Sundays

It seems that every Sunday morning starts the same way - not wanting to get out of our nice warm bed, rushing the kids to eat breakfast, checking to see what the older boys are wearing (50/50 on whether it will match or fit anymore), arguing with Neil-Te about what outfit he will want to wear, struggling to find matching church socks (the sock monster has apparently procreated), rushing through showers, maybe putting some mascara on, checking to make sure that the kids brushed their teeth ("Did you brush your teeth yet?" "Yes, Mommy." "Smile for me." Flash of yellow teeth. "Well, I guess that I didn't really brush them."), deciding which shoes Neil-Te wants to wear ("I know they don't fit, but they're my favorite, and I can run really fast in them."), rushing everyone out the door in hopes that we haven't forgotten anything (usually Mommy's coffee and breakfast). So that is our typical pattern, and it is always a rat race to get out of the house on time. Well, this morning we had the luxury of 6 extra inches of snow which hubby had to snowblow so that I could get out of the driveway. When he went out to start, he noticed that the mini-van had been broken into. Though nothing but change was taken, it was still very annoying! Then we rushed off to church, arriving only ten minutes behind schedule. I was greeted by an always-encouraging woman at our church, whose wonderful husband had already shoveled for me. My sister-in-law brought me a delicious breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee to eat while on Sunday School nursery duty. I am teaching 3's this month during service, which can bring a smile to anyone's face - they are too cute! Then my cousin, H, took CoCo home for an afternoon playdate. All in all, the chaos disappeared - until next week! :-)

Oh- saw Twilight with H last night. The movies are always a disappointment after the books, but it was still very fun and interesting. Besides, who can complain when the evening is topped of with a trip to Phillip's and awesome company?!

Ramblings

So my dear hubby is out this morning helping some of our friends buy a new-to-them car. This family came to America last February, and the father is hoping to pass a driving test in a couple of weeks. D has been fretting about this purchase all week because the pressure of research and negotiations is all on him. The family's English is steadily improving, but they are unable to do most business-type of transactions yet. So off hubby goes in hopes to find a reliable, silver car (The wife would really like a convertible SAAB, but we were able to talk them out of it! :-)) that they can afford.

I, on the other hand, am enjoying a cup of coffee and savoring a form of web contact that makes sense to me. I signed up for facebook Thursday night because hubby had volleyball, and I wanted to look at H's page. I have quickly discovered that though I really like seeing friends and former students' pictures, I feel overwhelmed by the number of emails and interactions. I don't know how some of my friends manage 200+ friends! I may need to figure ou t how to get my profile off of facebook since it appears that the reclusive side of me is in a mild panic! Facebook feels like a lot of small talk, which is really not my thing. Well, everyone assures me that it is the initial startup that is time consuming, so we'll see! I'm off to the bookstore with the boys. They got gift certificates from their aunt for Christmas. CoCo already know what he is buying, and A will probably take an hour to decide - sometimes he reminds me of his mother! :-)

Spreading Blessings!

Hubby expanded our kitchen into the porch this past summer because we were having a difficult time fitting 7 of us at the table in our existing kitchen. We have really appreciated the extra space and the new-to-us table that D's aunt and uncle gave us with only the request that we donate the money that we would have paid them to S's mother. That was a blessing to us and also to her mother. Her mother was able to use a good portion of the money and also help a family who couldn't afford food that month. S insists that when someone blesses someone, that God will spread the blessings.

The next blessing...We were frustrated by the continued lack of counter/cupboard space. We very briefly made up some estimates for purchasing new or even used cupboards and then decided that it was just not going to happen for a while. Well, last night, a different one of D's uncles brought over a truck full of oak cabinets! He is doing work for a Dr. who is remodeling his kitchen, and the Dr. wants to give the old cabinets away. D's uncle mentioned us, and we will have a complete, new-to-us set of cupboards in just a few weeks! I am not sure how this blessing will spread, but we are very excited and thankful! YEAH!

Hubby came home with a migraine today and was lying down on the couch for a little while. KiKi felt worried about him, so he brought out "hot blankie" to cover daddy with and proceeded to tell stories and sing songs to him. As he left the living room, he said, "Goodnight. I love you. Don't let the bugs eat you!"

Good news - The dentist says he will probably be able to remove S's braces in about 6 weeks! She is very excited.

Real Life

I finished the Twilight series last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think that I have been able to spend a week just lazing around reading since I was pregnant with A. Luckily, everyone was busy with new Christmas things, and hubby was happy to see me enjoying my Christmas books, so it wasn't until yesterday that I fully realized the impact of my reading time. Saturday night, I had set a couple of piles of folded clothes outside of A and CoCo's door so that they could put them away in the morning. Sunday morning, I awoke to squeals of delight and heard CoCo exclaim, "I have clean underwear!" A replied, "Look how big my pile is! I even have socks!" Hubby awoke to the same commotion and said, "Is it Christmas again?!"

Ahhhh...but it was sooo worth it! (At least that is what I have been telling myself as I look at the laundry piled up to the ceiling!)

Blog Background

So, I did a background by myself thanks to Aqua Poppy. I do wish that I knew how to do the fun stuff to my header picture like H did before, but at least I tried! Now that I've spent all of this time making my blog look pretty, I don't feel like writing anything. I just want to curl up on the couch with Breaking Dawn. Thank you, hubby for my Twilight series Christmas gift!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, All!

I woke up feeling happy and thankful for all the gifts that God has given us this past year. Can't believe that it is 2009 already. I am convinced that I lived in a haze of pregnancy, nursing, and childcare up until 2008. I think that I have been slowly noticing the world around me again during the past year as the kids become progressively more independent. Not that I want to rush that AT ALL, but I am enjoying embracing some of my former spontaneity that was necessarily pushed aside when the kids needed more rigid routines. So... excuse my ramble, but I am looking forward to 2009. Dear Hubby made a comment to someone yesterday about how this is the first year in a long time when we are not planning on any more family additions, so I do have some obvious concern that he would vocalize that thought! Tempting fate?!?! ;-)

So about the red-eye - still can't open my easy share for more than 1 minute before it crashes - grrrr. I called yesterday and apparently I uploaded the new version without checking my computer capabilities, and now I can't get my old software back either! Maybe next time I should read the requirements first.