I've realized how blessed my family is. We have to drive far to see our parents and grandparents. We do this every Sunday. We go to church an hour away, then to our parents, (they live ten minutes from our church). It's made me appreciate that we still live close to them. We have my brother and sister-in-law that live 2 minutes away from us. I don't know what I would do without them.

We've been watching my brothers dog all week. I love him. I wish we could have a dog of our own. He's so good with all of my boys. Even when Matthew grabs his ears, and smacks his snout. He just takes it like a champ.

I've been cleaning the house for our Ugly Christmas Sweater party tomorrow. There won't be very many people here. Maybe it's better that way. I tend to get stressed out when there's a lot of people here. I love it, and it's fun. I also get exhausted though. I'm having the Holtzey Christmas bash next Sat. 30 people give or take are going to be here. I offered to have it though. I like giving parties. That's why I'm cleaning now. I think I like giving parties because my mom would make me and my older sister plan all of our own parties. She would pay for everything. Actually my dad would. My sister and I still have parties and we love it. I just wish she lived in my state so we could do it together.

We're doing the Virtual Flat Stanley, instead of the snail mail one. It should be cool. Go here if you want to try it with me.

Right when we were getting out of the car, Joshua and Caleb spotted two dogs coming toward them. We were at a park by our house. Immediately, they pet the big German Sheppard and golden retriever. Joshua started asking the owners if they have ever seen Aztec dancers. They said no. Joshua tells them all about it. They asked him if he's learning this in "School". He said, 'No, I just go on the internet, or go to the library and read about it.' As much as I hear about Aztec dancers all day long, at that moment, I was so proud of Joshua. The lady said, 'You are so smart! That's so incredible how much you've learned all on your own, and you remember it all.' I was busy putting all of our stuff into the stroller. I heard everything she said though. Usually I try to stop Joshua from talking about those little things that he can't stop thinking about. But this time, I didn't, and I'm so glad. There are times when I do have to intervene. Like at church, or at the Grocery store, or at the Mexican restaurant we sometimes go to by our house. Actually I take that back, the waiters at the mexican restaurant are very surprised that a young boy knows so much about their culture. They are often intrigued. They stand there and ask Joshua questions, and he is so happy to answer. You can see the twinkle of excitement in Joshua's eyes when he realizes they aren't just humoring him with their nods, and their 'uh-huh's', and 'that's interesting'. They actually know what he's talking about, and they love to talk about it just as much as Joshua does. I love it when I see that look in Joshua's eyes. It means he's connecting with another person. I understand the people that can't connect with Joshua. Sometimes I can't connect with him and I'm his mom. He does wear me down when all he wants to do is breath-eat-sleep, aztec. That's pretty much every day, all day. But when I see things like what happened today, I feel encouraged. I feel like I had nothing to do with that knowledge that he has in his head. That's all Joshua. I can't take credit for that. God has made Joshua like he is for a reason. I'm so glad that Joshua is my son, and that God has blessed me with him. He is a true blessing and a gift. I love you, my little Joshy.

2006- Geico commercial - Caveman at the airport

We're enjoying the summer in Lake Elsinore. It's very hot over here, and thank God for the air conditioning! Oh, I forgot to mention that we moved here in April. It's a bigger house, with a big back yard. Yay! We totaly were bursting at the seams in our other two bedroom townhouse. We also got a Mini Van. That's another area where we were bursting at the seams, our little car. Three boys, one of whom is as big and tall as his momma almost, and he's only 10. The other two are still in a booster and toddler seat.
I threw my sister-in-law Kristin a birthday party while my sister Kandy was here in May. That was awesome to see my sister. She stayed the whole week with me at my house. I was so excited to have her here. Her and my bro-in-law are coming here again the end of Aug. Yay! I can't wait!
We went to San Diego for one night with Bryan and Kristin. That was so much fun. I really want to go back there.
My Brother Philip and sister-in-law Sarah are expecting their first baby boy in Nov. 2007. We're really excited for them.
We go to our friends pool once a week, and the boys have been loving that. We've been to the beach once, so far. We're enjoying living close to my brother Bryan and sister-in-law Kristin. We've been on the lake with Bryan and Kristin and her parents on their boat. That was a blast! We do miss the grandparents and the babysitting they offered. They still babysit, but not as often. They've come over here and watched them a couple of times.
We've joined a new homeschool group, and we'll be going to the CHN Homeschool convention in Aug. for a weekend with the kids. That should be fun for everyone. Especially since it's at a hotel with a pool. They'll have lots to do for the kids at the convention as well as classes for the adults.
Bob's job is in Murrieta now, which is a little bit closer to our house, and there's no traffic. He still gets home at 8:30pm, sometimes 9pm. But that's the life of a Loan officer. I'm just grateful he has a job, and he's good at it. So this is the most recent events for me and my family.

Kar's Goal's for 2007
So, it's been 5 months since she last wrote anything, we know. But Homeschooling two boys, nursing the other one, and trying to be a good wife to her husband, kinda gets in the way of some Kar time. That's the old Kar. The new Kar is going to make time for herself, and her family. She's going to blog, check her E-mail, look at her myspace, cook healthy meals, exercise with her family, and do anything else that she hasn't done in the past 5 months that she's been dying to do. Oh yeah, visit her sister in Ohio is big on her to do list.
Other things she wants to do this year:
*Become a better Christian: memorize more scriptures, pray in front of people, etc.
*Go on a date with her husband once a week.
*Lose 50+ pounds and keep it off!
*Have special alone time with each of her children once a week.
*Be confident in her decisions in every aspect of her life. No more: wishy washy, push over, door mat, doubting, those behaviors are no longer part of her life.
*Get out of debt, and stay that way!
*Save for the future, and for the boys college fund.
*Put clothes away where they belong, and keep the house organized and clean.
*Catch up on all of her scrapbooking.
*Buy new furniture for her bedroom, boys room, kitchen, living room, and dining room.
*Go to New York for Christmas and New Year's Eve with all the fam
*Have a picnic lunch, and drink some wine in a hot air balloon with her husband on their 11th Anniversary, then go to see a play.
*Buy her dream home: Two story Victorian, (that does not need any work), 5 bed, 3 bath, two car garage, big back yard, Big porch to sit on with her husband, with a big glass of lemonade, or iced tea, white picket fence, close to family, friends and church.
*Get a sweet little German shepherd puppy (or golden retriever)
*Buy two brand new car's: one that's big enough for the fam and some friends, and the other one is a brand new, dark blue, corvette.
*Go to cooking school
*Start their own bed and breakfast
*See Wilco, Flaming lips, Billy Joel, and Keane in concert, Maybe not all at once.
*Take Piano Lessons, again.
*Buy a Baby Grand Piano. (Or just fix up her Grandma Bette's)
*Take Ballet, again.
*Go to Hawaii
*And last but not least, to be able to afford all of this and more.
You see, Kar is not greedy, or selfish, for wanting these things. She's just putting it in writing. She's no longer going to feel guilty for making these kinds of goals either. It's going to be a wonderful new year for everyone.