"thirty packets of ketchup".....from the movie Big Daddy

Okay...we need to play catch-up! It's been so long since I've really written on here...you might need to prepare yourself for a book! ha ha Let me see..last time I talked to you all was January 11th. I can't believe I posted on that day without saying Happy Birthday to my sweet little Brooklyn! She turned 5 on January 11th! It's baffling to me how the time has flown by! I see her every day and she just seems like my baby girl...but then occasionally I really look at her, and I see she has blossomed into this mature little girl who is no longer teeny, tiny and who has become very independent. She is capable of way more than I give her credit for. Anyone who knows her knows she has an amazing mind and vocabulary and will likely become some kind of singer/dancer as that seems to be her passion.
So, anyway, we celebrated her birthday by taking her out to dinner (since her b-day fell on a Wednesday) but we had her party this past Saturday (yesterday). We invited 7 of her friends from school and they all came dressed in their favorite princess clothes. Rather than giving them goodie bags already made up, I gave them empty bags and they had to use clues to hunt for their prizes. There were 8 different prizes which included such things as lip gloss, hair bows, Disney Princess fruit chews, gum balls, a Kit Kat and Disney Princess crayons). I took a few pictures with my new camera but couldn't get very many since I don't have a memory card yet and my internal memory was almost full already.

As for everything else that has been going on since I posted on Christmas day...well, mostly a lot of unpacking, organizing and cleaning. Every few days or so I try to unpack a couple of boxes and find places for all the many things we have aquired over the almost 8 years we have been married. What's crazy is, I can't think of a thing I am missing, yet there are still probably 10-15 boxes that haven't been unpacked. Well, I take that back...I still haven't found my black pepper or Lawry's season salt. It's the weirdest thing. Those are probably my 2 most used spices and they have mysteriously disappeared. I finally gave up on ever finding them yesterday and went and bought new.

I am beginning yet another weight-loss goal this week. Like most people do, I took the holiday's "off" from dieting and though I haven't braved the scale yet...I am certain I put on at least a pound or two (either that or my pants are shrinking! ha ha) Anyway, I am thinking that if I start now, maybe by summer, I can be down another size or two and make my husband do a double take when I put on my swimsuit. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

As for the boys around here....Well, Matt has been keeping busy building us a backyard fence. We'd hoped to be able to let the kids "run free" now that we are in the country..but we've come to realize that it's just too dangerous to not have them confined. Twice now, we have found Grant in our front yard, which is very near a 50 mph road, by himself. Apparently he has learned how to open doors since we've moved. Just thinking about how easy it would have been for him to walk right into the street makes my stomach turn. Thus the reason we are putting up a fence. Plus, Sam, our dog, who is morbidly obese, likes to risk death by moseying right up next to the road. I joke about it, but seriously, I don't know if he could move out of the way fast enough if a car were to come speeding by. So, the fence will benefit us all. Next up on the To-Do list for Matt is building his workshop. We were blessed to be given a lot of left-over lumber from the construction of our home, so we have a good jump-start on the materials we will need for the workshop. Once he frames it out, we will have the concrete poured and we can get started.

Grant is growing up so much! He is talking a lot more and keeps us all entertained. He has trouble with his "R's" so he says things like "Awk" which means "rock" (when he wants us to rock him to sleep) and "caw" instead of car. Hopefully he will outgrow this with time, but for now, it's adorable!
I am taking both of the kids for well child checks this Wednesday so it will be interesting to see how they rank on the percentile charts. Grant is usually high on his height percentile and low on his weight percentile. He still seems pretty tiny to me, but we'll see. I know he can fit an 18-months pants in the length but they fall right off of his waist. (If only I could have been given a figure like that! hee hee) By the way, he turned 20 months old on Friday!!!

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I hope you are all doing well and making the most of the new year! Leave me a comment and let me know you are still reading this! Love and miss each and every one of you! (especially our friends and family in Duncan!) Jen