Rainy Days and Mondays...

Grr--I haven't figured out how to make the stupid pictures organize themselves in the order that I would like. It's irritating. Anyway, these are the things I got accomplished today. I finished Maddy's wall hangings--they have been sitting, unfinished, for a long time. I finally sewed the border and painted the frames, and got them all finished. Aren't they totally cute? After I finished, I almost wanted to keep them cause they are so stinking adorable!

The other project is the shower curtain I have been working on for months. I know it is sideways--I was too lazy to rotate the picture before uploading it--pathetic, huh? Anyway, the countertops in the bathroom are blue, so I wanted to tie in the blue without having to decorate with blue. Actually really like the bright colors--I was worried when I first hung it up, but I think I really like it. I put grommets in the top for the hooks. I haven't totally decided how I am going to hang it, if I am going to keep the hooks or use the cute orange ribbon I bough. Either way, it is FINALLY done!! I am so happy about it!

Today was pretty much a blah day. It was icy...again. So, once again, there was no school. I was bound and determined to get something done since I was home all day. The house still looks like a bomb hit it though--Cameron was working from home, and Levi was sick all day, so I didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked. I got the boys' rooms cleaned up and a couple loads of laundry done and I did make some homemade cream of broccoli soup (we even had bread bowls, although I cheated and didn't make those because I was doing some other stuff).

I wanted to post a couple pictures from yesterday--these are from the boys' little birthday celebration we did after dinner last night. We had cake (it was sickeningly sweet, and I LOVE cake!) and ice cream. The boys had gotten their presents earlier in the day. We gave Sam his gift yesterday because our original intention had been to let him pick out a gift, but then he got sick (you might recall...). Both boys loved their gifts, so that is great.

Cameron and the babies--isn't Maddy getting so fat and cute? She has the cutest little pixie ears and the most precious smile--she is the smiliest baby I have ever seen. She has been smiling since she was like 2 weeks old (real smiles!) and laughing out loud since about 2 months. My kids still barely laugh out loud--at least Levi.

Here are some of the ice shots from today. They are not as impressive as the ice storm from before Christmas, but still...it is a pretty good one. We had one heck of a thunderstorm to go with it--lightning, thunder, hail, and a lot of rain and sleet (and freezing rain--did you know there is a difference between sleet and freezing rain?).
We'll see what tomorrow brings. It was supposed to continue raining until about midnight, and the low is about 20 tonight, with windchills below 10, so it'll probably freeze again. I apologize for the disorganized nature of this post. I had lots of pics to post and was being too lazy to make them do exactly what I wanted--frankly, I find blogger to be a huge pain in the rear, and am considering using a different host.

Starting out...

So I keep wanting to do one of these, if only because I am SO bad at writing things down. I just need to record the things that are happening in our family. Plus, well, I need a thing that I do that isn't school, or kids, or cleaning, or church, or whatever.

I guess I will just jump in--I am usually a big background person, but I think at this point in my life, that would just take too much time and would get redundant. Hmm...let's see...the highlights: Cameron--works with banks and computers and doesn't particularly love either, but is apparently good at is, so we love his job! Aaron (me)--full-time teacher--8th grade English/Reading teacher at a little, rural school. I love my job, the students are often a pain in the rear, but I love them too. And I LOVE my co-workers--Maggie has become a great friend! Ben just started preschool, and Samuel is starting on Monday. They were so excited to go buy their "pack-packs" and school supplies. Sam has repacked his at least 10 times since Monday. He is so proud of his big boy stuff! Levi is crawling everywhere and has started pulling himself up and tentatively walking around the furniture. He is the sweetest baby! We also have Krista and Maddy living with us until Thomas gets home from Iraq. We are hoping he comes home in May (not because we want Krista and Maddy gone, but because we miss Thomas--not to say that Krista and Maddy don't miss him the most, but Cameron is really suffering. He has a special ringtone set up and everything for his friend!), but he may be gone until next September.

Our life is always just a little bit nuts. In fact, when things start getting calm, we always start getting a little nervous. We are not used to having things run too smoothly. About a week and half before Christmas, we had a big ice storm, which left an inch and a half of ice all over everything--including power lines. So...yeah...we, and most of the rest of Joplin/Webb City, were without power for almost a week. We were actually quite fortunate, and we got our power back on after only five days. Many others were without power for even longer. It was a major awakening of how unprepared we are though--we were really strapped for money after a week of being vagabonds. We ended up staying with Krista's inlaws in Anderson, which was SO generous and great of them. It taught me a little bit more about the way Mary and Joseph must have felt, when no one had any room for them. It was a real struggle finding a place for all seven of us that would be warm and safe. Cameron and I still had to go to work each day, so it was even harder. The reason I am telling all of this is because this happened, and I didn't even look at it as a crisis--it was so minor in comparison to so many of the other things we have dealt with.

I need to do this right now, so I apologize if some of the posts get too personal. I have been struggling with some fairly severe post partum depression since Levi's birth earlier this year. I am hoping that this will be therapeutic--I usually do much better after I write things down or talk things out.

I am also hoping to list at least one thing in every post that tells something I am truly grateful for. I struggle with a lack of optimism (translated: negativity), especially when I am feeling down. So...here goes for today: I am truly grateful for Cameron. He was gone for several days and I stayed home with the boys. It was a really hard couple of days for me--the boys were not being good, my medicine was screwed up, Cameron was mad, I had to go back to work, etc... Having Cameron come home last night was WONDERFUL! I didn't realize how much more smoothly things go and how much more calm I feel when he's around. So...I'm grateful for Cam. He is my best friend and I love him more than anything!

I will try to figure out how to post some pictures soon!