Anniversary Thoughts

Today is our 12 year wedding anniversary. WOO HOO! I say this half way sarcastically because I know the people that have been married 60 years look at us and say, "hang in there...you've got a long way to go!" But I can rejoice in the fact that newly married couples can say "WOW!"

When I look back on my wedding day I have few regrets. We had a 70 degree day in November and were surrounded by friends and family. Other than the reception going by too fast I really did not have any complaints. And after being married only 12 years I can still look back at my wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, flowers, cake and hair and still like it. I do not feel too dated, yet!

12 years ago we thought we were in control of our destiny--HA! Now 3 kids later we are living life together. Day by day. We have had a tough year this year. Our kids are growing up too fast and challenging us in all sorts of ways. We have been busy. Too busy. Often too busy to keep up with their growth. We recently went to a seminar at our church about "Sex and Parenting". It was like a date night for us. Childcare was free. We were cuddled up in the pew in our church learning about how to talk to our kids about sex. YIKES! This has made me realize that life goes by too fast. I do not want to have this talk, mostly because it makes me feel old. Don't worry...we aren't going to tell her EVERYTHING!!

So here I am, 33. I have to think about that every time I type it or say it. And I have been married 12 wonderful years to a wonderful man and I have 3 awesome kids. That makes me say "WOW!"

Reasons why I want to be married to S.S. for another 12 million years:

#1. He makes the best coffee

#2. He washes dishes

#3. He tells me he loves me numerous times a day, and he means it

#4. He loves our kids and would rather play with them than anything else

#5. He supports my friendships and my hobbies

#6. He will tell me when I am freaking out!

#7. He loves God and Praises God for answered prayers--even when I want to give him the credit!

#8. He is quick to say he is sorry

#9. He is just plain nice!

#10. He lives life with me. The joy and the pain. The clutter, the mess, the laughs that make us a couple. He is my husband. He puts up with me and I am well aware that I can be a pain.

If you remember, on our 10th anniversary we got a dog. I was not thrilled. 11 was uneventful. I might have to look back on the blog to see what we did. 12 so far is uneventful as well. S.S. has been working all weekend. We have not even seen each other at all today. Bummer. I do still miss him and I think that says a lot for 12 years of marriage. We generally do not do big anniversary gifts so no big deal. 12 is probably the anniversary of paper or cork or something cheap anyway! I am sure it is not the anniversary of anything I would want. So really all I want is another year of marriage. A year of growth. An increased understanding of each other. Another year to get to know each other even better. To know what challenges us and where we need to push one another. Or where we need to let up. To bring out the best in one another for another year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Turkey day has come and gone. I was too stuffed last night to be able to blog about it. Scott and I were having a "snack" with the kids around 5:30 last night and we all felt like it was about 9pm. We had a very fun day, but the girls were not feeling well and so we all went to bed early.

Here are some pictures of our day:

The kids table

Complete with hand painted pottery "china" and decorated with cornucopias thanks to Melanie!

Emma with her snowball! This was close to all the snow in our yard, but she was very proud of it!

Kids in the snow! Within seconds they were all geared up. It was truly amazing!

In addition to the Maynors, we had my grandparents, my Grandma Herbst, my sister, my Dad and my cousin Donnie. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Go Hoard!!

They are here! Go get some. That is if I leave any for you. My cashier today told me that he saw a box on ebay for $40 over the summer. If they are really that addictive, what do they put in them? Either way, I don't care. I am going to experiment this year with freezing them. I know you can freeze girl scout cookies so I figure I will give in a try. I would like to imagine myself having one ( or 10) this summer poolside! CAN'T WAIT :)

Candy Exchange

In my previous post about Halloween I mentioned a Delta Dental candy buy back! It does exist here in STL next weekend. So if you are interested here is the info.

Candy Exchange

What • A post-Halloween event to get candy out of the hands of children by swapping prizes and a medieval-themed fun fair.

When • From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 6.

Where • A hall adjacent to the Dental Health Theatre, 727 North First Street, on Laclede's Landing.

How much • Free. Kids get prizes for every pound of candy they surrender to the Dental Health Theatre.

More information • Visit ddhtstl.org or call 314-241-7391.

Halloween weekend

We had a very enjoyable, yet hectic Halloween! Saturday we had only 1 soccer game because Claire's got cancelled. That freed us up a bit-yeah! Saturday afternoon we had our first ever (since we have lived in our house) block party. As the story goes, if you want a block party you just better plan one! With help from our neighbor we got this party going with very little effort and had U. City block off streets, deliver tables, benches and trash cans. I love it when my tax dollars go to work for ME!

Lee and Scott--After the Mizzou loss. Scott still appears to be very happy. I think his Gators may have won!

Festive neighbors!

Sunday was a little less hectic which gave Claire and I time to take Blitzen on a jog and Scott to take Emma, Sam and Stanley to the zoo. We have not forgotten about Stanley!

Sunday night was lining up to be sort of a disappointment as all of our normal trick or treat neighborhood friends were going other places for their treats this year. This resorted in me making a last minute call to a friend who I know lives on a very kid-friendly block so we busted it! And it was good! And then we came back to our block to trick or treat from our neighbors. My kids are veteran trick-or-treaters by now. They do not stop until the pumpkin head is full and neither does Dad!

Here are our puppy, NBC peacock and Indiana Jones

Having 3 full pumpkin heads completed the evening. We had to get to bed. It was a school night after all. I assured them it would be waiting for them in the morning. I am not really sure what time the girls awoke, but all I can tell you is that I came downstairs and this is what I saw...
They had organized each type of candy into it's very own ziploc bag!!! Why can't this amount of organization go into their room! Claire said the funniest thing, "Mom, last year it was so hard to have to search through all the candy when you knew what kind you were looking for." To which I replied, "Oh, that sounds really tough!" And then there was the candy that did not make it into it's own Ziploc bag. Emma said it is the candy they want to donate to the homeless shelter. I am pretty sure shelters do not take candy. In fact, I have been down this path before. However, I do think Delta Dental does a candy buy back. I will be checking in to that!

In the meantime I am trying to resist the Reese's cups that keeping looking at me.

Hope you had a fun Halloween!