A Night Out

None of the pictures I tried to download would work tonight, so this will be a pictureless post. We went out tonight. We had discussed getting pizza takeout, but the kids had not been out of the house since we got home Saturday night, so going out sounded like fun, even in the below 30 degree weather.
Corey was wanting pizza, so we first headed to the local Pizza Hut Bistro, where we waited a full 6-8 minutes without seeing anyone come out of the back to seat anyone or wait on anyone in the dining room, so we left. We went to Johnny's New York Style Pizza instead. It was yummy. Then, we went to Target to do some shopping with Christmas money. Each of the kids ended up with about $90 of Christmas money that they had plenty of wish list items to spend on. Since I can't get any pictures to download, I will just link to each thing in my post.

Katie wanted to look at all the toys before making any choices, but Noah found a new Nerf gun he wanted pretty quickly. It has a bullet/dart loader thing that makes it shoot really fast. Katie ended up choosing baby Whoopsie Do. Yes, that is almost exactly like the doll she got a few years ago for Christmas. Yes, it has already peed in 4 diapers tonight.

Noah also chose to get a new DS game. Lego Indiana Jones 2. Katie wanted this and although we really try to let them choose their own things, especially when it is their money, we had to put our foot down on that one. $21 for a gimicky stuffed animal??? We think not. We convinced her that this would be a better choice and she was happy. It had been on her list for a while anyway and the other thing was just impulsive and silly because it made a kissing sound. Ha ha, I am going to make you click on the links to see what she got! :) Feeling silly.

I spent a lot of time looking around the clothing department. I got a Target gift card for Christmas and they had a lot of stuff on clearance. I got two shirts like this one, but one is a little different than this one and beige. I got the brown one that is just like that one I think. Plus, they were only $8 each in the store. We still hope to continue our plans of adding on to the family, so I have been looking for tops that would be good either way...transitional and versatile.

It ended up being a very late night. Especially since Katie and Noah both wanted to play with their toys a little when we got home. I have GOT to get our bedrooms all cleaned out and settled with all the new Christmas stuff. We need to start school back on Monday, and Corey will be taking his annual January trip soon. Busy times, though I have enjoyed the mandatory rest I have been on this weekend and this week so far. I think I will endure that a little longer before tackling all that stuff!

A Welcome Diversion....

I have never participated in a blog challenge before, but I read about two that Emily is doing and they sound like fun and a great diversion from the sad week we have had. I think it will be so much fun, so I am participating in the All About the Brontes Challenge 2010 AND the Our Mutual Read Victorian Reading Challenge. The Victorian Reading Challenge lasts all year and includes several levels of challenges. I am going to start with level 1 and maybe go up to level 2 if I want to later. I also want to do the period film mini challenge.

~ Level 1: 4 books, at least 2 written during 1837 - 1901. The other books may be Neo-Victorian or non-fiction.
~ Level 2: 8 books, at least 4 written during 1837 - 1901. The other books may be Neo-Victorian or non-fiction.

Period Film Mini-Challenge -- watch at least 6 films that take place between 1837 - 1901 (they don't necessarily have to be based on a book) and post a review.

The All About Brontes Challenge is from Jan 1-June 30th and you are challenged to read/watch 6 Bronte books or films based on the books.

Here is my planned list:

1. Read Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
2. Read Jane Eyre by Emily Bronte
3. Read Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
4-6: Watch various versions of films based on any of the Bronte sisters books.

If you are interested in either of those challenges, just click on the buttons at the top of this post for more details!

Christmas Day

I will post photos about our Christmas gatherings later. Our life has been totally turned upside down the past week and things just aren't running as they would "normally." I have been hanging out with my other blog, and finally posted the conclusion post about our past week....

The Story of Our Week (click)

It's Been a Day!

What a day it has been! There has been much more going on over at the Baby blog than over here...so that is why I haven't been posting. I just wanted to share the first verse of my husband's favorite song of all time! ha ha! Actually, he doesn't really like the song, but it has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it in the dinner theater our church hosted last night, and the first verse has really been an inspiration to me today.

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

Friday Funnies!

Funny Things for Today:

1. I had an internal ultrasound this morning. HA HA HA HA HA! (yeah.....)

2. The normal HCG level range for a 5 week pregnancy are as about as precise as a cable guy's arrival time estimate.....

3. My friend, Marcy, posted this on her page today and it made me laugh. Thanks Marcy! I needed this today!

All You Need Is Love (continued)

We are home from our wonderful trip to Disney World, and I am attempting to get caught up on life. It seemed like a great idea to get everything done and ready for Christmas before we left and be home in time to just "enjoy" the holidays, but it hasn't exactly worked out that way.

Why? Well....of course there are last minute gifts to buy..ones that were not remembered before the trip. There are also cookies to bake and laundry to catch up on from the trip, house to clean, groceries to buy....

And in the meantime....oh yeah...I am "with child" making all this a little more strenuous since I have had a couple of minor not very serious symptoms going on that I need to REST to take care of. I am going to do that tomorrow.

Period. No questions. No laundry getting done. No house getting cleaned. If you knock on my door I won't be answering. IF you were allowed in the house (which you wouldn't be!) you will find myself and my two wonderful children camped out on the bed and watching Christmas movies, reading Christmas stories, and doing absolutely nothing. And maybe napping in between! ha ha!

I will get around to blogging about our trip eventually. I believe the camera is still in Corey's car, so I don't want to blog until I get the few pictures uploaded as well.

In the meantime, I would like to share my baby blog with those of you who have not seen it yet. I wanted to start chronicling our journey from the beginning and have a place to put all the "baby" news, daily if I choose without boring anyone. Maybe that is a blog I will actually be able to make into a book with the "blog2print" website and have an all inclusive baby book!

Here's the address: All You Need Is Love

All You Need Is Love!

I am sitting here at the computer in complete awe. We have placed our lives in the hands of God and He has blessed us so tremendously and abundantly.

Yesterday morning, we got some pretty exciting news!

We are going to be blessed with a baby next August!!!!!

My heart is torn because I have friends who have the same desire in their heart, and I have struggled with how to share our news joyfully without making light of their feelings. I pray and hope for all of my friends that this is just another example of how God can create life at any moment and that He is still alive and active in us.

Please keep me (and all of us) in your prayers. Our world is about to get rocked again and we are excited, nervous, happy, anxious, etc, etc, etc.!

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition
which I asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:27

The Week

I had such an enormous to-do list at the beginning of the week! Some of it has been accomplished, but there are many things yet to do! I did clean the house between last night and this afternoon, so if we can keep it clean, that's one thing OFF the list! I am staying on top of the laundry, so that hopefully won't BECOME a to-do item!

We have the floor mostly fixed, but we had to leave some spots at the last corner where we need to re-cut boards to fit. We haven't had a free evening to drag the saw and all out, so that is still to-do. Rescheduling the cookie swap freed up some time, I just don't know how I would have ever gotten 6 dozen cookies plus an appetizer made, PLUS get ready for company AND feed my own family this week.

The kids trees are up in their rooms. The Christmas shopping is mostly finished. That is one thing I definitely want to have done before we leave because that kind of stuff I really do NOT like to do last minute. When we get home we will be at 10 days from Christmas, so being able to enjoy that time getting together with people and THEN doing the cookies swap and other fun projects with the kids will be much more enjoyable than doing any more shopping!

I plan to finish my shopping tonight, wrap presents at some point tomorrow, as well as help Corey finish the floor.

OH! I did already finish my Esther homework for the last session Monday night, so that is one thing DONE!

Which means... I may end up finishing my to-do list early! BUT, there are plenty of things waiting that can't be done until last minute, like packing for the kids and a lot of the stuff for Corey and myself as well. Hopefully I am on track to get it ALL done so I have plenty of time to leisurely pack and get all our "stuff" together and printed that we will need for our trip (reservation confirmations, etc).

That's what's up over here. I am getting so excited about our trip, and the time seems to be creeping, yet flying.

Catching Up

We have been busy busy busy around here!
A few weeks ago, Katie had her investiture ceremony for Girl Scouts!

She is now officially a Daisy Scout!
Here she is with her troop.

Thanksgiving weekend was fun. We got our Christmas tree up, did most of our shopping, AND...
put up Christmas lights outside!
Corey and I have never had lights on our house, and we never had them on our houses growing up either!
We started out slowly...just a few! But it was so cheerful to see them when I drove in from Bible study last night!

We still have a lot on our plate as well.
This is what our kitchen floor looks like right now:

About a week and a half ago, I stopped up the sink to fill it up to wash off Noah's crocs. Sometime later I discovered a completely drowned floor and countertop.
The dishwasher had been running so I didn't hear the water running and we got busy with schoolwork. I have no idea how long it was running....probably over an hour!
I thought it was going to be okay, but a few days later we saw the edges of the floorboards start to buckle! agh! More investigation showed that the water had accumulated to about an inch in several pots and buckets inside the cabinets!
So...Sunday afternoon Corey pulled up the damaged boards and all the rest as far as it was wet underneath. At least the damage was on the edge of the floor and not right in the middle! AND we still have an extra box of flooring to use to repair.
PLEASE pray that we can get the boards back in easily!
The original project was not one we ever hoped to repeat, so we are hoping it goes smoothly this time!
That's what we're up to.
That, and getting ready for a cookie swap Friday night, and our Disney trip next Wednesday..
Good times!
UPDATE: I have actually gone ahead and rescheduled the cookie swap.
Regrouping the rest of the day I just realized that there were TOO MANY things going on this weekend and the floor still very iffy..... so ....
it actually has already worked out better for several people...*whew*
I hate to reschedule, but it always ends up happening to me! ha ha!