A Great Week

There is a good week in the making at the K household. Here's why:
1. The weather has been beautiful today and will be tomorrow. That means walks and playing at the park. Which is always nice in the "dead of winter".
2. Some friends from our old town are moving here tomorrow. We haven't seen them in at least 4 years and they now have a little girl near NGK's age. They'll only be living a few minutes down the road.
3. We're having a New Year's Day party with our neighbors. I'm really excited about this as it's another attempt at getting to know our neighbors better. I think it will be fun, if anyone comes, so far only 1 RSVP.
4. CDK has two days off of work. Yipeee!
5. My oldest (as in time I've known her, not her age) friend and her husband are coming in town and we're going to hang out. I can't wait to see them.
6. We might, just might, order new furniture for our bedroom. This would be extremely exciting (I guess I'm getting old when furniture goes in the exciting category).
7. I'm having lunch with three friends on Wednesday, just the girls!
8. And I'm sensing the "I can do anything" attitude this week as the New Year approaches. So we'll see what happens.

Why Didn't I do this Sooner?

I know that sending out the Christmas card photo combination isn't a new idea. I've just never done it. This year I realized how easy, and cheap it is. I can get 50 for about $15 at Sam's. Plus they have tons of layouts to choose from. Very cool!

Here's where you come in. Which card should we use? We always said we wanted to send out a family pic with our card, not just one of the kid (or someday kids). But these are cute and we aren't sure how much we like ourselves (me and CDK) in the family pic. So please vote. There are three options. The only difference in the last option is the coloring of the photograph. And of course this is highly important - it could end-up on your refrigerator and you wouldn't want someone saying "Why did your friends pick that card?"

A Christmas Gift

At this point in NGK's life there isn't much she actually "needs" for Christmas. I don't know that she will ever actually "need" anything, since we really are more than provided for and if we can't get it, we have family that is usually willing to pitch in and help.

So, as parents, we weren't sure what to get her for Christmas. We figure the grandparents will give her all the fun stuff they want to spoil her with, and that's great (just as long as we can fit it in our car!). So we are trying to very deliberate and careful about what we get her.

Then we got the idea from some friends. We are going to get NGK a season pass to the local zoo. The pass will actually be for me, since she's free till three, but this way her and I can go as much as we want for the whole year. Plus you get free parking, and discounts on many other things in the zoo. Also your guests receive a small discount. The pass will pay for itself in 3.5 visits, so I figure it's a good deal. And we have other friends that have the pass, so we can all go together.

I think this is something we will try and do for several years and as she gets older we can see if museums and other local places offer season passes. I'm really excited about taking her to the zoo and watching her discover all the animals. And I love it even more because it's a great deal!

A Plague

As if it wasn't enough to have braces in the 6th grade (this was before they were "cool" and had all the different colors), and have them for almost three years, they give you this permanent bottom retainer. It really isn't noticeable, after 15 years of having it, except for trying to clean behind it or food getting stuck in it. I don't really like it, never have, but I figure it's better than getting braces as an adult, if my front bottom teeth don't stay where they are supposed to.

So this morning my bottom retainer broke. The good news is that it broke while I was flossing, so this is a good story for the dentist. But I'm sure after closer examination he will know this isn't a regular habit. And it didn't break off completely, it only broke off on one side. It's still in my mouth, and one side is poking up above my teeth and in the way of talking and eating. Nice! I'm an adult, having issues with a retainer sounds so juvenile. Oh well, I have an appointment for tomorrow to get it fixed, I hope. The dentist wasn't sure if he could fix it or if he would have to send me to an orthodontist. Hopefully he can at least fix the pokey part. And not to mention, it's the holidays, and I don't want to be spending money on my teeth!

Home for Christmas

Before this post officially begins, I'd like to offer a small apology for my lack of posting. It's been partly because I'm busy, partly because I'm not sure what's interesting about my life, and partly because the computer's broken. I'm going to try and do better. Thanks for still checking.

After four years of Christmas being somewhat random (two years in a country where Christmas isn't celebrated, two years in a small house and we had to drive 1 1/2 hours to pick-up our decorations and couldn't use them all), I'm finally at "my" home for Christmas. I really enjoyed putting-up our tree, and fishing through all the decorations I hadn't seen in four year. And also reconfirming the fact that I have too many Christmas decorations. I think I might make a charitable Christmas decoration contribution to my brother-in-law who just bought a house, and probably doesn't have many decorations.

I added a few new decorations that we haven't used before. There are three baby's first Christmas ornaments. We had them last year, but I couldn't find them all. There is also a new ornament that we bought in Hawaii before we moved. I'm glad to have that one up because that was a great vacation, and the ornament a great reminder. A new nativity set, it is pure olive wood handmade in our previous country, and was given to us by some donors that we hosted when they visited. I also used some fresh garland on our porch. I have always liked the idea of having fresh garland, but it's a little pricey. I found a good deal at Sam's and bought some. Oh, yes, and I musn't forget NGK's own pink Christmas tree. This purchase came from her great-grandmother who wanted NGK to have her own.

We don't have anything on the outside of the house, except the garland and wreath, but maybe we'll get to that next year. I have decided that next year we will buy, hopefully, and new tree that is pre-lit. Enough of stringing lights, the only fun part is actually putting the ornaments on.

A Coincidence?

I know that my day always starts better if I actually get up on time and get the day going. I have been trying, for awhile now, to get up a little before NGK to at least eat my breakfast and do some reading. That way I will have a little peace and quiet and not have my breakfast interrupted by the predictable after breakfast (NGK's that is) dirty diaper. So this is the first morning I did this and enjoyed my breakfast. I was helped by some encouragement from CDK and the fact that he had to leave for work early.

So I'm more determined now to actually get up early and use that 1/2 hour to do something semi-productive. But today my alarm clock died - completely. No warning, just dead. What's worse is that I love this alarm clock. The last time I bought one I tried out 3 or 4 before I found the right one. I think they still have them a Target, so if all else fails, I'll go get another one.

Whoops!

I really can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I know I haven't been posting and I've thought about posting, it just hasn't happened. Sorry to all, I know your life hasn't been complete without knowing what's going on in mine (ha). Here's recap of the last month or so...

• At the end of September we went to a Swell Season concert. If you've seen Once it's the guy and girl from that. They are so great and the concert was awesome. CDK suprised me after we decided not to go. I'm so glad we did. Check out their website (http://www.theswellseason.com/ ) and definetly see the movie if you haven't.
• We had a garage sale in October because we needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff. We advertised on the street and asked our neighbors to join it. It was great because we were able to meet a lot of people. We have now met at least 10 of the 35 families on our street. One is a rock star, one an artist, one a biker, and one a former drive-in movie theater owner. It's pretty interesting to get to know your neighbors. And if you are looking for any furniture, we're still trying to sell some (couch, chairs, bedroom suite, headboard).
• NGK started walking about three weeks ago. And, as predicted, as soon as she got her balance, she was off, there has been no turning back. We have discovered she's fearless, and therefore we have had quiet a few bumps on the forehead. Maybe she needs a helmet. An unexpected side of effect of the walking is that I think shes more tired. She's been taking 2 - 2 1/2 morning naps, 1 1/2 - 2 hour afternoon naps, and sleeping 30 minutes to an hour later in the morning. She's going to be 1 year in 13 days, I can't believe it. And she's going to be Daisy Duck for Halloween. A great sale at the Disney Store made this decision for us.
• We went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago in our previous town and had fun visiting old friends and our old church. It's always amazing how much things have changed, and stayed the same.
• Last weekend we threw a baby shower for our best friends who are expecting twins at the beginning of December. We can't wait to meet this new little boy and girl and for NGK to have some new playmates.
• Have you seen the movie La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon)? It's great! It's about illegal immigrants in the US and it really opens your eyes to what they deal with. I highly recommend it. I also read the book Three Cups of Tea it's a true story about an American who builds schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is so inspiring and makes you want to change the world.
• And lastly - church. We are doing church in our home with three other families right now. There is a lot to this and the decision making process that lead us to this option, so I'll write more about it later. But to sum it up, we really feel like we are where God wants us for now. It's amazing how He has brought us down this road and provided.

So that's us in a nutshell for the past while. I'll try to do better.