Yeah, I like it too

This day did not start off good. To sart with, our guinea pig, Pooky, died this morning. She has been battling bad skin problems, and an infected foot. Of course, me and Ben were the ones effected most by her passing.

Today I started aerobics class again (the one at my church). When I got home there was a note from my water company. Not a good sign. I went inside and of course, they had turned off my water. I was not happy. I looked through my bill file and I'm pretty sure we never received a bill for January. I called the water company. I asked them why my water was turned off. They said that we had sceduled it to be turned off because of a move. Grrrrr. I said, No, I scheduled it to be turned ON two months ago. When I had called TWO months ago they had messed up the order then. I ended up having to call them twice. It's not that complicated, right? Don't they deal with this all the time? Argh. Now I really need a shower, and I have no idea when they'll be here to turn it back on.

I have finally finished a book. I was worried for a while. I sarted a bunch of books, but I couldn't get through them. For Christmas I got Ben the book: The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. It was one of those presents that was sort of for both of us. A week or so after Christmas we bought The Illusionist. We had seen it in the theatre and loved it. After watching it again, I was motivated to pick up the Houdini book. Since then I haven't been able to put it down, despite the dirty looks from Ben.

There was absolutley nothing ordinary about Houdini's life. From his flying escapades (He was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia) to his unbelievable escapes (from handcuffs to daring underwater feats). I was expecting an interesting read about magic, I got much more than I expected. I highly recommend this book. If you are up for something a little different, you'll really enjoy this book.

Now Ben can read it

Happy New Year! We had a nice relaxing weekend. On Saturday we debated whether or not we would paint the living room. We decided sitting around all day and doing nothing sounded much better. We didn't really do nothing. We actaully got a lot of cleaning and organizing done. It was nice to not do a big project. The rest of the holiday weekend was spent at home. It was so nice to not HAVE to do something.

Christmas turned out pretty nice too. It was pretty crazy with everybody here, but with our new house it seemed a lot more manageable. On Christmas Eve we had the kids make felt ornaments to hang on there very own real tree. The day before, Nicole and I bought a little "Charlie Brown" tree to put in the family room. Nicole gave us the idea for the ornaments. There were 8 different Christmas shapes that had a special meaning. After the kids decorated and hung the ornaments, we told the meaning of each shape and read some scriptures. I think we sang a couple carols at the end. It turned out pretty nice. We also had a fun dinner.

A few years ago my parents went to Belgium.. While they were there, they had a dinner using Raclette Grills. They thought they were really cool. The next year they gave my sisters and I a raclette grill for Christmas. We decided to pull out all three and use them this year. It was a lot of fun! We grilled meats, veggies, and pineapple on top. We then put the grilled items on top of cheese and potatos in the little cups. These cups go under the grill to heat up and melt the cheese. Then you slide it on your plate and enjoy. Everyone had fun cooking whatever topping they wanted. I think we had at least 7 different kinds of cheeses to try. Now we wished we had used them sooner. They are a great idea for a fun interactive dinner party.

Christmas morning was crazy. There were a ton of presents. I think everyone was happy. Even me. I got 2 robes! And a tiny little ottoman from Ben. (there's a story behind that gift, maybe Ben will tell it on his blog) After presents we had a huge pancake breakfast. People sarted to pack up and leave after breakfast. At around 3 o'clock we headed over to Ben's parents. We opened presents (a 72 hour kit from Ben's Parents!) and had a nice dinner followed by game time. We didn't stay too late. Everyone was pretty tired, and I was feeling sick (bad cold).

In short; I think the holidays were a success. Too much food (not enough exercise), too many presents (especially the kids), and a lot of family time.

I hope everybody had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!