Today is Chad’s and my 4th wedding anniversary!

It’s crazy to think that it’s already been 4 years and it’s only been 4 years. Know what I mean? In a way it seems like we’ve been married forever…it’s hard to remember life any other way (and that’s a good thing, of course!). But we can still vividly remember our wedding day and it’s hard to believe four whole years have gone by since then!

We’ve crammed a lot of life into the last four years. Moving (three times), having two kids, buying a company, and so on. Here’s hoping the next four years are just as amazing, but maybe a little less crazy!

Posted: December 17th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

Since I’m planning on home schooling our kids, I’ve already done quite a bit of research on what kind of curriculum I’ll want to use for each age and subject. I haven’t really planned much for the high school years, and definitely not for college-admission prep, but this site was brought to my attention and it looks like a great place to get your LSAT prep courses. If we ever need these, I’m sure my grandpa will be thrilled, since he’s a lawyer!

Posted: December 10th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

I have to show off one of Kelvin’s latest tricks. I happen to think it’s the cutest thing ever, but I may be slightly biased, being his mother and all.

Obviously, I should have quit while I was ahead and not tried to get him to nod again, but whatever. You just get to a little glimpse of what a busy little guy he is, right? I definitely don’t need quick weight loss supplements…keeping up with these two is enough!

Posted: December 10th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

Our anniversary is coming up a week from today, so Chad and I have been thinking about gifts we want to get for each other. Since we have small children, trips to place like riviera maya are definitely out. Chad already bought me a necklace (a heart with diamonds in it), and I already bought him a 6-month subscription to World of Warcraft (what was I thinking???). But we also decided we needed new sheets.

We got a set for our wedding and we have been using that same set every night for the last four years! It’s a good-quality set so it’s held up extremely well, but it’s starting to show some wear.

So I started sheets-hunting. I checked at Walmart and found out I could get 300-thread-count sheets for $26. I decided to check on Amazon first, though. I was so glad I did! I found a 1000 Thread Count 100% Egyption Cotton Sheet Set for only $30!!! That’s an amazing deal, so I ordered two sets right away.

They should be here in 5 days and I can’t wait to try them out!

Posted: December 10th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 4

We finally got out of the house this morning! Before the snow showed up, we had planned to go make snow globes at a MOMS Club member’s house, but I was thinking I would cancel because it was so cold and I didn’t know how the roads were. But this morning, Ava was absolutely bouncing off the walls and asking to go “bye-bye”, so I got the kids all bundled up and off we went!

Luckily, most of the drive there was on the highway and it was completely clean…no driving problems. But when we got off on our exit, I momentarily regretted not looking at those life insurance leads! Just kidding, it wasn’t that bad, but it was enough to make me nervous.

I was so glad we went. We did the craft in her basement, so the kids were also able to run off a bunch of energy…they had a basketball hoop and tricycles down there! And it was even better because now the kids are taking nice long naps!

And Ava will be happy when she wakes up…I forgot to send the bills to be mailed out with Chad when he went back to work, so guess who gets to do it? Yes, ME! LOL

Posted: December 10th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

Today was our second day of being stuck in the house all day. And unlike yesterday, I couldn’t even get the kids outside to play in the snow for a few minutes because the temp had dropped so significantly. As I type this, it’s -2 degrees. Yes, that’s negative 2.

So anyone have myrtle beach vacation rentals they would like to offer me? Anyone? No? Bummer…

Because I don’t know if we’ll be getting out of the house in the next few days, either. We have a MOMS Club meeting we could go to tomorrow, but my car doesn’t handle well in the snow, so I’ll have to wait and see what the roads are like in the morning. If it was just down the road, we’d probably go, but it’s about 15 miles away.

So that means you might get to listen to me whine here tomorrow night too! Lucky you!

Posted: December 9th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

So I’m not sure I’m ready for winter after all. Today we were supposed to get a huge snowstorm. It turned out not being as bad as they said it would be (so far, at least….it’s still snowing now), but Chad still took the day off work.

We had a lot of fun…we got out all of our snowman decorations, we built a snowman outside (pictures coming soon!), we drank hot chocolate out of our snowman mugs, and we made homemade cinnamon rolls. It was the perfect snow day until about mid-afternoon.

Right around 4, the kids got so cranky from being stuck in the house all day. They’re used to getting out and playing with their friends, or at the very least, running errands. They got to go out and build a snowman, but they got cold quickly so we didn’t stay out very long. And they were tired of being cooped up in the house!

Luckily, one of Ava’s friends was having a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese tonight and we hadn’t been completely sure we were going to go because of the weather. We very quickly decided that we were going to go, just to get the kids out of the house! I’m not sure how great of a decision that was, though, because the roads were extremely slippery and I honestly wasn’t sure we were going to make it home safely.

Obviously, we did, but I vowed that I am not going to drive my car on snowy roads at any point this winter (lucky for me, our snow never lasts more than a few days)! It has horrible anti-lock brakes and I’m nearly positive that I’ll crash into someone one of these days (even Chad nearly rear-ended someone because of them…if he hadn’t been able to swerve into the turn lane, he would have crashed). So I will reschedule appointments if I have to, but there is no way I’m risking it, if at all possible.

Which means I’m in for another long day tomorrow. *sigh* I’ve always said that I love winter as long as I’m able to stay home and hibernate, but apparently my kids don’t share that thought and they’re going to make this winter absolute misery for me. *Someone* better get me a Gold Initial Pendant or something if I actually make it through this! LOL

Posted: December 8th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

The last 12 hours have not been fun. Not at all.

Yesterday we had a very long day of church, a potluck and then our Growing Kids God’s Way class. By the time we got home, I was feeling tired, but otherwise OK. I got some stuff done on the computer (free directories and stuff LOL). I went to bed around midnight and pretty much immediately started getting horrible chills that shook my whole body. Even though I was under all of our covers and cuddled up to Chad, I was still really cold.

I took my temperature and I had a fever of 100.5. That’s pretty high for me, since my temperature is usually around 97. And it made me feel so awful that I couldn’t even sleep until I took ibuprofen and the fever went down.

This morning the fever is still gone, but I feel really yucky. And my stomach feels like I spent all night puking…that crampy, fragile, sensitive feeling that makes you feel like you can only eat toast or equally bland foods. Know what I’m talking about? I’m sure I did an awful job explaining it, but you have to understand that I’m really, really tired.

Luckily, Chad took care of the kids almost all morning and cleaned up the whole downstairs for me. Around lunchtime, I told him I had a few posts to do while the kids napped, but I didn’t feel like sitting in my computer chair because I felt so yucky. When I came back downstairs, he had the laptop all set up for me by the couch. How sweet is that? Now I’m watching The Holiday (have you seen it? It’s one of my favorite movies!) and I’m almost done with my posts that were due, ahem, yesterday.

Posted: December 6th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 4

Ava has a new favorite game lately. She absolutely loves playing hide and seek! I have to admit, I get a little tired of it after about the 20th round, but she sure doesn’t!

When she first started playing, she would just hide in the same spot that I had just hidden in. She still does that sometimes, but she’s getting better about coming up with different hiding spots, even if she still likes hiding under the Toto sinks. Her favorite spot is in the toy box, though….she hides there about half the time!

And an added benefit? She’s getting lots of practice at counting!!

Posted: December 4th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

This is the recipe for the pumpkin butterscotch muffins I mentioned earlier…you know, the ones that spilled all over the bottom of the oven and just about set off the emergency alert system. But there’s a reason I was tripling this recipe…you have to try them!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1/2 c melted butter
1 c pumpkin (the recipe said to use canned, but I used fresh)
1 c butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan with cooking spray or line with muffin liners.

2. Sift together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, butter, and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips; pour into each cup of the muffin pan to about 3/4 full.

3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Posted: December 3rd, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1