Merry Christmas 2012!

Hiiiii guys!! :)
So..Merry Christmas and almost...Happy New Year! :) Just thinking about how much I miss this more indepth writing style (over FB one-liners) and thinking about getting back to it some.  I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! We had new hardwood floors installed 2 weeks before Christmas (and re-painted almost the entire house) so our gift-giving was much more limited than usual this year, but I'm SUPER happy with the new look of our home, so no frowns here! :)   Other than a few small items, we got Grant a basketball goal for Christmas (he's playing BBall this year) and Brooklyn got some new clothes and shoes that she wanted.  We also decided to get her a phone this year. We gave it to her in November (the day before Thanksgiving) because we didn't want her to think it was a gift.  We just got her the "free" basic phone that does texting and calling...no email or internet or anything.  She is not NEARLY as enamored with it as we thought she would be. Most of the time it's lost in her room somewhere with the battery dead! HA!  Thankfully it only costs us $10 a month (to add a line) and we can have her take it when we need to reach her (at a friends house, band event, somewhere in Walmart away from us, etc.)  So far, I have not regretted this decision at all! YAY! :)
I have decided to try a new strategy with her this year concerning keeping her room clean. This has been a HUGE source of frustration between us for about 2 years now and I am SO sick of it. I NEVER thought I would go with this approach, but after talking to my MIL over Christmas, I have decided to give it a whirl.  So...no more nagging or fighting. She can keep her room however she wants (except for when we are having company..she has to clean it.)  The "catch" is that I will NOT help her find anything that is lost in the abyss of her room...nor will I wash any clothes at the last minute because they are dirty and she forgot to put them in the hamper (in the hall).  She will learn to deal with the natural consequences of keeping her room a disaster.  Considering how fashionably-alert she is, I'm sure this will be a giant drama in no time when the "perfect" shoe is missing or her favorite jeans are dirty.  Let the fun begin....;-)

I'm VERY excited for a big event I am planning within my new ministry at church Redefining Beauty.  I am doing a Father/Daughter banquet in February and with the help of many other moms, I am hoping to make it a night for our girls and dads to remember...complete with tablecloths, candles, chocolates, flowers, pictures and a father/daughter version of the Newleywed game! :) Let's see how well our dads know their little girls!! :)  It's open to anyone within driving distance....so maybe some of you will even come! :)

I just had everyone in the house write out their goals for 2013 and I'm excited to see what this next year brings for our lives. One thing that I am super anticipating is the possibility that our whole family may get to go on a mission trip to LA to the Dream Center! I'm ready for our lives to be more about God and others...and less about us.

I'm sure much of our summer weekends will be spent at the lake in our camper (that we bought this past year) and enjoying the simple pleasures of a slower life style. I've already learned my lesson to STOP trying to make 3 gourmet meals a day while in the camper. All I do is cook and wash dishes and then start again for the next meal! ha ha

Okay..enough info for one day! C ya again soon!