Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe New Year!  We stayed home like we do every year.  It's easier that way.  We don't have to find a baby sitter, we don't have to be around crowds, we don't have to worry about drunken idiots on the roads AND we can go to bed early if we want.  Plus the kids have been (are) sick with a stomach bug.  It first went through Houdini, then 1.5 days later Sis got hit with it and I thought we were finally safe, but no.  48 hrs after Sis got sick, L is now sick so he won't be going to school tomorrow.  FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

This year I've decided to do the "one little word".  My word is SIMPLE.  I need more simplicity in my life.  Less is more.  So we're deep cleaning EVERYTHING.  Going through and getting rid of clutter so that we can have a more healthy mental, emotional and physical life.  I've also been pinning like a mad woman on Pinterest.  Our plan for Christmas 2012 is to be at least 75% handmade items for the kids.  They really enjoyed the handmade items they got in 2011.

Ryan and I also decided to start fostering again.  A year ago we had been fostering for a "dog rescue" here, but due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to stop and things just went bad from there.  Tonight, we went and picked up the sweetest boy - Andre - a rottweiler mix.  He's fit right in.  The girls have shown him who is boss and that was that ;).

I should have done a menu for this week, but with the kids being sick and a headache that won't quit we're kind of doing the "fly by the seat of our pants" menu.  Tonight I made crockpot potato soup and tomorrow night we'll have leftovers (soup and salad).  Wednesday night we'll have frozen pizza because we've got an all day appointment and Thursday I'll make Homemakers Holiday Casserole (will post recipe soon).

I'm gearing up to decorate for Valentine's Day.  We try not to go over the top but it is a bit special to Ryan and I.  See, that's the first holiday that we shared together (even though we were 5 hrs apart).  So this year I've decided that I'm going to have a Valentine's Day Tree!  I hope to get it up and decorated this weekend.

Have a great week!