2008 is almost over! Time flies!

Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet?? Brent doesn't have any, but I've come up with a few:

1. More "face time" with friends. This past year has been a blur of sleep deprivation, doctor's appointments and diapers, and FAR too few lunches, coffees or glasses of wine with friends. Now that the kids are a little bigger and we have babysitters we adore, I'm ready to get out and re-connect again (with people who make me feel good about myself)!!

2. Simplify, simplify, simplify. This covers a lot of areas, but mainly meal preparation. I'll go into more detail further down in this post...

3. Find a hairdresser that I love and STICK WITH THEM! I've not been very organized about scheduling hair appointments, so I end up calling around at the last minute until I can get in somewhere. IT SHOWS. I've been so focused on getting it done cheaper that I end up with a cut and color that I hate. I'm hoping to find the stylist of my dreams this year!

4. Get involved in a small group at church. Our church is so big that, without belonging to a small group, it's easy to feel lost in the crowd. Brent's schedule won't allow him to go with me each week, so I'm trying to decide whether a couple's group or a women's group would be best for me. I'm anxious to get "plugged in" somewhere!

5. Get out with the kids more. I've done pretty well with this over the past year, but now that the kids are walking and more "mobile" I want to do more. The park, Exploration Place, the zoo...wherever! They love to be out of the house, and being cooped up in the house is so lonely for all of us! (This resolution can be combined with Resolution #1--I need to get some play dates set up!)

There you have it...if you have some of your own, I'd love to hear them!

OK, about #2: You know how much I love Dream Dinners, but now that the kids are eating so much (you should SEE these boys eat) it's not very affordable for us. We were getting by with the 3-serving meals, but now we definitely need the 6-serving meals which puts it out of our price range. I asked Brent what types of meals he'd like to see me fix (keep in mind that I usually try to make something pretty "involved"--roast, grilled meats, fancy sandwiches--because I thought that's what he wanted). One day I spent a WHOLE AFTERNOON making a homemade roasted red pepper lasagna that he turned his nose up at, but he attacks a frozen store-brand lasagna like it's gourmet. Sooooo...of ALL the meals in the world that he could pick from, THIS was his top 5 list:

1. Frozen fish sticks and boxed macaroni & cheese
2. Frozen Tony's pizzas (or occasionally the $.99 Totino's frozen pizzas)
3. Boxed Old El Paso taco dinner kits
4. Chili dogs (canned chili and hot dogs)
5. Frozen Hungry Man dinners

A PIECE OF MY SOUL DIED when I heard this list. Do you know how many hours I've wasted trying to fix meals to impress him and THIS is what he's been wanting all along?! I AM A LIBERATED WOMAN! What will I do with all of my new-found time?!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

Sunday afternoon

Aunt Judy responded to the birthday post from yesterday: "You and LeAnn have made me what I am today, old and haggard." HA!!! We are definitely the reason for some of her gray hairs, for sure! I can't take credit for her *sparkling* personality, though! (For those of you who haven't met my Aunt Judy, she IS the Maxine character from Hallmark!) :-)

I took the kids to Urgent Care this afternoon to have Graham's ears checked out. At our doctor's appt. last week she mentioned that one of his eardrums was concave, and would likely turn into an ear infection. Since our insurance changes Jan. 1 and I have to work all week, I took him over there for a peek at his ears today. Verdict: Double ear infection...AGAIN. He's on another round of antibiotics.

I have a pair of athletic pants that I love--they're the slick material kind that have a mesh lining. They're so well-loved that a hole has worn next to one of the pockets. I tell you that to tell you this... As I was unloading the kids at the doctor's office, I dropped my keys into what I thought was my pocket. I realized that it wasn't my pocket when my keys slid all the way down to my ankles, trapped between the layers of material in my pants. I stood in the parking lot for a while trying to decide how to MacGyver their rescue, then finally ripped the original hole bigger and was able to reach DOWN through the opening after them. I'm sure THAT looked suave. Now I have a sewing project to do...

Happy Birthday Aunt Judy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JUDY!

I wonder what the kids and grandkids have in store for you today? I wish I was there to torment you...er, I mean celebrate with you...today! In honor of your birthday, I'm making salmon patties for my household tonight for dinner. If Sophie was older, I might take her to Sears for a traumatizingly embarrassing bra shopping trip, or I'd loudly listen to oldies music while dropping her off at school. Sigh...she's lucky she's so young...she has no idea what I have in store for her later in life... Experiences like that build character, I say!!!

Now...where did I leave my Alba 77 shake? LeAnn and I might come and have a sleepover at your house tonight for old time's sake...we're going to ask you to drop us off at the mall for a while, though. And run us through Sonic. We'd eat a chocolate Pop Tart to tide us over, but they're Uncle Leroy's. But first we need to make a few phone calls...

A late Merry Christmas

We hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was relaxed and low-key around here. Here are a few pictures of the kids with gifts. This first set is of them opening gifts from our friends Lori and Dorothy. One of the gifts Sophie got was a baby doll that comes with bath stuff--a bar of pretend soap, a rubber duck, etc. Sophie kept kissing the duck! The baby also came with a diaper, so she tried diapering the baby.

Kelly and Roger got them a bunch of toys, including a huge set of play food. Leslie also got them a set of play food, so we have a virtual grocery store here! They also got the boys some tools (you can see the power drill in one picture), everyone an outfit, and each of them got an apron. They didn't want to take their aprons off!! The boys' have tools on theirs, and Sophie's has a strawberry on the front. Now we're ready for some messy apron-needing activities!! (Like cookies....mmmm...cookies...)

Christmas with Dad, Louise and Joshua

We've already been lucky enough to open some of our Christmas presents! Dad, Louise and Joshua come down for the weekend to celebrate Christmas early since Brent is scheduled to work on Friday. Sophie keeps asking where "Geema and Gempa" went. I wish we lived closer together!

Sophie is CRAZY about her new rocking horse! AND she got a new baby doll that she loves...

The boys fighting over one of their toys...and Sophie refereeing!

Graham's favorite gift of all was mommy's new mixing bowl! He walked around with this thing on his head FOREVER. It acted as his helmet when he would occasionally run into things. Ha!! Then he was determined to get onto the horse, so tried to use a package...

The kids are so enamored by our nephew Joshua! Blake loved sitting by Josh on the couch like a big boy...

More pictures as the holiday continues!

Happy Birthday Amy!!!

I swear that I'm losing my mind...I was almost positive that Amy's birthday is on the 20th, but I'm suddenly having a panic attack that it might be today. (I need a calendar of all of the family birthdays on it! Can one of the Schuler gang send me a list??) Since it's too late to call her tonight to confirm, I'm going to post a happy birthday message now. If it is in fact today, I'll be groveling for forgiveness tomorrow for not calling!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!!!

Now that Sophie knows how to sing "Happy Birthday", she can sing you a solo! We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

We wish we could spend the day with you! We love you!! We'll see you soon!! Sophie learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" last night...enjoy. :-) Click on the play button below the video.

To anyone wondering about the glasses...Dad would pick me up from Junior High wearing these glasses. TALK ABOUT EMBARRASSING!!!

Sophie's fish ornament

Our MAPS group had a big Christmas party last night, and we did an ornament exchange where you could pick a wrapped ornament or steal someone else's. There were a lot of beautiful ornaments being exchanged, but when I saw this fun fish ornament I just HAD to have it for Sophie. She loves fish!! She calls them "ish." Ha!! I couldn't wait for her to wake up this morning so I could show her, and she's crazy about it. Here's a picture of her kissing it.

Isn't it funny that when you become a parent your idea of what is "valuable" changes? I knew this ornament was the most "valuable" one I could bring home--her smile was worth it! She wanted to feed it waffles. :-) We finally snuck it away and put it back on the tree!

Pictures from the MAPS Hoe Down

Erin, a former MAPS mom, was taking pictures at the Hoe Down (BBQ & square dancing) event I mentioned in an earlier post. She made everyone a neat collage, so I thought I'd share it here.

Happy Birthday Louise!!!

Today is Louise's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE!! We wish we were there to celebrate with you! Have a wonderful birthday--we love you!!

I am a coupon QUEEN!!

I LOVE COUPONS, as many of you know! KMart was doubling $2 coupons this week, and even though I never shop at KMart I thought I'd go check it out. Here's what I got:

9 Loreal eyeshadows
48-piece Crayola sidewalk chalk
10 Gillette bodywashes for Brent
3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes
2 Betty Crocker frostings
1 box Huggies disposable washcloths
1 bottle Huggies lotion
1 bottle Dove conditioner
1 can Glade air freshener
1 package Hershey Kisses (dark chocolate...ooooh soooo good)
2 Hershey dark chocolate bars
1 package Tic Tac Chill
$$$ TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $94.49 $$$
$$$ TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $7.60 $$$
TOTAL SAVINGS...OVER 92% SCORE!!!!

I had to share! Pretty cool, eh?!

Riddle answer!

The riddle from yesterday: "A cowboy rode into town on Friday, stayed three days, then left on Friday. How did he do it?"

Answer: His horse's name was Friday.

My brain just couldn't come up with that answer--I was trying to make it FAR more complicated. My answer involved Leap Year and an international time zone. HA!! Sydney looked at me with a blank expression when I gave her my answer.

Kudos to my cousin LeAnn--she guessed it right!

Happy December!

Happy Cyber Monday! We haven't even started Christmas shopping, so I might have to participate in cyber Monday shopping tonight. Brent said that one of the most fun shopping years he ever had was when he waited and did ALL of his shopping on Christmas Eve. This is also the guy that has a lifelong goal to be one of the crazies in line somewhere on Black Friday when the stores open. He loves a good challenge and the thrill of a crowd. Boy, are we opposites! Give me a hot cup of coffee and some warm PJs...I'll do all of my shopping online, thank you very much! :-)

Blake is SO MUCH BETTER--hallelujah!! We had Devin and Sydney over last night (our pre-teen neighbors from our old neighborhood), and the kids LOVED it. It was nice to have some company, too. I love our new neighborhood, but would give anything to have them as neighbors again!

Here's a riddle that Sydney had for me last night: A cowboy rode into town on Friday, stayed three days, then left on Friday. How did he do it?