Christmas Decoration Photos for You

But first, a photo of the sunset from our house on Nov 27.And here are the kids by the tree. If you will notice: No bottom branches and the second layer has been left undecorated except for the lights... If you have to ask, you just don't have any idea.


One of my "Deals" on Black Friday. I had wanted some flowers for my Kick-Off show, but the poinsettia will last longer. Although, I do have to keep the kids far away.

Our stockings. We have no mantle so they hang on the wall.
The DemDaco set that Sister-in-Law J is building for me. This is what I got last year for Christmas/Birthday.
My snowmen. They are scattered throughout the house in an effort to prolong seasonal decoration from just Christmas to Winter. On top of that, I'm just not a big fan of Santas. I enjoy the lighter side of Christmas with blues and silvers. I like red and gold trees, they just aren't for me.
More snowmen. These guys are skiing and I thought Pink for Burbles and Blue for Captain.
Here is a built-in that I have. It is usually filled with knick-knacks, but I think I am going to turn it into seasonal decoration. The middle row is a family of penguins that I have been collecting to represent our family. The bottom row contains our first Christmas with Captain. This year, I purchased another photo frame from Kohl's (another "Deal") with four snowmen. I thought that it was great. Now I plan to buy a frame every year and put a new family picture in it to watch how we all grow and change as a family. I look forward to the years in the future when we can pull out all the old frames and put them around the house with memories past.
Also, I need to get you a picture of the picture that my Dad blessed me with. It is a piece of art that my mom selected and enjoyed. I am so excited to have it.

SLACKER...

Yeah, that is me. I guess. Well, as far as blogging is concerned. I really am, I guess. Even now, I am watching TV something with Gordon Ramsey and some restaurant that he doesn't like just because my VCR stopped playing Knocked Up, which is what I would prefer to be watching so that we can ship it off to NetFlix tomorrow and get another movie from our ever long (230-some-movie queue).
So, now I will tell you what I have been up to since I last blogged... pictures to follow sometime in the future... I decorated for Christmas so that everything would be ready by my kick-off show. I had invited an insane amount of people to come and was hoping to have holiday cheer and all of that jazz. I cleaned and cleaned and put away a bunch of stuff that really had been bothering me for a while in its ever knick-knackiness. Wednesday my sister E and DeDe came over and we hung out with them for a while and Fundi's Brother Blue was around with his wife M. That night we had Thanksgiving supper at Dad's house. That was the last time we will be having something there. He is renting the place out to the new pharmacist in town and his wife and daughter, so Dad packed up everything and moved downstairs. It is kinda sad for us but a great opportunity for my dad and for the house to get used properly. Lately, I have been going and going and going. I wake up in the morning and from that moment on, I am doing something, but Thursday morning (Thanksgiving), Fundi had off and I was going to sleep in, well, that is until Fundi knocked on the bedroom door and asked me (or told me) to get up. I come out to the worst kid situation yet. Captain was sick and throwing up. Now, I have been fortunate and never have really had to deal with this to this point, but he was dry-heaving, and continuously vomiting for six hours. He was such a pathetic little guy that day. We sat and cuddled and slept and Fundi and Burbles went to Fundi's parents' house for Thanksgiving meal. My boys WON!
Anyhow, so I asked my mother-in-law if she still planned to watch the kids so I could go shopping on Friday and she said, "Sure." So, she came and stayed overnight and I got up at 3:45 and drove the hour to the stores. We opened with Shopko, then Target, then Kohl's, then the mall, then Sam's Club, then Menards, then grabbed some pizza to go home with and then Shopko again, then Starbucks. Yup, we got home at about 7:30. In the meanwhile, Burbles managed to get puking sick. Good grief. I did manage to get some good deals, but it was a long day.
So Saturday was filled with the flu again from both end from both kids. I wasn't so keen on this, but thankful that I never really came down with whatever it was. So, anyhow, Sunday I didn't risk going to church with the kids because I didn't know if we would be safe. My dad and his girl-friend watched the kids while I went and did a show somewhere else and then had our home kick-off show here. It went well, but not as well as I had expected. I had put so much effort into the invites and the calls and the food and the decorations. The people that did show up seemed to really enjoy the books and I think that I got a good start, but it is just disappointing when you expect one thing and then it turns out being something else, even if that something else is not bad just not what you expected. I don't know if that made any sense.
I have gotten my first two orders in and one is on its way already. I feel like this is all really happening now. Reading is such an important part of life and I want to bring that to as many people as possible. I would love to work with the schools and the libraries to expose them to the great products we have to offer. I have been watching the other kids lately, too... with the help of Fundi, so that I can get my work done. I need to work on taking more pictures... on that note, I have a camera picked out that I would like for Christmas, so just in case anyone was wondering what I want :) just kidding :) but I am glad that I finally found a camera that I think would work out well for me and my family. If you want details, let me know, or if you know anything about digital cameras and have a particular camera that you like or know about, let me know.
Christmas decoration pictures and current photos of the kids to follow (sometime soon). Burbles has four teeth now!

Photos for your day

Mommy and Captain.

Kid LOVES green beans! (Oh, and boxes too...)
Daddy's hat, gloves, and glasses.
Trying to undress. The ankles on these pants are a little tight.
Sisterly love.
Brotherly love.
Look at these two playing :)

Yeah, I know...

It is no excuse really... to not write, but as I sit here at 6:45am and prepare for my day with my four little ones, I do assure you that I have been busy. My Business is starting off well. I have a few parties booked before Christmas and I am planning a Kick-Off Show for November 25th at 6pm. I'm excited. My first party didn't go so hot. Only one person showed, but it wasn't for lack of effort on my part. I did what I could and I was assured that I would have those days. It is too bad because I know that the hostess has lots of books on her wish list and would have liked to have a much larger party. It was opening of deer-hunting though, so I guess a lot of people were out and about and there were lots of things for women to do: craft shows, shopping, preparing meals for hunters, etc.
Sunday we woke up and I thought "Great, we have plenty of time to get ready for church..." At 7 I got the kids dressed and ready. Captain was in a good mood. I put him in his high chair and he ate pretty well. I got Burbles in her high chair as well and was feeding them both. Captain cottage cheese (his favorite) and Burbles her baby food. Pretty soon, Captain decided that Mommy wasn't good enough to feed him, so he wanted to use the spoon himself. Then he decided that that wasn't enough and he needed to scoop the cottage cheese up as well. Burbles finished eating and I was putting her in her car seat. It was 8:15. Church is at 8:30. I turned around and there was Captain with the bowl up to his mouth like a cup trying to drink the cottage cheese. That didn't work, so he dumped it down his shirt, face, pants... he had a MESS! So I quick got him out of the chair and got a new outfit for him and had him lying on the changing table. Well, above the changing table is a ledge and on that ledge used to be a few plants including a Christmas Cactus that is a family heirloom. I turned around to get something and he pulled that cactus down onto the changing table and then started screaming because he felt so bad. Well... I felt bad too. I was MAD. I changed his clothes, sat him on the chair and told him to stay there. Then he was sweetly saying "bye bye, hat" and I was so mad but had to feel for the poor kid. So I got his coat and gloves and hat on and sent him out the door to the van as I came behind with Burbles. We left a mess. Cottage cheese trail everywhere, cactus on the changing table, my half-eaten apple and peanut butter on the table, dirt on the floor... And I left the house with two screaming kids to go to church (a quiet place) while my poor husband attempted sleep with all of this ruckus.
I have gotten over being upset with Captain, obviously. Now we think the poor kid may have pink eye, so today I have to take him to the doctor to see what the doctor can do about it. Captain has never really had any medications (aside from fluoride and an occasional dose of Tylenol) and he is not one to sit still, so I don't know how well he will tolerate eye drops. As far as we know though, everyone else is doing fine. We are getting used to WDW as he is getting used to us. It is much easier to get smiles out of him now and he even giggles when the tickle hand starts coming for him. Burbles is crawling... well, kind of. She gets up on all fours and then lurches herself as far as she can forward. She gets around really quickly this way and I wonder if she ever will learn to really crawl. Fundi and I are doing OK. Fundi has been working and has been helping a lot with the kids so that I can learn my business and really get off to a strong start. He took the kids a couple of times last week out shopping so that I could work in peace. I have been working and trying to learn the business. I have also been preoccupied the last couple days with getting ready for Christmas (really getting ready for my Kick-Off Show). I am doing the things that I have wanted to do for a while... cleaning up the clutter... putting stuff away that is just stuff and not really meaningful to us. My dad's girlfriend P and I went to a craft fair on Sunday after church and I got a few neat Christmas-y items. I tend to lean more to the snowmen and penguins as they can stretch the snow season past Christmas without having to re-decorate. I enjoy seasonal decorating, I guess. I moved the plants that were on the ledge and put them way up high so that I can't even reach them to water them. I would like to get flowers or something for my Kick-off show, but we'll have to see.

BACHELOR SPOILERS:
Also, just a side note about a certain Bachelor... HE SUCKS! He had two great women to chose from and didn't HAVE to propose. He could have just been like, well, I have to see, but instead he sent 'em both down the road. What a complete arse. Is he too good for both of them? I'm sorry. I guess I really did like the guy all season. He seemed to have a big heart and had feelings for a lot of the women, but to make them go through all of that and then send them both home? I am sure the women feel terrible too. I can see tolerating there being another woman, but that neither of them were chosen would make me feel like they were not good enough for him, either of them. HOW SAD :(

OK, well, I think the first ones are stirring, so I best be going. Hope all is well with you in cyber land. Can't wait to tell you about the busy busy Thanksgiving weekend. I get to spend time with both of our families. Mine on Wednesday, Fundi's on Thursday. Shopping on Friday. Church and preparations on Saturday. Sunday I have a show at 1 and then my Kick-Off show at 6.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! Watch a little football that day, too and cheer on the Pack. My boyfriend has to spend Thanksgiving playing football. Oh, and as my Priest would say. On Thanksgiving (or any other major eating holidays), "Anything that is brown has no calories."

Thankful yet Unsatisfied

A friend recently posted the question "Is it possible to be thankful yet unsatisfied?"

Yes, I am sure of it. The world thrives on thankful and unsatisfied. Thankful for what we have on Thanksgiving. Unsatisfied for what we could have on Black Friday. If we weren't unsatisfied we would cease to go about our lives. My thoughts are hard to explain, but I will try. As we go about our lives, we long for things. We are always looking forward to the next thing and the next thing. It is a person much more strong willed than I who can stop looking for the next (thing to do, thing to buy, place to go, vacation to have, milestone in my children's lives, etc.). To stop this looking forward would not allow us to be thankful for all that we do have and all that we could have. I am thankful that we have the money to put in fluorescent light bulbs throughout our home. I look forward to getting the next energy bill (hopefully substantially less than our previous bills). I am thankful that I got to eat lunch today. I look forward to eating my next meal. And on and on. Over time, we forget about being thankful for those things like life because if you spend all the time being thankful, can you really still be living? If you were to just be thankful that your car accident wasn't worse, that would be fine, but you really are thankful that you can live another day and that you can look forward to going to work or spending the day with your Honey. That feeling of being unsatisfied, I think, comes with the territory. A person is trained to be unsatisfied throughout their lives so that they have the drive to make it to the next day.

I am terribly Thankful for what I have in the season of thankfulness. As we search this world for who we are and who we are to become, I just want everyone out there to know that I am thankful for them and even if I don't know you, I know that someone is thankful for your existence.

Happy Thanksgiving!
(I know this is early, but I don't know if I will get around to writing more for a while. I have been busy with getting my business going and will be busy this coming week with my business as well as with getting ready for the holidays and my Kick-Off Show which will be on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 6pm at our house. Everyone is invited. Bring a friend!

Usborne Books eShow

You are invited to an Usborne Books eShow to explore the world of Usborne Books. A child's interest in reading and learning is stimulated by the lavish illustrations and informative content. There are over 1300 bright, colorful and fun titles covering activities, puzzles and a wide range of subjects for children of all ages.Usborne Books - the books kids love to read!
Hosted by: Andrea Goeldner
Place: www.ubah.com/HOS100472
When: Today thru 12/2/2007 11:59:00 PM
Everyone is welcome, so invite a friend.It's a rewarding experience when a child opens a book and discovers the magic of reading.

Busy

I know, I know. It has been a while and especially a while for something with any great substance or meaning. I am so excited about my new business. I am so happy to start the ball rolling and I am excited that I have a couple parties booked and will be really getting going. That being said, my first party is in a week and I am trying to learn learn learn as much as I possibly can while taking care of the kids and my wife-ly homemaker duties (Fundi made supper last night, though). It snowed yesterday on my way to a neighboring town. I was excited to be out alone and ended up getting a couple more people to think about having parties. Some day I will have something more interesting to say, I promise.
The other day I took the kids shopping to Wal-Mart and got to see some people I haven't talked to in a long while. It was nice and I think I may have a lead on tracking down my friend that disappeared off the face of the earth after she had her baby and suffered a sever case of post-partum depression. Hopefully we can reconnect.
In other BIG NEWS: Captain was getting his morning hugs and kisses today and I was getting them back. I said "I love you Captain." He said "I Love You!" I about dropped to the floor. I got some loving tears in my eyes. Then he got this big toothy grin and said "Kissy". What a little darling.
Burbles is mobile. In a big way. Although she doesn't crawl in the traditional fashion, she still manages to get where she needs to go. And she moves FAST. When she is mobile, she goes on her hands and knees and rocks forward and then on the forward motion she gives an extra hard push and catapaults herself forward. She is working on the traditional crawling but really, she is not about to wait for the coordination to be there before she moves around herself, hence the catapaulting. She has to keep up with her older brother whom she just ADORES.
Everyone is being good this morning. We had WDW overnight so my sister could go shopping with the in-laws. It went OK. I didn't get much sleep. They staggared their wakings making it impossible for me to get anything more than an hour and a half of sleep at a time. I am lonely for sleep. I miss extended hours with my bed. I have been watching all my TV at night during the feedings, though. I can say that I am almost caught up on all my Must See TV. I still haven't watched Ugly Betty from Thursday night, but that is online and I am never in the mood to tote the computer over to the good comfy chair and get everything up and rolling to have the little one fall asleep in my arms three minutes later. (Which is what she does, by the way.) I think she just gets lonely when she wakes up. She isn't hungry. She doesn't eat more than a couple gulps. WDW, last night, though, was a good eater... as far as I know. I need to be thankful that Fundi has the same fondness for his nephew that I do. He took WDW's feedings even though he had to go to work this morning for some more over-time. What a guy. Don't get me wrong, if Fundi wouldn't have been here, I would have gotten up to feed everyone, but it was so nice to share the load. God forbid we ever have traditional twins, I don't know what we would do. Maybe I would work more selling books so that we could hire an overnight helper? Who knows, but hopefully that is not a reality. Although....
A couple years back when Fundi and I were going through fertility treatments, I visited a psychic for fun with my aunt R and Gummie. I don't believe in this business, but went anyway just for something to talk about and say that I had done. The guy said that I would get pregnant in the next month. (I was.) He said that I would have four kids and that I will probably have twins. Now, I don't know if he meant my Irish Twins or real twins. Whatever... it is of no consequence. He also said that if I was looking for a guy, at work was not the place to look. When I told him I was married, he asked if I was cheating as I wasn't wearing my ring. I had forgotten my rings (all of my jewelry, as a matter of fact) at Aunt R's house that morning.
Anyway, Captain just got done with his French Toast breakfast (he ate mostly with a fork like a big boy) and it is Burbles' turn now. (WDW has been eating in my arms thoughout this post and is now happily positioned in his Bumbo on the floor watching Captain run around. Poor Burbles... she got up at 5am and we cuddled and she drank her bottle this morning before anyone else got up, so really, she is ahead of everyone else.
Can't wait for naptime today. I get to learn some more.
Anyone who knows me knows what a pain it is for me to be unorganized. I hate it. I need to get my stuff in order so my business can get its feet on the ground.
ALSO: PACKERS v VIKINGS tomorrow at noon. We are gathering here with some friends and family. It is sure to be a good time. As long as my boyfriend does his job tomorrow. What a man.

Usborne Books

Hello, I haven't been writing because I have been BUSY. I have been watching the kids all week and everyone is a little sick. But, mostly, I have been BUSY with my new business. I am an Usborne Book Independent Consultant as of yesterday! I am just sooo excited about these books and would like to introduce them to you through my website (linked above) and would like to ask each of you to consider having a show (catalog or home). I am able to offer a really good deal to the people who have shows through the end of January because I am new to Usborne. If you haven't heard of Usborne books, they are books for everyone. There are over 1400 titles available with books from Astronauts to Zebras. They are primarily non-fiction with an emphasis on fun and learning. With the Holidays coming up, and toys abound, a lot of people would like to buy books for children when they know that the child has many toys. It is so easy to earn free and half price books with Usborne. Please come and browse on my bookshelves and then let me know if you are interested in becoming a hostess or a consultant yourself.

Annoyed and Appreciative

I'm really annoyed right now... not that it is really that big a deal, but I was trying to watch this movie tonight when all at once it stopped. Now, mind you, I was about a half an hour into the movie. It wasn't really making any sense to me, but I just thought that that was the way this movie was supposed to be. It kept stopping and then going as a flashback over the same scene. It did this twice. I just thought that maybe the movie was starting at the end and then going to go back to the beginning a little later in the film. OK, so when the movie stopped, I waited for it to go back as a flashback to a different scene, but it didn't. Actually, the disk just froze up entirely. I got up, opened the door on our DVD player, blew on the disk and in the DVD player, closed the drawer, and hoped it would work. It did. Except that it took me to the disk menu, which I had never been to before. It was at that point that I realized my DVD player probably was playing an extra (like it sometimes does) such as deleted scenes, alternative ending, or editor's cut. Here, I was watching the end of the film where the detective makes the big discover and everything resolves itself and the criminal is implicated and the good guy wins. AHHHHH!!! I think this would have been a good movie, but now it has been ruined. I just tried to watch it from the start and the disk froze up at about 8 minutes. So, I figured that I would blog for a while while I wait for Fundi to get home so we can go to sleep.
This weekend was a good one. I'll have to write more about it later, but I had a good weekend.
I got to thinking, this morning, before church, as I was checking my emails and looking at every one's blogs... I have high expectations for everyone. I always check in the morning to get updates on all my favorite people. I am disappointed on the weekends because I want to read about what everyone else is doing. But then, just now, I realized that a lot of times I don't blog on the weekends because I am busy and don't have time. So... all of these expectations I have for everyone else... I either need to just get over myself or I need to hold myself up to these expectations as well....
I guess what I am trying to say is that: I enjoy reading what everyone is up to and seeing photos and commenting on every one's lives. I miss you guys when you aren't around. I am, of course, not going to make you write on the weekends, but just know that there is someone reading what you are writing and enjoying every minute of being connected again with long-lost friends. Hope everyone else's weekends went well. I'll write more on mine later. I'm watching WDW all but one day this week and I don't know if I will get everyone napping all at the same time (I'll try) so I can spend a little time blogging. Wish us luck.

A week in photo review

Ok, so I haven't been blogging this week that much. I have been busy. We started watching my sister B's 3 month old this week in addition to Fiona. Then, on Tuesday night, my sister E showed up with her two kids. Yesterday there were six here. Yes, SIX! Everything went pretty well. Buca is a little Aretha Franklin and she woke Fundi up (way) early (he worked overnight on Tuesday night). That, and the diapers were overflowing from the trash this morning (even worse than normal). There were bottles galore and a plethora of poopy diapers and one potty-training accident. BUT.... no one got hurt and there are photos galore from the exciting experience. Soooo.... here goes:

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 and Thursday, November 1st, 2007

WILD DAY! What with all the kids and costumes and expectations... we had a lot of fun. The day was wonderful. Fundi took vacation to enjoy such a wonderful family holiday. We went trick-or-treating. That was silly... Fundi and I have stopped eating candy and such stuff and we don't allow either of the kids to eat junk either, so now we have a HUGE bowl of candy sitting on the counter. I guess I did fine with the candy sitting on the counter waiting for trick-or-treaters for the past two weeks. I think it will be OK after all--just a huge test of will-power. I did take the day off yesterday and enjoyed my share of sweet things and soda, but at the end of the night I was slightly nauseous and a little dehydrated as well. I really don't even have an urge to eat that blasted candy on the counter today. Had my normal apple and peanut butter for breakfast and am not hungry at all. Tonight Fundi has to work but last night Burbles was only up once (for a mere ten minutes) and I think she just missed me and wanted a hug but I sent Fundi instead and she sent him right back to bed (by falling asleep). She woke up at 6:30am and shortly after that, Captain woke up. Fundi took the kids and I went back to sleep until 9:30ish this morning. Yipee!! Now he is going to sleep so that he can stay awake all night. Last night when we got home I was so thankful for family and for activities such as yesterday's. As much as they can be a pain sometimes, families are what make this world a great place to be. Some people consider their family to be blood relatives and some consider them close friends, but either way, a person can not be whole without other people in their lives. That is what makes living special.
Captain and Buca (only 13 days apart) eating pizza for lunch.

Captain

Burbles

WDW

Buca

DeDe

Fiona

Grumpa and Grandkids

Mommies and Daddies and Babies