Way more than you ever wanted to know about me...

Unlike most people, I love tags. I think they are really fun! It is a wonderful opportunity to share random facts about yourself, and to learn about all my new bloggy friends. Yesterday I was tagged three times. Some people might find the task of posting all of this stuff daunting. Me, I am just feelin' the love!

My first tag came from two people. First was Elaine @ Matters of the Heart. She is one of my new bloggy friends and I just love her! She is always there with comment love! Plus, even though she is all the way across the country from me, I am reassured by the fact that as mothers of small children we share some of the same funny stories! She is having a giveaway for her 100th post, so go check her out! Leave her a comment to enter and don't forget to leave my name too! The second person who tagged me with this award was mc allen(Leah) @ ahhh, These are the Days of Our Lives. I cannot for the life of me remember how she found me (through Kam?) but I am oh so glad she did. Her life with four girls gives me a partial glimpse into what my future will look like! So thanks ladies! Even if the rules didn't instruct me to say you are fabulous I still would!

Speaking of rules, here they are...

1. Name 5 things you love.
2. Pass the award on to 5 blogs you love.
3. Link back to the giver's blog, and tell how fabulous they are.

1. I LOVE my family... All of them. I love my husband and my kids, and of course I love my parents and my brothers and sisters. But, I also love my husband's family. I have an amazing SIL, she is one of my best friends. Some days when we get to talking on the phone an hour has gone by without us even noticing. I was truly blessed to have married into a close knit extended family. My MIL has the most amazing relationships with her sisters and her mother. Chris' cousins seem more like extra siblings and I LOVE that my kids will get to grow up with their kids. Here are a few of them... from right to left. Chris' Grandmother Auri, his Aunt Linda, his cousin Pamela, his aunt Ana, his cousin Ana Cecilia, and his mom Lili (Nini to my kids)
   
   


2. I LOVE to shop for my kids. I hardly ever buy anything for myself anymore. I guess because kid's clothes are cuter and I just don't want to buy something for myself and admit how much weight I've gained. Three kids and fifty pounds later, I have some pretty ratty sweatshirts to show for it!


3. I LOVE Christmas time! I hate that I don't have my tree up yet, and I am searching for a radio station that is already playing Christmas music. I haven't started my shopping yet, but that's just because I haven't had time. I am in the process of recovering my house from Flu Fest 2008 and after it is finally clean again I will be putting up my tree (yes, before Thanksgiving!)


4. I LOVE Tuesday night coffee night! It is something my girlfriends and I started doing recently. Every Tuesday night around 7:30 we leave our hubbies @ home with the kiddos and meet for coffee at a local coffee house. We usually close the place down. Which means that the men are left behind to care for the children and do bedtime! It is all around good for everyone! Even if all we talk about is our kids, or Barbie's upcoming OB appointment and what the sex of the new baby will be, we still have fun. Let's face it, a little adult conversation is a necessity!
   
   
   
5. I LOVE that Blogger has a autosave function! Especially when nearly two year old boys push the power button on the computer modem when you are in the middle of typing a post you've been working on for twenty minutes. I didn't lose much, thankfully!

So that about covers my first tag, now onto the next one! Kameron over @ A Wrinkle in Time tagged me to list 15 random things about myself. I hope these are not totally boring, but I will give it a shot.

1. I was raised Catholic, but I haven't been a very good one lately. It is not that I am not a religious person, I just don't get to church as often as I should. I am trying to work on this.
2. For instance, yesterday @ MOPS our speaker shared a verse that really spoke to me. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Gal 6: 9-10 I think I am going to put it on my refrigerator.
3. I am a soap snob. I have to have the Bath and Body Works Anti-Bacterial Gentle Foaming stuff. I can't help it. I tried buying the cheap stuff last time I needed soap but I hated it. So yesterday, before coffee I went and bought the good stuff. Who can complain when they are 3 for $10?
4. I take my camera everywhere, I almost always have it with me. I.E. the above picture. Since I have found the beauty of the digital camera I can't help myself. I desperately want a more advanced camera, but I am stuck with my simple Kodak Easy Share.
5. However, there is the rare occasion that my camera gets away from me and finds it's way into the hands of my kiddos. They usually take a bunch of random pictures of furniture. Sometimes though, they will manage to get one good one, like this one that someone took of Jack. Nice photography skills girls!
6. I was a theater major in college. I started doing theater in high school and I was hooked! I put this part of my life on hold to get married and have babies, but I hope to embrace it again one day.
7. I use the T.V. as a babysitter. Yes, I am guilty. I know I shouldn't do it, but sometimes you just have to do the dishes in the sink or fold laundry. If I left the kiddos to their own devices to play I would only return to a room full of mess. Therefore the T.V. makes my life easier and I have learned to accept that I am not the perfect parent.
8. My house is never as clean as I would like it to be. Even if I spent the whole day cleaning. If you showed up on my doorstep the first thing I would say after hello would be "please, excuse the mess. I have little kids."
9. I met my husband when I was about 7. He was probably 11. Our moms were really good friends and when we started dating they didn't like it. They were worried we would eventually break-up and ruin their friendship. We got married and their relationship changed, they are not as close as they used to be and I am sorry for that.
10. I was only 17 when Chris and I started dating. I was 2 weeks away from graduation and he was home from college living with his mom and dad. We had a whirlwind summer. He never went back to school and I changed my plans and went to college 20 minutes away. What can I say, when you know, you just know. We got engaged that Thanksgiving.
11. I was a young bride (19) and a young mom (22) but I managed to graduate from Manchester College in 5 years all while getting married, having Reagan, and carrying Kennedy in my pregnant belly that last semester.
12. I love taking pictures of my kids sleeping. My camera is filled with them. I especially enjoy taking ones of Dee Dee sleeping because her eyelashes are just to die for! Here is one I took yesterday when she fell asleep on the coffee table. She is her father's daughter and can sleep anywhere! Don't you just love the crayons in her pocket!
13. One of my favorite things about fall is apple cider. I can't even begin to count how many gallons of it I have bought this year, and I am the only one in the house who drinks it!
14. I also really like egg nog at Christmas time. I don't even have to add the alcohol, but I sometimes do. What can I say food and drink bring the seasons alive!
15. I really enjoy blogging. I love my blog and I can't believe I am not sick of my design yet, but I'm not! I also love reading other people's blogs and finding new friends. I feel like I have finally found a network of women I can belong to, and to all of you who are reading I thank you for that.

I have chosen not to tag anyone in return for this time around. It was a lot of work, and though I enjoy sharing I don't want to burden anyone else with having to write that much. Kameron, as for the 5 things tag... I did that one not too long ago and I am just going to pass on it today. I was planning on doing it but I've been at the computer for an hour already and my children really do need some adult supervision!