It's Superbowl Sunday and I don't really have a desire to watch the game so I'll write a quick post since it's been awhile. First of all, I've had trouble uploading video, so I'll try to figure that out and get some more video on the blog. We've captured some fun stuff lately.

We had a really nice weekend since my parents were here visiting to celebrate my sister's birthday. They got here Friday night. We woke Sarah up so she could play with them. You should've seen her excitement when she saw them. She didn't really know what to do with herself. I think they worry that she'll forget them since we don't get to see them very often. After her initial reaction in seeing them Friday, they have absolutely nothing to worry about. Kim came out Saturday and we had a nice day hanging out with the family. Sarah loves being the center of attention and was constantly wanting Grandpa to follow her around the house and play. After Sarah went to bed, we watched the movie, "Licensed to Wed" with Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, and the tall guy from "The Office". It was a good renter. We enjoyed it. Mom and Dad left after a late breakfast this morning only to run into terrible weather once they hit Iowa. We had no idea they were struggling to get home until I called and found out they had just walked in the door of their house and were so thankful to be there. We're soaking up the family time as Kim will be moving out to Richmond by May and we treasure every minute with her.

My grandfather isn't doing so well right now. He's in a nursing home in Mom and Dad's town so it's great that they're nearby to watch over his care. The doctors know he will eventually have heart failure so some of these issues he's having could be all leading up to that. I wish I could snap my fingers and make him feel better. He's pretty miserable and he's getting more and more confused. Sarah and I are going down in a couple of weeks to spend some time with him and we'll go down for Easter, too.

Jason is in full-swing band director mode right now. His head is constantly swimming with band trip details, concert details, fundraising details, jazz trip to New Trier details, etc., etc. He handles it all very well but I can tell when he's "gone away" in his head thinking about all of that stuff. I guess it keeps him out of trouble and all of those experiences are so rewarding for the kids and for him. I'm looking forward to going on the band trip in March even though I'll be away from Sarah for over a week since we'll probably have her stay with my folks in Iowa. I know she'll be just fine....I'll just miss her. :)

I just agreed to be on the nomination committee for church council. It's good for me to take risks since it's something I'm definitely not comfortable with. I'm not one that likes to call people and ask them to volunteer their time. It will help me grow so I'll get over my insecurities. I figure since we're not able to give a lot more money at this time since I'm staying home, I can give of my time to the church.

Sarah turned 14 months last week and is keeping us on the go. She's playing a lot with her blocks, riding on her little bus around the house, walking a lot, always wanting to eat, and still not drinking as much milk as I'd like her to. She'll drink milk out of a bottle, but not the same amount out of a sippy cup. She'll drink water or juice, but not the milk. Ugh! She'll get it eventually. We started a new music class last week. The class isn't big, but I think she'll have a lot of fun with the instructor. The other moms and toddlers seem very nice, too. I'm really getting ready for it to warm up since I feel like both Sarah and I are getting cabin fever. I try to get out during the day to break up the day and to get Sarah around other kids and people. It would be real easy to just be lazy and stay home. I think I'd go crazy. I did get to work with some former students at Central M.S. in Waukesha the other day. I volunteered to help out the band director since I know she gets swamped this time of year. I hadn't taught for 1 1/2 years so it felt good to dust off the teaching chops. I'd like to keep doing some of those things to keep my resume' updated when I'm ready to go back to work.

Better go. I think Jason needs the computer. Bye for now.