Room For Everyone

This is the scene at our house most nights.

I'm not sure why we even have another bedroom for the kids. My vote is to buy a king size bed for the kids and the puppy, and turn the other bedroom into an office/guest room. Not really, but the thought does cross my mind from time to time.

Aren't they cute?

New Year, New Blog Layout

Out with the old, and in with the new.

I thought it was about time to give this old blog a bit of a face lift...and hopefully with the face lift will come some more frequent blogs.

I did some searching on how to create my own blog background and found that digital scrapbooking materials do the job well. I found several sites, but liked the materials offered at ShabbyPrincess the best. ShabbyPrincess has some great scrapbooking collections that they offer as free downloads for personal use (even for use on personal, NON-commercial, blogs - check out their Terms). PowerPoint 2007 worked wonders for creating my background and made saving it as a .jpeg a breeze (just be cautious because not all of the older versions of PowerPoint have that nifty ability). I uploaded the background .jpeg and header .jpeg to PhotoBucket (but, again, I'm sure another site, such as Picasa, would have worked as well). A little fiddling with Blogger and I was done.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

If you get a chance, jump on over and check out Jolie's new blog background. She, too, is hoping to get some new blogs posted in the near future. She has already begun writing a new story to post.

Pickles on Their Eyes

One of my children, who shall remain anonymous, asked the other day why people put pickles on their eyes. I explained that it was cucumbers that people sometimes put on their eyes, and it was to relieve puffiness. I was then corrected that cucumbers are made into pickles, so technically they were pickles. Rather than argue, I just smiled.

So, here are my little ones with pickles on their eyes...

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

In less than a month I will be running the Pensacola Double Bridge Run. As the title suggests, it is a 15K run over the two bridges from Pensacola, through Gulf Breeze, and onto Pensacola Beach.

I consider myself to be a fit person, exercising quite regularly. I run, bike, hike, kayak, walk. I even participated in a 5 hour Adventure Race with my hubby last year. But I have yet to run 9.3 miles in one stretch.

I'm working my booty off (literally) in preparation for this race. Hubby and I ran 61 minutes on Sunday (he's running the race too). I'm trying to keep up with Dad, who ran over an hour as well on Sunday. He'll also be joining us for the race.

I'm looking forward to the continued challenge of extending my runs and ultimately running the 15K race. A first place (or any place) ribbon are not on my agenda. I'm just looking forward to the challenge and finishing the race. I'd love to work myself up to a half marathon in the next few years...but let's focus on one challenge at a time.

Hubby and I also planned out our two Adventure Races for the year. We're looking at one in June and one in September. I truly enjoy spending time with him preparing for and participating in these races. Woohoo for marrying your best friend! Let the good times continue to roll.

2010 Goals

With a new year come new goals. January 1st always feels like an opportunity at a fresh start. I used to have New Year’s “resolutions,” but like many, found that they were in some cases too lofty to actually achieve, or became tedious after a few months. Instead of “resolutions,” I like the idea of “goals.” Goals give me something to strive for, and if for some reason I find them to be too overwhelming, I have the opportunity to alter them as needed.

After reading about The Happy Housewife’s goals, I decided to break my goals down into categories, that way I can work on multiple areas of my life this year.

My 2010 Goals

Organization
Purge the house – work on one room each month (clean from top to bottom)
Hold two garage sales (spring/fall)
Reevaluate filing system – purge unneeded items; possibly scan others to disk

Health
Stay active – make exercising a priority (30+ minutes 5+ days/week)
Complete two or more running/adventure races
Complete the Detox Strategy or similar detox program
Try an Elimination and/or Rotation diet

Financial
Do not add pay increase to budget – save part of the increase (to fund fall vacation), pay down Jeep with the rest
Check budget weekly to monitor spending

Learning
Increase time spent reading to kids
Work more one-on-one with each child
Schedule kids’ learning time around their individual clocks (Jolie early morning, Jensen midday, Jake early evening)
Plan and order new materials in the spring to avoid rush

Personal
Have some fun – go on a monthly date night with Hubby (rock climbing, kayaking, biking, etc.)
Try hard to stick to my schedule – I know I work best with a schedule, and need to stick to it
Get out in the garden daily (if the weather allows)
Decrease computer time
Read more books that are outside my comfort zone (political, economic, etc.)

Dancing Eves are Fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Decking the Halls

Photos of our home decorated for the winter holidays.

You Lied to Me!

So, apparently I am a liar.

This year, Jensen has become obsessed with the holidays. And when I say holidays, I mean presents. For a child that is usually very giving and non-materialistic, he just won’t leave the idea alone. It is puzzling to me.

While I was reading an article today, Jensen came up and asked me a question. I was focused on the article so I said, “wait a minute,” so I could finish the article and then focus my attention on him. When I finished the article he said that he was going to open a present from under the tree. I told him that he needed to wait a few more days, and then we would open the gifts.

Jensen stopped dead in his tracks and glared at me.

Jensen - “You lied to me! You told me that I could open a present.”
Me - “No, I didn’t. It isn’t time yet.”
Jensen – “You told me I could open one ‘in a minute.’”

With a smile, I had to explain to him that I meant that I would be able to listen to his question in a minute, not that he’d be able to open a gift. He wasn’t pleased with my answer and walked away sulking, assured that I had lied to him.

Note to self – remember that four year olds are in a literal phase of development.

Thanksgiving Recap

For the past twenty years or so my family has been spending Thanksgiving in the Smokey Mountains. When we started the tradition, my family shared a small two bedroom cabin with some family friends. We have now grown from four adults and six young children sharing a tiny cabin, to 20+ people splitting two large, luxury cabins, fifteen of which are now part of my extended family (up from the original six). It isn't often that we are all able to get together, so we all try our hardest to make it to the mountains for Thanksgiving.

This year, my sisters, their significant others, my dad, Justin and I all hiked the 11 miles round trip to the top of Mount LeConte, an elevation of 6,593'. It was an awesome hike with breathtaking views. The last time we did that hike Justin and I were seniors in high school and he just about slid off the mountain. We tried looking for the little pine tree that saved him twelve years ago, but by now, that sapling would be a full-fledged tree, and they all sort of look the same now. I knew that the tree was still there, poised to save another novice hiker silly enough to hike in loafers on an icy day. NOTE-Justin is no longer a novice hiker...this year he even sponsored a dead reckoning trip over a mountain ridge and taught us all something about orienteering (notice the smile on Jolie's face).

I thought I'd share some photos from this year's adventure. I found some prints from twelve years ago and will try to get them scanned so I can share them as well. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays – A Rant

Happy Holidays! What is wrong with saying “Happy Holidays” to someone? This isn’t the first year that I have heard people complain about being told “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” during the holiday season. I guess I just don’t understand why “Happy Holidays” is offensive to people. Last time I checked, the United States was NOT a Christian country, but instead a melting pot, with people who come from many different religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.

Christmas is not the only winter holiday that is celebrated in the United States. Many of the world's religions have a winter festival (most of which focus on light during a time of darkness). We are lucky to live in a country where we are able to freely practice the religion of our choosing. Here are just a few additional winter festivals that are celebrated across the United States and around the world: Hanukkah (Jewish); Kwanzaa (African American); Solstice; Yule; Diwali (Hindu); Yalda (Persian)…the list goes on and on.

To me, generally saying "happy holidays" to someone during this season of multiple holidays seems appropriate. The statement validates that there are different holidays occurring during this time of year, and that everyone's religious holiday has importance and should be respected.

Respect…wouldn’t that fall under the Golden Rule? Treating others as you would want to be treated? Respecting others as you would want to be respected?

During this time of Peace and Joy, when supposed Love and Kindness abound, maybe we should consider adding Respect to our holiday list…and be sure to check it twice.