Happy Valentine's Day!!

In honor of this day of love, I just wanted to say a little something about my hubby...I am so grateful to have him in my life. He definitely is my other half & is everything I am not. He has a calming effect on me that I can't even explain & has given me 2 wonderful kids. I am the stressed out one in the relationship, & he is so layed back which is something I defintely need in my life. He works so hard so that I can stay home with my beautiful kids & spend money (that one's for you, babe): ) Just wanted to say I love you & I am so happy that you are my valentine!!

I got this idea from Mindy's blog. I thought I would tag myself & a few others so we could all have a chance to talk about our husbands on Valentine's day!

Full name: Derek Ray Morris

How long have you been married: 8 years in July

How long did we date: 5 months & then we were engaged for 4 months

Who said I love you first: Derek

Who is taller: DEFINITELY Derek!!

Who sings better: Me (& if you've ever heard me sing that is not saying a whole lot b/c I'm pretty sure I'm tone deaf)

Who's smarter: Derek (hats off to him & to all of you for spending 8+ years in school)

Who does the laundry: Me & I'll be honest, I am not a big fan.

Who pays the bills: Derek but I do the budget (that way I get get more money than he does)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Derek, but I wish I did because it is closer to the bathroom & the kids still wake me up no matter what side of the bed I am on.

Who mows the lawn: Considering we've never had a lawn, that's a tough one, but I'm pretty sure Derek will be doing that once we actually put our yard in.

Who cooks dinner: Definitely me, but Derek makes a mean pancake!!

Who drives: Derek (as I mentioned before, I'm the stressed out one)

Who's more stubborn: Derek, although he would say it's me

Who kissed who first: Derek did on his birthday. It probably should've been me, but I was too shy to make the first move

Who asked who out first: Derek (if you call "hey, when are we gonna' go out?" an actual invitation)

Who proposed: Derek (he asked me on February 29, 2000. So we only get to truly celebrate our engagement every 4 years. I'm sure he planned it that way, one less anniversary to worry about)

Who has more siblings: We both have 4 siblings. He has 1 brother & 3 sisters & I have 1 sister & 3 brothers.

Who wears the pants on the family: Derek....the key is to make them think they do, but in all actuality we know it's us, right girls?!?

I tag: Melissa, Erin, Gretchen, Harmony, Stacie, Amy Elmore & Amy Stewart...have fun girls!!

Love you babe!! Thanks for always making me laugh & for being my knight in shining armor. The kids & I got trapped in a blizzard/snow/wind storm for 7 hours last night (2 hours in the car & 5 hours in a gas station) & Derek hiked a mile in the blizzard to come be with us & eventually get us home. You're the greatest!!!!!!

My Sweet Little Peyton

So, I walked in my room yesterday, & this is what I find. I'm pretty sure that this is about the funniest, cutest thing I've ever seen!! She goes to the bathroon all by herself now, which is a blessing & a curse. I love that she is so independent, but she always has to take her pants all the way off & then likes to walk aroung naked until I threaten to send her to time out!! I just couldn't resist taking a picture of her cute little bum. It's times like these that being a mom is so much fun. The next time I get frustrated & think why do I even try, I'll have to look at this picture to remind me of why I ever had kids in the first place!! Here's to all of you hard working moms: )

One Year Ago Today...

Derek & I were taking a trip down memory lane & started thinking about what was going on last year at this time. Alot has happened in the past year, but I definitely remember this. I just thought I would share my memory...

It has been exactly one year since Brandon had surgery to fix his broken arm. We were visiting my family for Christmas last year & the day before we flew home (January 3, 2007), he snapped both bones in his right arm. He had to have surgery to reset it once we got back to Ohio (6 days later), & I was so sad watching them wheel him into to operating room. He was screaming for me, & I'm pretty sure I was crying for him. Luckily, everything went well, & his arm healed perfectly. Thank goodness for great doctors!! I'm sure it won't be the last time we end up in the E.R.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of you!! We hope that you all had a wonderful & safe holiday. It was so great to see some of you & to those we didn't see, we sure miss you & hope all is well!!...We had a great Christmas here in our new home. It was so great to wake up on Christmas morning with our own little family & celebrate. We've always been at one of our parent's homes on Christmas morning, so this year was extra special!! The kids had a blast playing with their new toys & opening them as fast as they could. Brandon asked for a set of golf clubs, so he can go golfing with his dad, & also surprise, surprise, Transformers!! Peyton asked for a Princess scooter & anything My Little Pony or Princess. I wasn't quite sure if she would be able to ride it, but she is actually doing okay. She puts her ponies in the little basket and rides up & down our little hallway!! After we opened all the presents here, we went to Derek's parents house & opened more gifts!! They had so much fun this year, & we had a blast watching them with all of their new toys. Christmas is so much more fun with kids!!

Brandon's Brithday!

Wow!! I cannot believe that I have a 5 year old. My little boy is growing up way too fast! We made the mistake of letting him watch transformers & ever since then he has become OBSESSED!! So, obviously, he just had to have a transformer birthday bash & that is what we gave him. We had transformer cake, a transformer treasure hunt in search of the allspark, a transformer obstacle course (to see if they were strong enough to become Autobots) & a transformer pinata!! Needless to say, I am completely transformered out, but he had fun, I guess!! We only invited 5 kids, but I'm pretty sure I was maxed out!! It was crazy & fun: )

Finally, A Place To Call Home

I finally put a few pictures of our house on the blog for those of you who really wanted to see it. It is such a work in progress, & there is still so much I'd like to do, but Derek keeps reminding me, "one thing at a time". The only thing we've managed to do is to paint the kid's rooms, & they seem to really like having their own space again. We are getting to know a few of our neighbors & everyone seems really nice. Brandon has found a new best friend in the neighborhood, so we get together for play dates once a week which has been really nice for me and for the kids!! He is loving his preschool class & gets so sad when it is the weekend, & he isn't able to go. Peyton loves playing with her dolls & loves anything to do with princesses. She is turning into quite the girly girl. Everyday she wants her nails painted a different color & would sleep in a princess dress if I let her!! They are so much fun, & they make us laugh everyday. We miss you all & hope everyone is doing great!!!

Ginger Bread House

The kids have been begging me to make a ginger bread house, so we finally did on saturday. We had so much fun making it together, but they ate so much of the decorations that by the end we didn't have enough candy to finish the house. Our sad little ginger bread house is withering away because everyday they want to eat a little more of it. It really is quite a sad little house: ) I know that in the picture they look kinda' sad, but I promise they were happy at one time (& yes, Peyton is a happy little girl. I just can't seem to get her to look that way for a picture).