Happy Birthday Uncle Tim

The Naked Post

No pictures taken the last week. We've been running around or just laying around trying to keep warm. Last week I kept busy trying to find volunteers for Maya's school carnival which is this coming weekend. It begins! My first cake addition for a cakewalk. I loved the cakewalk when I was a kid. I love cake... so why wouldn't I love winning it for a prize. The only thing was you could win a yucky cake. I think I got pretty lucky and got some good cakes. I was thinking, since I had a lemon cake and lemon frosting in the pantry, I would make a double layer round cake and make it into a yellow smiley face. Not too much effort with that design. I am set to work the prize table. Unfortunately we also have a bday party that night and I may miss the delicious real bakery cake. Last thursday, the girls in my neighborhood got together for our monthly Bunko night. We never play the game, but it is always fun to get out of the house and realize we all feel the same way and deal with the same things with our kids (and husbands).
Adam had classes to obtain an accredidation this weekend, so really there was no break of a weekend. Saturday, the kids and I traveled with my parents down to Effingham to visit my brother. He turned 28 on the 17th. I glimpsed down the road to Charleston with a smile and a flood of memories. Frankly, I couldn't tell you about many classes I took at EIU, but I do remember all the, let's say, extracurricular activities I participated in. Probably 3 years of life I would go back to in a heartbeat. Sunday evening we spent with friends watching the football game and playing poker. MLK day, my dad and I took the kids to see the Veggie Tales Movie. I couldn't believe it, but this theater was 3/4 filled. The kids did really well.
So the upcoming months are filled with lots of activities. Maya is taking a beginning soccer class so she's ready for soccer in March. In May, she starts T-ball. Feeling guilty of all of Maya's activities, I signed Brennan up for a tumbling class on friday evenings. He loves flipping around with Maya, so I thought we'd try it. And lucky Stella... she's signed up for puppy classes on sundays. I lost my sanity a long time ago. Keeping ourselves busy with activities dbeats watching tv all day.

Crazy Kids

The kids have been very imaginative lately. (Hence the picture "Brennan and the Remote Control" by Maya) They are dressing up, doing arts and crafts and just mimicing each other. Brennan has learned the cartwheel! If I can ever get video of this I promise to post it. He basically puts his hands in the air and does a head dive. It is hilarious. The funny thing is he is so proud of himself. He's got all these random costumes (batman, bob the builder, and an knight) that he has appeared in throughout the last couple of days. Maya is the only one who is able to get him in these costumes. I don't think there has ever been a boy that looked up to his big sister so much. Not that she's that much older. Best buddies. And now, little canine sister Stella has thrown herself into their gang and been accepted!
I really love to go shop for this dog. Somebody stop me... I'm one of those crazy types.
Let's talk TV. Total surprise last night... "Bret Michaels..Rock of Love 2". These girls are a ton worse than last round! Plus the boobs are all bigger. I watch it shamefully. One of the best shows, in my opinion, came on again last night... "Brothers and Sisters". If only I could elect Rob Lowe's character for president. "October Road" is another absolute must see. I wanna live in that tiny town. Idol returns this week. As much as I don't want to watch the try-outs I know I will. Lost is coming back in 2 weeks!!! Yeah! I hope it is good. It was slumping, but I watched faithfully. "Friday Night Lights" was something I was hoping I wouldn't like for the sake of adding another drama to my week, but it is pretty good. Project Runway is one of my favorite reality shows, but I found myself cheering for the hippy couple in Amazing Race last night. I tell myself, no... don't get addicted to these things and then I do. "Vegas" sucks now, I am happy to delete that from my list of must watch. Ultimately, if I miss something I miss something, but those are my nightly shows. Man, do I sound like a lazyass. But essentially I am.
Maya starts soccer next week and I think Brennan is going to start a tumbling class near the end of the month. There's not a day on my calender that something isn't going on. Insanity!

Survey Time

Alright. Here's a question for all of you: What do you do with your Christmas cards? Do you keep them? I hate to throw them away. They sit around in a spot in my house until summer when I finally feel better about tossing them. You can't keep every picture ever sent to you. Can you?

Thought I'd post some pictures from the holiday times plus lots of Stella. I love this dog. She is by far, better than our two cats ever were. I'm having fun buying her clothes... hehe. She has a sweater, a dress and a coat and I'm sure at some point she'll need a dresser of her own. Obviously baby syndrome covered by getting a dog. She is quite cute and the kids love her. She hasn't shed one bit and she appears to be a food vacuum. She had her first vet visit monday, weighing in at 6lbs. Her DOB is 9/14/07. Alright alright... she's just a dog, I know.
The kids have been doing well. They got plenty of new toys that seem to have somehow found a home in this house. They've had some fun in the snow and have basically been busy chasing Stella. Our New Year's was fun this year. We spent the early eve at a party of a classmate of Maya's house. We met a lot of nice people and the kids had a blast. Later in the eve, we went to our neighbors and celebrated the actual New Year. We got home around 2:30am, which in the past, we were lucky if we stayed up to midnight. Kudos to us! Nothing too exciting, but it was fun hanging out with other families and couples for an evening. Now, I have to see if I'm gonna go forth and get on that treadmill everyday like I promised I would. I'm not an exerciser by nature. Fingers crossed something on my body gets toned this year. Happy New Year to All.