January 30, 2007, 9:07 am

How is January almost over?

That's all I have to say about this topic! Time flies.

Ze ball...

To answer the ball questions... yes, we had fun. We left before the dancing started because we didn't want to have to sit through the speaker dude (and Andy doesn't like dancing in his uniform anyway). We stayed long enough to mingle and have dinner. We were still in bed at a reasonable hour - we're getting old and boring (the photos just make it LOOK like a wild and crazy time - haha). :)

Weekend fun...

Jacob and I went to Atlanta for the weekend. We got there Saturday morning and started off by getting lost in the airport (no, I'm not retarded - they just put the signs by the escalators, and with Jacob in the stroller, I had to use the elevators... whatever). Then, we dropped our things off at Josh's condo, and headed to the mall and had lunch with my parents and Marci and Joe. Then it was off to Andrea and Adam's reception - great party, Timberly, LeRoy and the boys were there, Matt, Carolyn and their kids were there, lots of people I didn't know before the party and many I still don't know, Mom and Dad stopped by for a little while. We stayed there for a while, had WAY too much fun with the chocolate fondu fountain (I couldn't get enough!) and Jacob entertained everyone. Then, Josh, Jacob and I had dinner with Timberly and LeRoy. Sunday morning, we got up and went to Josh's enormous church (he goes to Charles Stanley's church for those who know who that is). That was really good, and Jacob even stayed in the nursery with no problem (I had him in the service with us for a while, but he was quite the disruption, so I took him to the nursery - his 'class' was taking a buggy ride in this 8 passenger stroller when I dropped him off, and he was MORE than happy to join in on that fun!). After church, we had lunch with my niece, Tori, and her boyfriend. Then it was back to Josh's so Jacob could nap, and Andrea and Adam came over to hang out. Then it was back to the airport for the flight home (and I didn't get lost that time, but the flight was delayed for over an hour which was not fun since it was already late). It was a good trip... it was great to see everyone! Thanks, Josh, for buying my ticket so I could come!!! :)

Photos from Atlanta...

I decided to upload the rest of the photos from Atlanta to the kodak gallery. If I have sent photos to you from kodak a.k.a. ofoto before, then you were included in the list of people who got the link. If you did not get the photos, please let me know and I'll send an email with a link to the photos. :)

January 26, 2007, 1:49 pm

Ball photos...

Yeah, I didn't take nearly as many photos as I wanted to - none before we left (I had planned on having Britt take a few of Andy and me together before we left, but it took me too long to get ready and we were running late so I didn't think of it at the time - oh well). ANYWAY... Here are a few photos (yes, I have a hard time making a "normal" face/stance in photos - I don't know why):

January 25, 2007

and you can't come because you don't speak Frrench...

We're going to the battalion ball tonight, which should be fun. We can't really figure out whose idea it was to pair the dress uniform with a white shirt and black bowtie for events such as these, but I'm sure Andy will still look yummy in his uniform (it looks better with the green shirt and tie, but it could be we're just not used to seeing it with the white shirt and bowtie). :) I'm going to wear a dress I bought several years ago but never, ever wore (Andrea wore it once to a um... costume party... yeah - it's NOT a costume but it worked for a 20s party - it might possibly be classified in the 'flapper' category, it has um... fringes? - whatever). I'll try to get some photos posted tomorrow. Oh, and for anyone who cares - I darkened my hair a bit too. I decided to go with the temporary, ammonia-free hair color for a while to give my hair a rest - something a little closer to my roots color. It's not quite dry yet so I don't know if it looks good or not - we'll see. :)

HOF...

I don't know if I'll get my entry ready in time to enter HOF (see post from a few days ago), but I have been getting some scrapbook pages done. I'm pretty happy with them too - I think I'm finally getting my groove back after not really scrapbooking much for a couple of years there. It's such a fun, relaxing hobby. I wish I had more time to spend on it. Anyway, the HOF contest is just way too complicated. I wish they'd go back to "submit 12 of your best layouts" instead of putting everyone inside a little box and making us all create the same type of layouts. I don't scrapbook like 'everyone else', you know? When I stopped focusing on the contest assignments and decided to just create layouts I loved, my creativity started flowing. Once I get 4 of "my favorite" layouts, though, I've got to get back to trying to create the 6 layouts for the more specific assignments. I know I won't win, but I have wanted to enter like EVERY year, so I am DETERMINED to actually enter this year. I guess I need to figure out if it has to be postmarked by February 10th or ARRIVE by February 10th. If anyone knows offhand, can you let me know? LOL :)

January 24, 2007, 9:20 am

Gotta love the smell of burning plastic ...

So I may or may not have started a small kitchen fire this morning. I don't really want to talk about it.

I'm a medical marvel ...

I had to go to the doctor yesterday, which is always a fun adventure. When the nurse leaves the room, I always undress as FAST as humanly possible. For some reason, I don't want the doctor to walk in while I'm standing half naked in the middle of the room with my shirt over my head... but it's okay that the doctor comes in when I'm sitting on the table with my entire backside exposed while I struggle to at least keep my frontside semi-covered up with the paper towel that they give you to wear! So I left feeling violated, with a bucket full of drugs (some of which I may or may not take), instructions to keep headache diaries and blood sugar diaries (like I have time for that?), and an appointment to get a breast sonogram. Ugh. I've had a 'lump' for about six months, but I'm still chalking it up to a blocked milk duct. We'll get concerned if they tell me something different. And the doctor suggested I start to take preventative medicine for my migraines (apparently it's not normal to have them at least once a week?). I'm still putting thought and research into that one though. My concerns are these: 1)I'm still breastfeeding, 2)The medicine they use for preventing migraines is also a mild anti-depressant... and I'm not depressed, and 3)I'm always scared of how my body will react to a new medicine - I've had bad experiences in the past. So if anyone has ever had experience in this area, I'd love to hear about it. I think I've pretty much decided to at least wait until Jacob is no longer breastfeeding before I give those pills a try. Also, my endometriosis and/or ovarian cyst symptoms have returned - ugh. I'm going to start on a pill to stave off the symptoms of that (which also means no more children for now - not that we had 'planned' on more right now, but now there is a 99% chance there won't be any more). Probably too much information there, but you know - I really don't care. :)

Still earning the big bucks...

Ebay is still turning out to be a lucrative way to spend my time. Andy and I have pretty much split the profits up via whomever the selling product belonged to (after we have taken out the money we need for living expenses, etc.). That part of it isn't turning out too lucrative for ME though. I'm selling clothes and movies - not necessarily big ticket items. Andy is selling things like weapon mounted flashlights and is making WAY more money than me (and I'm not interested in spending my profits on things like 1st edition books for the collection, as he is). I need to come up with something like that kid who sold the ghost for like 60 grand! Any suggestions? If it works, I'll give you a cut of the take. :D

January 22, 2007, 5:03 pm

A couple of months ago, I was tagged by Malia to list 6 weird things about myself. I somehow missed her post until a few weeks ago when I saw it, and I have been meaning to put my list on here since then... I just keep forgetting. :) Well, today I was tagged for the exact same thing by Rebecca, so I'm thinking it's time to come up with my list. Since I've been tagged twice, does this mean I have to come up with 12 things? Haha! (Yeah - as though I would reveal THAT many weird things about myself... 6 will do just fine, thanks.) Enjoy my quirks... you can even make fun of me - I don't mind. :)

1. If I have something on my skin (a bugbite, a blemish *gasp*, some dry skin, a hangnail, chapped lips, anything I feel doesn't belong), I HAVE to pick at it (a.k.a. massacre it) immediately until I can no longer feel it and/or see it.
2. I love funky socks... if I am in a dressy black skirt, nice shirt and boots at church, I probably have brightly colored striped socks with individual toes on underneath the boots.
3. When I was 14, I worked as a clown on Tuesday nights (kids night) at Ryan's Steakhouse (my dad was the manager). I had my own clown costume and everything (I also used the costume to go visit sick kids in the hospital - along with some other 'clowns' from my church youth group).
4. I alphabetize all our movies and music. It drives me nuts when someone puts a DVD out of place on the shelf. Every few weeks, I go through and make sure they are all still in alphabetical order.
5. I have an obssessive need to watch the special features on DVDs, even if I didn't really like the movie. I have to watch the deleted scenes, bloopers, making of the movie, etc. I don't know why.
6. I can't stand when people talk during songs. Not rap (although rap is not my favorite genre by any stretch of the imagination), but when they say things like "sing with me now" as they are finishing up the chorus, or in the live versions where they feel the need to talk to the audience during the song. Just sing the song, if you want to give a speech afterwards do so, but don't stop to say "this song just means so much to me" before it's even over. Ugh.

edited to add: I forgot to tag someone else... the funnest part! :) Okay, so I want to know 6 weird things about Ali and Andrea! :D

January 21, 2007, 2:09 pm

Best invention EVER...

Cookies! I just can't believe that there is such a thing that is so absolutely delicious as cookies. I LOVE cookies! Andy was a sweetheart and baked some chocolate chip cookies for me last night - he rocks. Imagine my delight when I just remembered that there were some left - stashed on top of the fridge (away from grubby little fingers!). Woo hoo. My already great day just got even better!!! :D

By the way, my cookie flavors of choice are: chocolate chip, oatmeal, iced and sprinkled sugar cookies, peanut butter, oatmeal/fudge/peanut butter no bake, and Girl Scout thin mints (which I have a few boxes on the way soon - thanks to the little girl scout that knocked on my door last week... when Andy answered the door and I heard him say from the other side of the house "girl scout cookies?" I practically killed myself trying to get to the door before he turned her away while yelling "YES! YES! WE WANT COOKIES!!!")

January 19, 2007

Don't use TurboTax...

Use TaxCut! I know that Matt said this very thing last year, but I had already filed and was getting a sizeable refund so I didn't think much about it. We got Andy's W-2 today, so I logged into TurboTax, and it came up with the lowest refund we had received in several years. Disappointed, I decided to try a couple of different sites to see if they came up with something different. Sure enough, TaxCut more than DOUBLED what TurboTax said our refund was! I tried with a third company, and they had the same result as TaxCut (the higher refund), so I filed with TaxCut and am slightly wondering what our refund would have been the past few years had I NOT used TurboTax! LOL

January 18, 2007, 8:45 pm

This, that, and the other...

We had no school yesterday (and Andy had no work) due to the ice. There are no salt trucks in these here parts, so when it ices, it's all over the roads, so everything closes. The kids had a blast playing in the snow, although it was more ice than snow.

We sold a bunch of stuff on ebay this week, and praise the Lord, we made more money than we thought we were going to. Yay.

Brittany is going to a church youth group thing this weekend, from Friday evening until Sunday morning at church. It's here in town though, so no traveling. I'm sure she'll have a blast. The boys are each having a friend spend the night tomorrow night (the pastor of our church has boys the same age as Justice and Jarvis and they're good friends). That should be fun. I don't know that they've ever had a friend spend the night before (besides cousins). Brittany has, but not the boys. Just fyi. :D

Been watching some movies lately - I need to do a review so you guys know which movies to rush out and see and which ones to pass on (because I know that all of you count on my advice in order to determine which movies you will waste your time on). :) Maybe I'll get a chance to do that tomorrow. Be sure to hold your breath for that one. :D

It looks like we're going to be postponing our move to WA a little. Andy has a school to go to (BNOC? I don't know - I think that's how you spell the acronym - that's how it sounds so that's how I'm spelling it), and it was going to overlap with his report date to Ft. Lewis, so he is trying to get his report date changed. We figured mid-June would be good, so that way the kids wouldn't have to switch schools right at the end of the year. So now our move is probably going to be June instead of May. That's still right around the corner though, and we are trying to get everything ready.

I've got the scrapbooking bug lately. I was contemplating entering the annual Creating Keepsakes' Hall of Fame contest (submissions are due February 10th - not too far away), even though I don't have a chance in h-e-double-hockey-sticks to win. It'll be fun to create my entry though. I might try to work on that this weekend. I have been 'meaning' to enter for the last, oh, 7 or 8 years, but it just never seems to happen. I should have entered years ago when I had more of a chance. So many people enter now, though, that it's almost pointless unless you are the most creative person on the planet (which I'm not). Hey - my friend Ali won Honorable Mention last year - I hope she wins it this year (because she is definitely good enough). :)

Okay, enough rambling. I have things to do. Check out my January photo-a-day at Scrap Supply if you haven't already. I updated again today. I know I keep saying I'm going to add it to my blog, but yeah - I just don't have time for such frivolities. I'm a busy woman, okay?!

So yeah - I know that I use run-on sentences CONSTANTLY, but that's probably never going to change so I'm afraid everyone is going to have to just get over it, okay?!

Oh yes, and Kendra - let us know when that baby gets here!!! :D

January 16, 2007, 9:15 am

As I sit here typing, ice is falling from the sky and into my yard, which is kind of a rarity here in the middle-of-nowhere, Texas. It's not big enough to be classified as hail (I don't think), it's not wet enough to be classified as sleet (I don't think), but it's too frozen to be classified as snow (I think). It's just small balls of ice, and lots of them, coming down like rain (but not really). I never claimed to be a meteorologist, so you will just have to deal with my pathetic weather descriptions! Basically, all I know is that it is FREAKIN' COLD!!! I was actually surprised they didn't cancel school today, the way these Texans freak out at the thought of any sort of precipitation other than good old fashioned rain, but alas, school is in session.

Gas is $1.99!!!! This is the first time it has dropped below two dollars in quite some time, and I am thrilled. (p.s. it doesn't take much to excite me)

Jacob is ONE! Can you believe a year has passed since he was born? In some ways it seems like he has been here forever, but in some ways it seems like he was born a couple of days ago. He's still tiny and adorable, and if it's possible, he gets cuter with each passing day. I'll add some photos at the end of the post.

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We finally took the Christmas tree down yesterday. That's right... the tree was up until the 15th of January. What can I say? I had a lot going on. Actually, I wanted to take the time to do it right and get all my ornaments organized and labeled and get rid of the trash that had been hanging out in the Christmas storage boxes for the last few years (lights that don't work, broken ornaments, etc.). I did a deep cleaning of the living room after dismembering the tree, so now it is nice and cozy and CLEAN in there. Yay.

We have been selling things on ebay. A couple of big ticket items finished last night with more than we expected to make off of them, so that was cool. I'm working on getting rid of VHS tapes (so we can go all-DVD), and I am starting with the Disney type movies that are in the big plastic cases (I just don't have room for them). Brittany snagged a few of them to put in her room (she has a TV with a VCR and no TV channels, so VHS is pretty much all she can watch in there), but the rest are going on ebay. Several of them have bids and there are a few days left. Hey, I'll be happy to get 99 cents for each of them - that'll at least give me a 45 cent profit after my ebay fees. :D If you are desiring some of those type of movies let me know and I'll give you my ebay user name. I'm going to put some more movies on there today.

Six more days until I can do our taxes. Supposedly, Andy's W-2 will be available online on the 22nd. The reservists got theirs on the 2nd, but active duty has to wait, which sucks. I want to get the taxes done ASAP since we should be getting a nice chunk of change back this year!! :)

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Photos...

Jacob sees his one year old reflection

When Andy holds Jacob in front of him, Jacob throws himself backward. We have to be careful because sometimes he tries to throw himself when we aren't meaning to play the flip game. He's fearless!

The kids decorated balloons for Jacob's birthday. Here are the twin yellow monsters (and yes, Jacob is walking around eating an empty jug of orange juice in the background there)

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the cake and barely touched it until we gave him a small slice. :)

The princess (complete with jewelry and pink fur wrap) waiting for cake

Justice, whom I can barely get photos of anymore (by the way, not sure if I mentioned that he got his big mop of hair chopped off before school started - per his request)

Jarvis wants cake too!! :)

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Jacob decided to toss his plate out of the way and try eating his cake like a sandwich

a cute progression of cake enjoyment

yes, he was very messy at the end... although I think he was the cleanest of all my children after eating their first birthday cake. I didn't have to dump him in the tub like the rest of them - I was able to clean him off with a washcloth. :)

He liked the Sesame Street bag so much, it didn't dawn on him that there might be something inside

he eats everything - decided to take a bite out of the bag while he gandered inside. :)

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rubber duckies are delicious

Darby watching the present opening; Brittany eating her ice-cream (she doesn't like cake)

cute face :)

he was NOT too sure about this monkey that Grandma and Grandpa sent him... I think he thinks it is alive so he is a little wary around it. LOL :)

January 12, 2007, 5:11 pm

I'm doing a 'photo a day' thing for the month of January on Scrap Supply. I'm thinking of putting it on my blog and doing a photo a day for the year. I've already missed like three days, but I've never been a 'rigidly stick to the rules' kind of gal anyway. :D Maybe I'll put that up over the weekend. :)

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY TO CHARMAINE TODAY! :)

January 11, 2007, 8:47 am

Randomness...

Andy was able to fix the washing machine, which was actually a good thing because we realized we aren't going to be able to buy a new one until the tax refund arrives. :)

Jacob is adorable. He makes the cutest noises and faces, and he loves to copy everything we do. I just want to squeeze him all day every day and kiss him constantly. Oh wait... I pretty much already do that. :D

Jarvis is going on a field trip today to a museum; he was pretty excited. Darby has to leave school early today for a dentist appointment. I tried to reschedule, but the wait would be months. I spend a lot of time at the dentist office with five kids and one of them in braces. After today though, I actually don't have to go back for another two weeks. Woo hoo.

Jacob still does not sleep through the night. He did for a week or two when he was 7 or 8 months old, but not since. I have to admit, it's starting to get to me. A year and a half of getting up every couple of hours is taking its toll (yes, I know Jacob is just one, but I'm counting having to get up every night while pregnant because of pains or having to pee). I'm ready to sleep 8 hours in a row, or at least 6 hours in a row. I don't even know what that would be like. I'm feeling pretty sleep deprived today because Jacob was up more than usual the past two nights. Maybe it's because he's still breastfed; my other children were drinking formula by at least 6 months (Jarvis too, even though I did breastfeed him until he was 11 months - I still gave him bottles of formula in addition to the breastmilk). Jacob eats lots of food and has started to drink some cow's milk, but still - no sleeping through the night. I guess I could let him scream at night instead of getting up and nursing him, but my parenting methods have changed a lot over the course of five children. I'd really rather lovingly meet his needs and not get enough sleep than to make him feel abandoned. I'm just rambling about it to all of you! :D

I was going to eat a bowl of cereal this morning (which I almost never do), but instead I made biscuits and sausage gravy. I made the right choice. It's delicious.

And, last but not least, believe it or not, I am actually posting some Christmas photos (15 of them to be exact)! Yay!!! :D

We had quite a few gifts to go through on Christmas morning. It took a while. :)

I was so hungry, I couldn't wait to eat our Christmas breakfast. :D
and yes, we are using the computer chair and a fuzzy purple chair at the dining room table... we need new chairs; we only have 4 and they are in bad shape (and uh, there are 6 of us - besides Jacob, who has his high chair)... we have been on the lookout for new chairs for a while. :D

Jacob is like "hey, there's stuff inside here" (he thoroughly enjoyed opening all his gifts, by the way; it was adorable to watch)

his favorite gift of the day was, I think, this one dollar teething ring that Andy picked out for him. He was very excited about it. LOL

Sweetness all around :)

Miss Priss was the present-passer-outer this year. Here, she was excited to get a "boy Barbie" since she had been asking for one (her old ones had lost heads or limbs or a combination of the two). :D

Brittany trying to guess her gifts :D

Justice opening his favorite gift of the day... something Andy and I thought he would just love to have even though it wasn't on his list...

YES! He'd always wanted one of these, but had been afraid to ask :D He promptly said "Um, Darby, do you want another barbie doll?" after we all got a good laugh out of it :D

Jarvis ready to dump his stocking out
Actually, I SAY "dump", but the other kids dumped theirs out - Jarvis pulled each thing out one at a time and then placed all his loot neatly in rows on the floor :)

Darby enjoying some of her stocking spoils

Jarvis thought the "invisible man" in his stocking was funny - you can open it up and take out the organs... pretty disgusting, I think, but he loved it :)

Jacob's new toy car... I'm not sure what was up with my hair on Christmas, but whatever :D

Darby got a My Little Pony castle and she was VERY excited about it... kudos to Andy for picking it out, even though I was skeptical... he hit the nail on the head with that one! :)

The kids all bought gifts for each other this year, and Darby bought this rubber chicken that makes a quacking sound for Jacob - anyway, he LOVED it and figured out how to squeeze it to make the sound (which is what he is doing here)... too cute :)

January 10, 2007, 12:24 pm

kind coffee drinkers, plain january, and a water leak...

I have slowly but surely been trying to get caught up on my favorite blogs over the past week. A post from a couple of days ago on my husband's cousin's wife's blog (whew!) completely made me smile so I thought I'd share the love. Click here to read Malia's totally cool story about coffee and giving. :)

I have been working on adding some sort of photos or graphics or something to my boring January blog. I just keep getting interrupted, and now Photoshop won't open for some unknown reason. I think I'll just put a photo of Jacob up in the corner since this is his first birthday month.

I have been a cleaning machine today and now I'm going to get to work on getting some things up on ebay. The washing machine started leaking last night, so if Andy can't fix it we are going to have to get a new one. It has been on the brink of kicking the bucket for a while now (I'm surprised it lasted this long!), so I'm not sad to see it go. I'm actually hoping it can't be fixed, then I won't feel bad about throwing it out before it's time. :D

January 9, 2007, 8:55 pm

finding bluejeans...

I found a new brand of jeans. After being faithfully devoted to Express jeans since the age of 15 when I first discovered how well they fit me even in length, I have moved on. I bought my last pair of Express jeans over the summer, and much to my chagrin, they have once again changed their sizing methods. I don't understand this. I assume it's all a marketing ploy - "if we put smaller size labels on larger jeans, women will want to buy them because they will like wearing a smaller size" - UMMMM... that's just STUPID... I'm sorry, but the number on the tag does NOT change how skinny or fat a person is, just make ALL CLOTHING SIZES THE SAME AND QUIT TRYING TO CONFUSE ME. Anyway, my problem was that I always wore a 1 or a 3 at Express (depending on my weight and depending on how they were sizing their clothes at the time), and this time I tried on a 0 (yes, that's a zero) and they seemed to fit okay then (in the summer, when I bought them). I thought it was odd, since I was wearing a 3 or even a 5 in everything else, but I bought the jeans. Well, I have since lost about ten pounds and am back to my regular, non-pregnancy weight and the jeans are too big. A size zero is baggy. There's something wrong there, because I'm not THAT skinny. Anyway... I found a pair of jeans when I was out shopping with Andrew a month or so ago and I LOVE them. They fit perfectly and are comfortable (and are a size 3/4, even though the 0 at Express is too big). They are h2j brand and they rock. Now, if I can only find more of them.

January 9, 2007, 10:05 am

I was getting caught up on Andy's cousin's blog this morning and she had some fun quizzes. Here are the results of the ones I took. If you take them, let me know what your results are. :)

Which Lord of the Rings character are you? Okay, I tied between Pippin and Merry? How gay is that? LOL

You scored as Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry). Peregrin Took (Pippin) 63% Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) 63% Gimli 60% Aragorn 60% Frodo Baggins 57% Arwen of Rivendell 53% Legolas 53% Gandalf the Grey 47% Samwise Gamgee 47% Galadriel 43% Boromir 33% Eowyn of Rohan 33% Saruman the White 27% Gollum 23% Which Lord of the Rings character are you most like? created with QuizFarm.com

Which Narnia character are you? Aslan. I'll take that as an answer. :)

You scored as Aslan. You are Aslan. Inspiring to all. You strike fear into the hearts of evil. You are gentle and kind but can become ferocious if provoked. You are a healer and caretaker. Aslan 95% Lucy Pevensie 80% Edmund Pevensie 75% Peter Pevensie 70% Susan Pevensie 60% Jadis, The White Witch 50% Which "Narnia" character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

There was another quiz on her blog, but blogger.com was apparently having technical difficulties before I could click on the third quiz. Here's my question though... every blogger.com blog I've clicked on is having issues (won't connect... "internal error"), EXCEPT for Matt's. What's your secret Matt? Do you have some kind of deal with blogger that your website displays when no one else's will??? LOL :D

January 8, 2007, 11:39 am

Where do I begin?

So much has happened lately that I do not know where to start. I won't bore you with every little detail, but will try to hit the highlights. I'm thinking bullets are in order:

• School... The four oldest kids started going back to regular schools last week (as opposed to homeschooling). So far so good. We transferred Brittany to another school (since there was no way we were sending her back to the school that was the reason we started homeschooling to begin with) and she likes it okay so far. She doesn't know anyone there, so that's a challenge, but she is taking an art class which left a good impression on her after the first day, along with some other fun classes. Justice and Jarvis had to test (well, Britt did too) to make sure they were at their grade level. Justice did awesome on his 5th grade test, and ended up in a class with a few people he already knew. I told the school that Jarvis had skipped 2nd grade at home, and they were pretty skeptical, telling me he would really have to do well on the test in order for them to approve him being in the 3rd grade at age 7. So he took the 2nd grade test and they were impressed. He only missed one question on the all day test he took. Officially, he had to take the 3rd grade test for them to be able to put him in 3rd grade, but he didn't mind. He did awesome on that one as well, and got to go to his new class for just a little while on Friday. We'll see after today how he likes it, but his good friend from a couple houses down is in his class, so he was glad about that. Darby absolutely LOVES school (as she knew she would). I met with her kindergarten teacher today and she said Darby is fitting in nicely. She was so mad that she didn't get to go to school on Saturday and Sunday though (especially after only having a two day school week). She's very cute in her uniform (the boys and her have to wear uniforms, but Brittany does not). I'll post photos one day this week of them in their school clothes. :)
• Ze bebe... Jacob will be a year old on Saturday. I tried weighing him with my scale (by holding him first, and then setting him down and subtracting the difference). It was hard to tell since the scale isn't digital, but I think he weighs about 18 pounds. He's still pretty tiny though and is wearing size 6-9 months clothes. He is into EVERYTHING, and says more words every day. He has been pointing his little finger and asking "what's that?" and Brittany is thrilled that he now says her name along with Mama and Dada ("Bih-ee"). Andy got him to take a bath the other day without screaming, to which I was very impressed. Hopefully he will get over his water phobia sometime soon. I just can't believe a year has gone by since he was born!!!
• Andrew... is the most wonderful husband ever! If it's possible, our marriage just gets better with each passing day. He is totally amazing in every way, and I couldn't be more blessed. :)
• Travel... Our trip to TN in December was great. It was long and we were exhausted by the time we got home, but nonetheless, it was wonderful seeing everyone and we had an awesome visit. I will post photos in the very near future.
• Moving... I think I'm done with free webspace. I just don't have enough room, so I think I'm about to break down and purchase www.petracarden.com. So stay tuned for a new blog address.
• Procrastination... It is January 8th and we still have not taken down our Christmas tree. Seems like something else is going on every day. Maybe I'll get my rear out to the shed today and haul in the storage containers for all the ornaments. I think the main reason I dread taking it down is because I don't just have ornament boxes... I have cards that label all of the ornaments - where they came from and when, e.g."from G-ma and Pappy's tree, 1976" - and when I take the tree down, I have to find the correct package for each and every ornament. Well, I don't suppose I HAVE to, but I do.
• New Year's Resolutions... Some people love them. They make them every year; they break them every year. Some people hate them. They think they're pointless and if something is worth their time and energy, then why wait until the New Year to make that goal? Here are my thoughts on the subject: I think it is important to have goals, no matter what time of the year. I don't think it's necessarily silly to make New Year's Resolutions, unless of course you are just doing it for the sake of doing it and don't have any intentions of actually trying to reach your goals. Also, I would agree that if something is worth changing, then why wait until January 1st? The beginning of a new year can serve as a reminder, though, to assess where we are at in life and determine what changes need to be made. That being said, here are some goals I have... things I would like to achieve in 2007:
• Get in shape. I know, everyone has this on their list. I started doing Pilates before our trip to TN, and after just a couple days was feeling muscles I didn't even know I had. I plan on picking that back up and we'll see what happens.
• Make and stick with a budget. I'm horrible with this. I'm good about making sure our bills are paid (I'm the one that takes care of the finances in our house), and making sure there is money allotted for groceries, gas, etc., but when it comes to savings or when we get extra money? I'm really good about saying "Sweet... let's go out to eat, and buy new clothes, and blow it all." Not that I'm against going out to eat and having nice things - I'm all for it - but I'd like to be a better steward of the things God has given me, including money.
• Get organized. I think I'm 3 for 3 on the top ten resolutions of all Americans. Andrew and I have actually been working on this already and have made much progress. With the kids in school, I am hoping for much more time to devote to this. I'd like to be completely organized by the time we move to Washington. I think I will be.
• Scrapbook more. :)
• Some ongoing goals, not just for this year, but goals I want to achieve every day of my life:
• Be a better wife.
• Be a better mother.
• Be a better Christian.
• Be a better friend.
• Notice a trend there? I think we should all strive to be better at whatever it is we do every single day of our lives. Don't just get comfortable and stagnant. Constantly try to better your character, your behavior, and your life. :)

Well, I suppose that's enough of an update for now. If anyone is actually still reading, there will be more to come. I leave you with just a few photos:

I made some mini Christmas funfetti cupcakes. yummylicious!!! :D

Jacob on Christmas, in his 2nd outfit of the day (because who needs to wear more than a onesie and some monkey slippers?) enjoying the aftermath of our earlier present opening :)

View from mine and Andrew's bedroom window. photo by andrew.

I passed Jack on the highway the other day, so I snapped a photo. He says to say hi to all of you.

January 8, 2007, 8:28 am

It was pointed out to me that I neglected to send birthday wishes via my blog to one of the most important people IN THE WORLD! I'm so sorry Andrea, can you ever forgive me? I know I am a week late, but...

happy 19th birthday Andrea Van Meter!!!!! :D

January 6, 2007, 3:20 pm

I know, I know... it has been FOREVER since I updated. I finally have resolved most of my computer issues and took the time to reinstall my blog updating software, so you can rest easy knowing that I will be updating much more frequently now. Photos, stories, quotes, movie reviews, quips, and perhaps a few limerics will be coming extremely soon. If I don't get the chance to FULLY update you today or tomorrow, I will for sure make some time on Monday to get you up to speed on what is happening in the middle-of-nowhere, Texas. For now, I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We certainly have. :)

p.s. Happy Birthday to Thor (a day late) and to Titus! :)