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My Accomplishments.

So, I don't accomplish anything too amazing but I have been doing something. It the past week or two here is what I have done. . .(just so you know this isn't everything, just a few things I happen to be proud of.

OK-

I made Mike some lunches- Whole grain/flax seed pasta (From Trader Joe's .49 cents) with Parmesan cheese, garlic and mushrooms.

I organized our messy closet in the living room. (My new door shelf, that was 30% off)

I sold a stack of 36 boxes that we used to move here almost 5 years ago. (Boeing paid for the boxes and I sold all 36 for $40)

I cleaned up too many messes to count.

I served 165 seniors at a BINGO that my work does.

I bought a pattern online for a reversible kids skirt for $8. I've never really sewn but thought it was cute and figured I could give it a try. (If it doesn't work, I'll email it to my Mom and let her do it. :)

I survived and am signing on for another week.

I think its time for another hair cut. . .

maybe i'll give it a try.

Running out of ideas. . .

This has been a long week. I'm not quite sure why. It dumped 5 inches of snow at the beginning of the week and we have pretty much been inside ever since. Grace isn't a big fan of the snow. I told her that if we go outside to play she can't wear her skirt. . .she doesn't like that idea. So her choice is to stay in. Fine with me. I don't want to chase around two kids and two dogs in the freezing cold and then drag them inside and destroy the house even more. So it was a deal. No outside. . .unless Daddy was home. Wednesday we were out for about an hour. Friday. Its finally Friday. Hopefully this weekend will be better then last. Last weekend we got up on Saturday and it was war, ALL DAY. We think Grace and Obie decided to join forces. They were awful, and it was a count down to bed time. I guess its bound to happen sometimes. We figure the odds are in our favor for this weekend. Things should turn around after a week. . .right? Well here is us this week trying to figure out what to do. We painted, played, cooked peanutbutter cookies, played in the snow, built a fort, watched the Wiggles again and played some more. I think we need out of the house.

WARNING. . .

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TELL GRACE TO WAIT A MINUTE. SHE FIGURES IT OUT HERSELF. (I was checking email, and told her to wait a minute and then we could get out the arts and crafts. . .there was no waiting.)

Slobber. . .

OK, so lets be honest here. . .Last night we were going to bed and I asked Mike if he slobbers when he sleeps. He said maybe a little. I said do you know I slobber when I sleep? Knowing I do it all the time. . .but thinking he didn't really know. He says yeah, you do it all the time don't you? (I did know he knew that.) I said how did you know that! He said he used to be able to see in on my pillow case when we had plain navy blue sheets. So embarrassing! That was when we first got married. I didn't think he remembered stuff like that. So I tell you this story to warn you. . .don't get plain dark colored sheets or you will end up with little white drool marks and your spouse will remember forever. (See my new favorite sheets below) If you know anyone buying sheets soon or getting married warn them. They will appreciate it later. And, by the way, I know you all slobber too. . . don't you????

Stuck. . .

Well its Monday, need I say more. Things are crazy in here and we are running out of things to do. We painted, played, watched T.V., did puzzles, had snacks, and wrestled. I let Grace wake up Obie from his nap and they had a little too much fun goofing off.

My favorites. . .

Well this was going to be things I love in the cold but I threw in the compose can. It doesn't need to be cold for that but I do love it. I also love our new speakers that has an ipod doc. I don't know anything about ipods but Mike got an application where it connects to internet radio and plays it through the speakers. You pick the type of music and it plays it, just like that. No commericals, no changing CDs, and no memorizing the order of songs on CDs. I love it.



itouch with the pandora application.


This was a Christmas present. Its lined with some super soft furry stuff. Warm and cozy and it can be worn over anything. I love it.



This was a splurge since they never go on sale, but they are great. My feet are always warm on our freezing cold wooden and tile floors.


This is my compost can I have beside the sink. We don't have a garbage grinder thingy in the sink so I just scrap the plates into this and then dump it outside in our pile. There is also a carbon filter so it doesn't smell.





Flannel Sheets. I thought I would hate these but the are the best things ever. The bed is always warm to get into and my PJs don't stick to them like I thought they would.

Opt out of Phone Books. . .if you don't use them.

I never use the phonebook. . .in fact I have a pile of them on the top shelf in the closet. I stubled across a solution and quickly "opted out."
http://http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/stop-yellow-pages/

Its 53F. . .

And we are LOVING IT!

My one and only political thought. . .

“Lord, ... we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.”

I'm not into politics or care much about them honestly, but this really irritates me. Since moving to Missouri I have been called racist on several different occasions. . .basically for holding the black girls I supervised to the same standard as the whites. I never said anything degrading. I never called them names or talked badly about them to any one. I feel I treated them the same. . .and I have several black friends that would agree with me. (But obviously many that would not) Anyways, I'm white and I feel this quote insinuates that I don't embrace what is right and seems very one sided and even racist. To be honest, if i were Asian I would also be mad too. Saying that they should be mellow. . .whats that suppose to mean???? Are they high strung or "unmellow?" I can't believe people aren't totally upset about this. If it had been flipped around and a white man would have said blacks were in the wrong for something. . .anything, there would have been riots right on the spot. Someone tried to inform me this was socially acceptable to say that whites have not been equal to blacks but to me this comment is flat out saying we are ALL choosing to do what is wrong. That makes me mad. Whites did vote for Obama. . .Even if he would have said whites would continue to embrace what is right or something else. . .To me this just seems like a slap in the face. . .Do you agree? Am I reading too much in to this? What do you think?

Here he goes. . .

Obie has taken off. He took is first few steps in October but has been refusing to walk. . .until 2 weeks again. In the past two weeks he has become a pro. . .well almost. He can get up and down by himself. Go through doorways, over toys, and even turns in circles. Its great to see the excitment on his face.

So we have a perfect pair. . .

Grace and Obie love berries. We bought some strawberries and blueberries at Costco and when we got home we gave them each a handful of each. Grace ate all her strawberries and Obie at all his blueberries. At the end they swapped their leftovers and both were happy.

Freezing. . .

Last week was freezing. It was -5F. Can you believe that. FREEZING. I came downstairs and was welcomed by ice on the inside of our window. . .that can't be good.

1st Birthday!

Obie was so cute on his birthday I had to add some more pictures. We had his party on his actual birthday which ended up being the day we flew in to CA. We got there at about 11am and his party was 5:00pm. We did this so friends would be able to make the party since it was a Sunday. Anyways, it went really well. He loved his blue cake. When it came to present time he was a little bit tired and overwhelmed. There were about 10 other kids there who were very intested in his presents; the packaging and what was in them. They were more then willing to help. Obie really just wanted to go to bed. We had a great time and here are some more pictures.

California

Grace blowing out Jesus' Birthday cake.

Ella and Grace jumping on the hotel bed.

Sand. . .I think this was before he put a handful in his mouth.

Tacos with her cousins.

First time at the beach in California.

Seeing Santa. . .well kind of.

In complete ahhh.

Disneyland!

Obie turns 1.

Man, I forgot how warm it stays there. . .60s seemed so warm now but I remember when we lived there we longed for the 60s to come so we could wear a sweater. Our visit was fast. We zoomed around trying to see all of our friends and family that we haven't seen for so long. Although we only got short visits with each of them the moments will be treasured. It was so fun to sit and catch up, see how people have changed and how families have grown. Here are some favorites from our trip. . .they are some memories we will never forget.