333

I have been missing in action, huh?! I hate it! I miss not having a computer of my own!! It has been nearly a month! How am I surviving?!!! I am hanging in there- honestly, I have learned to adapt without one from time to time. Luckily I am at the High School today and at least have access to my blog! No pics, though! But rest assured, when our computer comes home TODAY, I will be posting soooo much! Be prepared!
Not much else to post until I put up pictures...the house is still for sale...I am working like a crazy lady...5 days this week! Good thing I like it, huh?! But that is out of the ordinary, I usually only work 2 days on average a week- and I like that too! So perhaps in a day or two, I will find sometime to catch up....
Look out!
OH, and the 333- yep, I have posted that many posts- wow- I am impressed with myself!
See you soon!

Honest Abe

My friend Lauri did this on her blog and I just loved it, so here is my version:

Ten things that make me happy

(I left out the obvious answers of family, kiddos and the Church, so this is a tad more interesting...)

1. Sunshine-

simple pleasure for me- can turn a crappy day into a brighter one with just the rays- take for example this freezing hot mess we call winter here- it is freezing, BUT one day this week the sun was shining- so bright that my furnace didn't even turn on for a good part of the day- really awesome! I love the sun- it is one of the first things I hope for in a day.

2. Sleeping Children-

love, love, love this one! I could stare at them for lengths of time- I just adore their sweet little bodies all perfectly asleep and dreaming...it is my favorite end of the day- checking on them before I go to bed- I could just pick them up and cuddle them...but I don't! I don't want to wake them- they are most adorable to me in these moments...

3. Shopping-

This is a given, right?! Seriously, this is a no-brainer- it brings me joy just walking through the aisles- even the grocery store...I love a deal too- but just being in the store is an aura I love- but shopping alone is even better!

4. Getting a good hair cut-

Just did this yesterday, though I have no pic for you, since the computer is still down...but getting a fresh do is just the best- and it was in a salon, with a professional...wow- what a feeling- I just love it and I love that she styles it for me- can't she just do that everyday?! That I would love even more!

5. Reading-

But it better be a good book, or magazine, or article- I need a new read- any suggestions?! I love reading, I just haven't been that great about it recently, but I do love to just go to the New Releases section at the library and pick three or four- take them home and if I am not hooked in the first 5 pages...forget it...there are so many good, new things out there that I do not re-read books, well, except the scriptures, but that doesn't count as a re-read to me...

6. Giving Gifts-

Who doesn't love that?! Seeing the looks on people's faces (especially my kids') is worth every ounce of effort for me - waking up on Christmas morning is a true pleasure as a parent- I think I don't sleep that night because I am so anxious to see them and see the joy in their eyes as they see what Santa left them- I wish everyday could be Christmas day for that very reason alone...but I love giving things throughout the year too- and trying to pick the perfect gift can become an obsession to me, so I have to be careful...

7. Vacation-

simply put- THE BEACH! I love the ocean, the sun, the sand, the smell, oh, I just love it- and we didn't go to the ocean this year, and since it is winter, I am really wishing we could go this year- but probably not! OH well, I can still say I love it and hope we get back to one soon!

8. Teaching-

Okay, so right now I don't do a lot of "teaching" as a substitute, but my true love of being in a classroom is doing the trick. I love school- well, love it when I don't have to be the student- but the teacher! I love the kids, and their antics and those that love school- the Elementary kids are the best- but "teaching" High School gives me great stories too- I just love being in charge, I think- !

9. Baking-

Maybe it's eating the baked goods is what I love more...if only I could eat more and there were less calories in all the yummy treats I love- dark chocolate is my ultimate favorite chocolate to eat- so anything with that I could devour- speaking of...Dana just made me dark chocolate hot chocolate...lucky girl.

10. Having my house clean-

I really love having my house organized and clean and tidy- I love coming home to a clean house to0- having it on the market for the better part of last year helped and now that it is on again, I am forced to keep it that way- but that is a good thing-

Okay, here's where it gets interesting...

Ten honest facts about myself:

1-I am a neat freak
2-I can be rude
3-I love to be alone
4-I wish I didn't have a low earning potential
5-I am easily offended
6-I think I dress awesome
7-I care too much about what others think about anything to do with anything
8-I can easily become OCD- have been borderline on many things for many years
9-I wish I was in control of everything in my life
10-I fear the worst when things happen

Well, there you go- probably way more information than you hoped for in this, but honesty was the game- it feels good to have it all out there- now it's your turn, should you dare...

Twenty-Ten, or Two Thousand Ten- you decide...

I did this review at the beginning of last year and thought I would review 2009 and see what I accomplished and what is in store for 2010...

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’ve never done before?

Kept my house perfectly clean and in perfect order for 8 straight months- thanks to having it on the market- once in contract and then off for the holidays- now back on...here we go again...

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I did fairly well with my resolutions last year-I am hoping to work on them again this year- I won't go into detail about them- they are sort of boring!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not me! Ha! A few relatives and friends did- and that has been great!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully no, but Dana's car did- that was tragic enough!

5. What countries did you visit?

Really? As if!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

A new house! This is a reoccurring theme, huh?!

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched in your memory and why?

Two of them- 12 May- the day the levy in Reynoldsburg failed and Dana's job was cut
18 May- the day Heath called and hired him to teach there

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a job substitute teaching

9. What was your biggest failure?

Oh, that is a weighted one...not spending as much time with the kids as I could have...

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I got the flu in April when my father-in-law was here- it was awful- but having him help was a blessing.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I didn't buy much- we saved and saved and saved...

12. Where did most of your money go?

Savings- it costs a lot to pay to get out of your house!

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

It was not a very exciting year- I felt like it went by too fast, without much excitement.

14. Happier or sadder?

Isn't that relative?! It changes day to day! But really, I love this life, no matter what crazy things happen in it day to day...I am still one lucky, blessed girl!

15. Thinner or fatter?

Pretty much the same- I gained a few this summer, too many cookouts with good food, late night ice cream and chips! But, they have come off and I am determined to not do that again!

16. Richer or poorer?

Well, we were richer, with all the savings we accumulated, but with all the crazy house projects and 15% less income, I would have to say poorer, but still incredibly blessed that we still have enough to move- whenever that is!

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?

One on one time with the crazies.

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Sitting idly, worrying about why our house wasn't selling...

19. How did you spend Christmas?

With my family- but this year, a new tradition of Christmas Eve at our house with Dana's sister's and their families- awesome!

20. Did you fall in love in 2009?

Stayed madly in love with the four people I love the most...

21. What was your favorite TV show?

Glee!

22. What was the best book you read?

Glass Castle

23. What was your greatest musical discovery of 2009?

I got an Ipod shuffle and rediscovered songs I forgot about! Oh, but I totally love the Glee soundtracks!

24. What did you want and get?

a new small camera after mine broke in July.

25. What did you want and not get?

a Sony SLR camera that Lish has- totally teased me with this summer!

26. What was your favorite film this year?

New Moon- oh, Edward, yeah, wow- love him!

27. What did you do on your birthday?

Went to my parents and had dinner and cake that the children helped me make- oh, and I got my haircut that day too!

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Moving somewhere other than here!

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Buy less,layer more, get new pants!

30. What kept you sane?

Daily rituals

31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

The Buckeyes!

32. What political issue stirred you the most?

Prop 8, and the school levies

33.Who did you miss?

Dana's parents

34. Who was the best new person you met?

Lots of old friends from Elementary and High School on Facebook.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

I learned AGAIN that timing is everything and that the Lord is very mindful of me and knows far more than I do! Apparently I need to learn this year after year- eventually I will get it!

Beware of the Virus!

Our house has been infected!!
A huge nasty virus has taken over!!
Beware!
It has not been fun- this virus has taken away from me many precious things-
mainly: the Internet!!
Yes, our computer (our BFF) has been infected and is no longer in commission- well, for a time anyway! It has been over a week now, and I feel so out of touch! My sweet husband brought home his laptop from school so I could at least check a few things for the weekend...otherwise, who knows how long we might be without our BFF...
I am pretty sure the virus came from Facebook- sadly, so beware- it just creeps up and before you know it- it is all over!
I am going to lose my entire hard drive- yuck! I have most of my recent pics backed up, but not all of them- thankfully I blogged about Christmas before the infection set it, so I do have a few of those! I try to back up my pics every couple of months- so I am not too upset about that, but my programs and other documents will be lost forever....
I have taken lots of pictures these past couple of weeks, mainly of snow, snow, and more snow, but can't post them yet....
I visited my grandparents over New Year's and that was wonderful- they have a ton of snow there, and the pictures will not do it justice, but it was beautiful. I got to spend precious hours with my grandpa who was recently put in a nursing home- for now- but is doing so much better than I thought- Dana stayed here with the kids, and it was the first time I have been away from them for more than one night- they loved it!
We got a snow day today! The kids are loving it- Dana, however did not- his district only got a delay- he had to travel past 4 districts to get to his, all that were closed! Apparently they don't close often since it is a small town....bummer!
Oh well...
I will post as soon as I can with pics next time- for now I am happy to just be in touch again!

December Days

December flew by this year! We did so much, it was hard to get it all in...but we managed...

These are the pics we used for our Christmas cards...this wasn't the actual card I sent, because I got free ones from seehere.com- that was awesome! I really only sent a few out, to relatives, but this one was what I had intended on using.
This was the annual ward Christmas breakfast- with a magician that was interesting, to say it nicely- and Alex was chosen to be an "assistant" on stage, so I tried to capture that too.
We had a blast again this year making gingerbread houses with the Boothe's- ours gets better each year, I must admit. Alex missed out- he stayed the night with Grandpa- but the girls were having fun decorating!
So there you have it- 2009 all wrapped up- I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010- filled with more fun family adventures- I am so blessed- this year taught me more than I could imagine- I hope next year doesn't have as much of that! Ha Ha!

Christmas 2009

Another Wonderful Christmas!!

I could go on and on about how fantastic our Christmas was again this year, but I think the smiles on these faces say it better than my words....enjoy!

Light up the Night

So we used our fantastic zoo pass for the first time last night! Whoo Hoo! It was wonderful- a perfect night- fiercely cold, but so nice to be out enjoying the lights and sounds of the season. We took our great friends, Steve and Carmen and headed out to brave the cold. I made sure that we all had double layers on - and that was a great move, since it was REALLY cold out there!
Here are some fun shots of that night:





















Thanks, GeeGee and Popi- we love the gift and look forward to going again and again!

Christmas came early...

GeeGee came to visit us earlier this month!! We were so happy to see her!! It has been since May that we got to be with her- the kids loved every minute of it....especially when she took the girls shopping for their own gifts and then let them open them! Thanks GeeGee, we love it all!! Especially YOU!
The girls each got a piggy bank that they decorated and put on their bookcase. Celeste named hers Polly.
Leah literally loves everything- honestly, she is by far the easiest kid to buy for- which is not good for me, because I buy her a lot! She loves girly things, so this nail polish was perfect!
Alex is into building things, so this Lego set was perfect- he had wanted it for a long time- and he and Dana put it together that night- love that!
Typical 4 year old girl- she LOVES Ariel! LOVES HER! Can't get enough of her- so this doll was all she really wanted and of course, she gets what she wants, right?!
Last night we got another gift from Dana's parents- a zoo membership!! So great! We haven't had one in years, and the kids LOVE the zoo, so it was by far a perfect, very unexpected, so treasured gift- we are ecstatic and are planning to go tomorrow!!
Today counts down 5 days until Christmas, and I thought it would be a mild week- I was wrong- I have a ton to do!! But no worries, it will all get done, and if it doesn't, well, oh well! I have a new outlook for 2010 and it is much less stressful...let's hope it sticks around!

A Shopping We Will Go...

Another fantastic, wonderful, hilarious, special, cheek-hurting, laugh all the time shopping trip down...I just keep smiling thinking about all the fun this trip was this year- honestly, it just gets better and better each and every year.
We added a few to our group this year and they did not disappoint- in fact, they added to the wonderfulness of it all!! I am pretty sure this group was started in the mid 90's, and I have been going since 1999. I missed a year when the girls were each born, but other than that, I have not missed. Lish has never missed, she was the original planner, then it passed to me, and now I have passed it to Tina...she helped score us sweet rooms at the Hampton after the scuzzy motel from last year hadn't improved!! We had a record number of girls this year- 13!! Tina and Carrie are missing from this pic, but are in others, so I will post them soon....
I think I spent more than I imagined...BUT I didn't buy a single thing that I actually needed!! Ha Ha! I never do, actually, this trip is reserved for things that are fun to buy and things that are relatively inexpensive that I would enjoy!! That is not true for everyone on the trip, but for me, I don't buy a lot for other people, mainly myself!! Love that!
I could go on and on about all our fun events and stories, but that would ruin it for the girls...it is all good fun and more to look forward to next year!! Counting down already....

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came and quickly passed by this year- so that was sad...it seems as though I hardly get to enjoy the holiday, because of all the Christmas hoopla going on at the same time- don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all that comes along with it, but it can overshadow the "Thankful Thanksgiving" for me...
I saw a slogan for St. Jude's the other day, and I really like it and would love to keep it going year round in our house- it's called "Thanks and Giving"....tonight for FHE we talked about giving rather than receiving and how it is nice to give thanks daily for all that we have. That isn't easy to do for an adult, sometimes, let alone children. But we expect a lot out of our kids, so we helped them understand, and we set up this fun "Countdown to Christmas" craft that will help us this month:
On the back of each number there is a service activity that we can do as we remove the days counting down to Christmas. The kids are very excited. I have to say that I do love that Thanksgiving is near Christmas, because they seem to remain in the "thanks and giving" spirit. Well, I try to, anyway! (All good ideas are stolen, by the way, and this one came from this blog that I follow :thebargainjargon.com) For ours, I google image searched the numbers and then copied them to a word document and then cut them out and pasted them on card stock- the entire activity took about an hour- the kids loved it! Here are a few close-ups too:

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving itself: Dana and I were fortunate enough to attend a Broadway Production on Wednesday night at the Theatre- "In the Heights"- and my parents kept the kids overnight, so we woke up without them on Thanksgiving! We had a blast at the play, by the way- it was really wonderful- amazingly talented performers and fantastic music! We took 7 girls from Dana's Spanish III class and a few parents too- they were so happy and very appreciative, since they didn't have to pay for tickets- The Spanish Club at their school funded it- so yeah, we were grateful too! We ventured over to my parents in the afternoon and finished preparing our portion of the big dinner- and then headed to Sean and Stephanie's to enjoy it all! Fabulous as usual, and this year my dad deep-fried the turkey and it was delicious. Afterward, I brought along this fun craft for the kiddos to make- another stolen idea- from Familyfun.com- but so fun for them: Here are some other random shots- I didn't take too many- I was exhausted by this time- we didn't eat until after 5, so the tryptophan was really kickin in!! The girls in their matching clothes from Aunt Liza
Getting these 6 together in a shot with everyone looking- yeah, harder than it looks, I promise!
Gotta love Oreo's
Thanksgiving 2009- so much to be thankful for- I could start listing, but it would never stop- I am truly blessed in my life-