Hard workers

Happy Birthday Jared Banks! It is our friend Jared's 5th birthday today. We are all going to the Build-a-Bear Factory to celebrate. The girls have been working hard all week to earn something to buy. I have been very impressed with their working ablities. They unload the dishwasher, sweep the floors, make their beds and set the table. I have just given them a few jobs every month. Next month I think I'll try for cleaning the bathroom. I think the key to my chore list success is to keep it simple. I'll keep adding jobs as they get older and pretty soon I can just sit and direct:) I don't see that happening any time soon.

Think Spring!

It snowed 2 inches today. So much for Spring. The girls are terribly confused. "I thought you said it was Spring Mommy?" was heard in the house several times today. My father had the nerve to call from Florida and complain that it was raining.

Gertrude is nice too.

My 4 year old daughter told me yesterday that Mabel is a very pretty name. My poor grandchildren.

Organization is the key!

Our family spent this last weekend organizing the girl's rooms. We removed the lower slats on the bunk beds and moved the double bed underneath the new "loft" bunk. The girls think it is great. (See the pictures on the homepage.) Then the real challange came. We had to move all the toys into Emma's old room and they were all over. The girls never want to clean up because it's too hard. They usually end up shoving stuff here and there. Not anymore! They now have labeled drawers for everything! They even have a drawer with their name on it in case they don't know where to put an item. So far it has worked great. They got a ton of toys out yesterday and cleaned it up themselves without the crying and gnashing of teeth. The main reason we arranged the rooms like this was to get a schoolroom. We now have a place to work and hang things up. Maybe this will inspire us to do school even more!

G5

We have a new computer! The second after we finished filing our tax returns my husband had to buy a new computer. He says it is for me. He tried to surprise me and have it delivered without my knowing, but I'm just too snoopy. So we now have a huge 20 inch monitor sitting on our desk. And I'm afraid I absolutely love it! It is 10 times faster than our old Imac. I can have more than one program open at a time and I can burn CD's and DVD's.

He has finally succeeded. I am a computer geek!

Let it snow!

The weather outside is frightful! The girls and I ventured out this morning into 6 to 8 inches of snow that fell last night. They were so surprised when they woke up and saw a winter wonderland. So was Daddy since he fell sleep before the news and didn't hear the forecast. Hence the garage is empty because the van did not have any snow on it and the little sports car did. It took longer to find all the hats, mittens, snowpants and boots and put them on than we even stayed outside. Each girl has a different cold index. One lasted 3 minutes, one 10 minutes and one I had to make come inside. I attempted shoveling but that novelty wore off real quick. At least the walkway is clear until that north wind kicks in. Maybe my neighbor will feel sorry for me and bring over the snowblower that he was using at 8 this morning. I like the snow and since I have no place to go...

Rainy days and Monday

I really don't like grocery shopping. Especially when it is raining outside and you have three kids with you that walk really, really slow in the parking lot. I really don't like it when you buy something at Meijer and they charge you the wrong amount. And you point it out to the clerk and she looks at you as if you're crazy. She has to call the produce department to check and they get the price wrong too and you're forced to look like an idiot to save 50 cents. Is it really worth it?

I really like that I have a grocery store nearby and kids that can help me carry in those groceries and a husband that likes to eat those groceries. I like that it is warm in my house and I don't have to worry about the rain leaking through my roof. I like that I have a great God that takes care of me even when I focus on the petty details in life instead of the grander picture.

Why blog?

What is a blog and why are we doing this? These are questions I asked myself when Larry suggested that we create a blog. First off... blog is short for a web log. We are using this to keep in touch with relatives that are far away and partly for our own entertainment. The girls get a kick out of reading their words on the internet and it is good practice for their writing skillls. Larry loves anything techno-geeky and I think it would be cool to keep a journal of sorts this way.

It is amazing to think of how fast our world is changing. Ten years ago we had barely heard of email or the internet now it is a daily occurance. I don't know how many times a day I think I bet I can find that on the internet. So this blog will be our new creative outlet. We'll see if it will be the "Daily Castle" or "the Every So Often Castle."

Audioblogger . . . Simply Amaaaaazing!

Tonight we discovered a feature that allows us to call a special phone number and record a message that then gets magically posted to our blog. We can now officially post to the blog from anywhere as long as we have access to either someone's email or someone's phone. What will they think of next? Hey, do you think I could get this thing to mow the lawn?

Ta Da!

Wow! And just like that, I'm a blogger. Stay tuned for the latest in the Castle Family's adventures in living . . .