HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well, I never really make New Year's resolutions because I am always trying to become a better person. Sometimes I fail and sometimes I am successful so I don't like to pressure myself by announcing an official resolution. I do like to reflect on the past year and then wonder what the new year will bring. We started a new tradition this year of writing predictions for the new year in a journal that we will bring out next New Year's eve. Erin made a prediction that we will lose the journal - too funny! Also in the journal we put down the kids current heights and weights and then they predicted what they would be next year. We took a picture of the kids and taped that in there too. I really hope we don't lose it! We also wrote down a few of the main events that happened to us in 2006. This is a tradition that was started by a college friend who had New Year's eve parties for quite a few years after we graduated. Those predictions were always fueled by alcohol but the kids and I had plenty of fun sober! Maybe we were feeling just a little bit drunk from that nonalcoholic sparkling grape juice!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Notice in the picture the kids are in front of the tower and ball that Thomas built out of kinex. With the help of a little motor, the ball dropped here in Pennsylvania at midnight as well as in Times Square! It was perfectly synchronized!

MY RED COUCH

The picture quality isn't so great but here's a photo of my new red couch. I love the cozy look it has snuggled by a fire crackling in the fireplace.

Even the simple act of buying a new couch can make me philosophical. It started when the delivery man was unwrapping my couch. "WHOOOHOOO RED!!! Last week we delivered green and this week red!" He was NOT making note of the Christmas coincidence. I thought this was very funny. I sent an email to someone I know to show them a picture of my new couch and told her about what the delivery man had said. I added "apparently the couch is bright". Her reply was a list of things I could do to tone down the color. Hmmm. My email had not said that I was unhappy with the couch. I don't want to tone it down.

But now I am bothered. You may think that I am bothered by the fact that people will not like my couch. Like my friend, they will probably see it and suggest ways to tone it down. Yes I am slightly worried about that but I am more concerned by the fact that I am even slightly worried about what people think of my couch! I'm 42 years old and you would think that I'd have this under wraps by now! I don't like the idea of being controlled by other's opinions. Some day I would love to be in a state of mind where things like this don't even cross my mind. I wonder if by mentioning the delivery man's exclamation that I showed some sort of insecurity. An insecurity that invited suggestions on ways to "fix my mistake". Was the insecurity already there or did it show up once the suggestions had been made?

I AM THE RED COUCH KIND OF PERSON but many times over the years I've found ways to fit in with the status quo. Most people try to fit in and those that don't usually are labelled weirdos. I want to be comfortable with being a weirdo!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Erin was only 11 months old in this picture. Notice that she has climbed onto the arm of a rocking chair and is working her way up the Fisher Price kitchen set.....and all I could think of doing was snapping a picture. Keep in mind as she was balancing precariously, I had to go get my camera and take the shot. Apparently, I felt like I had enough time to call Thomas over for a picture together because I have another photo with him in it. What kind of mother was I?

NIGHTTIME WALKS WITH BEAU

Our dog Beau has never needed to have a regular schedule with his walks. Mostly, he would just hang out with us outside and the days that he didn't go on a walk he would just wander around in our large yard for his potty breaks (we own over 5 acres). He always got enough exercise tagging along with the kids. At the end of the summer after months of dealing with his bouts of diarrhea I decided that along with new food and medication I needed to make sure he got a "real" walk almost everyday. Many times this walk ends up being at the end of the day in the dark. I grab a flashlight and head out along our dirt roads. I would probably be a little nervous about meeting a bear if I didn't have Beau with me! Its a weird feeling strolling along through the wilderness at night. I sometimes wonder what little eyes are watching me from the bushes. On the otherhand I probably have nothing to worry about with Beau barreling through like a bull in a china shop! So far we haven't met any fragrant little friends!

Last night my walk was spectacular. We've had an unseasonably warm fall and all I needed was a sweatshirt to keep warm. A storm had just blown through and the wind was still whipping. The sky was clear with only a few puffy clouds left over. The moon was beaming so brightly that I didn't need my flashlight to see where I was going. It was a bit unreal looking up to see the clouds moving so quickly acrossed the face of the moon. It almost felt like a dream but then I realized this is my reality. I realize how lucky I am to love where I live.

TRICK OR TREATERS

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

By Sarah, 9 years old

IF THE SCHOOL DOESN'T GET ITS ACCREDITATION

If our middle school doesn't get its Middle States accreditation, it might be my fault! There is a team coming to observe all the schools in our district. Our middle school decided that they would pick some students from each grade level to go to lunch with these people. My son was one of the students that they picked. On the surface I can see why they picked him. His straight A's, his great behavior, his friendly smile. All of these are perfect reasons. Little do they know that at home he has a mother (me) who rants and raves continuously about every little problem that the schools have. Who commonly calls the principal of the elementary school an idiot. Who teaches them that every teacher has their "quirks" (also known as psychological problems) and you have to learn to work around them. These are just a few of the topics I cover in my daily dialouges entitled "problems in your school".

So my poor son feels the pressure. He's old enough to realize that he needs to apply a little BS, but maybe still young enough to get it wrong. When I found out that he was going to be the one to answer this teams questions I said, "don't take this the wrong way, but I just picture you saying something really stupid". He said "I know, I do too!" He'll try to do the right thing and say good things about the school but....somehow I just can't shake this feeling of doom! The other part of me just can't stop laughing!

I LAUGHED UNTIL I CRIED

Sarah is in her second year of playing the viola. She likes to have me listen when she practices and the other day I was doing just that. As I watched I was amazed at how far she's come in a year. Last year she struggled through wanting to quit and hating the sound the viola made. I decided to force her to stick with it even though I feel that music should be something you enjoy. At the end of last year the teacher put her into the orchestra with the older students and Sarah felt lost and many times actually WAS lost. She didn't play well enough to be able to keep up with the other kids so many times just sat there not playing. So while watching her practice this time, I pointed out how much better she was doing. Then I asked her if she found that she could keep up with the other kids this year. She replied "That's not really my specialty, I think I'd make a better soloist". She also told me that many times the teacher will yell out "WE'RE ON MEASURE NINE!". For some reason this got me laughing.....until there were tears rolling from my eyes! Sarah is only 9 years old and the whole thing sounded hysterical coming from her. What a great way to look at things. Its not that she can't keep up with the other kids, its just that she was meant to play solo!

POOP

I'm starting to realize that I have a weird fixation on poop. When my kids say, "Mom, I don't feel well", my automatic response is "Do you need to poop?" Then when they tell me that they already pooped, I ask them what it was like. Was it diarrhea or normal? If they answer diarrhea I find myself asking how bad it was. Just a little mushy or total liquid?

This fixation seemed to start when they were born. I have many memories of examining the contents of diapers and trying to relate it to the health of the baby. Were they constipated? Wow, I didn't realize that pineapples could turn a butt so red? Turns out that Thomas's stomach doesn't agree with oranges.

What's worse, now that the kids are older and they don't want to discuss their poops anymore I've been following the dog around and examining his! In my defense, he has had bouts of diarrhea for the past few months. This has required intense monitoring! Hmmm. They start out kind of green and sometimes are just a weird yellow. What could this mean? Turns out he can no longer tolerate his regular food. The new prescription diet has not only firmed them up, but has also made them a nice brown color! Quite bulky also, since the new food is high fiber! You never realized just how fun poop watching could be!

I'm glad that Beau is feeling better but have no fear, since I am acting as a foster mother to the abandoned cat and kittens, I have four new digestive tracts to follow! As I guessed, the mother's postnatal diarrhea seemed to clear up once her system settled down. I think the one kitten that also had diarrhea was just having a reaction to the antibiotics I gave her to clear up an upper respiratory infection.

All systems are now running smoothly. Although....I'm feeling a bit constipated!

SIMPLE

I am.
Simple.

Many are puffed up with the idea of grandeur.
Thinking they are more special than the others.
But really just insignificant dots in infinity.
What would happen if one dot was missing?
Nothing.
If you put uniqueness on a scale that reached to infinity the difference in each human would be unnoticable.

Everyone is just as simple as I am.