Premiere of American Idol

tonight...we had our Tivoes set! One for AI and one for Biggest Loser. Love that I can get things done and "Speedview" both-bypassing the lengthy commercials. What a great invention!

Happy for technology that helps me waste less time.

Other news: Boo came home with his report card last week-great report-nearly all strong areas and an extra special mark for art! So pleased to see that he was "a leader both socially and academically." I personally love watching the relationships he has developed with his classmates. He is so kind and helpful to all of them. No wonder they run up to him with glee. (He thinks it's all about his hair LOL-WE know it's all about his HEART).We are still waiting to find out when he will start his gifted program. He is so excited to begin. So awesome to see the love of learning evolving in him. So grateful he has a teacher he loves.

Got to thinking today about our daily life-computers + blogs, wii's, cell phones, PDA's (Mick not me-I stick with the old Franklin Planner), text messaging, call waiting and caller ID (big yea for that one!), ipods and Tivo, digital SLR's, microwaves, surfing the net, PSP's. So many ways our boys' lives are more convenient. So many ways their lives are more complicated too. So many ways they are more enriched. So many ways they are overstimulated. Trying to maintain balance. Trying to lay a foundation of good, healthy habits. Trying to lead by our actions and not solely by our words. Trying to live with intention and purpose. Here's to trying! -Nite!

Today's POTD

Friday's POTD

ok..a few days late-but that's ok. This was taken at a dear friend of mine's. We got together to learn digital sbing together and to work with PSE. We had a great Mexican lunch with tacos and chips and guacamole (homemade-my favorite). Ian played with her girls-and they all got along amazingly well. (Good thing I brought a third nunchuck for the Wii -usually three ends up with someone being left out). So nice to have friends whose kids get along with yours. Gotta love that!

Yesterday

was a full day of errands. Went to local mall to exchange out some Christmas gifts-just different sizes and colors. The mall was PACKED!Bebz got some long-desires "Mood' rings as well as some new shirts and pants on deep discount at Old Navy. We rented some movies for the boys and Mick and I caught the last half of Packer Game (yeah..I know...what was I thinking? I was told by my loving hubby the game was on the 13th-so my bad for not double checking. Luckily i caught the best half-way to go BRETT AND DA PACK!)
Still tidying up the house-paring down and thinning out. We are all doing pretty well on the quest to better health this year. Lots of yogurt, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies as well as weight lifting and viewings of Biggest Loser to motivate us! Hey, if those morbidly obese people can do it-we've got no excuse. i am constantly amazed at the transformations that occur throughout the course of the competition.
Looking forward to seeing some positive changes in our physiques in the near future!;)

POTD

So..today was productive. Homeschooling took a turn in the field trip direction with a quick visit to a Suzuki Piano Academy. Looks like E Buddy will be the next pupil. He'll begin next week with his homeschooling buddy. Lunch took us to Subway and afterschool details included a quick visit to the library to help momma shelve books,watching a bit of Batman and a few rounds of Shrek on the computer,dinner as a fam and then workouts and reading. Ian is reading the Phantom Tollbooth for language arts. He is really enjoying it as am I. Kind of like the boys' version of Alice in Wonderland in some ways. Oh, and Ethan is blossoming into quite the little reader too. He is now able to read at Grade Two level, possibly further. (NTS: Need to check with teacher and the librarian to find out his most recent tested reading level).
Bedtime routine took a turn for the unscheduled with an impromptu gymnastic display of cartwheels by the BEBZ in their bedroom. I reluctantly ok'd it AS LONG AS no one ran into the bunk beds (and since they had already done one or two before I entered their room!!). Let's just say it took them ahile to wind down tonight...sigh.

POTD...Look carefully!

Mick and the Boo Bear having a little one-on-one time. Nothing like a caramel rice cake and a good book to wrap up the bedtime routine. All is well in our house again...as long as we see no new creepycrawly critters popping up here and there. I have to say, Boo's handled the whole "Cootie" thing relatively well. Two other kids were sent home with notes today saying they had an "infestation." (Another one of those words that sounds as gross and disgusting as it is!) I still, to date, have not found another critter on him except that one, sole, louse! And I must say, I hope he stays a lonely louse!

Seriously...

Ethan was sitting on my lap this evening-putting together a few online puzzles-I was combing my hands through his beautiful blonde locks and decided he was sitting still well enough forme to tidy up his haircut a bit. As I was doing so, I thought I saw a little fuzzball in his hair. When I went to remove it-it seemed to move! What I found looked to be a little louse! And you know what? IT WAS!!!! EEEEEEEEEEkS! I can't believe my baby has a louse! Mick and I have done the completely traversed every square inch of his scalp-and as best we can tell-it was the only one-no nits to be found (yet!). Let's just say we are now feeling itchy and have the creepy crawlies and feel like we need to shower say..oh.... twenty times!!! Ugh.....life...sometimes it is just downright disgusting.
Peaceful sleeping tonight everyone-don't let the bed bugs bite! Ok, sorry-but I didn't want to be the only insomniac tonight! (I know, I'm Evil. As in Dr. Evil! LOL)Goodness knows after getting no sleep last night due to all of the tornado warnings I could use a good night's rest!

Can you say no sleep?

wow...what a night! Virtually nonstop tornado warning sirens. There were 63 Tornado Warnings registered last night alone! Mick and I actually heard one when we opened up the basement door to our deck. It was just off to the SE by the adjacent community to us. Scary! It sounded like this huge sucking noise and a bit like a train (like many report). Thankfully our only affected property was our basketball hoop that toppled over and our dining room window leaked as well as storm cellar. No major water though (note to self: definitely need to get those fixed!)
I'll try and post more later as Ian and I need to get back to schooling.

A Few more from today...

POTD

So today was a continuation of this past week with the decluttering of our lives. Mick got the outside lights down and the tree put away and I worked on the media closet with the boys. Getting rid of some old VHS tapes-some to donate, some to give to a friend at the lake and some to take to the cabin. Also, continuing to clean up sb area and organize pictures. Ethan helped me make a pan of lasagna yesterday (our little resident chef)and we baked it for dinner tonight. Really working hard to continue to have several sit down meals a week. We do pretty well unless there is an evening extracurricular event going on-like tomorrow night-Cub Scouts and tennis. Good thing there will be yummy leftover lasagna!

An Additional Resolution

...ok..here it is...I've been watching several episodes of the Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan) and I'm convinced that I can get our to beloved canines to become balanced behaviorally-well before the end of the year. I need to! Lily is still protective of me when I come outside to pickup packages the UPS man drops off. She's fine with Mr. FedEx Guy-he gives them both treats each visit. But the last UPS Guy was not our usual and she was raising her shackles and barking at him. Must have scared him b/c even after I said "sorry" he didn't respond to me at all. I made the mistake of going out into the yard which seemed to have escalated her anxiety about him. Need to remember to stay calm as the alpha leader. Rudy is improving on his bouncing-now he knows he will not be fed until he stops. They are both doing really well with ignoring Hugsley when he tries to taunt them.

Last night I found out tragic news. My BFF's sister had a baby girl born on Nov. 30. the baby began running a high fever last week and was taken to the hospital. She passed away on Fri. Her name was Grace. The family, of course is devastated. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this test of faith and be sure to tell those you love how much they mean to you. Hug on those kids a little bit longer and the grandkids a little bit tighter. Don't let the moment pass!

I've been downloading and backing up pics today. Above are a few of my POTD's to get me up to date. First one is the PlayMobilthe boys set up for CHRISTMAS. Love how they have the angel dangling from aobve! The second is a huge thank you package from our next door neighbors! WoW. They definitely should not have done that but it is much appreciated.

The last pic is the BEBZ wii playing. Every day it's a new olympic event to take on. I do like that it is interactive and provides them some form of exercise in the winter months. I am worried that they'll get tendon"Wii"tis though (just a little corny humor).

I always love it...

when I get the chance to give my camera to someone else to take a picture. It is so interesting to see how they visualize things...see what they try to capture from behind the lens...see if they see what I see when I'm looking out, viewing my world. And for me it's not about the blurry picture, or the fact that many who use my camera have no idea how to use a fixed lens, or how to take pictures in manual mode. It's about the fact that someone cares enough to make sure that I get out from behind the lens and show that I was a part of it all. That I participate in this thing called life. That I am not just an observer. That I exist. Thank you Mark! You are simply the best!

Picture of the Day (POTD) Day#2

Getting ready for an upcoming Big Family Vacation in June! Need to get the boys passports. So today I attempted to get some shots for the actual passports. We'll see if they meet the specifications on size and such with the Passport Dept. The boys weren't particularly up for the impromptu photosesion (Ian protested the gelling of his hair proclaiming I made him getit geled so often. Yeah. Right. (ONE time over the whole holiday. Ewww. Mean mommy!)So Mick and I tried to tell them how they would have the passports for five years and by then --Ian MAYcare what the picture looks like! It did seem to change his attitude a tad.LOL)

Happy New Year 2008!

Wow...2008.It just seems like yesterday we were celebrating the new millenium...

I started out this year by renewing my (oops!) expired licensed plates...a very friendly and kind officer pulled me over on New Year's Eve on my way home from my doctor's appointment and imformed me that my plates were expired (I had completely no idea nor no idea why I was being pulled over either!). Thankfully, he was a kind and oh so gracious officer and let me go on my way with the kind reminder to get my plates renewed ASAP. So, as of today, I am now current for two years. (Check that off the to do list.)

As I was writing in my 08 planner (putting in birthdays and such) I happened across the quote at the top of the calendar. It said,

" A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other."-unknown

I thought that kind of rang true. Nonetheless, here are my thoughts and/or resolutions for 2008:

• drink more water and less Diet Pepsi


• build more muscle and own less fat (LOL)


• have more patience and less blowups


• more balance and less stress


• more forgiveness and less criticism


• more positivity and less negativity


• more prayer and less sinfulness


• more reading and less TV


• more fiscal responsibility and less waste


• more charity, tithing and volunteering and less frivolous spending


• more simplicity and less complexity


• more family and friends and less telelmarketers and junk mail


• more gratitude and less greed


• more peace and less chaos

Well, those are a few of my thoughts on the new year. How 'bout you? What are your resolutions or goals for 2008? In looking back over my goals for 07 it has been kind of neat to look back and see how far I've come and also where there is still room for improvement.

Another goal I have is to document more of my everyday life, or my "Daily something" as Ali E. calls it. So, I plan to do my best to take at least one picture a day and at least document my daily life in a photorecord-even if I may not be able to blog daily or journal daily. I think it will be neat to look back and see what I thought was important enough or significant enough to document on each of the days of 2008. Sound fun? Give it a try! So, here's Day 1 of 2008- a pic of my beautiful cousin and her handsome hubby (We brought in the new year with them!)

On the Third Day of Christmas...

..we brunched at Mimi and Papa's and exchanged gifts. Had a bit of a challenge getting up the small hill to their house with the overnight snowfall. Boys were all over the radio controlled gadgets they got-Ian with "The Wasp" helicopter and Boo with "The Spinner." They also like their new and improved "Ciao" travel suitcases complete with toiletries bag and telescoping handles. A favorite of mine was a monogrammed apron. Mick was happily sporting a monogrammed Land's End sweatshirt. Afternoon festivities included attending my SIL's sister's graduation party. Lots of food and fun. Packed household with little boys everywhere. I took on the role of "Party Pic Girl" and made the rounds with my camera. My SIL's sister's was thankful as her camera wasn't charging properly-of course I was happy to oblige. :)
The approximate one mile drive back to my SIL's house from her sister's proved quite the challenge. They live a pretty hilly area and the snowfall was coming down harder. We made several attempts before we got up the road of their subdivision with the van. Lots of other neighbors who followed ending up leaving their cars at the entrance and walking their way home. I like the snow and all that-but it better not impede our ability to get to the game tomorrow. No way I want to miss out on the Brettster and Da Packers playing for my belated birthday gift! :) Ok..my DH is LOS now so I best sign off...pics to follow after the game, I hope.

On the Second Day of Christmas....

the BEBZ got...a Wii..........................weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEeeeEEEEE! We're they excited! We let them open it early at the cousin's house so they could all 4 enjoy it together-and was it ever a fun-filled, late night for all. Lil' boys up past midnight (eek!) and the big boys well past 1 am. Golf, bowling, tennis (my favorite of course) cow racing? (not sure about that one) and baseball. Like the idea that this game gets you moving around...off of the couch...raising your heartrate (at least the boxing one definitely got my heartrate going!).

Let the 12 Days of Christmas Begin...

ok...so..it's the final countdown to Christmas and I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done. The homemade gifts...on the other hand...well...I've got a tad bit more to do. Today I worked on teacher's gifts (maybe I'll get those posted too here soon). Continued to cut a chunk out of the monster Christmas card list-currently at No.88. I made at least 75 homemade cards this year. Not to worry-began making them in October! LOL. Anyways, this year the boys and I have decided to recycle a bit more -especially in terms of Christmas. Here's one idea I came up with: I wrapped the present with the bag from a recent bag of clementines I purchased. I used the plastic clip tie to hold it together (along with some strategically placed cellophane tape! Kinda fun if I do say so myself. Ian liked the idea so much he wrapped his class gift up in the same manner. Next on the list (picture two below)-a sampling of cards I stamped up. And lastly, my new scrapping station. L-O-V-E this! Oh so handy! Love that it has casters to move it around!Ooh..it's 1:11AM -best get to bed!!! More later!

A Momma's Biggest Regret...

...not taking time out to videotape more of these two beautiful human beings who bring so much joy to my life and to all who know them. And to quote a favorite film of mine, not videotaping more often was a"Big mistake. HUGE."

Here's to hoping all y'all take time out of your hectic holiday schedules to etch a little bit of time into your days to document the lives of those you love.

Toby aka Melvis

A Great Day...

...to stay at home and hole up making Christmas crafts. I did go out to Wally World this am for some groceries and some gifts. Love days like this where you can just veg out at home and play. We played Rumis (one of our favorite family games-thanks Holly an Mark) and worked on Christmas card bookmark for classmates as well as writing some Christmas cards out and a few other Christmas gift projects that I have been working on. I know I need to get some of them posted-but first I need to get them done! LOL One of them I'm working on right now is turning out to be a lot of fun-playing with transparencies and photos, ink and more. Really fun to break away from my traditional pages and do something different. Gaining a lot of inspiration from ali edward's blog as well as becky higgins. So much talent out there. So great that these ladies are willing to share their ideas with the world.

Was working at my new scrapbook station this evening and found myself chuckling about how I came about the workstation. Last Friday I was running errands...picking up Christmas photos to go in cards, dropping of boxes of charitable donations at local hub and other and turned the corner, simultaneously catching a glimpse of what looked like a great potential scrapbooking desk. (I have had an image in my mind of what I have wanted for quite some time now-but similar ones were always way too expensive. I had considered making one myself but new I didn't have the time). Anyways, I stopped by the local antique flea market on the way back from running my errands to take a closer look. The store sets things out on the sidewalk to lure you in-and they definitely lured me. The workbench was just what I was looking for! I went inside and came out $78.00 later with the scrapping station of my dreams! Or at least my sized pocketbook! Where the outting took on a slightly more expensive turn was when I went to make a u-turn just down the street from the store. I spotted a stray puppy, wandering along the busy main thoroughfare, scrounging for food. I immediately stopped the van and hopped out. I walked around to the back of the van to look for him and thought he had run off-so I turned back to get into the van thinking to myself I had at least attempted to save him-but I wasn't going to chase him down...and there he was-looking at me with his head cocked to the side as if to say, "Ya lookin' for me-here I AM!" He was a cute small older spaniel dog. I popped him into the van and quickly my mind was reeling with the realization of what I had just done-and what was Mick going to say. I drove the mile and a half home thinking of how I would break it to him that, yes, I had indeed found yet another stray, and yes, I had indeed taken in another pet. I decided that honesty is always the best policy and immediately told Mick about the desk and the dog when I got home. I called our local police dept. to see if any dogs of his description had been missing. The attendant said no but took my name and number.
So...we took "Toby" in and loved on him. And introduced him to the four-legged fam-all who accepted him in a pretty friendly manner. He was the best dog-EVER! He didn't bark, he didn't whine, he didn't beg...he just existed for the sole purpose of being loved by us. He loved to be in my lap. He would've made an awesome pet...and he did...Toby, aka "Melvis" (What were they thinking?) found his owners the next morning after a phone call from them saying they had been missing him. I told them I had given him a bath and had taken him to the vet to get a flea pill and topical flea meds(some for our dogs too)and that he was a great dog. So my quick little 35 minute errand running trip ending up costing us about $125.00. Still not a bad deal given that it is the season for giving! I'll try and get some pics (not great quality) posted soon of my desk and "Toby."