Happy New Year! 2012!

Yikes!
How time flies.
Hoping to get back to blogging again.
I've been sick.
We've been sick.
I started feeling like my usual self last night.
Feeling good.
Really good.
I think I've done my time, being sick this season.
Thanksgiving.
And Christmas.
Not fun.
Nor fair.



So I'm hoping that feeling better will mean more time for lots of fun in the coming weeks.
I've been working on some new projects.
One of which I'm hoping to reveal here soon.
It is kind of big.
And kind of scary to me.
Yet fun, and pushes me.
I love that.



Anyhow,
We brought in the New Year last night as a family.
Myself, Word Geek, Sylvan, Cecily, and Dashiell.
Simple.
Nice.
Relaxed.
Just the way it should be.

Hope you had a wonderful day.
Whether you set goals or not.

I'll leave you with my new favorite photo of the kiddos I took on Christmas Day.

Happy Halloween! Muffin Tin Monday ~ Halloween Mini Edition

Left to Right.
Top to Bottom.
Like a typewriter.

"Witch Hats"/Bugles-Hot Buffalo Flavor
"Zombie Eyeballs"/Chocolate Candy Eyeballs
"Straw Mound"/Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
"Witch Pinkies"/Baby Carrots

"Jack-o'-lanterns"/Pumpkin Face Gum Balls
"Ectoplasmic Goo"/Nacho Cheese Sauce
"Bandages"/Cheddar Cheese Crackers
"Graveyard Mud"/Creamy Peanut Butter

"Corpse Ribs"/Orange Bell Peppers (even though they do look red in this photo)
"Crow Beaks"/Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
"Coffin Cushion"/Pumpkin Cake
"Edgar Allen Poe Teeth"/Candy Corn (& Pumpkin Candy in the middle)

It was a fun challenge this week.
I tried to do a black and orange food theme.
Word Geek helped with the fun Halloween food names.

I ask that the kids keep an open mind.
Trying everything once.
Then I will tell them what the foods are, if they don't know afterwards.

Lizard Man was not happy about some of the things.
He wanted to know what the foods were before he would try them.
He said, and I quote, "This is like a horror movie."
What-the-what!?
Not sure where he came up with that one.
I don't make the kids eat anything.
But once I told him what a couple of things were, he was willing to try them.
I think in the future I will tell him.
It seemed to work better for him.

Love Bug was very excited to try everything.
She first went for the eyeballs and was going to take a bite.
I informed her that there was a wrapper on the candy.
But that just shows you how open minded she is to trying new foods.
She was willing to try out an eyeball!!??!!
I think maybe Lizard Man may have mentioned that they were candy.





I did make a muffin tin for myself this week too. :)
Anyone that knows me well, knows I do NOT like peanut butter.
I'm not allergic.
It all leads back to a time when I went to grade school.
My mom would make us lunch to take to school.
In our "old school" metal lunchboxes.
She accidentally put my brothers Shawn's peanut butter sandwich in mine.
Shawn got my cold cut sandwich.
The teacher either made me eat it or I was very hungry.
I don't remember which.
I just remember after that, plain peanut butter was NOT my friend.
If it was baked into something, I was fine.
But no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for this girl.
Well anyhow.
To prove my point to Lizard Man today, I ate some peanut butter.
Dipped in my carrots=not too bad.
Then I dipped my candy corn into the peanut butter.
Um yes, pure bliss.
New favorite dessert for me.
Kind of like Reese's Pieces, but much better!



So happy that we've decided to jump onto this new food adventure.

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Linking up here!

New Years Eve and Welcoming the New Year with Resolutions!

New Years Eve night we just relaxed at home. I dozed off, and Word Geek woke me up with a sweet kiss on the cheek to wake me and wish me a Happy New Year.

New Years Eve was a long, emotional day for me us as we went to Brevin’s funeral. And of all days in the years we have lived here, it was kind of eerie coming home to find a sled in our front yard, all by its lonesome, that isn't ours. It definitely made us think of Brevin even more.

I would have liked to have taken a nap when we got home from the funeral, because I was also worn out from the visitation the night before, but somehow I couldn’t sneak a nap in, even an evening nap would have been nice.

We ended up finishing off a season of The Office, which is one of my favorite shows. It just cracks me up and I think that Word Geek and I really needed the laughs. We also watched a movie, but sometimes it doesn’t matter how interesting a movie is if I’m tired.

Do you have New Year Resolutions? I try to have at least one thing I will try to do or work on harder after the New Year has begun. Last year it was getting back into being more creative, in which I think I accomplished in 2008.

This year is going to be focusing more on the kids and our family. Here are three goals for the New Year so far:


1. Praising our children more for their good behavior and the good things they do.

2. Spending more ONE on ONE time playing/doing activities with each child.

I’m going to ask Lizard Man some things he wants to do with just Mom and just Dad this year and then we will make it happen. I think sometimes Love Bug hogs me and daddy too, which we love, but at the same time I know Lizard Man misses out. For example, I had Lizard Man in my lap last night and Love Bug was by daddy, as soon as she saw Lizard Man on my lap, she had to be on my lap too.

Making each child feel special with ONE on ONE time is important to me.

3. Spending even more quality time as a family together.

We do this a lot already, but I think we should make it even more of a priority. Sundays are family day at our household. I'm hoping to relax, play, read, play board games/cards, go to the park, and do lots of other activities even more with my family.


I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year and appreciating family and friends so much more, I know I am.


Happy New Year! God Bless YOU and your family in the year 2009!