Facebook

Okay, so my BFF, Lisa and my SIL, Beth, both suggested I should go on to face book and create an account so I can reconnect with all these people I went to HS and even grade school with. My first thought was it was crazy and to difficult to navigate. Well, I finally created a face book account yesterday and already have 18 friends from long ago and even some family on there (Dave and Jess, and Beth of course). It is surreal that in this day and age you can reach out and "find" all the people you grow up with. You can include people you wish to chat with and can "ignore" those you don't remember or choose not to "remember". I am now a member of Spring Bluff Elementary School Alumni and Lakehurst Mall Fun. CRAZY!!! I have chatted with people I never thought would "remember" me. I have a few more people I think I will invite to be my friend if they don't invite me first. Yes, I have ignored some people, also. At first I thought this was rude, but realized (with guidance) that if I don't remember them or we weren't friends/acquaintances in the first place, why should we be now over the Internet.

NO MORE SNOW PLEASE

Hey, guess what...it is snowing again! Unbelievable. I cannot even fathom the total amount of snow on the ground now. I did use the snow blower again this morning. That is two times this year for me... Hopefully it just continues to flurry now because I do not want to go out again before I go get Nick off the bus. And tomorrow we get to endure zero degree high temps. WOOHOO! Well it is almost lunch time for me and Karli. We eat lunch at 11am because we get up so stinking early -- even on my days off.

Winter Fun

As it continues to snow here with thought we'd make the best of it and the kids went out and played in it for awhile. John took the boys on the snowmobile and Karli went for a short ride, too. Then everyone came in for hot cocoa. Here are some pics of the kids enjoying the hot cocoa after spending an afternoon in the snow.

SNOW

Well, it is another snowy day here in the Midwest. I am very proud of myself today for using the snow blower we have. John talked me through starting it over the phone again, for it has been a year since I used it last. So much better than shoveling. Karli was in the yard while I was doing the driveway. She was trying to make snow angels and kept falling into the snow face first on purpose. We were both soaked when it was time to come in. How many more weeks until Spring?

New Year 2009

Happy New Year to all! We began this year with a delicious lunch at my mom and dad's house yesterday. Mom made beef tenderloin steaks, mashed potatoes and veggies while Karli and I made a recipe from the cook book Beth printed for everyone of Grammy O's recipes. It was a cherry cheese pie -- basically a cheese cake with sweetened condensed milk and cherry pie filling on top. We made it a little lighter by using the 1/3 less fat cream cheese and light cherry pie filling. Karli could actually eat this, so she had a ball helping me mix it and lick the beaters. I was very glad we could make something together and she could lick the beaters like I used to get to do (and still love to do)... Kudos to Aunt Beth for suggesting we get some of Grammy's recipes down on paper. Nick couldn't wait to test the final product out, either, he picked it as a favorite before we actually made it.

We also went to the doctor today to see if they could tell why Karli may be failing her hearing screenings, and they pulled a large chunk of wax out of her ear (while I had to hold her down screaming) and said she did have an ear infection in her right ear. So we are on Augmentin for two weeks and then we are getting another hearing screening in the doctor's office in four weeks (Jan. 30th to be exact). Hopefully they found the culprit and we will be done with this saga in her 3 1/2 year old life.

We also got our new Samsung 40" LCD HDTV delivered today from Best Buy to go in our room to replace the 32" one we think was damaged by too much Wii activity. We are putting the 32" in our living room, so we all can be in different rooms watching what we want on TV. AHHH -- togetherness!!!! We just got back from Walmart and then Target to find a suitable and "most cost effective" (I was told not to use the words less expensive by my new boss a few months back because it suggests a decrease in quality) TV stand to go in our living room. Walmart's selection did not suit our needs; therefore, we went to Target and found a lovely, most cost effective honey colored book case that will work well in the area we intend to use it and will hold the TV and Wii and $29.99 DVD player we bought to go with the ensemble. Yes, the Wii is staying with the TV corrupted by it and is going in the living room.

Well, I better go see what the princess is up to -- it is too quiet in our room.

Hearing test

So, today we took Karli in for a second hearing test with the Lake County Health Department. She received her first test at school about 2 weeks ago and I received a letter explaining she had failed the hearing test (it was for both hearing and vision) and we needed to set up another screening. Karli again failed with her right ear on two separate frequencies 500 and 1000 hertz in the 25-30 decibel range. Basically, she is right on the acceptable/unacceptable line, but with two frequencies missing she needed to be referred to her pediatrician for a follow up to see if there is any fluid in her ears, etc. I should have known when I felt the searing pain of her birth via c-section that she would not be an easy child. First, it was her peanut, tree nut, egg allergy diagnosis in the early part of last year and now it will be taking her in for ear screenings, etc. in the early part of this year. I guess no one said parenting was easy!

Tomorrow the boys will get their day with a movie with Casey and Cameron and a sleep over. Sometimes I feel they get left out due to Karli's needy nature and "special" issues.

Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone already. After weeks of preparation, it is all over in a flash. Almost like the 12+ inches of snow that has come and gone already. Amazing! The boys enjoyed Christmas as usual, but as they get older the gifts become smaller and less in number. Luckily they understand that Wii games, DS games and such are more expensive for Santa to take care of. Karli scored with a "pee pee potty doll" as she proclaimed when she opened it and lots of Hannah Montana gear from dolls to clothes to a bean bag chair. What fun! She even got a faux American Girl Doll from Ollie and Papa which she thinks is genuine. The funny thing was she woke up on Christmas Eve after her nap and announced she wasn't opening any presents because she didn't know what was inside them. She got over that very quickly.