It's a NEW year. It's time for a NEW me.

I have been ruminating the last five minutes about 

New Year resolutions and such. 

I was pondering how I can become 

the BEST ME e.v.e.r. in 2010.

My brooding contemplation was answered almost immediately.

I looked up at the T.V. and KNEW I had the answer right in front of me.

This is how I will become a NEW ME in less than 2 minutes a day:

The Neckline Slimmer

Results are guaranteed.

It is going to FIRM, LIFT AND SMOOTH in only 2 minutes a day!

2010 is going to be my year.

I can feel it---and everyone else

will see it as they see my neck shrink.

I have been told that I push myself too much and have lofty goals.

I really think I'm up to this.

You can STRETCH yourself in 2010.
I am.

Before and After

How we felt BEFORE we took down the Christmas decorations:

How we felt AFTER the Christmas decorations were put away:

My new BFF, Ace.

Today I made a new BFF.

Ace.

Ace Bandage.

This morning we were awakened from our slumber at 7 a.m. by child #5 using our Chinese gong. Being that it was 7 a.m. and not 4 a.m., we jumped out of bed happily. 

I left my room and paused at the top of the stairs as child #3 went in to rouse child #2 from sleep. I saw child #3 start to climb onto the top bunk above child #2. 

I suspected possible semi-torture might take place and so my attention was averted momentarily from the stairs. While waiting for a scream, my feet left the top stair and before I knew it, I was sliding down the stairs while my right knee was twisting unnaturally. Not a pretty sight. Luckily, after the first 6 stairs, there is a landing which prevented me from sliding down the rest of the stairs.

As time passed, it became increasingly aware that any movement of my knee was going to make me miserable. Thus, Ace, Ace Bandage, became my newest BFF.

Before this, I really took my knee bends for granted. Never again.

Come visit us Virtually!

Okay...since no one wants to come visit us at this lovely time of year, I decided to host a virtual visit to my abode so that you can see all you have missed by not being with us. Honest, I have so tried to not take the lack of visitors personally......I'm slowly getting over it...

Any hoo---if you came to our house, you would get your own personal hand-made Snow Seat, foot rest included at no extra charge!

Now, don't let that picture deter you. This morning when we awoke, this is all that was left of the snow in our backyard.

See, it's not so bad.


Next, you could choose your favorite tree by which we would place your presents.


Tree #1: This tree is in our kitchen area and is tall and skinny. This year it was populated by our homey, fun, memory-filled decorations.

Tree #2: This is from our BYU inspired tree. It is in our family room as that is where we spend the most time; thus the BYU indoctrination can take place at all hours of the day and night.

Tree #3:  This tree reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. It's our scripture tree.

Here are some Santas I collected from the far recesses of the earth in which we have lived.

This is my favorite Christmas picture of all time....

And here we have some carolers...

And last, but not least, a masterpiece created by Kristen and Ryan.

If you come and visit we will even share our Reindeer antlers with you...

 To top off the visit, you just might get a 

SNUGGIE 

to finish things off right!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

One year older and wiser too????

Today I am one year older and I'm supposed to be wiser too....Hmmmm. 

I do know that now I am officially 

closer to 50 than 40. 

Lucky me!!

The day is complete and it's just begun....

This morning before I even arose my weary body from bed, 

Matthew gave me an excellent foot rub.

I say happy feet = day complete.

                                                 This picture may seem a little strange----last year in a photog class I had to take 36 pictures which represented a "self-portrait." When taking 36 pictures of one self, one needs to take artistic license. Thus, I took artistic license.

A Happy Day

It's a happy day.

Elizabeth is home.

Taylor's team won. Big Time.

 Anniversary flowers from my beloved.

My beloved is home early---still working---but home early.

Christmas letters from near and far.

There is room enough in the family room for volleyball, basketball, AND Christmas!

The End.

Basketball Shoes: A Silent Economic Commentary

It has been said that we, as a country, are in the worst economic times

since the depression.

You be the judge.

Basketball during the depression (1931-1932):

Compare that with a few shots from one of Taylor's games last week.

A glimpse of the basketball shoes:

Hmmm....is there a pair less than $75 in the bunch?

(Except for Taylor's, of course!)

As bad as the Depression?

I don't think so.

Just my opinion.

Happy Anniversary to my Honey----one day late!

Here's to another 21 years!

I wonder now....

How in the world did my Mom and Mother-in-law execute such a
nice reception THREE days before Christmas?
(And they seemed to so happy to do it!)

Kudos to them!!!

Concert

In the eight years that we have lived in Chicago, Matthew and I have attended two paid concerts. One was seven years ago. 

The second concert was last night.

Both concerts have three things in common:

1.  I bought the tickets.

2.  They were both held at the Rialto Theater, 
a BEAUTIFUL theater in the heart of Joliet.

3.  Both concerts had a common name:  OSMOND.

Yes, we went to the Osmonds' Brothers Christmas Concert last night. 

Seven years ago, we saw Donny Osmond. 
Matthew was one of the lone men in a sea of 
mostly 40-something screaming ladies.

No, I wasn't 40 yet and I didn't scream.

The concert was GREAT.

We had an enjoyable time together and enjoyed the beautiful music. 

In the fall of 1991, Wayne Osmond stayed with us in our apartment in Taiwan for a month.

He is an extremely NICE person.

He told us lots of really interesting stories and things about their family.

Maybe I will write another post about that later....

Right now I'm off to watch Taylor's basketball team win again!

Wayne Osmond reading to Elizabeth in our apartment.

Elizabeth really happy about things....

Tomorrow.....

SHE GETS HOME!!

A couple of days ago, Ryan was talking to me about Elizabeth being home.

He asked, "Mom, how long will Elizabeth be home for Christmas?"

"Oh, about 2 1/2 weeks."

"Oh, GOOD!"

I have to agree.

Oops!!

(Dec. 15) --- It is an inconvenient time for Al Gore to be fudging numbers on global climate change.

With the specter of the "Climategate" e-mails hanging ominously over the Copenhagen climate change summit, the former vice president told a crowd there on Monday that one scientist had predicted the polar ice cap would have no summer ice in five to seven years.

"These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr. Maslowski that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven  years," Gore told the audience.

But the scientist Gore quoted, Dr. Wieslaw Maslowski, of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, told the Time of London that he never said such a thing.

"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at," Maslowski told the Times. "I would never try to estimate likelihood of anything as exact as this."

(Source:  Dana Chivvis, Contributor, AOL)

OOPS!!  Hmmmm.....No wonder he doesn't "have time" to discuss this with John Stossel.....

He'll save the day....HONEST!

Pray for the Duggars and their new 1 lb. 6 oz. baby...

Michelle Duggar delivered baby #19 much earlier than expected.

I'm sure they would appreciate our prayers on their behalf.

More and be read here.

New Strategy for a Clean House during Christmas Vacay

This morning as I was going around picking up everyone's STUFF, I decided on a new strategy to implement during Christmas vacation so everyone will be responsible, in a timely manner, for THEIR OWN JUNK. (I had lots of time to think as I was gathering all the STUFF.)

Starting December 18th at 3:00 p.m.:

1.   I will ask the offender ONCE to put away their stuff. THAT will be their warning.

2.   If said stuff is not put away in a timely manner and I have to tell them again or pick it up myself, the offender will be doing another JOB (they already have daily jobs) around the house.


3.   These jobs will be the kinds of jobs (that no one likes to do) that put a "finishing touch" on making the house REALLY clean---like cleaning baseboards, all the wood, washing the blinds.....


I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Biggest Loser Finale Final Thoughts

I was amazed at the weight loss of the contestants. Rudy losing 234 lbs.????  Danny -- 239 lbs.???? Amazing.

I'm glad Rebecca won the at-home challenge. Tracey was too mean. (Did you notice she didn't clap for any of the other contestants?) I thought the dress Rebecca chose for the on-stage reveal was waaayyyyyyy toooooooo short---like Cindy Brady 6-year old short (but Cindy was 6, not 20-something.) She should have at least worn shorts under it.

I also wish Rebecca would have left her hair it's natural color. She looks so pretty with her naturally dark hair.  Her weight loss has been amazing. Unfortunately, now with her new haircut and unnatural hair color, I think she too closely resembles Lady Elaine Fairchild from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.....

 Check out her before/after picture here

and compare it to Lady Elaine Fairchild:

P.S. I did NOT eat any ice cream last night!  :)

Where's my ICE CREAM???

I need some ice cream quick---at least a 1/2 gallon.

The Biggest Loser Finale starts in 75 minutes.

There is no time to spare....

Tuesday Trivia: Give everyone a good punch for Christmas!

"Hot cockles" was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. 

 

It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. "Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era.

 

Sounds fun.

Spreading a little Christmas Cheer

Photoshoot

A friend asked me to take pictures of her kids a few months ago. They are such a cute family and we had a good time, inspite of the rain that came down upon us. Here are a few pictures from that day....

If life could just be about fun stuff like taking pictures, scrapbooking and reading.....

Tuesday Trivia

Did you know.....Kids have 94 more bones than adults?

Fusion, of all things, explains why. In kids, long bones like the femur and tibia consist of three or four parts, separated by cartilage growth plates. Count each of those as a distinct bone, and you end up with about 300 total.

The bones continue to grow from these cartilage areas until adolescence. Then, most of the plates fuse together, though some (like those in the shoulder) remain open into our 20s. When that process ends, we're left with a complete set of 206. Not including the funny bone....