our tree 2008

today i'm going to try and update my blog... i've missed several events that i intended to blog about, but time just ran away from me last week! first, last weekend (after thanksgiving), we put up our christmas tree. yes, it is fake. i'm not a fan of needles covering the floor nor watering a real tree. so, i like to go "all out" on a fake tree and not even buy one that looks real (i.e. a white tree). this will be the last year for this white tree to be upstairs and/or around our kids. 95% of the ornaments i have are glass, so they'll have to be put up for a while - which means we will probably get a new tree (this time it'll be green and come with the lights already on it) to be decorated with kid-made ornaments. the future tree will be called our "family tree." ...here is a video of kendal really digging the lights! (fyi, the EHHH sound he makes in the video is because i wouldn't give him the camera.)

cheap wrapping paper

times are tough for all this year... even if you have "enough" money right now, seems as though everyone (us included) is cutting back just to make sure there is "enough" for later. who knows when jobs will be cut, right? (i, for one, know that i haven't had any work in over a month - and although i'm still getting paid, who knows when that will run out if the jobs don't come along with the new year!) and when it comes to making cutbacks, some things are obvious - like just not buying things. you don't need new shoes, don't buy them. but... sometimes you DO need new shoes - shopping around can save a few bucks here and there. this christmas, to save money, i promised myself that i would use what paper products i had in stock (not buy any new stamps, ink, paper, etc.). this worked out pretty much as i planned, i may have bought one or two things - i'd say i spent less than $5 to make ALL my christmas cards (not including stamps, of coarse). i used all my stuff from last year and in the process, put a big dent in my paper color collection. this also made for some interesting colored christmas cards (i.e., i didn't have enough red and green to go around). so, those of you who get the yellow card... sorry! :) i thought i'd be smart and buy cheap wrapping paper this year. usually, i buy what sparkles and catches my eye. this year, i got one of those $5 for 5 tubes deals at target. on my god. never again. this paper sucks. it is thin (you can see through it), it is hard to cut (even with sharp scissors - it gets those tear-kinks in it about ever 2 inches, PLUS it doesn't even feel good (and it really isn't all that pretty). so, anyway, this post is to warn everyone to NOT skimp on the wrapping paper. maybe you can buy 80% fat ground beef instead of the 93% stuff... or buy generic bread to make your stuffing rather than using your good, more expensive bakery-baked bread. save money somewhere else! again, like the recipients of the yellow cards, i apologize to all my gift recipients for the cheap-o christmas paper!

this weekend's random to do list

we have several goals that must be accomplished this weekend. first and foremost (however it will likely be done last) is packing my hospital bag and installing the baby seat in my car. before this can be done, we have to wash all our clothes (about 5 loads) so i actually can pick the clothes i want to take. (even pregnant women have pants they prefer to wear!) i also wanted to wrap the gifts that we have already, decorate the jelly jars (also gifts), and write ALL my christmas cards. oh, and i want to decorate our porch (just lights and garland). i got the porch decorated this morning while kendal took his first nap and nathaniel took the trash to the dump. it took about an hour. i've also been washing clothes all day, have 1 more load to go (just towels). then we have to fold them all. that'll happen before we go to bed since the pile of clean clothes COVERS our bed. i've been writing cards now for about 3 hours on and off now. my hand is SO tired... of writing "love, analee, nathaniel, and kendal". boy oh boy, i feel for my sister who has to sign not only her and rob's name, but also all 4 kids (unless she is lucky enough for the 2 that can write to sign their own names... but i'm sure that takes longer than if she just did it). turns out though that i can't count (no surprise there, huh?) because i'm short 3 cards. guess i have to add "make 3 christmas cards" to my list of things to do. somewhere i have to find a place to hang our stockings. downstairs has no decoration this year, everything is upstairs where we actually live and play. no chimney there, though... so, got to come up with a new idea! my voice is still gone, so nathaniel is still on primary caretaker duty for kendal. my lack of voice (and the horrible sounds that come out between air-ish sounds) seems to scare kendal. yesterday, he wouldn't even let me hold him. i could see in his teary eyes "what happened to my mama!" i feel some better today, nathaniel came home early (actually met us at the doctor in wake forest) - he took kendal home and napped him while i waited for nearly 2 hours to have my prescription filled. so, let me add to my list - not to forget to take my antibiotics. i'm so bad with pills. it requires memory (rather re-memory) and this baby has sucked all my potential re-thoughs away from me. (i consider it a lack of oxygen to the brain...) fortunately yesterday i got all my family's gifts ordered (ah, "hand crafted - online!"), got my T-family gift finished (need to wrap), and today melissa's kids' gifts came in the mail (need to wrap them too). oh yea, i need to find batteries for them. maybe i should go gather batteries right now before i forget.

we knew faith looked like melissa!

here are melissa and faith (respectively) at about age 2. funny how similar they look!!! i know you haven't seen all the other baby(ish) photos i have of melissa, but trust me - the similarity is strong in the eyes (color, shape, brightness)!

and we thought sam looked like rob...

yea... finding old pictures was an eye opener, not just for the looks of my son, but for the looks of one each of my nieces and nephews! so here is melissa at 2 months... who does this look like? none other than the samboni himself! (these photos were lifted off of her blog)

christmas 1976

kendal and i were born within 4 days of each other. well, actually 4 days minus 32 years. :) i was searching through mom's old picture albums yesterday and came across this photo of me. it isn't really that great of a picture, but it looks just like kendal. even the lips. in several photos from that christmas (1976, when i was 15 months old, just like kendal will be this christmas), the only differences between him and me are #1 - eye color (mine were blue at that point), and #2 hair color (mine was blonde and straight). my mom still says that he looks like his dad, but after looking at my pictures, she did agree that he "favored" me... but we do agree that his expressions come from nathaniel.

i suppose my dad would have a smart comment to say about this...

its official. after 3 days of sounding like a smoker (hacking, low, rough voice), this morning... it is gone. i couldn't even call the doctor to have my ears checked (which also hurt as well as my throat and head in general - congestion). thank god for husbands. and text messaging.