1/3/11 Happy 2011!

I'm taking a breather here...things have been crazier than normal...or is there a 'normal' here anymore LOL?

• DH took the whole week off last week and it was a busy one. We spent time with the kids after Christmas...love my new Wii 'Pictionary' game Santa brought me...drawing on a smart board levels the playing field for DH who can't draw a straight line to save himself, as I can't draw looking at the TV screen (and of course the kids are using 'colors', 'fill' and all kinds of techie things they're used to).
• As I told you, some of my extended family decided to surprise us with a post-Christmas visit for a few days (not a complete surprise as they told us on Christmas). My parents, middle sis and her youngest son came and we had a wonderful visit...it was great to have family here and to celebrate the holidays!
• After they left, we started getting Christmas (decorations) down and it's almost all packed away, except for one small pile that I need to finish this morning (it's always so depressing to take it down, isn't it?). We had to get things down quickly as the kittens were given the 'all clear' (from the fleas) by the Vet (doing much better, gaining weight and got their first shots) and the boys are anxious to let them roam out of their quarantine area in the kitchen/laundry. We found that they love to snuggle in the laps of the boys while they're playing video games (very handy)...they also love eggnog (no, not the spiked kind).
• We spent a fun New Year's Eve at a neighbor's party...this year went so fast!
• DS1 decided to go back to school this Friday instead of Sunday so he can beat the crowd coming back to the Frat house and get his room moved first (they switch rooms every semester). Apparently the first ones back get to start the chain and move out the former resident's stuff (aka; dump their stuff in a pile somewhere near their new room) and he didn't want his stuff to get moved by someone else. He's in a single this semester and he's really looking forward to getting out the 'party room' so he can actually get some sleep and some quiet as he was practically living at the library last semester. I'm working this week on getting his stuff ready to go back and new food/toiletries re-bought...Oh, and he just announced that his new room is about the size of a closet, has a loft bed, and has no heat in it (remind me, what are we paying for?)...he now needs a space heater (not sure if that will work out with a kitten in the room)...needless to say, I'm loving this Frat house more each day.
• DS1 had my extended family in stitches recounting the Frat house tales...like the day two of his (drunken) 'brothers' decided to place a 'time capsule' under the floor in his 'party room' and he walked in unaware and fell through the still gaping hole in the floor and ended up with one leg through the ceiling of the room below...and I also found out that the room below had an infestation of bed bugs that the 'brothers' took care of themselves with some plastic tenting and some bed bug bombs they set off (I'm thinking this would have been good information to get BEFORE we brought his stuff home for the break...yes, I'm totally creeped out and I'll be checking his bedroom, and all of ours, thoroughly when he goes back)...or the tale of the 'squirrel' they call Chippy (they've never seen it...and I'm not convinced it's not a rat or a bat) that lives in the ceiling above the room he's moving to...and the story of the bat that they chased around with a broom in his current room. I'm going to have to delouse him, his stuff, and the poor kitten whenever he comes home (and I was worried about the kitten giving him fleas!)...I'll need to buy my own plastic tenting and maybe some nuclear bug bombs to scrub them down.
• Since DS1 isn't going to be here next weekend and we needed his muscles to help, we spent this weekend tearing down DD's room and moving her big items to the new apartment downtown (she's so excited about getting a place). They have the 2nd (bedroom, bath, kitchen, living) and 3rd (attic bedroom and full bathroom) floor apartment of an old townhouse. She pulled straws with her roommate for bedrooms and of course she got the attic one (yay, more stairs for us to climb with her stuff). I did her apartment/furniture layout on my architect software one night to figure out where things fit...her room is big, but lots of knee walls and unusable sloped ceiling space. We took two trips down yesterday with the van and her car and got most of the big stuff moved (including a sleeper sofa, reg. sofa, full bed, lots of tables, etc.)...thank goodness she had a guy friend downtown that helped our DS's, so DH didn't have to kill his back getting those sofa's up all those stairs. I spent a lot of time with her at the stores this week looking for things she needs and we have been sanding/painting her old bedroom two dressers and a bookcase dark brown (was white)...second coat goes on today (picking out a paint color was a whole story, and over an hour at the hardware store, in itself...my girl can't make a quick decision).

So I hope you all had a more restful week and don't worry if you don't hear from me...I'm looking at another whirlwind week; DS2 is back at HS today, Christmas to finish putting away, furniture to paint, DD's stuff to pack (OMG there's so much left to move), DS1's stuff to pack- taking DS1 back to college Friday, and we move the rest of DD's stuff to her apartment next weekend and get her unpacked and settled in all weekend. Oh, and my brother finally found another car to replace DH's, so we've got to get that picked up in Cols. some where in there.

No worries...We'll be down to one kid at home next week and I'll be crying about how quiet things are and how much I miss them and all the activity! Happy New Year all!