with him. We allowed him to share his thoughts and feelings and he allowed us to do the same. After he went to bed I pondered on what had just happened and I felt blessed that he felt comfortable enough sharing how he felt with us. I know as he contniues to grow he will be exposed and pressured into doing things he know is not right. I feel confident, after last night, that he will come to Stan and I when things like that start to happen.

Molly McKenzie is my helper! She always knows where everything is! She is a wonderful big sister and younger sister. I was touched one day this past summer when she was busy working on a project. She said it was a surprsie. Once she finished she invited me to come take a look. She had created a doll bed for her friend, Gabby's doll. Gabby was going to be visiting us for a week and Molly wanted Gabby's doll to have a place to sleep! Whenever Stan walks in the door from work Molly always greets him wiht a hug and asks him, "how was work today, Daddy?" Stan loves this! What a precious heart my Molly has!

Payton Marie is the smile that keeps our family together. She is quite the drama queen! Payton is full of energy and spunk and loves life. She is eager to please and loves to be cuddled. I am still trying to adjust to having her in school every day all day!

Blessing #4 SMILES!

My good friend, Shannon, reminded me of how much I love smiles!
I always try to greet people with a smile and I encourage my children to do the same. A smile is a present you can give to everyone and anyone and it does not cost anything! How wonderful is that!

Smiles,
Amy

Blessing #5

I am thankful for St. George's Episcopal Church. We moved here 2 1/2 years ago and it has been a challenge finding a church we can call home. Back in August Stan and I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert. We went with some friends who had friends who had friends. Who would have every thought we would meet Fr. Rick while tailgating before the concert began! We had a great conversation with him and he invited us to attend one of his services.

We attended and have been going ever since! We love this church! Fr. Rick started a children's service which takes place at 10:15 every Sunday morning. It is geared towards children and it is wonderful! I love that my children look forward to going to church. They are learning and loving it!

We try to go to both the 9:00 service (more for adults but our children go with us) and then we stay for the 10:15 service and then the children have a 20 minute Sunday school following the children's service. Fr. Rick is wonderful, as are the Sunday school teachers! We have truly enjoyed meeting the other parishioners and making new friends!

If you live close to me and are looking for a church I invite you to come visit. You'll be glad you did!

Smiles,
Amy

Blessing #6: CHRISTMAS MUSIC!

I woke up this morning to do my workout and was thrilled when I turned on the boom box and realized the local radio station started playing their nonstop holiday music! I love music and I especially love Christmas music at this time of year. I always treat myself to at least one new Christmas CD every year and I always start listening to holiday music in October! Then once New Year's is over I pack the music away until the next year.

I do the same thing with my children. I started this tradtion when they were very young. I was an elementary school teacher before becoming a mother. I have a great love for chidren's literature so I have a very large collection of books. On December 1st I always bring out all the holiday books and place them in special baskets (I acutally do this with all the seasonaly books). My kids then have these books to enjoy throughout the entire season (so the fall books come out in September, the spring books in March, the summer books in June, etc). I do this with the movies,too. I love doing it this way because the kids never tire from these books and movies. They look forward to them. In fact just last night on the way home from American Girl's club my Payton said to me, "Mom I am getting so excited to get the Chirstmas books out!" We had been talking about Thanksgiving and decorating the tree and then she made this comment. I love how my children associate the holiday books with decorating!

Enjoy your day!

SMiles,
Amy

Blessing #7: TRAVEL!

I love to travel! Stan and I recently returned from an amazing Mediterranean Cruise...thanks to my Close To My Heart job! I earned this cruise and it was AMAZING! Stan and I actually flew to Paris 4 days prior to the cruise setting sail in Barcelona. I fell in love with the Eiffel Tower and Italy the moment my feet hit touched the soil. What beautiful buildings and landscape, delicious foods & wine and fun activities we experienced while touring Europe. I was by no means ready to come back home and have high hopes of visiting again some day!

SMiles,

Amy