It's Almost Merry Christmas:)

I can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here! As a teacher and mom, I count down the days until Christmas break just like the kids do. Guess what? Only 5 more days left! We have had quite a busy December so far. Last weekend, we took the kids to the annual lighting ceremony at Bob Jones University and then to Krispy Kreme for a snowman doughnut. This has become somewhat of a yearly family tradition with all of the cousins attending as well. Then the kids were in their first parade! My husbands new job does a float for the Anderson Christmas parade so the kids got to have their first debut! They loved it! Poor JJ ended the day with a rather nasty stomach bug which he passed to mommy....Oh well. It's still almost Christmas:)

Yesterday we had our annual family (my sisters and brothers) Christmas at Aunt Christy's house. I'm so glad that we were all back to good health so that we could go! We have started doing this little get together every year because we are all in different places on the actual day of Christmas. It was so fun! JJ has talked all week about going to Aunt Christy's house. He absolutely adores that place. We exchanged gifts and ate way too much. I love getting to spend time with my siblings and catching up on their lives!

This last week before break is packed as well! We have Christmas programs and work dinners to attend. We have friends to see and lots of Christmas movies to fit in. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year! I'm loving it!

Merry Christmas just a little bit early!

starlight snowflake

Starlight Snowflakes Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I think it's going to be a Shutterfly Christmas!

Wow, another year is almost gone! Can you believe it? I love the Christmas season and the best way to complete the year is with a cute family Christmas card. Shutterfly.com has the best choices I have seen so far. If you have not already, you should definitely go check out their site. They are offering fifty free Christmas cards to all blogger customers this year! I plan to do a photo of just the kids or maybe one of all four of us depending on the design. There are so many cute designs to choose from, that I need your help picking one out:

First choice:

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/holiday-cards

Second choice:

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-cards

Third choice:

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-photo-cards

I cannot wait to see what the final product will look like. I plan to send a card to all of my family and friends to let them know I love them and see how much our kids have grown. Go check out the Shutterfly holiday collection yourself and share the excitement with me!

Holiday Drama

*Warning-serious venting ahead...

Wow. My students love 'Llama, Llama' books, and I recently ordered a new one for my classroom. It's called "Llama, Llama Holiday Drama". BOY OH BOY can I relate with that title! It's funny how very exciting the holidays can be, and yet how very stressful they are at the same time! I love the excitement of putting the tree up and decorating, seeing family, baking lots of extra goodies, digging out the warm clothes, etc. I hate the stress of making sure everyone gets a meaningful gift, running here and there and everywhere, whiny kids, late nights, and money, money, money. There is just never enough is there? I mean, I can remember a few years back. We had VERY LITTLE then due to the recent addition of two kids to our family. It has been four years now...and it seems we are in the same exact boat as then as far as finances are concerned. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Will it ever get better? I could go on and on and stress and stress but then I remember that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. WOW! Funny how this holiday drama can quickly make us forget the real reason for the season. I have been wavering in between sanity and craziness for a couple of days now. I guess learning to be thankful is a process one must struggle through on a daily basis. I am thankful though. SO VERY THANKFUL. God has been good to my little family. God IS good to my family. Life and stress may cloud my judgement, but I am thankful! I'm starting my new years resolution early this year....Be thankful for every moment and stop stressing over things in life that you cannot change!

Fall Updates for Melanie

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since my last blog update because I have been too busy enjoying life...or at least trying to! My husbands new job has taken some adjusting but is going well. God continues to provide our needs on a daily basis! Overall, compared to all that I see everyone around us going through...we have much to be thankful for! We are all in good health, we have a close knit family and lots of support, and we have everything that we need for now. God has been good to us! Of course, I am thinking of things I am thankful for as Thanksgiving Day gets closer and closer....

The two pictures below are of Miracle and JJ on their first Thanksgiving as part of the Splan clan in 2007. Can you believe how much they have grown? Miracle is with Nanna and JJ is with Papa. We are counting down the days until we get to spend another Thanksgiving with them!

We had a great Halloween. JJ was a skeleton this year and Miracle was a fairy. They loved knocking on doors. It was so cute...JJ would knock and if no one answered he would say: "Daddy, its not working." in a frustrated voice. Miracle was a bit shy with the adults, but JJ led the way each time with a "Trick or Treat!" It was a great night!



I know this is a silly picture, but I love it! My sister and I decided to dress up with the kids (we were trying to be young again), and I wore my trusty poodle skirt. I made Josh pose for a good fifties kiss with the foot kicked up and all...aren't I pathetic? Good memories though!




Last but not least, I want to wish this handsome man of mine a happy birthday! He is a wonderful husband! I am so glad to have spent another wonderful year with him and am looking forward to the years to come! I really could not have asked for a better best friend or help mate! I love you baby!
Happy Thankgiving to everyone! I love, love this time of year and have convinced my husband to let me put up the Christmas tree already! Holiday cheer can never start to early if you ask me;)

A Day at Denver Downs and Birthday wishes

We decided to take the kids to a pumpkin patch yesterday. It has been way too long since we could do something fun as a family. It was kind of expensive but all too often life gets in the way of enjoying every moment so we went for it anyway!

Here are my three favorite people getting ready to try the rope swing!

This sweet boy turns 3 on Friday. I want to remember this sweet little face forever and ever. I cannot believe how much he has grown already!

Can you tell that daddy and son are two peas in a pod? and both lefties?

Happy Fall 2010!

So this is the new look for fall 2010. What do you think? The picture is of JJ and Miracle last Halloween. I think its such a sweet picture of her helping him cross the street safely! Its been awhile since a good update, but life at the Splan clan has taken a few unexpected turns. My husband had to quit his job for reasons that I fully support him for, but it threw our little family for a loop and a half. Thankfully, God provided him with another, better job less than a week after being unemployed. We are having to make some minor adjustments and learning that God is in control no matter what the case may be.

The kids are doing very well. JJ is about to turn 3! I cannot believe how fast he has grown. He took a lot of big boy steps this week. No more paci at bedtime (the only time he got it before) and big boy underwear all the time now. GO JJ! Miracle is working hard and enjoying first grade. Her love for the social life has had to be squeltered somewhat in order to prioritize school work...but she is loving it nonetheless. She is my beautiful dreamer, and I would never squash that...but she is having to mature and learn when it is OK to talk and laugh and when it is not OK.

I am thoroughly enjoying the feeling of fall in the air and looking forward to the upcoming holidays. I tried to get my husband to let me put the Christmas tree up already. He said NO! I guess he thinks its too early or something;)

Somebody has a BIRTHDAY!

I have decided that I am going to capture my sister's blog once again. I have to do this as tomorrow is her BIRTHDAY. I have to say that growing up I was usually wanting to do everything she got to do. She was three years older and always got to do cooler things. Well this has changed (We get to do the cool things together), but I still say that my life would not be the same with out my amazing, fun loving, sweet, sensitive sister. Growing up she was always the plan maker from making me sit for hours on end so she could teach me to getting in trouble becaues the plan had issues, she always had a plan to do something fun. :) Today life has changed, and we are no longer the carefree little girls we once used to be. She is now married with two kids, but we are as close as ever.

Here is my dedication to my sweet, sassy, fun loving, big, little :) sister. I hope that she has a FUN and AMAZING birthday. May God continue to bless you as you continue to grow in Him this year. Thanks for always being there when I need you. You are the best. I Love you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I will not tell all how old you are as that would be unkind:)

puppies

These puppies were thrown into the cudzoo(sp?) across the street from our house. I hate the horrible man who did it, but I am so glad that my husband was able to find them. We will be taking them to the humane society tomorrow unless we can find homes for them first....

Any takers?

Back to School....

The school year has gotten off to a good start around here. Miracle was ever so excited to go back, and she is loving first grade more than ever!

Here she is on her first day with her little brother. (His heart was broken that he could not go to school too!)


Here she is with mommy.

They both wore blue for church this morning, and I snapped the cutest picture....aren't they adorable?


It kinda stinks that summer days are over, but we are anxiously awaiting the coolness of fall! Mommy is already planning trips to apple orchards and pumpkin patches for some fun fall celebrations. As the kids get older, it gets more and more fun to plan exciting things for them to do! I hope you all are having a good month too!

Facebook (1)

"Happy Anniversary to my AWESOME Husband! The last four years have been the best roller coaster ever! Lots of ups and downs, lots of anxiety, tons of fun, and worth every minute! I'd wait in line for EVER if I had the chance to re-do it all...as long as it was with you! I love you!"

Happy Anniversary to my husband and best friend

Dating...

Our Wedding...


After four years of loving, laughing, and making perfect memories!


I love you baby...happy anniversary!

Just havin' fun!

So this week has been our last free week before the school year starts (for mommy at least)! Miracle has one more week off before she starts first grade....she is super excited. I keep telling her that she shouldn't wish summer break away because there will come a day when she wishes she had it again;) However, in her little girl mind, nothing is cooler than going to school every day. I used to love school when I was little too....my how times change once you grow up a little! Nanna and Papa were here last week and helped us out by buying her some school stuff. She chose a blue book bag last year and it was the worst mistake ever. She asked me every day if she could get a pink one instead:) When we ventured out for the new bag this year, she almost decided on purple. I had to gently remind her how much she regretted not getting pink last year...she quickly remembered the pain of a blue bag last year...and went for a cute pink one instead. Little girls are so much fun! Every day since then, she has asked how many days until school starts...bless her little heart! It's scary how grown up she is. We had to pick her up some deodorant today at Walmart. She is still pretty young but with this hot summer it has become a must. She feels so grown up, and when I asked her when she was supposed to put deodorant on she quickly replied (with a very big girl voice) 'When I get dressed in the morning and after a bath'! She so looks forward to being a big girl...we have our work cut out for us with this one!

Despite the school excitement, we have just enjoyed being home with each other this week. Monday and Tuesday were spent cleaning and being lazy. The kids have played together so well and seem to truly enjoy each others company. I love the relationship that they share and hope that it ends up being as special as the relationships I share with my siblings! We ventured out today and helped my sister with her classroom a bit. It was super hot, but we enjoyed being out and about anyway. We are still working diligently on the potty training thing and am sad to say we are stuck at 75% of the way there....We keep working though and are hoping to be diaper free by time the holidays are here!

I should go. It's almost time for the beloved "Big Brother", and I need to get a house full of kids calmed down and headed towards bed. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

New blog design...

So I am trying out this new blog design. I can't decide if I like it or not...don't be surprised if it changes again tomorrow:) If you like it...you gotta let me know!

Fun in the 100 degree sun...

My parents came up from MI to visit their kids this week. I new the week would fly by but had no idea how truly fast it would go:( We kicked off their week in SC by introducing them to the HOT HOT SC sun. We went to this beautiful park in Westminster called the Chau Ram County Park. It was almost an hour away but well worth the drive! Also, it felt like it was a thousand degrees outside...but we all had a blast anyway! The reason we chose this park so far away was for the beautiful waterfalls and the cool river to swim in. Being that we are all from MI, we are all used to having a good lake or river to swim in within 15 minutes any direction you go in the good old Northern country. It's a little different here in the South, however, so we had to go searching for the comforts of 'home':)

Here is the only half way decent shot I got of Miracle. She doesn't stay in the same place for long!

This is my niece Meredith enjoying the little stream near where we ate our lunch.

Jack and JJ enjoyed the stream as well...It was SO SO hot and the water was so COOL!

JJ taking a rest with daddy in the gazebo.

A self portrait of me and my favorite husband:)

The kids loved the juice boxes.

The two youngest cousins in their matching swim trunks.

This is my mom and dad in front of the waterfall.

Me and the kids with my mom

My husband being a kid again and enjoying the waterfall up close and personal:)

Last but not least, my favorite shot of the day....my two favorite munchkins!

Is it really almost over?

Well friends, its been a long while since a good update from the Splan Clan. We have just been so busy with enjoying summer and working. Miracle spent two weeks in Michigan during which we painted her room as a birthday surprise. It turned out super cute!

She absolutely loves it! JJ and I spent our two weeks off with sissy gone just havin' fun! We played at the park, played with the cousins, celebrated fourth of July, and JJ even helped do some painting. We also spent a lot of our time missing sissy....she has never been away from home that long so it was really hard.

Summer is just flying by. Only 3 more weeks of summer fun before school actually starts back up again. CRAZY! I spent a lot of time today looking for Christmas gift ideas online. After wasting way too much time doing this...I realized just how fast Christmas will be here already! I'm not wishing any time away though so onto more 'summer' talk:)

The kids are spending their days at Ms Dana's house. They love her and have a lot of fun over there most days. They do prefer Aunt Christy's house though...and JJ has been very adamantly reminding me of that on a daily basis. The other day, Miracle was crying because she had just gotten scolded for feeding her dinner to the dog. JJ pointed at her and said, "ha ha you trouble!" He got scolded for this comment of course....but it was so funny! His little sense of humor is really starting to come out!

Miracle has grown about 3 inches this summer. Her shoes are too small and her pants are too short....she is going to shoot way past me before she even reaches high school! We are preparing to buy lots of new jeans throughout the year if she keeps growing at this pace! We are also preparing to ward the boys off pretty soon...as she grows, she gets more and more beautiful!

Overall, we have much to be thankful for this year. It's going by WAY to fast...but its been a good one!

I forgot to mention that we got a new little addition at our house. His name is Patrick Murphy and he an adorable little tabby cat! He is a perfect little friend for JJ and Miracle (he has managed all of the 'loving' very well), and he is turning out to be a good little kitty! He plays a lot, cuddles a lot, and has mastered the litter box quite nicely! I let him sleep with me most nights and have really enjoyed him!

Hope you all have a wonderful end of summer!

My Beautiful Sister

Kelly at kellyscorner is doing a fun matchmaking attempt. It is really hard these days to meet good fellow Christians so I had to enter my little sister. She will probably kill me later, but she deserves a good man and this could be a chance for her...so here goes nothing!

Meet Melanie Kay Cuddie (on the right) my beautiful little sister. She is 24 and is a Christian school teacher. She earned her BS in elementary education with a minor in Spanish from Pensacola Christian College. She will be starting her second year of teaching first grade this coming fall. As you can tell from the picture below...she loves to have fun with her friends! She enjoys reading, playing with her nieces and nephews, and spending lots of time with family. She was raised in a great Christian home and has a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ.

She is originally from a small town in Michigan but is currently residing in the Upstate of South Carolina. She considers her job a ministry and works wonders in the lives of the small children she teaches. She is kind of shy but as soon as you get to know her....FUN! In the picture below she is with our mom whom she is very close with.

She would never do something like this for herself. She is just waiting on God's timing. She is a ton of fun, and I really can't say enough good things about her!


I don't want to give out her email address so please just leave a note in the comments below and we can go from there! Thanks for taking to the time to read a big sisters matchmaking attempt:)

Here it is...

Our new TV Armoire in all its glory...We just got this yesterday for an AWESOME deal off craigslist....I LOVE IT! What do you think?

Little Miss Princess and her new do:)

My first try at twists and they turned out pretty good! Sorry about the mess in the background...hair fixing can be messy! Also, sorry for the lack of order...I can never figure out how to re arrange the pictures after uploading them...

My Pets

I have four cats and two dogs. Before we had kids, we had 3 dogs and 5 cats that all lived inside. It was crazy but helped me prepare for having kids to take care of! After the kids arrived, the cats got kicked out (no good place for a smelly liter box with small kids around) and the dogs were banished from spending a lot of time inside accept for nights of course. Even though we had to kick them outside and spend less time with them, I love them all so much! Its such a joy to come home every day to my wonderful cat, Otis. He is a home body. The others enjoy going out for week long hunting trips or scavenges, but good old Otis likes to be nearby. For months he wouldn't even come in the house if we begged him, but he was always around the porch. He slowly started to enjoy coming in for small amounts of time and is now our favorite little inside/outside cat! He greets us every morning and meets me every day after work for a quick pet. There was one day when Otis wasn't around. I was a bit worried but thought maybe he had just went hunting or something. He was gone the next day too and the next. I started to get really worried that he had been stolen or something. I called the humane society and called for him on and off for hours. Nothing. Finally, the humane society suggested I check any outbuildings that he could have gotten stuck in after the recent downpour. I checked our shed that is always ALWAYS closed....and there was Otis. He had been stuck in there for four days! I was beside myself and Otis was very happy to be rescued. We are so lucky he didn't die in there! Our dogs, Kahlua and Jezzi, are also faithful friends. Kahlua has been with us since shortly after we were married and Jezzi was a later edition. (I can never turn away an animal in need of a home!) They are both relatively large dogs but think they are lap dogs anyway. Kahlua is MY dog, and she is very strong willed about making that point clear every evening. If Josh is sitting too close to me and she has no room to lay near me on the couch, she does a little yippee dance until Josh moves over a bit. Josh will have half a couch on his other side but she won't calm down unless nearest to me. Its really good for my ego;) Jezzi is the hairy one....I have vowed to never get another long haired dog, but Jezzi will have to stay until she is on her last leg. After all, I have a hard time getting rid of animals that I have promised a good home for reasons as little as shedding, though its really not a little reason at all. I have blond dog hair everywhere these days! Its so annoying. Don't sit down on our couch with black pants on before work...you'll end up taking half of Jezzi to work with you! She isn't even aloud on the furniture most of the time but the stuff find its way everywhere. She is super loving though and the shedding is usually forgivable. These two dogs are faithful friends...I'm really not sure one could make it without the other. Tom and Jerry are two of my other cats. They really aren't that friendly and only come around once in awhile. Cliffy, on the other hand, is our favorite grandpa cat. We got Cliffy and Macy (who has since passed after gracing us with MANY kittens) when we first married. We lived in a one bedroom apartment. We have so many good memories with him. There was one time that we were getting ready to leave SC for MI. At the last minute, I couldn't find Cliffy. I was sure he had escaped out the door as he often tried to do. We searched the perimeter of the apartments for almost an hour. I was crying and very upset. I was sure he had been lost forever when he finally decided to come out from under the box springs on our bed. He was way up in there and even our best attempts had failed to get him out! Cliffy and Macy have been with us through 3 moves, so Cliffy you see is somewhat of a family member now. He likes to hunt for weeks at a time, and I have thought he was gone forever on several occasions. He comes around once in awhile though and comes inside for some cuddles.

I'm writing all of this down because I want to remember these faithful friends forever. They do make life interesting and at times very stressful. Any vacations can be quite a bear because we have to find willing animal watchers. The dogs are wild and annoy company. Jezzi's hair is EVERYWHERE! Kahlua jumps on the kids sometimes, and Jezzi chases the cats. They are all messy and big eaters. However, despite all of the hard times, the little eyes that look up at us with love every day are our faithful friends! We have decided to be animal free for awhile after these guys pass but that will be years from now so I still enjoy every minute! I can't help it...I love animals!

Here is the sister that likes to kidnap the blog! I am once again sitting at my sister's house waiting to go to church, and she trustingly signed me into her blog. I guess it is good that I am not a mean sister, or I would have something mean to write. I am sitting here typing listening to JJ scream "sissy SISSY!" across the house. He is so cute and growing up so fast. I am now watching Miricale stand for a picture of her new hair do. The new do is so cute. Well the sister sitting beside me is starting to feel sick and that is not cool at all.
Well on to another topic. I have been thinking lately about life. Life has stages all around. You start out as a baby, and pass through the stages of life to become an adult. Along those stages you also have stages of impacting people that enter your life. They come in your life unexpected and either leave it unexpected or are there for longer than you expected. I am not sure what most people would say, but I do know that no matter how short the time is each new impact is special. Each of those people should be counted as special for leaving such a special spot in your heart. God has a plan for everyone's life, and He alone knows how people can affect us and do. I can remember so many people through my short life that I do not know what I would have done without them. Some have come and gone through the passage of time, and some are still with me today making an imprint on my life. There have been tears for those that have come and gone, but I am thankful for the time that I have had. I guess this long rambly thing from me is to remind you to treasure the moments you have with the people in your life today. Do not take for granted what God blesses you with each and every time.
Well I am being told not to post, but I want to. I guess the stolen blog will have to be returned. Hope you enjoyed this long ramble from the sister that likes to steal the blog. :)

Happy Monday:)

I woke up this morning and was VERY tired. I had taken Benedryl before bed in order to prevent the allergy sickness that is spreading through my house. I had to leave earlier than normal for work in order to take my kids to my sister's house for the day. They were so excited so it was entirely worth it. I had a long day at work and was prepared for a long night. However, on my long ride to get my kids, I determined within myself that we were going to have a good night. When we got home, the daunting task of dinner preparation threatened to steal away my determination. Thankfully, I had gotten chicken out and just had to figure out how I wanted to prepare it. I found a good casserole recipe online and started cookin'! Along the way, I decided to try making some home made french bread with my bread maker. Along that way, I decided to make some chocolate chip cookie bars to accent my wonderful chicken casserole and home made bread. All in all, dinner turned out great and the night was enjoyable. God is good. After a long day at work, He somehow sparked my heart and enabled me to still have a good night with my family. There are so many days when I feel the best parts of me are used up at work. I get home and want to sit and do nothing. Again, God is so gracious for giving me the strength needed to be a decent mom and wife after a hard day at work!

new outlooks...

OK. I usually find myself updating this blog when times are toughest. It seems there is always something to complain about. Well, of course, there is always something to complain about. Life is just that way. The bumps and curves are not fun but what would life be without them? And besides that, I need to start focusing on how good we have it and not on how bad life can seem on some days. I had a not so fun day today. I actually was wishing I could skip this day last night...and yet, here I am today at the end of my horrible day wondering why I ever worried at all. Everything worked out just fine. Yes, I had a huge evaluation at school and a not so pleasant annual doctors appointment, but it all worked out just fine. The Dr. only had to ask me a few questions about how the kids are doing to make me realize how much we have been through since seeing her last. Those few questions also made me really thankful for all the progress we have made in those moments. This life is flying by, and I am worrying it away on days that really shouldn't be worried about at all! God is good to us. He always makes sure the bills are paid when mommy's best budgets cant fit them all in. He makes bad days go better or He gives us the strength to deal with them. He is God after all. I just wish I could remember to trust Him as such.

I keep up with a lot of blogs--a lot of others' stories and lives written down for memories sake. I read their hopes and dreams and follow their heartaches. It's fun and entertaining to keep up with these families through their blogs. A lot of times it is their heartaches that make me realize how good I have it, or their words that encourage me to improve certain areas of my own life. I hope if you read this blog it can do the same for you.

Who knows where my family will be in 3 or 4 years. I can't see that far ahead, and I really don't want to. I want to enjoy every moment that we have here and now. I want to keep blogging and reading blogs and figuring out how to truly 'live' this life as I should!

pictures

Here are a bunch of pictures of my sweet family just havin fun:) Easter photos included as well....sorry they are all mixed up....blogger is not my friend:(

Above you see JJ's throwing stance...just like his daddy!

The Splan Clan on Easter Sunday

Best Buds


Pretty as a Princess

Coloring eggs with dad

"Quiet! Man at work!"