Have a Safe & Happy New Year Everybody!!



May this next year fulfill it's promise & be the best one yet.

Ring In 2011 Blog Hop

Bittersweet Parting

             Today, we finally got our animals settled in with the nice girl & her mother who are going to care for them until we have our own house again. It's going to be rough, but at least they should be in good hands until that time. I just wish they weren't so far away. Who knew that 30-40 minutes in the car could seem like forever. So, in honor of my fur-babies, here are as many pictures of them as I could find. :-D Here's praying to be reunited as soon as possible.

 

Theme Song Thursday

Time for a little catch up. :-) I had originally intended to post this song last week, but was not keeping up with my blogging.


And now for something completely different...a couple of songs that just make me happy & fit my current mood (more on that later). :-D

WFMW

Ok, I'm not quite ready to post reflections on the past year, so I'll simply stick with a couple things that worked very well for me today.

1) This great recipe. It was awesome to find something that used up quantities of two things we have plenty of around here...potatoes (both sweet & regular) and ham. Although, I think next time I'll use the proportions from the cheese sauce recipe that we served over broccoli in place of the sauce for the casserole, since it's consistency was much more what I was looking for...the casserole's was a wee bit watery.

2) A great way to place eggs in water when you're hard-boiling them is to use a spaghetti spoon. I've recently discovered how useful this is when you're trying not to break them, lol.

Gratituesday: A sleeping baby in my arms...and other things :-)

           It's hard to even hear myself think at times with seven small children underfoot 24/7 due to Christmas break, but I am very grateful for each and every one of my children and my nieces & nephew. Even when it seems as though WWIII is constantly on the verge of breaking out (especially between the 2 three-year-olds).

Weather in our neck of the woods:
So we live in michigan and its the end of December, Where is the snow? It's 32 degrees outside yet there's barely any snow on the ground.

On the menu for dinner:
Taco salad

Book I'm reading now:
Night Tales: Night Shift & Night Shadow By Nora Roberts
I'm just starting this one.

No words needed (favorite photo):

In my crafting corner:
Working on my blanket and a kids purse hoping to have the purse done by friday, we'll see if i can manage that.

On my to do list:
Take down christmas tree so we have more room for things.
Finish going through toys so there is room for all the new toys the kids got for christmas.
Keep working on my blanket and the kid purse.

On my mind:
I think I'm lossing my mind. Counting down the days till the kids go back to school or we get this more organized. We've managed to get the oldest to wash dishes breakfest and dinner. The scary thing is he offered to do the dinner ones. What else is there that we can have him do? lol.
We had some interesting times so far dearing their break has while. We've managed to find out that you can be 6'2" and fit down the slide at burger king. We do have video of this.
well thats what on my mind at this time.


Amy

Christmas Break...Are We Ready???

            And now on to the most challenging period of time we have had yet since moving in with Amy & Curtis. Two. Whole. Weeks. of seven kids underfoot 24/7. I'm honestly not entirely sure we are up to it. At the same time, it will be so nice to not have to spend half my days in the car dropping people off & picking people up. Oh, the joys of charter schools with no buses.
          But, I digress. It's time to step it up. I am a grand & glorious planner...it's the actual carrying out of said plans that gets me. So here's to sanity-saving activities for the kids to keep them from one another's throats. I forsee a lot of "Go outside & play!" time (which, sad to say, they have all been lacking). And  getting Dede to take naps is at the top of my list for resolutions this year. A grumpy nearly-three-year-old is no fun in general. When this one gets grumpy, it's like we have a banshee take up residence with us. The shrieking & wailing & gnashing of teeth...not pretty.
         We made it through Christmas parties at school (pictures to follow later, once I get to them), and Amy & I are both getting ourselves into baking (& no-baking) mode. Two batches of no-bakes on my part and two batches of cutout cookies and a cherry pie later & I know I'm beginning to feel confident that we'll get all the treats  made that we want to. This weekend gets devoted to cards, cookies, & crafts, if all goes well. Which will leave me far & ahead of where I'm usually at by now. Attempting to overcome chronic procrastination & disorganization is not an easy task.
         

Tackle It Tuesday

Today I managed to clean and vaccume the kids rooms, fold up and put away most of the laundry. I have also managed to get all my christmas gifts made up and mostly brought.

Here's the potholder's and dishcloths that i made has gifts.

Amy

Introductions

"The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." -Harry Dresdan.

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time. It pretty much sums up how life can be at times. My name is Ian and I am Lydia's dear darling husband. Right now our life is like a building on fire but its okay cause the fire deptment has it under control......we hope. Anyways, I just wanted to intro myself in my first post. I'm 31 years old and I work for a bank as a customer service represenative. It's not exactly what I want to do but its ok for now. I'm hoping that they internally hire me for IT which is what I really want to do. I love computers, have ever since I was seven and have wanted to work in the industry for awhile now. Just need to get the papers to match the experiance I have. Reguardless, Its been fun introducing myself and I have more of my crazy thoughts to come.....

Just One of Those Weekends...

Well, it seems like it's been a mixed weekend. On the one hand, tons of housework was done, presents were delivered to church for some families in need, and I finally made no-bake cookies. But that was all offset by a grumpy niece and husband (stupid bugs making their rounds :-s), Amy's husband being out with his buddies for a decent chunk of the day (great for him, not so much for us...espcially with Ian under the weather), one incredibly rambunctious nephew, and a sad lack of activity on our blog. But never fear, tomorrow is another day. :-)

Dear So and So...

Ok, so I know it's not Friday, but this meme from http://3bedroombungalow.blogspot.com/ fits my mood atm. I'm on my way out the door to pick up pizzas for everyone when I notice new damage to my poor sadly abused Jetta. Turn around, ask my dear darling husband about it & he tells me that if we've both just now noticed it, it must have happened in the Meijer parking lot the night before. That's just great.

~ Dear Deficient Driver,
            Can you please not live down to the stereotypical bad Michigan driver reputation and watch where you are going. It's a parking lot, not the German Autobahnen. As if I don't already have a lot of cosmetic work to do on my car...

                                                                                                             ~Yours truly,
                                                                                                                Slightly Peeved :-s

Theme Song Thursday

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Just one of the many unusual positions Deirdre sleeps in...they only get more odd from here on out.

Tackle it Tuesday - A Beginning

Well, I did get a bit of an early start on my tackling yesterday with litterboxes. Today I finally managed to clean Ellie & Mimi's cage...with a little help from a very determined Rhee. :-)

Before ( "c'mon, we're waiting..." )

After (much happier piggies)

Cookie Making

We made cookies with five of the kids today. Here are some pictures.

Amy

Welcome to Our Crazy Hectic Life!

Here goes...introducing my long-planned, finally realized blog. I admit it. I am a rabid blogophile and decided, with the support of my best friend Amy and my husband Ian to take the plunge and start a blog of my own. Although, to be perfectly honest, this is more than just my blog. It is the brain-child of both Amy & myself. Why not share the chaos that comes from our families living under one roof? Seven kids eight & under makes for many challenges. And both of our husbands work full-time, so it is up to Amy & I to encourage one another and try to maintain our sanity.
As well, I have found many, many sources of inspiration online, especially in the blogosphere and I wish to share my discoveries along with any inspired ideas of my own as they occur. My interests are incredibly diverse and I can only hope to achieve all I set out to do in time. Hopefully with this blog to motivate me (and hold me accountable), I can create the life for my family that I desire, while inspiring & entertaining those who choose to read our story. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy. :-D