"My mom is coming to get them kids tomorrow for their first extended stay away from home."


A direct quote from my first every entry, not intended to serve in any way as a reference to a trip to Tennessee. I just re-read the post and cringed.

The past couple of days we've settled back into normal life and the kids were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Gram Pam. Thankfully, we had a birthday party to go to on Friday and that helped them whittle away the hours. It was our friend Joe Stapert's 6th birthday and the party was at one of those indoor bounce house places. Picture humongous bouncers, numerous bouncers in the place, and throw in 30 kids and you can begin to imagine how hard it was to track Alex and Meredith. In case you're curious, they did pizza and cake after everyone jumped. The kids loved it and can't wait to go back. The best part...gallons of hand sanitizer available at every turn. My dream come true!

I had fun trying to take pictures and learning to use my new external flash Santa brought. The walls of the party room were bright green and yellow and whenever I bounced my flash off one of the walls, it made the kids look either green or yellow. I'll try to post something to show you what I'm talking about, but it looks like a party for the jaundiced.

The kids left with my mom early Saturday morning. They literally could not wait to get out of here, and we had to bribe and threaten to get goodbye hugs and kisses. The trip to Nashville, which normally takes five hours, took those three all day! They stopped at three restaurants in three hours. :) Alex requested Cracker Barrel for lunch, a place Brandon refuses to visit and we seldom go. My theory is, he was trying to get into the spirit of the South. We've talked to them a couple of times and they're having a so much fun.

I went shopping with a couple of friends all day Saturday, and came home to find a great surprise. Brandon, God love him, had taken down five of our trees and even vacuumed up their remains. It was almost as exciting as my incredible finds at the Hanna Anderson outlet http://www.hannaandersson.com/ There are few stores I will drive more than 2.5 hours to get to, and H.A. in one of them.

This morning I actually slept, well dozed on and off really, until 8:15 a.m. If you know me at all, you know that's like practically like sleeping in until noon! I was startled when I looked at the clock. After Meet the Press, Brandon and I ran a few errands and saw a movie. http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/nationaltreasure/ I'm telling you we're really living it up!

We leave for Chicago tomorrow after we drop off Al and Linda at the airport for their Italian Adventure. Al gave the trip to Linda for Christmas and she's grumbling about going, but we know she'll wind up loving the trip. Carpe Diem!

Happy New Year to all!


Oh, before I go...sometimes people ask me if I would ever like to have a studio. Generally, I'm not big on backdrops and most definitely not props. Not that there isn't a place for studio shots in my wallet, but I just like to capture more personality.

This reminded me why...http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html Warning! Don't take a big swig of anything before you look at this, or you may wind up with a splattered screen.

Sticking my toe into the water...

This is really weird. I feel like I'm sitting down to write a features article about someone, but the someone is me. It's a feeling of self importance I'm not sure I like!

We'll see how long this lasts, but I thought a blog might be a good way for friends and family to check in and look at pictures at their leisure. Maybe this will put

a stop to all the photo albums I've sent lately.

We had a wonderful Christmas. The kiddos had so much fun and still believe 100% in the magic of Santa. We were sitting in a sea of crumpled paper, and I looked at Brandon and said, "You know, we need to soak this in. It's not going to get any better than this."

To illustrate the differences in Alex and Meredith look no further than feeding Santa's reindeer. Before putting the kids to be on Christmas Eve we always leave a treat for the reindeer. Alex had a small bag of reindeer food. (What do reindeer eat you ask? Evidently, oats mixed with glitter.) He walked around our yard, strategically sprinkling the food. Meredith had three large carrots. She walked onto our sidewalk, chucked the carrots into the yard, and said, "Come and get it Rudolph! I'm going in! It's cold!"

Our house looks like a toy factory. There are bits and pieces of everything everywhere. I start to clean it up and I'm met with shrieks of "Oh no! Don't put that away NOW!" I'm giving them one more day and the vacuum is going to be fed.

My mom is coming to get them kids tomorrow for their first extended stay away from home. They're going to spend a few days in Nashville and my parents have planned so many activities the time will fly. I tried to convince "GramPam" they'll be just as happy to hang out in her family room, but no, she has big plans!

I have 115 projects I'd like to complete in the approximate 1.5 days I'll have without the kids. Brandon and I are spending New Year's Eve in Chicago, couple that with a shopping trip to Michigan City and the closet will likely have to wait. A girl can dream though.

I also thought I might sort through toys and shuffle some off to the donation bin. Alex told me this morning he really thought we should start giving toys to the Goodwill. I told him he was exactly right and we could sort through old toys today. He said, "Oh no! I meant we should buy toys and donate them to Goodwill." So much for that.

If this works, and this is a big IF, attached is a lengthy photo montage of our celebrations! Enjoy!