I'm behind with blogging! Actually, I am behind on everything right now. Christmas is coming whether I am ready or not, and this year, I am not.
We've been very very busy in December! I'll just give you a quick recap.
We went to Disneyland twice this month. It was tons of fun both times! We also went to see a play, Sea World and the Safari Park. We didn't go to Universal Studios like I wanted to, but that's ok. We have passes to Universal Studios and I wanted to go one more time to make the tickets more worthwhile, but we didn't get there and they expire at the end of the month. Oh well, we had a ton of fun the day we went!
Gracie's schoolwork was hard to get done but we mucked through it and finished in the nick of time. She had a community service project due and this month's math topic was subraction. Ugh, that was hard. We'll have to keep working on it as we go to make it easier.
We've been out shopping a number of times, but it's hard to do when I have the kids along. So it takes me several trips to get a few things. I need one good shopping day without a crowd at the checkout, maybe tomorrow?
Keith and I planned a roadtrip. We are going to South Dakota to visit, go sledding, meet up with friends and family, and introduce the girls to the concept of winter. They'll love it! I hope the roads are good, we'll probably be gone for a week or so, we don't have a specific plan. School doesn't start up again until the 14th so we have plenty of time.
The girls saw Santa. Libby asked for a Nutcracker, a train and chocolate. Gracie asked for batteries. We're sure hoping Santa can accomodate both of them and their Chrismas wishes.
I baked a bunch of cookies and went to a Christmas party and cookie exchange. I think I gained ten pounds.
I've been sewing too. I made the girls some holiday dresses and they wore them to Disneyland. I also am in the process of making a dress for a friend's little girl, and I made one to mail to another friend's daughter. I have a big quilt for Gracie in the sewing machine right now and one waiting in the wings for Libby. There are two whole days until Christmas, I can do this, right?
I've been babysitting a lot lately too. Not getting paid, even better, doing the babysitting swap! I babysat Adam, Emily, Sabrina and Mallory last week and I had Henry for a couple of days the week before. Then, Lexie asked me to babysit Charlie for a bit and I was so worn out, I told her no! Poor girl waited her turn for some relief and then I turned her down. I topped that trick off with asking her to watch the girls while Keith and I went out to dinner one night. Good thing she loves me.
Lexie and I were asked to be on a reality show. We said, sure, why not. Keith's cousin was chosen to be a reality show contestant, maybe, and she asked us to be part of her family support team. If she gets on the show and has to call in her team to compete, then we'll be there for her. Hope they don't want us to eat bugs, bungee jump or sing in key, she'll lose the competition for sure!
Katie and Henry came up for Gracie's Winter concert performance at school. The kids sang four winter songs: Let is snow, Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. It was a lot of fun and Gracie sang beautifully.
Gracie lost two teeth this month. Her top front teeth. She looks so cute with her new toothless grin!
Have a great Christmas everyone! Glad we all survived the end of the world. 2013 is sure to be a good one!
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Big Blue House and our Questionable Future
We moved to California in August 2003 into the same house where we live now. We've been here for nine years! That's the longest I have ever lived in the same house in my entire life! While living here, we raised two teenage girls, had two more baby girls, hosted two exchange students, had two baby grandsons, and I got my Bachelor's degree. It's been great!
For years now we've been looking for a bigger better newer house that would better suit our large family. This search has been difficult and we only found one home that really fit the bill and our budget at the same time. We were totally in love with that house, still are, but right at the last minute before funding, the sellers backed out and we didn't get the house. We haven't seen another one like it, so the search to improve continued but without much enthusiasm.
Earlier this summer, my husband was having coffee and checking things on his computer, just a sleepy summer morning around here. Suddenly, he was yelling for me to come quick so I ran out to see what was the matter and he showed me what he found online.
Our house was for sale.
Not the dream house here, but the dream house we built in South Dakota. The house we lived in before we moved here. The very same house! Our house!
Karma? Fate? God, is that you?
We decided to call the realtor and just inquire, find out what the story is, get the scoop, have a friendly chat. That phone call quickly turned into an offer. The realtor thought our interest in buying our old house back was pretty cool! She was a little surprised at first to have a guy from California on the phone who knew so much about the house and didn't need to see it to put in a firm offer. There was already an offer on the house and another offer came in after ours. Three total. We were put into a wait-and-see mode, typical house buying game.
After being on the market for two whole days, the sellers considered the offers and accepted ours!
While on vacation, we stopped to see our new old house. The front door still had the knocker on it engraved with our name. Whoa! We met with the realtor and a friend and had a tour. The memories were good inside of those walls and it really felt like home. The people who bought it from us, and now selling it to us, finished the basement very nicely. They also added a back deck and finished the landscaping. In fact, they made all the home improvements in the same way we envisioned before we sold the house. Mind readers! How great is that!
Click here for photos and information about the house from nine years ago when we moved out.
Click here for photos from this past summer when we went to see the house.
We jumped through all of the lending and funding hoops, and closed the loan. The property is now ours again. Now what? Jobs?
We will need jobs! Keith has a pretty good shot at becoming employed at his previous school, but nothing is concrete right now. Plus, he has his job here. Keith is teaching here and teachers do not simply give a 2 week notice and move on. Job offers and contracts usually come out in Feb/March, which means job openings are posted in March/April; we won't know until spring if Keith can get a contract to teach at the school there (if there is a position available). I will have to work full time to live there, which means I need a resume and start a new career search.
We can keep ownership of the house as an investment or we can move into it. The decision has not been made yet and won't be made until we have a teaching contract signed for either a California job or a South Dakota job next spring.
My guess is that his old school will make him an offer of some sort; I hope it is reasonable. If so, I imagine that we will move in June after the school year ends. Like I said, that is tentative until contracts come out. Such is the life of a teacher.
We don't want to give the impression that we think a teaching job will just be handed to us like we're entitled or something. We are realistic and we know the risk. But, we wanted to buy our house back just in case it does work out. We also do not want the house purchase to serve as a termination notice to his current employer. We don't want to count our chickens before they hatch, but it is nice to be sitting on a nest. We'll just enjoy keeping the eggs warm for a while and see what happens. Either way, we have a home to live in and an investment home. Win-win.
If we do move back home, it will be pretty cool to have our littlest girls living in the same house that we built before they were born. Their big sisters lived there and the little ones will go to the same school that their older sisters attended. Some of the same teachers are still there! We will live closer to family and we have lots of good friends there already. We will miss California, but we'll always have our friends here and a fabulous vacation destination! I will have to learn to drive in the snow again, yuck. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
In the meantime, we are done with our house search! We own a nice house in California where life is good and we own a nice house in South Dakota where life is good. We are very blessed!
I'll update you in March or April and let you know where we will be living and working.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
It's Mid-June? How did that happen?
Slow down, Calendar! Where are you going so fast? June 15th already, sheesh. Well, must be time for a mish-mash blog post about little things just to catch up. Every paragraph is totally unrelated to any of the others, thus making this a multi-post blog post! I'm catching up! You'd better sit down for this one with a full cup of coffee, you're going to be here a while.
School is over for the year. Keith finished his middle-school year at the end of May and I was completely caught off-guard. I thought it was over at the end of June. I forgot that they adjusted the school calendar. So nice to have him home! I love it! I'm pretty sure he does too. He's still teaching evening classes at APU. Fenna was done on June 1st. Her last week of school was kind of strange; it was all half-days and she didn't have to go for every class so some days she only had one hour or nothing at all. But, her high school exchange year came to an end albeit a fizzled out finish. I think she had a good year and I'm proud of her for all of the hurdles she encountered and all of the good things she squeezed into her one school year. I think she enjoyed it and learned more than she thinks; the classes were fairly typical American and the school structure was very typical. She had a lot of friends in school and I'm sure she will miss them all very much. Gracie's school ended June 7th. On the 6th she got to have lunch with her future 1st grade teacher and some of the kids from that class. She's excited and she already made a new friend who has the same birthday. Her teacher is tall and as Gracie said, "She looks like she is 23 years old." Hmm, well, I have no idea actually. Age is so important when you are six. On the 7th, the kindergarten class had a picnic at the park. The kids all played together for 3 hours! They had a blast! It was nice too. So, that's it, no more school.
Libby is reading. School is out and she decided to have a burst of brain growth. She can read small words and we practice the same ones over and over so that she'll have them memorized with ease. I'm going to go ahead and keep working with her on reading small words since she seems to love it so much.
Both girls have a reading poster in their rooms now. It is just a sheet of poster board and we are putting nametag stickers on the poster for each book they read. Gracie has to read a book and Libby has to listen to one. When they get a million stickers (this rule will likely change as we approach vacation time and they need a new toy for the roadtrip), they will each get a Merida doll. It's a very good incentive! Right now, I'm telling them 50 stickers, which is doable in 10 weeks of summer. Plus, they want those dolls!
We went camping. It was awful but we made the best of it. We planned a two night tent camping adventure and it deserves it's own blog post. You can read all about our interesting camping adventure HERE.
Fenna is packing. Ugh. I don't like the idea of letting her go. She's having a hard time trying to squeeze it all back into one suitcase and one carry-on. I told her to take another suitcase home or ship some boxes, but she wants to minimize how much stuff she takes home and not have the added expense of extra things. She said she'll get rid of some of her clothes and things and I asked her if she would like to donate some of it. Also, if she has some clothes that she will be saying goodbye to, I'd like to make dresses out of them for Gracie and Libby so that they'll have their own "Fenna Dresses" and they can get Fenna hugs when they feel sad for her. She loved that idea. We've been running errands and trying to tie up loose ends. We went to La Jolla for her final doctor appointment. Got her gym membership cancelled. We have to send in for reimbursement from her insurance company for the meds we paid for, and we have to settle up her Fed-Ex bills for the tariffs on the boxes she received, just business. We have a little list of places to go, favorite foods to eat and things to shop for. And we have a lot of things done that needed to be done. She took her piggy bank to the bank and cashed in her coins. She didn't think she had much, but it counted out to over $37. Pretty good! I'm glad YFU let her know when she leaves and got her e-ticket to her in a timely manner. When she arrived, they gave us barely any notice of her arrival date and time (luckily, we talked to Fenna and didn't wait for YFU to notify us!). We'll get things done soon and next thing you know it will be time to decide what to do with her empty bedroom. Ho hum.
My camera has dust or sand in it again. I want to throw it in the ocean, or run over it with the van. That wouldn't get me anywhere would it? Sigh. It just isn't as nice as the Canon powershot cameras that I had, the pictures are not as clean and clear and it has trouble focusing. Plus, it gets crap inside the lens all too often. I'm noticing people aren't using cameras anymore unless they are using a big elephant professional camera. People are using smart phones as cameras now. I'm not going to get a smart phone, they are just too expensive for what I would use it for. But, I would love to get back to using a Canon Powershot.
Charlie has a new game. He loves to take his diaper off and run around half naked. He can shed his jeans and diaper before you can blink. Streaking in the back yard is his favorite.
Speaking of the back yard, the neighbors just spread fertilizer and now we can't open our windows. The kids can't play outside and we have to hold our breath between the van and the door to the house. Isn't there a law against stinking up the whole neighborhood? Why don't Californians put straw down over the manure? Ugh. It just stinks!
Another back yard item to note: Keith cut down another tree. It was huge. Luckily, he got it down before the neighborhood started to smell like crap. This tree was ripping up the fenceline and the neighbors were more than happy to see it come down. He's taken 11 trees out of our yard since we moved in. We still have plenty left too. Who planted that many trees anyway? Wow.
We went to Scout's graduation party. I'm probably not supposed to mention this online, because the invite list was secret but now you know. Don't tell anyone. Her parents are both teachers at the same school where my husband works, and there is so much drama among the teachers and staff there so the invite list was to remain hushed to avoid hurt feelings. I'm glad they invited us, the family is such a wonderful family I can't get over it. Amazing teachers who have amazing kids! They are sending Scout to college in Switzerland. I googled the college; it looks amazing! Of course. It's an accredited American college in the middle of Europe. Perfect! I wish I would have had clear cut goals and objectives when I graduated from high school. Of course, my life would have been completely different and I probably would have skipped that whole living-in-a-trailer-house-while-collecting-food-stamps stage, so it's probably best that my life went the way it did. I am blessed and I'm happy for Scout and her family for her opportunity to start her adult life with this great adventure.
We took Henry to the graduation party. He loved it and made a new friend. George was especially happy to see Henry since he married Henry's parents. Hard to believe it has been three years ago that Katie and Andrew were married.
Lexie quit her job at Shakey's. Yes, again. But this time I think she's really done and never going back. She was so stressed out this last month and her schedule was crazy. I was on her case too, mostly because Charlie was spending the night too often and when he spends the night, she goes home and sleeps in while I have early morning babysitting duty. So, I told her that if he spends the night she has to spend the night too. Between that and the stress of the craziness at work, she decided to just leave Shakey's. She'd been through enough. She seems happier now and she's enjoying her time with Charlie. She's going to run out of money though. But, she is launching a new photography business and I know she will do well! Starting a profitable business is always a slow process, but she is off to a great start already! And she has a natural talent for the art of photography.
The other day we had spaghetti for dinner and we all ate too much. So, we went for a short walk. Keith, Fenna and I took Libby and the dog. Libby rode her big wheel. It was so nice, we walked an extra block or two and then decided to take a hilly walking trail behind the elementary school. I've never taken it before since I am usually pushing a stroller, so we went exploring. Up on top of the hill was a big rock that stood alone. Keith told Fenna to climb up on top and she wasn't sure she could climb it. I thought I could do it, so I kicked off my flip flops and climbed up. I'm like a squirrel! Getting down was another problem. We made it though. It was hilarious! Keith took some pictures which turned out to look a bit deceiving. It's hard to tell that the rock was hard to scale. A walk around the block turned into a fun little adventure.
A friend of mine is pregnant with twins. I am sewing receiving blankets for her and she asked me for burp cloths. I made 20 burp cloths out of plain white handtowels. I bought a package of 12 white bar towels at Sams Club years ago thinking they would make great bibs, but I never did use them. So, I cut a few of them into fours and serged up the cut edges. They look like washcloths now, but they'll be really handy I'm sure. I have time to put some cute appliques or trim on them. I want to sew princess dresses and kick off a little boutique, but it isn't happening with all the other sewing I seem to have. I'm storing up a lot of ideas though!
Father's Day is coming up soon. The girls and I picked out a gift for Keith and it's been hiding in the van for a while now. Libby picked out a card a couple of weeks ago to mail to her new Grandpa and it's still just sitting here. Now it will be late. Darn. The Mother's Day cards are still sitting here too. I won't be winning any awards for being a good post-office patron, but the sentiment is there. The cards are here. Maybe I'll make it my New Year's Resolution to be better about honoring Mother's and Father's Days next year. Yeah... next year. :)
I don't know why June feels like it went so fast already. Probably because it did. I just don't think we did much though. The days have just been going along rather quickly without any outings to speak of (except for the doctor appointment and the camping trip).
Your cup of coffee should be gone by now, this was a long catch-up blog post!
School is over for the year. Keith finished his middle-school year at the end of May and I was completely caught off-guard. I thought it was over at the end of June. I forgot that they adjusted the school calendar. So nice to have him home! I love it! I'm pretty sure he does too. He's still teaching evening classes at APU. Fenna was done on June 1st. Her last week of school was kind of strange; it was all half-days and she didn't have to go for every class so some days she only had one hour or nothing at all. But, her high school exchange year came to an end albeit a fizzled out finish. I think she had a good year and I'm proud of her for all of the hurdles she encountered and all of the good things she squeezed into her one school year. I think she enjoyed it and learned more than she thinks; the classes were fairly typical American and the school structure was very typical. She had a lot of friends in school and I'm sure she will miss them all very much. Gracie's school ended June 7th. On the 6th she got to have lunch with her future 1st grade teacher and some of the kids from that class. She's excited and she already made a new friend who has the same birthday. Her teacher is tall and as Gracie said, "She looks like she is 23 years old." Hmm, well, I have no idea actually. Age is so important when you are six. On the 7th, the kindergarten class had a picnic at the park. The kids all played together for 3 hours! They had a blast! It was nice too. So, that's it, no more school.
Libby is reading. School is out and she decided to have a burst of brain growth. She can read small words and we practice the same ones over and over so that she'll have them memorized with ease. I'm going to go ahead and keep working with her on reading small words since she seems to love it so much.
Both girls have a reading poster in their rooms now. It is just a sheet of poster board and we are putting nametag stickers on the poster for each book they read. Gracie has to read a book and Libby has to listen to one. When they get a million stickers (this rule will likely change as we approach vacation time and they need a new toy for the roadtrip), they will each get a Merida doll. It's a very good incentive! Right now, I'm telling them 50 stickers, which is doable in 10 weeks of summer. Plus, they want those dolls!
We went camping. It was awful but we made the best of it. We planned a two night tent camping adventure and it deserves it's own blog post. You can read all about our interesting camping adventure HERE.
Fenna is packing. Ugh. I don't like the idea of letting her go. She's having a hard time trying to squeeze it all back into one suitcase and one carry-on. I told her to take another suitcase home or ship some boxes, but she wants to minimize how much stuff she takes home and not have the added expense of extra things. She said she'll get rid of some of her clothes and things and I asked her if she would like to donate some of it. Also, if she has some clothes that she will be saying goodbye to, I'd like to make dresses out of them for Gracie and Libby so that they'll have their own "Fenna Dresses" and they can get Fenna hugs when they feel sad for her. She loved that idea. We've been running errands and trying to tie up loose ends. We went to La Jolla for her final doctor appointment. Got her gym membership cancelled. We have to send in for reimbursement from her insurance company for the meds we paid for, and we have to settle up her Fed-Ex bills for the tariffs on the boxes she received, just business. We have a little list of places to go, favorite foods to eat and things to shop for. And we have a lot of things done that needed to be done. She took her piggy bank to the bank and cashed in her coins. She didn't think she had much, but it counted out to over $37. Pretty good! I'm glad YFU let her know when she leaves and got her e-ticket to her in a timely manner. When she arrived, they gave us barely any notice of her arrival date and time (luckily, we talked to Fenna and didn't wait for YFU to notify us!). We'll get things done soon and next thing you know it will be time to decide what to do with her empty bedroom. Ho hum.
My camera has dust or sand in it again. I want to throw it in the ocean, or run over it with the van. That wouldn't get me anywhere would it? Sigh. It just isn't as nice as the Canon powershot cameras that I had, the pictures are not as clean and clear and it has trouble focusing. Plus, it gets crap inside the lens all too often. I'm noticing people aren't using cameras anymore unless they are using a big elephant professional camera. People are using smart phones as cameras now. I'm not going to get a smart phone, they are just too expensive for what I would use it for. But, I would love to get back to using a Canon Powershot.
Charlie has a new game. He loves to take his diaper off and run around half naked. He can shed his jeans and diaper before you can blink. Streaking in the back yard is his favorite.
Speaking of the back yard, the neighbors just spread fertilizer and now we can't open our windows. The kids can't play outside and we have to hold our breath between the van and the door to the house. Isn't there a law against stinking up the whole neighborhood? Why don't Californians put straw down over the manure? Ugh. It just stinks!
Another back yard item to note: Keith cut down another tree. It was huge. Luckily, he got it down before the neighborhood started to smell like crap. This tree was ripping up the fenceline and the neighbors were more than happy to see it come down. He's taken 11 trees out of our yard since we moved in. We still have plenty left too. Who planted that many trees anyway? Wow.
We went to Scout's graduation party. I'm probably not supposed to mention this online, because the invite list was secret but now you know. Don't tell anyone. Her parents are both teachers at the same school where my husband works, and there is so much drama among the teachers and staff there so the invite list was to remain hushed to avoid hurt feelings. I'm glad they invited us, the family is such a wonderful family I can't get over it. Amazing teachers who have amazing kids! They are sending Scout to college in Switzerland. I googled the college; it looks amazing! Of course. It's an accredited American college in the middle of Europe. Perfect! I wish I would have had clear cut goals and objectives when I graduated from high school. Of course, my life would have been completely different and I probably would have skipped that whole living-in-a-trailer-house-while-collecting-food-stamps stage, so it's probably best that my life went the way it did. I am blessed and I'm happy for Scout and her family for her opportunity to start her adult life with this great adventure.
We took Henry to the graduation party. He loved it and made a new friend. George was especially happy to see Henry since he married Henry's parents. Hard to believe it has been three years ago that Katie and Andrew were married.
Lexie quit her job at Shakey's. Yes, again. But this time I think she's really done and never going back. She was so stressed out this last month and her schedule was crazy. I was on her case too, mostly because Charlie was spending the night too often and when he spends the night, she goes home and sleeps in while I have early morning babysitting duty. So, I told her that if he spends the night she has to spend the night too. Between that and the stress of the craziness at work, she decided to just leave Shakey's. She'd been through enough. She seems happier now and she's enjoying her time with Charlie. She's going to run out of money though. But, she is launching a new photography business and I know she will do well! Starting a profitable business is always a slow process, but she is off to a great start already! And she has a natural talent for the art of photography.
The other day we had spaghetti for dinner and we all ate too much. So, we went for a short walk. Keith, Fenna and I took Libby and the dog. Libby rode her big wheel. It was so nice, we walked an extra block or two and then decided to take a hilly walking trail behind the elementary school. I've never taken it before since I am usually pushing a stroller, so we went exploring. Up on top of the hill was a big rock that stood alone. Keith told Fenna to climb up on top and she wasn't sure she could climb it. I thought I could do it, so I kicked off my flip flops and climbed up. I'm like a squirrel! Getting down was another problem. We made it though. It was hilarious! Keith took some pictures which turned out to look a bit deceiving. It's hard to tell that the rock was hard to scale. A walk around the block turned into a fun little adventure.
A friend of mine is pregnant with twins. I am sewing receiving blankets for her and she asked me for burp cloths. I made 20 burp cloths out of plain white handtowels. I bought a package of 12 white bar towels at Sams Club years ago thinking they would make great bibs, but I never did use them. So, I cut a few of them into fours and serged up the cut edges. They look like washcloths now, but they'll be really handy I'm sure. I have time to put some cute appliques or trim on them. I want to sew princess dresses and kick off a little boutique, but it isn't happening with all the other sewing I seem to have. I'm storing up a lot of ideas though!
Father's Day is coming up soon. The girls and I picked out a gift for Keith and it's been hiding in the van for a while now. Libby picked out a card a couple of weeks ago to mail to her new Grandpa and it's still just sitting here. Now it will be late. Darn. The Mother's Day cards are still sitting here too. I won't be winning any awards for being a good post-office patron, but the sentiment is there. The cards are here. Maybe I'll make it my New Year's Resolution to be better about honoring Mother's and Father's Days next year. Yeah... next year. :)
I don't know why June feels like it went so fast already. Probably because it did. I just don't think we did much though. The days have just been going along rather quickly without any outings to speak of (except for the doctor appointment and the camping trip).
Your cup of coffee should be gone by now, this was a long catch-up blog post!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Who keeps New Years resolutions anyway?
I tried to keep my 2011 resolutions, but like everyone every year, I didn't manage to do it. I gave it a good try though and for that, I feel pretty good about it. Shoot, I'm happy for remembering that I made resolutions and where I wrote them down! That in itself is an accomplishment to be proud of.
How I ended 2011:
1. Read 12 books this year.
I read ten and a half! I was doing great until our household went from 4 to 7 in a matter of a few weeks. Suddenly, I was a lot busier and my reading time was greatly reduced. Yeah, I'll blame the kids.
2. Do more sewing and get my serger fixed (or me, one of us isn't doing it right). I'd like to end 2011 with my current PHDs (projects half done) all finished!
Well, I had problems with my serger and my two sewing machines off and on all year long. It was a struggle to keep them running. I actually managed to get quite a bit of sewing done for the little bit of time that I have had to spend doing it. I sewed Halloween costumes and I sewed a couple of Christmas gifts and new stockings. Plus, I altered a dress for the neighbor and for my daughter. I made baby blankets for my second grandson and for a baby of a friend. I am happy to report that I made a huge quilt top out of the baby clothes! All in all, I think I had a good sewing year. PHDs are just going to always be a part of my life, I resolve to embrace the unending projects!
3. Get my kids to school on time (most of the time).
We're doing better! This is not easy. I think there is a time warp in my driveway. We step out the front door and by the time I turn the key in the van, 10 minutes has gone by. Where does it go?
4. Potty train and wean Libby, yes, folks, I promise to quit breastfeeding after nearly 5 years.
Almost potty trained the kid. She has a weak bladder when she sleeps so she is still wearing a pull-up at night, but she doesn't want to. I have to sneak it on her after she falls asleep. She wakes up mad and yanks it off, but it is usually soaked. Occasionally, she wakes up dry. I think she just needs to grow and then her body will figure it out. I quit breastfeeding in May. Done! Went a little over the 5 year mark so it took some adjusting to get back to normal for me. Libby had no problem weaning, but she did have to learn to eat more real food and how to fall asleep and console herself. These were harder for her, but she's doing just fine. I'm not sure I would be a good cheerleader for extended nursing, it just sort of happened.
5. Get my money's worth out of our Disneyland and Zoo passes (meaning lots of fun!). Might even get a SeaWorld pass this year!
Oh yeah! We are stretching our dollars spent on our entertainment passes. Fenna purchased passes too, and she's getting the most out of hers as well. We bought Sea World passes and used them three times. I wish we would have used them more, but we did our best. We used the zoo passes a handful of times. Mostly, we spent our outing days at Disneyland. We were blocked out in July and most of August, but we had a few days that we were allowed in August, but it was too hot. When it is over 100 degrees, it's hard for an outdoor all day outing. We opted not to go in August. We went in Sept, Oct, and three times in November. Plus the first five trips of the year in Jan-May. I think we did well using our passes. Gracie's pass expired in December and it costs $199 to renew. If I renew her pass, I'll want to renew mine when it expires in March, and now that Libby is three I'll have to get her a pass as soon as she looks like a three year old or opens her mouth and gives her real age away. Another $199. And $99 for a parking pass. $700 for our family! I decided to explore other amusement parks instead. As much as we love Disneyland, I prefer not to go broke getting in the gate. We went to Disneyland 11 times in 2011. Loved every trip!
6. Send my 2011 Christmas cards out before Christmas.
Didn't happen.
7. Do something with all of my photos and videos. Print them, back them up, put them on dvd, make photo books, I don't know, but something!
Nope. Didn't happen.
8. Keep blogging. I would like to archive my Momathon blog since I kept it up for three years, and I'll have to keep this one alive. Often times, I just blog mentally and never get around to actually posting.
Well, here's a blog post! I might try to do more family updates since we killed Schuworld.com this year. It is being redirected to my blog now.
9. I will try not to destroy or lose any of my electronic devices. You heard that right! Cell phone, bluetooth, camera, laptop.... I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the new year. And may you all stay out of the crevices of the furniture and survive the year! Good Luck.
My poor electronics. This year I lost my bluetooth, destroyed my camera, wore out my laptop and replaced all of those. I didn't replace the bluetooth, I just use my phone on speaker and set it on my shoulder or I hand it to one of my passengers. My phone is still in good shape! One electronic device survived the year! Not bad.
How I ended 2011:
1. Read 12 books this year.
I read ten and a half! I was doing great until our household went from 4 to 7 in a matter of a few weeks. Suddenly, I was a lot busier and my reading time was greatly reduced. Yeah, I'll blame the kids.
2. Do more sewing and get my serger fixed (or me, one of us isn't doing it right). I'd like to end 2011 with my current PHDs (projects half done) all finished!
Well, I had problems with my serger and my two sewing machines off and on all year long. It was a struggle to keep them running. I actually managed to get quite a bit of sewing done for the little bit of time that I have had to spend doing it. I sewed Halloween costumes and I sewed a couple of Christmas gifts and new stockings. Plus, I altered a dress for the neighbor and for my daughter. I made baby blankets for my second grandson and for a baby of a friend. I am happy to report that I made a huge quilt top out of the baby clothes! All in all, I think I had a good sewing year. PHDs are just going to always be a part of my life, I resolve to embrace the unending projects!
3. Get my kids to school on time (most of the time).
We're doing better! This is not easy. I think there is a time warp in my driveway. We step out the front door and by the time I turn the key in the van, 10 minutes has gone by. Where does it go?
4. Potty train and wean Libby, yes, folks, I promise to quit breastfeeding after nearly 5 years.
Almost potty trained the kid. She has a weak bladder when she sleeps so she is still wearing a pull-up at night, but she doesn't want to. I have to sneak it on her after she falls asleep. She wakes up mad and yanks it off, but it is usually soaked. Occasionally, she wakes up dry. I think she just needs to grow and then her body will figure it out. I quit breastfeeding in May. Done! Went a little over the 5 year mark so it took some adjusting to get back to normal for me. Libby had no problem weaning, but she did have to learn to eat more real food and how to fall asleep and console herself. These were harder for her, but she's doing just fine. I'm not sure I would be a good cheerleader for extended nursing, it just sort of happened.
5. Get my money's worth out of our Disneyland and Zoo passes (meaning lots of fun!). Might even get a SeaWorld pass this year!
Oh yeah! We are stretching our dollars spent on our entertainment passes. Fenna purchased passes too, and she's getting the most out of hers as well. We bought Sea World passes and used them three times. I wish we would have used them more, but we did our best. We used the zoo passes a handful of times. Mostly, we spent our outing days at Disneyland. We were blocked out in July and most of August, but we had a few days that we were allowed in August, but it was too hot. When it is over 100 degrees, it's hard for an outdoor all day outing. We opted not to go in August. We went in Sept, Oct, and three times in November. Plus the first five trips of the year in Jan-May. I think we did well using our passes. Gracie's pass expired in December and it costs $199 to renew. If I renew her pass, I'll want to renew mine when it expires in March, and now that Libby is three I'll have to get her a pass as soon as she looks like a three year old or opens her mouth and gives her real age away. Another $199. And $99 for a parking pass. $700 for our family! I decided to explore other amusement parks instead. As much as we love Disneyland, I prefer not to go broke getting in the gate. We went to Disneyland 11 times in 2011. Loved every trip!
6. Send my 2011 Christmas cards out before Christmas.
Didn't happen.
7. Do something with all of my photos and videos. Print them, back them up, put them on dvd, make photo books, I don't know, but something!
Nope. Didn't happen.
8. Keep blogging. I would like to archive my Momathon blog since I kept it up for three years, and I'll have to keep this one alive. Often times, I just blog mentally and never get around to actually posting.
Well, here's a blog post! I might try to do more family updates since we killed Schuworld.com this year. It is being redirected to my blog now.
9. I will try not to destroy or lose any of my electronic devices. You heard that right! Cell phone, bluetooth, camera, laptop.... I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the new year. And may you all stay out of the crevices of the furniture and survive the year! Good Luck.
My poor electronics. This year I lost my bluetooth, destroyed my camera, wore out my laptop and replaced all of those. I didn't replace the bluetooth, I just use my phone on speaker and set it on my shoulder or I hand it to one of my passengers. My phone is still in good shape! One electronic device survived the year! Not bad.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I'm Thankful for...
Thirty things I am thankful for:
(I will add one each day of November, or a few at a time to catch up or thank ahead cuz that's how I operate, check back!)
This goes without saying since it an always and forever and most sincere feeling of gratitude; and yet I feel compelled to say it because every facebook status I have in my newsfeed says it too: I am thankful for my family and extended family. I am very thankful for my husband and all of my kids, yes, even the dog. Thank you, people, for being my people!
1. I am thankful that Halloween is over. We made it through another successful year of trick or treat! Costume making, decorating, parties, birthday dinner, candy and cake - it's all done! And we did it well I think. I am thankful for all the fun times we had, but I'm thankful to be done with Halloween and move on.
2. I am thankful for my friend, Audrey. Yesterday, she was almost hit by a car. The trailer she was pulling behind her bike was hit. Luckily, her little boy was not in it at the time (she just dropped him off at preschool so it was empty). I am thankful that she was not hurt, only shaken and inconvenienced.
3. I am thankful for Fenna. She is sharing a lot with us and we are learning and having fun. It is really fun to learn Dutch words, hear stories about how Dutch people do things, and get a new perspective on our American lives. It's also very cool to see her grow personally. She's having adventures that will forever change her and impact her life decisions. I am thankful that she's such a cool kid.
4. I am thankful that I got to take a nice long hot shower. Usually, I am in a hurry and dealing with crying and pounding at the door, if not an audience right there in the bathroom. Getting a nice long hot shower with no crying audience is not easy around here. What can I say? They love me every minute of the day and cannot bear to have me disappear alone into the chamber of steamy suds.
5. Friends. I am thankful for friends. I have very nice people in my life and even though I don't spend a lot of time with any of my friends, they are all good people. I'm lucky to know so many! I've got a bunch of online friends from blogging, forums, and other online social spots. They're great and some I've been friends with for 6 years already! I really do consider them to be my friends and not just online people. I have my local mommy friends. I don't see a lot of them lately with school in full swing, but they are a great bunch of ladies. We get together for parties, playdates, babysit swap, and everyone is always very happy to see each other and support one another. If one needs help, there are a handful that are more than willing every time. So wonderful to be part of this group. And, I have my husband's coworkers as friends. They are special people. I only see them a few times a year, some I don't see but once a year if that. But, they always are a bunch of great people who include me on their fun even though I'm not one of the coworkers and in on their every day lives. They are the friends who inspire me; they are great!
6. Coffee. Really, my life would not be the same without my morning caffeine.
7. My teakettle. My friend, Kristin, gave me a tea kettle not too long ago after mine exploded like a bomb. I really appreciate the new tea kettle! I use it every single day and lately, several times a day. I cannot live without a tea kettle on the stove, that is a fact. I'm also very thankful for my friend too! She's awesome in many ways, not just with saving my sanity with a tea kettle. Thank you, Kristin!
8. Once again, I am thankful for Kristin! And Keith! Between the two of them, they rescued me when I had a flat tire. I was meeting Kristin at the park for a much needed playdate with our little girls. Fenna said she'd come along. Lexie and Charlie weren't doing anything so they came too. Six of us in the van! We were two blocks from the park and I heard sprinklers but I didn't see any. Odd to have sprinklers going this time of year. But, I heard Psh, psh, psh, psh.... A block later, I stopped at the red light and the noise stopped. My tire air pressure light popped on. Ding. Oh no. I went around the corner and into the parking lot at the park. My tire was mostly flat, not completely flat, but it was obviously a problem. Everyone got out and went to play and I called my husband. He got home from an out of town conference 20 minutes earlier. He came to my rescue! Since the tire wasn't completely flat and he couldn't see anything sticking in it, he decided to take it to the tire store a couple of miles away through town and he left me his truck. It suddenly got cold in the park! Kristin took my teenager and my just barely big enough to legally ride without a carseat kid, and I took Lexie and we stuffed Charlie and Libby into carseats in the jumpseats of the truck. We all fit! Thank you Kristin and Keith for rescuing me and my brood! And extra thanks to Keith for the new tires. Nice!
(I will add one each day of November, or a few at a time to catch up or thank ahead cuz that's how I operate, check back!)
This goes without saying since it an always and forever and most sincere feeling of gratitude; and yet I feel compelled to say it because every facebook status I have in my newsfeed says it too: I am thankful for my family and extended family. I am very thankful for my husband and all of my kids, yes, even the dog. Thank you, people, for being my people!
1. I am thankful that Halloween is over. We made it through another successful year of trick or treat! Costume making, decorating, parties, birthday dinner, candy and cake - it's all done! And we did it well I think. I am thankful for all the fun times we had, but I'm thankful to be done with Halloween and move on.
2. I am thankful for my friend, Audrey. Yesterday, she was almost hit by a car. The trailer she was pulling behind her bike was hit. Luckily, her little boy was not in it at the time (she just dropped him off at preschool so it was empty). I am thankful that she was not hurt, only shaken and inconvenienced.
3. I am thankful for Fenna. She is sharing a lot with us and we are learning and having fun. It is really fun to learn Dutch words, hear stories about how Dutch people do things, and get a new perspective on our American lives. It's also very cool to see her grow personally. She's having adventures that will forever change her and impact her life decisions. I am thankful that she's such a cool kid.
4. I am thankful that I got to take a nice long hot shower. Usually, I am in a hurry and dealing with crying and pounding at the door, if not an audience right there in the bathroom. Getting a nice long hot shower with no crying audience is not easy around here. What can I say? They love me every minute of the day and cannot bear to have me disappear alone into the chamber of steamy suds.
5. Friends. I am thankful for friends. I have very nice people in my life and even though I don't spend a lot of time with any of my friends, they are all good people. I'm lucky to know so many! I've got a bunch of online friends from blogging, forums, and other online social spots. They're great and some I've been friends with for 6 years already! I really do consider them to be my friends and not just online people. I have my local mommy friends. I don't see a lot of them lately with school in full swing, but they are a great bunch of ladies. We get together for parties, playdates, babysit swap, and everyone is always very happy to see each other and support one another. If one needs help, there are a handful that are more than willing every time. So wonderful to be part of this group. And, I have my husband's coworkers as friends. They are special people. I only see them a few times a year, some I don't see but once a year if that. But, they always are a bunch of great people who include me on their fun even though I'm not one of the coworkers and in on their every day lives. They are the friends who inspire me; they are great!
6. Coffee. Really, my life would not be the same without my morning caffeine.
7. My teakettle. My friend, Kristin, gave me a tea kettle not too long ago after mine exploded like a bomb. I really appreciate the new tea kettle! I use it every single day and lately, several times a day. I cannot live without a tea kettle on the stove, that is a fact. I'm also very thankful for my friend too! She's awesome in many ways, not just with saving my sanity with a tea kettle. Thank you, Kristin!
8. Once again, I am thankful for Kristin! And Keith! Between the two of them, they rescued me when I had a flat tire. I was meeting Kristin at the park for a much needed playdate with our little girls. Fenna said she'd come along. Lexie and Charlie weren't doing anything so they came too. Six of us in the van! We were two blocks from the park and I heard sprinklers but I didn't see any. Odd to have sprinklers going this time of year. But, I heard Psh, psh, psh, psh.... A block later, I stopped at the red light and the noise stopped. My tire air pressure light popped on. Ding. Oh no. I went around the corner and into the parking lot at the park. My tire was mostly flat, not completely flat, but it was obviously a problem. Everyone got out and went to play and I called my husband. He got home from an out of town conference 20 minutes earlier. He came to my rescue! Since the tire wasn't completely flat and he couldn't see anything sticking in it, he decided to take it to the tire store a couple of miles away through town and he left me his truck. It suddenly got cold in the park! Kristin took my teenager and my just barely big enough to legally ride without a carseat kid, and I took Lexie and we stuffed Charlie and Libby into carseats in the jumpseats of the truck. We all fit! Thank you Kristin and Keith for rescuing me and my brood! And extra thanks to Keith for the new tires. Nice!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
All-encompassing October post
Let's pretend I keep up with my blog and don't let 20 days slide by between posts!
We've been busy and having fun. The kids were all sick one week, and that was a trying time for all with fevers and all that goes with it, but we made it through.
There have been three outings this month so far: Pumpkin Patch, Disneyland and Safari Park (Zoo). I have my pictures up on Picasa, but I don't have the posts done on my outing blog. I'll catch up someday and backdate the posts so that it looks like I'm on the ball.
Fenna has been busy with high school. She had a colorguard/marching band competition where they won first place in three catagories! Awesome! There are performances or competitions every weekend for a while; the next one is at her school so we will all be there with cameras charged up and ready to go! She is looking forward to a fun night at Knott's Scary Farm with her friends soon and she has a birthday coming up! Lexie put bright blond hair extentions in her hair and now she looks like a California teen. It is fun having a teenager in the house.
The little kids are gearing up for Halloween. We are busy preparing costumes and shopping in the Halloween decorated aisles in the stores. Very fun to see them having some Halloween fun. We've already eaten all of our Halloween candy, and by "we" I mostly mean me. Gracie gets to dress up like an animal for school, she picked dolphin. She decided I could sew a dolphin costume for her and she gave me specific instructions for the shape of the nose and fin and all, plus told me what kind of fabric to buy. She wants to be the Little Mermaid for trick-or-treating though. Libby wants to be Minnie Mouse and a pink princess. Charlie has a Mickey Mouse costume and a monkey costume. Fenna is the only normal kid around here, she will only have one costume! She's going to make it herself too: a woodland fairy. The girls think she will look like Tinkerbell, but she wants to be more earthy and less Disney. I think it'll turn out great! We're sure to have the cutest Halloween ever!
Gracie switched schools. She was doing just fine at the school where she was, but it was overcrowded which causes problems that I was uncomfortable with. So I looked into a charter school and decided to move her over. She is now at a Montessori/Homeschool hybrid school where she goes three days a week to Montessori Kindergarten and has two days a week of homeschool. So far, she is really enjoying it but she misses her little friend with the pretty hair at her other school. We'll have to arrange some playdates. On her first day of Homeschool, the school had a field trip to the Safari Park (zoo), so we went. Since it was her first day, we didn't know who was with the school and who wasn't, but the homeschool families were all on their own anyway. We had fun and she could talk about it at school with her class too. Off to a good start!
Gracie's word of the month has been "Awkward". She says it 20 times a day at least. It's getting old fast! Awkward!
I'm getting excited for my friend's baby's first birthday party this weekend. I'm only excited because my friend also has a little boy and he is a devoted Cars fan, just like Gracie and Libby. Lightning McQueen is like a Disney God to these kids! I figure his one year old little sis is also an avid fan since she was immersed in her brother's Cars world since birth. I picked up the same Cars fabric that I made my girls' Cars dresses with and I am making a Cars dress for the birthday girl! It is impossible to find girl things that have Lightning McQueen on them, so I know her mama will be pretty excited to have a dress for her little girl. I might even ruffle some Lightning McQueen socks if I can find some red ribbon that will work well. I have a few pair of new Cars socks that I haven't given the girls yet. I can't wait to see Lisa's face when she sees the Cars dress for her little girl!
I should get back to sewing. My serger is difficult to thread, but I have it running with red thread in it right now so I can make the Lightning McQueen dress and the Minnie Mouse costume. Not sure if I can rethread it for the dolphin costume, and then I need to get busy on some baby blankets for a friend who is having a baby shower the first weekend of November. Good thing my trusty sewing machine never lets me down.
With all this sewing to do, I'm not reading much. I read almost half of the Grapes of Wrath. I fall asleep every time I pick it up. I do enjoy the book, but it's never ending when I fall asleep after every page. I might have to switch to something with more action than dust blowing.
I'll leave you with a quote from my husband's facebook page. A former student (aprox 10 yrs ago) wrote to him with a very nice comment. It was great timing too, because my poor overworked husband was all kinds of crabby after working two jobs and ending his long hard day with a two hour traffic-hell commute home. He was not a happy camper! And then he read this which melted his heart and made all the stress of the entire day worth it:
We've been busy and having fun. The kids were all sick one week, and that was a trying time for all with fevers and all that goes with it, but we made it through.
There have been three outings this month so far: Pumpkin Patch, Disneyland and Safari Park (Zoo). I have my pictures up on Picasa, but I don't have the posts done on my outing blog. I'll catch up someday and backdate the posts so that it looks like I'm on the ball.
Fenna has been busy with high school. She had a colorguard/marching band competition where they won first place in three catagories! Awesome! There are performances or competitions every weekend for a while; the next one is at her school so we will all be there with cameras charged up and ready to go! She is looking forward to a fun night at Knott's Scary Farm with her friends soon and she has a birthday coming up! Lexie put bright blond hair extentions in her hair and now she looks like a California teen. It is fun having a teenager in the house.
The little kids are gearing up for Halloween. We are busy preparing costumes and shopping in the Halloween decorated aisles in the stores. Very fun to see them having some Halloween fun. We've already eaten all of our Halloween candy, and by "we" I mostly mean me. Gracie gets to dress up like an animal for school, she picked dolphin. She decided I could sew a dolphin costume for her and she gave me specific instructions for the shape of the nose and fin and all, plus told me what kind of fabric to buy. She wants to be the Little Mermaid for trick-or-treating though. Libby wants to be Minnie Mouse and a pink princess. Charlie has a Mickey Mouse costume and a monkey costume. Fenna is the only normal kid around here, she will only have one costume! She's going to make it herself too: a woodland fairy. The girls think she will look like Tinkerbell, but she wants to be more earthy and less Disney. I think it'll turn out great! We're sure to have the cutest Halloween ever!
Gracie switched schools. She was doing just fine at the school where she was, but it was overcrowded which causes problems that I was uncomfortable with. So I looked into a charter school and decided to move her over. She is now at a Montessori/Homeschool hybrid school where she goes three days a week to Montessori Kindergarten and has two days a week of homeschool. So far, she is really enjoying it but she misses her little friend with the pretty hair at her other school. We'll have to arrange some playdates. On her first day of Homeschool, the school had a field trip to the Safari Park (zoo), so we went. Since it was her first day, we didn't know who was with the school and who wasn't, but the homeschool families were all on their own anyway. We had fun and she could talk about it at school with her class too. Off to a good start!
Gracie's word of the month has been "Awkward". She says it 20 times a day at least. It's getting old fast! Awkward!
I'm getting excited for my friend's baby's first birthday party this weekend. I'm only excited because my friend also has a little boy and he is a devoted Cars fan, just like Gracie and Libby. Lightning McQueen is like a Disney God to these kids! I figure his one year old little sis is also an avid fan since she was immersed in her brother's Cars world since birth. I picked up the same Cars fabric that I made my girls' Cars dresses with and I am making a Cars dress for the birthday girl! It is impossible to find girl things that have Lightning McQueen on them, so I know her mama will be pretty excited to have a dress for her little girl. I might even ruffle some Lightning McQueen socks if I can find some red ribbon that will work well. I have a few pair of new Cars socks that I haven't given the girls yet. I can't wait to see Lisa's face when she sees the Cars dress for her little girl!
I should get back to sewing. My serger is difficult to thread, but I have it running with red thread in it right now so I can make the Lightning McQueen dress and the Minnie Mouse costume. Not sure if I can rethread it for the dolphin costume, and then I need to get busy on some baby blankets for a friend who is having a baby shower the first weekend of November. Good thing my trusty sewing machine never lets me down.
With all this sewing to do, I'm not reading much. I read almost half of the Grapes of Wrath. I fall asleep every time I pick it up. I do enjoy the book, but it's never ending when I fall asleep after every page. I might have to switch to something with more action than dust blowing.
I'll leave you with a quote from my husband's facebook page. A former student (aprox 10 yrs ago) wrote to him with a very nice comment. It was great timing too, because my poor overworked husband was all kinds of crabby after working two jobs and ending his long hard day with a two hour traffic-hell commute home. He was not a happy camper! And then he read this which melted his heart and made all the stress of the entire day worth it:
"Do u remember u and jo esther gave me a ride home after i was expelled? u gave me some good advice thank you sincerely. Well u said that my todays create my tomorrows no matter how small a
decision is... And Jo Esther didnt have to say anything!!! She juss had
to look at me and that was enuff... U brought out the smile in me i
fought so hard to conceal u saw the diamond way inside of me and i thank
you Mr.Schumacher."
Monday, May 9, 2011
Update - 2011 Resolutions
Way way back in the distant past, January, I made some promises to myself. Here is an update of where I stand on these. Honestly, I had forgotten what I resolved to do this year and had to look it up.
Hmmm... what sort of empty promises shall I make to myself this year? Lose weight? Get in shape? Not buy any more strollers? Oh, who knows!
I sold a stroller and bought a stroller. But the one I bought was for Katie! I am down to three strollers now, a double, a full single and a jogger. I sold the umbrella.
I think I'll stick to resolutions that I can actually see through to the end. Therefore....
I resolve in a conservative manner thus leaving room for chaos and craziness...
1. Read 12 books this year.
I've read five! And it's May, so that's not too bad considering I rarely have time and when I do, I fall asleep.
2. Do more sewing and get my serger fixed (or me, one of us isn't doing it right). I'd like to end 2011 with my current PHDs (projects half done) all finished!
I got my serger fixed and I have been sewing more. I rearranged my sewing area just yesterday. One of these days I'll find the perfect way to set it up. I think I've moved it a hundred times in this house.
3. Get my kids to school on time (most of the time).
So far, we aren't doing too bad.
4. Potty train and wean Libby, yes, folks, I promise to quit breastfeeding after nearly 5 years
She is mostly potty trained! She still wets when she is asleep, and has an accident once in a while. But for the most part she is trained. I sneak a diaper on her at night; hopefully we can give that up soon. That would be so nice to quit buying diapers. Making no progress on weaning.
5. Get my money's worth out of our Disneyland and Zoo passes (meaning lots of fun!). Might even get a SeaWorld pass this year!
We went to Disneyland 4 times so far in 2011. We didn't get to the zoo before our passes expired in Feb. But I didn't renew them. So far, no Seaworld pass. I don't know when I thought I would have time for that.
6. Send my 2011 Christmas cards out before Christmas.
I still have time! I should start addressing envelopes soon.
7. Do something with all of my photos and videos. Print them, back them up, put them on dvd, make photo books, I don't know, but something!
I backed them up to the server, need to back up the server now. Hmm.
8. Keep blogging. I would like to archive my Momathon blog since I kept it up for three years, and I'll have to keep this one alive. Often times, I just blog mentally and never get around to actually posting.
Still mental blogging. Are you still reading my mind?
9. I will try not to destroy or lose any of my electronic devices. You heard that right! Cell phone, bluetooth, camera, laptop.... I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the new year. And may you all stay out of the crevices of the furniture and survive the year! Good Luck.
The laptop is dying, slowly, but it is going to go. The phone is in great shape! Bluetooth was lost but then found it in plain sight in the van, haha. Camera nearly took a plunge into the ocean last week. Thank goodness my hubby gave me a lanyard for my neck! So far, the electronics are all doing well, despite the dangerous life they lead with me.
10. I can't think of anything else. Nine resolutions is more than enough anyway. We'll see if I can keep one or two of them. Happy New Year, Everyone!
Happy New Year - 2011 Resolutions
I sold a stroller and bought a stroller. But the one I bought was for Katie! I am down to three strollers now, a double, a full single and a jogger. I sold the umbrella.
I think I'll stick to resolutions that I can actually see through to the end. Therefore....
I resolve in a conservative manner thus leaving room for chaos and craziness...
1. Read 12 books this year.
I've read five! And it's May, so that's not too bad considering I rarely have time and when I do, I fall asleep.
2. Do more sewing and get my serger fixed (or me, one of us isn't doing it right). I'd like to end 2011 with my current PHDs (projects half done) all finished!
I got my serger fixed and I have been sewing more. I rearranged my sewing area just yesterday. One of these days I'll find the perfect way to set it up. I think I've moved it a hundred times in this house.
3. Get my kids to school on time (most of the time).
So far, we aren't doing too bad.
4. Potty train and wean Libby, yes, folks, I promise to quit breastfeeding after nearly 5 years
She is mostly potty trained! She still wets when she is asleep, and has an accident once in a while. But for the most part she is trained. I sneak a diaper on her at night; hopefully we can give that up soon. That would be so nice to quit buying diapers. Making no progress on weaning.
5. Get my money's worth out of our Disneyland and Zoo passes (meaning lots of fun!). Might even get a SeaWorld pass this year!
We went to Disneyland 4 times so far in 2011. We didn't get to the zoo before our passes expired in Feb. But I didn't renew them. So far, no Seaworld pass. I don't know when I thought I would have time for that.
6. Send my 2011 Christmas cards out before Christmas.
I still have time! I should start addressing envelopes soon.
7. Do something with all of my photos and videos. Print them, back them up, put them on dvd, make photo books, I don't know, but something!
I backed them up to the server, need to back up the server now. Hmm.
8. Keep blogging. I would like to archive my Momathon blog since I kept it up for three years, and I'll have to keep this one alive. Often times, I just blog mentally and never get around to actually posting.
Still mental blogging. Are you still reading my mind?
9. I will try not to destroy or lose any of my electronic devices. You heard that right! Cell phone, bluetooth, camera, laptop.... I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the new year. And may you all stay out of the crevices of the furniture and survive the year! Good Luck.
The laptop is dying, slowly, but it is going to go. The phone is in great shape! Bluetooth was lost but then found it in plain sight in the van, haha. Camera nearly took a plunge into the ocean last week. Thank goodness my hubby gave me a lanyard for my neck! So far, the electronics are all doing well, despite the dangerous life they lead with me.
10. I can't think of anything else. Nine resolutions is more than enough anyway. We'll see if I can keep one or two of them. Happy New Year, Everyone!
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