Before and After Pictures

Painting!

Chuck must have been inspired by the work we did at my parents house because he woke up Monday morning and announced that he was going to paint our bedroom.

Now as some of you may know, when we moved into our house Chuck and I both hated the color of our bedroom. We agreed that it was one of the first thing we would change. The room was terracotta with a stark white ceiling. Each night we felt like we were sleeping in a slice of pumpkin pie.

Three years later and the color has now changed. Now we are sleeping in mustard. It was a shock at first but the color is growing on me.


Pats on the Back

Ruth deserves a pat on the back for scoring in the top 10% of the Nation on her Iowa Tests (they gave us a certificate and everything).

Kaitlin deserves a pat on the back for ending the 2nd quarter will all A's and 1 B (evidently Kaitlin doesn't "participate" enough in math class).

Chaz deserves a pat on the back for bringing all his F's up to C's at the last minute (better late then never).

Becky deserves a pat on the back for the good reviews she got from the Stake at Ward Conference today (her primary is a well oiled machine!).

Family Project

This last Saturday we got together with my brother and sisters families and worked on finishing my parents basement.

We sanded, primed, painted and trimmed. We put in closet organizers and Chuck and my bro-in-law Mark got one wall of siding done.

Chaz and his cousin Orion were given a special task of sanding and painting Grandpa's dresser out in the (cold) workshop. They did a really good job.

Can He Build It? Yes He Can!

Jared got a tool set for Christmas and really loves building things. He spends hours nailing things together and then prying them apart (he has a claw hammer and knows how to use it) and then nailing them into something else. Since it is winter I let him do this on my kitchen floor as long as he works over the cutting board.

We are all Blessed

I've been surprised at the response I got to the last post. I guess I'm not the only one who is feeling very blessed lately. I wanted to share with the group the feedback I've gotten on what y'all are thankful for and I wanted to add a few more of my own.

• Clearance Candy (I'm not the only one)
• Flushing toilets
• Chocolate*
• Husband's days off
• Friends
• Texts from your wife
• Clean sheets
• Music
• A good camera
• Blogs that keep us in touch

Here are a couple more of my own:

1. Heart to heart conversations
2. Going to bed early
3. Jeans that fit just right
4. Knowing in advance what's for dinner
5. Welcome home hugs
6. Punctual car-pool drivers

*Today Jared asked me "Why do you get chocolate and I don't?" I told him "I get chocolate as a reward for dealing with naughty children."

Blessings

Since it was a very quiet week at our house and we are all fine, today in the blog I'm going to count some random blessings.

1. dishwashers
2. hot showers
3. peanut butter cups on clearance
4. school for the kids to go away to
5. employment
6. $1.67 gas
7. moments when the children aren't fighting
8. the internet
9. Sunday afternoon naps
10. new socks

Happy New Year 2009

I remember being a kid and calculating how old I would be in the year 2000. Now we are only a year away from 2010 (which I never calculated when I was a kid, because I didn't know that life went on after the year 2000.)

2008 was a good year for our family. The biggest thing that happened was the growth of our children. Chaz specifically and Kaitlin too. Chaz grew over 4 inches this year, and Kaitlin and I are sharing clothes and shoes now. The economic crunch hit us as much as anyone and we tightened our belts. At least Chuck still has a job and we have no debt so all in all we are doing okay. Of course, $1.28 a gallon gas really helps the morale.


Ringing in the New Year

We had a great New Year party at my Brother David's house. We played games, made hats, talked a lot and had lots of good food to eat. The highlight of our party was playing Wii music. We brought our controllers and played hand bells with 8 people. It was way fun!

Kaitlin is home

We are so glad to have Kaitlin back home after a long week visiting her "other family." Our house is much more peaceful with her here. She just balances our Yin and Yang somehow. All the planets aline. The snow pack increases. Cats and Dogs are friends. My spelling improves. Everything is just better when Kaitlin is home.



Back to the Oars

After a quiet week that involved a lot of sleeping in and a lot of lazing around it is time to get back to work, crack the whip and all that. Hopefully we will all survive. I, for one, will be happy to have a few hours of alone time at the house again. Jared is excited to get back to school. Chaz is in denial (school work, what's that?).