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.

Sat., Jan. 12th

We had a great time a week ago with a post-Christmas gathering with Jason's side of the family at Aunt Ellen and Uncle Dick's house. Dick took some great pictures of the cousins, Sarah, Sean, and Gabriel (Jason and Meghan's cousin, Steve's son). It's fun to see the kids start to notice each other more and interact. Jason also had a fun time putting on a puppet show for Gabe who was a captive audience.

Not much else is new our way. Jason is working hard to get all the details lined up for the band trip to California in March. He's arranged some clinics with the members of the Gordon Goodwin Big Band which I'm sure will be amazing. If you've never heard the band before, check them out at http://www.gordongoodwin.com/. The guys in the band are major studio players and are great clinicians. Anyway, it will be exciting for the students. I'm excited to go along and see it all take place.

Kim and I went wedding dress shopping for the first time. We have another stop or two to make this week. It's exciting to be a part of this time in her life. She's under a bit of stress with the wedding, the eventual move to Virginia, and finding a job, etc. She seems to be handling it all very well. All the details for the Jamaica wedding are coming together and will be a blast. How romantic...married by an ocean view. Of course, I'm still in denial about her moving. Any time I really think about it, I want to cry. While I'm sooooo happy for her that she's marrying the man she loves and moving forward, I'm going to miss her terribly. She and Sarah are quite attached to one another, as well. You should see Sarah light up and barely be able to contain herself when Kim walks in the house. Luckily, cell phones and computer webcams will keep the connection going and we'll always look forward to the next visit. Now I'm crying. See...I should just keep repressing it until it's actually here. :)

I had a lovely outing with my girlfriend, Susan, today. We met for lunch at Panera and then went to see a "chick flick", "P.S. I Love You". I enjoyed it, but I'm a sap. I'm always a sucker for a movie like that. It was great to see Susan and get caught up on one another's lives.

Jason and I just watched the movie, "Running With Scissors". Very messed up. I can't believe it was a true story. I didn't even recognize Joseph Feinnes (sp?) as one of the characters.

Well...I think I'll head upstairs and either read one of my many books on raising toddlers (I need all the help I can get) or escape into a Nicholas Sparks book.

Bye for now.

Well, here it is at 11 p.m. on Friday night. I'm having trouble sleeping due to an annoying cough so I came down to the basement to sleep. Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to post a quick entry.

You can see in the picture above that Sarah likes to sit in Sammy's bed once and awhile. Should I be worried? Grandma Whitehead especially likes it when she lays down in it. (Ha!) Then there's poor Sammy. I caught her sleeping on the stuffed animals and had to take the picture. She's definitely realized she's not "numero uno" anymore since Sarah came into our lives. She's pretty tolerant of Sarah. We feel bad that we don't get out on as many walks or play with her as often. I haven't included her in many pictures on the blog so I thought I'd put this picture in. She's so cute...especially when she's sleeping!

Jason had a little scare this morning at 4:15 a.m. He woke up with a cramp in his chest and he was sure his lung had collapsed again. The wheels started turning in our heads on how we'd get to the hospital, arrange care for Sarah, etc. Instead of going to the emergency room right away, Jason got in the shower in case he'd be at the hospital for awhile. He felt better afterwards so he decided to wait until the urgent care clinic opened. After they took an x-ray, they determined he didn't have a collapsed lung or pneumonia. They did see some inflammation on the lung. He's been nursing a cough since Christmas so they put him on an antibiotic. We were very thankful to know it wasn't a collapsed lung since they may have had to do more extensive surgery.

So I've pretty much been up since 4:15 a.m. What am I still doing up?!!! This darn cough. I better try to get to sleep since Sarah's internal alarm is unforgiving.

Nephew at Christmas

Spaghetti Time

Sarah was having fun feeding herself spaghetti last night. We also got a good photo of her reading her book with Sammy in the chair. She does love her books.

Christmas Time

We had an eventful Christmas this year. We (Jason, Sarah, and Kim) went down to Iowa the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with my grandpa. My aunt and uncle were able to join us, as well. The weather was terrible, but we enjoyed the cozy hospitality Mom and Dad always show. We played some dominoes and ate a lot of great food.

Sarah, Jason, and I traveled back on Sunday in pretty bad weather conditions. I think we hit it at the right time since those that traveled before us weren't so lucky. We must've seen 50 cars/semis off the road between Mom and Dad's and the Mississippi River on I-80. Needless to say, we were very thankful to get home. We spent Christmas Eve with Jason's family. Meghan, Bob, and Sean were up and Ann and Ron hosted a lovely dinner. Their house was decorated so nicely and it was a wonderful night with family. It was fun to see Sarah and Sean together. I'm holding Sean in the video. Try and catch his dimples as you watch. He's showing more and more personality and makes us smile.We went to Christmas Eve service where Sarah made me work very hard to keep her entertained. It was much different this year compared to last Christmas where she slept on Aunt Kim's chest during the entire church service. Mom, Dad, and Kim all traveled to Wisconsin together on Christmas day. We had another enjoyable day with family. Sarah was spoiled rotten by both sets of grandparents and her aunts and uncles. This girl has so many toys. You can see her playing with her new kitchen set in one of the pictures above.

Mom and Dad watched Sarah for a couple of days while Jason and I went to the Fox Hills Resort in Mishicot,WI. Jason won a free stay there for the music teacher of the year award awhile back. We both got 1-hour massages and did a lot of relaxing. It was a nice getaway but we were anxious to get home to see Sarah. She had a lot of fun spending time with my folks. It's nice they had the opportunity to spend that one-on-one time with her. Cleo got into town the day we returned from the resort, so we had a nice dinner at the house and did some more family bonding with our brother-in-law to be. Plans are in full-force for the Jamaica wedding.

Since then, we've been to dinner at the Campbell house, trying to get over colds and working to catch up on some projects around the house. Jason had a New Year's gig, so I watched a movie after Sarah went to sleep. A pretty low-key night. Jason doesn't go back to school until Thursday. It's been wonderful having him around more and to watch him play with Sarah. She'll really miss him when he goes back to school.

As we head into 2008 I'm in awe of how lucky we truly are. I think of those folks that are struggling to get by, sick, serving in military away from family, or unhappy people, in general, and feel grateful for all the blessings we have. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, running water, etc., etc. On top of those basic needs, we have our faith, love of family and friends, and joy in our life. Now that's not to say our life is perfect every day...I think anyone would be lying if they didn't admit that. Nonetheless, we have so much and nothing to complain about.

I pray that 2008 brings you good health, compassion for others, love and joy! Don't forget to laugh and find humor in yourself. Life is just too short!

Sarah Walking

While she's had a couple steps followed by a fall to the rear here and there, we finally captured her walking across the living room on video last night. Since then, she's been trying to walk more often. Watch out world, here she comes! You can hear in the video that I was just a little excited. Ha! :)