I'm baa-aaack........

December got away from me BIG TIME!!! Where did the time go?

In any case, we had a wonderful Christmas and New Year here. Visited a lot of family and friends, the kids have enjoyed their long time away from school (they go back tomorrow), and I have enjoyed a self-imposed sabbatical in which I worked long hours organizing/cleaning/purging/etc. in hopes that it will improve my turn-around times on my appraisal orders, relieve some congestion, and all that jazz. I actually wish that I had another full week of time to organize as I still have a few remaining things on my list , but I'm just going to have to accomplish them in the middle of grinding out reports. Like it or not, I've got reports due on Friday.

Dane starts basketball practice this next week, which means we have a couple more weeks before the games start. (YES!!!) Grant should be starting his practices next weekend, but we'll see......As much as we encourage our sons to play, and love to be there to cheer them on, the day to day challenge of meals, laundry, juggling girls, etc. when we are in full swing of one sport or another is sometimes exhausting. But, with that said, I'm also very proud of both of the boys and grateful for having healthy children that can and want to participate in EVERYTHING.

The girls seem to be maturing in a big spurt again. Jennica's speech development has taken another big leap and we've gone from 2-3 word phrases to full paragraphs in a very short time. She is so strong-willed and continues to stand toe-to-toe with us on so many occasions. Today, she absolutely REFUSED to come out of the jungle gym thingy at Burger King, so Mike got to climb up there and drag her out. :) Tiersten is also taking a big jump developmentally and wrote Mike's name on her Doodle Pad today with him just telling her M-I-K-E. (She can already write "Dad" so he had to come up with a new challenge.) Not bad for being 3!!

As a final farewell to the holidays, Mike and I spent New Year's Eve last night playing poker with a group of friends. We had a great time, but I have to admit that I have chuckled silently to myself today, as the biggest pleasure that came out of the evening for me was that I was incredibly glad to go home with MY husband. It is so enlightening to spend time with other couples, watch their interactions, and such a nice place to be in life when you can't imagine going home with anyone else. I love you, Michael!!!

My hope for January is to get back to blogging more. I have missed this venue to express myself, as its rather therapeutic for me. LOLOL.

Happy New Year!!!