a toast to YOU...

Where did the time go? although, with the kind of year 2009 has been i am kicking it to the curb....but it did bring my littlest buddle of joy who brings me GREAT amounts of happiness each and everyday.  i am Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that 2010 is knocking on the door. It's been quite a year for our family:  My monkey spent most of the year being THREE and full of it. what a fun age!  And the lil'hornet in our lives was a mere infant turning toddler....we were so GLAD, he was quite some infant to say the least- we love him to pieces but glad we have put MOST of our hornet ways behind us and most of all glad we have our biggest teeth.  AMEN. In March, exactly two weeks after hornet turned ONE, exactly ONE week after my mom unraveled her CANCER news, we welcomed our littlest angel- No other description, this baby is a true gift from above who does no wrong.  DaddyC made the comment last week "if they were all like whitmore i would have 10" a little blown up but you get the idea. this baby is GOOD! Mom had a bout with bad/SAD news which seemed to hit once a week for the first couple months with the WORST possible outcome and my lollar family of three thought "how does OUR mom, wife have the worst case of breast cancer of anyone we have ever known" and we all wished it were one of us and not here.  ALL tests showed worse case scenarios, spreadage, etc. etc. We battled the great debate of cancer centers, doctors, pulled strings to get faster appointments, and cried and leaned on extended family for help and support.   We claimed a doctor and LOVE him dearly and TRUST in him for life extended.  He is doing a great job!  With the help of Allie all summer, i was able to spend time with the older kiddos doing "summer" things while not exposing the lil' ranger to too much sun, NO naps, and tender loving care allie could provide when i couldn't. oh and build a house and fully outfit it too.  Oh and most of all found a new friend whom i adore.  We tore down our house in Feb. of this year and rebuilt it in SIX months so that was a true whirlwind and kept me busy busy bee each and everyday while being a mother to three baby boys and daughter to a sick sick mom who needed me too.  A Back surgery set us or mom back late summer about 3 months and more spreading of the cancer but the past three weeks of chemo/radiation combo will hopefully contain what we are dealing with.  so we rang in the holidays rather somber but had yet another ray of light.... MISS CAROLINE ELIZABETH- best baby EVER! already sleeping, eating well, and bringing so much joy to us all.  

So we will start 2010 with a fresh face looking up, mom with NO hair but hopefully good times and extended life, big babies (that part makes me sad), our health & happiness (so long fever virus), our dear dear friends who have been there for ME, my boys, and my family (and who i have depended on with NO mom being able to help me out in times of need), new babies who i LOVE with every inch of my heart, the tossing of maternity clothes FOREVER (gosh that feels good, 4 years of having babies is ENOUGH), new pregnancies and i can't possibly wait the duration to meet these angels and feel for sure i will get my baby fix on them, so.... on with life as i know it, a totally finished house ready for spring (i bought a new swim suit ALREADY and i LOVE IT!), a 4 year old, a almost 2 year old, and almost 1 year old, a 9 year old chocolate lab, a almost 7 year old black lab, almost 7 years of marriage under our belts (the best is YET to COME- we have big big future plans for our family of 5...if you know us...you know about what it sums up to.... A BIG HUGE PARTY ALL THE TIME to celebrate each other, YOU, life, that very day we are in (it doesn't take much for the two of us to feel the need to indulge and celebrate!) So while i may not know all my readers (but wish i did. wink wink) i hope you too will jump aboard and set sail to fun 2010 with lots of luck and good wishes to come true.  I wish you all a 

happily ever after for 2009 and start to 2010!

So, in honor of New Year's Eve, I raise a virtual glass to all of you and leave you with this Irish toast:

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions."

GIRL interrupted...

NO, i do NOT have any girls at my house.  and NO, i am not having ANYMORE babies....but good thing we took care of that because after holding tight my new niece, i would possibly go for four...... yeah, you are right.  that would just be too much, and afterall.... i am a sucker for odd numbers and my house shows it (everything in threes, grouping of plants, furniture, boys, you get the idea).  anyway, so flipping through the Land of Nod mag. last night.... i saw IT AGAIN, the comforter that if i did have a girl would have been mine LAST YEAR.... i LOVE it!!!  Then at 2 a.m. this morning i thought of other things i would do in my imaginary baby girl's room....this is what i came up with.   Delight in my musings please.

paint color (ALL farrow & Ball paints)

 Middleton Pink

No, actually i would mix 50% mouse's back and 50% lime white and paint the room in scrubbable flat paint light gray and paint the ceiling pink satin. Perfect!

the bed....

try your best to overlook the tacky decor...the bed is beautiful and fit for a princess, no?

or maybe...

i am a sucker for twin beds...and upholstered ones just send me over the moon.

The bedding i love is...THIS

With a custom made bed skirt of course and i know just the workroom i'd call ;) in one of these fabrics below and tie it together with trim and valances.  what do you think? 

Panels for window coverings

with a custom valance (workable) to block light, so this angel sleeps well and add a custom trim to the panels too, nothing but the best for your princess, right?

THEN...in the corner of her room

a table for much needed tea parties equip with a mackenzie child's tea setAnd hang these adorable flower pom poms over this angels little table!  And she would have to have good Lighting, right? NO, you are right... a PENDent would look better? a modern twist she won't grow tired of??
Have we covered all our bases here?  oh, some white hooks on the wall to hang her dress up clothes on and HER clothes when she is older....                                       And she would have to have this skirt that SINGS " hokey pokey"...cutest thing EVER!!!!  I could go on and on.... i have yet to touch the art aspect.... but maybe some pretty canvas of an angel (i know just the artist i would call for that too. wink wink)  Or on the bedding side, a beautiful white covering with her monogram in the middle and some fun pillows?  Daddyc is reading this thinking "phew! i am sure glad we don't have a little girl" because i would be in heaven with the angel sleeve smocked dresses and bishops, and the apron back shirts with bloomy shorts....uuuhhh!!! i would dress her in that everyday!  And knowing how i "WAS" at a young age, she wouldn't wear anything i picked out, do anything i said, and would be the death of me so on that NOTE:  I will lovingly take my boys, who "think" i am always right, wear whatever i pick out (for now anyway....and yes, i agree monkey will Not sport button on shorts to church anymore....leave me alone!), i never have to brush hair, don't care what their rooms look like (on the decor side of things), or anything else for that matter... THEY ARE JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE!  thank you God for the extra years of life you have given me... you KNOW ME TOO WELL! but i do love a baby girl to spoil and give back ;)  

wtf?

i know daddyC, who seems to laugh at all the little teeny bop slogans more than most, (sorry daddyc!) is loving that picture above....  and if i hear someone else SAY w-t-f? again outLOUD i may give them something to say that about, ha! only kidding.

But speaking of.....

Raise your hand if you sleep anymore?  Good Grief.  If its not a sick baby, its the dog needing to go out for who knows what reason (and only when its below freezing no LESS), or its ONE of the TWO babies teething, or its just plain ole' not being able to sleep because you have SO MUCH on your "to-do" list you can't possibly lay there not DOING anything about it....... all that being said-  This picture puts my mind at ease, maybe i can stare long enough to feel rested????

but enough complaining....lets start this day-  No sick babies, or the two that are awake eating warm cinnamon rolls seem to be GREAT. life IS good. (still awaiting the lil' hornet to pass the "well" check when he awakes) and then we will get dressed and head out the door.  I CAN"T WAIT!!!! who needs sleep when your babies are WELL?  not me.

i do realize this blog is all over the place.... but i came across this bookcase and the LOVE someone had for it.... i can't imagine anything worse?  an UNEVEN bookcase.... bookcases were meant to straighten things up around the room, give the random things in the floor a happy home, i feel messier JUST LOOKING at this...

Dear anyone, Do NOT buy me this bookcase?  i won't appreciate, ha! but just in case you are out buying me things....here are some i want  NEED.....

i need ALL of this above, a babysitter, and QUITE some PARTAY to attend with all of my besties of course, on NEW YEARS please.... thanks!

I loved the last collection from Australian based Woodford & Co and

am even more impressed with this one. It is sweet, elegant and feminine.

(via Vogue Living, scanned from Western Interiors and John Gruen)

no, really i just NEED 

some of this for 

NEw years

and maybe this for me and my PLUS ONE!

how fun does this look? Happy day to you and yours. 

 I hope your babies are all well and 

you get to spend the day doing FUN THINGS!

what if i....

• wore lipstick EVERY day...?
• moved to california ToDaY!!! alone, ha! (you ARE right (and i don't say that much) i would miss my family....at some point)

i would be in heaven?

• could go on a trip to a hot place where the drinks & sun were in abundance with a "good" sitter to keep babies for a week, at NO expense! and we had matching luggage in tow, all of us (yes, i do want matching luggage)

• had 3 extra hours a day
• could match my boys every single day in heirloom digs without seeming a little crazy

• got to go skiing THIS year, ski in/out house, biggest fireplace you could imagine roaring round the clock, someone waiting to help me take my ski boots off for me, with the cutest ski wardrobe ever,  and a toddy awaiting to warm me up.  Oh, and if my boys were there and LOVED ski school and didn't complain about the coldness....

• got a four wheeler and had somewhere to ride it....

• had an adorable pair of purple shoes to wear New years Eve

• wore adorable matching pjs EVERY night or something besides a tee shirt atleast???

or heck at this point even wore a cute outfit everyday instead of gym cloths....

i nEEd this dress- do you think the fellow playgrounders would stare? or better question "do you think i would care that they stared?" ha. but it would be hard to slide and PLAY with the kids (maybe i could wear bloomers?)

instead of the everyday norm....

OR what if....

my biggest baby had a fever since sunday (and we are all going a little crazy being inside this long) and now my middle baby has one, i jumped ship and left allie in charge to re-claim sanity, i locked my keys INSIDE my car, three cops couldn't break into it, and an hour later AAA got there with kids in tow?  (apparently people DO still take their kids to work with them?), i missed the doctors appointment i made to double check the stats on the boys to be assured we were just dealing with a virus, daddyc was wining and dining at a fancy place and wouldn't answer the phone, my mom was sick from her daily radiation cancer treatment, AND.... i won't go on but there is 

No need to what if that one.... that stuff is TRUE... happy Tuesday!!! stay tuned for a hopefully better day tomorrow.  hip hip hooray!

wide open spaces

after the tightness of city homes we packed up our crew and headed for the woods.   country land + room to roam + a bounty of family who love to see you coming + horses=  a very very good time.

a football game is a GIVEN and with the amount of family we have, we are ever so thankful!

our newest little member ABBIE.

don't we all wonder what this baby's next move is going to be......or glad we don't know?

another years over....

and a NEW one JUST begun!

thats right, i pack up my Christmas on the very day and start on the 26th as a new year, all clean with NO WHERE to go (this year).  Ring on in here new year, there is NO WAY to go but UP in our little world!

updates on mom:

my mom has really been enjoying the holiday season.  We started at rock bottom with a bout of sad news; then quickly grabbed onto HOPE, LOVE, and God's good grace to bring us back to fighting strength.... Mom has been everywhere the past week or so enjoying all she can.  We have a wig, you may fight over when she's through with it, some adorably trendy head wraps, lots of laughing memories, pictures, HOPE most of all for FUTURE times together and just life in general.  So its safe to say chemo and radiation EVERY SINGLE DAY THE PAST several weeks HAS NOT gotten mom down.  Onward she will go fighting the hardest fight of her life.   We are looking forward to a BIG hair cut or shave this week and many more laughs of course.  Prayers are wonderful!