the back door

i have struggled to put together thoughts on 2008. for me it was a year of extremes...extreme emotions and extreme changes. i've learned so many lessons and have so many more to learn. i have failed at many things and seen success in others. but as i reflect, i can honestly say 2008 was good. i thought i'd put together a few lists for 2008... favorite new finds: facebook, mapmyrun, freedom, sparkpeople, achievement favorite books: the shack, blue like jazz, velvet elvis, kathy herman series favorite blessings: friendships: new and old, health, ministry opportunities, game nights favorite times: westward ho vacation, working beside my hubby, mondays at starbucks, couch time, celebrating 10 years of marriage, the sieber reunion with my cousins, crossing the finish line at my first 5k favorite places: tetons, gilette wyoming, starbucks, holiday world, new harmony favorite things learned: God will not disappoint, God is faithful, how to be simple, how to love deeper...

this is us with my grandparents. aren't they cute? they are 92 and 90....definitely lived a good long happy life. we gather with them and my mom's extended family on christmas eve each year. this has always been a favorite time of mine and i have so many memories of those nights in their basement. we had a pool tournament that became known as the porter cup, complete with trophies each year. we always had mashed potatoes and noodles. we always had stockings. we always stayed late and laughed lots. 8 years ago, they downsized and moved into senior apartments. christmas eve is now held at my sisters in the same town. it is still nice and still fun. we don't do gifts anymore, just dinner, games, and memories shared. not all of us are there anymore. cousins are scattered across the country and are always missed. this year, i noticed that my grandparents were aging. this is hard for me, as my other grandma was just always sick. on our way, i told hubby i was st...

oh - it was a jolly old time on christmas morning....i was tired, but the kids were wired! mapboy was up at 6:30. i managed to keep him quiet until 7:00 when princess woke up! mapboy is a bird lover...so this internet linked book was a huge hit. i also made each of the kids new flannel pillowcases. mapboy's is the green thing in the picture, on top of the green wrapping paper. princess got a pink princess one:) and the gift that santa would surely bring - MIA! i got to tell you that santa and i had several discussions about why she didn't need this doll this year, but when i saw the face - santa was so right about this one! now next year will be a different story!

so it is quite a cold day here on the homefront....quite cold! but i braved the wind and ice and headed out to pick up movies for the family. i could only find mapboy's 2 requests, but the hubby and princess still seemed quite pleased. so the plan was to have some popcorn and watch christmas movies. i got the popcorn started - which by the way we are making it the old fashioned way these days and all enjoy it so much more. plus i can pop my large kettle and then have plenty for the kids to snack on for several days! so anyways...mapboy got the movie all set up and i finished the popcorn. hubby poured drinks and cut up some summer sausage for himself. we were all prepped to watch santa claus is coming to town. i brought the popcorn out and noticed mapboy had his bible open and was searching through it. he was on the hunt for the story with the shepherds and couldn't find it in matthew. so i sent him to luke 2. as princess and i dug into the popcorn he told us to stop e...

we did our annual visit with santa several weeks ago...on their wish list: mapboy: basketball princess: american girl doll, mia on their letters to santa: mapboy: batteries princess: batteries i sure hope they aren't disappointed!!!!

so yesterday was supposed to be party day at school....but we woke up to an ice storm and 2 hour delay....then cancelled! after about a half hour of mapboy's tears and complaints, he did decide to make the best of our day home together..... so i made chocolate dipped pretzel rods and they each ate a few.... t hen we painted some christmas crafts that we are giving as presents...mapboy had a great time mixing colors to find just the right shade... and princess worked in great detail and enthusiasm for her creations... as our day drew to a close we all headed to church for about an hour worth of work, ate dinner out, and then on to wal-mart....wal-mart on friday night was INSANE!!!!!!!! but we needed to finish out some gift giving to a local charity and have then have the kids pick out gifts for each other... it was absolutely beautiful outside - ice coated everything, and i mean everything.....but i love the glisten of it and am thankful we didn't lose our power! hubby - we...

so i worked so hard at training my kids to sleep as babies. i could basically just put them in bed and say good night. several nights i would sing one song to them just because i liked too. mapboy has this special song i have sung every night. and princess likes to pick different songs a lot. so it had always been - a song a quick prayer and good night... somewhere along the road things has spiraled out of control. as a way of trying to instill some cuddle time i've tried to read with the kids before bed. i miss that from their early years. now they both prefer to just read on their own. princess brought a library book home that was the night before christmas. wanting to be the good momma, after picking up and having a snack we sat on the couch to read together....but oh no, princess was wriggling all around, mapboy was flinging a pillow around and squaking....i just couldn't take it. so i gave them a long lecture about how they need to show respect when someone is r...