The holidays are on their way!

  So, nap time is the only "me time" that I really get and that's only if all of my children decide to take one. Today is one of those rare occasions where Ryan actually fell asleep and Eva decided that sleeping is more important to her than eating, so I decided to post a blog, because it's been a while.
  I happen to love Fall. It's my favorite season of all! I don't know if it's the Pumpkin Spice latte's from Starbucks, the leaves changing color or the fact that I'm not looked down upon for wearing a long skirt during this time of year that does the trick, but whatever the reason is it is my absolute favorite time of year.
  Today, in honor of Fall I am thinking about the holidays. Probably because we are going to let the kids go pick out their Halloween costumes tonight...no we don't worship Satan, we just really enjoy candy....especially when it's free:-) After Halloween comes Thanksgiving and then Christmas is right around the corner. I really love the holidays, but I also don't put too much thought into them or more specifically where they originate from. I don't care if most of them were pagan holidays that's not why I celebrate them.
  For me Halloween is all about the candy!!! I remember going out with my dad and pushing myself to keep going until my pillowcase was almost full and too heavy to carry. That candy lasted almost the whole year! We were the trick-or-treating champs of Arnett Blvd. and it was all thanks to my dad shouting at us to let greed fill our hearts...LOL!...he really said that (jokingly of course, but we took him seriously). Then we'd go back to the house for pizza and pop and fill a huge bowl with candy for my dad, so he could keep it in his van and eat it on the road.
  Thanksgiving has always been my favorite! It always makes me feel the happiest. I love having a ton of family all gathered in the same house. There is never enough furniture and all the kids are so loud and obnoxious and at least five drinks get knocked over, but I adore it. I love all the smells: turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, pumpkin pie, coffee, burning candles. It smells like heaven! I also love all the noise: people laughing and talking, glasses clinking, silverware, kids playing, whatever's on the TV. It all comes together in one big hum and sounds like fun. I just love it!
  Christmas has always been more of a relaxing holiday for us. We have a huge breakfast and then do presents in the morning. By the afternoon half of us are napping and the other more adventurous half are heading out to go sledding. Then, we all gather around the table for dinner and finish the night off with a family game.
  The only thing the holidays really mean to me is time spent with family and showing my kids that being around your favorite people in the world is not worth giving up for anything.
 

Remember when...

    "Please let me go back. Please, please, pleassssseeee!!!!" This was my thought as I passed by my old apartment complex today, on the way home from apple picking with my three kids. Every time I am anywhere near the place I used to live a flood of nostalgia fills me and I wish that I could go back in time...just for a few moments. It was a simpler time. It was just me and my husband. We both worked full time jobs and only had to worry about ourselves. We could spend all of our free time together. We didn't have to schedule dates or try to find the time to focus on "us" and Saturdays meant that we could sleep in. Plus, I really loved that apartment. It was very clean and pretty spacious, or maybe it just seemed that way, because there was only two of us.
  Sometimes when life, here in my three bedroom house with my three kids, gets a little too chaotic for my taste I close my eyes and imagine myself back there, alone in my two bedroom apartment. I can remember spending hours getting ready, trying to make myself beautiful for Brad. I remember coming home after being out late at a friends house and being able to just fall into bed without getting a bunch of other people ready for bed first. I remember making dinner for two at nine o clock at night. I remember feeling high on love. Life was great!

  When I open my eyes again I see my family: Ryan, my funny boy, standing in front of me asking for the millionth time if I like when the police give me tickets. Mason, my momma's boy, saying "Mom" a thousand times and no matter how many times I respond with "What?" he never has anything to follow it up with. Eva, my beautiful princess, fussing to let me know she's hungry...again. And, Brad, my husband, a little older than before and a lot more tired, but just as handsome. I see my four favorite people in the world in our messy home and I realize that while times back then were much simpler, with fewer responsibilities, fears and heartbreaks, I can't honestly say that they were happier. When I open my eyes and look at my family I see my heart.