New year off to a great start!

To start with, the biggest news of present is a belated Christmas present from Billy! A complete and total surprise to me, Billy drove home a new(used) 2004 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer edition - and it's OURS!
Our current 2001 Ford Windstar minivan was just not cutting it and on its last legs so we had been discussing other vehicle possibilites but Billy kept saying we'd wait until next year.
Then SURPRISE! He'd been trying to plan it all along and finally the perfect vehicle came along.

It has all the extras, including a DVD player for the boys (which they LOVE already!). And a back-up sensor for ME. haha
Alex came up to Billy yesterday, gave him a big hug and said "thanks for the new car Dad!". Everyone is very happy with it!

Per request, here are photos of the newest "addition":

Other noteworthy news includes baby Billy's newest milestone....standing! He gets SO excited when he can stand there without holding on to anything. I put together a little slideshow of one of his standing sessions. haha
In addition, what a personality he has! He's been entertaining us daily with new faces and silly little things he does. Here's is his newest funny face:

That's about it for now!

I promise to have more updates soon and many more pictures!

Until next time.......

~Bethany

Walking in a winter wonderland - UPDATE

It ended up snowing 5" when all was said and done. The boys are in snow heaven!

The first thing they did Friday after school was jump in the snow and have a snowball fight while Billy smoothed down the big hill in our driveway to perfect sledding-consistency.

Friday evening, the guys had night sledding (how do they SEE where they are going?!) and I attempted to get some pictures to put on this blog, however the combo of the dark and fast movement proved too much for my hi-tech camera even. It was trying to focus on objects that were gone before it was ready. I gave up after much frustration.

Then this morning, Saturday morning, it was a beautiful sunny day and Billy and the boys decided to build a snow fort with all of our new snow. PHOTO OP TIME!

I got several great snapshots of the boys posing proudly on their snow fort. Unfortunately baby Billy wasn't involved, but I don't think he would have liked it anyway. He hates his snowsuit because he can't crawl, stand or even sit in it (reminds me of the little boy on the Christmas Story movie!) so he focuses on his anger with the snowsuit rather then enjoying the snow. Oh well, maybe next year!

Enjoy the photos! (look at how much of a clear and beautiful day it was! The mountains look gorgeous in the background) You'll notice the last two photos the boys thought it would be funny to throw snowballs at ME while I took their picture!

Walking in a winter wonderland...

Snow snow everywhere!

And just in time for the boys to go back to school. That's the way it always seems to work though doesn't it? Just when the snow finally comes for them to enjoy...they have to be in school 5 days a week.

Alex and Brayden started back to school after "winter break" this week, and Owen started his first day back to preschool this Friday.

They were all very excited to go back, but I think a little sad that they are missing all this snow.

Today's snowfall brought another 4"! So I treated Owen and Brayden and brought them to the bus stop in the sled today. Yeah it was fun for them, but a LOT of work for me! One baby attached to my hip, and pulling two more behind me on a sled. Phew!

Thankfully it's Friday at least, and the boys can enjoy the snow when they get home from school.

Lady, as well, LOVES the snow. She chases snowflakes, eats the snow, and digs in it. One good thing about it, the snow sure wears her out and she's ready for a long nap after each potty break outside!

Since I don't have any new pictures taken of the boys in the snow yet, here are some of Lady playing in the snow - enjoy!

My family intro

Hello friends and family! I hope you enjoy this blog. Often I'm asked in conversation what is new in our household, or what has been going on - and I usually give the same answer "oh not much! just working and taking care of kids". haha When actually our days are usually quite busy and sometimes exciting, although sometimes they really are boring and not much is going on.

I thought I'd create a blog to keep friends and family updated on our life with daily (uhh I'm not THAT ambitious!) or weekly (or maybe sometimes monthly) updates.

For those that are not familiar with me and my family, I'll give a quick rundown on the need-to-know facts....

Dad - Name: Billy / Age: 3o-ish / Hobbies: basketball card collecting, video games / Tidbits: Works as a personal caregiver, and is finishing up night classes in a power management program.

Mom - Name: Bethany / Age: 20-something / Hobbies: Graphic design (amateur), "photography" (very amateur), message boards / Tidbits: Stay at home mom now and loving it!












Children:

Name: Alexander / Age: 8, almost 9 / Hobbies: Video games, reading, lizards and Pokemon / Tidbits: Avid reader and would be a video game addict if we let him! Also loves his geckos and researching various topics on the computer. Is in third grade!

Name: Brayden / Age: 5 almost 6 / Hobbies: Drawing or coloring, music, video games / Tidbits: My little energizer bunny, yet most creative of all so far. Is happiest when doing crafts! Is in kindergarten.

Name: Owen / Age: 3.5 / Hobbies: playing with toys and his brothers! / Tidbits: Loves to be our little joker and make people laugh. He lives up to his birth date, April 1st. Is in preschool!

Name: Billy Jr / Age: 10 months / Hobbies: Chasing the cats or puppy, making messes, chewing on little treasures found in various places and drooling. / Tidbits: Is now crawling, and crawling everywhere! Also has started to pull up to a stand on furniture, toys, or mom and dad. Loves his brothers!




Honorary family member:
Name: Lady / Age: 2.5 months / Hobbies: Chasing the cats, making messes, chewing on little treasures found in various places and drooling. / Tidbits: We got her the week before Christmas and have been enjoying her ever since. She already has a permanent place on the couch and is learning quickly and growing even faster.

So that's us in a nutshell! Look for more updates to come!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2008...

I always have mixed feelings on the stroke of midnight, the first few minutes of a brand new year. Excitement, wonder, curiosity and worry for the 12 months that lay ahead.
Will it be a good year? Will it be a GREAT year? Or will it be a hard year?

I like to focus on the positive. And it's going to be a GREAT year. I believe that an outlook greatly affects the outcome and so a great outlook begets great outcomes. Or so I say.

The year is starting off bright and positive already, with promises of financial stability, exciting home remodel plans, and hopefully more surprises to come.

Looking back at 2007, I remember many happy moments, some GREAT moments, and some sad moments however for the most part 2007 was a great year.
We welcomed a new baby in February! Towards the end of the year there was much confusion and uncertainty of future plans, but then we had some great news that changed everything.

Each year end brings new life lessons, experiences and changes. Some good and some bad. However we always come through it in the end, thus the new title in my blog: "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all".

May your new year be a GREAT one.