Hangin' Tough

We have had a horrible winter, as far as the viruses go. Our kids have had the stomach flu three times and this week they have been hit with a nasty virus that gives them a horrible cough and fever. Hasn't made for the funnest week, but it sure does make us grateful for our otherwise good health. I think the saddest part of seeing them sick is seeing how much it changes their little personalities and how it just wipes them out. The nights are the hardest- listening to the coughing and bringing them more water, more medicine, "will you lay by me, mama?"



I think I need a breakfast burrito at Qdoba.

Going Green

I was so excited when I saw this segment on the today show, because it helps me along with one of my New Years goals, which is about recycling.

There is a free service online where you can have any catalog you receive stop being sent to you. The web address is www.catalogchoice.org and it is super easy to use and they take care of canceling any catalog you receive. I get several catalogs every month almost never order anything, and usually never even flip through it.
On the segment they talked a lot about how it helps to recycle them, but if we can cut down on the number of the catalogs that are being made, it will save trees, etc, etc.

Anyway,it was so easy to do, I thought I would recommend it.

Mom, I think I want to be a Scientist

We had a such a fun day on Monday visiting the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Blake had the day off, so he and I and the kids, along with cousin Chloe, Grandad (Yei, Yei) and Blakes Aunt Jude headed to Denver to one of the coolest museums! (I think) The kids had so much fun looking at all the Dinosaur fossils, looking at the dioramas, and visiting the Space Odyssey. We even got to watch a cool presentation about the planets in the planetarium. To make the visit even better, we had our own personal tour guides, as Yei Yei and Aunt Jude know so much about plants, fossils, dinosaurs, and everything else! They were so good at capturing the kids attention. I even learned a few things!

As Britton was looking at the scientists working on the fossils, he said, "I think I want to be a scientist when I grow up.. But, I already said I was going to be a Policeman" Such hard decisions.

The day ended at an awesome cafe in Denver called Annies Cafe- which was super neat and very yummy food! Thanks Jude!

SISTERS

If I could think of a good sisters quote right now, I would have typed that for the title. I found these cute pics of Abby and Maycee together and it makes me so happy that they have each other. I am so thankful for each of my sisters and I hope that my girls always like each other as much as they do right now!

Have a Little Fun Today...

I have never thought of myself of much of dancer, I have serious white girl syndrome (although I have the electric slide down really well), but for some reason when I watch the Ellen show, it makes me want to DANCE! I love the Ellen show. She seriously makes me laugh out loud. One of the best parts of the show is in the first 5 mintues when she dances up through the audience. Since the writers guild of america strike is ruining almost every show I watch, I have to say THANK YOU to Ellen to continue to make new shows! THANK YOU for crossing that picket line! The Ellen show makes me happy, and I can dance in my living room and no one is here to laugh at me! (Except for Maycee and Abby, and they really like my dancing!)

Should've Been A Cowboy

Our Kids love country music, mostly due to the fact that CMT and GAC are the most watched channels on our TV. Britton has grown quite fond of Toby Keith and received Toby Keith's Greatest Hits for Christmas, which he was quite excited about. Abbys favorite right now is Taylor Swift and loves to sing "Our Song" and "Pictures to Burn" The other day Britton was set on dressing up as Toby Keith and dressing Abby up as Taylor Swift ("Mom, how can we make her hair blond and curly?") After they finished dressing up as their favorite counrty stars, they danced together to their favorite Taylor and Toby songs. Here are the pictures I got of Britton posing as Toby Keith. Too funny.

My Goals for the New Year

Besides the goals I usually have every year (write in my journal more, pray more, read more, etc) here are my goals to be completed this year:

1. Complete a half marathon- I am looking at doing one in August- the Georgetown Half Marathon that some friends did last summer. It was their first as well- and they said it was a great first timer course.

2. Try yoga- I have wanted to do this for a couple of years- I am thinking it will be good for my back, neck, and overall well being. I am pretty convinced it will give me the body of all the stars, since they all do it.

3. Recycle more- I started having a recycling bin last year that was picked up along with my trash. I want to make an effort to recycle as much as I can. (Although once by accident a dirty diaper got put in the recycling bin andI got a phone call from Waste Management and they weren't too happy with me "Um, mam, diapers are not recycleable" Wouldn't it be great if they were???)

4. Spend less money- The first step in accomplishing this goal is to go 2 months without buying anything new. This means no new clothes, new shoes, new sippy cups, stuff from the dollar bin at target. NOTHING (except a first birthday present for Maycee). I am doing this to 1) save money so we can go to Disneyland and 2) reduce the amount of "stuff" we seem to have. Less is more is my theme for the next few months. It isn't a bargain if I don't need it, right???

5. Have date night with Blake once a month- I wish it could be more, but with paying a baby sitter for three kids, this can get expensive. So I figure once a month is attainable for us. We love date nights, and definately didn't get enough of them last year. Along with this goal I want to plan at least one weekend away with out the kids- we are hoping to do a ski weekend (We will be calling you soon, Grandma Pat!)

6. Spend quality time with each of my kids every day. I feel like I am good at this, but know I can be better. I know how much this time means to them and me as well.

This is my list for now. I may add to it, but now that I have it written down, anyone who reads it can hold me accountable! What are your new years goals????