2008 in Review

I know you're all dying to know how I did on my aspirations for this year. Okay so I guess I just want to see (in print) how I did. :)

* Read a book outloud with EH (Sadly not accomplished BUT we did listen to a couple of the CDs from All Creatures Great and Small while on a trip this last Spring - Thanks to my oldest brother for borrowing them to us!)

* Open on Etsy shop (Done! Although poorly managed over the last 6-9 months!)

* Continue praying through the Power of a Praying Parent/Wife (Done!)

* Give up toilet paper and give washable reusables a try (Um, not done. I wanted to maintain my friendship with certain people who threatened severing ties if we did this. I shall mention no names, you KNOW who you are!)

* Set up a school area in the family room for Kindergarten (Done!)

* Get my eyebrows done (Done! - thanks to Julie - who doesn't read this but thanks just the same!)

Fireplace & floor

Look what happened in the last week! A fireplace mantle and a lovely wood floor. Many heartfelt thanks to my father, FIL, and EH for their very hard labors and late nights. It was so nice to have it done in time for hosting Christmas!






















Please excuse the five year old stuffing his mouth with muffin - you can kinda see the floor there. I love it, love it, love it!

Picts are up

I posted a couple of picts of our Thanksgiving lapbooks. They aren't close ups but they'll give you the idea of what we did. Just peek at the original post here to see them.

Welcome to the family

This month (the 17th) we were thrilled to have my youngest brother and his fiancé tie the marital knot. On the 20th we feasted on a beautiful 3-tiered red velvet wedding cake and celebrated their promises to one another. Can I just say how much I adore having SILs! Auntie S is no exception!

Balancing Act

We took a few days off prior to Christmas so we still have a few things I wanted to finish up before the new year. Math is mostly the subject we need to catch up on. Yesterday I dug out the supplies and we tried our hands at building a balance scale I found instructions for at Miss Mary's Preschool Ideas. It worked pretty well although I underestimated the amount of time it would take to cut the wire hanger with the wire cutter. Agent H had a great time guessing how many pennies or building blocks, etc. it would take to equal the amount of a bar of soap.

I'll take pictures but the process to get pictures online is still clumsy so I'm not sure if they'll make it anytime soon.

Agent H's loose tooth

About a month ago Agent H commented on how his tooth felt loose. I gave it a wiggle and I wasn't so sure. Yesterday we gave it a wiggle and it definitely has some jiggle. His first loose tooth!

As he is the oldest kid I feel like we're breaking new parental ground. How do we make this special? We never played the Santa game and the same will be for the Tooth Fairy. BUT I want to do some under-the-pillow fun. Obviously this is going to involve some serious internet research! J/K :) Any suggestions?

(By the way, we do our best to tell our kids not to spoil the Santa surprise for other kids - but I never know what they will say!)

Resistance is Futile

Okay so I'm not referring to an alien species but I am talking about Facebook. My resolve to not join is weakening. I'm telling you if I get sucked in I'm not going alone, just warning you EH.

Me time

Little LE has been toting along with me to my stamp club nights. He's done great though it hasn't really been a time for me to let down and enjoy some crafting as I had hoped. Monday EH gave me a huge gift as he agreed to manage all three little fellas for the night so I could go out alone. The whole drive over to Kari's I kept looking over my shoulder to check on a baby that wasn't there. My shoulders relaxed . . . my face relaxed (well as much as I could driving on slippery/snowy roads) it was wonderful. Thank you EH for giving me some time to relax.

Unveiled

Around this time of the year I usually pull out my copy of Unafraid, Francine River's version of what being the Mother of Jesus could have been like (click here for my post about it last year). This year I'm going to back up in Jesus' lineage and read again about Tamar in the book Unveiled. Tamar's husband dies and she has to marry her brother-in-law, then he dies and she has to marry another brother-in-law, then . . . I'm not going to spoil the ending, unless you remember how it ends from the Bible. Gesh! I'm glad I wasn't a woman in those days!

Movies to love

These are my current favorite DVDs.











Persuasion is a Jane Austin story (almost surpassing my love for Pride & Prejudice), Sweet Land I bought with out even seeing it because two people who have my style nailed said I would love it (and I did!). The middle one there, Pilates for Dummies, maybe not so much my favorite but I look at it often enough with good intensions and that's about it.

Painting

We've been painting! Not myself so much even though I love to do it. EH and his dad have been hard at work trying to finish off our basement levels. Our family room and EH's office has been painted with my laundry room possibly to follow soon. I'm crossing my fingers that we might even get the mantle for the fireplace stained and varnished and the flooring installed in our family room before Christmas. I'm having difficulty deciding on the flooring. I plan to use the space for homeschool (including crafts with the kids) so I want an easily cleanable floor. I also like the idea of a greener/healthier/reknewable flooring so I'm seriously considering cork. I so wish I could just have some HGTV design team come and help make these decisions! Thank you to my neighbors, family, and friends who have been kind enough to listen to me blather on about the options and even offer input!




Don't you just want to reach out and tickle Ebug's belly? I guess I need to buy him some T-shirts that actually fit.

Honey Soup

The boys clamored for hot honey water before bed tonight. I don't usually indulge cause generally it means a midnight potty run that Agent H is sure to wake me up for. But tonight, the boys were fresh out of the tub and looking so irresistibly snugly and sweet that I in gave in. As we said our good night prayers it took me a moment to realize what it was that Ebug was thanking Jesus for . . . "honey soup".

Trying to Twitter

Does anyone know how this Twitter thing works? I signed up to do it but I really have no idea how to "do" it. How do I find the folks I want to follow? I suppose I could just check out the "Help" section but it so nice to have first hand info. Thanks!

Childhood friend

My childhood bosom friend (and still a dear friend) MT has been diagnosed with Lupus. She writes about it in her journal. Please forgive me if I've been out-of-sorts, I've been feeling a bit kitty-wampus over this and really haven't trusted myself to talk about it. She and her husband have two little darlings and she's been suffering from debilitating headaches. I'm sure she would be grateful for your prayers.