Nine Years and what do ya get???

....another year older and deeper in debt. Ha! That too, but we get to get awayyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greg and I are leaving this weekend to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. Three nights with no kids. That also means three mornings with no kids. YIPPEE!!!! I will be sleeping in. No interruptions. Ahhh.... I know, it's sad isn't it? That not having kids and sleeping is what I am most excited about. Sex? Oh yeah, that too. But sleep.....#1 on the agenda (ok, maybe #2 or #3).

Having two small kids AND a good marriage require lots and lots of work. I probably don't need to tell you that, especially if you are married and have small kids. Marriage with kids is messy....and loud. Don't forget loud.

It's not perfect, and sometimes it isn't pretty, but at the end of the day, we are one. And we like each other, too. That is HUGE. Cause not all married people like each other. How frustrating would it be to be in a marriage where you didn't like the person you married? Happens all the time.Then they wait 20 years and decide to come to therapy to work on it. Oops. Most of the time it's too late by then.

Anyway, enough depressing news about the state of marriages these days. I am super excited. I am actually going to take a break from technology during this trip. I haven't even told Greg yet. Caregivers of our children will need to text him instead of me cause I won't be carrying my phone around all day. I am not going to say I won't be on facebook at all, but I am certainly not going to be checking it every 5 minutes on my phone. I am going to try and check it once a day, max. I'll let you know how that goes......

What do you do to invest in your marriage? Not everyone has access to family as babysitters and caregivers. Not everyone has the money to get away. But it doesn't mean you can't invest in your marriage. If you want to here me lecture  enlighten you more on this subject, go to last years post regarding our 8th anniversary trip. LOL. Seriously, I would be writing the same thing, so go HERE instead.


So see you on the other side.....hopefully I won't be going through facebook withdrawals!!!! :)

Update on 20 Things....

Hey Ladies and Gents!

This is the blog where the 20 Things a Mother Should Tell Her Son came from. She left a comment on the original post on my blog but I wanted to repost it again going straight to her blog. It was awesome!



To see the original writer click RIGHT HERE!!!!

Have a great rest of the night!

Four Observations I Made While Having Lunch With My Kid Yesterday

1. My kid loves feeling special.

Obviously, that is an understatement. And of course I know he likes feeling special, it's just with Carter, he doesn't let us know it very much. Yesterday, me being at lunch with him, he was obviously happy. His guard was completely down. His eyes were sparkly. And I was moved. Now, I have a very happy child. He is, for he most part, happy go lucky. But Carter is also very intense, complicated and special. We often butt heads. We are a whole lot a like (hence the butting-heads part). Gosh, I love that kid so much. I am so proud of him. He has a beautiful spirit. A tender heart. And a very stubborn will. Yesterday, he was so happy, extra happy. And he was thrilled that I was there having lunch with him. I didn't realize it would mean so much to him or I would have done it earlier in the year. Without prompting, he simply looked at me while we were having lunch and said, "I am really glad you came to have lunch with me, mom. Thanks.". Oh my heart swelled and it has brought the tears right back into my eyes. My heart was broken, in a good way. I don't get to hear those words from Carter very much. He uses them sparingly. The first thing he said to me when he got up this morning was, "Mom, remember yesterday when you came to school and had lunch with me?" Big smile.

2. Kids school lunches, are, well, yucky!
I've been around a school cafeteria for years. I worked in a school in the 90's and from 2003-2006. So, I know what school lunches are made of. It's industrialized food. I have seen healthier choices here and there but overall, it's still very processed. Yesterday was the first school lunch I had been around since 2006. Not a lot has changed for the better. I am sorry. There is really no positive thing to say about school lunches, at least at the school my son goes to. Of course there were aspects that were healthy, the milk, the salad. But the processed beef.....nuggets???? I guess that is what they were?? Nope. I don't want to offend anyone who's kids eat their lunches at school, or perhaps you prepare and work in a school cafeteria, but as long as I can help it, my child will be bringing his lunch to school from home.


3. Six year olds like being risque.

LOL. That sounds worse than it is. But being around a table full of Kindergartners I see very similar things that I see in my own 6 year old. They like saying things they think *might* be nasty, inappropriate, or bad. And the funny thing is, their version of bad is usually very PG. Like yesterday, there was a trio of boys across from me and my son and the conversation became, well, risque. One of the boys started saying, "sexy", like it was a big, bad word. The other two boys laughed and covered their mouths. Of course, after getting a big response he kept saying it over and over. And I just had to chuckle. You know, "sexy", it's such a naughty word. LOL!

4. It really does take a village.
I know, I know. Some people may disagree with this but as much as my husband and I put into raising our children I am very thankful that there are others pouring into their lives also. Teachers, teachers assistants, Sunday school teachers, volunteers at church, coaches, and the list could go on and on. And the thing about the village is that a lot of them don't get paid enough for what they do or they don't get paid at all. And it is a shame. I really wish teachers and school systems had half the income of celebrity's or sports figures. Something is really messed up about the people we give big money too. And it is us who pays for the celebrities and sports figures. We go to the movies and the sporting events. We buy the products they sponsor and sell. We go to games, buy jerseys and team memorabilia. There is nothing wrong with that. I just wish we could figure out how to pay our education system the same way. Instead we have fundraisers and bake sales. I am thankful for the "village" that is helping to raise my boys into strong, educated and even godly men. Thanks. I wish I could do more. And I wish you got paid what you were worth.