As I walked into my daughter's bedroom this morning, I said "Good morning sunshine!"

She sat up, rubbed her eyes and said "I'm not the sunshine."

"You're not?" I asked, as I scooped her out of bed.

"Noooo", she answered, as she buried her sleepy little head into my shoulder. "I'm just Emma."

Disney on Ice was definitely worth it! The kids enjoyed it so much. I don’t think I really saw that much of the show because I was busy watching their faces and reactions, but what I did see of it was well done. I really like this show compared to some of the others they’ve advertised, because it included so many different characters. Minnie Mouse, who is Emma’s favorite, was in nearly every scene. The weather wasn’t too terrible, in fact it seemed the further north we got, the less snow was on the ground.

Right now, the sun is streaming into my house, and I can see most of our grass for once, giving the illusion that it is actually nice outside and that spring might be just around the corner. It’s just my wishful thinking, though. In reality, we’re supposed to get several inches of snow over the next few days, possibly a foot or more. Colin is looking forward to getting out his snow shovel again.

Last night we had to take the back roads home from church. As we were heading there, we realized that although traffic was very heavy and slow-moving in our westbound lanes, not a single car was heading the other way. Eventually we passed the accident that had traffic stopped for miles and miles. It was a really, really bad one, the kind that gets you choked-up thinking about the families’ lives that have just changed forever. I don’t know how long it took to get everything cleaned up, but we heard later that the accident happened at about 3 pm, and it was still closed four hours later. Jeff saw in the paper today that it was a car in the westbound lane that lost control, went into the median, flipped up, and landed on top of a car in the eastbound lane. That, of course, led to other cars crashing as well. To me, the thought of that is so scary. I can’t imagine driving along one second and having a car land on top of me the next. How can you possibly guard against that?

I finally felt well enough yesterday to work out again, after taking a break while being sick. I fully expected our Wii to lecture me about my two week absence… after all, it had already been commenting to Jeff about not seeing me around recently. Thankfully, it showed mercy on me, even though I had gained back the three pounds that I had intially lost. Looks like I’m starting from scratch, folks!

I sent Colin back to preschool today but it seems I may have jumped the gun. He really seemed to be doing better over the weekend, but when I picked him up after school, his teacher said that his nose had been running the whole time. In his class, if he gets up to blow his nose, then he has to go to the washroom and wash his hands before he can return to the table…a good rule, but I just wonder how much he actually got out of class today if he was constantly having to leave.

Emma is following in her brother’s footsteps of showing an early interest in reading. She knows all of her letter sounds but doesn’t quite get how to put the sounds together yet. The other night we were behind a Conway freight truck on the road when she said “Oh! C-O-N-W-A-Y spells TRUCK!” She was so proud of herself!

If that didn’t make you smile, maybe this will. Yesterday Emma went up to Jeff and, kind of out of the blue, told Jeff “My name Emma Andrews!” He said yes it is, and asked, what is your middle name? Without missing a beat she said “MISS MESS!!” Oh, isn't that the truth! :)

What a week it has been. Very high highs, very low lows.

Tonight we are taking the kids to see Disney on Ice. They are excited for our "special thing" - they don't yet know what it is. I hope the weather cooperates because it is a pretty long drive in rush hour traffic to get up there.

We have been taking turns battling colds over the past several weeks. Colin was the first to come down with it, then Jeff, then Emma, and then me. I am still not 100%, and now Colin has it again. I'm praying that it doesn't cycle through us all over again.

Have a good weekend.

Today was my last day at my job.

To commemorate the day, I....

...was running a fever
...used about a half box of kleenex
...ate cough drops like candy
...and topped it off with a 1 hour & 45 minute commute home.

Oh well, at least my boss brought me bagels.

Looking forward to next week!! Hopefully I won't still feel this miserable by then.

EDIT: I almost forgot to add the part about developing a stye in my eye....it hurts to blink! :(

I guess that is a fitting enough title since I’ve not been very good about posting this month.

January started off with our basement finally being completely finished. Hooray! I guess I shouldn’t say completely, because I do still have some finishing touches – wall décor, window treatments, etc. to tend with, but that seems so minor compared to everything else. Fifteen longs months of work went into this. I’m so glad that it is done. Jeff said that my Christmas present this year was that I get to have a husband again. So true! The last few months especially were hard on the family because he was working down there all. the. time. Anyway, it’s done now, so here are some pictures!


What do you think? Eventually, Jeff intends to build me a scrapbooking table that will go in the craft room as well, and I also want to put up a few cork boards in there for the kids to hang their artwork. Colin is already saving things to hang up down there so I need to buy those soon!

Let’s see…mid-month, we had a baby shower for Terra here at my house. That kept me busy for a few days between all the house-cleaning and other preparations. Colin was sick and Emma was cutting two molars at that same time so it made for a couple of interesting days around here, but somehow we got it all done. There was a nice turnout and I think everything went pretty smoothly. I was so happy to see how generous everyone was – there were many nice gifts. One of the things I made for the shower was these diaper cakes. I really enjoy making these and I think they turned out pretty cute. I wish I had taken a picture of the one I made for Lauren last year. It was a three layer cake and it was pretty cute, too.



This week I’ll be saying adios to my friends at work, and starting a new job next week. After eleven years with the same company, it is going to be tough to say good-bye, but I’m really looking forward to having a new job. I’ll be working the same part-time schedule (Tuesdays & Wednesdays) but much closer to home. In fact, it is only two and a half miles from my mom & dad’s, where the kids stay while I’m working. That will cut down on my commute significantly. I’m also looking forward to doing “real” accounting again…even though my current job is technically accounting, I’m not exactly using my skills there anymore. I’ve kind of been just biding my time in that position for the past four years, because it was something they would let me do part-time, but it isn’t very fulfilling. It’s time for something new.

I’ve also been busy cleaning some things out of storage. I recently sold our crib, and used the money to buy both kids their spring/summer wardrobes. Kohl’s was having a 50% off sale, plus I had the 30% off and free shipping discounts…how can you go wrong with that deal? I was able to order almost everything they need for the next couple of seasons. It was like Christmas all over again the day the package came.

And lastly, we’re all trying to get back to full health over here. We’ve each been sick over the past week or so. It started with Colin, which I mentioned earlier, then Jeff, then Emma, and finally me. I held out long enough to take care of everyone else, and then just crashed, I guess. The rest of the family is on the upswing and I hope to be back to normal soon as well.