Best family...

We had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday we went to the beach and Bubba Gump's in John's Pass. It was a beautiful day. The girls had a lot of fun. Brianna kept calling Bubba Gumps "bubble gum", and was so excited about trying bubble gum for the first time. We kept reiterating, no, bubba gump...and she was so disappointed...but got a lollipop after dinner, so all was good ;).

Today, we, well Nelson, totally redid the front of our house. All of our plants had died, and we decided we wanted red mulch, and to make it look better. I'm so impressed with all he did out there. It's almost finished, and it looks SO much better. I did tons of laundry, and am trying to get the house in order for our guests this week :). Anna and Shawn get here Wednesday, and Alison will be here Thurs.! I'm so excited to see them, and excited to see Evan Baptised on Saturday.

The girls were playing in their playroom today, and Brianna asked me to leave. She said, "you can go now, we're fine by ourselves." They are 3 going on 15!!! Way too big. So so funny. They were pretending Mikayla was the mom, and Brianna was her daughter, and Mikayla said naptime, which Brianna didn't like, so she said I'm going to get my real mom...and came and got me. LOL.

The Cost of Children

The Cost of Children

This was posted on a message board I read...

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into: * $8,896.66 a year, * $741.38 a month, * $171.08 a week. * A mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.

You get to: * finger-paint, * carve pumpkins, * play hide-and-seek, * catch lightning bugs, * never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to: * keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, * watch Saturday morning cartoons, * go to Disney movies, and * wish on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: * retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, * taking the training wheels off a bike, * removing a splinter, * filling a wading pool, * coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the: * First step, * First word, * First bra, * First date, * First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!! It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!!!

So much going on!

I haven't posted in a couple weeks because we've been super busy. Our cousins were in town which was so fun. The girls wanted to emulate everything their 8 and 10 year old cousins did, it was really cute. When I was young and my cousin, Sabrina, would come spend some time with my Grandparents I wanted to have my hair like hers, and dress like her....and now my children are doing that with her children...crazy. We just celebrated Nelson's b-day...he turned 27. It reminded me of his 19th b-day (the first day he flirted with me ;) ). Now here we are with our children and we're going to celebrate 6 years of marriage in June.

The girls are amazing. So fun, and full of joy. They are needing their own space more and more. I have to separate them lately a lot just because they get on each other's nerves over silly things. I think it's just the age. Usually they are sweet with each other though :).

So much going on...

Nelson and I had a wonderful romantic getaway a couple weeks ago...we went horseback riding on the beach, went on a ghost tour, shopped in a cute downtown area, and enjoyed some us time :)












We have been so busy, our cousins are in town and we got to spend time with them at Disney. Luckily they will be here next weekend for more fun! The girls start dance this week and I'm ecstatic!!!




I am praying we are blessed with a healthy babe soon, and since more people are reading this blog I'm going to not share that aspect of our lives on this bloggety-blog. I don't know how long it will take, or what will happen...just please keep us in your prayers. Speaking of babes, the girls met my friend's baby today. It was so sweet. I think when we do have another one the biggest issue will be that they help too much ;).



Did I mention I was offered a job?!?!? UGH! I was so flattered...(the director at the girls' school said a position is opening up for next school year, and she would love to have me)...perfect hours, 1/2 of tuition...BUT, if we are able to have a babe..........I am going to be honest and tell her we are trying to add to our family and it's not the right timing, but to think of me in the future (hopefully). I told her I'd think about when she brought it up....so now I'm going to have to talk to her tomorrow since I have to pay their Feb. tuition (HELLO...how is it already February?!?!?)
Hopefully the job's available in 3 or so years ;).