Brady's Valentines

Yesterday was Brady's Valentine's Day Party at school. I really, really do not like the pre-made, mass produced Valentines that you can buy at the drugstore. So while I still have a say & Brady doesn't care, I decided that we would make Valentines for his class.

I knew I had all kinds of scrapbooking paper, markers, glue, etc. And that I had a bag of Dum Dum suckers. So I googled "Dum Dum Valentines."

I found some good craft blogs: The Crafty Crow, Zakka Life, New Green Mama

I found this one on Zakka Life. I think it turned out really cute. You download the picture of the snail and then print it out. Brady cut it out with some scrapbooking scissors, glued it on the cardstock, I cut the hole for the sucker and he taped the stick to the back. I signed his name because he got frustrated with that (that's what happens when you are 4).

We were the only ones in his class that made our Valentines. But almost everyone gave goody bags loaded with candy.

Hello! I haven't blogged in forever. I want to but I just can't think of anything interesting. But let me just ramble a little and see what comes out...

I started school on January 4th. I am taking Algebra and Psychology. As I have mentioned before, to say that Algebra is not my strong suit is an understatement.However, I got a 93 on the first test and an 87 on the second. Yippee!!!!! I had a Psychology test last week and I got a 96. Double Yippee! Justin has been very busy doing a finished basement and he has booked several more big jobs. 2009 is looking like it could be a good year for us!

I watched the inauguration on Tuesday. I am always so blown away by the pageantry of that day. It is amazing how smoothly things happen. No matter how you feel about President Obama or our country, we are so lucky to live where we do. i got so choked up during Aretha Franklin singing My Country Tis of Thee (after I got over being startled by her hat). Patriotic music always does it to me. My 87 year old neighbor, Mary, came over to watch it with me. I know that she only watches TV maybe once a week and for some reason when she turns it off she messes it up and usually Justin has to go over to fix it for her. So I thought I better call that morning to see if her TV was working. First thing she said was, "I CAN'T GET IT ON MY TV!". So I told her to come over so she didn't miss it. She missed the swearing in but saw the speech. She just smiled and smiled. Again, no mater what you think of him, think about what that day meant to my 87 year old black friend.

Justin scored a huge box of boy dress up clothes this week. Brady & Bowie have been in heaven.

I keep checking my blog everyday hoping that there is something new posted here. But yet, nothing. So I guess I should do something about that.

We had a good Christmas, New Year & Brady's birthday. We started at my mother-in-law's on the 20th. Justin made her an adirondak loveseat for Christmas and it is really nice. The plan is for him to make one for my parents for their anniversary too. He wanted to make one for them for Xmas but ran out of time. Anyway, we just relaxed, ate and played games (Taboo & Bramble). Emma, Brady & Bowie got to spend some quality time together which is great. They don't get to see each other very often because of Emma's busy schedule. And did I mention that we ate? I did, a bunch.

Then on the 24th we had Christmas with Justin's dad, Granny & Pop, and the Heards. That was nice too. This year we had a new baby to celebrate with- Avery. He slept through the presents. Brady got some noisy guns from his Grandpa. He loves them. And we ate.

Then Santa came. Brady & Bowie both got bicycles. Brady was thrilled. Bowie's legs are a little short for his. After that we went to my parents. That is always fun and now that there are 5 kids running around it is kinda crazy. This year mom timed it perfectly. Presents, dinner, relaxing. It was very nice. Erin & Joe got a Wii for Xmas so that was one of the highlights. I didn't manage to play it but it seems like fun. Brady got a Leapster and Bowie got a baby 4 wheeler. And I believe that I ate from the moment I walked in the door until the moment I walked out.

New Year's Eve is Brady's birthday. He was born at 12:16 a.m. on 12/31/04. I think that he thinks that the fireworks and noisemakers are for him. We went to the park, because that is what Brady wanted to do. Very cold but we had fun. Then we had Mexican with Cristen and Avery. They came over and we did fireworks, opened presents and had birthday cake. We just hung around the house and drank champagne and watched the ball drop. On New Years Day we went to Justin's grandparents for dinner. I ate a bunch of black eyed peas and collard greens. I hate greens but I need some green in my bank account so I went for it. That night I made up a new New Years Day dish that was delish and guess what, it has greens & black eyed peas in it. So I doubled up on the greens- lets hope it makes a difference.

This past Sunday we went to Chuck E Cheese for Brady's birthday party. As usual it was fun and he had a great time. I think he was getting the "Too Much Christmas & Birthday" attitude by the end. Ripping through presents without even looking at them. However, at home he has played with each one and seems to really appreciate them. I guess he just gets a little rush ripping through the wrapping paper.

So now the holidays are over and we can get back to normal. Which hopefully means normal eating too. I gained 7 lbs over the month of December. Yikes! So I am back on track and hitting the gym. I exercised throught the month but not as much as usual and I really ate anything that I thought i might want.

I started school this week. So far so good. I had Algebra last night. Algebra is my Achilles heel. But I must conquer it. I think that if I can get a good/decent grade in there it will be a load off my shoulders. It all started back in high school, I just have not been able to do well in it. But this time is different. Before when I took it, in high school & college the 1st time, I did not know that there were harder things in life than Algebra. So maybe if I have to be older, maybe I get to be a little wiser too.

I will post pictures later. I have to compress them so that it doesn't take forever to upload.