Chess Mom, My Mom

She also happens to be my brother and sister's school's chess coach.

Check it out.

Yay Mom!

A Van Plan

See this?



This hip little 7 seater non-minivan?

It's a piece of junk.

Seriously. Every time something goes wrong with it - which is frequently - it costs at least $400.

New sliding door mechanism? $400
New fuel pump thingamajig? $400
New transmission? $5000!
New key? Well, not quite $400, but $100.... at least. For a key!
New snow tires - which we want but will never get? $1200

And a myriad of other things - 8 weeks during the summer's worth - each $400.

I'll just mention now that we were blinded. We were blinded by the Euro's hipness and our intense desire to not drive a minivan. It was a totally dumb decision... but hey, hindsight right?

But now? We have a plan. You see, we have some upcoming adoption fees we're going to need to pay for in a few short months. Thanks to our amazing adoption agency's ministry and their whole-hearted belief in not "buying and selling children" - our fees are not as much as many adoptions through other agencies might be - but they're still something we need to plan and save for.

We decided a couple weeks ago to sell the van and buy some cheapo mini van to drive for a couple years. This will enable us to pay off some debt, free up some cash, get better gas mileage and stop pouring money into the hip little Euro sitting in our driveway. Which, by the way, doesn't seem quite as hip these days.

But today? Oh today our plan got a little sweeter. Yesterday, in the mail, an inconspicuous white envelope arrived. I didn't open it - but listened to the little voice in my head suggesting that I save it. So I put it on the dining room table - and there it sat until it's glorious plan-revealing moment would arrive.

Justin and I aren't much for buying cars from dealerships. We've had the most success buying cars from private owners, taking them to get checked out by a mechanic before we buy them. (I'll add here that the Euro was the first car we had ever bought from a dealer) But as we started to think about it, and as I've heard some positive stories lately, I decided I might browse some local dealership web sites. I told Justin that maybe we should go look around. Everyone's having super good sales right now - with the economy being as it is - and they're handing out some pretty sweet deals. We might even be able to get better financing than we would from our bank.

And here's where the letter comes in....

It was from our local Toyota dealership. Off-handedly, I said to Justin, "There's a letter from blank Toyota on the table. Why don't you open it and see if they happen to have a good deal." He tore the envelope open and as he read the letter a sly little smile appeared across his face, along with a chuckle.

"Heh heh. This is from Allan _______. He's working for ______ Toyota again. Maybe we should see what kind of a deal he'll give us when we bring in the piece of crap Eurovan he sold us......."

Ohhh..... I like how you're thinkin' JJ.

Time for a little car shopping.


*Update: I just called our Volkswagen mechanic and asked them to print out a report of all the things they've repaired over the last year and a half. You know, just in case Allan would like to take a look at it.....

I'll Be Back

Once I get out of treatment for my facebook addiction.

I understand if you want to go find some other oddly named girl's blog to read. I won't hold it against you.

I'm just not in the blogging mood lately. And feeling way too lazy to get up and get the cord to upload my video and pictures.

I'm trying to muster up the motivation to begin some planning of some things in my life that desperately need to be planned out:

home schooling
home organizing
Jazzercise
paint for the kids' room
food
laundry
my hair
a new wardrobe
adoption fees
taxes
adoption details

you know... the usual. But not necessarily in that order.

I don't know why it all seems so daunting these days.

But I'm happy this morning... it's snowing again. I think I'll go make some soup.

From our last snow.
It won't snow this much today, but wasn't it beautiful?

Cancelled.

So.... I canceled my facebook account yesterday. It was sort of on a whim.

After I did it and was thinking about it I realized that it mostly boiled down to one thing: politics

I was getting so annoyed with people that I otherwise would have liked. I didn't like it. The last straw was that someone who had not spoken to me in literally months made a comment to me that totally annoyed me. Call it hormones - who knows, but I just thought to myself, "I would like her a lot better if I hadn't known her political stance." I also thought that she might not have said what she did if she had been standing right in front of me. So I just did it. Canceled my facebook. And my myspace. And it feels good.

I don't have some of the issues about it that I've heard other people mention - I didn't mind the surfacy relationships. I actually kind of liked getting back in touch with people I had spent years wondering about, even if it was to just say "hi - glad to see ya!" But if I'm being completely honest, I will say that I'm positive I have done the exact same thing to others that my "friend" did to me. Uncool - looking back on it.

I also felt a little weird about all of my employees and more recently, students, knowing everything that was going on in my life. Some of them are totally cool - they respect me and work hard for me. Some of them - not so much. As much as I try to avoid it - gossip is prevalent. Sometimes a little too much at a place where a lot of women, from the same town, whose kids go to the same school, gather and have the opportunity to talk. So I guess it's also my way of flying under the radar a bit - I like that.

And finally, I'm chuckling about this even as I write it. Not the reason I canceled - but let's just say a "benefit" of canceling. I won't have to see my ex-boyfriend's name pop up on my friend suggestions everyday anymore. It just seemed kind of weird - that we had like 153 out of my 350 and some-odd friends in common and every time I saw his face I just wanted to hit a button that said "REJECTED" or something. But I couldn't. His little face just kept popping up everywhere I turned. Not that I'm still bitter or anything....

Anyhow - this discussion could go on and on. I really didn't think about it all that much when I did it. Sorry if you've been looking for me and couldn't find me. But it does make me feel loved to know that some of you noticed and missed me. I'm pretty sure those of you who really want to get a hold of me know how to - except maybe Michelle? But Martha has my e-mail address. And since we'll all be seeing each other in a couple weeks it'll all be cool. Right Martha? :-)

You might see me around facebook again sometime. Admittedly, I can be a little fickle about stuff like that. Maybe after some of the "extras" in my life settle down a bit more.

New Babies, Old Babies

Well, older babies.

New Baby #1

Justin's sister Meghan (remember her?) and her husband welcomed their new baby girl yesterday morning: January 16th at about 6:30 am. We (me especially) are SO excited! Little baby Taylor is a healthy, beautiful, "petite" (that's what her mama said and I like that word) little sweetie. The kids and I are driving down to meet her today - I was up until midnight sewing swaddling blankets and after a quick family breakfast with my parents we're headed down to Seattle so I can get a whiff of that fuzzy little baby head. Here she is in all her swaddled up, squishy faced cuteness.

Baby Taylor
(In my excitement I forgot to find out her middle name - oops!)

That's kinda weird - see how that corner is cut off? Anyway...
Isn't she adorable??!!

Older Babies

Miss Adia Moon is turning 2 on Monday! We're having a little family-ish party here for her on Sunday. We like family-ish parties the best. It's so interesting to me how different the kids' birthday celebrations have been, considering Adia's is in January and Steele's is in June. Our humble home will only fit so many people - last year it was snowing outside! I've also gone with a brunchy theme for her the last two years - it seems to fit. So on this years menu? Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls and Sleepin' In Omlette. Don't ask me how in the world I'm going to get everything done. Justin's working today so I'll be cleaning, cooking, baking, driving, meeting neices, preparing for a big Jazzercise sale on Monday .. all by myself. Deep breaths. Who knows why I felt the need to blog... I was starting to miss all of you.

I'm sure there will plenty of this goin' on on Sunday.
Adia and her bff Ava - Ava's 2nd birthday was a couple weeks ago.

And finally....

New Baby #2

The announcement you've all been waiting for - masterfully picking up my hints here and there....

It looks like we will also be welcoming a new baby girl in May!!

We are excited, of course, but I have been hesitant to announce anything on here because there are so, so, so, so SO many details that need to be worked out before she arrives. Attorneys, states, birth fathers, money... each step one at a time. Very, very prayerfully. If you're a pray-er - now's the time!

I wish I had time to give you all the details right now, but I just don't. See weekend plans above. But soon, I promise. For now, we wait and pray and excitedly look forward to what God has in store for all of us. And that's what we've been doin' all along - it is absolute joy and peace to know the Lord and to trust His plans.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

I'm Here

Just knitting and thinking.

Then a little knitting...

and a little more thinking.

And after that I think about knitting....

and knit while I'm thinking.

Thinking.

Knitting.

Wiped Out

It's 8:30. My children are in their beds. Asleep. Both of them....for at least half an hour. Amazing.

Our little Adia is a total night owl. While we put her to bed at the same time every night - around 7:30 or so - she often lays in her bed singing and talking until sometimes as late as 10 o'clock... while her big brother snoozes soundly beside her. But not tonight. They're both totally pooped out from a day on the hill.

It was Adia's first day so I wanted to be sure and get plenty of pics and video of her. I'm officially the "Lodge Mom." I sit in the lodge, I get kids dressed, I knit, I eat, I look cute, I take pictures, I shop, I smile at all the people commenting on how cute our kids are, I eat some more, knit some more. I forgot my book today otherwise I might have done that. I don't ski. Maybe some day - when our children are a little more independent. But for now I take my job very seriously - especially the looking cute and eating part of it.

A funny little story from today - I tend to get pretty bad motion sickness on the way up the mountain. We take Justin's Volvo which makes it worse. Today was no exception. While we were stopped at a rest area (I get motion sickness, Justin has to go to the bathroom a bazillion times..)

I was feeling pretty nauseous and pretty hungry. I thought I might feel better if I ate something but nothing much sounded good - I was nauseous after all. The only thing that sounded even slightly appealing to me were salt and vinegar potato chips. Now - I have to say - we don't keep chips in our house. We occasionally have tortilla chips and will buy potato chips maybe once a year for a special bbq or something. Here's why: Per my request, Justin bought me a little bag of those salt and vinegar potato chips today... and I ate the WHOLE BAG! And I felt better after that. So that's my new nausea remedy. You'd think I was pregnant or something. But I'm not. Not really.

Anyway, onto the fun stuff. Get ready to smile.

Per Michelle's wise council - I am now placing all picture captions above their respective pictures

Gettin' Ready
Adia's totally tough - I'm sure all the gear isn't the most comfortable thing in the world.
She didn't whine one bit.

First Run

Mama and Steele chillin' in the lodge
(Speaking of Steele, I hope I didn't freak any of you out with the sawing post - I am certain it was intended to be a simple surgical procedure to help me feel better. Certain of it.)

Some cute video - please excuse my blatant and excessive excitement and woo hooing.
I get that way sometimes.

Anybody know how I can host these videos outside of blogger?
I'd really like it if you could see them in a little bigger format.

More From Mr. Steele

I was just telling Steele that I don't feel very well - a little tired and a bit worn out today for some reason.

He informed me that after Dee Dee was done with her nap that he would get his doctor stuff out and help me to feel better.

Me: Can't you do anything before that? How about some snuggles?

Steele: Ok, but just one.

Me: Just one?

Then he got really generous -

Steele: Ok, this many snuggles (holding up three fingers)

Me: Thanks, son.

Steele: Ok Mama, ok Mama. Just hold on. Now I'm going to saw you apart. This will just hurt a little bit.

SAW ME APART??? Where the heck did that come from? I couldn't stop laughing.

Maybe he's been watching too much Grey's Anatomy.....


Don't worry!!! I don't let him watch Grey's Anatomy! It was a joke. I've had problems with people getting my jokes lately. Just wanted to make sure you all knew that. A joke.

New Year's Motivation

Here's a little motivation for all your New Year's resolutions....

Steele and I reviewing our Jazzercise moves for the week.
Note Steele is eating and Jazzercisin' at the same time...
I wonder if that burns more calories?

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and All That Good Stuff

As I sit down to write this morning, the snow is falling again outside my window. And I love it. I purposely try not to turn many lights on - and I enjoy the slowness and the stillness. I know this will probably not last much further than today and I want to savor it. Not at all like the snow we've had over the last few weeks... but I'll get to that in another post. I know there are people out there who grump around about snow - I have a theory about them. You see, when it snows at my house, I jump around doing the happy dance shouting, "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing!" I grab my children and we hop around a little more. Then later in the day we go sledding, we drink cocoa, we eat soup, build snow men, whatever. I do this every time. I love it every time. My mom loved it every time - even when she was a single mom and had to get up and turn on the radio and listen to the snow report to see if she could make it to school to teach. I loved waking up in the morning with the dim light coming from the bathroom, memories of my mom doing her hair and putting on her make-up with the radio softly reporting in the background. It was exciting. So my theory about the snow haters? Their parents messed them up. There is no way on earth my kids will hate snow.... but watch me eat my words.

So today... I'll make some split pea soup, my parents might bring Abbey and Gabe over to go sledding. Skiing plans were put on hold - Justin thinks it will be a blizzard up at the mountain. We're going to enjoy every minute of being together. And since it's a new year - I think it's a great way to start.

Speaking of a new year - I'm not generally one to make New Year's resolutions. Over the last few days I've thought about the possibilities in 2009, I've thought about some things I'd like to change, some things I'm looking forward to - but nothing official. I don't beat myself up over stuff like that - finished or unfinished. Things tend to be accomplished in their own time anyway- and I kind of like that. But I can't very well move on to 2009 without at least sharing the last bit of 2008 with you.

It was the best Christmas yet for me. Wouldn't you agree that there is this time between moving out of your parents house and having children of your own when Christmases are well, just a little boring? I've always loved Christmas - but this year was exponentially more fun. Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the simplicity, maybe it was the abundance of time I had to prepare, maybe it was every single snuggly, sweet, fun, smiley moment I had with my children and Justin - whatever it was - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So here it is, in pictures (and a few words):

At the local Olde Fashioned Christmas


On our way to get the tree... in the freezing cold.
Have I ever shared with you the great internal debate I have about where picture captions should go? Above or below?

It was too much excitement for Steele

Baking

Crazy Cousins

Drunken Grandmas
(not really, she'd kill me if she knew I wrote that)

Great food a la Aunt Terri Jo
That's her in the background on the left - people who have hippy suns and crosses and a bazillion orchids adorning their houses always make the best food.

Adia Moon and Groompa Charlie
My favorite picture of Adia ever...

The little ones ready to open presents

My Uncle Mike pretty much rocks when it comes to kids - they love him... 'cause he plays toys with them.

Us.

Me and my big foot

I love that our Christmas mornings aren't completely chaotic.
I have no idea how we accomplish that - but I appreciate it.
Love

My mom opening her new coffee grinder from us

The new bike - hasn't been ridden yet due to snow. But soon.

My grandma playing Wii. Might have been my favorite moment of Christmas.

Humorously, her Mii looked way more lifelike after the kids added a double chin.
She's still complaining about that.

Post Wii

Well, I'm off to a beautiful snowy day! Justin just came out, leaned down to Steele and asked him the question he asks him almost every morning....

Want some coffee?

And Steele answered with the same thing he says every morning when Justin asks him that...

Papa! Kids don't drink coffee!

Ohhhh.... Ok. Justin said.