here we go again

Last week I felt like I actually accomplished something. (Don't faint.) I painted the kitchen during the two days the kids had off school. Sounds a little crazy to wait for them to be home, so that I could juggle not just 2 kids and paint, but the whole lot of 4. But, with no school it meant no set schedule. I could paint at my leisure, eat lunch at 3:00 when the first coat was on, and have Eliza home to help entertain Caroline and Rachel. It ended up working great.

We also did a little room rearranging. I sacrificed my sewing room/toy room for the good of the family...I know, I'm a saint. It required a TON of de-junking of toys and clothes. Being one of just a handful of young families in our ward, we tend to get showered with bags of clothes from people who are cleaning out their kids' closets. In fact, this week, we got 4 bags brought to the house, another bag at church and another stack of workbooks, all from different people. I think I wear a sign that says, "I'm a sucker for used goods. Dump here." LOL... These people are really thoughtful--it just means more sifting through for me this week.

And that's about all I'll be doing this week. On Saturday, I sprained my right ankle...AGAIN!! This makes for 3 times on the same foot. Serious bummer. I was again playing basketball, but this time it didn't even take coming in contact with another person. I was dribbling up the driveway and turned around...that's it. My shoe didn't turn, but my ankle did. It meant for a fun time at Church using the stroller as a walker, and wearing one of James' sandles on my hurt foot. What I have to do to get attention! :)

For those of you with experience in sprains, is it normal for it to feel numb? My foot started tingling last night, and this morning it still feels a little weird. I'm not sure what that means...

so long, farewell

Well, for those of you who are as frustrated with our phone service as I am, you can wish SunRocket goodbye...today I called back up Verizon to switch back. :(

I didn't think I'd feel sad to part with SunRocket, but I do! I loved being able to check voicemail on their website, forward voice messages to James' email, and only pay $16/month for unlimited long distance and local calls.

But, you can't have the quality of service issues that we've had either. So, a big sorry to those of you who for the past 3 weeks have been muted, hung up on, garbled and tested.

I'm sure this won't be our last try at VOIP, but we'll take a year or so to get that brave again...

finally a day off!!

With office move #1 behind him and the networks all stable, James finally had a chance to play! We headed up to Winchester, VA (about an hour away) and went to the Shenandoah Children's Discovery Museum and a nearby park. With weather in the 60's, this is the kind of winter we hope stays!

Today we also got to have GOOD mexican food. We've missed it SO much since we moved out here. Aaaah, to have a chimichanga again. YUM!

what a pout

How do babies know to stick out their lower lips when they're sad? It must be something innate. Carrie just looks so pathetic don't you think? It just makes me laugh (I guess I'm "mean" too.)

Also, just wondered if anyone else has found half.com? It's my one stop shopping place for books. After reading Alisha's blog, I just went on there and bought Baby Wise for $1.75. I didn't have to leave the house...I love internet shopping.

it's gonna be a great year for AM church

Alright, so I whined last night, but today!!! WOW! We had a great day at church. We switched from church at 1-4pm to the lovely 9-noon. Sure it was a little tough to get up early and get going (we had been able to sleep in), but oh so worth it. We're home and able to relax the rest of the day. Hurray!

So, what made today so great?

1. The kids were great in sacrament meeting. Caroline slept through the whole thing. Rachel and Eliza played tic-tac-toe. Seth was good...very subdued.
2. In Junior Primary, THE KIDS ACTUALLY LISTENED! They participated, even learned a new song and didnt' complain. (Even Seth, who can really de-rail my lessons.)
3. We had the bishopric member visiting Senior Primary, and the kids didn't act out!! They had fun and I didn't have any "solo" singing. (I just hate it when the kids don't sing AT ALL and I end up singing it alone. I am just not cut out for solos.)
4. I got to bring my new diaper bag to church!! Found it at Old Navy in their clearance section...$5.97. It just doesn't get better than that.
5. It's January. Period. Sad to say that this year I didn't "cry the day that I took the tree down". I did NOT want the season to last all year round. It was great, but I'm excited to get a fresh start on a new year. It's freeing to not have Christmas stuff hanging over my head.
6. James got to go to church with us. His office move had gone so well in DC on Friday night and all day Saturday that he was able to come home Saturday night and then stay with us until after sacrament meeting. (He's back to DC now, but the move is really going smoothly.)
7. And finally...I had leftover pizza for lunch. Didn't have to think of what to make. Just stuck it in the toaster oven and Voila! LUNCH.

It's a little past 2 o'clock and the day is young. I think I'll finish off with a nap, curl up with our book club book and let the kids have their quiet time.

I hope this kind of Sunday lasts!

still up!

This makes for at least the 3rd Saturday night in a row that I'm up doing

Primary Singing Time until midnight.

The house is quiet. The kids are all asleep (and so is James) but

I have coloring and cutting and gluing to do.

Asking me to sacrificing sleep is about the hardest thing you could do.

(I'm not Traci, who does this almost EVERY night.)

But I'm not the victim here. I'm choosing to stay up and do this.

So, why do I procrastinate like this?

I could totally get this done during the week but....NO...

I just can't seem to do it.

I come up with the idea early in the week,

but wait until Sat. night to put it in action.

Do any of you have fond memories of singing time or ideas you've seen done that were fun? I've been doing this since about last September and I'm FRESH out of ideas.

(Remember Milly Kloepfer and the thermometer "sing-o-meter",

and the puppet with the neck that stretched higher and higher as we sang?

Those were some good times...)