Happy New Year to all of You!!

"We are all of us down in the gutter, but some of us are looking up at the stars."
~Oscar Wilde

Wordless Wednesday

The toy of the day yesterday was this pair of safety goggles found in the junk drawer of the kitchen. They had a blast playing "bug" and "spaceman" and all kinds of things...love it when we spend hundreds of dollars on holidays and birthdays and they want to play with things like this...sighhhh. Have a great Wednesday everyone!

2010 Reading List

I'm working on my reading list for the upcoming year. I made a goal to read 26 books this year, but I've only managed to come up with 23 for the list so far. Please feel free to leave me comments with more suggestions. Realistically I love to read so I will probably end up reading more than 26 books but I'm starting with 26 on the list to follow rather than wandering willy nilly through the bookstore trying to curb my desire to grab every book in sight.

Without further ado, here is the list so far in no particular order:

1. "The Bolter" by Frances Osborne
2. "Say You’re One of Them" by Uwem Akpan
3. "The Looming Tower" by Frances Wright
4. "Prisoner of the State" by Zhao Ziyang
5. "The Bear" by William Faulkner
6. "God: A Biography" by Jack Miles
7. "The Unsettling of America" by Wendell Berry
8. "Underground" by Haruki Murakami
9. "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman
10. "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson
11. "The Regeneration Trilogy" by Pat Barker
12. "The Handmaid’s Tale" by Margaret Atwood
13. "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest Gaines
14. "No Excuses" by Kyle Maynard
15. "Echo in the Bone" by Diane Gabaldon
16. "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
17. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahme-Smith and Jane Austen
18. "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom
19. "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger
20. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
21. "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell
22. "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe
23. "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman
24. "The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry
25. "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn
26. "Making a Family Home" by Shannon Honeybloom

Any other suggestions? As you can see by this list, I don't discriminate when it comes to books, I read all genres. I'm revisiting a couple from school days but let's face it, as an adult sometimes it's nice to refresh the memory now and then.

I signed up for paperbackswap.com this past year because I kept hearing great raves about it, and if you have patience and don't want particularly "new" books, it's a great site. But if you want anything that is new or rare, might as well get on a waiting list...I think the waiting list for "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is like 45 weeks or something, gah. The price is right though and my hubby has been happy that I've cleared out some of my paperbook stash I could stand to part with also (which isn't many, I hate getting rid of books, I'm a book packrat).

I'm starting off with "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson because I received it in the mail the other day. I'll let you know how it was when I get done with it.

Leave me some suggestions if you've read anything great lately!! Happy reading!

Mom...Zombie Style

I haven't gotten my Christmas wish yet...one good solid night of sleep. I am BEAT. I'd take a picture and post it but don't want the rings under my eyes and zombie-esque look to scare anyone. The three-year-old is having issues staying in her own bed in her own room at night. Last night we went to bed about 1:00 am. My wonderful husband takes his half out of the middle of the bed and promptly starts snoring in my ear. I finally doze off and feel a little body crawl up in the bed next to me. She starts snoring shortly after... I am wedged between two snoring bodies with a stuffy nose and cannot get comfortable. I manage to wiggle my way towards the end of the bed so I can get out from between them without waking anyone up. I grab my pillow and head downstairs. Stretched across the entirety of the couch is the 80-some-odd pound boxer. I tell him to get down....he looks at me and blinks. He isn't moving. We have a staring contest.... He wins because I'm too tired to keep my eyes open. I finally give in and tell him to scoot over. Sleeping on an uncomfortable couch with an 80-ish pound boxer wasn't much better than being wedged in between my daughter and husband upstairs. I woke up to the 3-year-old and 2-year-old teepeeing me and the living room this morning. Fantastic. There is no amount of caffeine in the world that is going to be enough today. I need a nap, bad...

Small Talk Six Sunday

The topic for this weekend is six things you are looking forward to in 2010. I already did the resolutions/goals post so I'm not going to go back over the same things again but there are other things I am looking forward to that I can put in here.

1. KC Royals opening day. I already made my blue/white striped scarf I want to wear and I am getting tickets to this, come hell or high water. I love my boys in blue, no matter how much they suck.

2. A summer float trip. I don't care where, I just want to go. There's nothing better in the summer than floating down a river on a canoe with a cold beer in my hand. No need for paddling, that's what I have that husband guy for sitting in the back.

3. Family trip to St. Louis this summer. We have been talking about doing this for ages and I think this year we are finally going to do it.

4. Getting myself a different vehicle that will fit all these kids!! I cannot wait for this. It's not going to be anything brand new or fancy but it will be mine and I can't wait.

5. Finishing as many crafting projects as I can fit in this year. This is something I love and enjoy and hope to keep up with.

6. Last but not least, I'm sure I covered part of this at least in the last post but surviving all these stinkin court dates and coming out with what I want out of all of them. Please keep us in your prayers on this - we need all we can get.

Is there a difference between a resolution and a goal?

Resolution: 1) Resolve or determination; to make a firm resolution to do something. 2) The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc. 3) The mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

Goal: 1) The result or achievement towards which effort is directed; aim; end. 2) The terminal point in a race.

I guess in this case one word really leads to the other; you make the resolution to get to the goal. Unfortunately I really suck at resolutions and rarely make them. Just using the word "resolution" itself makes me feel like I'm setting myself up for a big failure.

This year instead I'm setting myself a list of goals, some of which I am keeping to myself and some of which I will share with you.

• I still have 20-25 pounds to lose from the last pregnancy. The littlest is 2 years old now, the post pregnancy excuses are gone. I've got to get up off my butt and do it.
• I am going to take a knitting class and maybe a sewing class also this year. I started knitting scarves on this little loom thing but I would love to be able to really knit, and knit something besides scarves. I'm just hoping to find a class out there that can cater to the left hander that learns everything backwards when it comes to crafts and such.
• I am going to read at least 26 books this year. I started with a grand plan of 50 but with five kids and craft projects, oh and that house cleaning and laundry stuff, I decided I had to pare it down some. I am currently working on this book list, which I will share in an upcoming blog, and I also need to find my booklight, which is in the abyss of my bedroom somewhere and put new batteries in it, since I do my best reading at night before bed.
• I am going to get through all of the impending court dates we have this year without having a nervous breakdown (I hope).
• I want to have potty training complete in our house this year and never buy another diaper again - EVER!!
• I am going to try to make a menu and corresponding grocery list every week and stick to it so that we are eating better around here, which should also assist with the first goal.
• I want one monthly date night with my husband - any babysitting volunteers out there?
• I am also going to really try to keep up on the blogging regardless of what else is going on with my life this year.

These are just a few of a list of GOALS (not resolutions) I have set for myself this upcoming year. Do you call them resolutions or goals? What goals have you set for yourself for 2010?

Beautiful...

Mostly because I don't have to be out in it, but this is the view outside my front door at about 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Santa has been here and he left to go to work the overnight shift and I'm getting ready to head to bed pretty soon. By the reports we are supposed to have between 5-7" of this stuff. I'll take more pictures tomorrow!

Remembering the reason for the season...

The coffee is nice and hot this morning after the beautiful snowfall last night. There are fresh blueberry muffins out of the oven making the house smell amazing. The wee ones are playing with their toys. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas morning!

I wish we would have been able to make the Christmas Eve service at church last night but I didn't want to venture out in the blizzard conditions with the kiddos. I'm leaving you today with a clip of a show I've watched since I was a kid and it never gets old.

Christmas Eve

We are having a quiet Christmas this year. The older boys are at their father's this year, my mother is preparing to move to Texas, my brother is up in north Missouri and the hubby got stuck on the overnight shift at work. My good friend and neighbor up the street invited us to go to her house at noon tomorrow for dinner and I might take her up on it. Then the evening of Christmas will be spent between Paul's parents' houses, weather permitting.

I haven't been much in the Christmas spirit this year but this is one of my favorite Christmas carols. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Haven't posted in 2 months...geesh

Well I haven't posted in a while, which I realized after I won a blog giveaway over at http://unusuallyunusualfarmchick.blogspot.com/2009/12/nordic-ware-mini-scone-pan-winner.html

I've been consciously/subconsciously avoiding posting on the blog because the things I would like to vent about are all tied up in various courts at the moment (yes, pertaining to the d-bag ex) and I can't really put anything "out there" until it all gets heard in court. Please keep me in your prayers that I come out ahead on all of it. He is seriously a thorn in my side and my older kids are really suffering as a result of it.

This has been alternatively one of the best/worst years of my life - is that possible?? I married the love of my life this year.

He is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me and I enjoy sharing every single day of my life with him, even though we arent' perfect and drive each other crazy at times.

I also taught myself to sew this year..

I am a master pillowcase dress maker now. :) I also made a couple of small purses to match said pillowcase dresses. I started on Delaney's Christmas dress but it's December 21st today and I'm not done with it yet...could be a bad sign...lol

We also got a Friends of the Zoo membership this year to the Kansas City Zoo and we LOVED it - thanks to Grandma for providing that as an extra birthday present to everyone - and took several trips to the zoo this year.
Here's a picture from one of our adventures. The kids learned a ton about animals this year and got to observe them while learning so it was a great experience for everyone.

I've done some more knitting, made some more scarves and I'm "over" posting pictures at this point because it's a pain in the butt to put them on here and then move them all around. :)

I'm not going to delve into all the "bad stuff" any more than I did up above. We're doing what we need to do around here to take care of the situation and that's all we can do. It would be fantastic if the courts would move a little more quickly but they don't and so patience and perserverance is the key (at least that's what I keep telling myself).

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season and I hope that 2010 brings all of us even bigger and better things for the future!!

Thanks to Tammie over at the Unusually Unusual Farmgirl for making me get off my butt and actually post. I'll try to get back a little more often now.