New Year's Day

New Year's Day we went up to Garnavillo, first to my aunt & uncle's house for a gathering of my dad's side. We had lots of food (again!) and played "Catch Phrase" in the kitchen, while some people slept in the living room (Sarah). We always have a nice time up there, very relaxing.

Later in the afternoon we went to Roy's parents, who also live in Garnavillo. For Christmas we got them a new wafflemaker and an Alan Jackson Gospel CD. Their wafflemaker had died several months ago, and we hadn't had homemade waffles since! We got to test waffles from the new wafflemaker, and they were SO GOOD.

Roy's dad also made a copy of Alan Jackson's Precious Memories CD for us. We listened to it all the way home, over and over. There's nothing like pure gospel hymns, without any "artistic license". That was a very good CD, and I'm putting it on my iPod tonight.

We all had Tuesday off, so we went down to Iowa City to see my Grandpa Louis. On the way to IC we saw a semi full of cows on the Interstate. Lily reasoned, "They're going to the vet, because they're so hairy." That's totally logical to a 4 year old, because everyone knows cows can't be too hairy, right?.

Roy helped Grandpa Louis scan some family pictures and put them on his new digital picture frame. Roy wants one of those, of course. It was pretty cool. Roy's going to try to convert the format of the "Memories" DVD from my grandma's funeral so he can add that to the picture frame memory card too. I think it plays music, so that will be extra special. We all still miss her, but she's at home with Jesus, a far better place.

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Home again

Aaaaah, the holidays are almost over. Whew! We've been on a roll non-stop since Dec 23rd I think. We had wonderful Christmas celebrations with my side and Roy's side of our family. The kids received lots of nice gifts, even some clothes! Aaron was sick on Christmas morning, but seemed to recover for several hours, long enough to eat dinner and open presents. As always, we left Roy's parents really late, and we would have liked to stay another night, but work beckoned.

The kids are slowly exploring their new toys and gadgets. Lily played with her Dora the Explorer doll a lot today, changing outfits and such. Aaron is infatuated with his iPod shuffle, and looks like a teenager with those white earbuds.

The kids spent a few days with Papa Bob this week, due to a daycare holiday (Lily) and low fever and a cold (Aaron). Both kids are doing much better, and hopefully that nasty flu is behind us.

We took 4 bags of old clothes to Goodwill today, which barely made a dent in the huge stack of things to take there, but it's a start. I kept out a few of Lily's handmade dresses from Nicaragua, I just can't part with them. Most of Aaron's old jeans have holes in the knees, but I donated them too in case they use the materials or something. Not sure about that!

To switch things up today we (the kids, Aunt Sarah and I) went to Perkins instead of IHOP. I sure missed IHOP's pancakes, they are hands-down the BEST pancakes ever, especially the whole grain pancakes - yum!!

I'm trying skinnier needles for knitting, as the big ones make my hands hurt. I like the smaller ones because the stitches are smaller and look nicer. All I can make are scarves (not that I've actually finished any). I have a few small projects in the works though.

We're looking forward to a long weekend, with both Roy and I off through Tuesday, and Aaron doesn't go back to school until Wednesday. We'll keep Lily home on Tuesday with the rest of us too. Maybe we'll catch a movie. I'd like to see Happy Feet, and Aaron wants to see A Night at the Museum. We'll see what's playing at the Collins Theater - can't beat $4 movies!

Bye for now, I'll have more news later I'm sure.....

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Home again, home again

Aaron missed 2 days of school, but he went back today. He was anxious to get back - a good sign.

I took today off because Lily didn't feel good yesterday and stayed home with Roy. I actually have two patients at home today. Lily has an awful cough, and a fever still. Roy is also home, as he has a 103 temp. I'm doing fine, no hint of a nasty cold or flu for me. Hmmm, I'm the only one in the family who got a flu shot...... I've also been washing my hands until they're raw anytime I touch one of them or their stuff.

Lily' s gift exchange at daycare is today at 12:00, so she and I plan to go over for that and then I'll bring her home. This cold is going around daycare anyway.

I'm using this down time to go through my iTunes thoroughly, and remove the songs I just don't listen to, the ones I skip every time they come up. I'm also organizing the songs I do like into better playlists. I've discovered I really love Skillet, which surprised me. They're a Christian Rock group that actually sounds good - not your sappy 80's type of "Christian Rock" that's really not. Try them sometime if you're looking for something different.

Back to the whiny patients....

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Christmas comes unexpectedly....

Roy got a Christmas Card and gift certificate from two of his Sunday School kids, signed "From your 2 best students". He told them they were his "most humble" students, too! Their younger sister is in my class, and she had a gift for me too. I guess I don't think about being a "teacher" too much, so I was very surprised and pleased. My gift was a silver Christmas tree and a matching candle with a snowflake hanging above it. I'm going to put away a few of my candles to make room for it on our entertainment center. Her mom said they thought of me as "artistic", so they thought I'd like it. I asked why, (because I don't have an artistic bone in my body) and her mom said because my glasses are so cool. Thanks to Roy, my optician husband!!

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What a Weekend

As predicted, this was a crazy, busy weekend. Friday night with Roy's co-workers was a blast as always. I know everyone by now so I'm not intimidated, and I even get some of their inside jokes! Elizabeth watched the kids for us, and our dog is now totally in love with her. She spoiled him rotten while we were gone! She and Lily did their hair and make-up too. Aaron did not participate in that as far as I know!

The kids did really well at rehearsal for the Christmas program on Saturday. While they were there (about 1 hour), I speed-shopped at the mall for a shirt to wear to my work party on Saturday night. No luck, so my LOVELY sister took the kids in the afternoon so I could go to a couple more stores. I found exactly what I wanted at Cato of all places. I never think to go there, but I usually find something I like, at a good price too. So anyway, I wore a black skirt, a cranberry red shirt, and Mom's black velvet blazer. You may be thinking, yikes, she wore her Mom's clothes? Yeah, her taste is getting MUCH better! :-)

My work party was a lot of fun, they played Deal or No Deal 4 times, and everyone that played (pre-drawn names) won some cash. That got everyone in the audience involved, screaming "DEAL!" or "NO DEAL!", as appropriate, just like on the real game show. They gave away a ton of prizes too, but alas, none for me or anyone else at our table. Next year!!

Sunday morning was a great worship service. Pastor Sam is an excellent story teller, and he portrayed the publican's point of view during Jesus' birth and the family's fleeing to Egypt. I love how he commands your attention, he had us hanging on every word. Chris played an excellent song that I hadn't heard before, the tag line was, "It wasn't a silent night in David's town". I'm not sure of the name, but I might try to find the song on iTunes. Oh, the church now has a grand piano!!! It's such a rich sound, and it's beautiful!

Aaron started coughing badly on Sunday morning, and it kept getting worse. After 1st service we got him some cough medicine. Sunday at lunch Aaron was very cold, but he felt warm - I did the Mom test, hand on his forehead. We all took naps after lunch, and Aaron woke up with a slight temp - 100 degrees, and coughing again. We gave him some more medicine and cough drops, and a little while later he decided to still do the Christmas Program. He did a great job, and we could hear him singing! He loves to sing, and every Sunday somebody makes sure to tell him that. He gets his voice from Roy, not me! On the last song, they sang and signed the song, and as usual Aaron' did the signs left-handed. It's cute though!

Again, the grand piano sounded amazing. The drama team got us all swaying and clapping when everyone sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain". Janice's video was powerful, including scenes from "The Passion". I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm almost scared to because it's such an intense movie. I know I need to see it though.

Lily was all dressed up for the program, and her group put on lamb ears for their song, "Away in a Manger". She did an excellent job with the song and the actions. Then her group did a poem, and she did a great job with that too! She's one of the older ones in her Sunday School group, and next school year she'll be moving up to Miss Kathy's class (Pre-K & Kindergarten). We're thinking of Alternative Kindergarten for her next year, since she won't be 5 until the end of September. (She has to be 5 by Sept 15th for kindergarten or take a test to qualify). I feel like she'd be bored in preschool, since they do all kinds of phonics learning activities at daycare. We are SO happy with our daycare provider, she's the best!

After the program, there was fellowship (read "food") in the basement, and Aaron was not his usual self. At first he was playing with the other kids, but later I found him lounging on a couch, so we headed home. This morning I asked him how he felt, and he said "SICK." Duh, Mommy. He had a 101 temp, so we kept him home from school. Roy didn't have to work until noon, so I left work at 11:30 and we switched nurse duties. Actually, Aaron's just vegging on the couch, eating some chicken noodle soup (his favorite), and watching Spongebob Squarepants. He was worried about missing his spelling test though. He inherited my "human dictionary" gene, and love of spelling.

Sorry this got so LONG!

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