Hello Again

So, I’ve been out of the blogging world the last few months. Not by choice and I know it’s cliché but I really cannot find the time. If you want to know what’s going on with us more regularly, join Facebook and watch for status updates because that’s about all I can manage at this point. Life has just gotten exponentially crazier in the past few months and I don’t really know how to slow it down. Between D1 gearing up for his basketball season, keeping up with all the activities of a kindergartener (yes, there really are more than one might expect) and both Mommy and Daddy trying to enhance their spiritual lives with individual bible studies during the week, it seems all extra time is spent on the couch in a vegetative state. Oh, and did I mention the craziness of my job these days? I seriously find it difficult some days to leave for lunch and wind up taking work home a few nights a week. I truly LOVE what I do but with my co-worker/partner recently relocating to Little Rock and working remotely, I have recently felt the strain. No worries, though – anyone who knows me well can say that I’ve never been one to hold my thoughts back and I’m not planning on trying anytime soon so when it gets to be too much, my good ole’ boss will hear from me. Until then, I’ll push through and be a team player!

So, in a nutshell, here are some quick, happy tidbits about the Family of D’s:

*d1 is writing full sentences (and obviously inherited my writing skills as opposed to his fathers) and has mastered some ‘popcorn’ words. He has recently taken a liking to old re-runs of 'Full House.' Seriously, you can only take so much Danny Tanner before you want to scream.

*d2 can spell his name outloud, count to 18 (skips 13 and 16 but are they really that important?), and can swing a left-handed golf club quite nicely.

*d3 weighs in around 21lbs (94th%), is on the verge of crawling and loves his solid foods and first two fingers to eat. He is such a HAPPY baby.

*We visited Nivens Apple Farm in 45 degree temps and drizzle so not much pickin’ occurred. More of the grab-a-bag-of-apples-from-the-cooler, snap a few pictures and call it good. We’ll try again next year.

*I hit my Weight Watchers goal and am now down 30lbs since my journey began in May. Now I can begin to enjoy food a little more…..and I could even more if I would motivate myself to get to the gym at lunch. Oh wait, I don’t always get a lunch. Pffft….

*I have begun mastering the art of couponing and have found some friends to join in. We even attended a short seminar. In the last month, I have reduced our monthly grocery budget by approximately 15% but think I can get it down to at least 25 or 30%. My goal is 50% but I’ll give myself time to get there. Hey, I have three growing boys so I better figure something out now or we’ll all be living on beanie weenies and cup 'o noodles until they are out of college.

*D1 and I redecorated our living room last weekend and are very pleased. It’s pretty subtle but we found a way to do it without having to paint which was GREAT, especially since we did not agree on the color choices. And on a budget, of course.

*We met Phil & Amy from Biggest Loser, season 7.

And some not-so-happy facts:

*Averaged 2 trips/week to the pediatrician in the month of October alone, yet (so far) have managed to avoid the hiney (H1N1 – look at it; can’t you see ‘hiney?’) flu. Instead, we’re battling ear infections and coughs/colds. At one point, I felt it more efficient to just hand my paycheck to the Walgreens pharmacist than to have it direct deposited.

*Learned that the head pastor of our church was leaving to pursue an opportunity in Missions. We’re happy for him but it’s also a little frightening for a church our size.

And some random, yet funny, notables:

*(riding home in the car last week) –

d2 - ‘Mommy, I need to brush my teeth. There’s something stuck in there’

Me – ‘OK, we’ll brush them tonight before bed. What did you eat that is stuck?’

d2 – ‘A booger.’

*(first day of music class for d1) –

Mrs. C – ‘Amanda Jones?’

Amanda – ‘Here.’

Mrs. C – ‘Jaden Foster?’

Jaden – ‘Here.’

d1 – ‘Hey, why are we doing all this talking? Aren’t you supposed to teach us a song or something?’

*(d1 staying with our good friend, SS for the day; SS feeding him lunch) –

SS – ‘Would you like some pretzels with your lunch?’

d1 – ‘Nah, but I’ll take some chips and dip if you’ve got it?’

d1 – ‘Hey Maya, you gonna eat your pizza rolls?’

Gotta love the brutal honesty of a child. Here are some recent random pictures – clearly I’ve been slacking on my photographing as well. It’s that issue of time again. It’s just easier to snap a less quality picture with my phone than figure out where I hid the real thing from the little people.

Farmer Day