Missing: My Brain

When I was in college (i.e. single), I could keep perfect track of my very complicated schedule. I very rarely forgot assignments, appointments, etc. Then, I got married. I don't know what happened. All of the sudden I was forgetting everything. To this day, I have to use a calender and organizer, and I still frequently forget things.

So where is this story going, you ask? I'll tell you. As of late, I have been especially forgetful. Like the other day, I went to make William a cup of chocolate milk and I caught myself seconds from pouring the milk directly into the can of Ovaltine. Then there was me forgetting to put on makeup today (us girls from the South don't go anywhere without our makeup), which I discovered on the way to Target. I have also forgotten to eat food I've made, leaving it on the counter only to discover later. Then forgetting I had already taken my contacts out and then digging at my eyes trying to figure out why my already removed contacts won't come out. Then there's me almost locking my keys (and William) in the car. Sure, everyone does stuff like this occasionally, but you see, I have done all of this over the past three days. There are more events, but they're not interesting enough to share them here (as if these were).

That's life!

Pictures

Before I left on my trip, we went to the Pulitzer Museum in St. Louis and the zoo

These are from D.C.

Back in Business

I have been back for almost a week now, but I have neglected my blog and a few other things since then. I do have pictures to share, but they're not on this computer. So what, you are asking yourself, is the point of reading this blog entry? Frankly, I don't know. I guess I was just feeling guilty that I haven't written in so long and wanted to write something.

I did have a wonderful time in Virginia. Getting there was a headache, thanks to the Chicago weather. I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with a good friend from college and time with my sister and her family. My sister and I had a lot of fun together; only she can make me laugh so hard that I have to run to the bathroom to keep from wetting myself. We had a great time playing, watching movies, shopping, doing Mad Libs, cooking (a little), grilling steaks with drunks (don't ask) and other things. Her kids are so sweet and beautiful. The littlest two were always wanting to sit in my lap and cuddle (I was glad for it too, because it helped me when I was missing my two little ones).

My friend from college and I were able to spend a day in D.C. I hadn't been there since 8th grade, so it was like going for the first time. We enjoyed good weather (for the most part) and saw a lot of fun things. She was good enough to take me wherever I wanted to go. We had a great time catching up and hanging out.

Since my return, I have been busy with house stuff, work, keeping kids happy during snow-days and church stuff. There's always something waiting to be done. I'll be back later with some pictures.

A little vacation

For the next week, I will be in Virginia visiting my sister. I leave tomorrow and I have been busy today taking care of last minute preparations and packing. This will be the longest I have been away from the kids. The longest trip has been one night. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the little break. So, this will be my last post for a good week. Too bad I don't have any pictures or anything interesting to post. Oh well.

Nothing New

Both kids are asleep (finally, goodness!) and Ryan is at Scouts. I have spent the last couple of minutes viewing all of your fabulous blogs. I'll tell you what, I have some amazing and talented friends and family! You are all so inspiring to me!

Today was busy with work and house work. I didn't take any pictures or do anything "cool". However, I do have a video from dinner last night. This video will give you a glimpse into our typical evening: Claire talking A LOT, chaos, noise and fun.

Pictures

Well, I had big plans for my blog today, but due to bad lighting, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to take a picture of my most recent project. So until then, here are some pictures from the last few days.

William burned his arm on a baking pan while trying to get a biscuit that I had just pulled out of the oven. He sat on the couch with a cold rag on his wrist for hours. Poor thing.

We kept Claire home from school Monday because we had to have the doctor check a few things before we could send her back to school. This is how I found the kids that morning.

Just a few pictures from our unseasonably warm day yesterday.

Home Sweet Home

I found these quotes and think they're very inspiring:)

"A home should never feel lived-in. Or if it does, it should feel lived in by an exceptionally clean and organized person."

"Personal touches can really add personality and make a home feel unique. Don't incorporate personal touches."

If any of you have been to my home, you'll understand!

Junpin' on the Bandwagon

Seeing as how everyone else has posted their snow day pictures, I thought I might as well too. I was actually planning to do it yesterday, but the batteries in my camera died before I could upload the pictures. So after an expensive trip to Target today, the camera is equipped with new batteries. Some of the pictures are from yesterday, some are from today. As many of you know, we had a big snowfall Thursday afternoon and all that night. School was canceled Friday, so we had an unexpected vacation. We spent the morning cleaning and a couple of neighbor kids came over to play. I had planned to go to a friend's house that morning, but I was waiting around for the snowplow to come down my street. I think it came very early in the morning when it was still snowing so the road was just covered up again. Those of you who have been to my house know that I live on top of a big hill, so I was a little concerned about going down it. Well actually, going down might be a little too easy, it's coming up that's the hard part.

Anyhow, the plow wasn't coming and I was tired of waiting, so I got out the shoveled the driveway while the kids played in the snow. We then went to a friend's home and proceeded to go sledding down the awesome hill in their backyard. We had a great time and got thoroughly tired and wet. I had brought a change of pants to change into after sledding since I didn't have any snow-pants. Well those extra pants proved very useful. After changing into them, we had hot chocolate - I made a major mess while trying to put the lid on William's sippy cup filled with hot chocolate. Enter the original pair of pants now in the dryer. So after cleaning the hot chocolate off of the stove, counter, floor, wall and cabinets, I went downstairs to retrieve my first pair of pants from the dryer and change into them. After I changed and rinsed out my other pants in the sink, I realized that I had locked myself in the bathroom. Claire heard my desperate knocks, retrieved my friend and after a little bit of work, my (I'm sure a little exasperated) friend freed me from the bathroom. Now all of this could have been embarrassing had this kind of stuff never happened to me, but seeing as how it does, I just laughed a lot.

I hope all of you had a good weekend. I had better get going since I have 7 chapters to read in the Book of Mormon and then the lesson to prepare; my Saturday night routine.

William tackled Claire and then proceeded to head-but her in the stomach

SNOW!!

I don't know what William's doing here, but he looks very cute.

Beautiful Claire

This was from today. I shoveled the front driveway (yes, we have two) so that William could ride his bike while I worked in the garage.