Where did the time go!

It is the end of December and the holidays are over. Where did the time go!!! I have not updated anything lately and we have had a lot that I could have written! I kept saying that my goal is to update weekly but that obviously was a LYE!!

So here we are at the end of 2010 and it is time to make a New Year resolution. What should my resolution be? Should it be being a better blogger, working harder at keeping my house clean or the ever so popular, becoming a healthier person. If I were smart and driven, I could do all three!! I could blog about how I keep my house clean while eating only oranges! I am not sure that would make for some good reading, but one just never knows! Either way, I will attempt to update my blog with some fun Althof adventures. I might have to do some catching up to do, with all that has happened in one short month, but I will do my best. I will blog what my resolution will be!

One final question, do you have a New Year's Resolution??

The New Oven!

I am excited to announce that I officially have a NEW oven!!! Not only is it new, matches the kitchen, and evenly distributes heat, but it is NORMAL SIZE!!! I have for the past few years been baking with an oven that has the lifespan of a 200 year old turtle. Nothing is going to stop this thing. I am pretty positive to say that it was the original oven from when the house was built in the early 60's.




Now, I wish that I can say that we went and bought an oven and then ran home and slapped it into the wall. That would be every girls dream, but not at this household. Wyatt and I (or Wyatt) have been working on updating our kitchen. We (meaning Wyatt) painted and added trim to all of the cabinet doors and painted the kitchen several different colors. (I was told that he was not painting it any more!)I got a new cooktop and then one Mother's day, Wyatt and the boys got me my new oven, with the intentions of having a new cabinet built. We were told that we would need to have the measurements from everything. This awesome new oven sat in my basement, year









after year.




Then, that wonderful day in October came...and so did my cabinet!





I agreed to do all of the painting. I never painted so fast in my life, which showed as Wyatt had to do some touching up, but it officially matched the other cabinets!!






With a little help from Chris Etzel, the cabinet was installed!



I love it!! I think that I have officially used it everyday since it was put in! We still have some finishing touches to make, but I can deal with it.

How time flies!

I realize that I have really slacked in the blog area!! We had so much going on this last few months so I am just going to post some pictures of the fun things that we have been up to. Haden started playing soccer. He did much better at soccer than T-ball!! He actually went out on the field and ran and participated. I was very proud of him!! We also had the annual Octoberfest out at the Etzel/Blevins farm. As usual, we had a blast hunting for store bought pumpkins and talking with good friends! Rachel Gross even brought out a pony for the kids to ride. Of course, my boys share the same love for horses as I and refused to ride it. We did not stop there! My sister, brother in law, and the kids and I headed out for a full day of fun at Renyers Pumpkin Patch. What a great time! We participated in EVERY activity that was available and enjoyed every last bit! Haden LOVED leading us through the corn maze and Brody enjoyed climbing to the top of the tire tower, until he could not climb down. That meant Mom to the rescue!
We finally wrapped up the two months with some Trick or Treating and Halloween fun! I had the cutest Fireman and Doctor at my house this year! We tried to get some cute pictures of the boys with Olivia, Zoe and Lilly. Each child had their own agenda, but they all looked ADORABLE running around the front yard! I had tried to carve pumpkins with the boys before their friends came over, but that was an unsuccessful task. Haden said he did not want to touch it and Brody just kept telling me it was "yucky" so I got to carve the pumpkins by myself. Haden did draw the shapes of the jack o lanterns face for me!
I have chalked up the last two months as some great memories and lots of fun. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

WOW!!

HOLY MOLY!!! Has it really been over a month since I have posted anything??? I have so much to share, but I have to download some pictures. We have been really busy the last month. Be sure to check back soon and hopefully I will have something on here. Don't give up on me!!

7%

A friend on Facebook shared this video so I thought that I would share it on my blog. It has a great message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko_VSKn1DAE

Another Cake

I was asked to make another cake for a friend of mine. Her husband was turning 40 and she asked me to make a cake for her. I was very honored that she asked me. I will admit that I am pleased with how the cake turned out. I finished baking the cakes on Thursday and was planning on decorating the cakes on Friday to be ready for Saturday. Of course things did not go as I had planned. It began to storm Friday and we lost our electricity for a little while. It is hard to use the mixer without power!! I was finally able to get the frosting made and decorated the cakes by party time on Saturday. I wish that I could say that I did it all without any major panic attacks, but that would just be a dishonest! I believe that at one point my mom told me to drink a beer and chill out. I must have been a lot more panicky than normal!! I have to admit that the final product did not turn out to bad!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!!

As you all know, my baby boy has a head of hair with lots of wave. NOT ANY MORE!!! I am going to be honest and say that there were a few tears in my eyes as I watched all of his hair drop down to the ground. Wyatt and I decided that it was time for a hair cut, and out came the razor. I think this is the first time I have ever seen his scalp!!! Now, Brody has had many haircuts in his two years. They usually consist of a trim. Only one other time has he really had a major cut and that was when Wyatt cut off all of his adorable curls. I am pretty sure I cried then also!! Wyatt keeps on reassuring me that his hair will grow. I suppose I will admit that he is right!!

BEFORE




After

Back to School

We are officially back at school. I am teaching my 8th year at Central teaching Special Education and Haden has started his second year as a role model in the preschool program. We have had a GREAT first day!!! Haden went to school without crying. It was amazing!!! He did have a small problem at the beginning of the day when he got in the line with the first graders and his teacher could not find him. He was quickly found with a smile on his face. WHEW!!

This is a picture from our first day of school last year (the only picture because he kept crying!!!)



This year was SO MUCH better!!!



And of course I cannot forget to add the school wannabes! Now that we are back to the school routine, Olivia gets to come back to our house in the mornings to catch a ride to daycare with Brody! These two are quite the pair!!!

The People of Walmart

Now, I know everyone has seen the pictures of the people of Walmart. I can bet most of you have even visited the website. I know that I have and every time I get a good laugh out of it. After having seen the pictures I can bet that you go to Walmart and actually pay more attention to people or even seek them out. I think that I have become very conscious as to what I am wearing before I leave the house to go get my toilet paper. I sometimes wonder if I should not wear my Sunday best just to be on the safe side!
It seems that I have noticed more and more people in Holton, KS that could make the website. I have yet to take a picture for several reasons. 1) the person is standing beside me and it would be to obvious. 2) the boys would ask in their not so quiet voice, "mommy, why are you taking a picture of that lady/man, and 3)my purse is to big and my phone always falls to the bottom and by the time I dig it out, the opportunity has passed. Just the other day, I saw the ultimate. I actually had to do a double take just to make sure I was seeing correctly. A woman was looking at the DVD's and minding her own business. Except I wish that she had more of her business tucked away. I would say that she was a healthy eater. She did not bother to comb her long black locks since 1985 and I am pretty sure that was when she bought her shirt. You will remember these shirts. You buy a huge shirt, cut out the arm holes to reveal your sports bra. Well....lets just say she did not get the memo on the sports bra, but God bless her for wearing one at all. That would just been a bad day. She continued her outfit with those pajama pants with frogs on them. I am sure she bought them many years ago for sleeping. I also have to wonder if she was shorter back then as her pants were not quiet capri style. She topped off her ensemble with a lovely shade of green slouchy socks with white keds. BUT the best part of the outfit was the bright PINK underwear that had made their way out of the back of her pants. She could have solved this with just a simple spot check. Girls, you know what I am talking about, it is when you simply run your hand down the back of your shirt to make it look like you were adjusting it, but really you were making sure your underwear was in the right spot and not above the waist. I am guessing that this lady was all ready for a movie night when she realized that she needed the movie and thought she would slip to Walmart and no one would see her.
I think that there are other people at Walmart that I have to wonder about. Just today I was in Topeka to get material for my classroom. I walked up to the check out and Mr. Sunshine wanted to know where my other ticket for the material was. I nicely told him that I was only given the one. He then goes on to tell me that I should have another one because I have three items and the ticket said that I have two. Again, I explained that I have only one. Now continues to repeat himself in that conceding tone that says "I think you are trying to rip off Walmart." At this point I am tired of his attitude and really just want to go home, so I repeat myself (with NO smile) in a matter of fact tone. He looks at me and says "well, whatever" and proceeds to wad up the material and throw it into the bag. He then stares at me because apparently my transaction is complete. He then not so kindly throws me my receipt. At this point I want to tell him, "if I am going to rip off Walmart, I am not going to go through the check out line OR bye material." Instead I ask him if this was my bag (he did not bother to turn the bag around for me.) He just looks at me like I am stupid. I look up at him and flash him the biggest smile and with my most annoyed voice thank him for his service and to have a nice day. I refrained from sharing that his finger nails were entirely to long for a male and that they should be clipped. I would say that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed and he had BETTER be grateful that he had this particular girl and not my sister!

Haden's Day Out

Haden had to go to the dentist a few weeks ago. This has been his third trip to the dentist and he was such a good patient! He even got to go to the treasure box several times. Lucky for me he picked out a harmonica!!

Haden listened to the dentist really well. I always get a little nervous when they x-ray his teeth, but he does so well!!

Haden even got to wear some AWESOME glasses to keep the light out of his eyes!!




By the end if the visit we were all shiny, clean smiles. However, we did learn that he has teeth like his mom and will have a future in orthodontic work. We also had to go back the following week to have those deep, hereditary grooves in his teeth sealed to prevent those YUCKY cavities.


So the next week, Mom, Haden and myself loaded back up and went back to the dentist and had yet another successful visit getting Haden's teeth sealed. He was quite a trooper with all of those hands and items in his mouth! I think it bothered me more than him!!
After we got done, we asked Haden were he wanted to eat, expect the answer of McDonalds. We were completely shocked when he said that he wanted to go somewhere he had never been. When I asked him where that was, his answer was Red Lobster. I would hate to break his heart and not go there!!! So we went, all for the sake of Haden.

When I asked him what he wanted, I was even more floored when he wanted crab legs. Again, it was his day!!!




The waiter that we had was also so kind to take a lobster out of the tank for Haden to look at.

By the end of the day, Haden was VERY sleepy, but we all had a great time!! Who knew going to the dentist would be that much fun!!


SIDE NOTE: Sorry the pictures are not the best. I took them with my cell phone!!!