364 days ago...

....Is a day to reminisce and remember how truly blessed we are to own our first home. We waited for a long time for it to happen and it was at times, an elusive goal we never thought we'd reach.

Not long after we moved in, we celebrated a lovely Easter, 2 children's birthdays, a college graduation and a pre-teens birthday. Soon to follow was our first season of holidays: we hosted Thanksgiving, several Christmas get-togethers, New Years.... It has snowed 3 separate times since we have owned this home.
We received this ginormous bottle of bubbly from the realtor at closing. For whatever reason, we did not drink it. (Though I was tempted to bust it open on this day when this wonderful group of ladies came to help clean - it was a bummer they had to drive home..)
...Instead of sharing it with the people who did this and would have to drive home...
... We decided that we would drink it on our first anniversary as home owners. I guess that sounds strange to you. But, for any of you that had cake on your wedding and saved the top tier for your anniversary- this is kinda the same to us.
Now, given the current circumstances, I will not be drinking this on my first anniversary. Here are a few occasions we may decide to have it instead in the coming year:
A teaching job, a baby born, a new car, a camper purchase. Now, I am not hoping for all of these things (although, I wouldn't turn them down, haha). But I promise, when I am not in my current state, I will be enjoying this with my husband. We have waited a long time.

Until then
*raises and orange juice glass*
CHEERS!

(Disclaimer: pretty much the entire inside of our house looks different now, thanks to my husband's handy-ness over the last year)

19 degree cold heart

This post is to quell the rumors that I am a snow scrooge and that my heart is as cold as north Texas snow. I do enjoy seeing my family play in it and I have pictures to prove it! Please take note that I am not condoning snow - I prefer summer -but I *guess* I can see why some people would like it.

He enjoyed playing inside with the pups today. Do you think the dog liked it?

My son is pathetic without his glove. Note the project the oldest is working on.

They worked on this for hours today. It took wheelbarrows, shovels, Rubbermaid lids, sandbox lids and lots of hands to create this.

Enjoy! In the meantime, I will be pining for springtime...

Really? Another snow post...

I can't even describe to you how much I loathe making another snow/ice post but, then again, here we are. It snowed again and the weather is very cold. It is currently 19 degrees outside.
I regret to say I am not in any pictures but someone has to take the pictures of her lovely family! And some of us have to dislike cold. God makes us all different. ;-)
Some of us have to like playing in the snow. My husband turns into an 8 year old when it snows. He is so much fun for the kids. I am a fuddy duddy and I am okay with it. (He ran and slid on purpose in this picture).

Our puppies liked the snow/ice, too. They like to run with Daddy. See that sandbox lid? This One and The Dad took it down the street and slid down some hills. I was not there to witness it.
The outside fun for the little 2 lasted literally 90 seconds. Then they came in and thawed. I think I will go bake some cookies now.
Since this guy is off work today, I have a feeling there are no excuses for pre-algebra to not get done!!

Great Day!

I never would have believed we would have such nice weather the last weekend in January. My wife suggested we go to the park yesterday and I was more than happy to comply. Most of these have been posted to Facebook, but they're here in compiled form for your enjoyment.

The picture at the top is the boy and I. The original plan was to get onto the limb and take a picture, but I got horribly stung by ants last time and discretion is the better part of valor.

Today I put up our ceiling fan we found at Texas Thrift on date night Thursday. Among other things I found I couldn't do without - a copy of "The Racquetball Book" (very old school, very short shorts on men), Levis for five bucks, and a brown leather dress belt. First reaction to the dress belt, "Sure that's not a women's belt?" Do they make women's Dockers - oh wait, I just remembered - they do... Eh, whatever.

Last but not least that one really enjoys her six inch stilts, especially when somebody is taking her picture :-) Oh, and if I mention I have an interest in going to bible school, stop me dead in my tracks - you'll save everybody a lot of trouble. (One person is guaranteed to smile at this)

A look back to a look forward

First, Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man I know. This is a picture of him in all his glory.

A particular social network site that I frequently use occasionally has old pictures from my albums that will resurface every once in awhile. This one caught my eye. I kinda miss this stage now that I see the pictures. I had blocked all of that sleeplessness and all of the challenges related to infants out of my mind. I guess I blocked out the good things along with it (it's how I cope -blocking is never healthy, I realize that).

Yeah, I do miss it.

Cute.

My office smells of rich mahogany

* I don't like snow much. I would say that this is the first snow that we've had in this new house and get all sentimental - but, ya know - we had that snow storm the day we moved in. It's kinda lost it's novelty with this Texan. The kids enjoyed it very much, then they went straight into the hot bath to thaw before time for AWANA time.

* Our pups got fixed. I felt bad leaving them there for such a cruel procedure. I also felt bad about not leaving their comfy pillow to lay on post-op. They lived. They were a bit sad looking at first but have perked up nicely. My husband brought them home flowers on the big day. They have become so well trained over the past several weeks. They know the rules and follow them. I couldn't have asked for better timing as to when they get housebroken.

(They got Milk Bones for Christmas)

*I have taken to watching the Universal Sports channel out of sheer sickness and boredom. Skiing is kinda interesting - even though I hate snow - it is quite interesting to watch from my warm bed. So is the Iron Man Marathon. I watched 2008-2010. I have spent a lot of time in my room with a remote and a blankie. Can you tell?

*I ate vegetarian for a week (okay, sorta. The meats I ate don't resemble meat - which is good enough for me!). I like meat but can't seem to look at it quite yet. I *cannot* wait until I can eat again! I love too much for this kind of life!

*I told someone today that when you hit child number four, it's all about logistics. Can anyone relate?

*My office smells of rich mahogany. Okay, not really. But my new desk and shelves smell new and fresh.

* I was so desperate to provide for my family that I took my husband to the boxed food area at Sam's Club and let him pick out things he could make. I don't like prepared food. Most everything I make is made from a lot of ingredients I put together. I thought that prepared foods were more expensive - but I am almost thinking they are more cost effective when bought in bulk to feed a large family. I will now, obviously be cooking in bulk for a good amount of years so I may look into getting a deep/upright freezer and putting a few bulk things in.

*School starts tomorrow. Home schooled kids don't get bad weather days.

(Our pups with their pup cousins)

Surprise!

Merry Christmas to you!


Sorry I have not drawn any Christmas cards for prizes, I have a good excuse! I haven't been feeling well. Truth be told, we are having another baby and I have had some morning sickness. Surprise! Merry Christmas!