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2010: The Wrap Up

December 31, 2010 by Kelli

This year can only be described as blessed. As we move into 2011, I find myself feeling filled with anticipation. What will this year bring for our family? What blessings? What heartaches? What new challenges and opportunities? What joy and laughter? How will the kids grow and develop? How will Lee and I grow and develop?

In looking back on 2010, I have seen some definate areas in my own life that need improvement. I enter 2011 aware of those and prayerfully seeking the strength and discipline to implement the necessary changes. I look forward to a fresh start.

I also look forward to another 12 months of blogging and laughing with you all. Because what fun is life if you can’t laugh…a lot! So in order to look back at the fun this year has brought, I give you the official 2010 wrap up. It’s been a hilarious ride!

January

The Minivan Mom Runs: Remember when I decided to take up running again? And then I quit. But then I decided to take it up again? And then I quit. This fall, I took it up again and I was actually doing quite well. I was actually enjoying it. Then I got pneumonia and the cold that wouldn’t end and haven’t been able to run in a month. Good times…

Battoning Down the Hatches…or something like that: In which, like a modern day Ma Ingalls, I survive being snowed in alone with three kids. This was during our Little House on the Prairie kick.

Feburary

From his perspective aka A really bad idea: Lee decided we needed to change our life insurance policy, which meant a scary nurse lady came to our house and jabbed me with a needle. I was too afraid to consider not having the children watch. Sloan thought I was being put to sleep…

Sometimes sticking to your guns is hard: The one where I had to defend my position on vaccinations in a very uncomfortable manner. Ugh…

March

The Dance of the Little Bee: This post still makes me laugh. This is my reminder that my son, already a Ladie’s Man, is growing up far too fast for my taste.

My Stud Muffin with his Stud Muffie: The video of my hot husband and my youngest child and their mad basketball skillz. That’s right I said skillz!

April

The confidence to walk away: Sloan was bullied and my mother’s heart was broken into tiny pieces, rolled in broken glass, doused in alcohol, then lit on fire. He’s emerged a stronger kid, though, and for that I am beyond proud.

Tia Tales: The Four Year Old Edition: I got my magic camera this month, and thus my pictures got so much better. And Tia? Well, there’s always a story to tell about my crazy middle child.

Girl Meets Boy: I began a series entirely dedicated to the love story I share with my husband of a decade. It was so much fun walking down memory lane with him. You can read the entire story here.

May:

He had to be first: The month we experienced our first broken bone. We just finished paying that sucker off. Good times…

Disturbing: My son’s addiction to coloring on anything but paper freaked me out…a lot. I threw that doll away, incidentally.

June

Just call me MacGyver: In which I got creative with Kotex. Don’t ask. Just read…

Toy Story 3: Better Titled “Let’s Tear Mom’s Heart from Chest and Stomp on it.”: I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. Then I bawled my eyes out. For days.

July

Lemonade for Haiti: Sloan urged us to let him have a lemonade stand for Haiti, so we did. And in the process, my son once again taught me a valuable lesson in giving. Later that summer, he got to hand my uncle the envelope with $120 in it for Haiti relief. He’s quite a kid.

The Photo Session: We spent three weeks in Florida last summer. And I lived to tell the story. I almost didn’t though. Despite it being just a tad too much together time, we had fun. And I managed to get some great pictures of my kids – with a few outtakes.

August

The Wedding: My cousin Whitney got married and Sloan and Tia were her ring bearer and flowergirl. The cuteness was over the top.

Ice Cream Surprise: We surprised our kids with an after bed ice cream treat. It is a great memory and gave us a hilarious video.

This I Pray: I sent my son off to first grade. We had our first experience with a full school day and I grew increasingly aware of the need to bathe him in prayer while he was gone. It was good for me to re-read this post and be reminded of that again.

Phew. August was a fun blogging month. I had a hard time narrowing it down. That was the same month I admitted to not showering on a daily basis, I went to New Orleans to cover the Katrina memorial and I posted more than one random post filled with bizarre little tidbits.

September

This is the month Lee and I took the trip of a lifetime through Switzerland, Austria and Italy. We talk about this trip almost every day – sometimes multiple times a day. It was that amazing.

Hallstatt – A Day in the Life of a Postcard Town: I still can’t believe we made it to Hallstatt. It is truly the most beautiful place I have ever visited and was our favorite part of the trip.

Italy: Austria was by far our favorite country, but Italy wasn’t half bad either. I mean…we weren’t complaining or anything.

A Different Kind of Mountaintop: We came home after ten days ready to be with our kids. Rocking Landon to sleep the night we got home was a different kind of mountaintop experience. Read with Kleenex…

The Day we Spent $127 on Soap: We made a very stupid American mistake in Hallstatt. It’s funny now. A little…

October

He is Dad: The one where I made my dad cry. Then he made me cry back. All mushy, mushy…

The day I questioned everything I know to be true: I cleaned out the back of our minivan. In the process I doubted whether Minivans were actually Hot. My faith has been restored in the hotness of minivans, just as long as I never go back there again!

November

Cry me a Freakin’ River: We took down the crib and in doing so tore a piece of my heart out.

How to go from Reverent to Irreverent without even really trying…: Sloan brings us to church when he prays. Tia brings us back to reality.

December

The Brawl: I think this might be my favorite post of the year.

Celebrating Christmas: We started what I hope will become a great tradition for our family.

So there it is. My 2010 list of favorites. This is not an exhaustive list and these certainly aren’t all my best posts, but they represent my favorite moments of the year. I’ve tried to keep it light and fun, but there have been some heavy moments too. Thanks for sharing them with me.

As I thought about what my favorite photo was of the year, I had a really hard time narrowing it down. I think I got it down to two…okay that’s not true. I have 478 favorite photos from this past year. But I’m just going to share two:

Me, my man and an Austrian mountaintop. Just an awesome moment...

I love those faces. And I love this picture. It captures them perfectly...

Happy New Year to all of you!

Filed Under: Holidays, Kids, Lee, Life, Marriage, Ministry, New Years Tagged With: 2010 Wrap Up, blogging memories, New Year's 2010, The Best of 2010

My post-Christmas brain

December 29, 2010 by Kelli

I’m feeling the need for a bloggy break. I simply can’t think of anything to write about these days. Oh sure, there’s the fact that I’m going on 3 weeks of being sick and I’m pretty sure I’ve got the black lung, but that’s not a blog worthy topic. My house looks like Christmas vomited all over it and I simply don’t have the energy to do much about it, but I’m sure you all feel the same way.

Nope. I simply don’t have a decent blog post in me. I am enjoying this post-holiday break, laying low, coughing up my one remaining lung, playing games with the kids, watching the “plays” they put on each morning for me and watching FRIENDS at night with my equally sick hubby. We got the last four seasons for Christmas and have been laughing down memory lane every night before swigging Nyquil straight from the bottle and falling into bed. Uaully only to be woken by Landon one or four times throughout the night…

So all that to say, I’m sorry but it’s going to be slim pickings here this week. I need my holiday brain to regain a bit of function. I did write up a review this morning at STL Family Life for a Build-a-Bear giveaway. Hop on over and enter to win, if you please. Or just read about the hilarious experience I had in the store making my bear…

Okay, I need to go. There are wails coming from the basement and Tia just walked by, dragging one of the kitchen stools with her to the back of the house. That’s never a good sign.

So in the words of my seven year old who is too cool for school – “Peace out, Yo!”

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays Tagged With: after Christmas blah, holidays laziness, Random

The one with all the Christmas photos

December 27, 2010 by Kelli

It was an idyllic Christmas in the Stuart home, complete with a winter wonderland outside. We enjoyed a long, relaxing weekend and are now all refreshed, rejuvinated and…well, the kids are already tired of each other as evidenced by the fact that they’ve been sent to different rooms and it’s only 7:45.

Whatcha gonna do?

By order of the decree of Mom Bloggers United, I am contractually obligated to share a few Christmas photos with you. If I don’t, I could be voted off the island. We wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we? And so, without further ado, I give you Christmas 2010.

Christmas Eve

When did this child turn into a little girl?!

A rare moment

Santa came and left behind a new bike for Sloan (which he declared was tubular!), a CD player for Tia and a Jessie doll for Landon to complete his set of Toy Story toys. Santa ate most of the cookies (they left him a plate-full for cryin’ out loud) and he apparently tripped over the fireplace grate. But all in all, Santa did a magnificent job this year.

Landon's baseball helmut, which has hardly left his head since Christmas morning. He looks like the Jack in the Box kid running around here.

Landon's baseball helmet, which has hardly left his head since Christmas morning. He looks like the Jack in the Box kid running around here.

If any of you have school age boys and you don’t have Snap Circuits, I highly recommend them. They’re great! It teaches the kids about energy and electricity while letting them build and create. If the circuits are snapped together correctly they can make a fan blow, a whistle ring or a song play. It’s seriously hours of fun. I’m so glad we invested in these. (Hint: You can get them at Hobby Lobby. Print off their 40% off coupon online and you get them for much cheaper.)

Tia received her first American Girl doll, which is apparently a rite of passage for little girls these days. I’m just old enough to have missed the American Girl phase. When I was a kid it was Cabbage Patch dolls. I gotta say…these dolls are cooler. Tia got Kit and she came with purple glasses and a set of matching pajamas.

I wasn’t sure how my tomboy of a daughter would react. Would she like it? Would she cast it aside?

She loves this doll. It has brought out the girly girl inside her. I kind of love it.

All in all, it was a wonderful day for everyone. We didn’t go overboard on gifts, which means the kids only got things they really wanted. My parents bought us a rockin’ new video camera, which I’m thrilled about because we’ve had our old camera for ten years, which means in video camera years it was, like, 429. It wasn’t even worth it for me to drag it out most of the time.

But the piece de resistance, the creme de la creme, came about mid morning when my parents gave us the most creative gift I believe we’ve ever received.

Do you hear the angels singing?

When we were in Italy, Lee and I passed several Gelateria’s with these huge cans of Nutella in the window. We commented more than once how we wished we could bring one of those home. We never mentioned that to my mom, but somehow she managed to track down a shop in New Jersey that sold these 12 pound jars of heaven.

60,000 calories.

My New Years resolution to lose 10 pounds is going to be a little bit tricky…

While Christmas was easy and happy for us, our sister-in-law, Becke’, and her family had a traumatic and terrifying Christmas. Her younger brother, on his way to her parents house for Christmas morning, hit a patch of ice on a bridge and rolled several times. He ended up with a shattered femur, a broken wrist and some serious head injuries.

They almost lost him.

Thankfully, he will ultimately be okay, but he is in for some grueling months of rehab. This accident came as they near the third anniversary of Becke’s younger sister Kiley’s death. Needless to say, Christmas was not as idyllic for that precious family. Would you join me in praying for them? Particularly her brother Kirby.

Follow Becke’s blog for updates and specific prayer requests. And to be blessed. Becke has a heart for the Lord and a gift with words. You will be blessed by her blog.

There. I have officially fulfilled my Mom Bloggers United obligation. I can keep my member card for one more year. Phew. Merry after Christmas everyone!

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays Tagged With: Christmas 2010, family Christmas, giant jar of Nutella, Santa came to town

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2010 by Kelli

From our family to yours – Merry Christmas. What a joy it has been to share our 2010 with you. God Bless and I pray tomorrow is a blessed day for all of you!

And for my Russian and Ukrainian friends:

Zhelayu vam schalivovo Rozhdestvo! c Novim Godom!

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays Tagged With: Christmas, Family photo, Merry Christmas

Celebrating Christmas

December 19, 2010 by Kelli

For three or four years now I’ve determined that I would throw a Christmas party for the kids. I usually come up with the idea around December 24. Because I’m that awesome.

This year, I determined somewhere around August 25 that I would actually, indeed, for real, throw a Christmas party for the kids. I planned ahead…in my mind. In reality, I sent invitations out somewhere around December 12, a whole thirteen days before Christmas.

I am growing as an organizer. Try not to be jealous…

If I’m being honest (and I am) I would have to tell you that most of the invitations were sent via email. The rest were hand delivered. No stamps. I don’t believe in them.

So with all of my awesome forethought and planning, I wasn’t entirely sure we would have a large turnout. But, to my surprise, we did! And despite the fact that I’ve had a severe bronchial infection (most likely pneumonia – you know…no biggie) I managed to put together a decent enough gathering of children.

Read: M & M’s in a crystal bowl and cake. I mean nothing was handmade or anything. Let’s not get crazy, right?

I did print out the story of the Candy Cane and made a cake. With Betty Crocker’s help. It was the kids that made this party a delight. They played, they laughed, they ran and then? They sat and listened. And this is where the simplicity of the party was key. The totally planned simplicity…

They sat and listened as Papa Lee read of Christ’s birth from the book of Matthew. They raised their hands and answered questions about the manger, the Magi and the wise men. They discussed why we celebrate Christmas and how we can honor Jesus on His birthday.

Lee did a great job. He kept it short and sweet but packed in a beautiful lesson. I was proud of him, and of the kids who managed to sit still and quiet and intent the entire time.

Another reason I was proud? The kids went above and beyond in giving. We asked everyone to bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to charity and these families took that seriously. They purchased wonderful toys, which we will deliver this week. And as we talked of what Jesus did while He was living on this earth, we stressed to the kids how Jesus gave to others who were in need and how we can do the same.

The sweet hearted children that sat in my living room embraced giving and it brings tears to my eyes to think of their tender, moldable little hearts. What they gave will be used to bless others. And it took minimal effort on my part.

An email and a slice of cake. Who says we can’t change the world?

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Kids Tagged With: Christmas 2010, Christmas Party for Jesus, donating toys, giving, missions, Story of the Candy Cane

Compassion International: Christmas Giving

December 14, 2010 by Kelli

Last week, I attended a monthly Bible study led by Carol Prosser, the woman who runs my kids preschool and my second mom growing up. Her daughter, Lindsey and I were joined at the hip as teenagers so I spent as much time at Carol’s house as I did at my own. Lindsey and I had many adventures together (galavanting through Ukraine, crashing my car, crashing her car, pulling middle of the night pranks, all around acting spastic…) and she remains one of my dearest and sweetest friends.

Outside of my own mother and mother-in-law, I believe Carol has had the greatest impact on me as a young mom. In addition to pouring into my kids, she also pours into me (and all the other moms at the preschool). She offers encouragement and support and is a wealth of knowledge on how to raise and train children who love the Lord. I am truly grateful for her influence in my life.

At last week’s study, Carol encouraged us to find ways to serve others with our kids this holiday season. One nugget she placed in my heart was donating to a worthy cause with the kids. Several wonderful organization were listed as places where you could purchase a well for a needy family, or formula for hungry babies, or goats or chickens for families living in poverty. This got my wheels turning and I began to search for a way for us to donate as a family.

As I looked, I found myself wishing that Compassion International had a place where such donations could be made. Not that the other organization’s listed aren’t fantastic, but I have a heart for Compassion and what they are doing and wanted to be able to donate through them.

And lo and behold, one day later I received an email about Compassion’s Gift Guide offering people the chance to help release a child from poverty/sickness/despair in Jesus’ name. It was an immediate answer to an inner prayer and I was thrilled to jump on board.

We’re making this fun and a little bit unique. I don’t want to give all the details because it will spoil the surprise, but we will be purchasing a goat or two tonight. We’re going to let the kids choose exactly what they would like to purchase. I’ll post an update in a couple of weeks with all the fun details but I can tell you this – when we told the kids we were thinking about buying a goat for Christmas they were stoked. I believe Sloan’s exact words were “Oh my GOSH – that. is. rockin’.”

They were slightly disappointed when we told them the goat wasn’t for us.

But they loved the idea of helping out those who are in need. I’ve already told you about my sweet boy’s tender heart here and here. He truly has a heart for others and I love to see how it manifests itself in his giving. And I’m beginning to notice the seeds of compassion take root in Tia’s heart. In general she is less aware of others than her brother. I think it’s partly the nature of her personality, partly the result of being a second child and partly caused by being constantly overshadowed by her older brother.

But recently there has been a bit of tenderness that has seeped through her rough and tumble little heart. Sloan is so much like his dad – so willing to give, so conscious of others. Tia is more like me – she’s introspective and guarded and she has a tendency to guard her emotions. I love watching her process the plight and need of others. It’s very sweet to see the way she quietly lets all the information soak in. That is when it’s not floating in one ear and out the other, of course…

Gifts!

Giving is very easy to do. Simply click this link to send a gift to a family that needs your…well…compassion. There are several different gifts you can choose – from a mosquito net, which will protect a child from the spread of malaria, to a small business start up, to a water well and so on. Make it fun for everyone!

This is a new holiday tradition that we want to start with the kids each year. And I’m excited to see how it affects the way they view the holidays, especially as they grow older.

So what about you? What do you do during the holidays to make them fun and special and memorable?

Image credit

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Kids, Ministry Tagged With: Christmas giving, compassion international, Gifts of Compassion, giving, Holidays, Kids

Today

December 8, 2010 by Kelli

– Opening night for The Christmas Post was last night. It went really, really well. I’m not going to lie – I was a little concerned. As of Saturday we had never made it all the way through the play. There was so much work to be done, so many little details to be fine tuned that it seemed we might never get it all pulled together.

But God is good and we did it and it was a lot of fun! There are still tickets available for the rest of the week – please come if you can! We have spent countless hours over the last few weeks pulling this together and we would love to see a packed house every single night.

– Today, mercifully, we have the day off. And I am thankful. The muscles in the left side of my body have decided to have a party and have all bunched up so that turning from side to side, leaning for forward, picking anything up or moving in general has become a bit of a task. I need a day to unwind, go to bed early and be with my family.

– Speaking of my family, my husband rocks. Seriously. He’s doing this parenting thing alone every night this week. That’s a lot of work. But he’s been great about it and I couldn’t appreciate it more.

– While this musical is great fun, it’s also a sacrifice. I’m sacrificing my own time and, while I’m having fun, I’m also working really hard. My husband is serving me and through his service, I am able to serve others along with all of the other members of the cast. Service is hard – even when it’s fun. It requires that we step outside what’s comfortable and easy and we sacrifice – we sacrifice our time, our resources, our sleep and more.

– I’ll be honest. Service has never been really natural for me. I’m very selfish, especially with my time and my gifts. But I don’t think service is ever easy. It really goes against our human nature. I’m grateful for the chance to serve others this week. It’s hard, but it’s fun and it’s rewarding!

– Switching gears…

– Sometimes this blogging thing stresses me out. Particularly in weeks like this one. I’m wiped, both physically and emotionally. I don’t have a lot to offer my readers. Yet I feel pressure to offer something quippy and funny. I have to remind myself that I don’t have to do this. It’s okay to take some time off. The world as we know it won’t cease to revolve if I don’t write a post or two.

Will it?

– I’ve had this little issue with my shoulder for awhile now. Like eight years. Ever since I coached gymnastics a lifetime ago. All that overhand spotting caused all sorts of craziness to take root. And instead of having it looked at, I ignored it. Until a few weeks ago when I realized I was having a hard time pushing elevator buttons without wincing in pain. I headed in to see a physical therapist and since that time I’ve been wondering what took me so long to do something about my shoulder. I have severe tendonitis, perhaps a bit of bursitis and who knows what else.

At some point I may see an orthopedic to get an MRI, but for now I’m sticking with my PT because he rocks and he’s nice and he has a great southern accent that makes me happy.

– Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks. I’m not sure if you heard. It falls on the 25th this year. Someone I know is not ready…she hasn’t even finished her shopping. I’ll give you one guess as to who that is…

– Okay, this is the part of the post where I wrap it up.

Let’s all breathe a sigh of relief together.

I’ll be back next week with real content. 🙂

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Lee, Life Tagged With: Christmas, Motherhood, Random, service, The Christmas Post

Friday Links

December 3, 2010 by Kelli

– Shaun Groves wrote this post yesterday that made me laugh out loud. If you’re not reading Shaun you really should be. He’s a great writer – genuine and funny. Plus, who doesn’t love a guy in his thirties with a mohawk, right? Or is it a faux hawk? Anyway, read the post.

– Another blogger I love is C-Jane. Her perspective on faith and God are very different from my own, but I love reading her thoughts, learning more about what she believes and laughing at her posts. She’s an amazing writer and is very engaging. She’s a daily read for me. I particularly enjoyed this post. (A few Cliff’s Notes: She calls her husband Chup or Chupa, her son is the Chief and her daughter’s name is Ever Jane. This will help when you’re reading the post.)

– Nicole has an awesome advent plan for her boys. If I were crafty, I’d be all over this. But I’m not. So I just look on in envy…

– A few years ago I had the privilege to work alongside the awesome Dana Loesch. While doing this I got acquianted with her husband who is a wickedly talented musician and producer. Recently Chris and his team at Shock City Music filmed this music video to go along with a song that he co-wrote. Becky Kelly is the singer. The song is really beautiful as is the video. It’s a great reminder of what the season is about. Enjoy.

Happy Friday everyone. I’m headed into a week of insanity. Taking deep breaths today. 🙂

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays, Random Tagged With: Becky Kelly, Courtney Kendrick, Links, Nicole Diehl, Shaun Groves, Where's the Line to see Jesus?

Christmas/Advent Plans

November 30, 2010 by Kelli

With December just hours away, I find myself thinking more and more about how to make Christmas a special time for the kids. I should probably start thinking about this before November 30, but I’ve never been known to think or plan ahead so why start now, right?

I’ve instituted one major plan with the kids for this holiday season, but other than that I feel like December has snuck up on me. I mentioned the Christmas musical my church is putting on last week – this musical, while great fun and a great ministry, has taken a lot of my mental energy. Starting Saturday I will pretty much live at church until the following Sunday.

So here’s what I need from you, bloggy friends. I need ideas. Christmas tradition ideas. Advent ideas. I want to help the kids focus on the miracle of Christmas and not just the “stuff” of Christmas. We are going to do Elf on a Shelf for fun, but I also want to incorporate some kind of simple, daily exercise that helps them understand why we celebrate.

I need ideas that are simple and won’t take hours to plan ahead of time. Because I simply don’t have that in me. I’m not a crafty gal so if your idea involves extensive use of scissors, glue or glitter, I’ll have to pass. I’m sure it would be beautiful, but it just wouldn’t get done.

What do you all do this time of year to celebrate advent and to help your kids learn, see and experience the glory of the Christmas season. How do you mold their hearts to understand the magnitude of Christ’s birth? What do you do to make the season special and memorable and magical for your family?

I don’t just want to survive Christmas – I want to experience it. I’d love to hear what you all are doing to experience the season. Thanks for sharing!

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays

Sleeping in beds with boys

November 29, 2010 by Kelli

It was early 2002-ish and Lee and I, along with Lee’s brother Eric and his wife Becke’, attended a conference. It was held…somewhere. The details are really fuzzy. Wherever the conference was held required us to get a hotel room. Because we were young and poor, we decided to share a room and to secure it on Priceline.

It seemed like a really good idea when we got a hotel room just around the corner from the conference for only $50 a night. Score! Until…

We got to our room and found that it had only one bed. What to do? We couldn’t change the reservation without incurring much higher charges. So we did what any respectable couples would do in such a situation.

We all piled into bed together.

Eric slept on one end, then Becke’ next to him. I slept next to Becke’ and Lee laid on the other end. So as not to make the situation any more weird and awkward than it already was, we all slept fully clothed. Four people, fully clothed in one bed makes for a hot night’s sleep. Sometime during the night, Becke’ slipped out of bed, unbeknownst to the rest of us, and attempted to get more sleep on the floor. The rest of us were not aware of this transition.

When the early morning sunlight mercifully streamed into the room, I slowly opened my eyes. I looked to my left at Lee and smiled. He was on his back, straight as a board, arms stiff by his side, snoring. He looked wildly uncomfortable in his jeans. Then I looked to my right, expecting to find Becke’.

And there was Eric, sound a sleep. For a brief moment I was horrified as I laid all snuggled up to my brother in law. But after a few moments of wondering how on earth I ended up sandwiched between both Stuart men, I started to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. I sat up and looked down at Becke’ who was curled up on the floor. She looked up at me and we both laughed.

That’s the only time I have ever slept with my brother in law.

This weekend we went to Arkansas to be with Lee’s parents and brothers and friends. So much fun.

Except for the sleeping part. I’ve already told you my kids are systematically trying to ensure I never experience a full night’s sleep again. They were in full form this weekend. It all came to a head on Saturday night. Landon wet the bed (we had run out of pull ups and wouldn’t you know every night before Saturday he woke up dry) around 1:30. He bolted up and cried, “Mommy, I spilled! I need a towel!” I got him cleaned up and back down in time for Sloan to crawl in bed with us. I woke up around 3:30 to see Tia in bed with us as well. Around 4:00 Landon crawled into our bed. I didn’t have the heart to fight him on it so I put him on the end next to me.

And for the second time in my life I found myself sandwiched between two Stuart men boys. Sloan, being a fitful sleeper, kicked me in the kidneys all night long. Landon had his face right in mine and breathed on me for a solid two hours. It solidified my need to do a better job brushing his teeth at night.

Despite the lack of sleep, we had a great time eating, laughing, shopping and being together. It was, indeed, a Happy Thanksgiving.