... and we hung the stockings with care ...

Well guys, I've been away from this little old blog for 3 days. But you already knew that because you missed me so much you were keeping track, right?

Knew it.

Anyway, it's been an eventful three days around here, that's why I haven't blogged. I don't believe in forcing myself to write because then the words just don't flow and nobody wan't to read anyway. So when I need a little break, I take it. I took one these last three days.

Wednesday night there was a Butler basketball game at home. My sweet roommate, Ashley, let my dad & I sit in her family's front row seats for the game. He & I don't hang out very often and when we do we usually just go out to eat so the basketball game was a nice change and we had so much fun!

Take One

Take Two

We were sitting so close that one of the Butler players landed in my lap when he couldn't stop running on the court & jumped over the people sitting on the court to avoid injury. It was a pretty scary experience if I do say so myself. Plus, my jeans were all sweaty afterwards where he had landed on me. Sick. 

Thanksgiving was fabulous and I really did feel overwhelmingly blessed as cliche as it sounds. All of our family came to our house & my mom cooked a massive meal.

After my family left, I went over to visit my best friend, Megan, & her baby. It's so fun for me to see Megan, who I grew up with, be a momma. She's great at it. It was a good way to top off the day, being thankful for friends & family.

Yesterday was for workouts, naps and left-over eating. Oh, and my mom came home from an oil change at the car dealer ship with a brand new red Tahoe. It's gorgeous. We're naming her Ruby, maybe. 

Last night, we put up the Christmas decorations. Scratch that. I put up the Christmas decorations. We have 5 HUGE totes of Christmas decorations so it took my mom & I to get those down. She put the tree up too, but after that? She bounced. I kind of liked putting up everything myself though because I only put out about half of those five boxes to reduce clutter. Because clutter? Stresses me out. Big time.

Momma.

 My new ornament for this year.

Mom's new ornament ... she loves squirrels. Like makes everyone come look when there's one outside on the telephone line.

Another new one this year. Just a hint: all the ornaments I pick have lots of glitter on them. 

He's not new but what's not to love about that sweet snowman face?

Glitter!

Finite!

We read these cloth Christmas books a lot when I was little. Now they just sit under the tree until our kids come along and want to read them.

From underneath the tree.

I just love this.

I moved some things around but anyway, it looked like this at one point.

So here I sit, in a fully decorated house that isn't too cluttered and in which each Christmas decoration has its own spot. 

Each year, I think I get more sentimental. As if that's even possible. Just running past lit houses while the sun was going down last night made my heart so full and happy knowing, hoping, there were happy families inside. 

I can't wait for all the memories this Christmas season has to offer and I remain thankful for the memories I have this far.

For every single mama out there ...

I could go on and on and on about my mom today but I brag on her all the time & you guys know how I feel about her.

& more importantly, this day is about more than just my mom. It's about every single mom in the world.

I've been thinking about this for a while now. 

Almost every day, I read blogs from moms who are trying so hard to be the best mom they can be & they're doing an awesome job of it.

I read about moms who wake up early & go to bed late, who plan special birthday parties for their kids before they will even remember them because they love them that much, who spend a lot of time thinking about & planning meals for their kids because it helps them to be healthy.

I read about moms who kneel beside the bathtub every night even though it hurts their backs because bath time is fun.

 I read about moms who struggle with disciplining their kids because as much as it hurts, it's necessary.

& since I've been reading these blogs & really thinking about all of the awesome moms out there, I've decided that behind every good person, behind every responsible, contributing citizen is a really awesome mom.

So I want to say a huge Thank You to every single mom in the world.

Thank you for doing your best to teach your kids right & wrong.

Thank you for teaching them about what's important & what things they can let go.

 Thank you for teaching them how to have fun & put their best forward all the time.

Thank you for loving your kids, for letting them know that no matter what, you're there for them.

Thank you for the huge sacrifice that is raising kids.

You're making the world a better place one bath, one story time, one dinner & one sleepless night at a time.

Our Easter!

Drew's family loves huge dinners. They love getting everyone together & they love eating, so holidays are prime time at his house.

We went to church at 9:30 and then brunch at his house was at noon. 

Oh & we took probably one of the best pictures I've ever seen of us ...

And we colored with his little cousin Karson who is a total doll. His daddy is a semi truck driver so naturally he wanted me to draw him a truck. As you can see, I'm no Van Gogh, but I tried & I thought he did a great job on the wheels.

No, his name isn't Karson Blue. He wanted his name and then he wanted, "Truck name" so I asked him what the trucks name was & he said Blue. There you have it, Karson Blue.

Drew's other cousin Keegan, a much better artist than me, hung out with us too. The kid is a comedian, I'm tellin you! 

Coloring got really uncool really quick, so we went outside to play. Drew and Keegan played basketball while Karson dribbled around and I tried to keep him out of the street. 

Drew tried to help Karson play basketball, but he refused to take off those boots which made doing anything physical pretty difficult! 

Karson was pretty proud of this football helmet & he was pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Look at him. He's mine.

We had Easter at my house too at 4 which was a huge, wonderful meal of Ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, rolls, deviled eggs & more, but I was so tired by then, I forgot to take any pictures! Still, I love hanging out with my family & I love my momma's food. 

But most of all, I love Easter because without Easter, we would all be living in darkness. Thanks to Jesus dying on the cross and raising from the dead 3 days later, we all have the hope of living with him forever when our time on Earth is done. Because of Jesus conquering the devil, we can celebrate Easter forever with Him & for that, I'm eternally grateful! 

Kiss me!

I'm Irish!

Really, I am! My nana, a McDonell, was Irish & therefore I am & deserved to be kissed. Ha!

I love St. Patrick's Day! It's a super fun holiday that you don't have to buy anyone gifts or make a big meal for! As much as I love buying gifts and big meals, it's nice to have a holiday that isn't centered around it. 

This holiday is all about drinkin' and dancin' and having fun & I am in love with that fact.

My mom has a little sister for Big Brothers & Big Sisters (well, she used to be my little sister but when I went to college, momma adopted her), & we like to take her to things she's never been to before. A parade is one of those things. So we celebrated by going downtown Indianapolis to the St. Patrick's Day Parade & this isn't just any old parade anyway, it's a really big one. 

Drew also walked in the parade with his football team, so it was super fun to see him.

After the parade, we went to Champs to watch Butler beat Old Dominion!!!!, shopped a little & went home.

Such a fun day was had by all!

I tried to cut down on the pictures, I really did, but they're just all so great! 

 Of course Drew's the only one handing out candy to the kids. Love that boy.

 Seriously, look at him!! Sweetest boy ever.

 Little sister doesn't like to smile so I was trying to get her to when the lady snapped the picture. I think it turned out pretty cute anyway.

 He was my favorite.

 I asked the mom if I could photograph these guys. I've never wanted to steal babies more.

Hope your day was just as fun as ours!