Good Citizens

One thing I am most proud about my kids is seeing just what good people they are becoming.  Their teachers at school, friends at the squadron and church, and strangers in general are always commenting about what good kids I have.  And I know they are because I see it every day.  While we all have our moments (me included), I could not ask for a better set of kiddos.  They have truly spoiled me.

This year at Mikaela & Chance’s school, they have decided to award one child out of every class as “Citizen of the Month”.  They make a pretty big deal out of it…a special awards ceremony, certificate, medal, and their picture displayed for the school to see.  Both Chance & Mikaela have already received this award (and they’ve only been doing it for 2 months now!)  Yes, I’m bragging…it’s allowed.  It’s my blog.  :O)

Chance was named “Citizen of the Month” for the month of November.  The character trait the teacher was to look for was “Respect”. Ms. Pulley, the school counselor, listing the reasons his teacher chose him for this award.  She said that he always shows respect to his teachers and also his friends.

Getting his medal from Mrs. Johnson, the principal

My respectful good citizen!

Mikaela was named “Citizen of the Month” for the month of December.  The character trait the teacher was to look for was “Compassion”. Ms. Pulley explaining why Mikaela was chosen for this award.  Her teacher commented that Mikaela is always quick to help out her classmates, but always does so in a compassionate way.

Receiving her medal from Mrs. Johnson

My compassionate good citizen!

While I didn’t need the school to tell me what good kids I have, it was great for both Chance & Mikaela to see that people do notice the good they do every day.  Way to go, kiddos!!

Christmas Extravaganza

Wow.  I don’t even know where to begin.  Our Christmas started off in Virginia with our squadron kids’ Christmas party.  The kids had a blast making crafts, playing games, face painting, and of course, seeing Santa!

   

We were able to spend Christmas in Missouri this year, but decided to have our own little family celebration at home before heading that way.My 3 Christmas Presents

  A new bike! (One of the reasons we did this in VA and not MO)

Showing us some of her gymnastics skills on her new balance beam

As I mentioned before, we were able to spend Christmas this year in Missouri.  It was so great to get to celebrate our Savior’s birth with the people we love most!

12 out of the 13 Crawford grandkids (Bailey Sue was unfortunately sick that day)

Matt and I with my four amazing sisters and three fantastic brothers.  They’re in-laws by marriage, but truly brothers by heart.  (It’s impossible to get everyone looking in one direction when you have 5 people taking pictures at the same time.  It’s like the paparazzi, really.)

Trying to get a picture with Mom & Dad…I have no idea what possessed Carrie and Cammie to pose like this.  I think the hysteria of the day was setting in.  lol

It was a great day celebrating with my side of the family.  Here’s just a taste of our day…

The next day was Christmas morning.  Luckily Santa knew just where to find us! 

Our Christmas celebration continued with Matt’s side of the family.  We did take family photos, but a professional photographer came in and did it and sadly, I have none of those.  I do have some other pics from the day though.

Listening to Aunt Liz play the piano

Seeing if Daddy can hammer out some tunes

 

 

The rest of our trip to Missouri was just spent hanging out with family that we don’t get to see nearly enough.  It was a great trip filled with times that will be cherished forever.

11 Years and Counting

I would be remiss to not mention that Matt and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary in December.  I thank God every day for bringing this man into my life.  And I have no doubt that it was all God’s doing.  With his dad being in the Air Force, they could have been sent anywhere in this world, but God knew where Matt needed to be, so Philip was sent to Whiteman AFB in Missouri.  And out of all the places his parents had to choose from, they decided to buy a house in the Crest Ridge school district.  The rest is history.  And the future’s never looked better!

Trinity Turns Three!

My baby girl is three.  It’s so hard to remember a time without our precocious little lady, but yet at the same time it feels like it was just yesterday we were welcoming her into this world.  In these three short years she has transformed into a vibrant, happy, independent little girl.  She has a very sweet heart, but also a very sassy personality at times.  She absolutely keeps Matt and I on our toes.  She has been the perfect addition to our family that has made our family of five complete.

On the day of her actual birthday, we got up, had pancakes (her choice), took Mikaela & Chance to school, and then later headed to McDonalds for lunch.  We met a good friend of mine, Kristene (Mrs. Skiski, as Trinity calls her) there.  And she came bearing gifts.  As you can see, she might be spoiling my baby girl just a bit.   Trinity loves to play dress-up and we spent the rest of the day doing just that!

This year we decided to have a little birthday party with some of Trinity’s friends.  We have such wonderful friends here and would have loved to invite several families over, but decided to keep it small and simple so it wouldn’t be overwhelming.  I’m so glad we did.  It was the perfect amount of friends and fun!

The birthday girl with her Barbie cake

  Celebrating with our friends (Hailey Snyder, Addison Darling, and Wyatt & Natalie Rock)

   Happy birthday, my sweet Trinity!!

Overwhelmed and Feeling Guilty

Today is the day.  I’m getting this thing updated so I can stop fretting over it.  I do this every few months and can’t decide why I can’t get my butt in gear with this thing.  I use the excuse that I’m just so busy, but really that’s not true.  I am busy, but I have time to waste on facebook.  So no excuses.  I just get so behind that it seems overwhelming to get it done.  And then I think about just skipping everything, but then I feel guilty for leaving stuff out.  (Like Trin’s birthday that happened almost 2 months ago.)  So this is my last ditch effort.  I love the idea of a blog.  And absolutely LOVE looking at my friends’ blogs.  But I'm not even sure anyone really reads this thing!!  So if I can’t get it done properly, I’m gonna stop even trying.  Here goes.  Wish me luck.

(Disclaimer:  Today I’m getting it updated, but there will be lots of things I skip.  That’s what happens when you wait 6 months to do a blog update.  My hope is once I get Trinity’s birthday on here and a few other things, I’ll feel like it’s ready to go.  We’ll see.)