It's official...

I'm thirty-four. And I have to take pictures of my own self...

Wanna know what I got for my birthday?

Steve got me this giant mirror for our small bedroom that I thought would make our room look larger. It does. On the down-side, it looks twice as messy now. Still, I love it!

Hannah gave me a movie and some gardening gloves

Annette got me some Butterfingers and Lavender scented body splash

Max also got me body splash. His was passion-fruit scented. He also gave me a package of crunchy Reese's cups

Misha gave me some plastic Chip-clips and an eight-pack of travel size Kleenexes.

Vitali got me FIRE, Heh, heh! ( A long lighter) and a package of napkins

Ivy proudly gave me her gifts as well, Cherry Twizzler bites and pink underwear.

And yes, except for Steve's gifts, they all came from the dollar store. It's great when the kids have the whole store to pick from and they can choose anything they want!! HAHA! It was so much fun to open the gifts: "Mine next!", "Open this one!", "I got you this!"
Good memories.

Oh! and my Mom and Dad gave me a digital photo frame which I can't wait to try out! Thanks everyone!!

...and now to get the church clothes ready and go to bed...

Freezing your butt off...

Sorry mom. Not classy; I know...

Spring is in the air?

So what is everyone looking at?
Our Bradford Pear tree out front was absolutely filled with these little birds the other morning! I have never seen them before but as best I can tell I think they might be Cedar Waxwings--Anyone know if I'm right or not?

Also, I saw a couple of these :

And...Only two shopping days till my birthday!!!

Trying on Mommy's dress

Hannah and Ivy tried on some fancy white dresses they had. Hannah's from a friend and Ivy's was the flower girl dress from Kari and Dan's Wedding and then worn again for Nathan and Elise's wedding. Poor Annette didn't complain but I had an Idea. I went to the hall closet and pulled out a plasic bag beckoning to Annette to follow me into the bedroom. I pulled out my wedding dress and watched Annie's eyes grow large, "Will this be my Easter dress?!", she hoped aloud.
Well, it wouldn't fit her of course, but it was fun to see her glowing face and surprise her sisters with it! And, no, she isn't that tall, she was standing on a stepstool under there.

Oh, and yes, I tried it on...Annette stood behind me and said, "OH! Mom! Oops! You forgot to button up the back!"

"Ummm....No, I didn't, Annette. That is the best I can do." Ugh.

Random thoughts

• Ivy sings "Joy to the World" pagan-style. It cracks me up! When she sings, the lyrics go like this:

"Join to the World,
The Lord has come.
Let Earf decieve her King...

...and Heaven and manger sing,
and Heaven and manger sing,
And Hea-eaven and Hea-eaven
And manger sing!"

• My birthday is this Saturday and I will be thirty-four.
  
• Our house is overrun with Box elder beetles this year. They are like ladybugs in that they arrive with the weather changes and get into the house in large numbers when they are active. Unlike Ladybugs, they drive me crazy. They are completely missing the cute factor. Annette has a standing job for this last week. She gets a penny per bug that she catches and drops into the soap-water container reserved for this purpose. She has already made over two dollars. EW.
  
• Steve is home every day now since January is so slow for window cleaning and he doesn't have to keep a man busy this year. I love it!
  He just came back from the dentist and the whole house errupted with happy shouts announcing, "Daddy's Home!!!" I love that, too.
• Evan has a girlfriend. The boys don't say "girl" right so they chant, "Uncle Evan has a girurlfriend!..." over and over.
  
• Evan backed out on babysitting because he had a snow day. Then he told me not to tell everyone that he has a girlfriend because they would all ask him about it. I told him I wouldn't tell anyone unless it snowed. heehee. I am so tricky. Also, Evan doesn't read my blog.
• I have no idea what to make for lunch today. Also, I have not taken out the chicken for tonight's dinner.
  
• I joined facebook by accident and I like it. I have even found a friend there that I knew when I was 12! (Heather: get an account there, PLEASE! It's free and easy and I'll get off your back about a blog...
• That's all for now. I'll leave you with some things to ponder:

EVER WONDER Why??

Why you don't ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why "abbreviated" is such a long word?

Why doctors call what they do "practice"?

Who tastes dog food when it has a "new & improved" flavor?

Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

Why they don't make the Whole plane out of the material used for the indestructible black box ?

Why sheep don't shrink when it rains?

Why they call the airport "the terminal" if flying is so safe?

What do you call a fish with no eyes?

A fsh

There's one thing good about being poor - its inexpensive.

A bunch of random snow day pictures:

We had a couple of days of snow this past week! Not even enough snow to cover the tops of the blades of grass but enough to play with. Since we don't see much around here, everyone rushed to get ready and go out and play. Hats and coats and gloves and boots were rooted out of the closet depths. Some were harder to track down than others. The dryer ran all day the first day, drying dripping mittens and such for the next shift of play. The second morning of snow I went out with my camera and propped it up for a long-overdo whole-family shot. Just one day past the one-year anniversary of the Boys' arrival at our home!

The whole family. Ivy chose to lick her teeth at the last minute so there is one smile missing but a pretty good picture over all. I should have taken more shots but it was cold and there was a sliding hill waiting...

Silly boys.
Misha and Daddy

The first day was wetter snow and the kids made the World's Ugliest Snowman.

Max, with the World's Ugliest Snowman's head.

Max, with the World's Nicest Ukrainian head.

Arms for the WUSM.

Oops! How did that get in here? Evan wasn't at our house that day...

Daddy and his little Sweet Girl.

Charming, disarming...

A glimpse of two of the sledding party. Hannah is wearing my boots because she didn't have any except her rain boots which Max was wearing. She said they weren't really all that big on her. Not surprising since she is quickly outgrowing all her own shoes...

The lovely Annette.

Whoa! Annette! Hello! This extreme close up will help some of you recognize her better. Annette is still working on the concept of personal space. :-)
In her defense, this time it was my camera's fault.

Catching snow. Good thing I forgot to bring in those spray paint can lids.
Think of all the fun he would have missed.

Well, I guess he could've used his tongue like Ivy. :-P

Now the snow is gone and yesterday the kids played outside, some of them wearing short sleeves! I love Tennessee weather!

The Day, in reverse.

We finished up our day at my mom and dad's house. The kids all love to go to Grandma's house, of course, and how much more fun when they know there will be presents!
We had a delicious dinner and then feasted further on leftover Christmas cookies. Mmmmm!
Before we left, the kids had time to play with their toys and gifts while I made the scalloped potatoes for later. Hannah got this wipe-board and, as you can see, makeup!
Annette loves My Little Ponies. Here she is brushing her pony's hair--looks like she should be spending more time on her own!
Christmas Eve's presentation of The Nativity. Directed by Hannah.
There! Pictures for all of you who have asked! I have more over at our adoption blog,
www.lovedalready.com

Happy New Year!