Friend Makin' Monday (or Tuesday!)

Friend Makin' Mondays is a fun new way to get to know other bloggers created by Kasey at http://kaseyhelder.blogspot.com/. My friend Rebecca is the one that found this and passed it on and I love it! I love reading other blogs, even if I don't know them. Today's task is to share 10 of your favorite things. It was hard for me to narrow it down to just 10!

Alli's List of Favorites:

1. My handsome husband and beautiful kids. Most of all, I love watching them play together. I call him "Fun Daddy" because he gets down on the floor and just plays and plays with them,making them laugh until they hurt.

2. U2. Any song at any time brings a smile to my face. I got into them when I was in 7th grade on a summer vacation driving to Colorado with my dad and sister. Haven't stopped listening to them since. I was 7 months pregnant with Joshua at one of their concerts...nothing will keep me from seeing them!
3. Stationery. I can look for hours online or at gift stores just drooling over stationery. I have way too much, but I love it and I love most of all writing letters to friends just to say hi. Nothing beats getting a card in the mail between bills. :)

4. Scrapbooking. My amazing sister-in-law Julie got me into it after I had Samantha and I just love it. Some layouts are great, some not so great. But I have fun going through my pictures and putting them on paper to put in an album. I scrapbook with friends and the laughing and talking we do while working on them is the best! Most of all, I love that I have found a hobby that gives me something to do that preserves our family memories.

5. People magazine. It is my escape from reality. I have had a subscription since high school....I have been subscriber for so long that I get it dirt cheap. Jason knows that when I get it in the mail to just leave me along while I look at every page. And yes, I DO read all of the articles. There are amazing stories about just regular people.

6. Mercedes. I am a car lover. Love all kinds. But I have loved Mercedes for the longest and hope someday to drive one.

7. Margaritas. mmmm.....writing about it is making me want one now! But frozen, no salt, please!

8. Laying in my comfy bed catching up on shows on my DVR....alone! I look forward to 9ish at night to go into my bedroom and just lounge. Sometimes I read, work crossword puzzles, all while the TV is on. Jason knows this is my unwinding time and is respectful of it. I love you honey!

9. Mountains in Colorado. My most favorite place to be. I grew up going there almost every summer with my family. My most favorite time was when I had to be in CO for work and went early so I could mix business with pleasure. I rented a car and drove and drove around in the mountains, stopping in neat towns along the way. Mine and Jason's dream retirement is a cabin in Colorado.

10. God. 'Nuff said.

Are any of your favorites on my list?

Amazing Weekend

Let me start this post by letting you know in advance that I do not have any pictures posted. I know, me, no pictures posted. We had such an amazing weekend, but I got not a single picture in. I am sick about it!

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It started out with Friday night having my amazing sister-in-law, Julie and her family driving in from Arkansas. They just moved there from VA, so this is a MUCH shorter drive than they are used to. They had a get together with old friends, so I got the chance to see my 3 nephews and 1 niece. I had not seen them since August, so I could not wait to give them all a big hug. The kids played so well together and I got to hang out with just Noel. She is now 2 and they moved to VA when she was a newborn. I just don't know her like the rest and I just loved how she loved to snuggle with me! Joshua and Easton (4) played surprisingly well. They are two peas in a pod with head-strong personalities. But they only fought over a toy once the entire weekend. Amazing! Then Sammi, Carter (7), and Aiden (6) played and played non-stop together. It took so long to get them to calm down for bed. I can't count how many times I had to go in and tell them to stop talking. Joshua and Easton were the worst! I think Joshua was just not used to having someone in his room, which he loved. Carter and Sammi slept on the trundle part of her bed together while Aiden slept on Sammi's bed. Easton slept in Joshua's room and Noel was in my room. Six kids under one roof in a 3 bedroom house. I made it work and it worked out perfectly! Jason was out of town so I gave up my bed to Julie and Rudy. I LOVE sleeping on my couch, it is so comfy! Plus, Joshua is an early riser, so he was able to watch cartoons quietly in the living room while everyone kept sleeping. Perfect!

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While Julie and her family went to see other family members on Saturday, we went to two of Sammi's soccer game. It was the first outdoor game for the spring season. It was SO cold and windy! The girls were just miserable, mainly complaining about their cold hands. I never thought to bring gloves! Then right after that game was her indoor game. Looks like there will be at least 5 or 6 games of both leagues that will overlap. I'm not too thrilled about that and wouldn't have signed Sammi up for the 2nd winter session of indoor soccer if I had known that. Oh well, you live and you learn! The 3 of us had a great nap/quiet time after those two games. I was whooped! Julie and her family got to our place around bedtime. Then me, Julie, and Rudy stayed up talking for hours and watching home shows on HGTV. I loved getting to just talk with them face to face instead of over the phone, which we are so used to these days.

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Saturday night was much better with the kids going to bed. Yea! Sammi got up at 2:45 complaining that she was crowded on the bed. She said Aiden came down in the middle of the night and slept with her and Carter....yep, 3 kids on a twin bed. I thought it was sweet that Aiden wanted to sleep with them.

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Sunday morning they all headed out by 8:30 so they could go to their old church when they lived here. We went to our early service too, then I met two friends from school in Dallas for lunch. It was great to get out and have adult conversation! Then that night I watched the Oscars. I stayed up to watch the entire thing and was so glad to see Slumdog Millionaire win Best Picture! But I disagree with the critics, I thought it was a great show!

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Julie, I am so glad you stayed with me this weekend and got to see you all! I am still so mad I didn't take pictures, I will do better next time. :)

Daddy Daughter Dance

Jason and Sammi went to our church's Daddy Daughter Dance on Friday. I'm not sure who was more excited about going, Jason or Sammi? It was so cute to see each of them prepare in their own ways. Sammi was focused on looking like a princess in the perfect dress, finding the right shoes, etc. I can't tell you how many stores we went to to find THE dress she wanted. She is such a daddy's girl that she wanted Jason to help her pick out between 2 she couldn't decide on. Funny girl. Jason was focused on his outfit too, but he did something that totally shocked me. He wanted to get her a corsage. Isn't that sweet? Wait, I'm not saying he isn't sweet, I was just shocked that a corsage for a 6 year old even crossed his mind. He loves to dance and so does Sammi, so I just knew they would have fun. I wish I was a fly on the wall to see them dance together or her with her friends. Kids dancing together cracks me up! I gave Jason my camera with one strict instruction: take plenty of pictures!!

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Aren't they a cute couple?

Right before I took this picture, she said "wait". As I waited, she pulled her hair to the side. I have never seen her do this!

Sammi's friends dancing....not sure if she took this picture?

I love this picture! A friend sent it to me and I can't seem to enlarge it. I have a picture of Jason doing the same thing with Sammi when she was 1 at a friend's wedding. Love it!

Jason is known to be the first one on the dance floor. This time, he said Sammi was the one pulling him onto the dance floor. He has met his match!

The night was fun and I am so glad that they went. Sammi has been talking about it ever since, and so has Jason. I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day with your special someone!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

I know we say this every year our children have a birthday, but really, where does the time go? I feel like it was just yesterday I was anxiously waiting to go to the hospital to deliver him. I was to be induced because it had been over 2 weeks of being dilated to a 3 and 75% effaced. That coupled with having Group B Strep, my doctor wanted me to be at the hospital with plenty of time to get all of my antibiotics in. Fine by me! Then at 6 am as we are heading out the door to go to the hospital, they called that there were not enough beds for me so I had to hold on until they called me to go. They didn't know when that would be. What??? My sister and her family got up at the crack of dawn to be at our house before 6 am so she could go to the hospital with us while her husband, Greg, stayed with Sammi and their kids at our house. Instead we waited several hours while my mom and Meredith tried to keep my mind off things. I kept thinking, where would they put me if I was seriously in labor?

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Several hours later they finally called me to go to the hospital. I will spare you the boring delivery details....but after 6 pm Joshua Barton arrived! I was so relieved to finally get to see his pretty face (ok, as pretty as newborns can be) and meet this creature I grew and carried around for over 9 months.

I love this picture Meredith took of him. She is so talented.

First birthday. He was not one of those kids that dove into the cake and got it everywhere. Nope, he freaked out and wanted nothing to do with it. I even tried to put some icing in his mouth so he would know how sweet it was. Nope. Not gonna happen.

Maybe it was the hat that I made him wear that was making him so angry?

Second birthday. Please ignore my horrible attempt at decorating a cake. Gosh, I wish I didn't have any pictures of that hideous mound of cake and icing.

Now THIS is what I call an amazing cake! My friends Jennifer and Dustin made it. Isn't it incredible? All I told them was a train cake. I didn't care what it looked like. I was not expecting this! It was sooooooo yummy too.

In the last year especially, I have learned more about boys than I ever thought I could. At least for mine, they will make a road or track out of anything for their cars or trains to ride on. Sand being poured over their head and into their mouth is fun! Hands in the pants is a must. Jumping from everything and onto everything is not a big deal anymore. Tools are cool! You MUST imitate the sound of a plane, train, race car, etc several times a day. Boys DO want to be just like their daddy's. Claiming that the toot we just heard was theirs. They like to be tough and never sit still, but love to snuggle with their mommy when they are tired. Only having a sister, I have found myself telling Jason about something that Joshua did with a sound of shock in my voice. 99% of the time Jason's response is "It's ok, that's just what boys do". I am getting more and more used to that and just love being the mommy to my precious son.