Blessed Mommy

I am feeling very blessed today for healthy happy children. I want to cherish every moment of them in this coming year. I know "my" time will lessen as they grow. Even the rough moments of tears and fighting are mine and I am so thankful for even those. As I clean up their toys today I feel happy to have little ones to make the mess. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be a mommy to 3 amazing children. They are such an incredible gift. I don't feel some days like I am adequate to do the job but I know that you are. You chose me to do this job. I want to do it to the fullest that I can. My goal this year is to play more, laugh more,  to give more hugs and kisses, and to be frustrated less.
I have tears running down my face right now and felt inspired to write this as encouragement for others and a reminder for myself to look back. I have been touched today by a few stories of others who have had family tragedy. My heart is broken for them, overjoyed, and overwhelmed at the the thought that God gave each of my children to us as a precious gift. I never want to forget that or take it for granted.
As you go into this coming year of 2011 purpose to find a way to love on your kids even more. I know I will.

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas surrounded by your loved ones as we are.

If you have had the pleasure in the past of reading my dad's Christmas letters you will definitely enjoy this one. If you are new to his humor you should read along as well. This year was a group effort and lots of fun. Here in the link for the Green/Marteney family Christmas letter.
http://www.mypreciouskid.com/christmas2010.html

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Marteney Family!

Just in case you love Christmas letters and were curious about past letters here is a glace back at our family over the past few years. The letter style is a bit different every time. Amazing all of the fun announcements and changes in the family pictures we have had. Love it!
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003

Twin Trouble

I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

A Month of Madison

This month has been super busy with lots of fun events all for Madison. We started off with a big princess bash for her 4th birthday. You can see more pics on facebook and here.

We have a family tradition of going to dinner with my family and seeing Christmas lights. It has turned into Madison's family birthday celebration. She loves it! This year we went to Spaghetti Factory and then to the Winter Wonderland display at PIR. We had a wonderful time.

On Madison's actual birthday Daddy came home from work with flowers for his girl.

 She chose to go bowling with our friends Tricia, Kaeden, Koleson, and Kelton. They kids all had a blast and definitely beat my score. :)

The following day Madison got to bring cupcakes and show and tell to school. They have a special birthday hat and song. It was lots of fun to get to be in the class room with her for that.

Then on Wednesday her class had their holiday program. Madison and Sydney were front and center and did a great job singing. Madison waved and smiled proudly! I loved it.

Thursday was her class holiday party. Dara and I both got to help this time and were in charge of the snack. Making gingerbread houses!

It has been a fun month already with lots more to do this week for Christmas. I love this time of year. I am not sure what Madison is going to think though when the month of presents ends. It has been non stop. I am going to have to have a major toy purge in January. :)

Shutterfly Review

I wanted to share with you about a great company. I LOVE www.shutterfly.com. They have so many great products from Christmas cards to gifts.
We purchased our Christmas cards from them last year as well and I was so happy with the quality. I was originally planning on making my own cards this year but ran out of time. Thank goodness for Shutterfly. They are easy fast and have lots of fun holiday designs in their Holiday 2010 Christmas Cards.


They also have some great photo gifts. I love this mug filled with sweets. What a perfect gift for grandparents.

 My other favorite item by Shutterfly is their photo books and photo calendars. They are a great quick way to document a special event in your life. What an easy way for the busy mom like me who wants to have adorable scrapbooks but doesn't have them time. Or another great grandparent gift.

The last item I came across was the mounted artwork. I am in love with the striped baby print on their site. Such a cute addition to a nursery. An easy way to have a professional piece without the hassle of framing it.

Definitely check out their site. You will love what you find.

Family Photos 2010

When we had the kids pics done a few weeks ago we also had Green Family Photos with our latest addition Miss Emma Kate. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.

Poppi & Nana

 Haley and her nieces and nephews.

My little sisters Haley and Ally

Jordan, Katie, and Emma

Our first niece Emma Kate.

The girls.

Beautiful girl

And a couple more cute shots of Madison.

Hope you are having a great week. Thanksgiving, Madison's b-day party, and Christmas tree pics coming later this week.

18 months & 4 yrs old!

The boys turned 18months on the 8th. They are getting soo big so fast and lots more fun all the time. They are both adding words constantly. Mason has around 25words and Micah has around 10.  Micah was 23lbs 10oz and 33inches and Mason was 24lbs 3oz and 33 1/2 inches. I am not convinced their heights were accurate as Mason is visibly taller than Micah now. They love balls, trucks, their sister, and the cat.
They are both horribly picky eaters! If it is not a hot dog, chicken nuggets, cracker, cheese, or fruit forget it.  Veggies or any other meat form need not apply. :) We are working on it.

Micah is Mr. Independent playing on his own a lot of the time. He was more content making Uh-huh-huh noises than talking til the last 2 weeks. He is the ham of the group though. If you tell him no he looks away and then raises his eyebrows and peeks back at you to test your answer. He will  just crack himself up over something with the cute fake laugh. He loves to get his brothers tummy and be tickled.

Mason is the social one. He yells Bubba to wake Micah up most mornings, or calls Sissy if she is not around. He talks and chatters all day long and says hi to people walking by in the stroller. He is a bit more of an observer if they actually come up to him though. He is also a bit more needy of my attention than Micah which is opposite of how they were as babies. He loves hugs! I love watching their personalities grow and change.

Madison will be 4 on the 13th. She is turning into such a fun little girl. She has just the right amount of sassiness. Although I am sure some days I may struggle with that same attitude. She loves all things girlie. Dress up and make up, Princess anything, Barbies, shopping, babies (real and dolls), her best friend Sydney, and her brothers. She is quite the social butterfly. She loves preschool and knew everyone's names in the first week. This month has been tough having so few school days. She is so excited to go back tomorrow. Little does she know Christmas break is coming. She is super excited for her Princess Birthday Party this weekend. The chance to be girlie and be with all her friends is the ultimate day for Madison. I think I am just as excited for her to experience all that I have planned though. I am looking forward to doing more "girl" things with Madison this year. It is nice that the babies are big enough for us to do that. One last thing about Madison- She is a DUCKS fan and will tell you! She tells Daddy that Beavers stink and wants to buy him a Duck shirt for Christmas. She is working with me on transforming him. :)

My kids are getting so fun. They all play well together most days and truly love each other. I am one lucky mommy.

Watch for more family pictures later in the week.

Halloween fun!

If you read my last post you know that we had a very busy month. Here are the rest of our October photos.

Auntie Haley came over one evening. The kids all LOVE her.

This was my attempt at getting a picture of the boys and their friend Kelton at our Mommy 2 Mommy party.

I got to help with Madison's harvest party at school. It was so much fun to see what they do in the classroom.  I got to hear several of their songs and get to know each of the kids.

I helped with the games. We had David and Goliath, a pumpkin bean bag toss,

 and pin the nose on the jack o lantern.

 Here is Transformer Micah.

 Stories with Mrs. Umashankar after games.

Sydney was making a silly pose with  her hand so Madison followed. They are so funny.

Sydney, Madison, and Eli (Bert)

It was so much fun to be in the classroom.

In line to trick or treat in the church office.

Mrs. Wilson's 3's Preschool Class Harvest Party

On Halloween we started the morning carving our pumpkins.

Then Haley came over to trick or treat with us. This was the best pic I could get. The boys are not being very cooperative with pics lately.

Mermaid Madi

Tiger Micah

Dinosaur Mason

How cute are those tails?

Yet again the best I could do.

And finally, My favorite picture of the  month. Madison's 1st school photo.

I cannot believe we are already halfway through November. I am so excited for Thanksgiving. I love getting to see all of my family and the SHOPPING! We also will be getting out Christmas tree that weekend. I LOVE this time of year.