I was just sitting here at the computer and thought it might be time to update again. Thing is, whenever I think of updating, it seems so overwhelming because I think I need to fill you in on what all has been going on in the gap between now and the last time I updated. But, I guess I'll just have to squelch that urge or this post would be a mile long, esp if I add pictures to it!

I've had lots of inspirations of things to write, but they usually come at times when I can't write them down... on the treadmill, scrubbing the kitchen floor, or driving in the car. I don't have pens at any of those times. Yeah, not even in the car (or in my purse). I think my car and purse eat pens. One time, I went to the bank, pulled to the side to get my deposit ready before going thro' the Drive-Thru, and could NOT find a pen! I didn't want to bother unbuckling the girls and herding them inside so I could use a pen in there. My next stop was Walmart, so I tucked the check and deposit slip back into my purse, went to Walmart, and bought a pack of pens along with the other things on my list. Then, I went back to the bank and did my Drive-Thru deposit. I bought a 10-pack of pens and put half of them in my purse and half of them in the car. I wish I could tell you that I've never had the can't-find-a-pen-in-my-purse-or-car dilemna agian, but that would be lying.

What's been taking most of my time is starting up a new website and keeping it updated. It is www.KitchenScrapbook.com.

I think that site is not news to most of you though. It's actually seasoned_to_taste taken off of xanga. I didn't shut down stt, I'm running them side by side, although stt only has partial posts... then I don't have to upload all the pictures twice.

If you're wondering why I took it off of xanga, the main reason is because I wanted to see about making a bit of money with it. It just would seem like a dream come true if I could do what I love doing AND make money at it. Seems like most of my hobbies cost money instead of make money. Anyway, one main goal I have is use the money to have some contests with hefty prizes... you know, bigger than a $10 Starbucks gift certificate. That contest was just so fun and I want to have more and the bigger the prize, the more fun it would be, right?! So, I've been spending time trying to get more traffic on it by getting good Google ratings and basically just getting it 'out there' and updating more often.

Shannon got it up and going for me. He's my tech support. He learned/was born with the common sense of how to work with that HTML jibberish and whatever all it took to start a site from scratch, having it's own URL. One day, it struck me funny when I thought back to Shannon's first email address. It was technophobic1 at juno.com (it made it a link if I wrote it the correct way and I was afraid someone would try to email it and it's so obsolete). Things have come a long way since then... now it could be technosavvy1 or technojustaskme1 or technoknowmywayaround1.

Another event: Tiffany had a birthday. Her second one. Can't believe my baby is 2 already! I guess I just forget, but I don't remember being so charmed by a 2-yr-old before. She has this thing where she comes up to one of us and says, "Ho' me." Just a flat statement said really fast sounding like she's from the south and a smirk on her face and you can't help but pick her up (she means 'Hold me'). One thing I do get tired of is the forever "Mom! Wats!" (watch). And then she does something really amazing, like jumping off the bed or balancing a teddy bear on her head. I'll add a couple pictures here of her growing up...

Newborn. I just could not get done holding this baby. Even at night, I didn't mind at all getting up with her... I was always ready to hold her again.

6 months old. All decked out in a Pooh outfit...

1 year old.

18 months. Giving me gray hairs by climbing up on everything...

2 years old. With her cousin Kaitlyn who is 2 days younger. I know, not a very good picture, not sure what happened with the eyes!

Another thing that happened in the past month is that I sprained my ankle. Never did that before. Crazy thing is, my mom sprained hers a couple weeks before that, so we could compare our misfortunes and empathize with each other. If you're at all interested in how it happened... It was carry-in Sunday at church and I had brought a fruit tray. It was kinda big and heavy and since it takes some skill to tuck everything in the fridge at church, I decided that the outside temp was ok to leave it out in the car. So, about 20 min before church was over, I went out to the car to get it. I took Tiffany along to give her a break from church. We were on the way in and I slipped on the ice. Tiffany and I both fell down and my ankle was hurting like crazy. I tried to get up, but putting weight on it just killed it, plus it felt sorta numb. So, there we sat, out on the ice, wondering what to do next. I was holding Tiffany. I tried to get up again and still couldn't. One good thing is that my ankle was on ice right away for what ended up being about 10 minutes, I'd say. As I was sitting there, I noticed the fruit tray sitting on the ground beside me, still intact except for a few banana chunks that fell off. I don't remember setting it down and I wonder WHY it didn't go flying! Anyway, after awhile, I decided that I'll just have to get up and go in, pain or no pain, because church wasn't over yet and nobody was coming out to help us. So, we gingerly went in and then came home right away after church. That happened on a Sunday and it was Thurs eve before I could put weight on it. Shannon was working double-shift between home and going to work. I got x-rays done and it's not broken. Now, 3 1/2 weeks later, I can still feel it all the time, and it still hurts to go down steps.

And that about brings us up to date with some of the things that have been going on around here. Oh, I've been Spring cleaning too, but that's nothing new. Unless I get the entire house done this Spring... now THAT would be something new! Just a few pictures yet.

Watching the Birkiebeiner Ski Race...

and a few of the 6000+ skiers...

Lexi said, "Mom, do I look like a cowgirl?"

Tiffany cuts everything she gets her hands on, unless we catch her first. We keep the sharp scissors out of reach...

I was cleaning out the fridge and took the 2 bottom drawers out to wash them. So, it became a playground for a few minutes...

Tiffany insists on getting herself dressed. Her shirts are usually on backwards...
 

Just being goofy, peeking thro' the hairdo...

Strawberry Shortcake gets a ride on a tire swing. Lexi created one with a hair scrunchy and beads tied to the rocker. She was sitting there pushing her for awhile...

Have a good day!