EAT...

YOUR

HEART

OUT

I am always so anxious for January to be gone, and this year it has seemed to drag on forever, so I couldn't wait even one more day to start the February celebrations...

The kids and I did a layered Jell-O heart dish (finally I found an advantage to having 1:00 church... enough time to let all of the layers set!!)

... and this is about how long they could handle it until they dug in and demolished the hearts :)

Happy Heart Month!

A few of my favorite things...

Hot showers on cold days

Finding the perfect accent color to finish off the living room wall decorations

Freshly backed bread, hot out of the oven

(except when preggo; then, ironically, this smell sends me lurching to the bathroom faster than anything... go figure!)

A newly organized room (neatly labeled and all!!)

Each individual child's happy face as they get out of bed and come running into my arms each morning

(that is, when I haven't just layed my head on the pillow from an all night feeding frenzy with the baby...)

Snuggling a new born

A silent house filled with sleeping children after a very chaotic day

Finding the perfect song to add to a slide show

Nailing a new combination in step class, cueing and all

Lying in bed, knowing I can finally close my eyes and sleep

Hitting 'send' on a final project to be emailed

Finding something I thought was lost and gone forever

Getting up early to work out, and knowing I am done with the gym for the day, before the kids even got up

Teaching a really good lesson and knowing the participants 'got it'

Writing

Reading a really thought-provoking book

A perfect spring ski day on the mountain, followed by a sit in the hot tub

Nailing the 'dock hop' start to a perfect waterski run

Getting the perfect block on a very annoying outside hitter in a heated volleyball match

(and trying hard not to gloat just a bit about it...)

Snuggling with my hubby

A long hello kiss after being apart (from the hubby, of course!)

Late night chats with family and friends

(ala Spanish inquisition. There. I said it. I like it. And I'm okay with that, even if Michelle does mock it ;) ).

Well written and fantastically casted chick flick

(especially if said chick flick is not being mocked by dear hubby...)

Finding the perfect gift for someone, and then being there to watch their face when they open it

'deep thought' questions from my kids

A beautiful Sunset

A walk in the mountains

(especially lovely when accompanied by an engagement ring...)

Raindrops on Roses

Whiskers on Kittens

(so long someone ELSE is caring for said kitten...)

It's amazing...

How something so teeny...

... and so tiny...
... can fill such a big hole that we never knew existed in our family until she came.

I was sitting watching this little angel sleep today, and it amazed me how fiercely I love her.

...How completely consumed I am by her little life right now.

...How our (not-so-little) family was just great before, and now that she's here, I wonder how we ever got along without her.

...How just when I thought my love capacity was filled with my other children, she has jumped right in and stretched it even farther than I knew was humanly possible.

In just 2 short months, she has successfully wrapped each one of us around her tiny little fingers, and we are all pretty much head over heals in love with our newest member.

Her smile truly does melt my heart, and bring shear joy to all who are around her. The kids will do anything to get a little smile out of her, and their squeals at her tiny smile makes my own heart smile.

I try to write about it, yet words just don't seem to do justice to how utterly and completely each new little life takes up housing in my heart and holds me captive in their embrace.

I am truly, madly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with my family.

I am blessed.

I am grateful.

I am content.

I am mom.

Now you see 'em...

Now you don't!

Yesiree, the secret to getting a 2 year old to wear glasses for more than the initial 10 seconds of 'cool dude, thumbs up' status is proving to be one of those great mysteries of the world.

... Don't get me wrong, Joshy Loves his glasses...

... he loves to hold them

...to carry them...

... to flip them...

... and throw them...

... and bite them...

...and bend and twist them...

But to actually wear them?? Well, he's not such a fan of that one...

ahhh, the joys of toddlerhood just never end... :)

How to tell if your health kick has gone too far...

... If you just happen to decide to try a new recipe entitled "Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake" thinking - 'awesome! This will help get some more wheat into the kiddos when they think they are eating a yummy dessert *insert evil laugh*'

... you may turn the corner after dishing one up for your 2yo, who happens to have the greatest sweet tooth of the bunch, and find him "sharing" his 'dessert'...

... and it just might be a sign that you have crossed some line somewhere about mixing 'healthy' with dessert...

... yes, your quest to healthify your family may have gone just one step too far.

Meet our newest family member...

Hey, when you pay the amount that it cost to deliver a child

for something,it IS a part of the family!!

(Seriously... did you really think I caved and allowed another animal into the mix??!)

... So right after my post last night, my amazing hubby somehow managed to squeak out one more night of heat from our aging furnace...

... Through a series of calls, a visit from a handy-man friend, and more calls, he was able to click some teensy tinsy switches to "bypass the normal safety shutoff valves"

..."bypass the safety valves??"

... "yea... the ones that keep it from getting too hot or starting a fire and stuff like that..."

..."so basically you're telling me that this thing now is at risk for starting a fire while we are all sleeping??!"

..."ummm, yea, probably... they said we might want to schedule an appointment to have someone come out within the next week..."

..."So this think is now running at high risk, and will continue to do so until we call to schedule them to actually come out here??!"

..."yea... it should be okay for now, though..."

I called and scheduled the appointment at 8:01 in the morning (saying extra thank you prayers that we had actually made it through the night alive!~)

When the serviceman actually came out to see it, he called me in for a little 'chat' (never a good sign when a service man is in the middle of the service and not just wrapping things up...)

... then he proceeded to show me some of the things that were wrong (I love how they explain things as if you do a nightly study of the ins and outs of the mechanical workings of your home furnace system... and I love even more how many of us nod and talk back as if we actually understand what this greekish sounding language is actually talking about), and then shows me a crack in part of the system and proceeds to tell me, "by law I can't turn this heater back on with that crack... it allows carbon monoxide to get into the circulating air..."

... so all night while I was stressing that our heater would start a fire any minute, and trying to determine how to best care for my children: provide heat for them at the risk of a fire or turn it off and have everyone freeze... I was actually allowing carbon monoxide fumes to circulate all over our house. Great. Mother of the Year award right here, folks!!

Needless to say, I was a quick sell for this guy on the benefits of replacing our now 20 year old furnace.

8 hours (and way more money than I planned to spend in one day!) later... we now welcome with OPEN ARMS our newest family furnace friend.

Ahhh... the beautiful feeling of WARMTH!!

Baby it's cold... INSIDE??!

This afternoon, I noticed things started getting a wee bit chilly in our house. I turned up the thermostat gauge, and went about business. A bit later, I started to notice it was getting even colder...

By the time I realized that the heater was not clicking on at all, it was after business hours. Great. I called some heating places. Sure, they could come out to fix it... for about double what we would pay normally... (and probably wouldn't have gotten it running anyway, if any parts needed replacing...)

So I set an appointment for tomorrow morning, and this is what our kids looked like getting ready for bed...

... and this wasn't quite enough for Sarah, so she added yet another layer...
... because, of course it is predicted to get to well below zero tonight in our wonderland of tundra!

So I guess our tuck in chant for tonight is, "night night, sleep tight, don't let the wind-chill bite..."

Here's to a night full of blankets and hot chocolate!!

P.S. I would NOT have made a good pioneer!!

Can someone find the pause button, please???...

Because, this little sweetheart...

is already growing up waaayyyy too fast!

We blessed Elizabeth Jane Brewer on Sunday, January 3, 2003

Daddy did an amazing job - I wish I could write fast enough to have caught all of it.

It was a very sweet and tender moment

All of Jerry's siblings joined in for the festivities

Traveling from Virginia Beach (Thanks Robin and Darren!!) and Nebraska (Thanks Stewart and Shannon!!), our house was full of family and fun the entire weekend,

and I loved every second of it!

Group shot of all of the Brewer Cousins, from oldest to youngest...

And monday, as the last family unit pulled out of the driveway and I dropped the twins off at school, the house seemed way too quiet.

Man, I love family! Thank you so much for helping to make this weekend so special! We love you, and miss you already!