HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Gary has to go back to work tomorrow! BOO!! He's more than ready. He's already in work mode thinking about what he's got going on this week and preparing for meetings and trying to widdle down his masses of emails. We had another wonderful week and it was nice to just be close to home. As much as we love to travel and see people, we also love to be home. Gary went into work M,T,W last week and I worked hard to get the house re-organized and find homes for the toys. We also decided to have a semi-last minute new years eve get together. It's pretty hard to find people who want to give up a New Years Eve to babysit, and then really-where would we go? We're not into drinking or crowds so we decided to try out having some friends over and letting them stay the night. I thought we were going to be just us for a short time as illness was taking friends out but in the end they all came and the cleaning was back in full force! I figured either way we'd kick off the new year with a semi-clean, somewhat organized house. It's been wonderful. Anyways, I called Gary shortly after noon on Wednesday and said "GET TO THE STORE AND GET HOME THEY ARE ALL COMING!!!" We had such a wonderful time and all the kids were so well behaved. It was a lot of work but so so so worth it. I also finally, after several years, got Gary to stay up till midnight without any manipulation whatsoever! Amazing what a temporary x-Box will do. :) I also learned how to play Euchre! Even in our smallish apartment everyone was comfy and certainly cozy. Tyler got to try out his new Lightning McQueen sleeping bag which he LOVES. He thought having a sleepover with Grace in mommy and daddy's room was the coolest thing ever and really had a difficult time understanding why we didn't want to go to bed with him at 9. :) We decided to take advantage of the good weather (ie- no ice or snow) and head to the cabin this weekend. We went on Friday and while the kids napped had our January household budget meeting. It's funny how important it is for our finances to function, and yet so much of it is based on assumptions. We're assuming Gary's going to keep his job and pay rate according to his contracted scale. We're also assuming our rent and utilities won't go up drastically and we're assuming gas won't go over 3$ this calendar year. Seems doable as of today but who knows? Of course we're also assuming our Mansfield renters will stay, pay rent and the house won't need any drastic repairs. That's a lot of assuming and you know what they say about that... We kind of live on that mantra that life is what God gives you after you make your plans. So we make our plans using the wisdom we've got and leave the rest in God's hands. Or try to. The Bush's made it later in the evening and we enjoyed some time with them. The lake is partly frozen so we all got quite a science lesson this weekend! First of all we learned that independent Armandina can in fact walk almost a half a mile in boots (to the lake and back). I carried her a little bit but honestly not much. She would have none of it! Tyler, of course, ran most of the way, also in boots. We got down tot he lake and some of it is drained for the winter so we were able to stand on the ground of the lake in the spot where the boats usually are docked. We pretended to touch the bottom of the "boat". We also learned that the heavier the rocks, the better chance they have of breaking through the ice. We also experimented in ways of throwing them. There was some cracked ice on the edges and i grabbed a pretty large chunk and got a lesson of my own. When you throw ice on ice it shatters and slides for a very long distance! It also makes the most amazing sounds! I'd never seen anything like it! With so few people (we saw 2 other walkers and a dog across the lake but that's all!), no boats or car or air traffic it was SO quiet! The rocks we threw made neat sounds too. From the cabin to the lake is mostly a downhill walk on a blacktop/gravel road. Tyler seems so big and grown up to me but God showed me just how small we all are. Tyler ran ahead of me and once past the houses, with the lake, and the hills and forests around him, my Tyler looked so tiny. His creation is just so vast and majestic and it was just so amazing. I took the kids (by myself mom!) for a walk down to the lake while Gary unloaded the van and got their beds together. The four of us and Stephanie went the next morning as well and Tyler and his Pops got to go a third time on Saturday. They found some fish frozen in the ice! One of the things i love most about the cabin is that they get NO TV reception. No antenna channels, no cable, no cell phone service, no Internet. Nothing. We can watch VHS's and DVD's but that's it! They do get a few radio stations but not many. We pretty much have no other choice but to relax. We make meals, read, visit and sleep. Ahhh.... we watched Prince Caspian Friday Night and i really really enjoyed it. Well, the kids are ready to get up from their Sunday naps so I'd better get in gear for dinner and the rest of the evening. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! God Bless!