Give Me Five: Top Tweets of 2013!

As we approach the end of 2013, I looked back through my Twitter feed to find my top 5 Favorite Tweets of the year. Which I guess also qualifies this post as a Twitter Tuesday! It's like a two for one!

No extra charge! :) 

So here they are my top Five Tweets of 2013! 

A good reminder when things aren't going your way: 

1. Eventually all things fall into place. Until then laugh at the confusion, live for the moments, and know everything happens for a reason. (Tweeted by: Epic Women)

2. Life is God's Novel. Let Him write it. Isaac Bashevis Singer (Gods Daughters)

And for a good laugh:

3. You can't make footprints on the sands of time by sitting on your butt . . . and who wants to make butt prints? (Oprah World) 

And you know I have to have something about Books in here:

4. The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Seuss (CES Inc)

And one for the New Year:

5. A new day. . . New Mercy & Grace, new possibilities and new opportunities. . . think I'm gonna dive right on in!! (Darlene Zschech)

So here's to 2014! May it be a year of Joy & Happiness for all of us!! And may we have lots of great things to Tweet about! :) 

From Our Family To Yours

Merry Christmas

May Your Days Be Merry And Bright!

Give Me Five: Favorite Christmas Ornaments

Weather it goes up before Thanksgiving, or you wait until Christmas Eve to put up your tree, every year as your decorations come out, they evoke Memories and feelings of nostalgia. In this Holiday addition of Give Me Five, I'm gonna show you some of my Favorite Ornaments that go on our Christmas Tree every year and why I look forward to seeing them year after year! 

1. Places

I got Santa on the Eiffel Tower many years ago 

to mark my Trip to Paris when I was 20! 

And after my boys and I went to New York City a few years ago 

I bought this ornament of the Empire State Building. 

We have great Memories (and Pictures) from the top! 

I love Starfish!

 I found this Starfish Ornament in San Diego on our Family Vacation!

I love Ornaments that remind you of places you've been,

and conger up Great Memories!

2. Play

My Favorite Doll as a Child was Raggedy Ann!

And one of my favorite Ornaments is of her!

I also have so many of my kids' favorite toys;

Super Heroes for Kyle, Thomas the Tank Engine for Zach, 

Barbies, or Teddy Bears for my girls, Etc.

I've tried to get them ornaments each year 

that represent whats going on in their lives! 

Weather that be toys they're into, Sports or Instruments they play!

Christmas should bring out the Child in all of us!

3. Personal

My Sister Debbie would send me an ornament every year

I have so many from her and I love them all!

Especially now since she is gone.

One of my most Favorite is this little heart ornament

It unlocks and opens into a scene of a family decorating their tree. 

She sent it to me in 1992, 

after I, with my husband and our 2 little boys 

had moved across the country!

We think of her and talk about her every year as we put up our tree! 

Since many of my ornaments came from her. 

My oldest son has even bought me a "Sister"ornament from her 

after she was gone. 

That's how much they mean to us. 

4. People

Besides missing my Sister at Christmas, 

I also miss my Parents.

This is an ornament my boys gave my Dad when they were little, 

it hung on his Tree every year till he passed away

then my Mom gave it to us so now it hangs on our tree every year!

This is my Mom with Santa!

My Parents loved Christmas, 

so it's a blessing to think of them as we put up our tree every year!

5. Precious 

I love our "Baby's First Christmas" Ornaments!

This is Kyle in his Santa Suit!

Zach at just over a Month old!

Any ornaments with pictures of the kids when they were little 

are Precious to me!

Twin little Booties for Erica and Lexi!

I Adore Trees decorated in a Theme or color, 

but I will always have to have a tree with all our Special Ornaments to look back on! 

So there are just some of my Favorite Christmas Tree Ornaments, I'd love to know about some of your favorites as well. It's Christmas, you can't be too sappy right?! :) 

What To Ask Santa For?

I saw this on Pinterest & Loved it! I pinned it to my Christmas Board. You've heard the saying "Keep It Simple!" Well this does just that. It's what we're using for our Christmas lists this year . . . .

Now when someone in the Family says "Oh, you are just gonna Love what I got you for Christmas!" The person they are talking to tries to get a hint of what the gift might be by asking which of the 4 categories it falls under. We usually say something like 3 out of the 4! ;) I figure if it comes in a box, or has a label on it, you could read it right?! If you can set it on top of your head, technically you could wear it! You know, anything to through that person off the trail! 

Here are what my 4 items would be:

1. Something I Want

I saw this Calvin Klein Bag Month ago & fell head over heels! Thankfully (and Thanks to Macy's Black Friday Sale) I was able to get it for 75% off! Score! I told my Husband that this is the only present I need this year! Oh, and don't worry, I will act totally surprised when I open it on Christmas morning! :0


2. Something I Need

The ONLY thing I Really Need right now is a New Job! But I don't think this is something Santa can leave in my Stocking, so I've had to go over his head! That's right, straight to the top! I'm asking God for this one! I'll let you know when it gets here!


3. Something to Wear

This one isn't hard at all for me, I pretty much Love all Clothes & Shoes, Scarves, Etc. Same with my girls! Like Mother, Like Daughters!! :)


4. Something to Read

Now my oldest Son, Kyle (the only non-reader in the Family) asked if he could change the Something to Read, to Something to Watch! He'd much rather get a DVD than a Book. I know, Crazy right?! I, unlike Kyle, Love Books. One I'm really looking forward to is The Invention Of Wings by: Sue Monk Kidd who also wrote The Secret Life Of Bees & Traveling With Pomegranates, both books I really liked! This new one of hers doesn't come out till January & Oprah has already selected it for her Book Club next Read! It sounds very intriguing! I can't wait to read it!

So, following this list of "Something I Want, Something I Need, Something to Wear, Something to Read" What 4 items would you ask Santa for this year?

Holiday Reading!

It's the most Wonderful Time of the Year! 

And as you know one of my Favorite things to do all year, is to Read! 

And this time of year, I love to read Seasonal Books!

Right now I'm reading Merry Ex-Mas by: Sheila Roberts, 

(one of my Favorite Authors)

It's really good so far!

And Sheila is the Queen of Christmas Books!

She continues to come out with new ones just about every year!

And I've read one or two of them every Christmas for the past few years!
I told you I Love to read Seasonal Books! :) 

She doesn't only write Christmas Themed Books, 

and I've read others of hers as well.
But that's a different Blog Post!
This one is about Christmas Books! :) 

My Favorite is On Strike For Christmas

If you haven't read it, pick it up 

make it an early Christmas Present for yourself!

And Bonus: Lifetime made a Movie out of the Book!
It's pretty good as well.
(Though of course, not as good as the Book!) :)
I have my DVR set to record it this week! 

And next up on my To Read List: Winter Garden

by: Kristin Hannah

I've heard good things about this one,

and have read others by her as well.

So what Books are you opening up this Holiday Season? 

Here's hoping you find Magic inside! 

Black Friday: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Okay, so there are 2 days a year that I am a Morning Person! (And only those 2 days, the rest of the year I'm a certified Night Owl!) They are Christmas Day & Black Friday! Every year I take the day after Thanksgiving off of work to shop. When my kids were little I stood in line in places like Toys Are Us & The Disney Store! And now that they are older, I don't have to hunt for toys anymore, but I still go out just out of tradition. I've always thought it was fun! I love to shop! I love crowds! So for me It's a win, win! Sometimes I go alone, sometimes I would talk a Friend into getting up early & going with me! Sometimes after my Husband would wake up (after I'd been up shopping for hours) he would meet me at Starbucks!) The past few years my oldest son, Kyle goes with me, yes I raised him right! A Man that loves to shop! ;)

In years past I would get up bright & early (or more like; dark & early) but this year, with stores opening on Thanksgiving, after we had eaten, my Niece wanted to go to Walmart, they had several things she wanted that was starting at 6pm. So I said I'd go with her, my daughters wanted to go as well. So why not?! And let me just say, normally I go to Target. They have Black Friday down to a Science! You stand in line outside, (and in Arizona, that isn't bad. I've done it in Michigan too, which is more of a challenge due to unpredictable weather!) They let in shoppers, then hold the line for a bit, & let in more, etc. Once inside items are clearly marked. They've even come through the line & handed out maps letting you know where Door Buster Items are going to be. They have a path clearly marked to stand in line to check out, and as you get to the front of the line, there is an employee up on a raised platform, that can see all the registers & directs you as to which one to go to! It all runs very smooth! Well, let's just say my experience at Walmart was not at all like this! I now know why I'm "Team Target", instead of "Team Walmart!" It was a Free For All! No line, just wall to wall people everywhere. Everything we went there to get was gone & we got there at 6, when the sale was supposed to start. We made our way through the store & finally pushed out into the back isle & could not believe the people there, I raised my phone in the air & had to take a picture . . .

Now everyone was nice enough & would even help other people find items they were looking for, but I could see how things could go bad, so many people crammed in there & with so few items of what was advertised. I saw on Twitter, last night that the police were called out to a Walmart in Pennsylvania, or somewhere, due to customer violence. Yikes. I don't want to be, or have my kids anywhere near that! So this is probably the first & last time I do Black Friday at Walmart! It's not worth it! So we made it out of there finally & latter that night after heading back home (we were on the other side of town at my Brothers house) Kyle & I went to Macy's at Midnight. And can I just say, a complete opposite experience! We walked in & I said "Now this is how shopping is supposed to be! Not what we saw earlier!" All the Door Busters were in the isles, all sales were clearly labeled! We found everything we'd gone there to get & more! We got some really great deals! My Husband even bought me a couple gifts & he wasn't even there! ;) Then we stopped by Target, all the crowds were gone, we picked up a couple of DVD's & walked right up to the Register! Went home & went to bed! I got up on Friday & leisurely looked through the Ads again & hit a couple more stores! So nice!

 

Best deal of the day: I got free Tote Bags (no purchase Necessary, though we did make a purchase!) at Down East Basics! It was one per Voucher that had come in the mail, but Thankfully our Neighbor gave us her Voucher, (Thank you Lori!) because when you have Twins, you have to have two of everything! :) So that was our Black Friday Adventures this year! Do you shop the Black Friday Sales? I probably always will! Just because I think it's so fun! But I will probably steer clear of Walmart from now on! :)

Thankful Thursday: Marriage!

 Well this is the last Thankful Thursday of the Month!

That is sad, but I hope you let it serve as a reminder

that There is Always something to be Thankful for! 

Today & Everyday!

Today I am Thankful for Marriage!

My Husband and I have been Married now for just over 26 years! 

I cant imagine doing Life without him!

He makes everything in life better!

We both had great examples of what a Good Marriage Looks like,

Both sets of our parents were Married for 50 plus years,

until death did they part.

(This was us at our Wedding,

with My Parents & Johns Parents Oct. 17th, 1987)

Today is Thanksgiving,

and as I sit around the Thanksgiving table with our Families,

I am Thankful for my Parents & and for my In-Laws

and the love they had for each other,

the Families that they started

and the traditions we all still carry on today. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Thursday: Parenthood!

One of the things I am most Thankful for is Parenthood!

And even though it is my Favorite show of all time,

and the Best Show On T.V.! 

I'm not talking about the television show.

(Though it really is a great show, if you're not watching it start now!

then you will be Thankful to me for recommending it!) :) 

No, I'm talking about Actual Parenthood! 

There is nothing in life that is Harder, more Difficult or Scary!

Yet there is nothing in life that is more Rewarding, Fulfilling or Fun!

Today is one of those fun times!

My girls & I will be spending the day together

hanging out in line for the Catching Fire Movie Premier!

Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games 

It's one of our Mother/Daughter things we do and I love it! 

Yes, Parenthood is an Adventure! 

But I wouldn't want to be on that Adventure with anyone else! 

22!!

 Can't believe My Baby Boy turns 22 today! 

Here are some fun facts about him;

Zach Loves to Learn! 

Sometimes in the Summer, he'll get out a College Text Book

 to read just for fun! 

He's Adventurous & loves the outdoors! 

(Is studying to be a Wildlife Biologist)

But is more of a Homebody than anyone I've ever met! 

He's Introverted & Super Quiet till you get to know him,

Then you find out how Hilarious he really is! 

Happy 22nd Birthday Zach Man! 

I know this is gonna be an Awesome year for you! 

We love you & are Proud to call you our Son! 

Thankful Thursday: Music!

Music has always been a big part of our Family! I knew it would be from the day I married a Musician 26+ years ago & he sang to me at our Wedding!

All 4 of our children have grown up around Music! Listening to it, Watching Dad play it, Learning to play instruments themselves, Performing at Church, School & in the Community, Singing to it, Dancing to it . . .

Even though I am pretty much Musically Illiterate, I love Music! And with a Husband & 4 Children who are all Musically talented, I like to say "Everyone needs a Fan!" And that's my role in this Musical family! And I'm Really good at it! :)

Music adds so much to life! Just try watching a Movie with no Musical Score. My kids love & appreciate Music of all Genres! Yes, we raised them right; Loving the 80's! :) But you will find them listening to everything from Classical to Country, Reggae to Rap, Show Tunes to Pop, Sacred to Secular, Oldies to Hip Hop, Jazz to Rock! You never know what you might hear coming from one of our Cars or our House! And I love that about us!

On this Thankful Thursday, I am very Thankful for the role Music plays in all our Family and in our Lives! And my advice to you is "Let The Music Play On!"