Time Keeps on Slippin' Slippin' Slippin'...

The first day of 2013 dawned cold and bright.  So here is what we did:

May we all slip with grace, excitement, and joy into this new year!

A New Year and a New Resolution

Can you tell what the people in the picture below are doing?

Here they are, doing the same thing, but in a different way.

My new resolution for this new year is to post as little as possible on this blog. Just kidding, that's already happening. I don't need to make a resolution for that.

Actually, Brandon and I did make a new resolution for the new year. We are going to try to yell at our kids a little more--um, I mean less. So we held a meeting with the boys to tell them about our new goal. We put some laminated cards up in our pantry and if Brandon or I raises our voice at one of them, they can go and write our name or what we yelled on a card. Then at the end of the week we tally the cards and for every card, each boy gets a half an hour of extra video game time. The boys thought this was a great idea. I told them not to get their hopes up too much because we yell so rarely. This was just one of those resolutions that we set to make ourselves feel good because we are already accomplishing the goal.

Anyway, within five minutes of our meeting being over, this appeared in the pantry:

I don't know who's mom this could possibly be referring to.

Reflections and Projections

With the beginning of a new year it is fun to make lists of the best and the worst from the past year. So here is a list of our ten (get it? 2010?) favorite blog posts from 2010 (in no particular order):

1. Gratitude
2. The Peeping Tom
3. Big and Awesome News
4. Lagoon 2010
5. Jumping
6. Feats of Strenth (and Daring)
7. Suspects
8. Best Camper Awards
9. Halloween
10. Pwnage

Here is a list of the ten worst experiences (one was a confession):

1. Buttermilk Sky: When he flipped off of the trampoline and landed head first in a window well. He broke through the plastic window well cover which caught him at his waist so that his bottom half was sticking up in the air and his top half was dangling into the window well. He was not hurt except for a few scratches and his pride.
2. Buttermilk Sky: School.
3. Eggs on Toast: When his friend let him borrow a Nintendo DS which Eggs played at night when everyone else was asleep and he wasn't supposed to be up.
4. Junior: When he had a really, really, really bad headache.
5. Onion Ring: Couldn't think of anything.

Oh well, they couldn't come up with ten and I don't feel like encouraging this line of thinking because I would rather focus on the positive.

On New Year's day when Brandon and I crawled out of bed, all of the boys were sitting together in the living room, discussing their New Year's Resolutions (lead and encouraged by Onion Ring). Here is what they came up with:

1. Onion Ring: Be nice to Eggs on Toast and Junior.
2. Onion Ring: Stop farting on brother's heads.
3. Onion Ring: Stop saying "bum".
4. Buttermilk Sky: Stop bugging Onion Ring, even if he bugs me.
5. Eggs on Toast: Stop talking in this weird, whiny voice.
6. Eggs on Toast: Stop burping really loud with my mouth open.
7. Eggs on Toast: Stop saying "bum".
8. Junior: Stop burping with my mouth open.
9. Junior: Stop saying "bum" and "burn".
10. Junior: Be nice.

Wow, what great resolutions that they came up with all by themselves! We wish them the very best of success!



And what does the above picture have to do with anything? Not much, but I just thought it was cute.

I think that starting a new year is invigorating and inspiring. I feel renewed energy to improve myself.

We hope you all have an excellent 2011!

Wishing You a Happy New Year

This Christmas gift caused great excitement amongst the boys.

Buttermilk Sky used it as a model for this still life.

And even though General Grievous is not a very pleasant guy and doesn't represent anything good at all, I am using him in this post to wish everyone a happy New Year because

a. the boys think he is the coolest thing ever, and

b. I wanted to show off Buttermilk Sky's artwork. Didn't he do a great job?

So here are my thoughts on the matter: let's all strive for the opposite of the General and make this a good and excellent year!