Mini Post Monday

The boys made chocolate and crushed candycane covered marshmallows, which were a big hit! 

Andrew - I love how he has finally learned to smile for the camera!

Well, a few Monday's have come and gone without one of these posts, but I do have to say that I have valid reasons for my absence.  We left the day after Christmas to go to Colorado for a week.  Of course I took my camera, but took absolutely no pictures of our time there... Just picutre a sprawling 4 split-level resort with gorgeous sitting rooms, cozy sleeping rooms, and views from every window; nestled in a wooded, hilly plot of land with a perfect view of Pike's Peak through the trees.  Fill that sprawling house with all of my wonderful extended family who are there to visit, play, and pray together for a week.  It was lovely beyond words.

Our 2010 Christmas family picture.  I wish Andrew wasn't blurry, but overall I really like this shot!

When I returned, I scrambled to get laundry done, Christmas decorations down, and a weeks worth of meals cooked and put up in the freezer because I had major surgery January 4.  The days since then have been a blur of drug induced stupor, but I am finally emerging from it, weak but ready to move on with my life.

Aaron asked if he could read a Christmas book to us before we opened gifts.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I don't, because I am so rebellious, that I will rebel even from my own desires if I set them in writing! However, I have a few things that are very important to me that have been in the forefront of my mind for a while that I want to establish as habits.  I want to come up with a consistent time to spend reading my Bible each day.  I do okay with reading and doing Bible study when I remember, but often the day gets away from me and it is over before I remember. I want to make the time of day I spend with God consistent so that it won't slip from my mind. I also have been focusing on wasting less time.  I get quite easily caught up in time wasters such as mindless games and worthless TV shows. Of course, while recovering from this surgery these have been somewhat useful, but for the most part, these have no real place in my day.  It's time to remove much of this from my day!

Ethan with his Ohio State jersey!

 Andrew REALLY got into opening presents this year.

Aaron was so excited to get a model airplane, just like he wanted!

Aaron lost another tooth.  He is scared to death to have his loose teeth pulled, though! His tooth was so ready to come out that he could push it completely perpendicular to his gums with his tongue, but he would not let me pull it.  So I did what any good mom would do - I bribed him! One night we had a Texas sheet cake for dessert, and Aaron asked me if he could have more.  I'm not sure why he asked, because my answer is always no to more of dessert! But this time I said, "Sure! If you let me pull your tooth." Bwahahaha, I'm evil! However, even with this incentive, it took him almost an hour to be willing to let me pull it.  But when I did, he got seconds on dessert!

My mom and dad came over on Christmas Eve to have our traditional pizza dinner, candlelight church service, and opening of extended family gifts.

Finally, Joanna and I always have at least a few games of Lexulous going on Facebook (this is not one of those time wasting games...) and I had such an awesome, this-will-never-happen-again-as-long-as-I-live plays that I had to take a picture of it with my cell phone!! So pardon the quality of the shot, but take note of the word "detoxify" that was played in the lower right hand corner!  Woo-Hoo! That's right - it covers two triple word score squares and the "X" is on a double letter score square to boot! I am not sure I will ever have another 337 point word, but at least now this one is captured in the blogosphere for all time!  You know, Joanna is such a good friend that she was happy for me when I played this word.   She didn't bemoan her impending horrible loss at all... :)

This is one for the history books...