Better Late Than Never

I realize that it has been some time since my last blog. December was a whirlwind of activity as we celebrated my birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas here in Texas. Christmas night, we flew to Utah and spent a week with Brian's family and we were able to see my family, too. While there Brian and Cami and Spencer went skiing and all the kids went sledding, hot tubbing, and played with their cousins. We were also able to drop in our great friends the Seabergs who live in Utah now. I hurt my back while trying to stand up out of a chair while holding Zach (our 30 pound 1-yr. old), so i was in bed for a day and couldn't go skiing or anything! What a lame accident, but I was still very sore and taking obscene amounts of ibuprofen, so I went to a doctor when i got back and he gave me a prescription. I am finally feeling better this week, but i still have to be very careful lifting, doing laundry, loading the dishwasher, picking up toys, vacuuming...well, basically everything a mother does during the day!

Aside from all that, we celebrated Emma's 7th birthday with a Hannah Montana themed party here at the house. We played the animal game, then Freeze Dance to Hannah Montana's music DVD. I found a cute guitar pinata, so we did that, too. We ate pizza and i make a really great guitar cake. Sorry no pictures here! I lost the camera after the party, and have yet to find it!

We also celebrated Spencer's 10th birthday. I couldn't do 2 parties at the house in one weekend, so we opted to have Spencer's party at a local bowling alley where they bowled, ate pizza and brownie (Spencer doesn't like cake) and the played laser tag and arcade games. It was great to have it all planned and ran by someone else! (no pictures here either!)

To top it all off, we've had the bad head cold that never wants to end, science projects, basketball games and practices, soccer starting up, and Brian's been traveling quite a bit, and i (i should say the house, but it sure felt like it was all me!) had a major water leak that came in through the hardwood floor in my kitchen! So, the past week has been spent contacting our home owner's insurance, plumbers, floor guys, a mason (because the pipe was only accessible through the brick wall in the back of the house) and trying desperately not to break down. This must be my mid-life crisis or something! I think things are in control, now. Our pipe is fixed, the brick is fixed, and we are waiting for the wood to completely dry to see what the extent of the damage is.

On a positive note, Brian loves his new car and the kids do to. (sorry! no picture of this either). He is working out during lunch at work and might run a 1/2 marathon this Saturday. Oops, it's only a 10K, but that's more than i'll ever run in my life! The kids are all finally healthy and doing well in school and sports and piano. So, January was a big hurdle for us and I'm glad it's over and hopefully February will be a little more "normal" for us. (is that even possible for a family of 7?)