Paisley's American Day!!!!!!!!!!

2-years ago yesterday, August 9th, We arrived home from Vietnam and Paisley became an American citizen! Time flies! Here's a little snippet of this morning's conversation.

Mom: "Paisley! Did you climb out of your crib or did your Dad bring you in?"

Paisley: "I climbed out!"

Mom: "So Dad's already gone to work?"

Paisley: "My Dad mwakes money"

Mom: "Your Dad makes money?"

Paisley: "Yeah Mom, my Dad mwakes money for clothes!"

Mom: "hmmmm Dad's been telling you stories, hasn't he?"

Paisley: "I want chips Mom!"

Mom: "Chips? You can't have chips for breakfast!"

Paisley: "NO! CHIPS Mom!"

Mom: "Paisley, I told you we aren't having CHIPS for breakfast!"

Paisley leaves the room and returns with a box of TRIX cereal...

Paisley: "Chips Mom!"

Mom: "ohhhhhhhhhh! You meant TRIX!"

Paisley: "Yeah! Dare my favwit Mom!" :)

Loving Summer 2009!

I got my REALTOR License, sold my first house 4 days later, been very busy with new clients and open houses, still have my chocolate business and praying it keeps going well without me being there much, made offers on homes for ourselves, was really under the gun since we were going to be homeless in 30 days, backed out of one contract cause we got cold feet and found out about our new home on 4.5 acres! Whew! So we moved a couple of weeks ago, and a week later went to the Ozarks for a week, now back to the grind and the mess of boxes in our house!

Ryker has grown so much the last year. He is mister independent. Does what he can to get out of chores and would be thrilled to just play with friends all day, outside or on video games. I was worried of how he would be moving because he had so many friends on our street and they were over constantly. Now we don't have neighbors and it's good and bad. He took a friend with him to the lake. That helped till we got to Grandma's cause the cousins didn't come till the weekend. They swam and lit off fireworks non stop. They also ate a LOT! He's going to all day church/soccer camp this week and leaves for bible camp on Sunday till Friday. He went there for a weekend last fall and is really looking forward to it. There are others from our church going and he requested to be in a cabin with a friend.

Raven is talking as much as ever. She still gets a bit hyper when eatting the wrong foods. (did I say a BIT?) She loves playing with her baby sister. She talks about friends non stop. She loves clothes and I have no say already. She really started swimming when we were at the ozarks. our condo had a pool as well as grandma's. she wanted to be in there non stop. She talked her cousins ears off. She also kept the conversation flowing by sitting up at grandma and grandpas bar asking what everyone's "favorite's" were. "What's your favorite color, boy singer, singing group, country, state, drink." It was fun to hear everyone's differences and if they matched you'd high five! Her idea. Hard to believe she's going to be only 7 the end of this month.

Paisley is growing and talking a lot! She can carry on a conversation like her sister. I've noticed it a lot more in the past several weeks. "That's Momma's pop Raven! You're gonna be trouble and go to your room you bad girl!" She also tells everyone she was born in Vietnam and when she was a little tiny baby Momma held me like this.. showing with her arms and legs! I really need to get started on her lifebook so I can show it and read it to her daily. I started it 2 years ago! then haven't got back to it. I also started a video of pictures, music and words. Pais became a true swimmer, putting those floaties on, jumping in and floating all around the pool. She would float on her back when you told her to as well. It was amazing! She just loves the water. Her brother and sister where never like that! But Pais has been in the water a lot more then them I think. The poor thing got stung by a bee before our trip. She didn't act like it bothered her but it left the stinger there, got all swollen and red, i took her to the dr. and he removed it. Then the next night it was all infected and oozing. She tested postive for staph so got put on antibiotic. Then a week later the dr. calls and says it tested for a kind not covered by the meds she was on. Then she started getting a boil under her arm! It oozed too! So pray this new medicine works fast! Now I have one. Here we go again. I'm hoping it goes away. I'm using the nose meds and all the hibiclins stuff. Not really worried about me though, just pais. Let's enjoy our summer kids!

My first born turns 12!!!!

April 2nd. My baby! I can't believe he's twelve! He was the CUTEST baby ever. He could have been a model baby. He had blond curly hair and bright blue eyes. When he was about 6 months old and I was working in photography that boy had more "glamour shots" then most adults! We posed him in a denium jacket with his hair all spike up. I propped him in his blue nike outfit with his chubby checks! He didn't like to be held as much as my girls. He liked to be down and on the go. He was a very GOOD baby! At two weeks old he slept through the night. And I'm talking 7:30 pm till 7:30 am! He rarely cried. We took him out to eat all the time and he was perfect. I'll never forget the first time we took him out to eat. We went to Carlo's O Kelly's. I think he was just a couple of weeks old. Jeff wanted way in the back corner in case he would cry, that way nobody would be staring at us! He slept the whole way through dinner. Wow dinner out with 3 kids is a bit different then back in those days! Our first baby (puppy) was our maltese white fu-fu puppy, "macho". Anyone that knew us then knows what I'm talking about. I was ridiculous with doggy outfits and that dog spent more nights in a hotel when we traveled them most adults have. But anyway Ryker and Macho became fast friends. Macho followed him everywhere. I have the cutest picture of Macho sitting next to baby Ryker in his carrier when we first brought him home. Sadly, Macho passed away on Ryker's 8th birthday. Macho was 14 yrs. old. He wants another dog, but for now we have our hands full with 3 kids!
Ryker has always been easy going. He has a big heart and wears his heart on his sleeve just like his Mom. I love that! Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs - Chapter 22:6
He has also become a big help to me! He does many chores and helps with the girls when needed. He also gives an awesome backrub! (he'll hate reading this when older!) One thing his teacher said at school that really sums up Ryker is, "He has gained the respect of all his peers." He is new to this school and it seems he knows everyone and they all really like him! He has always been well liked. He is very fast at making friends and they are very important to him. When we moved to this neighborhood he went to the neighbors homes with Raven and knocked on the door to see if there were any kids that lived there that were their ages! He now has several friends on the street that stop by all the time, usually wanting his advise on some video game or the computer game runscape!
He is definately a computer kid. He loves all the games. He would have rather had a system that was more of a "gamers" system then the wii. He still loves basketball and soccer. But I have to make him do it! He was also is in band on the drums. He was taking private lessons but didn't really like it. So now he does it all through the school. We might pick up some more lessons again. He'd also like to learn guitar. He is a really good artist. He's more like his dad that way. We might get him in some local art classes they do throught this really cool program at one of the middle schools. For his birthday he wanted a new bike and skateboard. He's hoping to get enough money to save up for an ipod touch but would also like more games. I'm encouraging him to get outside more so I'm ok with the bike and skateboard!
When Ryker was little and was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he responded, "I want to be the boss and own my own cookie store!" I was thrilled! Maybe he would have a huge franchise of stores with the best cookie receipe in the world! He has said he wants to be a police officer and also someone that works on computers. He could design his own video games! Jeff has him write reports on things about computers since he wants computer time each week. This way he learns how they got started and what some of the termonology is. If you want to be in the IT business you have to constantly keep studying to keep up on how fast it's growing!
I asked Ryker what he would like for a special birthday dinner. He wants potato soup! Raven then got upset saying I've never asked her that before. (drama). So Grandma is making cornbread, I'm making potato soup and haven't decided on his cake yet!
Happy 12th birtday Ryker! Hope you have a great day. You'll always hold a special place in my heart! Keep growing in faith like you have been, help others like you do, and always strive to learn more! Love you!

Leave Madonna alone

They say she wants to adopt again and people are critizing her for it. Shame on them! "Judge ye not and ye will not be judged." She also talked of her shock at the reaction to the adoption of her little boy. In an interview with Paris Match she said: "It was not me who chose Malawi, but it chose me. "A native of the country contacted me though my association, Spirituality for Kids which I publicise in all my shows. Some of us, all that we do - is an act of faith. It is easy to talk or type the 'words of Christ' but it is indeed harder to walk the walk of Christ. Sometimes we do indeed need an attitude adjustment. I hate hearing others being critizied for what they do. We do not know the whole story and wouldn't it be better to pray for them and the best outcome for the situation?
As Barbara Walters said, and she adopted her daughter, "It is pure love to adopt"! You can't be selfish to adopt, you can't hope they look like you and have your characterisics and traits, they won't have your genes or blood line. You just want to love a child and have them love you back! Right? This little girl she wants to adopt has no parents. Don't you think the life she would have with Madonna would be better then what she has now? She would never go hungry, she would have the freedoms we have in America. (or where ever Madonna lives) I can totally relate to Madonna for wanting to adopt again. Those that have the love for children have a hard time knowing when it's time to be done. Time to be done adopting or time to be done having children. I have a dear friend that just told me she has always wanted to adopt, she has 4 biological kids, and her husband doesn't want to adopt at this point because of his age. So they just signed up to be foster parents! She wants infants. She loves to care for babies. I am SO excited for them! We have a family at our church that has 10 children. I can't remember how many but most are adopted from the foster care system. AND Leanne has started her own non profit organization to help foster kids and their families. http://www.familieshelpingfamiliesofiowa.com sorry but the link option isn't working for me so you need to copy and paste it into your browser. There is a big gala May 23rd to raise money so that all the foster kids have new back packs and items they need for school. They have "loves closet" which has new or slighty used clothes for the foster families. Leanne has a great family. I got the pleasure of having 2 of her kids ride with us for 2 1/2 hours to church camp last fall. And we get to see them on Wednesday nights when I take the kids to "kids for christ". Maybe in the future we will be foster parents!

"Miracles happen every day! WE just have to open our eyes and see them!"

Spring 2009

Raven finally got over her sickness. She got her energy back. whew! the girl has energy. She got caught up on her school work in 2 hours. She loves it! Amazing. Ryker is having his 12th birthday this week! It always comes up so fast because of spring break that we never seem to get anything planned till last minute. I think we'll take him and his friends bowling. (he actually decided to just take the money we would have spent on the party:) Next year on his 13th he wants a paint ball gun party at this local indoor place that does it. Not my personal favorite thing but it's what he wants. He's getting a new bike and hoping for $$$$. He really wants an ipod touch. We were in Chicago for spring break and he hung out at the apple store with his Dad for a long time while Raven and I were at the American Girl doll store. We had tea, bought the new 70's doll Julie, and Paisley got a bitty baby that's asian. (looks just like her with piggy tails!) They also got matching outfits to wear to match their dolls. I love that store. We didn't seem to have enough time to do everything we wanted to do at all and the weather wasn't the greatest. cold and rainy. We also did the build a bear workshop thing. Pais was so cute. She loved it. We went to the big Lego store and had fun there. Ryker decided to save his money for the ipod touch. Our hotel was amazing. The intercontinental. We had a suite with 2 bathrooms which was nice when you have 5 people! The kids loved to swim. But man it was cold for me! I had to hit the sauna after that to warm up! Paisley LOVES the water! Ryker has become quite the swimmer. Raven hangs on the edge and is still learning.
Paisley has been talking up a storm! She also would like to potty train, but I'm not ready:) It's too messy at this point. So when she goes she gets everything out for me! Somewhere she learned to say, "Butt head!" Not good! Grandma was not impressed to be called this! whoops! One of her favorite lines is, "I DO IT!" She's not good at sharing yet. "MY BLANKET!" "MY BABY!" This too shall pass! She also likes to say, "Naked Butt"! She is awesome at doing somersaults and great at doing the splits. (she's very flexible) She is cute at dancing and will point her fingers out while doing the twist! What a great Spring!

Happy Referral Day anniversary Paisley!

2 years ago while I was driving Raven to dance I got the call! They had our information on our baby girl! When she was born, where she was at, her medicals and pictures! I could hardly focus. I prayed for lots of hair because Raven barely had any till she was two. Our Pais had hair! She was chubby and looked very healthy. We are so blessed and grateful for our beautiful gift from God! You've grown so much the past 19 months! Love ya Paisley! (Now quit crawling out of your crib at night! You're too young for that and it is stressing your Momma out!)

Raven sick and smelling something "stinky"!

Raven, my funny girl, had me get her a chicken salad sandwhich on Monday. She said it was stinky and only took a couple bites. She hasn't had an appetite at all. I even got her milk shakes and those don't taste good to her either. Today she wanted me to make her an egg salad sandwhich so we'll see how that goes! Anyway that night she kept telling her Dad something smelled! The next day she kept saying that all she smelled was that stinky chicken salad! She was smelling her shirt, the blanket, then ME! She couldn't figure out where it was coming from but something smelled! Ya know when your sinus' are messed up and you smell Stinky stuff? I think that's what is happening with her. This morning I had to hear it again. What smells? I'm like, "go brush your teeth!" Then she thought it was Paisley's diaper. She is just the funniest thing when she is sick!

My dear friend Leah was over last night and thought Raven looked really bad. today she was asking me about how much she is drinking because she was worried she might be dehydrated. Especially since her fevers have gotten so high at night and we're on day 11! I called the Dr. and the nurse had me swab the inside of her mouth and said it should be moist like mine. Well it wasn't it was dry! She said to bring her down. Raven has the best Dr. in the world! So of course I got the 50 questions on what they were going to do to her! I was so worried about them admitting her because I can only imagine my princess dealing with all the probing and poking they do in the hospital! I made her drink water all the way down there. The Dr. said she was fine that there was slobber under her tongue and that since she can get up and down on her own she's ok. But 1/2 hour later he called me and said her strep just showed up positive. So that's why her poor throat hurts so bad now. Just now she woke up from a cat nap crying saying she couldn't breath. Her nose is stuffed and it burns to breath. We need to go get those antibiotics and hope they help her feel better. I'm going to have to miss my classes the next 2 days and the only time I can take them again is the end of April. But I need to be here for my girl and Jeff has people out sick at his work so he's the only one there, so kinda hard for him to take off. This too shall pass!

Raven and Mono

My poor Raven is on day 10 of being sick. It started on a Saturday when we went roller skating. She took a friend and Ryker took a friend. She complained of a stomachache all day and just wasn't herself. Then that sunday night she had a fever as well as the next morning. I knew there was a lot of flu going around and she didn't have much for cold symptoms so I didn't take her to the dr. That wednesday morning she still had a fever! I needed to get to work so jeff stayed home with her and took her to the dr. They just said she had a virus. I was a little mad they didn't do any bloodwork. They did do a throat culture and it was negative. The Dr. asked Jeff if I was a Dr. since he told her that I wanted blood work done! Seriously couldn't he have just said, "aren't you going to do blood work to rule things and see what type of virus she might have"? instead he used me as an excuse to get it done and then they wouldn't do!
I was concerned about what we were going to do for Thursday because I had a class I couldn't miss because there was no make up class till the end of April. Jeff had a consultant coming into work so he really needed to be there. I prayed she'd be fine. She woke up with NO fever! She was excited to go! The past several days because she puts the "high" in "high maintenance"! She could have a 102 degree temp one minute and be running around hyper with many needs the next minute.

We found out that she spend 1/2 the day in the nurses office. I felt so bad but they didn't call me because she wasn't running a fever. Well sure enough it came back that night and the next morning so Jeff stayed home with her again on Friday. She was much better Saturday.....

Back to last Saturday, I feel bad now because she stayed home with Grandma that evening so we could have an evening out with a friend for her birthday. Hope Grandma doesn't get anything! Sunday the fever was back. Monday morning I'm on the phone with the dr. office. Her throat really started hurting her that day and she wasn't as lively as she had been the previous week. Over the course of the past 3 days she has fallen asleep here and there for awhile which is sooooo not like her because usually she is so wound that she can't relax enough to take a nap. So I did my google research and got worried it was mono. Also because she had complained about her stomach. When we got to the Dr. office (and many hours before) she kept asking if she was getting shots, will they prick my finger, will they swab my throat again, and on and on. Poor girl just stresses herself out worrying about things. They did do all the above except give her a shot. She started feeling really bad after we left the office. We had to pick up Ryker and go to Grandma's to pick up the roast and veggies she made for us. She was not feeling well in the car and then fell asleep. Dr. Anderson called and she does have Mono. He said in these little ones the average time frame for feeling really ill is around 2 weeks. But he said that her liver and spleen are enlarged so she has to be careful about rough housing or contact sports. (she just does dance!) But now she is all freaked out about that cause her dad scared her when he said that her brother and sister can't wrestle with her or hit her in the stomach or she can bleed on the inside. I explained he's not the most tactful person in the world! :) But that she just needs to be careful. She has a ton of homework from school but hasn't been up to it at all. The past two days her poor throat has hurt so bad and she just sits in a daze on the couch. She has been drinking a lot and eating a little. She gets the chills and the sweats. I'm exhausted too! Of course after I get her situated last night, miss paisley decides to get up, which she never does! Then after she goes down, Raven is up again and her fever was 104.6! I've never seen that before so that freaked me out! I gave her motrin and got her to sleep. I kept checking on her and then googled a little to ease my mind which of course only made things worse and then there was no way I was going to sleep. I'll pay for it in a couple of days!
My dear Raven, I pray you start feeling better and the fevers go away so you can go back to school with your friends!

Happy Valentine's Day

It was so fun this year! We had a crazier then normal week at the chocolate store with our largest truffle order ever! It was for a company to give to their big clients at a dinner they were having. They wanted big truffle boxes at all the place settings. We had 2 1/2 days to fill the order and get it shipped out! Whew! It was down to the wire too. The UPS guy was waiting for us to label the boxes and get em done!

I got to go roller skating with Raven's class for their class party. We were both a bit wobbly but then were doing pretty good. I used to roller skate all the time when I was little, but it had seriously been 30 years! I was so excited! I could still do spins and go backwards! Had 1 small fall that left a little bruise on one knee.

Ryker went bowling with his class. He said the game room was the best part, of course. Saturday morning I gave everyone their goodie bags. So fun! Then off to box chocolates and make chocolate strawberries. Roads were a little crappy since we had snow the night before. this all after having weather in the 50's a couple days before! That night we had a pizza party at Grandma's, I'm sure we woke her neighbors all up! It was fun. When we got home we watched Fireproof! Amazing show! Disregard some of the acting, and get the message. We all had tears! I highly recommend it. And the Duggars book on how they manage with 18 kids! Wow! I couldn't put it down.
Happy Valentines day!

kiddo update

Raven finally lost her first tooth a few weeks ago, and now her second! They are both her bottom front teeth.
First I got strep throat, then Ryker was home sick a couple of days but tested negative for strep, then 2 weeks later I get sinus infection and bronchitus. I had no voice and was stuffed up and hacking a bad cough. I really only felt bad for a couple of days but didn't sound so good for awhile. Luckily the girls have both been ok with only little colds.
Ryker's been doing the same ole same ole, into his wii and runescape. We were lucky for it to warm up above 30 the past couple of days so he enjoyed playing outside. He needs a hair cut but is enjoying the longer look these days.
Little Miss Paisley is talking up a storm. She immitates everything she hears and loves screaming and chasing after her brother and sister. We are very blessed with our kids.

Today goes down in history-President Obama

I am grateful that my kids live in a country where they can grow and become anything they want to become regardless of their skin color. Our first black president kids! This is truly a day in history that will be talked about till the end of our time. It was quite amazing to watch on tv. I'm hoping the kids got to see it at school. We do not agree with all that Obama believes in and wants to implement, so we hope and pray he will serve our country well.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2~

50 degrees windchill!

What the heck does that even feel like? I don't even want to know! Right now it says it's -24 degrees with -50 as the windchill! Here's what the local news channel posted it says at 3:30 this morning.

"It has turned out to a record-breaking morning with low temperatures dropping all the way into the -20s in portions of eastern Iowa. With the wind factored in, the wind chill indices are down into the -40s. It is very important that you wear multiple layers of clothing if headed out today and cover exposed skin. Wind chill numbers this low can mean frostbite in as little as 10 minutes according to the National Weather Service. Bundle up and stay warm!!!"

Of course hubby went off to work. He said he would call me if his car won't start after sitting outside all day and I'd have to come and get him! Right! Me and the precious 3 kids! Nice!

Gotta love our Iowa weather!

Record breaking weather!

Internet UPDATE: "Nearly every area school district had canceled Thursday classes by Wednesday night as forecasts called for temperatures to plummet as low as 22 below zero overnight.

Many area districts, made the decision in a time frame from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Area schools were canceled Wednesday due mainly to miserable driving conditions after snow fell overnight."

My kids are happy....I am sad. Since I am now feeling better (strep) I'd like to go somewhere, anywhere! But I'm afraid if we go to the movie or mall or friends that my car may not start sitting out in the 50 below windchill! Seriously!

Time to prepare for Valentines!

 

"Does this look like good snow to eat?"

 

minus 17! You've got to be kidding me!

Here's what our morning news said, "We wake up to a thicker blanket of snow here with areas averaging 4-7" of snow on the ground making for treacherous roads. The snow will end early and then we will watch the winds pick up from the northerly direction causing the blowing and drifting of the new coating of light, fluffy snow. At the same time, temperatures will plummet well below zero making for dangerously cold wind chill indices Wednesday night in the -30 to -40 range as actual temperatures approach -20. Allow extra time for your travels and stay warm!"

All schools in the area are closed. Not good for me! I'm home with strep throat and 3 kids! Hopefully my fevers are gone today because yesterday it was NOT fun. Right now the tylonel is working, I just can't swallow with out shivering. Let's hope the kids don't get this. Where the heck did I get it? Doesn't seem like I haven't been anywhere. Then my husband reminded me of all the places I went where there were a lot of people, oh yeah. Still with this weather I haven't been doing much and it is driving me crazy! But hey there's always taxes to work on. Yes!

Sleepy girl

dreaming of summer...

I was playing with
a program and dreaming of the Lake. The kids asked today when we were going back! When is spring break????

Did you over spend?

Did you over spend this Christmas and forget what the true meaning is? There is a great youtube video starting with "A lack of.." It talks about how much money is spent at Christmas and what could happen if it was all put toward another cause. Pretty amazing stuff. We're trying hard to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas and what "giving" is all about. This Thanksgiving we worked at a church to serve food for those in need. A lot of people there that were homeless due to the floods had some incredible stories to tell. Very eye-awakening! Way back when, we used to go WAY over board with gifts at Christmas to have the kids just play with one thing. It was really depressing. This year we were fortunate enough to be able to make some great family memories together! I think it was the best Christmas I've ever had. Usually I'm so stressed out. I did a LOT of baking this year and had so much fun. Just call me Martha! For once I didn't try to do a lot and decorate a certain way just for others. I did what I thought would give us a little Christmas cheer. I think I'm getting old because I really enjoy the smell of Christmas and old fashion decor in a home. What's wrong with me? Listening to Dave Ramsey is so motivating. A friend and I even took his 13 week course. He's a motivational Christian financial speaker and author. He's very conservative and makes you wake up to the silly things you waste your money on. And he believes in ZERO debt. You just follow his baby steps to get there. Really inspiring!

Christmas 08 update

Christmas 2008-

We made a lot of cookies. Why was I having such a hard time getting them to turn out this year? Was it the different oven? Was I being too impatient, or not paying that much attention to the recipe? They were either too done or not done enough! The gingerbread house we made turned out great! Raven kept going over to it and eating pieces off of it. Jeff asked what happened to one side of the roof! I even got to make ginger bread houses with the middle schoolers at Rykers school. That was fun, messy, and LOUD! I'm sure the teachers were glad it was the end of the day! The pictures of the ginger bread houses below we did NOT make. They were on display at the General store down the street from our store. It is a huge competition every year and some people really go all out!

Poor Raven missed her last day of school before break. It was just a 1/2 day but it was when they have their parties. She threw up after school the day before. She was a bit out of it. The on Christmas eve day Ryker got a bad headache and didn't feel well. He fell asleep on the couch at 6:00pm so it was just Paisley and I off to church! We had our oyster stew and potato soup with Grandma. The following picture is of Ryker and Raven that I just found from 2003!

Ryker would have been 6, the same age Raven is now, and Raven would have been 1 1/2, similar to Pais. The kids got a wii early for Christmas, they had to have it when Pais and I went to CA! So Ryker used all his Christmas money to buy Rockband 2. He also got a couple of games for the wii. Raven got hannah montana clothes, guitar, manicure gift certificate, fun black boots and other stuff I can't think of. Ryker wanted a spy car and got it but it won't go forward! Pais got a care bear, ducks for her bath, books, clothes, and a umbrella table with sand and water fun. (thinking of summer already) I got my yearly perfume bottle from victoria secrets, also a gift card from there, some books and photoshop elements which I haven't got yet so don't critique my pictures! Oh plus as my husband mentioned I also bought myself an early gift of a fun new expensive camera with fancy lens! Still trying to figure it all out! Jeff got a farmers almanac since he's obsessed with the weather. (isn't that a sign of old age?) and an 8ft inflatable herky the hawk! I think it was more for the kids and I!

The Saturday after Christmas we headed to his brother and sis in laws house. It is normally a 2 1/2 hr drive but took us 4 hours! Not even 1/2 way there we hit ice! We had heard we would hit it and it had been raining and we could see the temp drop from 35 to 25. We couldn't go much over 30 on the interstate. We were next to a semi watching it's rear trailer brakes just slide on the ice. Saw many fools flying by us to later see them in the ditch. I was praying all the way! And needed some drinks when I got there. (when are we moving to warm weather? soon!) My sis in law has a beautiful home decorated very cool. She has an orange wall in her hall bath! Then a few orange pieces to match. Very fun! Makes me want to decorate! Can't wait!

We had a couple of families over for New Year's eve and the kids all had a blast. Then it was a bowl game party on New Year's Day. We've been on vacation all week and sleeping in ! Don't want it to end.

Happy New Year to all! Did you all write your goals down? You're supposed to read them everyday and visualize them. Then write down 10 things you're grateful for. My kids and I talk about these things every night before bed. well ok not in the past few busy weeks so we need to get back on track again!

God Bless!