The Booker Post

 We've been having sub zero temperatures and really bad windchills here in Illinois lately! It's been so so cold! There was one day that we were able to "enjoy" the snow a little bit before the winds picked up and the temperatures dropped! The kids have had a blast, but Callie has been very upset about all the school days being cancelled. She loves her school time! I've tried to tell her that the days will be made up, but she doesn't seem to believe me sometimes. Usually, she her "pouting" is quickly over and she's soon running around the house having fun with her brothers. Nolan's favorite time of day? Bath time! He has such a blast splashing around in the tub. And since Mommy and Nolan decided to stay inside while the rest of the family is out playing and getting cold, we got to have an extra long and extra warm bath with his new toys from Christmas! He love, love, loves playing "Bathketball" !! :-) Nolan...

(*We were supposed to have a birthday party in Texas while we were visiting my husband's side of the family, but unfortunately, the night before, Nolan got a stomach bug. Philip and I were up most of the night with him and I had little energy to put into pulling the party together for a birthday boy who wasn't even going to be able to really enjoy himself. :-( So we had an ice cream treat for the other kiddos and our plans were put on hold until this last weekend.) This last Sunday, we had Nolan's first birthday party. We had a Bee themed party, since he was our sweet little "B(ooker)" baby. Our first and second birthday parties are traditionally smaller than later birthdays. We don't have a whole bunch of people over. Just our immediate family with a lunch after church and of course cake! Usually, the first birthday is baby's first taste of sweets as well, so it's fun to have everyone gathered around and watch their eyes light up as they taste th...

I know I say this a lot: but here's the truth, I wanted to be good at journaling . . . all my life, it's been something I really wanted to do. The fact is, when things get busy or maybe a little out of control, I let it go. I don't even really think about it, and if I do, I just feel guilty, like I can never catch up so why try? But it's important for me to try. There are so many moments that are going to slip by me and not be remembered if I don't make the effort. So here it is, I took a break for about a year. I made no effort to keep up with extraneous things as I adapted to life in a family of five and my daughter going to school for the first time. There were other reasons why I had little interest in keeping up with my blog, I may even go as far to say I shut down a little bit to even the idea of it, but the fact is I didn't do it. It happened, but it's a new day, a new year even and I want to do better. I want to have something to look back on wit...