Getting excited

Look at the counter on the top of the page.  It will be here before I know it.  I will start packing soon.

Christmas

 I got this cute plate on Joanns for 70% off.  Love their before holiday clearance.  The kids just last year started leaving cookies for Santa.  This year they decorated sugar cookies and each chose one to leave him.  They aren't very noticeable in the picture but they are on there.

 Christmas morning, Joshua and I were the first up at 4:15.  I went out to the living room to wait and nurse.  I figured if they weren't up by the time Joshua was done nursing I would go back to bed.  But at 5 a.m. when Joshua was done I heard whispering in the back and then out Sheila and Timmy came.

 Sheila ran to get Kimberly and Timmy ran to get Daddy.  Sheila got a guitar, Timmy got an Alfie robot, and Kimberly got the Little People Zoo with most of the animals.  (She just needs the penguin so if I can find it she will get that in her Easter basket.)

 Joshua got this cool play mat.  It has three different stages.  This one and the tummy one he can do now.  When he is sitting the piano comes off so he can hold it in his lap.

 The kids enjoyed opening gifts and at 6:15 we were done.

 Both Timmy and Sheila got these game systems and they love them.  Sheila got the Dora game to go with hers and Timmy got the Cars 2.  He also got the Pixar Pals one for his birthday and Sheila will get one too.

Joshua slept on and off through the whole thing.  Yes, I have another thumb sucker.

So now that it is a few weeks after Christmas I have time to figure out my favorite gifts although I like everything I got.  My favorite gift is my canister set Ray got me and picked out all by himself.  Then I also enjoy the Wii.  I really enjoy the fit and work out to it every day.  I love the island cycling and the free run.  I also got another charm for my charm bracelet, some cartridges for my Cricut, and two books, Glenn Beck's "Being George Washington" and "Choke" the second book in the new trilogy by Obert Skye who wrote "Leven Thumps" series.

Florida Caverns

 While my parents were here we took them to the Florida Caverns.  We had 10 in our party of 12 to go in plus there was 10 other people.  We had the largest tour of the day.  The next largest group was 4.  Ray's parents didn't go in but Nettie and Lydia joined our family and my parents.  Here is Ray, Kimberly, and Timmy going down the steps to the entrance.

 One of the bats, taking a nap.

 Some of the formations.

 In the wedding room.  The formation in the background looks like a wedding cake.  Lydia liked to ask a lot of questions.  Our kids entertained the whole group.

 A ribbon formation.

 Elephant ears formation.

 The wedding cake.

 Shells in the ceiling.  Yes, this use to be under water many years ago.

 The one post everyone gets to touch since it is already dead.  It was wet.

Luckily Joshua slept through it although at the begging he was fussy and I thought he might cry through the 45 minute tour (which ours turned into an hour.)  We hadn't been since Timmy was a baby so it was fun to go back and the two older kids really enjoyed it.  Kimberly did really good too and walked most of it herself.

New Year Resolutions

I didn't get any made last year but will try again this year.

1. Lose 20 pounds.  I have lost 30 since having the baby and have 15 more of the baby weight to go and then I would like to lose an additional 5.  Overall I would like to lose 25-30 but will just work on 20 this year.
2. Finish the Old Testament.  Been working on this for years.  I am now on Ezekiel.
3. Finish about 100 projects for the fair.  Have done so last year and the year before that was nearly that many.  I have 3 finished so far.
4. Go to the temple more this year.  This will be tough since I am nursing and it is 6 hours away.  But hopefully we can find another family to go down with and share baby sitting services.
5. Save enough money to buy my new digital camera.  This will take will power since I usually spend my money on things for projects.  But maybe I can get it with my fair money and whatever I save up until then.
6. Finish painting the house.

Also some things I would like to work on.
1. My cookbook.  I am going through old cooking magazines, cookbooks, and recipe cards and typing up all my favorites and making my own cookbook.
2. Scrapbooks.  Never ending story.
3. Start writing again.  I love to write stories but have not written in a long time.
4. Start using my serger.  (Yes, it is still in the box.)
5. Start to organize all the closets in the house.

Another Plateau

I hit my second plateau.  I lost 7 pounds and then gained 2 then lost 2 and then gained it again so now I am hoovering about 5 pounds lighter than my first plateau.  That was my pattern last baby too but I think I dropped a little more initially with the last baby.  I hope I can break through this plateau soon and drop more than 5 before I hit the next one.  I am now working out with the Wii Fit Plus we got for Christmas.  I have lost just about half a pound in just over a week.  My problem is I crave sweets.  I am trying to eat less.  I know I can never give them up fully.  The kids also love the Wii and we usually have to take turns for an hour each day.

As you can see I am trying to catch up on some posts.  They aren't in order.  I have a few more to catch up on and hopefully I will get them done soon.

Joshua's Blessing

 On December 4, Joshua Matthew was blessed and named. 

 These pictures were taken a few weeks later since you can see from the first couple of pictures that he was not a happy camper right after church the day of his blessing.

I love this picture. I will probably get it blown up to put on my wall.

Timmy Turns Five

 On December 26, my little boy turned 5.  He got a ton more presents and enjoyed opening them.  Every time he saw the camera he would turn and say, "Cheese" just out of the blue and in the middle of whatever he was doing.

 He got some new Thomas the Train things.

 And a new comforter for his bed.

 I made his cake.  This was one of two.  The other was just a regular white cake with rainbow chip frosting and said "Happy Birthday" on it.  This was a chocolate cake made to look like a dump truck.  My cakes weren't as tall as the ones in the pictures so my cuts weren't as deep and refined as the picture but for the first time I think it turned out pretty good.

He got all five candles with one blow.  I wonder what he wished for.

Baptism

On December 17th, Ray's youngest brother's wife, Nettie, was baptized.  Ray had the honor of performing the baptism.  I wish the kids had acted a little more reverent than they did. Their cousin, Lydia, who has just started attending church is way more reverent than they are.  But overall it was a good day and so glad she has taken this step.