Is it time for the kids to go back to school yet? I will be totally honest and say I can't wait! They are driving me nuts. With the constant bickering I am at my wits end. Emily (my 11 year old) is the instigator. She just can't seem to get along with anyone. Ack. I had a headache by 9 am this morning!

Well, yesterday my friend, Lisa, moved away. It was so very depressing. I just hate good byes. I figure by now she should be almost out of Georgia and headed into Tennessee. They don't expect to get to S. Bend until New Years Day. I guess it will really hit me that she is gone when all the kids go back to school and my phone doesn't ring. No more trips to Wal Mart, Target, the LSS's and lunches. Once a month we would go get pedicures too. Her family was such a part of our lives. But this won't be goodbye forever. I know that we will always be friends! I spent yesterday cleaning out my "junkie" cabinet in the kitchen--you know the one where everything gets piled. So I went to Wal Mart and bought some organizers and put it all in drawers. The space I now have is amazing. I can't seem to find my label maker to make some labels so the kids know where everything goes! Lisa, you would be so proud. She was very organized, unlike me!

Now, my big job is to take the Christmas tree down soon. I love having a tree all lit up so I really dread having to take it down. We bought a new tree this year and I love it!

One of the best things I like about this time of year is that it's when I do a big "clean out" of old toys and clothes. I am waiting on the Salvation Army truck to arrive and haul out some stuff. That is such a great feeling. Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going!

Well, I have a busy day ahead of me so I better get to it! Until next time..............................

Wow. I have been really bad about my blog. Today is my "off" day. I have no where to go or be so I am going to hang out at home and catch up on stuff I have put off. My Christmas was wonderful. It is my favorite time of the year. Not just because there are presents involved but I love the smell, the lights and the music. I also love celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Funny story, we went to church on Christmas Eve and we reminded Mark that we are going to celebrate Jesus's birthday. This was priceless--he says "Is there going to be birthday cake at Church?" I love looking at things through a five year old! Santa treated me very well this year. Steve surprised me and gave me a pair of diamond earrings. He also gave me the new Rachel Ray cookbook. I love to cook but unfortunately, my kids won't eat "real" food. So, I said that I am going back to cooking real food and they will have to eat it or go hungry (ok, now I sound like my mother). But one can only eat so much Top Ramen, Mac n Cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets. It was Jennifer S. that has inspired me to dust off the good cookware and start making real food. She posts the most wonderful recipes. My 2006 goal is to keep on losing the pounds so I can get off my HBP meds and Cholesterol medication. I promised myself that the money I save on the prescriptions, is more money to spend on scrapbook items. hehe. I joined Curves back in October and lost 8 pounds so far, although I am sure I put it back on over the holidays

We survived our trip to WDW. Of course, it wasn't without incident. We were supposed to leave on Saturday morning and be there when the Magic Kingdom opened (9 am). Friday afternoon the school called for me to come and get Mark. He wasn't feeling well. So I went and got him and he hung out with us. Friday night at 11 pm Greg was up with the "stomach thing" and by 3 am Elizabeth was in our room telling us that she got sick. The trip was already paid for and non refundable so we weren't sure what to do. So, we ended up going later and then they slept in the hotel room. By later in the afternoon, they wanted to go over to the park. They saved us a lot of money since we didn't have to feed them and they just ate the Saltines I took with me. By Sunday they were all feeling better so we were able to go to Downtown Disney and back to the Magic Kingdom that night for the Mickey's Christmas part. WDW was abosolutely beautiful all decked out for Christmas. I'd post a picture but I haven't been able to figure out how. I tried and lost my post so I had to retype it. Another 2006 goal.

Well, my friend Lisa leaves this week to move back to South Bend Indiana. So, Thursday will be a bummer of a day when they pull out. She left us a lot of stuff so she will always have a "presence" in my house. She gave us all her house plants. So everytime I water them, I will be able to think of her and all the fun we have had over the years. We cleaned out our garage yesterday and I found my hot pink ice scraper from when we lived in Utah. I loved that scraper because it was hot pink! So, I passed it on to her. She will need it up in that cold! So, if you could, please say a prayer for her and her family that they have a safe move--it's a long drive.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends. I hope everyone has a wonderul end to 2005! Until next time.................

I am probably the most unorganized person there is. I lose things all the time and I have even been known to miss appointments. I envy all those who are so organized and "neat". I am not a very neat person. I consider my house "cluttered but clean". I was just drinking my coffee and watching another show on HGTV--I love watching that channel. So, I have decided that today I am going to clean, clean and clean. I need to finish putting away the Christmas decoration boxes. Plus 2 of my favorite movies are on this afternoon. The first movie is called "The Christmas List" with Mimi Rogers. I just love that movie. The other one is called "Three Days" and stars Kristin Davis. So I am going to block that time to fold all the laundry that has piled up while I am watching my movies.

So, here's my To Do list for today.

Finish putting Xmas boxes away

Clear off kitchen counter & mop floors

Work with Emily on Science Fair project

Vacuum family room floor and dust

Vacuum living room floor

Sweep & Mop foyer

If I can just get that done, then tomorrow I will work on my bedroom and the dining room. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to be more organized. If anyone has any great websites they would like to share, please do. I figured if I could just get organized, I would be a much happier person. At least I won't have to worry about cooking dinner. We are having Chili for dinner and Steve loves to cook that. So I am going to let him handle dinner while I sit on my behind watching Xmas Movies.

I will post tonight and update you on what I actually got accomplished today. Hopefully a lot. Until this evening..............

I was so excited to get this blog going and what happens? I get side tracked and don't post for several days. Life has been crazy the last few days. Seems like I am always on the go. Hopefully, I will make the time to keep this updated.

I am trying to get all my Xmas shopping done early this year. I have gotton a good jump on it. Now that the kids are older, their stuff is much more expensive and much harder to find. Emily want this pen she saw and of course, the first place I went they were all gone. So I found it at Target and I got the second to last one. It's pretty cool. Here's a link to it. FLY™ Pentop Computer All the kids need new backpacks so I got those ordered from Land's End. Good backpacks are hard to find. Since they have to carry all their stuff because there is no time to go to their lockers, the backpacks take a beating. So, hopefully these will at least last until the end of the school year.

As I read my first entry about all of our friends living around the U.S., I realized that I forgot to mention a few places. I forgot to mention our friends in Houston, Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, and of course all of our friends in Ohio. So, I am sorry I missed you guys! We also have met a lot of wonderful friends here in Florida.

It finally cooled down here but it still doesn't feel like Christmas. I do miss the cold weather. It is nice though to have the kids playing outside in December. We may even turn on the pool heater when they are out of school.

Two weeks from today, we will be at DisneyWorld. I am so very excited. We are going over to their Christmas celebration. I have been trying not to get too excited because it seems like a long time ago that we made all the reservations. I feel like a little kid getting all excited about it. I haven't made a big deal out of it to Mark because he doesn't understand the whole "in a few weeks" concept and he would be bugging me constantly.

Well, I am going to say good bye now and see about getting some fun stuff added to this blog. I am not the most computer literate person so it may take me awhile. Until next time.....................