2013!

It has taken three years filled with some lows, several bumps, lots of laughter, and two unexpected bundles of joy for Rick and I to realize the truth behind Eisenhower's quote "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." 

2012 started off in a way we could have never imagined 15 years ago with the arrival of the Chickens. I would be lying if I said this year has been easy because it has been anything but. Some days I don't know how we do it but somehow we do. Many a day Rick and I don't get to actually have a complete conversation until late at night when we are both falling asleep. 

The first three months of this year Rick and I spent our nights passing babies back and forth, watching some truly terrible television, and eating a serious amount of ice cream.

Spring baseball came and went with some drama that made us pause and wonder if all the work to pull a team together is really worth it. Fall baseball came and went with JT playing for a new team and Zach starting coach pitch. 

Summer was not what the boys usually experience and probably the toughest one we have had to date. The boys are used to Rick being at their beck and call for activities and it just wasn't possible this summer. We also didn't take a road trip this year, which was tough on all of us. The boys did get to spend some time with their cousin Jackson and they have formed a close bond with him, which we think is great. 

This summer also brought us our greatest adventure to date when Rick answered a call from an unknown number only to start a conversation with a casting agent that lead to the Lucas family exposure to the world of reality TV. 

Work has been crazy busy for me and I've gotten some great opportunities this past year that will continue on into 2013 and I am excited (as excited as one can get about work) about what I have going on the next few months.

2012 made us aware of how blessed we are to have some truly fabulous friends who have been supportive and more than helpful with the juggling 4 kids. When you don't have family close by, you quickly learn friends can be more like and in some cases better than family. Hopefully we can find ways to repay each of them in 2013. 

Rick and I have pinkie swore that we are not making any plans for 2013. We are both eager and excited about what could be around the corner but we aren't going to start counting our chickens just yet. Right now the only thing we are hoping for is a house where no one is sick and a night that involves us getting more than 2 hours of continuous sleep.

I promise to keep the blog more up-to-date than I did this past year and bring the latest and greatest in our adventures.