Keeping Busy

I've been thinking about posting the past couple days, but I've been so busy I just haven't done it.

January is a time for returning to order and reflecting on my goals for the year. Like most of America, I am back in weight loss mode again. I've been working out at the gym on a more regular schedule (something I haven't been doing since my surgeries in October). I feel great when I am done, but it does take a lot of my reserve energy from me.

Out of pure desperation, I have started taking a metabolism booster as it seems I have a very slow metabolism. One night when I was wide awake at 12:30 I asked Dan "do you think those pills have caffeine in them?" Well, sure enough they do! I don't drink coffee on a regular basis, but I can really see why people do...I have gotten so much more done around here since I started taking the metabolism boosters!

For example, on Tuesday after dropping Natalie off at school I made a large dish of enchiladas and a layered bean dip for dinner, then I made bran muffins, 2 loaves of banana bread and rice crispy treats. (trying to clean out the pantry too). Then I took down and sorted all the Christmas decorations, cleaned the kitchen and family rooms and vacuumed downstairs. Just before dinner I made homemade salsa. We had company for dinner, I put the kids in bed afterwards and I was hopping around here, wide awake until after midnight!

Amazing!!! Now I know how the other half live...it's great having so much energy...I hardly know what to do with myself!

I'm a Jeep Kid!

Not long after Zander was born we sold our Jeep. Ever since, Natalie reminds us of how she misses the Jeep...Well, thanks to a group Christmas gift from Dan's mom, they all get to drive one of their very own!

Natalie was the first to try out the new wheels!

Then Zander gave Hayden a ride.

And of course, Hayden wanted a turn too. I don't think he really knew what he was doing, but surprisingly, he did just fine.

Natalie took Sarah around and then Sarah and Ryan got to drive.

Here are Hayden and Ryan.

Even I got in on the action. Kind of funny driving from on top of the seat.

Zander declared himself the best driver since he didn't crash into anything, so we let him park it in the garage. He got really excited when the Jeep said "you're a Jeep kid."

Driving can really take it out of a kid...and his Dad!

Happy New Year!

"Mom, can we stay up til Midnight?"

Sure...or at least they thought it was midnight! Around 10 pm we gathered around the coo-coo clock (which was set for 12!!!) and waited for the coo-coo to ring in the New Year!

We invited Ryan and Sarah over for New Years (and they brought their parents along) to spend the night. They toasted in the new year with sparkling cider.

Popped open poppers.

...and wore funny party hats...Happy New Year!!!

Too Many Photos!

Well, it's been a while since I have updated my blog. I have some fun photos from New Year's Eve that I am unable to upload because my hard drive is too full...do you think this could be attributed to the 21,000 photos I have stored already on the hard drive? Yes, thanks the digital camera age, I have more photos than ever.

So what have I been up to this past week? Mostly just trying to get the house back in order from all the festivities last month. I think I did 8 loads of laundry yesterday!!! A few days before that I completely cleaned the play room...and ya wanna know the best part? It has been staying clean thanks to the new LOCK we installed!!! It's one of the best things we've done to the house so far. By having the playroom door locked most of the time, the constant flow of toys has really come to a screeching halt! They are all trapped in the playroom and the kids, who are missing their toys, really appreciate them more and have done a great job at keeping them put back when they are done...because they know we won't let them play unless everything is put away afterwards...it's quite a monumental turning point in my housekeeping!

I've also been having fun with a site meter I installed on my paper capers blog. It allows me to see how many visitors are checking out my site. I've got visitors from all over the United States and Canada (represented by the colored dots):


...and even some in the Dominican Republic, England, France and Australia! I can track how long they have been on the paper capers blog and how they found the blog (google search engine, or links from other blogs etc.) It also shows how many pages they have looked at and where they are located. I thought it was pretty cool to see so many different locations listed in just the three days since I set up the meter.

Here's a what a referral looks like from Google:
Someone left a nice comment on the penguin party post and it (the meta tags) were picked up by Google! I've actually generated quite a lot of hits from people looking for party ideas. The penguin party has been the most popular so far.

Added Saturday morning. Just got visits from the Netherlands, Korea and Hawaii since I posted last night.

The Ernstopia blog is set to private for our friends and family, so I doubt there are too many viewers from other countries.

At any rate, I hope to download some photos on to Dan's computer and update my blog soon. I also hope to get an external hard drive to relieve some of the storage taken up by all my photos!

Top 10 things that made this Christmas Great!

10. We were pretty much over all our colds (except for Hayden)
9. I got most of my shopping done before December
8. Yummy Christmas treats
7. We got to see family on Christmas Eve
6. I didn't have to clean up my house before and after company
5. Watching the kids enjoy their new gifts
4. Cozy fire in the fireplace
3. It snowed
2. We wore our pajamas all day long!
1. We didn't have to go anywhere, we could just stay home and RELAX!

Christmas 2007 Recap

My Christmas started last Friday...I was taking Natalie to school a little early so we could deliver the flower arrangement for her teacher and the ornament to her substitute teacher. I was almost there when the Suburban died. The gas gage was low, but wasn't completely empty...so I thought.

I was able to turn the engine over again, but I told Natalie, we had to go to the gas station before we could get to school. The gas station is out of the way and I knew we would be late. Just moments later the car stalled again, so I pulled over again. I got it going, but it didn't get me much further down the road. I finally pulled over as far as I could in the e-lane, but my big'0l Suburban was still sticking out into traffic. I called Dan to see if he could rescue me, but he was home with the boys and I had all the car seats. He called the neighbors to see if they could watch the boys while he went for gas, but no one was home.

Meanwhile, I called the neighbors behind us and he said that rather than watch the boys, he could bring me some gas so Dan didn't have to leave the house. They have a gas tank on their property, so he could just bring me some. While we waited I tried to distract Natalie, who was getting really cold (no engine, no heater either!) We read some of her reading homework and about 15 minutes later my neighbor shows up with a big tank of gas. I tried to give him some money cause I know how expensive gas is these days, but he wouldn't take it saying "that's not what this is about!" I couldn't thank him enough, because he really went above and beyond.

The next night (Saturday) we went to the same neighbor's house for a Christmas party. They had a live nativity in their barn and an Italian super afterwards.

Then Sunday after church, we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. Natalie and Zander were pros, but Hayden still wasn't sure about it.

I didn't get much done in the way of decorating this year, but I did manage to decorate the tree. It is kind of refreshing how little decorating I did, but I do wish I would have put the greenery around the front door and on the fireplace mantle...but I guess that's just less for me to have to put away later, right!

Christmas EveFrom about 4:30-7 pm we visited with family at Dan's grandparent's house.

Then it was off to see all of my family at Andrea and John's new place. After munching on goodies I decided to throw in the DVD slide show I worked up of all the Roush family photos from the past year...So many cute and funny pictures from the past year...We laughed, we cried (well, mostly the girls cried) and reminisced. Andrea couldn't find the remote, so we couldn't navigate through all the selections, so we will have to get together soon and view the rest.

Here are all the cousins minus the one in the "cooker." It is so fun to watch them all play together. I am so thankful to have nieces and nephews who we can spend time with and watch them grow.

We had a great time watching the excitement of all the gifts being unwrapped followed by the wrapping paper ball fight that typically breaks out afterwards.

Christmas Morning

We started off with a nice fire in the wood burning fireplace (that only gets used once or twice a year!)

Then the kids were ready to open their stockings. But not before reading the letter Santa left. Among other things, he said he was hungry because the cookies were gone before he got there. Zander didn't miss a beat and totally blamed the reindeer for eating the cookies! They loved dumping all the goodies out. My stocking had a one of those little boxes in it...you know the kind of little boxes that girls love to receive. I was trying not to get my hopes up...It could have been anything...but to my surprise, inside was a beautiful pair of freshwater pearl earrings with a matching necklace...after 10+ years of hinting, "Santa" is finally catching on!!!

After breakfast, Dan read the "Light of Christmas" book and I read the birth of Jesus story from the Bible. As we read, the kids got to set up the nativity.





Finally, the kids got to open all their gifts and boy were they excited. It was so much fun seeing the excitement when they realized what was behind all that Christmas wrap.

I was making lunch when I heard Zander say, it's snowing. I thought he was mistaking hail for snow as it has been hailing off and on this week, but when I looked out the window it WAS snowing...and not just a little bit, but it was really coming down. I can't remember too many times when we get snow on Christmas and when we do, it very rarely sticks.

Who can eat lunch when it's snowing out?


Later, after dinner, I served rice mush (rice pudding)...a family tradition from my side, along with egg nog with fresh nutmeg. Yummmmy!

Public Service Announcement: Cookie Bandit on the Loose!

Tonight, as is customary, we left cookies for Santa. Zander was the only one not already in bed, so I asked if he wanted to bring them in the living room. After he was done, I chased him upstairs and snuggled for a while. Then I warned them that Santa was just spotted over Canada, so they better hurry and get to bed before he got here.

I just started to unpack the kids' Christmas gifts (my side of the family opens on Christmas Eve) when I walked into the living room to get the stockings down from the mantle. I glanced at the cookie plate and two of the cookies were missing...That sneaky little boy of mine ate the cookies. I was getting ready to go upstairs and make him brush his teeth again when I saw this:

...Zander, must have been gazing at the tree (or the gifts under the tree) when he dozed off right on the edge of the couch.

I had only been unpacking for just a little over 5 minutes, so those cookies must have been what he needed to get to sleep!!!

I went in the family room to tell the story to Dan. He walked in and saw Zander and said, "you have to take a picture of that!" (I have my family trained!)

I couldn't find my camera anywhere, so Dan went out to the car to see if it got left in there. In that short amount of time, Hayden came down and took the other cookie and walked up to bed, like it was no big deal. I saw him do this and just had to laugh. I don't even know how he knew they were there (unless Zander revealed his master plan before going downstairs).

So beware, Santa might not be the only one eating your cookies tonight!

Serious problems with plumbing here at Ernstopia

Man...I love our home, but sometimes it feels like a huge money pit. Here's what has gone wrong in the past 24 hours:

• Last night we realized that the small trickle of water under our kitchen sink is now a constant drip and has leaked all over everything under the sink. Upon closer inspection it seems the pipes have rusted all the way through leaving holes in the pipe where water can leak out anytime the kitchen sink is used.
• For some reason all the water downstairs is ice cold. Dan thinks it could be the pilot light in the hot water heater that has gone out. An easy fix...I think.
  
• This morning the toilet in our master bath overflowed all over the floor before church.
  
• And then after coming home from a Christmas party at our next door neighbors, Dan discovered that our basement was completely flooded...about 4" of standing water...EVERYWHERE! With all the rain we've been having, water has been building up.
  

When I got home from the gym this evening, Dan was under the sink trying to fix the leak.

Here's Dan trying to rescue the insulation from the wet basement floor.

As you can see, it's all the way to the stairs! See the mop we bought today at Home Depot (on the bottom step). At the time I thought it would be a good thing to have to mop up the puddles...little did we know we should have been buying a sump-pump!!!

Our friend Scott called sometime after 10:30 pm and offered to come over and help with our flooded basement. I went to find Dan to see what help he needed, but he was no where to be found. About 15-20 minutes later Dan knocks on the door with this. He pulled it out of the drainage pipes down where the driveway meets the road.

It appears to be some kind of root system all matted up with other organic matter.

Dan thought it would make a nice hair piece. I had to agree, but told him it couldn't come in the house!!!

I guess we were just spoiled in our first home which was only 2 years old when we bought it. In the short time we've lived here, we've been faced with some pretty costly issues to fix. Remember our major ant infestation? It cost several hundreds of dollars just to minimize (yes they are still getting in). Our central vac began not working over a year ago, but it's not real high on our list of things to fix. During the winter months we have a horrible draft coming from about 90% of the windows in the house causing the house (especially the floors) to be super cold until about noon (when the heat has been on a while). Windows are not in our budget right now either, so Dan bought that plastic film (you use a hair dryer to seal up your window) and I hope it does the trick. Between the damp basement and the drafty windows it's no wonder we've been so sick since we've moved here.

I am trying to look at the bright side of this...I mean, at least we didn't have anything on the floor of the basement. And hey if it gets cold enough, we could have our own ice skating rink! Maybe if we charge admission we can come up with enough money to repair all the water damage!

Sorry this was such a bummer of a post. I'm sure I'll be better by tomorrow. I just really needed to vent...carry on!

Making a list, checking it twice...

Today I got 3 major tasks checked off my Christmas list! I finally got a chance to work on our family Christmas newsletter. Something I normally like to have done by now, but I don't know when I could have done it sooner. Above is the header I created for our family newsletter.

Tonight, after dinner (when the kids should have been getting ready for bed) I put together a photo shoot so I could have a picture to send along with the letter. I tried earlier in the month to get a good photo, but I really wanted to have some photos by the decorated tree...

Here are the "out takes" from 2 weeks ago.

Which brings me to the third thing I checked off my list:
Decorating the tree

Today, with some help from Hayden I got the ornaments on the tree. For some reason Hayden wanted to kiss all the ornaments.

Here he is pointing and saying "kiss it."