Fresh Start!

I'm SUPER excited about our fresh start! We've been through a lot here, but it's time to move on. I've wanted to share things with you, but everytime I open this it is so easy to be punched in the throat with hard memories. On Sunday, Keller and I watch Joel Osteen (I know, I know everyone has an opinion, but I really like his messages so we can agree to disagree if need be.) it's our "church" while the boys are at CCC. Joel (we're close so I can call him that...not really but Mr. Osteen seems so formal) was talking about changing your channel to the victory channel. He talked about walking into his mother's house after losing his dad and being flooded with the memory of the night his father passed away. He said he decided to stop it right there and change his channel. So I guess you could say I'm changing my channel. I need to find a happy place to be and I've created one. www.dolendiaries.com it's new and I love it! I'd love for you to join me over there.

Lots of Love!
Shelly

Mama's Night Out

Last night I went to a Pinterest party with a holiday theme. Everyone that attended need to bring a project or craft that they did for the holidays (presumably something they found on pinterest). I bought two trees that I had made a friend's craft night back in Dec. They are super cute and easy to make! It was fun to see what everyone else had done and I came away with some ideas for next year. While I was enjoying my night out chatting it up with some awesome mommies poor Micah wasn't having such a fun time...
It was as if all three boys got together and said, "Mom's gone, let's give Daddy a really hard time tonight. We only have a short window until bedtime so we really need to go for it! Daddy worked a really long day today and has all week so he'll really appreciate our antics."
As soon as I walked out the door a little after 7 it was game on. Kell cried and was fussy the entire night. The big boys were beyond energetic and were practically bouncing off the walls when they weren't arguing. Bedtime was a joke and poor Micah was outnumbered.
I called a little after 10 to say I was on my way home only to find out that Micah was watching Chicka on the Sprout channel. Chicka is a bird puppet who communicates via kazoo noises. Apparently, Micah was desperate and turned on the channel to see if Kell would take any interest and stop fussing. He did so Micah watched. Poor Micah, not quite the fun boys night he thought he was going to have last night. At least one of us wasn't disappointed.
Fingers crossed my next night out isn't as tough on Micah as this one was.

The Boss

This week was the first full week back to regular schedule after Christmas vacation. On Mondays, I drop Ash off at preschool and then head over to my friend's house for a Bible/book study. (We're doing a book study on praying for our husbands. It's been really good for me because I was much better about praying for everyone else and forgetting about poor Micah.) There is only three of us ladies in our group and one was missing so we didn't really talk about the book but instead chatted about our breaks. Kell was sporting this puma track suit that he got for Christmas and it didn't quite make him look athletic. We decided that he looked more like a cast member of the Sopranos. Thinking this was wildly funny I called him Tony or Tone for short all day. I'm a little disappointed in myself today because I really missed out on a theme opportunity by serving left over tacos for dinner instead of pasta of chicken parm. Next time!

I think this is the most fun I've had with one of his outfits...any other ideas for future fun?

Happy New Year!

I don't think I've ever been so excited for a new year as I was for this year! 2012 wasn't so hot for the Dolen's, but 2013 is going to be FABULOUS!! (I'm singing that just in case you were wondering. Try it, you won't be able to keep yourself from smiling.) There is so much excitement after all 2013 is the year of the 1st birthdays!
To kick off 2013, we celebrated Keller's first, 1st birthday. He turned chronologically 1 on the 5th so we did a mini celebration with my parents, Kylah, and Micah's parents. It was mini, no theme (those of you that know me well are probably clutching your chests in shock because I L-O-V-E, love a good theme!) just a taco bar, some cupcakes that Gray made all by himself, and a couple of non-gifts. What is a non-gift? It's a gift that you bring to a party when the mama says no gifts. Nana and Auntie Kylah both brought non-gifts. My mom wrapped hers saying it was for his therapy, a learning tool so it didn't count. Kylah didn't wrap hers so that's how hers didn't count. It made me laugh. I would have TOTALLY done the same thing!
It was just a mini for a couple of reasons....1. It was his chronological birthday and so he's not really like a 1 yr old. He's an 8 month old. 2. We are planning on celebrating his adjusted birthday April 17th, his homecoming anniversary April 27th, and then having an actual BIG 1st birthday celebration this summer after the cold & flu season is over. I'm SO excited!! You might not get it, but that's okay. Our family is totally pumped to celebrate all the anniversaries of our wonderful little Kell.

I hope 2013 brings lots of reasons for you to celebrate, too!
Lots of Love,
Shelly