Our latest...

I've been a terrible blogger lately. And I have no real excuses (other than painting, as mentioned earlier.) But I do have things to tell, and a few minutes to write right now. So, forgive me for the lack of photos, as I share our latest.

1. We got a new computer! YAAAAYYY!! This really is BIG news for ME, because it's supposed to be MY computer, to keep in the kitchen at a new little desk where I can use it and still do all the stuff I'm supposed to do. I LOVE it so far! I confess, it's still not as easy as I dreamed it would be to log on while being climbed on by two little monkeys. But we're working things out as we go. It's been very exciting so far. Many new posts are in my mind now, just waiting to be typed up on this pretty little laptop.

2. We got new couches and a new entertainment center. Well, they're new to us, though they're actually from craiglist (our new addiction). The couches are gorgeous new ones, from a model home and they look great in our living room. We put the 3-month-old orange couch upstairs and it looks great up there! The entertainment center is still in the garage because it's heavy enough to give any good man a hernia. But we hope to get several good men over sometime soon to hopefully help us haul it upstairs and really start "finishing" our family room.

3. Spencer now has SIX teeth! SIX!! Unlike Samantha, who cut them one at a time, every month or so -- Spence cuts them two at a time, or three, it seems! And he bites FAST and HARD!! Ouch! He apparently is not familiar with the "don't bite the hand that feeds you" addage, because he's always chomping my fingers.

4. Samantha is the queen of trying new words, and mixing them up. I love all the little made-up words she comes up with... kaprise (for surprise); pasta flakes (instead of frosted flakes); tellable (instead of terrible). One of her favorite phrases is when she's sad or I tell her not to do something, she breaks down to near-tears and says, "that makes my feelings sooo sad!" I think it's cute. The other day I had both kids ready for bed and I said, "Oh, I have two of the cutest little angel babies!" Samantha got really serious and said, "No. Spencer is NOT an angel." I asked, "He's not??" "No. He's a sheep." (It's true, he was a sheep for the Christmas nativity; and she was an angel. Let's keep things straight, Mom!)

5. Brian has volunteered to help with the Special Olympics, which is being hosted in Boise, starting this coming week. He'll be helping with a delegation from the Middle East, and will be serving as translator. It sounds like a really fun opportunity for him to use his Arabic, which is great! But we won't see much of him for the next 10-12 days as he will be on site with his group for the games. Anybody fancy a road trip to visit Kamber and the kiddies??

6. I'm painting a wall in our bedroom yellow. It's more of a dusty golden color really (at least I HOPE it is -- you'll get an update once it's actually on the wall). I just find it interesting, because when I was 13 we repainted our house, and I got to choose which color my bedroom would be. I chose a bright banana yellow. I guess I like yellow, even though I've always teased my mom for her yellow kitchen.

7. I'm planning a trip to Utah for a few days around the middle of February. Unfortunately, Brian won't be able to come with me, but I'm looking forward to seeing some people and having a change of scenary. Unlike other Utah visits, I'm trying to resist the temptation of overbooking myself. There are always sooo many people I want to see (since all you fabulous people seem to congregate there), that I flit around spending an hour here, an hour there -- never very much quality time anywhere. So, I'm trying to be more "stationary" (or is it stationery... with an e? I never can remember which is which, but I mean I'll be staying in one place, rather than trying to be a piece of note paper.) Hopefully I'll still get to see people?

8. We have had four or five days of sunshine in a row!! That is FABULOUS news to me, because prior to that we had what Treasure Valley locals call "the Inversion." I HATE it. It basically means we saw NO sunshine (other than one 7-minute sunset) from the time we got home from Hawaii. (I know, I really can't complain because we DID go to Hawaii) But remember I am a SUN person. I LOVE the sun, hate the cold, overcast, dark Inversion. The fact that we have had several bright happy days in a row has filled my life with joy!

9. I'm hoping to finish up that paint job first thing tomorrow morning (with the very kind help of my cousin, Serenity, who volunteered to watch Sammie. YAY!! This means I must get to bed now so I can actually do the painting I've planned. I hope I'll be able to add some pictures soon.

Ciao for now!