Team Albertsen Relief Fund

Help desperate children like these get a backyard soon!

Sydney in the exersaucer watching Noelle make mud pies in the backyard.

I was talking to a sprinkler guy and it was beyond control by the time I got to her.

Giant Brains

Today while at Costco waiting to have new tires put on our car, Noelle and I shared some pizza, mexican french toast (aka churro) and a sprite. While eating her cut up pieces of pizza she was examining each one and telling me what shape they were. One was a diamond, a new shape she just learned about at school, and the other a triangle. I looked at her and asked her how she got to be so smart and she told me, "I'm a genius. That means I'm smart and I have a big brain."

New Year Blogging

I am addicted to my GoogleReader and as much as I hate to admit how sad I am when there isn't anything new to read I am then reminded how guilty I am at not updating those who might still care what I post on here. I had a Christmas update post going and its still in the draft collection of my blog.

Believe it or not my brain still works after having a baby nearly seven months ago. As much as I think it might have shriveled up and died it's still in there, thinking away about what to post on my blog. Sometimes it even tells me that I should just give up on this darn thing and commit blog suicide. However, I keep telling my brain that there are still some funny things that happen around our house and I make a little mental note to share them with my blog community and by the time I sit down to tell you all about it, I've forgotten the good details.

With all that said, I have been thinking about things I'm going to do this year. Resolutions I guess, but really I'm not resolving to do anything all that much better. Realistically I'm not going to get any better at making dinner. The recipes might change, but I'd say that for the six or so days a week that I actually make dinner I've got the national odds beat. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be any better at house keeping this year. Maybe I'll find a better groove though. Having visitors come usually kicks me into gear. What I have decided however is that I'm going to do more things for me and my family. Things to make us happier. We're pretty happy people, I think. Boo might not be, but if that's the case he's doing a pretty good job of covering it up. (If he even reads this far down it will be a miracle.)

We have a lot to be happy about. 2009 (not to be said 20-0-9 like on CBS Sunday Morning - drives me crazy) was a year to remember. We had a busy year. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and bought a house on the same day. We beat the national average of eight years! Then a month later we had a baby. We enjoyed our first full length family vacation. Hosted a Thanksgiving feast for family. Celebrated Christmas at our house without family. And we didn't have any bar exams!
So my plan for 2010 is to do a few things for myself, that will make me happy for years to come I'm sure. I am going to quilt for me this year. In the past couple of years I've given away a lot of quilts for some pretty darn cute babies, but this is the year I get to finish one for myself/ family. I might even do two. This is also the year to get our house in order. Work on food storage, which scares me immensely. Get our back yard put in so we have a place to hang out and play together as a family and with friends. Just the thought of 10 tons of rock is exciting and frightening.
This is a good list of lofty expectations. But very realistic too.
Here's to 2010 and doing good things. Come and visit, or come shovel rock. I'll do my best to keep you updated on the progress over the year and throw in a few pictures and a bit of humor along the way.
Happy New Year!

Redeeming Qualities

Phoenix was listed as one of 16 places to find sunshine this time of year. (Popped up on my MSN when I logged in, I promise.)

Come visit the valley of the sun during its best time of year.