Well, we're back from our trip to Maui.  It was a really nice getaway for dh and me.  There's lots to do over there and the island is sooooooo beautiful!  Will have to post some pics when I get them on my 'puter.  We enjoyed snorkeling for the first time, whale watching (incredible!), the summit of Haleakala (a dormant volcano) at sunrise, driving all over the place to see as much of the beautiful scenery as we could take in.  It was incredible being able to walk on beautiful sandy beaches with the waves crashing in and 80+ degree weather in early March.  (At home it was 20+ BELOW zero while we were away.)  Thankfully, the weather here at home has warmed up a bit and has even been above freezing! YAY!  Dh said we were going to bring the warm weather home with us.  I hope he's right!  LOL!

And my baby is walking now!  He was just taking a few steps before we left.  Now he's a lot more sure of himself and is walking everywhere instead of crawling.  I noticed even his hair is longer!  LOL!  They sure change fast when they're little.  Our eldest son, on the other hand, hasn't changed much at all.  Except that I think he's glad to have us back home and to be back home himself.  He hasn't been talking back near so much--yet. 

It's good to be home!  (But I do hope we can go back to Maui again someday!) The only drawback to Maui is how expensive stuff is--especially food and gas.  I think it was well worth it though!

I can't believe it's been so long! 

So what's happening around here?

For school:  We're about a week and a half behind, but I plan on getting us caught up this next week. 

For Family:  Friday the 29th, DH and I are leaving town.  The boys are going to stay with my parents while we're ce;ebrating our 10th wedding anniversary a little early in HAWAII!  Maui to be exact.  I'm so excited!  Once week from today I'll be on my way to Luau-land.  LOL!  We've never been to Hawaii before, so can hardly wait.  Am sending some of my eldest son's school work with him to Grandma's.  She can help him while we're away.  And the baby will enjoy playing with Grandpa and having the run of their house.  (They have a little more open space over there for him to move.)  

Speaking of the baby...I'm a little afraid that I'll miss some of his development while we're away.  He'll be 17 months old.  He's just starting to walk (crawling's so much faster, don'tcha know!) , so he may be walking on his own more when we get back.   He doesn't talk much yet, either.  He sign's "more", "please', "eat", "drink", and a bunch of other signs he's learned by watching the Baby Signing Time dvds.  He babbles lots and every now and then he sounds like he's saying a real word, but since he doesn't repeat it, I have to assume it's not on purpose.  So, there's a chance he'll be saying more than just "Daddy" when we get home too.   

I'm going to enjoy the time away--even if I miss my boys a little while we're gone.  I'm especially looking forward to getting outside and being in the sun.  It's kinda hard to do so when it's below zero more days than not like it has been here lately.  Today's actually really nice...in the mid-30s.  Balmy, as my hubby would say.  The sun's out too.  I should have gone outside this afternoon, but I didn't.  We'll be busy walking beaches and lying around and maybe do some swimming and hiking while we're on Maui, so it should be a nice combination of activity and relaxation.  We both really need it.

Happy 2008!

It's been a while since I've had time to sit and write.  Christmas is such a wonderful time, but a busy one too!  We didn't get much school work done in December.  So much else going on, I just got lazy about school, I guess.  But we are back at it now.  And only a few weeks behind.  It won't take too long to get caught up. 

A case of Buyer Beware:  My dh bought me a mandolin for Christmas.  I've been wanting one for quite some time.  He tried to get a good deal.  He searched around online and decided to purchase one he saw on ebay.  I love ebay.  However, after this experience, I do not recommend it for musical instruments.  I'm not sure buying an instrument online is wise at all unless you are familiar with the company you are purchasing from and they have excellent warranties/guarantees and a great return policy if there's a problem with what you get.  Anyways, we've had nothing but trouble with this mandolin.  First, I just thought the problem was that the strings were bad so we had to get replacements.  We live in the middle of nowhere (at least as far as shopping is concerned) so had to wait a few days till we could take a shopping trip.  Got some decent new strings, dh changed a couple that were giving me trouble and I got excited thinking I would be able to get started learning this new instrument.  Then as I was beginning to learn, I quickly discovered yet another problem.  Two or three of the frets are too high under the E and A strings and are causing my strings to play incorrect notes.  It's really aggravating.  It's no longer returnable (they only offer a 7 day after arrival guarantee and you pay to ship it back which wouldn't have done us any good as dh didn't open the box until a couple weeks after it arrived--remember, it was my Christmas gift and he wanted to keep it packaged nice for me).  After quite a bit more research dh learned that this particular seller is becoming notorious for selling cheaply made instruments by making them sound like he's selling you great quality for such a great deal.  The brand of this mandolin is Santini.  Doesn't that sound nice?  Reality is, you can't find it anywhere but through this ebay seller.  These instruments are very likely made in a factory in China with little to no musical quality control.  The instruments aren't set up properly before being sent to the consumer, thus, you are extremely likely to receive an unplayable instrument as I have.  I will have to find out if it's worth it to have someone replace the frets.  If that will cost what we think it will, dh has already told me we will get a new mandolin for me at a music store that's only about an hour from here, so is relatively local.  And if this mandolin is not fixable due to cost, will find itself mounted as wall art.  (Hey, at least it does look pretty nice!)  Moral of my story:  It's not wise buying "sight unseen"! 

Ds2 turned 1 on Sep. 30 and we had a party for him at Grandma's house.  Here's a pic of the decorations.  I was so proud of how everything turned out.

I made a little "smash cake" for him and cupcakes for everyone else.  It was a really nice little party with those of the immediate family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) all in attendance. 

Ds wasn't impressed with the cake.  I guess he thought it was too sweet, since he just gobbled up the cheese we gave him.

Anyways, then last weekend was the Hearts at Home conference in Rochester, MN.  I attended with my sister-in-law and once again had a good time and learned lots.  This is the 3rd time I've gone to Hearts.  It would have been my 4th year, but last year I ended up ordering the at-home packet because I had ds2 to care for.  I got to listen to my top 3 choices for workshops on cd instead and it was nice to still get the tote bag too, but it's definitely not the same as actually going. 

Anyways, this past Sunday was MY birthday.  So my chauffeur (dh) got us a hotel for the night instead of going straight home after the conference.  We even went bowling that afternoon which was a lot of fun even though we were both sore for 3 days afterwards!  (We hadn't bowled in about 7 or 8 years, I think!)  Anyways, it was an enjoyable birthday despite the rainy and cold weather and would have been perfect had the Green Bay Packers actually continued playing for the whole of their game.  Unfortunately they went home (at least mentally) after the first half and lost to Chicago.    Maybe it'll be the wake-up call they need to keep playing good.  We'll see.

As for school which is what I'm supposed to be writing about, I originally only planned one day off for Hearts weekend, but ended up taking two.  We had a slow time getting back into it besides, but today went well and I think if we forego our fall break which was only one day anyways, we'll be back on schedule in no time.  So we're getting started with week 6 and are only a little behind right now. 

...and done with school before noon!  Woohoo! 

Grandpa called yesterday and asked if ds#1 could go fishing with him this afternoon, so we planned on being done by noon.  At 11:20am, however, I wasn't sure we were gonna make it, but then ds picked up the pace and got it all done in time!  Yay! 

After lunch, I had time to go to the store and do a little shopping, but ds#2 was getting tired and needed his afternoon nap, so that cut my shopping short and we came home.  He's happily resting now.  (And Mommy has a little time for herself--and laundry...can't forget the laundry!)  At least I was able to get diapers and milk, but who knows what we're gonna have for supper...

I suppose I should see if dh can find us something on his way home from work.