bills...

I don't mind paying my bills because that means I can pay my bills..... most of them anyway. But what I don't like is dealing with customer service agents who #1 speak very little English and #2 are having a bad day. Very frustrating. But! It is almost Sunday! And on Sunday I get to go scrap with Keri :) I've been looking forward to this for two weeks! Yeay!

I'm feeling a bit creative. Marcella (Dan's cousin and my friend) has been having me do some little projects around her house getting ready for her surgery on March 9th. One of the things that I am doing is making a table skirt and window valences for her bedroom. I have not sewed in years but as I was picking out the material and trying to access the creative side of my brain things seem to be coming back! Yeay! Wish me luck :) Love you guys :)))))))))))))

we went on a date this weekend...

Dan and I went to a one day marriage enrichment seminar in Tulsa yesterday. Free seminar, free parking, tons of candy conversation hearts, free lunch w/soda and these fantastic cookies, how could we go wrong? We have gone to things like this in the past and they pretty much have the same stuff in them. Which doesn't really bother us because there is nothing wrong with a refresher :) This one, however, had this really cool personality test in it.... those are always entertaining! (lol... and are usually fairly accurate) There was also this great photo booth that all of the couples could use. This is the scrapbook page I put together about it. Love you all :)

look at me dad!

At one point during this play time Henry actually had Dan's head in his mouth. He is sooo much a 'daddy's boy' and still thinks he is small and that walking all over people is exactly what he is supposed to be doing. In this first picture Henry has a stuffed heart with arms and legs in his mouth. When you throw it or bounce it on something it makes a 'bo-ing' noise and says 'i love you!'. Henry really likes that one. We can tell due to the fact that he has had it since Friday and it is still intact!

the sleeping child...

When I am holding Seth while he is sleeping God uses that time to remind me that he is an angel. Not a four year old bossy, whiny, violent and demanding child. He reminds me that this small child has my heart wrapped around his heart forever.

......

You know those phases in your life when everything feels out of control and you seem to get knocked down over and over again? Yeah, it's like that.

seth is comming!

Unfortunately Seth's coming to our house for a few days is due to a tragedy in Don's (Seth's dad) family. His mom died yesterday and he is going to go to Paris Texas to make all of the arrangements. He is also in the process of moving to another town and the movers are coming tomorrow. I'd say that qualifies as a little stress. Allison and Matthew have school and work so I asked if I could pick him up and keep him for awhile. I'm sorry for Don and Seth's loss but glad that we get to spend some time together. We are going to make cookies! Now I just need to pick up 'kid friendly' food and Seth. He doesn't eat bread or cheese... weird. But I'm sure he is not an alien. Will post pics soon :) Love you all!

cold, cold, cold...

We are expecting an ice storm to start this afternoon so I, along with most of the other people of Bartlesville and outlying areas, went to Walmart and Aldi's to get provisions. The drinking water is all gone (it's the first to go) but I have enough of that unless we are stranded for a week... which we wont be. Dan and I can't stay cooped up that long. We will brave the streets on the second or third day for sure. Missing you all, love you :)

more photos

Seth's 4th Birthday!

We celebrated Seth's birthday a bit early this year. Dan and I went to Stillwater to Allison and Mathew's apartment and had a great time. I didn't remember how many parts there in a Power Ranger toy... and to put 24 stickers on it too! Seth was your average 4
year old boy who yells, throws things, and will wrestle anything at all including me. I also didn't realize that the movie Power Rangers was an interactive video. Being the yellow Power Ranger I jumped out of an airplane, free falling and landing, roller bladed and morphed all while doing sound effects. That was only in the first five minuets! I can't express how much i love my family. And Matthew is pretty great too :)

ninja cat

It's hilarious to watch Henry (the 63 pound puppy) and Tiger (the 4 pound cat) play. I tried to get a picture but was unable due to the fact that Tiger started ninja training durring early kittenhood (thanks to some intense training from my son) and has since reached full ninja status. Therefore, he now has a keen sense of when he is being watched and can dissapear (and attack you in some way) in the blink of an eye.

flying free

'Whether it's her hair or the wings on her back, Erin will always be flying free!


 

grrrrr.......

It's cold, Henry wont stop chewing up the house (yes, the house itself), and we got some movie channels free for three months due to switching to Direct TV so I am once again getting very little done. I did just finish a scrapbook page of Erin however... it turned out great! I'll post the picture later... Dan has the camera at school. As far as Henry goes, if I can keep him chewing on things like the brick in the front yard, firewood, old garden hoses and a dumbbell that hangs around in the living room I feel abnormally accomplished. I really, really, really need to learn how to train dogs! Without a shock collar.

tiny oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I had this fabulous idea yesterday. I thought to myself. 'Hey self? You can do better than pay $2.50 for six packages of 100 calorie cookies. Make them yourself!' So the plan was to write down the nutritional information of every ingredient in a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough. I did that. It took about 12 hours and 54 minuets, but I did it. I then made the smallest cookies that I could pulling 140 cookies out of one batch of dough. Then I divided the nutritional info that I had figured out by 140 and WALLA!!! We now have 140 - 25.3 calorie cookies. The sugar is insane at 7.5 each but if the chocolate chips were dropped or replaced by raisins that number would be much more manageable. Oatmeal cookies, in my opinion, should NOT have chocolate chips in them at all. Dan does not agree. I would say that this is because I was raised properly and Dan wasn't but his mom put raisins in her oatmeal cookies too. Dan, being the deviant that he is, changed the raisins to chocolate chips when he became an adult and and baking for himself, Allison and Stephen. (Therefore, no blame can be cast on the children for their preference in the oatmeal cookie controversy.) The PITA (pain in the a**) factor is fairly high in this little experiment. Especially that first batch. But they do have the flavor of homemade cookies.... not air.

tiger

Tiger was participating in a 'perching protest' against the dismantling of the 2008 Christmas tree. I left it up till like January 9th. Not for Tiger however, It was strictly laziness. I don't understand how Tiger managed to make the tree fall over so very easily his first Christmas and this year he could perch on the side of the tree and it stayed upright. Such a strange cat... he fits right in!

this one is for Amy :)

Hey sweetie! Dan, my wonderful husband and your wonderful step-father, was able to find the original photo. And, by the way, it is one of my very favorite pics from Christmas. From left to right; Jeremiah (Amy's fiance), Cole (Ryan and Amy's cousin), Ryan and Amy. They are all goofballs! It was so much fun having Cole there with us that day. It was an unexpected surprise :)

million dollar baby

Allison gave me the book 'Million Dollar Baby' for Christmas and I really am enjoying it. It's been a long time since I actually read a book. I forgot how very little gets done while I am in 'reading mode'. At some point I need to get my Christmas decorations down. I'm dreading it almost as much as a dentist appointment (no offence mark ;)). And I didn't put up very many decorations this year at all! For this very reason!!! Grrrrr...... The things we do for our families...

chainsaw damage...

Oops. This was actually done the other day, it got my boot too. I was more upset about losing the jeans than my foot. I mean, do you know how hard it is to find jeans that fit?!?

so weird...

Today's low of 46* is higher than tomorrow's high of 40*. Dan goes back to work on Monday and today is our last day of warm weather for awhile. I'm hoping that him going back to work will kick start my productivity. I'm going to have to cut some firewood today to get ready for the next cold patch coming our way. I'd say I hate doing it but the truth is although it's a true pain in the butt I enjoy the outdoor activity. Pneumonia has not stoped Dan from fixing Stephen's breaks on the van, oh my goodness he has put hours and hours into those breaks but I think the end is near! Yeay!!! He could use a little more rest before Monday morning. The Dr. said that the pneumonia will hang on for the next few weeks so it might take his energy level a while to bounce back. All of the kids are back into the swing of things after the holidays working and living life and whatnot. Have a blessed day :) love to all of you :)

my family continued...

my family :)

Here is my family :) How special they are to me! This Christmas woas one of the best ever!!! If not the best :)

2008 is over...

Wow that was fast! So much happened in so little time it seems. I can remember hearing 'the adults' talking every year about how each year goes faster than the last and I swore that I would never say it. Because that would mean that I was old and was starting to repeat myself out loud. Well if I can get through a week with that being the only thing I repeat i think I'm doing good! LOL. And besides, it seems the older I get the more I can see the wisdom of my elders (a.k.a. my parents).

I'm looking forward into 2009 with some hesitation but am going to plow through anyway. I went to Keri's house the other day and did a scrapbook page, my one page to her four pages, and as a bonus I got to spend a little time with Sam, Kimber, and Thomas. So, so cool :)

I'm missing my sisters more and more it seems. With Jill on the other side of the world and Erin in the mountains I'm not sure when I will get to see them again :(

Love to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

This is Henry :)

Do you kinow how hard it is to get a huge puppy to sit still long enough to get a clear picture of him? It's hard to tell his size with not much to reference it with but if you will notice my toes in the top picture you might get some idea. Geeze!