Mommy and Daddy Update

It's dawned on me that I may have failed to mention some new things in our lives.

Ben started a new job back in October. The contract job he had was great, but the company had a hiring freeze so when this new opportunity came along, he was very pleased. It's been a great job so far and he's really enjoying it. He is still doing some part-time contract stuff which has been tiring for him but nice for our savings account.

I have a new job as well. Back in November, I was emailing with the mom of the kids I used to babysit. Walker was only 18 months when I started in December of 2002. Blaire or "Bean" was born in May of 2003. I took care of them for over three years. Anyway, their mom mentioned they needed a new babysitter. I joked that I would love to do it but would have to tie the kids on top of the car. I mentioned we really wanted to get a mini-van we just hadn't done it yet. She wrote back that if we bought one to let them know because they would love me to keep the kids again.

So, faced with the opportunity to keep my four favorite kids all at the same time, we went out and bought a mini-van! We found a great deal on a Honda Odyssey - 2006 (I think). We love it. I also love carrying around the best 4 kids in the world.

I did a little fill-in work in November and December and officially started picking the kids up from school 3 days a week in January. So far, it's working out pretty well. Natalie and Abby aren't quite sure about them yet. They don't like them to get to close:-) So far we have divided our days between my house and their dad's house as well as trips to Target, Walmart, the park and the Museum of Life and Science.

It is a little stressful trying to keep kids of such different ages happy and entertained. Walker and Bean like to play outside and do crafts. Natalie and Abby can be a lot of work outdoors and have to be kept away from the glue, glitter, paint, and markers. I'm hoping as the weather gets warmer we can spend more time outdoors at the park. All the kids seem to enjoy that.

In other news, we are hoping to re-do out kitchen in the next few months. Phase I involves knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and opening the door way to the dining room from the foyer. We then have to frame out another small wall, have the electrician rewire some things and then sheet-rock everything again. Phase II will be to put in new cabinets (that match the ones we have now) and new counter tops on all the counters. Phase III will be to replace the floors with hardwood. Phase IV - if we get that far, doesn't involve the kitchen but replacing the carpet in the living room and hallway.

We are planning to do most of the work ourselves with the help of a contractor we found. We'll see how it goes:-) Hopefully in the end, we will have twice the counter top space with 3 or 4 new sections of wonderful drawers. We will have a bar area where the girls can one day stand and help me cook as well as color or draw. The other half of the dining room will be the eat-in kitchen part with a table so that we can start eating around it like a real family - instead of the living room like we do now. I am very excited about it. I have begun feeling very claustrophobic in my current kitchen.

When it's finished, all you locals can come over for a meal!

I guess that's all on mom and dad. KitKat and Snickers continue to do well. Snickers loves the cold and we can barely get him in at night. KitKat continues to hate the cold and goes out only to claw at the door like death is after him 5 minutes later. Snickers has actually allowed the girls to pet him a little. KitKat continues to be very tolerant, although he is getting smarter about running away.

OKay - enough about us. We'll return to our regularly scheduled Natalie and Abigail programming immediately.