Not dead, But sleeping...

What? You're unfamiliar with that sacred hymn? Anyway, I don't even know where to begin and I feel just terrible for being away so long. So here I am to say Hi, even though I don't have much profound to share. Dave and I just got back from our 3 week trip last night. We had a really good trip, and it was also good to come home, well, mostly anyway. = L Due to some frustrating events while we were gone, we don't have Internet at our house right now. So I probably won't be the most faithful blogger for awhile, but I doubt you'll notice a difference. Anyway, we flew to Iowa and then headed up to Red Lake for awhile. We had a lot of fun visiting family and realized how quiet our lives usually are. Having 4 kids around is rather loud. ha. My family got together in MN for the weekend and we had some jolly good fun there too. We spent some time with my oldest brother and family after that and then stayed one night with my niece and her hubby (okay, that just sounds so odd to say... I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to have nieces getting married, but they don't seem to care. ) It was nice to see their house and chat with them awhile. Then we headed back to Iowa to hang out with Dave's family and get in on their Christmas eve and Christmas Day traditions. I passed on the oyster stew because, um, I'm pretty sure the baby would have thrown a huge fit and it would not have been pretty. Sea food and myself don't get along well at the best of times, and lately, my oh my. But anyway, the word on the street was that it was grand. We had a nice relaxing Christmas with them. One highlight (only the women will appreciate this) was going to a really great consignment store with Dave's mom and finding lots of fun baby stuff for dirt cheap! We headed to Cincy the Monday after Christmas to spend some time with Dave's grandparents and some extended family too. It was nice to see his grandparents again. We haven't really spent any time with them since our dating days and back in the day when we were awkwardly getting to know each other, we had spent time at their place. So there were a lot of memories there. I think marriage tops dating, but I digress. We flew home yesterday from Dayton, after seeing many family friends and family people. So, now back to the daily hum drum I guess. I work all this coming week, but then have 2 weeks off. So, other than the financial ramifications, I'm really looking forward to some time to get dome some serious organizing, sorting, cleaning, hanging, purchasing?, rearranging, stuffing, folding, cramming, laughing, crying, and impeding. I think that covers most of what I want to get done. We really need to clear out our guest room and make a bit of room for baby. Speaking of baby, Kumquat has changed edible objects so many times since I last updated... um, I think pepper and banana have been in there somewhere and I think we're currently sitting at a spaghetti squash. Not too shabby, eh? The little person really started to kick while we were gone and that's been rather enjoyable for the most part. Um, well, I guess I should get going for now. Just wanted to stop by and say a long over due hello. Happy New Year to everyone. I'm pretty excited about this particular year! = )