Ten for Tuesday 1.05.09

It's been another fun week, but I'm glad things are starting to slow down a bit.

1. On Tuesday night we got to go hang out with some friends from high school. The boys got to ride snowmobiles in the backyard, and they thought that was a lot of fun! Thanks for the invite Gabe & Lori. We all had a great time.

2. Wednesday was New Year's Eve and we had a wild party with Reed's parents and siblings. . . complete with Martinelli's sparkling cider and good long game of Dominoes. We put the kids down to bed early and enjoyed an evening of fun games and good company.

3. On Thursday Reed and I went with my family to see the Body Worlds Exhibit. Really, this was an incredible experience. I've never been much into biology and anatomy, and I must admit I felt a bit queasy to begin with. But, I soon became completely fascinated with what I was seeing. There are only a few days left to see this exhibit, so if you haven't gone already, you should really try to go this weekend. You won't be disappointed!

4. On Friday I went out fabric shopping with my mom. We went to Hancock Fabrics first and spent a couple of hours trying to come up with a good combination of fabrics to use on a cute apron. After awhile I just hit a complete mental block and could not decide on anything. Unfortunately my Mom kept most of her creativity genes for herself and passed very few of them down to me. We finally left and went to check out a place in WX that Tiffany told me about called Quilters Haven. After about 10 seconds in the store I could have come up with 15 different combos for my apron. They had really awesome fabric, and I'm so glad I finally went and checked out the store. The problem is that the fabric is pretty pricey and I wasn't so sure I wanted to spend that much on an apron. So, I ended up with some Amy Butler fabric that was on sale that I'll use for bed pillows. I will hopefully start on the project next week. I'm so excited to see the final product!

5. Sunday was the first day of 8:30 church for us, and let's just say, I'm not a fan. I had to wake all three of the boys up before the sun, and not one of them was happy about it. All of us were extra tired after such a busy couple of weeks, so hopefully next week will be a little bit easier. I have my doubts. . .

6. Blake is just cracking me up lately. He wants to be a big kid SO BAD! And he feels totally ripped off when he can't do things like the other boys---like sit at the counter for breakfast or color with markers. He is completely addicted to his binki, and it's becoming a major issue. He's finally figured out how to open doorknobs, so now he can sneak up to his bedroom to get his binki out of his crib. He still doesn't talk much, but this week he's added the words "ma-ma" (grandma) and "uh oh." Very cute. He's recently decided that he LOVES wash cloths. Weird. I know. He doesn't actually like to be washed with a wash cloth. He just likes to carry one around and chew on it. What a funny little boy!

7. Anyone watch the big game on Friday? I didn't. I really couldn't care less about football. But, Reed did, and let me tell you---he's just a little bit excited about watching football on a big screen in HDTV. I've had a hard time pulling him away from the football all week, but at least he folded all of my laundry while he watched! Thanks Reed!

8. About a year ago I heard about a company called Blurb that will let you "slurp" your blog into their software and create a printed book out of it. I was really excited about this idea and have been planning to create a book out of my 2008 blog entries as a family scrapbook. So I sat down to work on it yesterday and was sorely disappointed. This is not the going to be the quick and easy project I thought it would be. I guess a couple of months ago Blogger changed their programming and is no longer compatible with Blurb. I tried looking around on the Internet for a company that could do something similar with Blogger, but I just couldn't find quite what I was looking for. I ended up cloning my blog to a Blurb compatible site and then slurping from there, but I lost all of my comments, and most of my photos aren't pulling up right. And for those of you who know how tech savvy I am, you'll know that this was no easy feat for me. I'm not sure what to do now. I could probably make this book work, but it will take a lot of time to format it properly, and that's totally not the point. I wanted to use Blurb because it would be quick and easy. I think that if I wait around long enough Blurb might fix their software, or some other company will come along to fill the niche. Aargh! What a bummer. Have any of you tried to print out your blog? Is there another company I should look into?

9. Could someone please sell me a decent night's sleep? I'll pay a premium. I promise. Blake keeps waking up screaming in the middle of the night, and this has been going on for over a month now. He usually just needs me to give him a binki and put his blanket back on, but once I'm awake, I never can get back into a deep sleep. Last night I was so tired and tried to go to bed early. I laid awake in bed until 12:30, and then I finally got up and took a sleeping pill. About 15 minutes later (just as I was finally dozing off) Blake started screaming. Shouldn't he be sleeping through by now?! All I ask is to get a decent rest a night. Is that too much?

10. This is my first day cooking for the dinner group. I'm a bit anxious. I hope I make enough food, and I hope I don't burn anything. It's one thing to cook for your own family and have the meal flop, but it's another thing to cook for others and have the meal flop. But, last night it was so nice to eat a home cooked meal that I did not make---and clean up after dinner was so easy. I think I'm going to like this. Wish me luck!