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!

Lights and a Candle burning

This year has been weird. We started it off at our old house by leaving up our Christmas lights because they died as soon as my husband hung them. Last Christmas was so strange and sad that I am glad to have a new beginning this year in a new location. We never leave the Christmas lights up on the house - but that is just a prime example of how our life has been this year (with truly no signs of slowing in the next year and a half). We are burning the candle at both ends out of necessity. I don't like it much but it's the way it is for now. Things will have to change eventually because I don't believe that any one family can do this forever. I mean, I don't really do anything. I guess I work on the weekends and I home-school during the week and keep the house and my other things that I do -but it's not that much. I think the idea of what I do stresses me out than the actual things that I do. Does that make sense?

(That One's friend that she said goodbye to. She went
back home to Papua New Guinea)

The Christmas Card Game!

This year, our family will be having a Christmas card game!
The rules go as follows:

Each week leading up to Christmas, we will choose a random selected winner from a box. The kids will also choose purposefully selected winner on December 22nd based on the following criteria:

Most Creative
Most Beautiful
Most Animals

You have to have a family picture somewhere in the card (those are what I am drawing out of the box). It doesn't need to be a picture card -it can be a letter with a picture inside. Your card needs to be received by December 22nd to be part of the game. The winner will recieve a box of Christmas treats! If you do not live in town I can ship them to you.
You can't win if you don't play!
Happy Christmas Card-ing!

PS: if you need my new address I can email it to you.

(This was our rejected picture this year)

Autumn

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Yes, I let my kids play in the backyard in their pajamas...

How fun!

Soft landing!

The pups got in on the action.

Can you find my dapple?

My kids decided to play with our dress up hats and
pose for pictures the other night while daddy was gone.

When I get to Heaven....

When I get to Heaven, I am going to ask the Lord why people have a tendency to go off the deep end. What will you ask?