Wow

Stop this roller coaster I am on. I love how in October I said I was going to pay more attention to he blog. Yea so that didn't happen and I won't say that again. We have had the best and worst year. We have had lots of peaks and valleys but are back on top and hope to stay there. Aaron is still traveling back and forth to Calgary for work but comes home and stays for a few days to a week at a time. Soon (not sure when) he will be back in Houston for good. The company has made the announcement that he is coming back, I know I saw the letter. ;)
Ashley had a great first semester in 10th grade. She made a 90 for her 3rd six weeks in Geometry and an 81 in Chemistry, smart girl. She has showed quit a bit of interest in being a chef and going to culinary school. She can do whatever she wants and has the smarts to make it happen. She has been fighting a battle of her own but she is a strong, wonderful girl that has the 100% support of her family and we are determined to not give up.
Preston and Lily are tornadoes taking on every corner of their tiny world. The are both completely potty trained, except at night. Lily has been trained since September and was super easy. Preston has gone back and forth from underwear to diapers for months until New Year's we figured we were confusing him and decided to totally do diapers during the day. We have had a few accidents but mostly........ success!
3 is well............ good and bad. They are very determined and difficult at times but then they are sweet as can be. Because of this we now have "house rules" all painted on canvas hanging on the wall so they can see. We don't do warnings for rules that are posted, we have gone through them, they know what they are and know they will sit in time out if they are broken. Mainly it's to keep the peace: no hitting, be nice, use your inside voice, no climbing, use your words (the whining is driving me nuts) Things are easier at 3 but then comes the independent Lily wanting to buckle her own car seat and will NOT let you shut the door because SHE CAN DO IT. All while your already running 10 mins late. They are still in preschool on Tuesdays and Thursday's and this is when I run errands, eat lunch with my friends, get my nails did or just come home and enjoy the silence.

Speaking of being late........ we have started the year off by trying to turn things around when we moved back from Canada I knew I was giving up my simple life there but had no idea how busy and chaotic my world here would be. So I am trying to get back to that. I know I am late to almost every single thing I go to and it's mainly because I think I have more time than I do. Instead of getting in the car I think I have time to check my email or clean up real quick or heaven forbid, go to the bathroom.

So that's the family, what about Staci you ask? Well I am still Associate Director of Cypress Calling Ministries, the non profit ministry I founded with my BFF and a few other girl friends back in March 2008. I took a back seat role on the board while in Canada and still attended board meetings by Skype but now I am back. My role as Associate Director is to maintain the database, website, outreach, newsletter, volunteer coordinator, advertising, and make sure the donation checks are deposited into our account. This ministry is very dear to my heart because mentoring to teen mom's is something I always saw myself doing. Being a mom at 16 changed me and helped grow into the person I am today. I am so happy to share that with others who have lost hope. We run exclusively on monetary and item donations from the public. We are a volunteer based group and I am so proud of how far we have come. We have showered over 100 girls with our baby showers and our support group is up to 13 girls.
I also started my own business in June 2010 with the official launch in September. Lily Lou Designs (Lily being form Lily's name and Lou being from Ashley's middle name, Louise) an embroidery and appliqueing company that was initially a hobby. One thing led to another and I got a DBA, tax id and a bank account. Now that I am all legit the orders started to roll in. Boy did they roll in. I did not prepare myself for how busy I was at Christmas but I am grateful to be doing something I love. Now it's Valentines and Rodeo season.
Aaron and I with our friends Jenn and Kevin started a wine group. We meet once a month and taste wine from different regions. Who wouldn't want to do that. Every month we get a baby sitter and hang out with adults, I look forward to this.
Well that's our life as we start the new year. here's to 2011 and I hope it brings you lots of happiness.