Merry Christmas!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! This year was probably the most fun I've ever had watching the kids open their gifts. Samm jumped up and down in excitement with every gift and shouted "it's just what I always wanted!" Oh, to be five again. James just got so many cool noisy boy toys that he didn't know what to play with first. His favorite by far though was the storm troopers.

Samm of course loved all her gifts but has a passion for tea parties. Needles to say we have had many of them in the last few days.

And Josh got the job of assembling all the fun gadgets, but I don't think he minds too much!

Weight loss competition

This summer Josh and I are headed to Mexico, and since we are both going to have some weight to lose we decided to make a competition out of it. I thought I should be able to weigh in the day before the baby is born, but Josh thinks for some odd reason that it would be cheating. Anyway, we have posted a little poll just too see who you all think is going to win. (me of course) It is completely anonymous (I think) so don't be afraid to vote for who you think is really going to win. (me of course) Once the actual competition is under way, we will keep you all updated as to our progress.

smarty pants

I know everyone thinks they have the cutest and smartest kids ever. Believe me, I'm no exception. I just have to say though that Samm continually amazes me. A couple of weeks ago she asked me what the word miniscule (sp?) meant, and then last Sunday she started telling us what kinds of things were facts and what were opinions. Tonight she blew us away when we had the kids hold a box on their laps in the car because it wouldn't fit in the trunk and she said to us "This box is just too heavy and cumbersome." What five year old even knows that word? I guess she is learning a lot of this from a word game online at pbs kids, but as a mother I was still rather impressed that she could use it in her own sentence. Were still not so sure about James. All he says when you talk to him is "huh?". Good thing he is so dang cute!

Fun with Grandma

Samm and James dipping pretzels at Grandma's house. James did more eating than dipping!

Just not my thing.

I attempted to make homemade caramels last night, which I have done once or twice before, but instead I got caramel pudding. I think the candy thermometer may have been too close to the bottom of the pan which could have caused the temp reading to be off. Or, I'm just one of those people that does not have cooking skills. Even when I set frozen rolls out all day to rise it is usually hit and miss. I'm OK with my lack of skills in that area though, because it's just not something I love to do. I am sorry for my children though who will not learn how to cook from me. Good thing they have a grandma close by who can teach them.

A breath of fresh air

Your probably wondering how the title of my post could possibly include any word having to do with breathing, (not much of that happens in the last month of pregnancy) but I really do feel a huge sense of relief this month. Josh finished out the semester incredibly well (4.0 taking 25 credit hours) and we have his undevided attention for the next three weeks. Well, there will be a break in his attention when bowl games start, but I guess he deserves some fun now and then. We are spending most of our free time working around the house. Josh is busy remodeling our master bathroom and I am trying to finish all 100 of the projects I've started but never finished. If I finish five of them I will fell like I've accomplished a lot. Other than that I'm just counting down the days until I will have a waist agian.

Ok, so a quick explanation of my blog title. Samm eats life cereal every single morning for breakfast, (except on saturdays when my kids get the special treat of pancakes,) but she calls them sparkly squares. It all started because we wanted her to try the life but she didn't want to. I told her they were sparkly squares and she has been hooked for the last year and a half. So that's me, basically just plain brown squares, but calling them sparkly makes me feel a little bit special.