Have fun, my beautiful babies

My beautiful babies are leaving tomorrow, Dec. 31, for California with their grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa have many wonderful, exciting things planned for them, like the zoo and the trees of mystery and the dairy farm (Wait, can't they see a dairy farm right here in Iowa whenever they want to..?). Anyway, yes, they have lots of fun planned for them, and I know that they are going to have so much fun. And, I, too, will survive for the 17 and 1/2 days that they will be gone. I will probably not have as much fun as them, though. Unless, getting all 4 of your impacted wisdom teeth extracted sounds like fun. I am going to miss them horribly. Just as they counted the days till Christmas, I will count the days until their safe return. I think I will be really thankful for the webcam if everyone can get it to work. Well, do have fun my beautiful babies, I love you.

P.S. If any of my little cyber family near by is bored in the next three weeks, I am going to be wallpapering and painting the kitchen. Anyone is welcome to join me.

In Between

We, too, are "in between", hanging in that space between the two holidays. We've been playing with our new toys, trying to keep track of tiny pieces and find homes for all the new crap. Some of it is not all crap. My new digital camera is definitely not crap. After I get the house picked up I will show some pics. Our new robotic web cam is kind of fun too. Bill's family has them, too, so now we will be able to talk to one another. It will be fun to get all the kids in the family talking to each other.
So my parents left yesterday, brother and sister today, and now I have less than 24 hours to get ready for Bill's parents. AHHHHH!!! This is crazy, but fun. On Saturday, Bill's parents return to California and they are taking the kids with them. It will be a fun adventure for everyone and Bill and I have lots of work planned around the house. Well, sorry for my boring blog.

It Came

It came, today. The package I have been waiting for, running to the mailbox everyday for the last week. I love this time of year. No, not a Christmas present. My new 2006 calendar. The last few years I have ordered my calendars from a company called More Time Mom. Their calendars have big spaces with lines to write on. There is plenty of room for all my notes and junk. It also comes with fun stickers to help mark special days. It is so much fun. If you are looking for a great, fun, and functional calendar this is the one.
I love the look of a brand new calendar. Each page, each space is white and clean with possibility. What will this next year hold? What will fill each day? What will become noteworthy enough to be written upon my calendar?
Then, I compare it to last years calendar. Curled corners. Marker bleeding through the pages. Scribbles and stickers. A year almost complete. Time filled with special events and average days. Shiny star stickers on the days I exercised with notes on how many miles I ran. Funny things the kids said or did. Doctors appointments, school days, pay days, birthdays. My life is on those pages. I have saved every calendar for the last 7 years. Since Bill and I got married. I love looking through those old calendars and remembering the anniversaries, the pregnancies, the births and birthdays. I have lived a wonderful life and it is written on those pages. 2005 was an amazing year. 2006 looks fresh with possibility. So, I will now go write my first things on the 2006 calendar. Birthdays, weddings, first day of kindergarten. I can't wait.

An Unusual Subject

Ok. I have a slightly unusual subject for my blog today. Deodarant vs. Anti-perspirant. Like I said, very unusual. Many of you know our family has sweating issues. Bill's are kind of obvious since he has no hair to absorb the sweat. It just drips down his head. But, many of you do not realize that I also can be a profuse sweater. Kind of gross; not usually something people talk about. I know some of you also feel that you, too, have sweating issues. Some of you have tried the all natural "rock". Some of you have even tried prescriptions. Most of the things we use have both a deodarant and an anti-perspirant. The first inhibits foul body odor, and the latter prevents sweating in the first place. Or, they are supposed to. I have found that certain products do neither. In fact, some I believe make me sweat more and smell worse. So I have been doing a little research and some testing of my own. Here is what I have found.
The active ingredient in anit perspirants always includes aluminum. Yes, metal. Some research is suggesting that aluminum may be one possible cause of breast cancer in women. Particularly women who shave their underarms frequently. I am not one to get all hyped up about things like this, so that is not actually my main concern. I am merely concerned with how I smell and whether or not I appear sweaty to the world around me. I, too, have tried many products and recently decided to try something that was not an antiperspirant to see if that was actually making it worse. In my case, I believe it was. I have discovered Adidas brand women's deodarant only with a patent pending formula called "cotten tech" to naturally decrease sweating. So far, amazing!! No real increase or decrease in sweating, BUT absolutely no foul odor has been coming from my underarms. It really is great. So if you, also, are looking for the next sweating miracle cure, you may want to consider this baby for your next deodarant purchase. It can be found at your local Walmart or drugstore for approximately $2. Enjoy!

Updated To-Do List

Just a quick update for my faithful followers (Ha). I have hung the giant maps on the wall in the family room. The construction company came last week and got most of the exterior sidewalls in our house insulated. It has made such a difference. I can't wait for them to come back and do the attic to really make the house warm. With record setting lows it has been a huge blessing. Yeah for warmth! I think I said that already.

A Conversation with Robby

I thoroughly enjoyed iridium's conversation with the Cadester, so I would like to share a little conversation I had with Robby today.
I am in the bathroom geting my make-up on and Rob says,
"Hey mom, did you know cheetahs don't roar, they make a meow sound. I learned that from my leap pad".
Me:"Wow, I didn't know that."
Robby: "Lions and tigers and bears still roar, but not cheetahs."

This reminded me of a news story I saw yesterday about a bear found hibernating under someones house. I proceed to tell him this story and end with "How would you like to find a bear under our house?"
Robby: "Well, I wouldn't like it if it were a big daddy bear because then he could bite, but it would be ok if it were a baby bear because he wouldn't bite."
Me: "Uh-huh"
Robby: "Because baby bears don't have skills yet."

Have we been watching too much Napolean Dynamite?

Where two or three are gathered

It is late and I am tired since I didn't sleep well last night. Up all night with a sick girl. But, I had to post this very cute pic I got via email. I love how kids pray. Scriptures say "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also." Does this count?