blogsurfing is dangerous.

So, I sometimes will take a link from one of my friends' blogs to one of their friends' blogs to one of their friends' blogs, and so forth and so forth. This gets dangerous when I find a blog that is published by and overachiever/neurotic mom of 27 who makes all her meals from scratch, keeps an immaculate house, serves on the PTA, and sews doll clothes in her spare time. When do these women sleep?!
I feel inferior. I don't sew dresses for my girls (yet). I don't cook a full meal every night--sometimes I even use Hamburger helper (shame on me!). I don't keep up with the laundry very well. I have dirty dishes in my sink. I vaccinate my children and last night Lydia ate......[gasp] BEEF!!!!!

I keep having to remind myself that I am the best mom for my kids and that is why God gave them to ME. He wouldn't have given them to me if He didn't trust me.

I also keep telling myself that these other blog mom's are writing about their good days and good qualities. Maybe they are even exaggerating a bit so they feel better about themselves. Who knows....I just need to keep working on contentment and self-discipline.

Thanks Kiley

Here's another attempt at a link. This time I'm going to send you to my friend Kiley's website b/c she is the one who told me how to do this. Thanks, Kiley, for explaining it so well.

attempting a link

My friend, Rachel, posted a link to a giveaway on her blog. I checked it out and decided to try to link to that website so that you could all enjoy it as well. Here's the address:

http://gahangirls.blogspot.com

And if anyone can explain to me how to link through a word/phrase without having to show the full address, I would appreciate it.

thanks.

more about the kitchen.

James told me that there were a lot of people who would love my kitchen b/c it so big. (It would be if that stupid "island" wasn't there.) My response was that I would rather have a small kitchen than the disfunctional one that exists in my life.

i think pictures are necessary. soon, my friends, soon.

I hate my kitchen. How about you?

Things I like about my kitchen:



it's existence.




Things I hate about my kitchen:


-the corner sink that sprays water when I turn the faucet to the other side and faces cabinets that are too close to my face.
-the "island" in the middle that is big enough for a cook top stove only and makes it impossible to move around the kitchen.
-the microwave above the stove that i bump my head on daily while trying to make dinner b/c it's in a bad spot.
-the ugly countertops
-the wall oven that doesn't cook properly
-the cabinets with shelves that are too tall and end up wasting a TON of space.
-the floor. nice wood floor, but the previous owner/builder was too lazy to move the fridge to put finish on that area of the floor.
-the shelves without doors that just gather dust and clutter and become more wasted space.

I'm sure I could think of more if I took the time. I'm hoping for a new kitchen by the end of this year and I'm looking for ideas. I know how I want the basic layout to be, but I'm open to suggestions on the details. What is your favorite thing(s) about your kitchen? What detail can you not live without?

Christmas morning

We had a lot of fun on Christmas morning, but there were WAY too many things under the tree. I hope that I remember to do it differently next year. I would love to show some restraint in my gift-buying. One of our problems was that we started too early, planning on being done...then we just kept buying more. It's nice to be able to give my kids everything, but I'm coming close to spoiling them. Not only that, but my house is filling up with toys and I'm having a hard time keeping the toy area picked up. Oh, well. What's done is done, so here are some pictures of our Christmas morning.

Our Christmas tree. It is decorated in Green, White and Silver with NY Jets ornaments.

Lydia was awake first. She loved her toys.

Catie had fun unwrapping presents while wearing her NY Jets "santa" hat.

The aftermath.

Christmas Eve at Mima and Papa's

Catie and "En-En". That's what Catie calls Aunt Aaron.
Lydia got a little tied up in the chair.

The cousins...Catie, Maggie, Lydia, and Ross