Improvements

I never make New Year's resolutions simply because I don't keep them, but lately I have been thinking of thinga in my life I need to improve.

1. Better Christian, of course... Maybe I should start taking my Mom's advice and start attending a church service. This is something that Matt, Hayden and I did on a regular basis, but then Matt's scheduled changed and he was working every other weekend. I made the excuse that is was just too hard to get myself ready and then Hayden ready and be on time. On the weekends that Matt was off we just wanted to relax on Sunday's as much as possible since we go go go on Saturdays. So a good Sunday Service stopped happening for the Strahan's. Now that Matt received his promotion back in October he doesn't have to work weekends...but our Sunday's are still lazy. We have no good excuses anymore. We have to get up and GO!

2. Weight...of course. So I want to join a gym and take fun aerobics classes, but I can't at first. I have to start on my own and stick with it before I let the Y take money out of my account every month and me never set foot in that facility. So after work I can leave Hayden at school and that will give me an hour and a half of "me time" if I can stay off of facebook, I could take a walk or jog, I could do a fun dance/workout video, or I could play the Wii and workout that way. Then I can go get Hayden...seems too simple. HA!

3. Read. I want to start reading books. I have only been reading parenting books for the last 3 years. Time for something else. I have never been a great reader. It makes me so sleepy, but this is something I want to work on. I spend my evenings watching too much TV. Time for something new.

4. Cooking. I love cooking it is something that I really enjoy, but I feel like I make the same thing over and over week after week. I want to expand my recipes. Get new ones and try new foods. I have always been a picky eater. I always said that I hate broccoli...even though I never tried it. Matt came along (he is a total veggie eater LOVES them all) and he made me try broccoli now it's my favorite.

Just a handful of improvements...I can handle all that, right?

Hayden the Helper

I hate housework...it's no secret. Sometimes I get a burst of energy where I clean from top to bottom! Today Hayden got that same energy! He sang clean up! Clean up! the entire time...I need to try to get him to learn the whole song

he helped me sweep

he helped with the dishes

and he brought towels to wash

Wheew! I couldn't have got it finished without him! Even though it took twice as long! :)

Surprise Pictures

After I took some pictures of Hayden in Matt's shoes (see below post) I left the camera out (whoops) This could have been a very costly mistake on my part, but I found a sweet surprise when I was downloading the pics to my computer...of course there were a trillion shirt shots, but I kept these...

Daddy's Shoes

Daddy got a pair of house shoes for Christmas and Hayden has now claimed them as his. He wears them all the time! If Matt is wearing them Hayden pulls them off and runs away...2 minutes later he will walk out of his room like it's no big deal. CUTE!

Christmas Day

Christmas was a huge success. Hayden was so surprised and loved everything! We had a great day and lots of love was shared. It is so fun for me to see Hayden get so excited and start getting the idea of Santa and everything special that goes along with him. I can't wait for next year because I know it will even be better!

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve

Wow...my heart is full! Even though this is Hayden's third Christmas, so far this have been the best one yet! He is old enough to know that something magical is happening tonight and he just has this beautiful sparkle in his eyes! Tonight we started many traditions that we will keep going for years to come!

We drove around to look at the Christmas lights!

We made cookies for Santa!

We threw out the rei reer (reindeer) feed
Hayden kept yelling for them to EAT!

We read our Christmas Eve bedtime stories!
And of course, set out the Milk and Cookies for Santa!

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it SNOW!

I still can't get over the fact that it SNOWED on Christmas Eve! Who didn't have a childhood dream of a white Christmas!?!!?

Naughty List

Hayden made the naughty list today...again.

Table Manners

Looks like elbows on the table aren't a problem around here...it's the feet!

Christmas Stroll

The company that I work for holds a Christmas Stroll every December. It is a lot of fun and something nice for our family to attend. We made an ornament, ate cookies and drank hot chocolate. We even had story time with Mrs. Clause! We also stood in line to see Santa but of course the boys, being that they are 2, can't wait in a line that long so we left...I didn't get to take a lot of pictures because of course my battery died...but nevertheless we had a great time and look forward to going again next year!

Hayden with his best bud Parker, and his mommy Megan.

Sweet Parker

Sweet Hayden

Hayden looking for toys and candy.
At one point he just picked up the

basket and tried to walk off with it!

Story Time!!