not sorry at all.

yeah, whatever, so I haven't been here all week.  pfft, like I even care.

okay, I DO care.  I can't even pretend with you guys.  it's just that between kids on winter break, and hubby home from work monitoring my computer time, and late nights, and company, and did I mention kids on winter break? I really haven't had a chance to catch my breath, let alone sit down and peck out a blog post.

anyway, at the very least, I thought I'd quickly pop in and give you a heads up as to what's been going on around this place.  I promise it will be the most uninteresting, boring, blah blog post you've ever read.

you ready?  alright then, here goes nothing.

first: we survived Christmas 2011.  (more on that later.)

second: as I mentioned previously, we've had the pleasure of entertaining company this week.  Keith and Kim drove up the day after Christmas to hang out with us and swap kiddos for a few days.  and then on Thursday, my aunt Debbie (which would be my dad's sister) and her hubby (which would be my uncle through marriage), along with my aunt Becca (which would be Debbie's (and also my dad's) sister) and her grandson (which would be my first cousin once removed), came up to visit and spend the night.

are you still with me?  no?  good, that was the point.

and third: with Gary home from work this week I've been busy cracking the whip: re-caulk around those toilets!  wh-tsh!  fix that piece of broken trim!  wh-tsh!  clean the garage!  wh-tsh!  put totes of christmas decorations back in storage!  wh-tsh!  touch up the wall in the girls' room where Scarlett scribbled with permanent marker!  wh-tsh! and while you're at it, why don't you just paint the entire stair well?

wh-tsh!  wh-tsh!  wh-tsh!  (that's the sound of the whip cracking in case you were wondering.)

yeah, so.  it appears this desk boy is not used to such physical labor.  the poor thing.  I feel terrible.  maybe I shouldn't have worked him so hard?

well, hopefully he was able to summon up a little bit of energy for his overnight backpacking trip in the Superstition Mountains.  he, along with two of his brothers and a slew of kids (nine, I think), set out on the trail early yesterday morning.  the plan was to hike five miles to their campsite, spend one night, and then hike back out sometime today. while I get to mold around the house and do nothing, like that's fair.  and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he just go skiing, too?  hmm, I'm thinking it's time to even out the score a little.  California, anyone?

here are the girls, all packed and raring to go, and excited as all get out.  I know what you're thinking: please don't tell me she let them go barefoot?  don't you worry.  I made sure they left home with the appropriate flip flops.  oops, I meant footwear, sorry.

and now I'm curious if the excitement actually lingered, or did the whining kick in after mile two?  hmmm.

in the meantime, I'll be biting my nails, waiting to hear how it went.

Happy New Year!

-jessica