End of the year.

It is time to make the transition and write down those resolutions. I am going to go a step beyond writing them down. I am posting them for the cyber world to read.
1) Lose at least 15lbs (hopefully 20) by the end of May. I think this is a reasonable goal. More importantly I want to start on my workouts again. I was doing such a great job until one fatal pecan pie around Thanksgiving. ( I loooove pecan pie)
2)Clean out the back room of death. I want to throw away or give away at least one item a week until the weather is warm enough to really get back there and clean.
3) Paint the closet doors.
4) Be better at immediately going through the mail, tossing the junk and organizing things that need to be kept. (my current organization process is a large canvas bin on the kitchen counter. it doesn't get cleaned out until it is overflowing)
5)Try not to have a knee jerk reaction. I was talking to a friend about this the other day and she does it too. I am an emotional person and I react sometimes too quickly.
6) Go out with Michael at least once every two weeks. I think that is pretty reasonable goal.
7) Get more active outdoors. Oliver is older and easier to tote now. He wants to play and explore. We have been doing a lot of ice skating recently (sans Oliver) and it has been good to be outside. I would like to go skiing at least once this season. (again, another reasonable goal)
8)Finish the Master's degree that I started a few years ago. Maybe I can go back to school in the fall.
9) Go greener. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Things I look forward to leaving behind in 2007:
1)Formula!
2) Cigarettes! I finally feel like that monkey is really off my back. However, I have to approach it realistically. Take it one day at a time and know that even one can spin me into the old addiction. I am really proud of myself and how far I have come and I know Michael is proud of me too.

And the one thing I am sad to say goodbye to: My brother, Ben. He was only here for 10 days and I worked many of those days. I didn't even get to spend much time with him and he won't be back for another year. I think my mom will cry for the next week too! I love you little brother. Take care of yourself.
Some pics from our last night together:






I'll post some pictures of our ice skating adventures tomorrow!

My cup runneth over

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone. I am finally feeling a little refreshed after the week I had last week. We were all exhausted and pretty much laid around on Christmas Day and enjoyed each others company.
Christmas Eve is really our big night. We always go to my mother's house. She cooks a beautiful dinner and hosts and wonderful party. My brother mans the grill. This year he turned out a fabulous tenderloin. Bravo Ben! We exchange gifts and the kids get their big gifts from Grams. Brady desperately wanted a Molly McIntyre doll from American Girl. She went to her dad's the weekend before Christmas and she didn't get it there. When she came home I noticed her scanning the packages for a box that would hold her doll. When she didn't see one, I saw her face get red and a huge look of disappointment sweep across her face. But I knew. I knew Grams had everything she wanted waiting to be unwrapped. That is what the first video is about. Poor Carson just wanted to be in the action and see what Brady was opening and I just kept telling her to move out of the way.
I was spoiled too. My mom got me a new Cannon PowerShot 630. Woohoo! And Michael got me the Cannon Pixama. It crops and prints pictures. So now my life won't be stored only on the computer. I was going to include links to the above mentioned items but my computer is acting up so i will have to add those later.
I an off to work, but wanted to share these with you in the mean time:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Something to make you smile.

I took this the other day. I had to have Michael run the camera to me when Oliver started laughing. Brady was squirting water from a rubber duckie in the bathtub. I have no idea why he found it so funny. There is some rough footage when I am adjusting the monitor so that I can get a better picture but you can still hear him laughing. Then he notices the camera and ups his performance a little. Enjoy! I will post Christmas photos/video later!

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Christmas Eve

I have so much to get done and yet here I am blogging! Pure procrastination. Michael and I actually had the chance to get out last night. I haven't been out in several months. I had a brief Christmas party and then he and I decided to watch some of the table games. Did you know that we have a real live casino right here in Wheeling? We were really impressed. We watched a black jack game with a $100.00 minimum. One guy was playing three hands at once. We were stunned. He lost one hand and then won two. So he won $400.00 in about 20secs. More money than I can even imagine throwing around like that. The place was really packed. People were cheering at the craps tables and some of the other tables. Michael is going to head over with Ben before he goes back to Germany.
True to form though, when I got home Oliver had a fever. 103. Fevers scare the hell out of me. He was so hot even his fingertips were hot when they touched me. I dosed him up with ibuprofen and it went down. He still has a low grade fever this morning.
I hate when my babies are sick! How could you not feel bad for this sweet face?


Brady is in for a real treat tonight. My mother always host's Christmas Eve dinner. Lots of fabulous food and the kids get to open their gifts from Grams. I know what grams got her and she will be beside herself. I am going to try to get it on video. I'll update you later!

We finally met Zoe.

Brady, Oliver and I traveled to Jane Lew the day after Thanksgiving to meet Lee and Jon's baby girl. Zoe was a little unsure about me (I will refer to myself as her Mimi from here. That's what my nephews call me). She is so very tiny. When you are used to picking up a sack of potatoes like Oliver, Zoe feels like a feather. She let me hold her only for a minute and then reached for her mama.
Here are the pictures from that trip:

Zoe and Daddy

Zoe and Oliver meet.

Zoe and her Mimi

Brady trying to wrangle both babies!

I love this last picture above. She is giving the, "What the hell is the matter with you?", look. And finally, I almost caught a smile from her. (ya really gotta be quick because when she sees the camera she gives the look I just mentioned.)

Halloween

Yeah, I know it is almost Xmas and I am just now posting Halloween pictures. I told ya it would take a while to get all the photos out there. Up next will be the Zoe photos. (when I get a chance!)

Quack, quack

I took this video on my mom's digital camera. Very cool that it does video too. Oliver is mad in the beginning because I won't let him have the camera. When you see him throw himself backwards, I had a hold of his arm and helped him go gently. Otherwise it could have been a little more dramatic for him.

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Some pictures to share

I wanted to post some of the pictures that I never posted during the computer hiatus. I am currently trying to finish up my Christmas shopping. I think the next ten-twelve days are going to be filled with working. I would really like to bake some cookies and get some presents wrapped. We are supposed to get smacked with 3-6 inches of snow on Sunday so hopefully that will give me the chance to do cookies and maybe a little more decorating. It is really hard to get anything done with this guy:




Some pictures from his first birthday party:





Miss Genevieve enjoyed the cake too!

Monkey see, monkey do,

monkey will learn to read too! If it isn't obvious Oliver loves his sister. And he loooves his books. That is the first thing he does in the morning. He gets a book and heads straight for Daddy to wake him up and look at a book. We think he is smart and funny. He can tell you what a cow says, what a duck says, and what a doggy says. He can say kitty, cookie, and banana although it sounds more like, "anana". I think he says so much more when he babbles I just haven't figured out what he is trying to say yet.




There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby especially when you get to hold them. I think Michael would spend every night doing this:

Snowing again

Another snowy morning. The kids should have had a two hour delay at the very least. I think someone in WV slept in too late to see what was going on with the weather. All of the OH side cancelled school and all of the WV side is reporting on time. We are only separated by a river!
My baby boy has been hoarse since about Sunday. I feel awful for him. The doctor's office said to give it some more time. He seems kinda run down but not full out sick. I am feeling rundown too. Ugh. I guess it is that time of year.
Oliver and I have been taking Mommy and Me classes on Monday mornings. The place we go to is a lot of fun and Oliver really seems to enjoy the class especially when they get the instruments out or sing songs and clap. We have gone there for open time but the owner's kid likes to throw things at Oliver's head or face. I firmly told him that it is NOT okay to throw things at the baby. All his mother told him was, "say your sorry." Wha???????? The kid has to be told that his behavior is unacceptable. He will have no idea what he is saying he is sorry for. Attention parents: do not tell your child to say he is sorry unless he understands what he is supposed to be remorseful for! Otherwise he/she will not realize the behavior is wrong and the lesson will be lost.
Anyway, soapbox is done. Here are some pictures of Oliver at play time.

Pictures

I am stunned to see how far back these pictures go. I still have some on my mom's camera as well so I have to get those and show those off too. So the Halloween and Zoe trip pictures will be delayed. I will share as much as I can for now though.
Earlier this fall Brady and I had a special mommy and Brady day. We went for a hike/walk at Oglebay. We took out backpacks with water and snacks and off we went. My luvbug was a great explorer and a fearless leader. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and I let her show me the way. These pictures don't do the day any justice. The leaves were beautiful. The sun illuminated them from behind and seemed to twinkle between the trees. It was hot that day. Far above average for that time of year. That day will go into my memories as one of my favorite days with my beautiful daughter. I had the chance to tell how proud I am to be her mom and to tell her why she makes me so proud. So here are some pictures from that great fall day.

Up and running

I finally have my computer working! I still can't post pictures until I reload all my software. Brady is frustrated because she can't play on her websites. I am just frustrated in general about having to reload everything. I do have to give props to Dell computers. They were so helpful and walked me through everything as well as being able to access my computer from where ever they were and download the drivers for me. I love technology! I was fortunate to have gotten the three year extended warranty when I purchased through an employee purchase program. I would recommend it to anyone and will purchase it on any future computers. So, I there is anyone who still reads this- stand by and I should have pictures posted by the end of the day!
We are having a snow day today. School is cancelled! Brady woke up and was jumping for joy when she looked outside. I love these mornings. When I told her she wouldn't get to go to art this week (her favorite and it's on Wednesdays) she said, "Oh well. Snow is better."
So my coffee is brewed, the news is on and I get both my babies for the whole day to snuggle. I love these mornings.
Be back later for pictures!