Layers of an Onion (Thanks again, Rachel)

Layers of an Onion
Peeling back the onion that is my life.



LAYER 1:Tell us your...

* Name: Alyssia

* Birthday (month, day): March 7

* Birthplace: Virginia

* Current location: Texas

* Eye color: Blue

* Hair color: Brown

* Height: 5'4"

* Righty or lefty: Righty

* Zodiac sign: Pisces



LAYER 2:What's...

* Your heritage: English

* The shoes you wore today: Slippers

* Your weakness: Chocolate

* Your fears: spiders, snakes

* Your perfect pizza: Mushroom

* Goals you’d like to achieve: Raise my kids to love the Lord!

* Your first waking thoughts: "Snooze, please."

* Your best physical feature: Eyes

*Your most missed memory: I had a great time at my wedding! That would be fun to do over. I also wish I had treasured the time more when the kids were itty-bitty.



LAYER 3:Do you...

* Smoke: No

* Cuss: No

* Sing: In choir and the shower

* Do you think you’ve been in love: I am in love.

* Did you go to college: For a bit.

* Liked high school: Sure

* Want to get/stay married: Of course.

* Believe in yourself: Most days.

* Think you’re attractive: Sometimes.

* Think you’re a health freak: Nope. Maybe that'll be my New Year's Resolution (again).

* Get along with your parent(s): Yes. They are awesome!

* Like thunderstorms: I used to, but then we moved to Texas. Storms down here are wicked scary!

* Play an instrument: Nope, but I'd like to learn to play guitar and piano.



LAYER 4:In the past month have you…

* Drank alcohol: No.

* Smoked: Nope.

* Done a drug: Cold meds. count?

* Made out: Wouldn't you like to know.

* Gone on a date: I got Trey to take me to see Twilight.

* Gone to the mall: Yep. Christmas Shopping.

* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No.

* Eaten sushi: No, but now I'd like to go get some.

* Been on stage: Yep, choir.

* Been dumped: Nope. Still very happily married.

* Gone skating: No.

* Gone skinny dipping: No, it's winter.

* Stolen anything: No



LAYER 5:Have you ever…

* Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yeah. Not one of my best moments.

* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Unfortunately.

* Been caught “doing something”: No

* Been called a tease: I hope not.

* Gotten beaten up: No

* Shoplifted: Nope



LAYER 6:

* Age you did get/hope to be married: I was 24.

* Numbers and names of children (either you have or want): Cassandra (5) and Ethan & Elijah (2 1/2). Maybe someday we'll have more. Who knows?

* Describe your dream mate: My husband, Trey, fits the bill. He's sweet and smart and I've always thought he was good looking. He's an awesome father, a thoughtful gift giver, a friend and supporter.

* How do you want to die: In my sleep.

* What did you want to be when you grow up: A wife and mother and also a writer/journalist.

* What country would you most like to visit: England



LAYER 7: Now tell...

* Name a person you could trust with your life: Trey

* Name a favorite CD that you own: WOW 2007

* Number of piercings: 4 in each ear and I used to have a tongue ring.

* Number of tattoos: One butterfly on my back.

* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: Does my old high school paper, The North Star, count? I was on staff.

* Name a past experience that you regret: I wish I had set a better example for Bryan and in so doing been a better friend to him. I miss him so much and it's a hard lesson to learn that tomorrow is never a guarantee.

Catching Up

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I guess tis the season. We've had Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas Extravaganza, Christmas Cookie baking. Our internet was also out for over a week, so that kept me from checking in. In the upcoming weeks, we'll have family visiting and lots more Christmas stuff going on. Trey's grandmother is coming down to stay with his parents for the holiday. We are so blessed to still have her with us and it will be neat to watch her and the kids get to know one another. Trey's sister and nephews are also coming down for a Christmas visit and it will be great to see them again, too. I love this season. Despite the business, I just love it! I am so excited to share this Christmas with my family in our first official "home of our own". Merry Christmas, everyone.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks. Along with the normal chaos surrounding raising 3 young kids, I started working part-time at Fashion Bug. I just wanted to earn a bit of extra spending money, update my wardrobe, and hopefully help ease the burden of bills on Trey. On top of that, I started watching our friend's baby girl while she returned to her teaching job. She is a sweet baby, and so far the boys have been really good around her, so that is going well. We are also trying to plan and get ready for the holidays. Trey has all of next week off and we are hoping to get the house decorated for Christmas. We are so excited to be decorating our own house for the first time. I hope to start some new traditions for our little family along with continuing some long-standing ones from our childhoods. I am happy to have new and exciting things to keep me busy, and I pray that in the upcoming hustle and bustle I (and Trey) can begin to share with the kids the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate our Savior's birth each year.

A Prayer for Our Country

On this Election day, it seems especially important that the faithful remnant of Christ-followers be in prayer. I thought I would offer up a prayer here in my blog.

Our Father,

Please be with our country today, Lord. Prod Your children to get out and vote their moral and spiritual consciences. Remind us that You are ultimately in control of our lives, but don't allow us to use that as an excuse to remain quiet, stationary, and complacent. We live in an age where our country is facing the consequences of turning away from You. Let us, as Christians, be salt and light. Let us use our voices, both vocally and with our vote, to proclaim You as God! Let us be fervent in our prayer lives and let us show Christ's love to the world through our actions and words. Ultimately, let us give You the Glory in all that we say and do. Watch over and protect us this day and always.

In the precious, powerful, restoring name of Jesus,
Amen

Halloween Adventures

Elijah and Ethan as little mice!

Elijah, Ethan, and Cassie ready to go "trick-or-treating".

For Halloween this year, we dressed the kids up and went "trick-or-treating in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. We know more people over there and Grandma wanted to show off her grand kids to some of her friends. The kids had a great time going from house to house. Once Elijah found out that people would put candy in his bag, he marched right up, held his bag open wide, and said "Trick-or-treat" in a clear voice. Ethan had fun too, but he struggled a bit with his costume. He didn't like how it felt on his legs and hitched it up with one hand while he walked. Cassie loved being a "Maiden Fair" and really loved the massive amounts of makeup Grandma put on her to "complete" the look. After going around the block, we piled the kids in the van to head to Fall Fest at the church. It was in full swing when we got there and Cass decided pretty quickly that she was tired, so we hopped on the hayride and then headed back home. All in all it was a good evening and the kids had a great time.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

We have had a fun-filled few days here at the Casa de Donaldson! Saturday, we went to Mainstay Farms for a Fall at the Farm Adventure (see below). Yesterday after church and a nap we carved three pumpkins. This is really the first year that the kids have gotten in there and "helped" with the carving. Grandma came over to snap tons of pictures and the kids had an awesome time pulling out pumpkin "guts". Ethan and Elijah even ate some guts just to see what they tasted like. (Eewww!) I can't imagine who put the idea of eating the guts into their impressionable little minds. ;)

This morning, we went to a Pumpkin party at the Peyton's. Cass was at school, so it was just the boys and I. We had a great time. The boys got to play outside (in the cold) with lots of their friends from church. The searched for pumpkins, bowled with pumpkins, played Pumpkin Basketball, and created a pumpkin craft. They also decorated pumpkin cookies that they then devoured! It was a really fun morning and was so sweet to watch all of the kids play. I still say that Wendy is one of the coolest moms out there!

Mainstay Farm

We went to Mainstay Farm today for some Fall fun with our Life Group class. We had a lot of fun chasing the kids around to all of the different activities. They had a long hay ride, a 3 story tree house, a wooden maze, and lots of other fun stuff. The kids had a blast and were totally worn out by the time we got home.

On the hay ride, the farmer told us about naming the farm Mainstay. He and his wife purchased the farmland almost 20 years ago and weren't sure what to do with it. They decided to farm Christmas Trees and went to a Christmas Tree farming conference. There they learned that the piece of wood that you tie the seedling to is called a mainstay. The mainstay marks the baby tree so that you can find it when the grass gets high, offers support so that the tree will grow straight, and it protects the seedling when storms come. He compared the mainstay for the trees to Christ as our Mainstay. From the moment that we accept Him, He marks us as His own. He disciplines and guides us with His Spirit and He protects our hearts when we face the storms of life.

Love and Logic

We had another MOPS meeting this morning and it was great. I really recommend that any of you moms out there with kids younger than grade school age find a group near you. Anyhow, our speaker this morning presented on "Love and Logic". It's a parenting movement spearheaded by Jim Fay and it is pretty cool. Trey has read up on it and really likes the ideas. It is all about maintaining your sanity while raising your kids to be responsible, productive, caring members of society. Some of the ideas are using one liners like "That's sad." and "I know" as responses when your kids complain. Another is to put off punishment until you've calmed down by telling your child, "We are going to discuss this, but not right now. We'll talk later. Try not to worry.". Generally it's about using as few words as possible, since lectures and yelling seem to be ineffective anyway. Check it out at www.loveandlogic.com.

My MIL is Awesome

I helped my mother-in-law set up for an art show this morning. She specializes in fused glass, paintings, and glass jewelry. We set up a few tables of her work at a show with other glass artists and she sold over $400 worth of her art! I am so excited for her! She is really quite talented and takes great joy in creating her pieces. If you're interested, check her out at www.aslowfuse.com.

A Trip To Great Wolf Lodge

Top: Ethan, Sam, Elijah, Stew, Cass; Top Middle: Ethan; Bottom Middle: Cassandra; Bottom: Elijah

We took the kids up to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX yesterday. Trey's sister was in town and got tickets for everyone. The kids had a great time playing with Aunt Toni, Dave, and their cousins, Stewart and Sam. They really loved the wave pool and kiddie play area. Elijah wasn't so fond of the Lazy River, but Mommy made him go around it about 3 times. We all had a blast and after 3 hours of frolicking the kids were hungry and totally worn out. We all slept like rocks last night. Thanks, Aunt Toni, for a fun-filled day!

STUCK!!!

STUCK!! Sometimes one word says it all. This picture is worth a thousand words though. Poor Elijah. Being the bad parents that we are, we left him there while we searched for and found the camera and then took the picture.

The Park

Trey and I took the kids to the park this morning. They fed the ducks, geese, and one brave squirrel, played on the playground, and walked the trail with us. It was a great time (until we told them it was time to go home, of course). I loved watching them inch closer and closer to the geese, only to back quickly away when one honked out a warning. The weather was divine and Elijah kept looking up and saying "Tree!". We don't have many real trees down here in TX, so walking through the "woods" at the park was like taking a stroll through a forest for the kids. They had fun and it was a pleasure to watch them run and play. We are so blessed. (BTW- the boys have been napping for over 2 hours now, so park time is tops in Mommy's book for that reason, too.)

"Years" (Thanks Rachel)

Saw this as a post in Instantly Mama's blog and thought it was a neat idea.

20 years ago- I was 11 and loving life in Stafford, VA. We lived in a great neighborhood and I was surrounded by lots of friends! (Still love all of you Locklears Landing kids!) My family had recently started attending Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, and I loved all of the fun activities offered there. I was in the 6th grade at AG Wright Middle School and had a good time switching between 2 teachers for the first time. Life was uncomplicated and exciting at the same time!

10 years ago- I was 21 and not really living the life that a follower of Christ should. I put myself through undue heartache and added way more drama to my life than was necessary. There was one point of light in that dark time of my life. I met my Trey. It's funny how God looks out for you even when you're running from Him. I won't say that it was an easy time or that I am proud of how I chose to live during those years, but I learned so much about God's love and redeeming grace.

5 years ago- I was 26 and a new mama. After Trey and I married, we wanted a child right away. We did get pregnant almost immediately, but our first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. God was good, though, and Cassandra Nicole joined our family in 2003. I was learning all about late night feedings, diaper changes, spit up, breast feeding, and playing dress up with the most beautiful little girl in the world. I was blessed with the opportunity to stay home with Cass until she was 16 months old and I truly enjoyed watching her grow and learn during that time.

1 year ago- I was 30 and facing an eminent move back to TX. Trey had already headed down to DFW to search for a job and find us a church home. I remained in VA to work and take care of the kiddos. It was hard to be away from him, but it was also a special time to begin the process of saying goodbye to family, friends, and FALL! Trey came back for us in mid-November of last year and our family moved to Mansfield right after Thanksgiving. We began attending 1st Baptist Mansfield almost immediately. We have since joined the church and have been so blessed with new friends and an awesome church family.

Yesterday- I did the mom thing. Since moving to TX, I am a stay at home mommy again. Yesterday, I took Cass to school, did a bit of laundry, dusted, vacuumed, had tea with my mother-in-law, and cooked dinner. I also started this blogging thing. I doled out kisses and hugs to my kids and hubby and tried to remember through the hum-drum of everyday life how very blessed I am.

Today- I am excited that it is Friday and the weekend is almost here. I look forward to Trey having a few days off and getting to spend time together as a family. I think I might actually try to put a dent in the ironing that needs to be done and maybe I'll take a walk with my boys.

Tomorrow- I'll spend the day with Trey and the kids. I don't have any definite plans. Maybe we'll bake cookies, or go shopping, or head to the park. Whatever the case, I plan for us to enjoy our Saturday and be thankful for one another.

Introduction

I am new to this Blogging thing, so I thought I'd start with an introduction. My name is Alyssia and I am 31 years old. My husband's name is Trey and we celebrated seven years of marriage on the 6th of this month. I love him more today than I did the day I said I do. He is an awesome husband and an amazing father. I am so lucky to have married my best friend. We have three kiddos. Cassandra is five and started kindergarten this fall. At pre-school graduation, she informed us that she would like to be a boat driver when she grows up. Ethan and Elijah are 2 1/2 and are so different that we are constantly questioned about whether or not they are twins. To set the record straight: Yes, I did carry them at the same time to a full 37 1/2 weeks!! Ethan is smaller with dark hair and eyes and a bit of a temper. Elijah is bigger with blond hair and blue eyes and he doesn't like to share his toy cars with anyone. Both of them light up our lives in totally different but equally wonderful ways. Well, that's a quick look at the Donaldson family. I haven't decided how I'll use this blog. Maybe it will turn into my prayer journal or just a diary of thoughts. Maybe I'll include poems or my views on current events. In all likelihood, it will be a combination of all of these things Enjoy!