Mason Gregory Garka

Not sure when it exactly happens but sometime around Thanksgiving I blinked and I was suddenly surrounded by and in the FULL BLOWN Christmas season. I shouldn't be but am always amazed at how quickly time goes by... I feel like it was just yesterday we were enjoying the warmth of the summer and now we are hunkered down ready for the snow to come. Any day now, my son inherited my patience... There is something about this time of year that is special. I believe it to be a combination... We spend time celebrating our Savior, we get to spend extra time with all of the people we love the most, and CHILDREN. Children make this time of year extra special. It is magical for them which makes it magical to me. Just like anything in life there is the flip side. This time of year also comes with sadness. It is a time when I miss the ones who have left us. I guess I should re-phrase this a little bit. I miss them all daily but the holidays seem to bring out how much a little more....

WHAT a fantastic afternoon spent with Santa.    Mason had a lot to share.  He went over his list twice and asked if he was good enough to get toys?!?!?! He is getting SOOO big and his hair... He sure loves a comb over!   Miss Kendall struggled. She was not a fan and did not want to participate in these photos. I tried to help out but it didn't make a difference.    At least everyone else looks happy!   And then it was just Mason - Again in deep conversations with Santa.    Third times a charm with Kendall. Come to find out she just didn't want Mrs. Claus in the photo! (Not really - this is when the photographer got out some silly looking animal and made some funny noises - no complaints here it worked)   SUCCESS. Or at least this is the best we are going to get.    Next up RY and Hudson!   LIKE PRO'S! This one is my favor...

Tonight we celebrated Thanksgiving with our family. Yes a week early but when you have "many" family obligations and you work in retail it is really the only way to get quality time together. Although this year I get THREE days off this week... Did someone forget Black Friday is 4 days away? Is this a joke? Someone pinch me, quick?!?!?! Back to what I was saying... We ate to much, took our sugar high children home and put them to bed. Lucky for us they crashed. Then we started our nightly routine of picking up from the days disaster... Am I the only Mom who feels like their home is a "construction zone" with messes everywhere???? Needless to say... Tonight while picking up I came across a journal I kept while Mason was in the hospital (the first time, right after he was born). Not sure how this magically appeared but I am pretty sure Mason actually found it and started to claim it as his personal art book. On the top of each of the pages I had written the ...

I missed the boat.  This post was written to be published in October (specifically around the Seattle Heart Walk).... Oops. Welcome to my life! It is something different from my normal post"ings" yet something I have grown more and more passionately about.  This post is about women's heart health. After all we first must take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. Right? As a mother speaking I don't usually follow this rule but sitting her without giving it much thought I think DUH? The problem is our actions in one moment (repeated over and over) can = an un-happy heart.  Lets think about this differently... You are getting ready to take off on an airplane and even the flight attendants before you fly remind you to put your air mask on before helping your children with theirs. Its going to be no surprise when I say to you that we try very hard to make sure that Mason and Kendall grow up eating GOOD foods. I mean its gotten to the point...

I know this video has been around.  But I feel moved to share it yet again! I think we all need to take his advice what a great pep talk! "The world needs you to stop being BORING" " BORING IS EASY ... But your gooder than that" "If LIFE is a game aren't we all on the same team? I'M ON YOUR TEAM. Be on MY TEAM" "THIS IS YOUR TIME, THIS IS OUR TIME, THIS IS MY TIME" "WE COULD MAKE EVERYDAY better for one an other. If we are all on the same team lets start acting like it" "YOU ARE MADE TO BE AWESOME"  "GO GET TO IT" "Create something that will make the world AWESOME"

GRATITUDE this month is everywhere.  Facebook is blowing up with the THANKFUL challenge ( that's  what I am calling it). This is where each person every day in the month of NOVEMBER posts one thing a day that they are thankful for… My favorite is when they post their thanks with a good old FLASHBACK PHOTO. (The photos make me smile) If we are “friends” on good ole FB it’s no secret I haven’t joined in however I love this more than I originally thought. WHY you ask?!?!? I love this concept because it shifts the focus off of our BUSY lives and schedules and onto people and things that we have to be THANKFUL for…. Raising kids is hard. Raising kids to be THANKFUL can be even harder. We work with M&K on manners and even work with MASON on verbalizing what he is thankful for… (We just work with KENDALL on talking and animal noises; for the moment)! Being THANKFUL (having a sense of GRATITUDE) is IMPORTANT . It has been proven to be one of the biggest...

Well, we are only SIX days in so it might be a little premature to say, but November is going to be a BUSY month. That being said it will still turn out to be a FANTASTIC MONTH and possibly my favorite month of the year... I LOVE FALL, I LOVE THE COLORS and the rain doesn't start to bother me until mid-January! SO BRING ON BOOTS!!!!  The weather so far this month.... Genuine to what the "EMERALD CITY" is famous for... RAINY with a splash of wind! Despite the wind and rain we still make it a point to head our to enjoy the beautiful colors of FALL. After all a little rain never hurt anybody! NOVEMBER also brings us THANKS giving. If you are on social media at all you more than likely have a  Facebook  account which means that at least one of your  "friends " have been posting what they are THANKFUL for each day for the month. They are taking the THANKFUL challenge! Me. I have not started participating.  I am after-al...

Okay. I am the worst blogger. I find it hard to maintain a blog, a career, multiple business, my home, my family, my marriage and my husbands career.... To name a few. In the most recent future I have been working on a "blogging" project. I am not ready to air it all just yet.... (I am still working on the courage to hit publish - Pray for me)! So in the meantime while you wait here are some fun fall photos from our family adventures ! Mason has such a heart for making people happy. He makes me happy in everything he does but he is constantly wanting to write his family love notes... This has turned into such a fun pen-pal relationship with his Horsey Grandma It is amazing to me how many women in my generation don't know how to sew, knit or make good ole canned applesauce and homemade apple pies. I am not judging I was one of these women but I don't want me kids to grow up not knowing what this heavenly treat in a mason jar tastes like. So I enli...