Doing the happy dance!

The big things that have been hanging over my head have been completed! I finished my continuing ed and submitted for my certification renewal last week. And today, I just mailed out the wedding invitations (minus 2 that need addresses). Hopefully no major omissions, typos, wrongly addressed envelopes, etc.

In other happy news, Mizzou is finally back in the NCAA tourney, and even earned a 3 seed. And, we WON the Big 12 tournament! Poor James. Since the NCAA tourney starts tomorrow, he is going to have to put up with a LOT of basketball on in the background for the next few days. I've been trying to get him excited by having him play with his Truman the Tiger and then pointing out the mascots on tv. It helps a little. He even took Truman to the MOMS Club meeting yesterday, which meant that I was holding Truman the whole time while James played.

I've been working out hard, and am now just 8 1/2 pounds from the goal I've set. But, maybe I've worked out too hard, because the muscles in my left arm are so stiff that I can't straighten that arm. Literally can not straighten it. But, I'm sure no one will ever notice because of the amazing definition of my biceps, right?

We've all been enjoying the warmer weather, going to the playground during the day and taking some walks when Blake gets home from work. It is so refreshing.

And lastly, I was so proud of James the other day. We were at a play area, and I saw him at the top of the slide, looking around. Then he quickly came down, threw his arms out and said, "Wonder James to the rescue! Mommy, I'm going to save that little girl!" Sure enough, he was trying to come help a little girl he heard crying. Of course, her Wonder Mommy was already taking care of it, but I appreciated James' chivalrous side.

It is such a pretty day!

It is beautiful outside today, and James and I had a nice walk. Although he wasn't in a curious, adventuresome mood today -- instead of pointing out and watching the spiders, spills on the sidewalk, and random sticks, he decided they were all scary. Even I wasn't afraid of these little spiders. Hopefully the next walk will involve less of me coaxing/pulling him along.

We had a great trip to Texas! James did wonderfully on the car trip, and didn't even complain when he had to get back in 2 days later for another all-day trip. DVDs helped. He saw Bambi for the first (and second) time(s). Now, every time he sees a picture of a deer, he asks if it is Bambi. Mom had a new little bed for James, and we were surprised that he slept there quite well the first night, while Blake and I were at the hotel. The second night, he was back with us, because he wasn't used to the new sounds at Grandma's and she didn't have a loud air filter in the room like we do. (Which has been helpful for me, since he used to try to turn the air filter off, but now he understands that it keeps other noises out!) We went to Chuck E Cheese's (overwhelming for the adults, fun for the child), the park, and played in the sandbox she got for him. He had fun digging for treasure. I was really surprised at what a fun, relaxing trip it was, since it was so short, but now we look forward to doing it again!

I went to Mom's Night Out last week to a Japanese steakhouse. It was a lot of fun to talk, but I was disappointed in the restaurant. We had such a good one in St. Louis, and this one wasn't as good. Oh well, I guess it will save me money in the long run! And March MNO is at the Melting Pot for Ladies' Night. OOOOH!

That's pretty much the news here. It is pretty funny to think how things have changed. I watched the Oscars the other night. I had seen Tropic Thunder and Kung Fu Panda. (and 1/2 of Dark Knight, which I just finished yesterday) So, when Jack Black said that he only saw movies he was in, apparently that was me, too. I used to go see as many of the nominated films as would come to town. Now, they have to be on DVD and it still takes me a couple of weeks to get through one. But I did get to listen to Bambi when it was on in the back seat . . .

So Lately . . .

We have had colds, had fun in between colds, and are generally trying to get finished with winter. A whirlwind trip to Texas might help with that! We are going to visit my mom for about an evening and a day, since it will be a lot of driving time. We are really looking forward to the visit, but a little nervous about the drive (with a 3 1/2 year old). But, we are more than overdue to travel to her, since she makes the trip up here every few months. James is very excited and has been asking if we are going to see Grandma Janice today for about 2 weeks.

We've also went to Manhattan, KS for Cameron's birthday party. It was a fun trip. James and Landon played really well together, sometimes alone in Landon's room -- which means the adults had a little free time.

My friend, Brian, visited recently, and we all enjoyed talking with him. I stayed up way past my bedtime talking, and now realize that I am an old wimp and can't do that anymore. I was about useless the next day. The funniest moment of the visit came the next morning when we went out to breakfast at the coffee shop. It was crowded, and a fairly nice morning, so we sat on the patio. James kept complaining that the wind was blowing his muffin pieces off of his fork. Then he looked at Brian and asked if the wind blew Brian's hair away (yes, a fair amount of it is gone, not from the wind). We all got a good laugh out of that one.

We've also been going to more playgroup events, which have been fun for James, but a surprisingly large amount of work for me. He is on the move constantly, and tends to do exactly the things I have asked him not to. I notice at these events that mothers of boys tend to look a little more stressed than mothers of girls. We went to a tour of Petco the other day, and he had so much fun seeing and petting the animals. He seemed to like the fish the best, but that is when we had to leave, because he kept getting into the buckets used to disinfect the nets. He is a very, very good, sweet boy, but he has about 300 times more energy than I do right now!

I've picked out some continuing ed courses to take online, since I need a LOT of hours by the end of March. And I need to make and get out wedding invitations by mid-March. If I spent as much time on doing those things as I do thinking about doing them, much progress would be made. Next week . . .

I am quite pleased with how my Mizzou Tigers are doing this year! We just beat Kansas, which is always a cause for celebration, and should end our NCAA tourney draught. Go Tigers! (Which reminds me that I need to do those classes and invites NOW, since I need free time to watch basketball in March!)

That is the general rundown. I really do hope I get back in the habit of blogging more regularly, since I am way behind on scrapbooking, and the blog helps remind me what to journal!

Lots of Plans!

We have made two trips to Hermann for wedding planning stuff recently, and we have accomplished so much! But, that trip was a lot shorter when we were living on the other side of the state. We are so thankful that we chose a site that includes a wedding coordinator. It gives us so much less to think about, since she's already thought of everything and just asks us the questions. Like who the designated person is to handle anyone who becomes an obnoxious drunk. We wouldn't have thought of that, and hopefully wouldn't need to!

We've now chosen our menu, cake, flowers, and some of the ceremony details. We just don't know the bill yet. We have a general idea, but it is all a little scary. But not as scary as it would be if we'd had the wedding in the St. Louis or Kansas City areas.

I went to Archiver's yesterday and got supplies for invitations and favors. Using the die cut for the first 50 favor boxes worked out my right arm pretty well. I should do the rest with my left to balance it out!

James and I have a busy week planned, with lots of playgroup activities. Weather permitting. Hopefully, getting him out and with other kids a lot will improve his new bossy attitude. Maybe some 5-year-old will come along and put him in his place.

And I went to Mom's Night Out last week at a wine bar. Very fun! But expensive. Or maybe I just eat and drink too much . . . either way, it was worth it!

Have I mentioned my dislike of winter?

James and I are going a little stir crazy today. We were supposed to go to Tunnel Town with MOMS Club, where he could burn off energy and play with the other kids. But, it snowed. Blake said it took forever to get in to work today. Instead I talked on the phone with one of the other moms for a bit, James and I had a creativity morning, and he is currently making a bunch of noise in his room. So, apparently creativity time did not sufficiently wear him out to nap.

But, Blake and I have 2 trips to Hermann coming up for wedding planning stuff. I am so excited about that! I've been printing out pictures of cakes that I like. Blake likes them to, after I remind him that just because the cake in the picture has brown on it, ours does not have to. Having a little more trouble with flowers. I don't know what I like, I don't know what is inexpensive or will be in season, I don't know what will last well, I don't know what colors will go with our dresses. Among other things. I hope the florist is nice! And patient.

I hate to admit it, but I started watching American Idol. (It's cold out and I was apparently bored) The highlight for me was when Ryan Seacrest tried to high-five the guy who they just made a big deal about being blind.

Well, off to make some buns for sloppy joes. This is the type of excitement that I have not been blogging about lately. You can thank me later.

This Blog Post Did Not Originally Appear In Playboy

But, apparently much of James' new book did. He received Don't Bump the Glump by Shel Silverstein for Christmas and he just loves it. Mostly because he likes to say the title over and over and over. When Blake was getting ready to read it to him the other day, he noticed in the notes at the beginning a notation the much of the content originally appeared in Playboy (in the early 60's). I found that more than a little odd.

In other James news, since I keep getting in trouble for not documenting these things better:

1. When we were all in the car one day during bad weather, we were stuck for a bit in traffic. Blake said there was an accident. And James said, "Did somebody poop in their pants?"

2. The other day, when I went to plug in my cell phone to charge it, the cord was put through the belt clip of James' toy cell phone. Apparently he needed to charge his, too.

3. Today, when we were at Costco, James saw an elderly lady and said, "Hi, little girl!" She just laughed and said that she didn't know him, but she liked him already. That was much better than when he says "Hi lady!" to a big man.

Otherwise, not much noteworthy going on. I got some new clothes and am quite pleased. We are working hard on our resolutions. James got a new Smart Cycle. We all love it! And I'm getting ready to host bunco at our place on Wednesday. At previous months' bunco gatherings the hostesses have had way too much food. So, I am attempting to continue that tradition.

A belated Merry Christmas!

Wow! I know this time of year is supposed to be busy, but I think this year was a record for me. Now that we live closer to Blake's family, there were (and are still) many get-togethers. And, my Mom came up for several days, too, so we got to visit with her. I really enjoyed the things we did, and met some of Blake's cousins that I hadn't seen before. James had a blast at everything, since he loves (and demands!) attention, and he had lots of opportunities to play with his cousins. Every holiday activity with MOMS Club ended up being cancelled (more than once) due to the lousy weather we kept having.

This year it was really fun to see James so excited about Christmas! He really "got" it this year. He was able to tell Santa that he wanted a kitchen, a hammer, and candy (all of which he got) rather than crying at being placed on the lap of a big stranger. He was excited to leave out a cupcake for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, and then see them gone in the morning. He also really enjoyed digging in everyone's stockings to see what we got, as well as ripping off the wrapping paper on presents. And, I was really proud of him for leaving the presents under the tree alone until it was Christmas. The only time he bothered them at all was when one of the recipients came over and he tried to give them their present right away. It was very cute.

After last year's gingerbread house of horrors http://stillheather.blogspot.com/2007/12/better-late-than-never.html , I got us a very simple gingerbread train this year. It was fun to decorate, although James kept trying to eat all the candy. Last year, it was Blake who did that.

And, our family ornament exchange was up a level this year: all of the ones we gave each other ended up being sets. I got Blake a set of recycled motherboard ornaments from ThinkGeek.com. James got a 4-piece shatterproof train set. And Blake gave me a set of 3 Thomas Kinkade ornaments that are just beautiful!

There were two downsides this year. One was last Monday. We awoke at 5:10am to the fire alarms going off. James and I had been through this a few days before, so I knew what it was, but it was a first for Blake, who had been at work the last time. It was very cold out and a water pipe had broken. Both times the problem started in the same apartment, which makes me think they didn't fix it very well the first time. The first time, it broke and flooded the apartment upstairs and across the "hall" from us, then came down to flood our neighbor's apartment. They were able to get it under control before it got to us. Not so lucky when it happened in the middle of the night. I think both residents were gone at the time, the response time was slower, and our apartment flooded, too. Nothing important was ruined, other than our day. Blake was late to work, since no one helped us with the water control (they were busy in the other apartments) and he had to use the shop vac. And I spent the day washing and rewashing the wet stuff we used to soak up the water, mopping, putting some of what we had to move back, and taking care of James, who had a stomach bug. And getting ready for Mom to arrive. We had very very noisy fans and a dehumidifier going for the next several days, but all seems to be well now.

The other bad thing was that I caught James' stomach bug on Christmas Eve. So, I missed everything on Christmas Day, except for getting out of bed for a bit to open stockings and presents. The upside is that when I weighed myself yesterday, I'd lost 5 pounds. So, if I can get the stomach flu 2 more times, I might get to my goal weight.

All in all, it has been a wonderful holiday, although Blake wants to quarantine us for the month of December next year so no one gets sick.