Happy New Year!!! Catching Up & My Word of the Year

 Happy New Year!! 

I know, I know I am a little late to this party but I haven't logged on my blog in a while.

The Christmas season is always very complicated for us. Since my husband and I both brought sons to the relationship we obviously have to share them with their other parents during Christmas. With all the hustle and bustle I barely got to take any pictures. 

We did manage to capture one of our whole family ... {I really wish Little Miss was looking but oh well}

 And we did manage to capture Maysie  sitting by the Christmas tree ... well kind of.

By the time New Years came around we just wanted to hang out. My cousin gave us this cute cut outs to mess around with while I took pictures. 

Maysie just wanted to eat them.

The boys had a blast!. They thought the bow was the best cut out we had. They actually got into a fight over it. {I am just going to assume it was because they were tired}

Jacob loved the bow and glasses .... while 

Christian enjoyed rocking the mustache!

We even got Dan to take a picture! {The boys laughed forever because of this picture}

So needless to say,  We Survived the Holidays!

Any who ...

I have noticed that lots of people are choosing a word for the year. At first, I thought ... naw ... but the more and more I thought about it the more I did discover I do have a word for the year. 

Intentional

This is my word. 

intentional means deliberate, done on purpose, not by accident

Bingo 

To be honest, when it comes to spending time with the kids we end up watching a movie together.

I feel like most of the time we just end up doing something. 

I don't intentionally spend time with them.

I always have something "better" to do.

Watch my favorite show on tv.

Clean the house.

Do a load of laundry.

Vacuum.

Pick up toys.

They spend a lot of time waiting for me to get everything done. 

Not fair ...  it is not fair to them.

They are only little once.

Little Man is going to only want to spend time with me for just a little while longer until he is going to have better things to do ... like play with his friends. 

I am going to miss these days.

So I need to act now. 

I need to get my intentional act together. 

I wasn't going to share my word at first but I want to be held accountable. 

Ask me how being intentional is going.

Please!

I love being a Mom.

Also, I need to be more intentional with my husband.

It is sad but true to admit that the last time we had a date was our 1 year anniversary in April. 

We barely spend quality time together ... without the kids.

During the week, we are tired. 

We don't take the time.

We don't try and connect with one another. 

I want to!

Lastly, I want to be intentional with my time. 

I don't want to sit down to watch one program on tv and then spend the entire day watching stupid things.

I don't want to click from one "reality" show to the next. 

Do you have a word?

Share it with me!

Hello Monday! {Lake Geneva, WI}

Hello Monday! Wow ... has it been a long time since I did one of these! Geez. You would think that I haven't done anything fun this whole summer or stopped to look at the beauty around me. In fact, we have done plenty of fun things and I have stopped to look around at the beauty God surrounds me with every day.

We took a mail boat tour in Lake Geneva, WI a few weeks back. We enjoyed the tour (even though the boys thought it was about 45 minutes too long).

Little Man loved being right next to the window.

Little Miss loved her new sling but only napped for about 30 minutes.

I felt inspired by the beauty of the homes we visited and loved the very patriotic decks that many residents had.

I loved spending time with me and the kids. The all did so well.

We even were lucky enough to spend time at the beach. Little Miss loved the sand and water. Well mostly the sand because we couldn't stop her from eating it most of the time.

My Little Bonus (stepson) thought it was hilarious to balance his head on the mound of sand. I guess this is what you get when you make kids stay on a boat for 2 1/2 hours discussing the history of Lake Geneva.

Little Miss loved receiving tons of attention from her brothers. I guess carrying her in the sand/water is better than carrying her around in the living room.

Little Man is getting more handsome by the minute. I love spending time with him.

So hello Monday! I love the fresh start to my week.