These Days...

There is not a whole lot to report right now. My brother Jacob is here visiting for the week. He's 17 now, which makes me feel REALLY old. David took him for a tour of GA Tech yesterday (he is going to go to school for engineering.) We took him to Medieval Times for his birthday on Sunday. It was actually pretty cool with all the jousting and sword fights and such. I even got into it and I'm usually pretty bored with that sort of thing. Anyway, the visit is going well. The kids are definitely enjoying his being here.

Emma is officially a blue belt in karate now for almost 2 weeks. She got to lead the 27 techniques at graduation, which she is always very happy to do. She is very intense and it makes everyone laugh to see this pretty little girl put on this mean face and loud voice. She gets a big kick out of the older kids saying "Yes ma'am" to her. She also came to the WalkAmerica kickoff and got to get up in front and hand out door prizes with two local radio personalities. She was pretty excited about that. They made a big deal out of how much she raised last year, which is something she is very proud of.

Sarah and Benjamin are fighting a nasty, asthma exacerbating cold right now. They are not feeling great, but that usually doesn't get them down too much. Some GREAT news on them... They are officially discharged from speech therapy!!! It was the last of the therapies for them so this is a big deal. It means that they are developmentally "normal" for their ages. Not even corrected, but actual ages. We thank God every day that they are with us, given the start they had, but we never could have imagined that they would have done so well.

Lastly, for those of you who pray... My cousin Nicholas went into the ER a week and a half ago for severe headaches to find out that he had a large tumor around his pituitary gland. Last week they removed it and the biopsy showed that it was benign. Please keep him in your prayers that they got it all and that it doesn't cause any future problems for him. He is only 28 years old and is a single father to a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

Oh yeah, one last thing... Happy 60th Birthday to my Dad, who is now officially OLD! It was last week, but it is a milestore birthday that I felt was worth mentioning!

Anyway, that's all for now.

Some tired children at Disney World!

Sarah and Benjaim actually slept through the New Years parade at Disney World. I don't know how they did it! Emma is such a little actress!

Sarah & Benjamin at Disney World

Sarah and Benjamin on their 1st trip to Disney World. They had a lot of fun, as did Emma and Chloe (our babysitter who we brought with us to help.) I know Sarah's scowl isn't any indication of that, but they really did.

Emma and Narl, her Australian White's Tree Frog

This is Emma with her tree frog Narl. Santa brought her the cage set-up for Christmas and when we returned from Disney World, we went and got him. He's actually a really cool pet and the whole family likes him. She is going to be featured in the Woodward Academy yearbook in the section for students with unusual pets. She is very proud!

Laying Low...

I am going to try this again...

I had a nice little update written and I walked away for a minute and Benjamin deleted it. He is pretty interested in the computer these days. Anyway...

We are laying low right now. Keeping busy, but not really having much to report. We are FINALLY actively pursuing a new house. It's a very long overdue endeavor, as you all know. We have needed the space for a couple of years, but the prospect of moving with infant twins was not something we wanted to even think about. As the commutes get worse and worse with Atlanta's growth moving further and further North, we decided that now is the time. We are probably going to keep this house as a rental property, though. Rumor has it that Google will be putting a 10,000 job facility in our town, so we want to capitalize on that if at all possible.

Emma is going to be getting her blue belt in Karate this Saturday. It's a big deal because it's puts her half way to her black belt. She should have her Novice Black Belt in about 2 years, and her 1st Degree Black Belt by the time she is 8 if she works hard. She has some competitions coming up in the next couple of months, so I will keep you posted.

Sarah and Benjamin are doing well. They are evolving into little people! They are finally showing an interest in potty training, which scares me. I'm not sure I know how to potty train 2 two year olds. I think maybe Emma was easier because she was NOT two yet. And because there weren't 2 of her. They are talking up a storm. In fact, we have been discharged from speech therapy. We knew it was coming since they are not only caught up now, but ahead! Yay! They love their school. They ask for their teacher, "Meanie" (her name is Ms. Bhavini) all the time when they are not there, especially when they are mad at me. So far, despite being in school 5 days a week, they haven't gotten sick very much. A couple of colds and ear infections, one bout (Sarah) with pneumonia (no hospital, though) and that's it. Benjamin does have to have his adenoids removed, but we have been expecting that.

We are considering getting a nanny again when we get a bigger house. We may have jumped the gun a little in giving that up. I think I would probably rather have a housekeeper...

Mainstream Media is a single entity now after many, many months of making it happen. That should make life easier for everyone in the long run. Golf is next to publish. The bowls went well. We are certainly glad to have David home from his travels for awhile.

I am gearing up for the MOD Walk. I am on a volunteer planning committee this year which should be fun. The kickoff luncheon is on Wednesday and I'm guessing that from that date until the Walk I will be pretty busy with that stuff. Just a funny tidbit... The mother of the coordinator for WalkAmerica, here in Atlanta, is the principal of Jackson Elementary School in Batavia, NY where I spent my 1st 6 years of school. It is a small world!

Anyway, that is our life right now!