Picture update

                              Maddox

                                  Asher

                               Kingston

                                              Darci

It is still snowing here.  We have at least one foot of the white stuff and it's not letting up for a while.  BTW.....I have the cutest grandkids hands down!!!!

Saturday gamers

 It was great having the guys over to hang out.  Like back in marching band days.  They gamed and ate for 3-4 hours.  It was so fun having them over.

           Thomas, Jaron, Reid, Nathan and Kevin.

And I got Emily's report card.  She has a 3.89.  I am so proud of her!!!!

Deer

There have been lots and lots of deer out roaming around.  Unfortunately there have also been quite a few dead ones on the side of the road too.  Thursday I repainted our bathroom and the baseboards in it. I want to try and install some trim around the ceiling in there too.....maybe this week.  I also want to finish painting downstairs.  I got it half done before Timothy and Jessica came but need to finish it up.  There is so much I want to do and fix in our house but it is constant and I can't keep up with it......or have the money to get it all done.  So I keep dreaming.  :)

Keeping eyes opened.

This morning on our way home from working out I noticed an elderly lady crouched down in the snow.  I wondered if I should drive on........ but I stopped the car and told Steve that there's an elderly lady that may need our help. I backed up the car.  She was still on all 4s stuck in the snow.  Steve got out to help her.  We got a lot of freezing rain this morning and she slipped and was stuck.  He got her up and walked her to her porch.  Then went to get her newspaper for her.  That's why she went out.  It made us feel good to help her out.  It made me think back a few months ago while I was shopping and one of the workers in the store had a cart load of boxes to unload.  One of them tipped over and all the products fell out.  I just walked by.  I thought to myself, "what the heck am I doing?"  Then went back to help her pick everything up.  Sometimes I wonder why I would just walk by.  This incident  made me want to try and be aware the needs of others.  It's so easy to just go through my day getting the things done I need to without being aware of people around me.   I'm going to keep trying to be aware of people around me.

Home Improvement #1

This is what I did today.   I put these pulls on all the kitchen drawers.  They kinda match the dishwasher.  I installed 7 of them.  I'm still thinking about what kind I want to put on the cupboards.  I also bought a couple of paint samples for our bathroom.  I may start that later this week.  I like January for doing this kind of stuff to help pass the dark, cold winter days.  Once spring hits.......I'm out of the house and in the garden.

Presidential Inauguration

We watched the inauguration this morning and all of it was right on.  I loved the whole thing.  Beyonce', Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor sang so good.  I loved the poem and such a great prayer was given.  I really loved President Obama's speech.  So many great things were said, working to help fight global warming with clean energy, he's pro-science, equal pay for women, everyone working together and working to fix our health care problems.  So many great things were said but I can't remember everything off the top of my head.  I have great hope for America and I hope in my own small way I  can help too.  Wow......it was all so good!!  :)
ps.  “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”― Martin Luther King Jr
       Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

This last week

The last week or so has been filled with illness.  Jaron, Emily and I came down with a killer cold that just wouldn't go away.  What was weird is that I couldn't hear very well.  I almost felt like I was in water.    Later I went to the dr. and got some antibiotics to kick the infection and everyone seems to be getting better.  Then yesterday I went to the dentist.  I got 2 crown preps and a big filling taken care of. I took almost 3 hours.......blah!  It came to $900 after insurance.  I was shocked.  Still am.  I can't believe that dental has gone up so much.  I wonder if it's gone up that much everywhere?  So I'm still recovering from the shock and also the pain of the visit too.  Going to the dentist always kills my day.  Another thing I've been doing is reading the New Testament.  I'm really confused about what is truth and what is opinion right now.  I'm finding a lot of good basic truths in Jesus teachings.......and  I'm finding that there are tons of opinions out there.  I'm also finding that what some people think as truths I'm finding they are more opinions but that's ok.  We're all different and I think sometimes I'm more a skeptic.  I like to think about things (and pray) to make sure what I believe and think is right.   :)  I am enjoying the search.
 We are all ready and in need for a 3 day weekend.

Happy 2nd Birthday Asher!

 Last saturday Christopher and Lesa had a birthday party for Asher.  He got lots of fun gifts but I think the gift that Uncle Jaron gave him was the biggest hit.......blocks.  :)

 We had pizza, salad and cake and ice cream.  Both sets of grandparents were there and some uncles and auntie Em.  It was fun seeing everyone.

 Happy Birthday Asher!  We love you so much!!!

Stats

In between loads of laundry I thought I would calculate some of my stats of 2012.  First the amount of money I saved in coupons that I have recorded......$1173.33 for last year.  That's a lot of money.  I'm going to keep couponing this year and maybe I'll do even better.  I love sales and then topping it off with coupons.......such a high!!!  I went to the sight where I record my workouts.  I ran a total of 323.75 miles for the year.  In July I alternated my running with biking cuz my knee was giving me trouble.  I biked 350.08 miles.  I also do upper body weights twice a week.  Steve and I started doing that last May.  I don't know if I can really improve on the miles I did last year.  It gets harder and harder the older I get.  I'm just gonna try and maintain.  I really do like going to the gym and there are a lot of inspiring people there.  :)

A Sequence of Photos

 This is so funny.  It all starts out with a great photo shoot......until...

 they start acting like themselves.  :)

       I love Timothy's face here.  :)

     They are all so weird!!  Goofy kids....including Steve.

More pics.

      Kingston and Maddox playing with Steve's ipad

                        Asher

              Asher, Kingston and Maddox playing Hungry, hungry hippos.

            Darci.  :)

                 I love her smiles and she knows how to make me laugh!!

              She is such a fun and beautiful girl!!!

                   Jaron and Timothy as snow beards.

   So much snow!  I love Mika jumping up on Timothy's back trying to get the big snowball.

          Timothy and Kingston  :)

Sledding

I found some pictures on our camera that I forgot about.  So many that it will have to cover 2 separate blogs.  Here are a few of hundreds of sledding pictures.  :)

Dec. coupons

In December I saved $94.91 in coupons.  I think I saved a little more than that cuz the closer it got to Christmas the less organized I was getting with my receipts.. ..... Oh well.  It's still good.  This is one goal I'm going to keep doing through out this year too.  It was great finding a sale at Smith's while Jessica was here.  It was cereal and other things that they were overstocked on.  Two days ago they were getting rid of their Nestle chocolate chips for $1/bag.......loaded up.  :)
Another thing I'm doing this year is to try and go more organic and buy local.  I joined a co-op and so far I really like it.  I'm also thinking of expanding our vegetable garden out a little more too.  Lots of ideas running through me head.  :)

Happy New Year!

There are a few things (resolutions) that I have for this year.  I want to do the usual......eat better, keep going to the gym but a couple of things I want to focus on is others.  I really want to be sensitive to the needs of others and help out whenever I can.   I want to give where I can......and show kindness.
Another thing I want to work on (which is going to take years and years to accomplish) is to be kinder to myself.  I am my own worse judge and I get after myself more than I should.  Steve is good at reminding me of this.  So I'm going to be more patient  and more forgiving of me.  Also I'm going to try and stick up for myself and voice my opinions (in a loving way, of course).  I tend to be more silent and hold back but it's good to stand up for what you think is right.  I know this is going to be really hard.
I'm going to try and constantly look for the good in everything and to be positive.  There is so much negativity and I'm going to try and focus more on whats good and right in this world.....because there is a lot of good.

This is a picture of me and Darci.  I miss her and her family so much.  She has a bad cold and I hope she gets better really fast!!