Birthday Buddies

Well, today we finally got a birthday buddy for Roger.

Melissa--birthday buddy George Washington
Katrina--birthday buddy Great Grandpa Adolph Lentzner
Alex--birthday buddy Auntie Renee Schultz
and
Roger--birthday buddy Emma Nicole Poole!

We were blessed to share the day with big sister Hannah while Emma worked her way into the world. Life is such a miracle!

Happy Birthday my love!

My view from Vista

Well, thanks to the tireless efforts of my sweet man, I am now a happy early adopter. :) Yup, I'm running Windows Vista and Office 2007. I like being on the cutting edge. Generally my budget does not allow it, but I'm thankful to be running great software.

So, the fun little things....
I have this swell little slideshow on the side of my desktop which comes randomly from my pictures folder. It pulls up fun memories...and sometimes prompts me to pray for people who have passed out of my life for whatever reason.

I used Powerpoint 2007 to update my teaching slides. I have several that are more visually stimulating thanks to SmartArt.

Also, not only do I have the RSS feeds I had before, but now I have a little box on my desktop that gives me the latest headlines...including from my buddies' blogs. Now, of course this doesn't work for the 4 of you who choose not to use RSS. I promise SF, I always go to the pages and read them there with all the color and everything. I don't like to find that I've missed keeping up with you crazy 4 people. But I digress. I now have more reason to cancel the paper. But I keep avoiding it.

I've got this great To-Do bar in Outlook that tells me at a glance a few of my upcoming appointments. :)

On the difficult side of early adoption...or really upgrading at all...is that it usually takes longer than you think and something gets lost. I've taken this in stride...its part of being on the edge. So, I've lost my .pst from before. I can't throw back any emails prior to 3/9, but oh well. I hope no one is offended by my lack of response. I lost my favorites, so I'm missing the links to my certification research sites. Of course, I have been far from motivated to do it, so I guess I deserve that.

Happily I am receiving email at both my ev and my hotmail accounts.

Thanks to my favorite geek for all the hard work! I can't wait to dig deeper and find more fun from Uncle Bill and Co.

Fun with my kids

Recipe for Chocolate Chip Pie by Katrina
1 big cup of milk
1 cup tomato chips
1 cup chocolate chips
and then your done.

Yesterday, she asked me if I love Alex more than her. I had asked for a hug while looking at him...but then she came around the corner and gave me one. I mentioned that I had been talking to Alex. She didn't seem sad or upset...more just curious. So we talked about how I love them the same because they are both my kids...but different because they are both different people. I asked her last night if I love Alex more than her...she had the right answer.

Alex is our chico lechuga. We were sitting at Chipotle on Friday night, and he was flirting with 3 sisters...all of whom were older than he. He barely ate he was so preoccupied with them. Look out!

He is showing signs of readiness for potty training...so we are starting slowly. No pressure, but taking advantage of his desire to be like the rest of us.

Last night, Katrina looked at me as she laid in bed and said "I want to stay with you forever!" I'm guessing she won't feel that way forever, so it meant a lot!

Thanks God for my two sweet, wonderful children! Help me cherish each day with them. Please allow me to see them grow into fully devoted Christ followers.

icyc

My email is not really working right now...and if you have written me anything in the last week or so and haven't gotten a response, it is likely I read the email once, but it is now gone....*poof* into cyberspace. So, call me...or write my hotmail address if you have it. And hey, I trust my man will get my EV account going again soon although I may never see the old stuff again.

This has been a fitting conclusion to a rotten week.

God came through for me and lifted my spirits despite the fact we will likely have to get new brakes on my car and none of the other junk has changed. So, GO GOD! Thanks for JOY and not just happiness.

Especially if they have chocolate chips

"A pancake is worth a thousand words" Shaelyn age 6

busy busy

Well, life just keeps moving. What is new for me to tell you?

I taught my 2nd breastfeeding class last Tuesday. It went ok. I felt more confident, but I still have a long way to go. I could use a swift kick in the rear to get going on my certification stuff.

Emotionally its been quite a rollercoaster lately. Actually, since July I've been feeling a real vacuum around me...a leadership vacuum. The people in spiritual leadership over me keep getting reassigned in one way or another. There are a few left, and I'm scared to lose them.

"You reached me just in time. I was beginning to feel confident again" is kind of my theme lately. Its a quote from Potshots by Ashleigh Brilliant.

Speaking of...Rog has an interesting dilemma. In order to keep his assistant at work, he has to take a pay cut. This is extra duty pay that he's been getting for his work over the summer. If he chooses to cut the assistant, he takes on all of his duties. Needless to say, he's doing what is best for the school and his friend. I know its the right thing, but it is difficult for sure. We were making a real effort to pay off some of our debt in the past few months, so I'm discouraged about losing income that could help with that. I guess the benefit to it all is that he will get comp time for his work over the summer. Maybe he'll get to take Fridays off for a while next year or something.

I've had lots of posts running around in my head, but I haven't moved quickly enough and now they are stale.

Oh, we got a new washer and dryer today. I am glad to be able to laundry at home now instead of lugging to the folks or folks-in-laws and feeling like a college student again. I loved college, but the laundry part wasn't something I had hoped to go back to.

We have a big party weekend coming up. Shepherd meeting....party for my nephew (and Roger's uncle and me)...party for the March birthdays for my side.

I guess I should go check laundry again. I might get us caught up by Friday if I try hard enough.