YAY for me!

so without a long boring story, i have a desktop PC that got a worm (virus) on it and the HD needed to be formatted so i could use it again. no way to do that, so i recently took the time to look more into it after being given 2 scrap PC's and with some advice from a friend to get me started and lots of research on the internet, i have learned quite a bit about the hardware on a PC and how things work. i was able to get my PC working, which is huge for me that i did it myself (with helpful advice from a friend). the power supply was bad on my PC but good on one of the PC's i was given, so i switched them out. i also switched out all the hardware of my PC into a bigger case (that came from one of the other PCs i was given) which was also a huge learning experience! i now have the ability to hook up 2 HDs instead of just 1. it took me a while to figure out that i had the jumper on the wrong pins to set the drives to Master/Slave correctly! that was annoying, but now i won't make that mistake again! and the PC works fine now! i was able to format my HD that had the worm on it, and now i can do the other HD's to the PCs i was given.

this is such an accomplishment for me. i mean, it wasn't hard to "learn" what i needed to know to put the PC back together, it simply took time, and now i have the hands on experience! but now this means i can help others with my new talent! or at least lend a helping hand wether i can actually help or not... and i enjoy helping others.

now i can move to the next step and build my own PC from scratch! of course that won't be any time soon...

so... i wanted to post my first update on my new years goals...that way they are always fresh on my mind. (bare with me)

1. being more grateful - complaining less

i think i've done pretty good with this one so far. as far as i can tell! i started a Grateful list and have been adding to it.

2. get organized

i haven't really gotten a chance to really start this one, but i have started to take notes on what i'd like to purchase to help stay organized etc. and i did get to fix the PC which was on my long term to do list!

3. working out

i weighed myself for the week and i'm 146.8. a loss of .2 lbs. i also went to Foxy's last week, and plan to go again tomorrow, and i am starting to do more at home (with the trampoline and all!) i started doing the basics, push ups, crunches (with kids), and some running in the yard!

4. read scriptures

i started in the new testament, and i am on Chap. 5 in Matthew (while studying the seminary manuals too) and i have started reading Ensign articles with my spare time. i generally read bits at least once a day, and i think that helps my mood quite a bit.

5. take the time to take care of me

i could have done better with this last week, i wanted to take a soak in the tub and have a night of relaxing, but didnt! this week i've done a little better. (don't need to get specific on this one...i'm the only one it matters to)

6. FHE

i had a lesson last week and working on the one for this week!

7. focus on the kids happiness

last week i gave them sweet massages, i wanted to teach them that they can calm down and relax too. they both sat stil and let me pamper them. it was cute. this week, i got the train tracks out and built that for them and taught Daniel how to turn on the battery operated train. i also went to the library with kathryn and we had some time to ourselves to read books and pick some to read at home. she loves books, and loved our trip.

8.forgive and forget

i've done good with this, talking with people i normally don't

9. visiting with family and extended family, friends

i have done pretty good with this one, i exceeded my goal for this month already! i know that sounds a bit...silly keeping track, but last year i went weeks without seeing my sisters, and i never noticed (i guess) and i feel like if i keep track, i can see if i'm spending too much time at home, and need to get out and visit. it's been fun, we had a sisters night at Nat's this week, and last week i visited with my granny with Natalie. we are planning a game night with my family, and i am thinking of doing the same for the in-laws. i need to work on the friends side of it now tho. i have made plans to participate in the church activities where my friends from church might be...so that's a start.

10. go to the temple at least once a month

i think i will go next week, so we'll see.

11.be debt free except the mortgage

ooooo, i am excited about this one! i did a "mock" version of our taxes (we haven't gotten our official W-2's in yet) and our tax return will be enough to get us out of debt and save for a van! ironically even tho we bought a house, we still don't have enough deductions to itemize, so it'll be a simple filing again this year, and hopefully soon!

12. work on scrapbooking my pictures/items

i have started on this but i realized, i didn't have any layout ideas... so i went online, and OH MY! tons and tons of ideas for layouts/ cards and that's what i needed to get my brain going again! i am so excited! i really want to keep this going!

so i am feeling pretty good. and since the weather has gotten a bit warmer and i've been going outside, i've been surveying the yard seeing what needs to be done... and of course checking the garden. i want to build it up. i saw some bricks at a house in the front of our neighborhood and i grabbed them before they got thrown away...136 bricks. that's a start! and they were free!

ooo, and has anyone gone to sams recently?! they are getting their spring bulbs and plants in! and they are such great prices! i dunno the quality per se, but i wanna get some and see!

good times

well, we are finally catching a break for this weather huh?! it feels so nice to be able to let the kids play outside! i am grateful for nice weather!

i was looking through the pictures i recently took in an effort to calm Daniel down, and realized i have more pics to share! and i'll also post a video or two at the end, when Daniel watched these, he giggled and it was so stinkin cute what he gets a kick out of.

So Friday we got a visit from Auntie Jenn and the kids were loving her attention. Daniel especially liked her touch screen phone (iphone). Daniel was being cuddly with Auntie Jenn then decided to play the "workout game" with her. well, i call it that, because as you sit on the floor with your feet out in front of you and Daniel facing you is sitting in your lap, he lunges forward into you knocking you down to the floor, then tries to pull you back up, but once you get up, he pushes you over again. talk about an ab workout. but Daniel thinks it's funny. and so Jenn played his game for a bit, then Kathryn joined in, and well, it was just too cute to not get pictures of.

Daniel pushing Jenn down

He just loves it

and Kathryn didn't want to stop.

Auntie Jenn even read them their bedtime stories and Daniel actually sat and looked at the book being read! he never does that with me!
The kids were lovin their Auntie Jenn's attention, and they were very sad when she had to leave.

So mommy sat down and read them one more story, and then we put them to bed. and so since our heating costs were going way too high, starting the beginning of last week when it got super cold, we turned the heater off, used our firplace for a few hours to heat the living area during the day time (it uses less gas than the heater) and closed all the doors so that it stayed warm. then at night we had a small space heater (ceramic) on in our MBR and set up little pallets for the kids to sleep on the floor and we all stayed nice and cozy (about 75) while the rest of the house was 58 or so... i know it's not a good habit to get the kids into, but their bedrooms are on the very outside walls and they stay so cold... so it's cheaper to do it this way, and the kids sleep longer!

this is my broccoli that i cut before it went bad from all the freezing/thawing. i'm excited about it!

so since we were staying in the living room where it was nice and warm and we were keeping all the doors were closed, i got the train set from Dan's room and set it up for them. they had so much fun with it! here kathryn is playing with one of the train cars and making the "choo" sound can you tell? (check out her lips)

i loved watching Daniel follow the train (battery operated) around and turn his head and bend over to watch it go through the tunnels and over the hills. too cute. "i know you're in there"

and he decided it wasn't going fast enough by itself, so he was going to help it along. he's really bending over...nice balance.

and Daniel's new favorite thing to do is tackle Kathryn...he's so much smaller than her, but it's hilarious to watch. and at first Kathryn thought it was funny too. hence the happy smiling faces...

He got her now, and then he brings her down...
and victory is his! this is too cute, it reminds me of a picture of John and his brother Ben that were about this same age in this same position. maybe i'll find the pic and post it.

so there was a mess up on the last check we got where John didn't get paid for Christmas (holiday pay), which we weren't expecting so we had to cut out the extra we should have gotten from the budget somewhere, and groceries took the brunt of it...which was fine, we had stocked up on sales stuff last check, so we were set... but when i had burritos on the menu and no tortilla shells, i made my own! no refried beans, made my own! it was a very satisfying feeling knowing we didn't have to depend on the store for everything. and John really liked the soft taco shells (they didn't stretch quite big enough for burrito size) unfortunately, when i went to pick the lettuce, i waited to late, and it was already frozen again, so it didn't fare well getting defrosted but all in all, it was good. so i wanted to post a pic for the accomplishment. i now have a MUCH greater appreciation for how they HAD to do things back in the day...all from scratch, from your garden, very few things did you buy from someone else. wow. it was hard work and a lot of preparation trying to make this dinner, i can only imagine trying to do that for every meal. and we are supposed to be the strong ones facing harder times... they were troopers.

so a few nights ago, i decided the kids would take a bath in the master tub, so they would stay warm, and i got them some kids blueberry bubble bath a while back and so they got to use it...they had a blast with the bubbles. here Daniel has a bubble mohawk, and Kathryn can't stop laughing at him.

and Kathryn with her bubble crown. yeah, i had fun with them.

Daniel with a bubble hat, sideburns and mustache/goatee. Now i didn't put these bubbles on, he went to "dive" into the water like he always does, and got a mouthful of bubbles and coughing them out. but he thought it was funny and did it again.

and after he got out of the tub, i love his long wispy hair...so don't even ask me what i was thinking doing this:

so he's doing something with his hands...idk why. ALL HIS BLONDE IS GONE!! i'm so sad! i dunno why i thought his hair needed to be cut...and i'm not great at cutting hair, so it was bound to turn out bad...bad meaning, i liked him with his long hair better!! so, he gets to have long hair from now on. because i like it that way! he looks so different to me!

So yesterday our pipes froze again... even though we wrapped them...except for the small hose connector you see here. is this unwrapped part the reason our pipes froze? it did get down to 19º but do you really have to keep your water running to prevent pipes from freezing?

so this was the temperature the car read on the way to bring Kathryn to school. that's the coldest i remember ever seeing the temperature read, but John told me over the weekend when he went to work in the am, it read 20. wow.

oh, and before i forget, the other week Mr. Guy wanted to take the bike for a spin, goes to start the engine, and nothing... the battery is dead i'm sure, we haven't turned it on since...november. but there is just no tellin if that is the only thing wrong with it. good thing we have already had plans to not need it. and thankfully our car is still running with no problems yet.

and lastly, the videos that Daniel thought were funny, i'll post in the next blog.

100th post!

so to catch up what has been happening in our world in the last week or so,

i've been meaning to post a pictures so here ya go:

this is the color the living room turned out to be, although it looks different in sunlight vs florescent light... i think i may end up changing it, but i'm not sure. it's kind of growing on me...

so Julie and Blase came with their girls to visit the family in lafayette and so i went with Corine and Guy to go see them. (they live in Houston) the girls are getting so big! Charlie is dancing with Kathryn in this picture above, and Kathryn is doing her new thing with her fingers (crossing them) and she put on Charlies clip on earrings! if you click the picture you can see the full size.

When it was time to go, Charlie was so cute, she went up to her mom and said "but mom, i am going to miss them" and got really sad. here's her sad face. in the next picture, Aunt Cindy is holding baby Brett. Brett is wearing her new hair bow Julie picked out. it's the least i can do for all the lil girlies in my family. Brett seems like such a good baby, easy going, carefree. and look at all her hair! she's 5 months here.

i tried to get the girls to take a picture together, but Charlie was still sad we were leaving. It's funny too because Kathryn didn't play much with her, Daniel did. Charlie was chasing Daniel around and they had a ball, it was so cute to watch. too bad they don't live close and the kids could have fun playing together.

this is the playhouse the kids got for Christmas too bad it's been too cold for us to play outside. but when it warms up, i can see them having a blast going from pool to house to...

the trampoline Corine got from a pharmacist she works with for FREE! and of course, she asked us if we wanted it. ever since i can remember i always said i wanted a trampoline when i got a house... so when it was offered for free, i said heck yeah. and it has a net which was a must. no bumper pad, but we've had it for almost 2 weeks and the kids don't go near the edge, so we'll get one eventually... but lets just say the kids LOVE it, and i LOVE it too. =) i know they can be dangerous, but with the kids young i don't see them trying a flip and busting their face open...at least not yet. not saying it won't happen...but we'll see how it goes. they love it so much they simply couldn't wait weeks before it warmed up again so, when the temperature was about 38º and the sun was out, we layered up and went out.

personally, i've seen a dramatic improvement in Kathryn's jumping. as Jaiden pointed out the first time Kathryn got on, she was skipping rather than jumping with both feet at the same time...not any more! she bounces the right way, and high too! i think this may help her balance.

and Daniel seemed to get the hang of it super quick...after he got over the face planting and whining, he really does good...and he loves it. in fact, he has figured out what our blue chair has in it...

so monday night as i was making a new meal calendar i decided i wanted to start making stuff homemade to use the recipes i have and try new things... and my mom just gave me a pizza recipe book, so on wednesday, i decided with the leftover ham, we would make a pizza. a hawaiian pizza. i was afraid it wouldn't turn out, but it was great! John ate 3 pieces which meant he liked it. i think i liked my crust better than papa murphy's, and the sauce was awesome. it's hard to mess up pineapple and ham, so i'll definitely make it again.

now a few nights ago, i came out of the craft room and saw Kathryn sleeping on the blue chair in the living room and asked John where Daniel was, i didn't hear him, and he said he didn't know, so i peeked in the dinning area, and saw this:

i thought...he's not moving...HE FELL ASLEEP HANGING OVER A CHAIR! AAAAA HAHAHAHA...just hilarious! so i had to get pictures.
sleepy baby.
it was priceless. his little feet just dangling.

and this is how he woke up one morning after i brought kathryn to school...crazy hair! haha. yeah, he needs a hair cut. so i tried to cut it a few days back, and he was jerking his head and batting his hands shooing me away from his hair. he would have nothing of it! so i guess i'll try again later.

he's trying to devour an entire musketeers fun size bar...it was just funny.

so the kids have been doing/saying some funny things so i'll share those before i forget.

one day kathryn came up to me and just started mumbling non stop and before i could stop her to tell her i couldn't understand any of it, i hear at the end "lity and jusis for all" i gasped, said "can you say it again" and she with a smile on her face replied "YES!" and repeats what i thought was just random mumbling...but it was the Pledge of Allegiance! She had memorized it from saying it at school, and she remembered every word too! it was so cute i teared up. she is amazing at this age. so many cute little phrases and her personality coming out. just before bed after we say prayers we tell Daniel to give sis kisses, and he climbs over to her and leans in for a kiss. recently he has done the "over and over" where he just keeps giving her kisses, well, she turned to me one time and said "dats enough Daniel" hehe.

and Daniel likes to investigate everything, so i noticed he had a ponytail holder and he was stretching it back and forth and he very intently says "ooooo" then "aaaaaa" it was really funny at the time. he also likes spray bottles, and i had him on the counter next to me so he could see me mix the pizza dough, and as i focus on fixing the dough, i keep hearing "ch ch ch ch ch" i finally look over at daniel when i snap out of it and realize that's not a good sound to find Daniel spraying Lysol kitchen spray all over his leg, and my phone...it was soaked...i just had to laugh. now my phone screen is blotchy and the buttons work when they want except the U...it doesn't ever work. oh well, that's what i get for not paying attention!

oh yeah, and before the first big frost this week, we were going to cover our bare pipes, but somehow completely forgot, and so monday morning, i wake up and go turn on the kitchen faucet to wash out a cup and...nothing. darn! our pipes froze. haha, once again, quite preventable, but we weren't prepared. i'm just glad they thawed out before it froze again the next night, and John was certainly out wrapping the pipes! luckily the pipes didn't burst. i guess we can thank the cheap plastic PVC tubing that connects all the water in our house.

after the second deep freeze this week, i gave up trying to protect my garden... surprisingly the lettuce isn't completely dead. but i did have to take my broccoli it was frozen solid. we'll see how they fare out through this cold spell.

speaking of how cold it's been since the new year started, i haven't wanted to get out to go to Foxy's so my goal isn't getting off to a good start...but with the trampoline... when Daniel goes down for a nap (usually the warmest time of the day) and they have already been outside to jump, i put a movie on for Kathryn or let her play on the PBS kids website, and i go out to jump on the trampoline. ah, it is awesome. it's a great cardio workout which is one of my least favorite things to do, unless it's something fun...and the trampoline is great fun! it boosts my self esteem when i can flip and flip... and jumping to L sits is a great ab work out. my legs are sore so it must be doing some good! it just puts me in a better mood altogether. it's like my few minutes in paradise... i just feel so weightless...

so this week i am incredibly grateful for:

trampolines!

tough technology that keeps going

space heater that keeps us all cozy and warm in the MBR.

oh yeah, and Walgreens had a 9 cent print special, and so i got 100 pictures to start scrapbooking with!