The HOT gifts of Christmas 2017(at our house)

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I find that every year there is that one tor two things that most of the kids will ask for. In the past it has been Pogo sticks, razor scooters, nintendo DS’s, IPads, etc. This year it was the Sperry saltwater duck boots, (YES, the same duck shoes I had in the mid 80’s, although these are much cutier and they have lots more to choose from). Three of the four girls asked for them for Christmas and when the fourth one saw them, she ordered a pair for herself the very next day! I even got a pair as a gift because I wanted them also! Here are the ones we got!

Taylor's pair

Mine

Savanna's

Jessica's

OMG they are the BEST! Not only are they adorable, but they are super comfortable and warm! (I tested them yesterday because the high was only 18 degrees and my feet stayed warm) Now I want to order another pair but I will have to wait!


The other most asked for gift this year was the Amazon Echo DOT! Three of the girls asked for it and Mitchell already received one for his birthday and the entire house fell in love! For those who don’t know what it is Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device with a small built-in speaker—it can also connect to your speakers or headphones over Bluetooth or through a 3.5 mm audio cable to receive stereo sound to the speakers you choose. It connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly. It’s the coolest little device ever and the price was very affordable!  
The most popular gift with the boys in the family was a gaming chair. Here’s the one MItchell got from Santa.

This was his big gift, he was surprised and excited!!! I have to brag just for one minute! Mitchell is 14 years old now. He continues to be a super polite, thankful kid of which we are so happy for. Christmas day he must have thanked us 20 times for his gifts and everything. I just love him so much and feel so grateful he is the way he is. We pray he continues this way as I know hormones are flying around a lot these days! LOL


He also asked for beats wireless headphones, which was another popular item amongst many kids his age and older. He did get a pair and loves them. Do your homework and research when purchasing these as you can get a great knock off pair for hundreds$$$$$ less!

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What was the popular gift at your house this year?

Christmas House tour 2017

I know this is a little late, but better late than never I suppose. Life comes at you and time flies by so I thought I should get to this before the new year arrives and it really is too late to post!

If you have been following me since last year, honestly not a lot has changed as far as my decorations.  I’m not one of those people that change my decorations every year. First of all, I couldn’t afford it,second of all I don’t have the energy and third of all, I love The decorations I have now!

This year was the earliest I have ever started decorating. I had an open house here for my leggings business along with handful of other friends and their personal businesses. For me it was not the best time for me to have it,  It was the weekend after Thanksgiving and I was sick as a dog. Nevertheless we had the open house because it had been planned for two months. I’m glad we had it because it gave the family a reason to all pitch in and get the decorations out and put up and with everyone helping, which has never happened before, everything was ready, except for the trees, for the open house Sunday, November 26.

So that concludes the Christmas house tour this year. Now to enjoy it for the next week until it all comes down!

Christmastime 2017

🎄Happy Thursday after Christmas! Our Christmas was awesome this year and everyone being together made it that much better!  Jaxson, now 3, is at the  perfect age to enjoy the magic of this time of year!

Christmastime for me has got to be my favorite time of year! The decorations just make the house so warm & Cody and so many of my decorations remind me of the Christmases as a kid. I strive like crazy to make great memories and start lasting traditions with my family!  Unfortunately this year my daughter Kaylee and her son Jaxson Came down with the flu Christmas Eve. As luck always has it there worst day was Christmas Day! Somehow three-year-olds tend to bounce back superfast so he was still able to enjoy his day between the motrin and coughing, his mother on the other hand was down and out!

Things for us are so different than they have been in the past. Having young kids perpetually for so long we have gotten up at the crack of dawn every single Christmas morning for the coming on 30 years now. This year it was 8 o’clock and we had to wake our gang up as Jaxson was dancing around ready to open his gifts but even he didn’t get up until eight.   It was so nice to take our time going downstairs, turning All the Christmas lights on, grabbing coffee and sitting by the tree with all the presents and the stockings hung. There’s a special peacefulness Christmas morning offers unlike any other morning of the year!

People always freak out when they see the amount of presents that are under our tree, but you have to remember it’s everyone’s presents. Six kids, two parents, one  grandson, three boyfriends and presents to each other as well. We always take hours to open them because we open one at a time so everyone can see what the other person gets. It just gives everyone time to reflect on the time together instead of ripping through the presents. We have done it this way since the kids were very young, therefore everyone is used to doing it this way.

We let Mitchell and Jaxson open a couple gifts while waiting for the others to arrive. We grabbed our breakfast and coffee and headed into the family room for gift opening...

As always the day flew by and before we knew it we said goodbye to Christmas 2017! I am still enjoying the Christmas decorations at our house and will till the week after New years! Then they slowly all come down but lets not talk about that now.

How was your Christmas?

Life as we know it

WOW, its been a while since I have written a post. The winter into spring was crazy, our home was like a boarding house for a couple months. Its ok though because we were trying to help others who needed our help and I/we made it through alive although at times it was a bit of a challenge.

What's new with us...lets take it one person at a time...



Jim- He is the same. Same job, same stress same good heart.

Jessica- our oldest daughter is doing well. She has been dealing with some health issues from time to time but overall is Jessica.

Cory-our oldest son. If you have been following me for a while you know that he suffers from addiction issues. Alcohol and gambling. Its bad, and despite three rehabs he still struggles daily. He gets himself into major debt, then gets depressed, then drinks...and the cycle continues. We have found a long term Christian rehab we are in the process of hopefully getting him to so we are hoping and praying daily for that to happen!

Kaylee & Jaxson- Kaylee is doing great and so is Jaxson. They live in Maryland now and Kaylee works on the Proving grounds and loves her job. Jaxson is now 2 1/2 and is talking and acting a 20 year old. He is completely potty trained and loves wearing his big boy undies...Life is so great when you are 2!



Savanna-She graduated from college with her social work degree in May and already has a full time job at a rehab center as an intake advisor. We are so happy she landed a job so quickly and she is really enjoying it so far!


Taylor- is doing great in all avenues of her life. She is such a multi-talented young lady who can do just about anything. She just started her own sewing side business. She is also starting college in the fall at a local campus. All animals love her, hence we call her the animal whisperer. Her health has been remarkably good and we are all literally praising the Lord on that note alone!



Mitchell- Is living a the life! He has had a summer filled with vacations, camps, sleepovers, soccer, the pool and just enjoying being a 13 year old in the summer! We try to keep him sheltered as much as possible from the going ons of his older brother and all the drama it involves. M ybiggest hope is that it won't effect him at all but I know in my heart it does and that is NOT good. Mitch will be starting 8th grade August 24, so he is trying to cherish every summer moment he has left.



ME!!!- Who's that!!?? No, I am not kidding I really don't know me anymore! My life is zooming by along with my kids turning into adults. With all the craziness we have had to deal with in the last years I have lost ME and who I am as a person, wife, and friend. The only part of me I haven't lost is me the mom, which I know I will never allow! Me the friend is to exhausted and worried to nurture relationships beyond my own family. Me, the person, has no energy to do most things I once enjoyed. (except maybe shopping!) Me, the wife, is hanging on for dear life...knowing this is SO important. But stress has a way of putting wedges between people, and making them short with one another and somehow angry with one another. We are doing OK but hoping our stress level goes down soon because life to too short not to enjoy and cherish!

Life as we knew it is no longer as care free as before,  but we are beginning to find a new normal and LIFE AS WE KNOW IT!

The truth about Addiction Part 2

I am writing this post as I like to touch upon addiction at least once a month through my blogging.I don't think people really get what it entails to have a loved one with an addiction unless you have been through it yourself. In my case we are talking about a child, my son.

People say all the cliche things like, "it must be so hard"," I will be praying"," hes just going to have to learn through his bad decisions", etc. And YES I understand people are trying to help and saying nothing isn't good either. People want to help but also don't want to but in to a very sensitive family issue such as addition. A listening, non judge mental ear is priceless and well invited in most cases.

Why is it in life we must go through the pain of things to have REAL compassion for others. I am so guilty of this its not even funny!!! How bad can labor really be...Migraines, just suck it up, period cramps, just deal. Watching a kid scream through dinner at a restaurant...They need to discipline that kid!!! Your teenager got a DUI, kick him/her out of your house! I could go on and on and on ON how judge mental we can be without really knowing it. Life has a way of kicking us right in the face and its not pretty and its not expected.

I never imagined that we would have a child with an addiction!
I never imagined how hard it would be if I did, and on so many levels.

This morning as I am sitting here on my computer in the kitchen to my left I have an empty room that was once occupied by my son. Everything he owns is still in there, shoes, clothes, his favorite blanket, contacts, etc. As I walk by I see the pictures on his wall of when he was first seed of his tennis team in high school, I see the trophies he has one for all state in soccer. I see his college diploma that has yet to be used and that he got only by the grace of God...and I see the collage that I made him years ago that starts with his baby picture and goes every year until his graduation picture. I see the pile of his favorite things lying on his bed that his little brother has collected for him in hopes he will be home soon...I see the hope in my family's eyes that maybe this time will be the magic time that rehab will help. I feel my heart weighing heavy but trying to be strong for everyone else. I see my husband, who loves him dearly and has coached him for so many years, growing old right before my eyes as the stress has not been a friend to him.

See addiction is so so multi facet and is so deep that no one person can tell you enough to really have you understand it unless you deal with it yourself, which I pray to God you will never have to as I wouldn't wish it on anyone ever! It is so hard to see the child you knew and love slowly disappear before your eyes and not being able to really help. I thank God that now we do have fairly descent rehab centers. Still mental illness is not acknowledged as being as worthy for research funding and insurance help as physical illnesses and somehow seen as a choice and bad behavior.

I pray that someday in the near future we will have more resources and help with addictions and mental illnesses and I pray it will be in time to save my son...

My New Business!!!

Happy Friday!!!

 Over the years I have seen many friends sell candles, bags, jewelry, makeup, kitchen items, etc. I have been urged over and over again to become a rep for just about all of these and never felt inclined to do so. I just never wanted to push anything on friends that they didn't really want but felt sorry for me so they bought anyway!

This Christmas as I mentioned in a past post, Jessica got me some holiday leggings. I have never been a HUGE print legging person but I have always like plain ones but honestly never really liked the way they fit! Well I put these on and OMG I was in love. They are the most comfortable leggings ever and they look amazing! So I ended up buying more and more and more. Last week I even wore a dressier pair to a funeral with a long sweater and it was dressy enough. Every time I have worn a pair somewhere people ask me about them and want to order some for themselves.

                                       

  I know A lot of people LOVE the LuLaroe leggings but I have never been a fan. I don't like the patterns and didn't like how they held up after a couple washing's. So obviously when I found these I was soooo happy. I think I like just about every style and they wash so nice.       

So I took all of this and made an educated decision to start selling them last week.The company is Legging Army. Now, keep in mind, over my entire life with all of my friends selling just about everything at one time or another, this is my first adventure. Honestly it really isn't about the money as we have made it on one income for 29 years and 6 kids, its about liking a product enough to sell it to friends and family in hopes they will like it as much as me and bring them the comfort all of us woman deserve from working our BUTTS off!  

 I am mainly selling these from my Facebook page as that is where I  have the most traffic of lots of friends so I will share that link with you...Hope you like them and please feel free to like my page and share it for a chance to win FREE LEGGINGS. I am also sharing my direct link as well. If you decide to order please put my name in the affiliates area so I get the credit... Thank You!!! Dawn Litke

https://www.facebook.com/Dawnsleggingarmy/

https://leggingarmy.com/#dawnsleggingarmy

Now off of here for a super BUSY weekend ahead...