Reverb 10 - 5 minutes until memory loss....

December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. (Author: Patti Digh)

My kids have fabulous imaginations - they play and play. Sometimes they fight and fight. I spent a lot of time teaching them how to talk and work things out. It's worth it.



My kids are incredibly beautiful....I can't say it enough



I was disappointed in a friend's choice, but I tried not to let it affect my love for her. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

#1 and #2 played sports this year - basketball and football. They are passionate about it.



#1 is really starting to understand football. He's so much like his dad

#2 won 2nd place in the Awana Grand Prix this year for car design. She was thrilled.



I started having eye issues relating to my A.S. Still dealing with them, but have a strategy that works.



A dear friend battled breast cancer and won!

Our dear friends and neighbors moved away....



God provided our youth group a ministry truck and transformed it into the Mean Green Jesus machine. We used it all summer. We had the inaugural Summer Love Squad. It changed my life.



#3 expressed his love for puppets.



#1 started losing teeth



#2 started preschool



#3 is potty trained

I love not carrying a diaper bag or having to worry about sippy cups when we travel

Choir Tour was amazing...I don't know how we're going to top it.

I have great voice students.

I got to sing the national anthem at a baseball game.



I saw the Blue Man Group on JR/SR weekend

I love my husband like crazy



My grandpa turned 90.



My sister had a baby, and I was there for it



We took the kids to Disney for the first time...they loved it...we did too



#1 got straight A's, and we were so proud.

the 2010 to do list re-visited

Did anyone remind you that there are only 4 weeks left in 2010? Oh snap.....

A few weeks ago, I made a list of 10 things that I wanted to accomplish in the 10 weeks we have left, and here's an update of how I'm coming on it.

1) Organize the boys closet. DONE! Well, it's as done as it's going to be. I went through the boys' clothes and got rid of the things that don't fit, and everything is neatly put back. It's still not "impressive" when you look in it, but it's not the disastrous mess it once was.

2) Organize our closet....ummmm, no. And it's worse than ever.

3) Have a yard sale - No, because my main squeeze vetoed the idea because our schedules are too busy. It will happen in the spring. AAAaaaaahhhhhhhhh (that's me breathing a sigh of relief).

4) Finish the kids 2008 scrapbooks - not quite, but making progress. I actually have made about 20 pages for the kids 2010 scrapbooks, so I'm feeling quite accomplished in the scrapbooking category.

5) Make a chore chart system for the kids that works. Almost done. I have all the pieces put into place. I've even prepped the kids about it. Hopefully will start Monday. Details forthcoming...

6) Record the kids singing and talking - No, and I'm not sure why. That's like the easiest one on my list. I even found chirbit so I can share these kinda things online....maybe this weekend.

7) Disney Fotobooks for the kids - DONE!!!! And so easy. I took screenshots as I went so I can do a tutorial here on the blog. If you have any photos on Facebook, you must try Fotobooks.

8) Lose 15 lbs - um....I think I'm only down a pound and a half. At least I'm not up a pound and a half....

9) Painting a quote on the front hall - still trying to decide on the design.

10) Meaningful Christmas gifts - Making progress. I'm happy with the gifts we've gotten thus far. Still have a couple to think up.

So 2 out of 10 are done; 5 more are in progress; 2 haven't even been started, and one is not going to happen. I'll feel better when the in progress projects are completed. The funny thing is that since I've made this list, I've actually gotten more projects completed that weren't even on the list. It actually makes me feel pretty accomplished. Thanks, my little blog, for enhancing my self-esteem. ;o)

10 weeks left in 2010

I read a blog post that said there are 10 more weeks in 2010.

what....

Where did this year go?
I'm just getting used to writing 2010 and saying "twenty ten" (or is it "two thousand ten"?)
And I approached this year with all the vim and vigor and excitement, and I had all these big goals......

and honestly, I can't remember even one of them....

I guess that's not completely true. I picked a word - one little word - to focus my year. My word was "streamlined." I had hoped to make my world a little less frantic and a little more focused and efficient.

I even did a scrapbook page to motivate myself...



Did it work? Maybe a little bit, but that's a post for another day.

So in an effort to accomplish my goal of "streamlining" my life, and to feel a sense of accomplishment as I finish out 2010, here are 10 things I want to accomplish before the end of 2010.

1) organize the boys' closet - Not a small feat, but actually it's halfway done. I've gone through all of #3's clothes. Now I need to go through #1's and sort through all the junk that needs to find its way outside my house.

2) organize our closet. That's easier said than done because it means that my main squeeze and I are going to have to be in the closet cleaning and organizing at the same time, and let's just say, we have 2 completely different approaches to that task. I don't want our marriage to end before the end of the year.....hmmm...fortunately, my main squeeze also is in the mood to organize, so it may not be as bad as anticipated.

3) have a yard sale to get rid of JUNK! - I really need to un-junk our house. For the first 6 years of our marriage we would move every year or 2 or 3. I really hated packing and unpacking so much that if I didn't really like it, I threw it out so I wouldn't have to pack or unpack. Now that we've been in the same location for 4 years, I find myself wanting to pick out a new house just so I can get rid of JUNK!!!! I'm not sure which is harder buying/selling/moving into a new house or organizing....

4) finish the kids 2008 scrapbooks - 2 years behind, but I'm so close!!!

5) make a chore chart/system for our kids that works....I have an idea that I'm going to try. We have things we expect our children to do, and we expect them to pitch in and help with things that need help. I would love some system that's easy to use, that works, and that motivates and rewards kids for taking an active role in making our home nice to live in. Any ideas/suggestions? I'd love to hear them!

6) record the kids singing and talking... I have the most adorable recordings of my kids talking and singing when I first got my computer - Helga. It was almost 3 years ago. I was intrigued by Garage Band, but I haven't recorded them hardly at all since. I need to do that again. Especially for #3. I love hearing #3 talk....

7) make a Disney fotobook - Fotobooks is an app inside of Facebook where you can make a 5x7 paper back "brag book style" photo book for $5 using the pictures you and your friends upload to Facebook. It is really great. It has to have a minimum of 18 pictures and it can hold a maximum of 54 (I believe). The pages are pre-designed and very trendy looking, graphically speaking. All you do is put your pix in order, and pretty much the rest is done for you. I uploaded hundreds of pix from our Disney to my facebook profile, and I want to make each kid a book they can keep in their room with pictures of them at Disney, and for $5, it's a great little souvenir. Who wants me to do a step by step tutorial of how to make one? Leave me a comment!

8) lose 15 lbs - this is a small step toward a bigger goal. Acutally if I don't go into the holidays with a "diet mentality," I overindulge from October to February, and pay for it all year long. NOT THIS YEAR!!!!

9) Paint a quote in our front hall - I've wanted to do this for a while, but I'm a big chicken. It's gonna look great when I do though.

10) Have Christmas meaningful/thoughtful Christmas presents....not just the easiest or cheapest thing. I love getting just the right thing - an unexpected, thoughtful gesture that makes people smile. Unfortunately, I don't know what that is for most of my people yet.....

Ok, so those are my 10 things. Do you have 10 things? Do you think any of my 10 things are CRAZY? I'd love to hear your thoughts!