Time Flies

I can't believe a month has almost past since I last left some words here. Time has really been flying. We had a busy month with Christmas and all the preparations and celebrations. I made a lot of gifts and am STILL working on my Daily December book. Ugghh! I don't feel like I'm EVER going to get it done. I did a bunch of days the other night but there are still things missing. When I do it next year, I won't be making gifts that require my daily attention like my 12 Days of Christmas project. I would like to have all the gifts I'm making done by Dec 1! (Dream on!!!)

We did have a very nice Christmas. I didn't really get overwhelmed, it was just the right mix of get togethers, family, decorations and gifts. I put up about 1/4 of the decorations that I usually do and that was really nice. Taking it down and putting it all away was a breeze, happened in a matter of minutes. I also went through all my Christmas decorations and weeded out the things I no longer wanted, which ended up filling 2 giant tubs. The best part was that it only took me 20 minutes. Just like on my old favorite show, Clean Sweep!!!! All in all, I enjoyed Christmas but I was glad when it all was over.

Our wedding anniversary is on New Year's Eve so that was something I really looked forward to this year. Jeremy and I hardly ever do anything without these children we have, so we took advantage of Granny & Papa being home and left the kids with them for the day. We went to Indianapolis and had a great time. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and then went shopping at the Keystone Crossing Mall. It had been awhile since we'd been there. The mall has some nice upscale shopping like Pottery Barn Kids, Anthropology, Restoration Hardware, Tiffany's, Coach, Saks, etc. We had such limited time so I only went into the important store: Pottery Barn Kids. I didn't buy anything but they have some really cute stuff with outrageous prices. I convinced Jeremy to drop me off at Archiver's while he went to Best Buy. They had some stuff that I didn't own yet (surprising) so it was a good shopping trip. When Jeremy picked me up, he told me he got me a present. I was thinking what did he buy me at Best Buy???? I was perplexed. When I got in the car, he said it's in the Best Buy bag so I dug in there and found a little box wrapped in Kleenex. I opened it to find this beautiful 3 stone diamond ring.

Needless to say I was super surprised. I didn't have the slightest idea that he had bought it. I still need to get it sized, haven't made it back to the jeweler just yet.

So I was glad to get back in our regular routine after the holidays. Mindy and her crew came and spent a few days with us. I went back to work on the 2nd and Mindy came with me and scrapbooked for awhile. I think the kids had a great time. Although I think Jeffrey was glad to see them go. Little Reese Peanut terrorized Jeffie the entire time! She could just look at him and he would cry. When they were getting ready to leave, he went and found her milk cup, handed it to her and then kissed and hugged her goodbye! By the time Monday rolled around, Jackson had told me at least 100 times that he wasn't going back to school. I don't know what his deal was, I think he just got used to being lazy and not having to get up in the mornings. He was thrilled about going but he was fine once the bus came to get him. It was funny because Jeffrey was sure ready for him to go back to school. When he got on the bus, Jeffrey stood at the door waving and saying "Bye Bye Jackie!" He was so excited that he left and he was a completely different kids while he was gone. Of course, once Jackson came back home, his good nature was over.

But while Jackson was gone on Monday, I completely cleaned our bedroom and closet. The closet has been neglected for quite some time and had become a dumping ground. I completely cleaned it and reorganized it. It didn't take long because I own very little clothing and like 3 or 4 pair of shoes total. Really, Jeremy owns more shoes and clothes than I do. I need to do something about that this year... I also dusted and swept all the dust doggies up that were hiding under the bed and dresser. Boy did it need it! The room looks 100% better - dust and clutter free. I'm really going to work at keeping it that way. I've realized that the bedrooms in our house are always the last on the actual cleaning list. I mean I keep them picked up but the actual cleaning part (except sweeping) is often neglected. Once I started thinking about bedrooms, I decided that Jackson's needed a major overhaul as well. So when he got on the bus Tuesday morning, I tore his apart. I rearranged it completely after I cleaned it. Then I tackled his closet which wasn't that bad but I needed to move his new stuff down to a lower shelf. I can't reach the very top shelf without a step stool. I was a little worried what he would think about it when he came home. I told him I had a surprise when he walked in the door and that made him giddy! He was giggling and all excited! So I took him in there and showed him and he said, "My room! It's all clean and beautiful! It looks great! Thanks Mommy!" Those words are no lie, he actually said them to me. I couldn't believe how sweet and appreciative he was. It was a very touching moment for me. Just look at his face!

So everyone (scrapbookers wise) is talking about Project 365. I think it's a good idea. Basically you're taking a picture every day for one year. It's to get you to photograph the everyday moments. Well quite honestly I do almost take pictures every day so this isn't a stretch for me. The stretch for me is doing another blog. I can hardly even update this one. So I have to make this as simple as can be. I have a plan in place. I'm just doing 4 x 6 shots and using a 12 x 12 page protector that's divided into 6-4 x 6 pockets. I'm throwing the picture in there with some journaling on a card next to it. That's it. I'm not planning on uploading them everyday because I can't seem to keep up with it. But here's a few of what I have so far:

3-365 Addison and Jeffrey coloring

9-365 Jeffrey hugging his Daddy's head. Looks sweet but he was really wrestling him. He's ruthless except when it comes to little sweet baby girls.

So now I feel like I'm caught up a bit. Next weekend I'm going on a scrapbook retreat to Indianapolis with the girls I work with and a few customers. I've never been on one before. Basically it's a bed and breakfast for Scrapbookers. Three days and two nights! I'm excited but I haven't packed one thing yet. I did order some pictures so I'm semi ready. That's the toughest part for me. So we have a few open spaces still...anybody interested??????

Up next my 200th post! What will it be about?!?!?!? I'm sure you're hanging by a thread. ; )