2010

Saying goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011 tonight.

I have to say that 2010 was not too shabby to the Vincent Family.

Jeff's layoff threatened to depress us all,

But we came through pretty well!

We have been very blessed,

Makes me a little nervous that the Lord will try us in 2011. 

Guess we'll handle whatever comes up!

Looking forward to 2011 I'll be attempting the following:

1.  Taking a photo a day and posting them at http://www.photoblog.com/viewfromthegrove/
2.  Running a marathon!
3.  Finishing my Israel scrapbook
4.  Finding 25 names to do temple work for
5.  Appreciating my family more!

Good luck to me, and to you, with all you've got planned for the new year!

Babies

I have been enjoying a weekend of babies!

Spent a bit of time holding Jacquie's new baby girl on Sunday,

It was magical!

Sometimes having to wait for so long and agonize over something,

makes the reward just amazing!

Also spent time holding my nephew, Liam.

Ah . . . it's so sweet to snuggle a little bundle!

Here's an awesome baby clip for you to watch -- this mom is AMAZING!

I think she's publishing a book in 2012 and she has a blog at:  http://www.milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

Time to Celebrate

I finally had a chance to Celebrate Christmas with the kids last night:

It's Finished!

Two quick posts this morning and then I'm on to fixing a holiday meal and Santa cookies.

First Post -- the house is FINISHED! 

And by "finished" I mean that there's still a few little things to do,

But I can use my kitchen now!

Take a look:

 (New Cabinets, tile splash and slide-in range!)

 (My amazing rock fireplace with new mantle!)

(New railing that is so beautiful!)

 (New sink and my granite - Love it!)

(New fridge with its first two residents -- Diet Coke and antibiotics)

This experience took a little longer than anticipated, but the results are so Great!

I have been really blessed to have some talented craftsmen in my home, whom I just adore!

If you ever need a contractor, builder or remodeler -- you need to call Scott Dent.  We are LUCKY to call him our friend!  He has been amazing to give me his much valued opinion on everything from my wall color to my granite choice. 

If you ever need a tile guy who is the nicest, most honest, and most talented guy around, you MUST call Miguel.  We are planning future tiling jobs just so we see him again!

Need granite?  Need a laugh?  Call Justin -- don't worry about where he works, just make sure he's handling the granite and there's no problem.  But send out every good thought on the planet to him that he becomes a published children's author this year.  He's super talented!

And should you need carpet, access to the awesome tile guy, or wood floors -- go to Westco and talk to Joy.  Or just go to Westco and buy nothing and talk to Joy -- because really, you'd just be lucky to talk to her and have her as a friend! 

We've got names galore on other varied projects too, electrician, HVAC, plumbing -- okay, not plumbing, Jeff did that himself.  But I'm just saying we've been very blessed with the people we have met!

Come by and see me -- I'll actually invite you in now!

Check this Out!

You have got to see this, it's so funny to me!



By the way, I implemented a star system for earning presents this year.

The kids can open a present for every 5 stars they earn.

Happiness, chores and gratitude is over flowing here!

Thoughts on Sunday

Not many thoughts about Sunday,

Since I spent it at InstaCare with Emma.

She's doing great and her ear is feeling better.

But since I missed anything 'churchy'

I'm including a link to a really great Christmas Story -- Click HERE

Oh, and since I missed church,

Does anyone want to give me their rendition of Jeff's goof while conducting?

Go Figure that I missed it!

I Love Seminary

Seminary is a great thing.

Josh loves it!

And I love moments when he brings me stuff like this, from seminary:

The Lanyard, by Billy Colllins

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the pale blue walls of this room,
bouncing from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the "L" section of the dictionary

where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past --
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that's what you did with them,

but that did not keep my from crossing

strand over strand again and again

until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to talk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,

which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,

and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,

and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,

is a smaller gift -- not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-toned lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be

that this useless, worthless thing I wove

out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

(P.S.  What does a mom do with a lanyard?  She loses it.  Then her son, who gave it to her, with a lovely poem, finds it.  Under the couch.  Where the mom 'lovingly' placed it.  So she makes up for it by taking his photo and posting on her blog how much she loves him.  Because, frankly, a lanyard IS worth it!)

Questions

What's the point of having an excused absence?

Just curious.

Emma has some UN-excused absences.

 I need to make up an excuse for why she was absent within 5 days of the offense.

Can I just make up any ole' excuse?

And what happens if she has UN-excused absences?

Do the police come?

(Note: the police do not come -- they send home a note.  I asked the office about it -- they send home a SCARY note)

These are things I've thought about today after getting a note about excusing absences for my kindergartner.  Along with a list of her absences for the year.

(Note:  Emma misses school on Wednesdays mostly)

I'm not sure which ones are UN-excused.  There's no legend as to what an  "X- ",  " E-", " G- " and "T-" mean.  Any thoughts?

Also, if your child is sick more than 10 days due to an illness, you need a doctor's note. 

What happens if you don't get that doctor's note?

Do you get a scary letter?

Can you just change your excuse for why your student is absent?

Regardless, I now need to Pre-Approve Emma's extended absences. 

From the look of things, I need to pre-approve every Wednesday . . . .

Thoughts on Sunday

Time for another installment about what I thought on Sunday!

1.  I thought I would kill my kids for getting ready for church 10 minutes before we needed to leave.  I think they need a moratorium from the computer / tv.

2.  I think it's okay to email during sacrament meeting, as long it's high council Sunday and I have to work out my future marathon plans with Jaime.

3.  I think I should not share any of my comments from Relief Society ---- you're welcome!

4.  I think Amazing Race is GREAT!  And I'm thrilled that Nat and Kat won, except I love Brooke and Claire too.  Can't wait for the next season.

5.  I think Visiting Teachers are great when they bring me awesome sugar cookies and truffles!  They are pretty okay when they just bring a message too . .   .

6.  I think you should all go vote for CSYP so they can get a grant from Pepsi to go to New York.  I mostly think this because I am not going with them unless they get the grant.  Somehow I think that they'll take me for free if they get it.  So Vote!   Every day!

That's it . . . check back later for a great post if I could only find my boondoggle -- yeah, boondoggle . . .

Glimpses

Nothing is really finished around here,

But I'll give you a glimpse into what is going on.

New entry -- Note the tile inset, new carpet, taller mopboards and the red wall. 

Granite Guy redid all our bathrooms!

Wood floors in the hall -- awesome!

Lots and lots of tile, with tile mop boards -- my favorite!

Maybe next week I'll give you more than random glimpses.  It's going to be good!

Hiding

No, I'm not hiding from life.

I'm hiding from all of the workers around the house.

Don't assume that my children are the workers!

That would be very, very incorrect.

It's all the carpet installers, cabinet installers, countertop measurers, countertop installers, etc.

I just don't know if I should stare at them while they work --

Or look like I'm busy in the same room they are in, in case they need something --

Or leave the house so they can steal my Christmas presents --

Or hide in my room where it's awkward for them to ask me questions --

I just hate it and can't find a decent hiding spot.

How about some photos tomorrow?