January

January is always my worst blogging month because I have to pick up all the stuff I neglected over the holidays. We're always super busy and this week is finally the first time I got around to deep cleaning.

The kids are healthy and back to school. Dustin is home. Multiple rooms are clean at the same time. The laundry is not only done, but folded and put away. . . It's like all the stars have finally aligned. Only after a minor meltdown to Janel, but my little universe has righted itself again. I hate feeling out of whack and like I can't catch up.

The pictures of Sadie really have nothing to do with the blog entry, just putting up pictures so the grandparents won't come whining. Plus I have to remind myself that she is really sweet ad cute at times. She has really been giving me a run for my money. She's got a bunch of teeth coming in so she's very needy. She's got these new things we like to call "Spazz Hands." She lifts her arms up and her fingers start twitching until I pick her up. This has made getting anything done really hard. Finally the other day I was deep cleaning the bathroom and I was so excited to be getting so much done because she was actually leaving me alone. 15 minutes later I realized why. She had taken a box of tissue and wandered around the house pulling them out and leaving a trail. Then she went back through and ripped them all apart. The floors were COVERED in tissue shreds.

My favorite part of January has got to be the clearance shopping. We were in DC until the 6th of January, so I was pretty bummed that I missed most of the after-Christmas decor sales. That was until I had to run into Pier 1 one day. They don't mark there stuff down until the middle of January!!! I hit the first day of the 75% off sale and I got some really cute stuff -- including this tree for $15, normally $6o.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and Kerry and I are out shopping for Beth's birthday gift when we decide to run into Pier 1 and see if they have anything left. It was about 15 minutes before close and they were marking all the stuff down for the 9o% off sale the next day. I loaded up!

Wrapping paper for 48-68 cents -- I now have 31 rolls, so I'm not baking next year, it's back to the wrapping paper gifts for me -- ornament packs for $1, the cute little beaded cherries for $1.18 -- now in my ornament domes since I think they look sort of Valentine-y -- and the best find were the sparkle trees. I got three of those for $3.48 each. We cleaned out that store. The next morning Molly and I went to two more and got all the good stuff. I'm so excited for Christmas and it's still 11 month away. How is that even fair?

So there you go -- I blogged.