Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I am SICK!

So I guess there is a good side and a bad side to this story. Of course we will start with the bad side...I am sick, with a bad cold/sinus problem. I am constantly sneezing, with my sinuses completely congested. So every time that I do sneeze it feels like my face is going to explode! YUCK! On top of all of this for some strange reason, my throat itches like crazy, but luckily its not strep throat... but that is not the good part!

The good side is that ALL three kids are sick too, normally that would be bad, very bad. But in this case it is a good thing, now we can all be sick together, at the same time and not have to deal with this for the next two weeks as each kid takes their turn in being the sick one!

The best part of this is that Jared has alot of work to do from home for the company he works for. Jared is mostly in charge of writing up contracts and stuff, so I have had alot of help with the kids, getting them fed and having Jared watch them long enough for me to fall asleep due to the meds!

So I guess that is all, I am bored outta my mind, with three sick kids, it basically means that we are stuck in the house with nothing to do! I am hoping to have Lizzy back at school by Thursday, she seems to be getting better faster than the rest of us. So right now she just has a stuffy nose... lucky her!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Cruising the Northern Caribbean

So this month Jared had a great opportunity to go on a Cruise with a friend of mine, Allen Kelly. The best part was that the trip was all paid for and Jared only had to find a way to Arazonia and back and he could get on the ship for a 7 day Cruise to the Northern Caribbean.

So he set off on the Cruise on the 10th and came back on the 17th. He visited the Grand Turk islands and the Cayman Islands. But they didnt make it to their first stop due to the weather conditions. There was snow in Florida and the the temperatures were really cold, even for the Caribbean.

After a few days out to sea, Haiti was hit with a 7.0 earthquake, sending large waves towards Jared and the ship, they didnt feel that much of a disturbance but there were alot of people that suffered with sea-sickness.

Jared said the best part about the cruise was the food and the service. The best food that he ever had and the service was great, but he always enjoyed it when people clean up after him.

He got me some beautiful pink pearls, a watch and jewelry to match. The jewelry was silver wit h these periwinkle purple diamonds , a necklace, earrings, and a ring with the diamonds to match. And the fave of the watch was the same color... Really pretty! He got me these on the Grand Turk island .

Then Jared headed to the Cayman Islands where he say the Mayan temples. He was super excited for that, after spending years watching anything on TV that had to do with Mayan's and their Temples.

Altogether he had a great time, but he missed us alot and spent alot of time with bad weather, he is hoping to go on another Cruise in the future but not anytime soon, perhaps when our kids are in College or something we might do that ... but we will see... I hate Ships.... Maybe a nice trip to England or Rome would be better!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

New Year's Resolutions!

So I have always hated making a New Year's resolution, it seems to put a time limit on the things that should be goals and have no time limit themselves... for example, buying a house.. who knows how long the process is for buying a house and for some it takes more than a year to save and get the house. Another example is getting married.. OK, if your dating someone or your engaged already I can see this as being a Resolution but weddings take time! Some people actually have these as their new year's resolutions!!!

Also when you don't get your resolutions done by the end of the year you have a serious amount of anxiety and self pitty, not a good way to start the new year as hating your self.

So since I was 16 years old, I just did away with the disappointing resolutions and made it my New Year's Goals instead. No time limit, just do the best that I can do and see where it goes. Sometimes you want things, but the timing is off, although I learned that if you prepare for them, then you might get what you want anyways. Like spending more time at the temple and spending time with your family, etc. For me it was taking those pesky marriage classes at 18 years old, with no boyfriend or hopes of finding one and then two months later, Jared proposed to me! Luckily I was prepared! (Somewhat!)

My goals are pretty simple, work as best as I can with my family, and get some names 'Temple Ready', take a New Family Search class to help me better understand the program, eat healthier, go to the temple more. Read some EDUCATING book... (no more HP or Twilight or whatever) and most importantly get my Immigration papers sent on their way to be processed!

The family goals are also simple and achievable, design a chore list and have the girls participate in that , have FHE more ( feels like there just isn't enough time in the day for it) Sleep MORE! I noticed that the girls need more sleep, and I am OK with that, spend more time at Museums, Aquarium and Church History sites. Be more GREEN... I think it should be fun to help the environment anyway that we can. Read together more.... ( we read together but someone is always in another room doing something else) .

So that is my thought on that! Happy New Year's

Saturday, January 9, 2010






Away in a Manger...............

Christmas Eve was spent at Levi and Susie's house. We had a great Christmas Eve dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and I finally tried that sweet potato thing with the marshmallows on top!

After a great dinner, before a even better dessert, Levi wanted to read the story of Jesus' Birth for the kids. So we ALL got dressed up as shephards, wise men and Mary and Joseph too. Jared and I played Mary and Joseph (i think) and Radley was baby Jesus. The girls and little red were Shephards and Levi, Susie and Susie's neice Katherine played the Wise Men!

It was a battle to get Little Jared all dressed up and eventually we thought that he looked too much like a girl in his shepherd robe so HE took it off...

It was a great night filled with yummy food, good stories and a battle between family members for the winner in some video games that we played on the Wii! Good times, we will be doing this again soon!



Christmas Quilts

Ok, so this year the kids seemed to grow like weeds, Lizzy and Jamie grew a whole 3-4 inches since last year. So as you guessed they outgrew almost everything they had including their fleece blankets they got last year from my mother!

I was really glad that I could sew a quilt, let alone three in time for Christmas. It was pretty easy deciding on a pattern.. I love squares so their pattern would be a bunch of squares. I did alot of research online about how to start and finish a quilt and was surprised that I managed to finish each quilt in less than 12 hrs!

Once the design of the quilts were picked out... like I said just a bunch of squares... I had to find the fabric and the colors that best described the personalities of the kids. No problem right?? Liz loves pink and red, Jamie love Purple and Jared looks great in fall colors! So that was what we did... just colors, no princesses or Dora or Cars or Pirates... just COLORS!

For the most part I think that I did a great job and in a great amount of time for someone who doesn't have much time to spare! I was glad to know that the kids loved their Christmas presents and that they have been sleeping with these quilts since Christmas Day... it turned out well, considering that I think I broke my new sewing machine making all these quilts... so can anyone guess what I NEED for my Anniversary, birthday or Christmas???? hhhmmmmmmmmm!