Turkey Time

Loved, loved, loved Thanksgiving this year! We all gathered around our dining room table for the first time since the boys were born. For the past couple of years Thanksgiving dinner has been a meal eaten in shifts while we take turns eating and feeding the little ones. It was SO nice for everyone to sit down together and enjoy being together and enjoying delicious food. James' favorite was the turkey and Brendan ate almost all of the cranberry sauce we had. Here is a little bit of what we are most thankful for this year:

Daniel:
our family
good health
employment in these hard times
rough-housing with the boys
an awesome season for Auburn
rechargeable batteries
old friends
Netflix streaming
iPhone
concerts


Brendan:
his Gund musical stuffed animal collection
his Bubba
Gerber SmartSips
bath time
Mommy cuddles
the play shopping cart that he zooms all over the house

James:
reading books with Mommy and Daddy
trains
his school
parks
his baby (what he calls Brendan)
Yo Gabba Gabba

Lauren:
the health and happiness of my family
having freedom
all the supportive people in my life
coupons and money-saving blogs
my headache medicine
great childcare for our kiddos
coffee
my GPS
trips
my camera
some "light bulb moments" I have experienced this past year
laughter
the power of prayer

Head. Over. Heels. Still.

Next month Daniel and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage. Amazing. I cannot believe it has been ten years since I married my best friend. I still remember my dad walking me down the aisle like it was yesterday, my hands shakily grasping the communion cup, kissing my groom as our breath fogged in the cold air outside the little chapel, our voices echoing over each other "We did it! We did it!". And here we are today. In a way it seems like a lifetime, in others, like no time has passed. I still get a hammering in my chest over him, still blush when he pays me a compliment. I still feel like a teenager in puppy love at times. What a wonderful feeling it is, not just to love someone, but to BE in love! In the last 10 years our marriage has seen 2 college degrees, 1 big move, 1 masters degree, 2 real jobs, 1 car purchase, 1 mortgage, 3 pregnancies and 2 healthy children. There has been illness and injury and worry and grief. But there has been dancing in the kitchen and road trips and holding newborns and laughter. So much laughter. There has been more good than bad by 1,000 times. It has been a journey I wish I could take again. In a way, we grew up together, him and me. We will grow old together too, hand in hand.

The world has gotten a lot bigger in the last ten years, at least to me. I feel so small in it sometimes, which at times is blissful and at times horrifying. I do not know if it is because 3-0 is looming before me, like a dark shadow trailing wherever I go, but I am so much more reflective and meditative than I have ever been. I understand that 30 is still young, but I feel that someone has put life in fast-forward and it is moving so fast. I want to slow it back down. I am just taking it all in. And I am so blessed to have been loved this much. To have found a person to brave this big, sometimes wonderful, sometimes heartbreaking world with. Someone who thinks I am beautiful at 6am before I have brushed my teeth or gotten the sheet creases off of my face. Someone who thinks I am funny and doesn't get annoyed when I get tickled by myself. Someone who sees in me what probably no one else does, and makes me believe that it is all really true. Someone who does without so I can have. Someone who holds my hand when I am scared, tickles me when I am feeling down and listens to me when I am not saying a word.

My feelings are stronger today than they were when I was that 19 year old kid standing there saying "I do." We have faced so much together and come up swinging. We always do. It's who we are when we are together. Daniel makes me think anything is still possible. He makes me think I can do anything. I would marry him all over again in a heartbeat. He's had my heart since I was 17 and I knew he was the one. What are the odds of something like that working out? But here we are and I am madly in love with this man! I was put on this earth to love him and that is exactly what I am going to do. When I was 19. When I am 29. When I am 99. I have never done anything better in my life than marry Daniel Duffy. It has led to everything amazing since then, especially my children who will grow up seeing their parents head over heels for each other. Boys, you should know that your father is a true gentleman. A hard worker. Compassionate. Funny. Caring. Polite. Honest. Dedicated. Loving. Everything I hope you aspire to be. Daniel, you should know that even among the hectic lives we lead, I never for a second stop appreciating you and there is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for you. I love you now and always. Happy almost 10 years babe!

These pictures are from our anniversary getaway. We went to Granbury and stayed at a B and B. It was so nice to go somewhere just the two of us. We both feel so renewed. We slept in, we read, we sat by the lake, we looked at the stars from the hot tub, we shopped, we drove around, we saw movies. It was so nice. Thanks to Nana and Granddaddy who kept the boys so we could enjoy some time alone. I fell in love all over again!

'Tis the Season

Gotta get caught up on some blogging and I hope to get that done in the next couple of days. We have had a beautiful fall here in North Texas and the weather has finally cooled down. Thanksgiving was wonderful and Daniel and I were able to go away for a couple of blissful days to celebrate (early) our 10th wedding anniversary. MANY thanks to Nana an Granddaddy for staying with the boys and making that possible. Today our team beat Alabama in a great, edge of your seat game. Way to go Auburn! We spent a lazy day around the house and then headed into downtown to see the Parade of Lights - so beautiful! All the floats and Christmas music got me in the holiday spirit! I love Christmas time and everything that goes along with it. The next few days will be spent decorating our house, inside and out. It is finally time for Christmas movies, the Advent Calendar, baking Christmas cookies, putting coins in the red kettles of the Salvation Army, wrapping gifts, Christmas pageants, Christmas carols, the Nativity Scene, visiting Santa, Midnight Mass and Christmas cards. Here is the Duffy Family Christmas Card 2010.....mailing them out in a few weeks.

Top Ten Moments Christmas Card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

PS - Why the card? If you post your Shutterfly Christmas card on your blog, you earn a $25 gift card to Shutterfly! I am always looking for a great deal! Already got 30% off on my cards, free shipping and $10 off! LOVE TO SAVE THAT MONEY!!! Cha ching!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QYtWrhsyaMnHg

The Cheapskates' Halloween

I will admit it. I can be pretty cheap. I prefer frugal, but whatever you want to call it, I just like to get a good deal! There are some things I am willing to spend money on no questions asked, but for the most part I enjoy shopping around and planning ahead to save our hard-earned dinero. I also love holidays and know that my spending can get out of hand, so this Halloween I challenged myself. The challenge was to spend LESS but do MORE. Hmmmm. Could it be done? Oh yes! It turns out it was possible! Even on a budget, man oh man did the Duffy family have a great Halloween this year! So here's how we had the BEST Halloween yet without feeling the pinch:

The boys participated in a Halloween parade and Trunk or Treat at school (read: no additional money to spend other than the $4 I spent on fruit snacks for the parade! Yahoo!!!!). We visited the Pumpkin Patch and everything was free.....from the Hayride to the bounce houses. I was going to buy each of the boys a small pumpkin there, but James pointed out we already had a big one at home so we didn't need more (smart kid!). We carved our jack-o-lantern from a pumpkin I got for $4 BEFORE we went to the Pumpkin Patch. We decorated the yard with painted wooden candy corns I bought at a garage sale. I decorated the inside of the house with a collection of ceramic Halloween houses I have been collecting for several years and packages of "spider web" and mini-pumpkins that I got for $5. We got "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on DVR and popped popcorn we already had. We made the brownie pumpkin (family tradition since I was a kid) for about $7 and had a visit from the Great Pumpkin too, thanks to Nana and Granddaddy. The boys got some cute books and new clothes and toys and snacks and were very thrilled to open their "Great Pumpkin" bags after trick-or-treating. I got the boys a few Halloween trinkets on sale at Kroger of all places. Their favorite thing? The plastic glasses with the nose and mustache attached! Brendan and James were super cute in their costumes. James was a pumpkin, which he picked out and Brendan was a spider. I was so excited with their costumes because they were precious and so affordable. I got their costumes (Pottery Barn Kids and Old Navy!) from JBF and I got them for about $20 total. We spent $20 on Halloween candy to give out to the trick-or-treaters. So all in all, I figure we spent about $65 on everything. That comes out to about $16 per person for our family of four and that ladies and gentlemen is how you do a fun-filled and memorable Halloween on a budget!