My Talents

I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that I have an amazing talent of always getting in the wrong line anywhere I go. It always seems like the shortest/fastest moving, but no, it is the one with all of the people with "issues".

I have discovered two more talents that are equally enviable and marvelous. The first one is that I can attract every blood thirsty mosquito within a twelve mile radius. I must have the sweetest blood on the planet because they will line up to get a sip of me! Cool, huh?

My third, and final talent is hiding things where I KNOW will be the perfect place for something, and then immediately forgetting that hiding place. I took our wireless mouse to our computer away the other day so the boys wouldn't be tempted to play the computer before their chores were finished and I hid it so well that I will probably never see it again!! I do this type of thing constantly!

These are talents that I wish I didn't excell at so much, but hey, at least I'm really good at something!!!! I don't look at it as bragging, I'm simply proud of my gifts!!

Winter: An Overview

Yep, it's another "overview" post.  I know you are thrilled because it's kind of like watching our family live on fast forward!  I am determined to get caught up, so here's a run down of the beginning of 2011.

In January,

--We turned our living room into an office.  At first, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a good idea, but I. LOVE. IT!!  Because it's in the front of the house, it always stays clean (and what I mean by that is, when someone is coming over, I quickly put everything away!) and organized!  I love the furniture we picked out as well.  This started a snowball effect of change in our house, as you will see.

--Because the office stuff was now out of the upstairs guest bedroom, we moved the guest bed into Ethan's small room and purchased the boys bunk beds so they could share a room.  They absolutely love their new furniture and sharing a room (most days).  I am going to finish decorating their room soon and complete the sports theme

--Because we put the boys together and the office on the main level, it opened up an entire bedroom upstairs.  Of course, there was only one logical thing to do with it....give Jen a craft room!!  It is still in chaos because I haven't found the right furniture for it, but I love having my own space to put all of my junk stuff.  It is going to have a black, white, and red theme and I can't wait to decorate it and craft my heart out!

--I finished physical therapy for my shoulder!  Yahoo!!  Another milestone and I'm doing great!

--Braiden participated in his first pinewood derby race in Cub Scouts.  He didn't win, but we all had a lot of fun and I want to give a shout out to my dad for helping Braiden with his car.  Ryan was so busy getting ready for trial, so Grandpa stepped in and helped. 

--Lauren celebrated her 12th birthday!  She gets more beautiful everyday.  I know, I am going to need a lot of rope to tie her up when she turns sixteen and keep her tied up until she's thirty...

--Our new niece, Haisley Mae Gittins was born!!

--I visited the Gittins Gang in Milwaukee and had a great time

--We celebrated Cora's second birthday with a Princess party!

--I got new kitchen appliances and I love them!  Kitchen Aid.  Stainless Steel.  Convection ovens.  Enough said.

In February,

--We had a fun Super Bowl party with the extended family

--We celebrated Ethan's sixth birthday a few days early

--We made sucker lips and mustaches for Ethan's Valentine's Day class party

--Went on an amazing family vacation to Orlando with Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Janis, Uncle Jason, and Aunts Denise and Kaylee.  We had the time of our lives!

--We went to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Wild Animal Kingdom, Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios (including the new Harry Potter park), visited the Orlando Temple, and watched the Shuttle Discovery launch into space!!

Well, that's it for now.  Orlando trip and more overview posts coming, but getting the kids ready for school is taking up a lot of time. I'm trying to enjoy having them all here and then I'll ship them all off to school (and enjoy that too!) Love you all!!