I'm still alive...

... just a little reassurance to anyone who might read my blog...

I will be posting soon.....  hee, hee

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me....

... tagged by Violet!  I've come to the conclusion that perhaps I'm not a very interesting person and it took me about 2 weeks to think of just these.  If I think of more, I might just have to post them....


1 - I eat homemade popcorn and have a caffeine free diet Pepsi every other night.  Why only every other, you ask?  Well... every night would just be way over the top!

2 - I heart Sci-Fi movies! or is it Sy-Fy???  (See Vi... kindred spirits)  ...  and really any movie in general.  Going to the movies is the ultimate enjoyment.

3 - I've been sky diving.  College adventure.

4 - I don't like watermelon.  The texture is disgusting, and the taste is only mediocre.

5 - I LOVE potlucks!  Actually, I love any event where I don't have to cook... because....I HATE cooking, but I LOVE eating!!

6 - I have a shoe fetish.  I could spend hundreds... thousands!... of dollars on shoes.  But, I'm also a cheap skate so I refrain.  And... I have a bunion on my left foot so I'm very picky about my shoes also.  Such an old lady....

7 - I keep my fingernails really short.  I can't stand dirt under there or when they bend/break.

8 - Outside - bad... Inside - good.  I'm an indoor girl.  Would SO rather spend my time inside, instead of outside either sweating, getting sunburned, being cold, blown by the wind, etc.  I know, sad.

9 - I have two tattoos.  Jonathan has 4 tattoos.  I know Jonathan's are not part of the "10 things you didn't now about me"... but it does go with the fact that I think tattoos on guys are fabulous.  Well... the right tat.  Are you wondering where my tats are??  :)

10 - I'm shy at first -- have no idea how to engage in small talk.  Going some place where I know no one is torture.  However, I LOVE parties and get togethers with people I know.... and once I know you I will talk your leg off.


Any fellow bloggers want to try it?

New Post?

Well... I'm sure I have things to post, but for the life of me can't think of anything interesting.  So, here is my attempt to summarize the top ten in the last ten (or so) days...

1)  Zoe has thrown up three times... 2x on the couch and wool rug, 1x on her brand new quilt.
2)  I missed all three puke sessions as Jonathan was playing Mr. Mom each time.  hee hee... (I decided #1 and #2 are each significant, thus they each get a number.)
3)  I have an accountability group with some of my favorite girlies... so far I've kept up with my reading using the CCV 1 year reading plan on youversion.com.
4)  Raising a middle school child with ODD is very challenging and makes me question my parenting techniques daily and how I can improve them.
5)  I love my nookcolor!  And have found very cheap books...
6)  I am now a Mary Kay consultant!  Contact me for some spiffy deals....
7)  I joined the gym for the 3rd time.  Yes... you read correctly... the 3rd time!  I'm not really sure why, except that I stopped running because I hurt my knee and then sat around on my arse... plus they offered $0 to rejoin.  Hmmm... seriously rethinking this as I really would rather figure out how to workout at home and save me some money!  I'm going for a record of how many times one can actually join and rejoin...
8)  Hayden now drinks coffee.  I don't even have enough words to go on about this anomaly...
9)  I've started buying produce from Bountiful Basekts and love it!  It's so cheap, and we get to try foods we may have never tried before... i.e. eggplant and brussel sprouts.
10.  Contemplating... cut or grow my hair...???

101 in 1001 - Recap for 2011

RESOLUTIONS....

I have an update on my 101 in 1001, but first... some resolutions.  I will keep them to a minimum to possibly help with following through with them.

1.  Be more positive!!  With the kids especially, and with Jonathan.  At the moment I'm feeling like a failure as a mom.  My lovely daughter is fabulous most of the time, however she has a stubborn and defiant streak in her that almost breaks me, then turns me into a scary mom.  I find that when I'm more positive, so is she... which seems very logical, but is very hard to do in the moment.  And Hayden... well... same thing for him.

2.  Read the Bible daily (or at least 5/7 days right??).  This is my #6 and I have a new plan!

3.  More time for Jonathan and me!


Ok... to the 101 in 1001....

I have some pics to go with some of the ones I've accomplished.  Yahoo!  Yet, it seems I'm a little behind in my pace.  Will have to speed things up soon.

#9... Christmas PJ tradition (side note: Zoe REALLY wanted the skull pjs instead):

#57... Put up vinyl saying in kitchen (could possibly be slightly crooked):

#68... Hang Jonathan's pictures... he took these when he went "urban exploring" one day:

Christmas Eve!

As always, Christmas and presents are a HUGE affair around my family. 

We started Christmas Eve day with Zoe's and Hayden's first presents... new beds from Grandma and Grandpa. My mom, sister-in-law, and I took Hayden and Zoe out for lunch while the guys waited to have the mattresses delivered then had to put the beds together. We weren't quite gone the whole time, so when we got home we had to bring the kids in with their eyes closed and put on a movie in the den while the beds got done.

Zoe being surprised with her new bed... not sure that's the look I was going for...



Now that's a good look...



Finished!  A few changes have been made since... no swag, picture hung, few wall stickers added.



Completed!  Twins to fulls.



Christmas Eve included mine and Jonathan's family, plus 4 other friends and their families... totalling about 23 adults and 13 kids. Wow! Want to experience the chaos? Check out the pictures.... We litereally piled presents in front of each kid and said "On your mark, get set.... GO!"  It was awesome.

And here's some better pictures....

Mom and Leslie



Great Grandmas!



Cheryl and yours truly



Aunt Carrol and Mom



Hmm... and what's happening here?  (Grandpa John, Tom, and Grandpa Jim)

Josh, Zoe, Brody



Our only family pic this year... hmmm....



Ha!  We tried to get all the grandkids and great grandkids (present) with Great Grandma... not too bad...





Zoe with Hannah and Josh



Hayden next to Josh (Zoe and Hannah in front, Morgan in the back)





The last to pictures are before the chaos started.... and I've sorely missed some pictures with other people.  Hard to enjoy myself AND take pictures.  Plus, holding a glass of wine makes it rather difficult too.  :)

After the kiddos we played our gift exchange, White Elephant type, game afterward with the adults.  THAT is the best part of the evening... can't wait till next year. 

  

Neener neener....

From my husband (who, by the way, completely blew me away with his choices this year), I got this for Christmas:

       

and this...



So, if you don't hear from me for a while, well.... you'll know what I'm doing.... 

Zoe's first field trip

As always, I'm a little behind in my blogs.  I almost forgot about these pictures until I went to look at our Christmas pictures... which are actually still on the cameras.  Later blog to come.... much later knowing me.

So, Zoe's first field trip was to the Broadway Palm Theater in Mesa.  I only had Zoe and another little girl in my "group", so it sounded fairly easy.   Until we had to take a group shot and Zoe decided she didn't want to be in pictures, acknowledge I was her mom, or that I was actually a teacher amongst the other parents whose daughter was not listening.  Needless to say we had a short talk in the bathroom, and it went rather smoothly after that.  Have I mentioned how head strong and stubborn my child is?  Wow.

We saw Aladdin Jr., which isn't really about a junior Aladdin as the title might suggest, but actually just a shortened version of the Disney version... smooshed from 1.5 hours to 1 hour, and no Abu.  Very cute actually and loved the singing.  The Genie closely resembled my hair stylist and I keep meaning to ask him if he moonlights as a short blue man....

Here are some pics: