I know, I know...

...I haven't been here in nearly two weeks. 

And the last thing I left was a picture of my trashed kitchen floor. 

Nice, right?

Well, my horse raced away with the cart and I needed to go catch the reins again...so to speak.

So here's what you've missed:

We started *ahem* working on another baby (clearly in the forefront of my mind right now!) Not sure if this is the kind of activity I should be talking about on my blog, but I"m really excited and thought you all might like to be excited with me!

My birthday is on Sunday. I will be 35. 

I always said (rather stubbornly) my womb was closed at that age.  

I guess God has other plans!

Ava will be turning 4 in a mere 3 weeks. 

Ouch! I did a cute photo shoot of her today all decked out ala "Fancy Nancy"

(for those of you with girls this age, you'll know exactly what I"m talking about!)

Alec is big...really big. He asked me the other day if I had shrunk!

We've pretty much finished that upstairs room, now no longer called the "junk room". 

I have one more wall I need to embellish and a couple details elsewhere to take care of, but I needed to take a break for a minute and let life resume normal routine first.

I know you're all dying to see pictures...soon...very soon!

I cleaned out the boy's closet and re-organized their whole room last weekend. 

Exhausting! 

Under Benji's bed I found 5 nearly full tissue boxes...and other remarkable items. 

They love their "new" room and are refusing to play in there because they don't want to mess it up! Ugh!

I got asked (again) to be the church photographer for an upcoming baby dedication. 

I love taking pictures. I do not love editing them. 

It's just so time consuming when there are a couple hundred to go through! 

If they keep asking me, I may start charging...is that wrong? It is church, after all...I should be donating my time, right? Hmmm...

I'm starting to get the urge to do a fun sewing project. I love making Ava summer dresses, but shy away from it in the winter because of the sleeve issue...sleeves are H.A.R.D. to finish on the edges unless you have a serger...I don't. I think I just really need to buckle down and finish the quilt I started last fall! Ha!

I love Christmas and Thanksgiving. 

I really, really, really hate being cold. I probably shouldn't be living in the midwest!

I really hope my best friend gets to come home soon.

It will be a long, sad winter if she doesn't.

Marvin and Alec are at a hockey game right now. 

The tickets were for Marvin's birthday from his family with the intent that we'd go on a date and they'd babysit. 

See how well the plan worked? 

I"m now the babysitter for two of my children while Marvin takes my other child out to dinner and the game! No, really, it's OK. Alec has been begging to go to one for quite some time and was the perfect opportunity.

I'm getting really sick of Sponge Bob. In French, it's Bob L'eponge.

Mr. Popper's Penguins is just as entertaining now as when I read it as a child.

We're getting ready to study a bit of ancient African history and I'm super excited. Africa has always fascinated me, and I hit the jackpot at the library. We'll be spending the whole week reading on the couch and making an African recipe.

I am, once again, in love with the FlyLady. She has given me wings to run and catch that fast horse that ran away with my cart and this week went so much better.

If you are at all struggling to balance housekeeping, meal planning, errands, etc. with the rest of your life, do yourself a favor and follow her advice! 

Your family and stress hormones will thank you for it!