Belated Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year will soon be upon us. John and I left this morning for our vacation in Myrtle Beach, and so I have some time to update the blog! Yeah!

First, here is a picture of Malachi in his snowsuit. Everytime we put him in it we think of that scene from "A Christmas Story" where Randy gets in his snowsuit and says, "I can't put my arms down!" :) Hee, hee.

Now, here's a picture of Malachi meeting Santa. He immediately tried to yank on his beard; Santa wasn't too impressed with that.


We had a wonderful Christmas with family. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with John's family in Moose Lake. Then on Christmas Day we got together with my family in Rochester. Malachi got to see all of his cousins in two days (except for the ones in CO)! Here are some pictures from the merriment.

Grandpa Winston with all of his grandkids and great-grandkids.

Grandma & Grandpa Carlson with their two grandkids. Malachi with his cousin Liberty and Grandma Sands.
Grandma and Grandpa Sands with all the MN grandkids.

Malachi with Great Grammy!

Tagged Again!

OK- Ebby didn't learn her lesson. I've been tagged again! This one is short and sweet, though.

Here are the Rules: go to Your Pictures file go to the 5th folder open up the 5th picture and post it then tag 5 people when you are done.

I love that this is the picture that it turned out to be. I need some Aloha spirit this week. It's always tough at school right before a long break, and right now I REALLY need a break! I just have been trying to keep in mind that in a few short weeks we'll be in North Myrtle Beach for a little anniversary vacation!

This picture is from when we were in Oahu in 2006.

I am going to tag others this time. I tag Jen E., Laura W. (if you still read this), Heather S., Kristi E., and Missy E. This is no pressure and fun! :)

Facebook "Hater"

I like my blog. I get to write and have an outlet, and people get to keep updated on our lives. It works for me. But there are people out there that think it's not enough. "Come to Facebook," they say. "You should be on Facebook," is the mantra. Well, people, call me a "hater." I'm not really interested in Facebook (or the like). I only bring this up because in the last 24 hours John has decided to join, and has been instantly sucked into the vortex of the thing. He cannot stop looking at the site, saying "hi" to people, responding to those who have found him, etc.

To me this is just another reason not to be on Facebook. I'm a busy person. Do I really need one more thing sucking me in? As I've watched John, I see that my joining could be detrimental to our family. Meals would burn up on the stove, dishes would pile up, Malachi would stay up until all hours of the night, and other horrors would occur.

My stock answer for not being on Facebook has been the same for years. I'm a teacher, and I don't want my personal life out and easily accessible on the web. As it is, I'm sure I have families and students finding me on this blog, but somehow that seems less creepy. I just don't like the idea of being in some kind of database where I can be looked up. This, of course, was more of an issue when I taught Middle School.

So, again, call me a "hater." I'm just going to stick to this blog for now. I say everyone is going to have to just deal with it! So there! :P

Who does Malachi look like?

I was going through some old pictures we had scanned for our wedding, and thought it might be fun to share them here. So- who does Malachi look like? I don't know if these pictures all place us at about the same age, but I figure it's pretty close. Cast your vote by commenting. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! :)

Finally Dealing with being "Tagged"

OK people, I hope you have learned a valuable lesson here. It is no fun tagging Sarah because she is SOOOOO ridiculously slow at following up on it. My husband would claim it is because I am "not good with administration," but I disagree. It is just that I have so many other things occupying my time, such as cooking him dinner, that I don't always get to the things I'd like to. (I love you honey!) Anyhow, here goes...

• Attached or Single? Most definitely attached to John. It will be 5 years on Dec. 19th!
• Best Friend? I guess I'll take the cop-out answer: John
• Cake or Pie? Pie- that's what makes Thanksgiving so great! (j/k... sort of)
• Day of Choice? Saturdays
• Essential Item? Hmmm... chapstick- I always have some in my pocket. A close second is minty gum.
• Flavor of Ice Cream? Edy's Lite French Silk-- yum, Yum, YUM!
• Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms- there's something about biting off a cuddly bear's head that just isn't as fun.
• Hometown? Rochester, MN (there's a song I'm singing in my head right now that starts that way. It was written by a teacher from my Elementary School- ask me to sing it for you sometime!)
• Indulgences? Fancy coffee from Dunn Bros., Caribou, Starbucks, and the like. Now also from the Cafe at my church (YEAH!). I also love to read when I get a few minutes. Reading by the beach or inside on a snowy day are two of my favorite pastimes.
• January or July? July- I'm off from work :)
• Kids? 1- our sweetie Malachi (9 months)
• Last Movie I saw in a Theater? We saw an awful, awful movie that I DO NOT recommend to anyone. "Burn After Reading"- I felt like I needed to scrub my brain after watching it. It was the closest I have ever come to walking out of a movie.
• Middle Name? Nadine (I love my middle name! It's after my Grandma on my dad's side)
• Number of Siblings? 3 sisters, 3 brothers, 2 half-sister, 1 half-brother!
• Oranges or Apples? Oranges, except for in the fall. Then I just love a good crunchy apple!
• Phobia or Fear? I am afraid of heights- actually of falling from them. I'm also not a fan of bridges.
• Quote? "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13
• Reason to Smile? Some of these are so weird... I guess I'll say going on dates with John and playing with Malachi each make me smile. Oh! Especially when Malachi gets to giggling!
• Season? I love every season as it comes (my mother thinks I am nuts), but I do especially love Autumn. Plus, it definitely has the coolest name!
• Tag five more: I refuse! Ha, ha, ha!!!
• Unknown Fact About Me? See below...
• Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? I am an omnivore.
• Worst Habit? Oops! I just discovered I missed this one. Hee, hee. I guess that makes it a bad habit- not quite following through with things. :P
• Xrays or Ultrasounds? Ultrasounds- I'm really not sure who would disagree.
• Your favorite Food? Shrimp, but a good steak or cheeseburger isn't bad, either.
• Zodiac? How should I know? I honestly don't pay attention to those things, nor do I really care. ;)

OK, that was part one. Now for part two. For this tagging wonderment I am supposed to come up with "7 random and/or weird facts about myself." Here goes:

1. I LOVE peanut butter. I've been known to take a big spoonful of the stuff out of the jar and eat it straight. Occassionally I mix it up and add a sprinkling of chocolate chips. Don't judge me!
2. I have 3 half siblings who live in Colorado. We hardly get to see each other- they are from my dad's first marriage. I feel bad that we don't have the opportunity to see more of each other, but I suppose it is what it is...
3. I am related to Rutherford B. Hayes- the president. My grandma on my dad's side was a Hayes, and she was related to him somehow.
4. Also on my dad's side we are related to the inventor of Tide detergent!
5. I wanted to be an artist when I was in elementary and middle school. I loved to draw and paint, and I hoped one day I would be able to do that as my job. It didn't quite work out, but every now and again I get to flex my artistic and creative muscles. That's how the painting of Malachi's room came about!
6. We had about a half-dozen different dogs as pets over the years growing up. None of them lasted more than about 2 years each before we sold them or gave them away. My family was awful with pets. Hmm... which reminds me of gerbils... Aha! Which leads me to my final fact...
7. I got to keep one of my class' pet gerbils when I was in 5th grade. After we had one I think my family bought one more. At any rate, they multiplied, and at one point we had more than 20 gerbils (I'm pretty sure it was 27-- AT HOME). We had this elaborate set up of plastic cages and tunnels. It was actually pretty impressive, and we all enjoyed them. After a couple of years it got to be too much, and the pet stores weren't interested in taking more than one off of our hands at a time. We decided to take the gerbils down to a nearby forest and "set them free." We went down there, and my sister took the bucket they were in and threw them (as in flying through the air) into the woods. I was SO mad at her, and am still a little miffed about it today. Those poor little guys probably broke their legs when they landed!

Anyhow... I am finally freed from the tagging! AND I refuse to tag anyone else. Sorry, but I'm notorious for stopping chain letters, etc. Oh! That was an 8th interesting fact. I better stop while I am ahead! Until later...

Some Pictures, etc.

Hello Friends! Apparently my attempt at making excuses in my last post didn't work so hot. You all got right back on my case. And, truth be told, I like it. It helps keep me motivated to get on here. I've had a lot on my plate lately, but I'm expecting things to normalize again here soon. 1st Quarter just ended at school, which might sound like a relieving sort-of-thing for the unobservant bystander. However, those of you with a teacher as a dear friend know that's not exactly the case. With the end of the quarter comes REPORT CARDS (da-da-DUM!!!). And report cards are no small thing to complete on a teacher's end. They take hours and hours, and unless you feel it's okay for me to stop teaching a class during the day so that I can accomplish this monumental feat of paperwork, that means hours and hours of my "free" time spent at school. I'm not complaining, I'm simply stating a fact. So, if you've wondered where I've been lately, the likely answer is holed up in my classroom grading and filling out reports.

So, enough with the excuses, already! I also still realize I've been tagged by a couple of friends. Now that report cards are done I may actually have the time to do superfluous and fun things. :)

Here are some pictures. I know many of you have been dying to see some of the growing boy lately. Here're some snapshots from our life...

From this summer- sitting with cousin Nevaeh and Grandpa Winston at Ron and Doreen's.

Beating up on his bigger cousin. :)

Malachi in his dinosaur costume that Grandma Sands gave us. He wore it to a costume party in early October.

Malachi's eating solids these days! He loves veggies, and is also now eating in his real high chair (not in this picture).

He's starting to sit up. Here he is sitting on Daddy!

It's cold around here! This jacket is cute and functional!

Although I struggled with whether or not to take Malachi out on Halloween (I never celebrated the so-called holiday growing up), I compromised and we went around our circle. It was fun, and Malachi was a good little froggy! (He started as a ladybug at daycare- but had a poo incident. A froggy was a good backup.)

I'm Behind

Have you ever gotten so far behind on a project that it just keeps getting moved to the back burner because it's easier to ignore it than it is to actually get caught up? That's how I've felt about this blog lately. There were so many things I had wanted to write about that I kept putting it off because it would take more time to type about the things I wanted to share than I had time to spend on typing. And the more I put it off, the more things there were to write about. I have finally realized that I just need to move forward on this, and forget about the past things I didn't have time for. Even so, here are a few updates.

So, in the past couple of months I went back to work at school with a new group of fifth graders. This year's students are more of a challenge than last year's students, so that's taking more of my time. Not to mention that we have a wonderful and loveable little guy taking up our time now, too. It makes for a busy day- going to work, picking up Malachi, getting him fed and in bed, and then finally eating ourselves (somewhere around 8pm). Then I usually have an hour or so to get things cleaned up, and maybe get one task done, and it's to bed I go. It's taking some adjusting, but I know I'll find a good rhythm sometime soon.

Malachi is growing like a weed! I have no idea how much he weighs, but he's wearing 6-9 mo. pants now, even though he still fits in 3-6 mo. shirts. He just has such long legs! He has so many teeth, too! He's currently got 6, and at least 2 more close behind (but I suspect there are more than that as I see the telling sign of bumps on his gums). This continues to surprise me. He's eating cereal and other vegetables these days- and he loves it all. He's also started eating in his high chair in the last week, which is very fun!

My biggest frustration has been my computer. Part of the reason I wasn't updating on here is because my computer broke down mid-way through September. It took a couple of weeks to get it back in working order, and I'm still trying to get everything back to the way it was. My super-star computer genius of a dad is responsible for getting it all fixed up for me. Thanks Dad!

Well, I better stop for now, as this is getting to be an enormous post. I have been "tagged" by two other bloggers in the last couple of weeks, so I'll also need to get that post on here soon. Plus I know some of you aren't too happy about the lack of pictures lately. I'll try to get on that, too! Until then...!