What can I say? I like my sleep.

We usually like to stay in, put the kids to bed a little later than usual and see just how late we can really stay up. I’ll be honest: it’s rarely midnight. As much as I like my sleep, FireDad likes his even more. A few times we’ve talked about braving the elements and going to New York City (without kids) or even visiting Pittsburgh (like I did #10yearsago) or Columbus for their festivities. Then we remember that we’re old souls.

But this year we’re getting all wild and crazy.

We’re packing up the kids, two bottles of wine, a pot of meatballs, Mario Kart, an extra Wii remote and the camera(s) and heading… over to our friend’s house for games, food, drinks and apparently a Mario Kart race off. That’s how we roll. The sad thing is that this is the biggest plan we have ever had for New Year’s Eve in the history of our marriage. We’re awesome.

The truth is that our plans, while not all that wild and crazy, sound like a blast to me. Our kids get to have fun with other kids. We get to attempt adult conversation over the roar of five children racing, playing, laughing, talking and likely arguing over something. Did I mention the wine? I did? Just thought I would mention it again so that I can say FireDad is the designated driver tonight. Safety is so important. Remember that yourselves tonight, okay? Good job.

I don’t think I would be doing anything overly outrageous tonight even if my children were merely figments of my imagination. I prefer low key to lots of people and noise (except on Saint Patrick’s Day in Pittsburgh). Some of that may be my social anxiety. Some of that may be the fact that I prefer yoga pants to anything remotely hip. Some of that may be the fact that I don’t like today’s music. And, really, I think some of it is because I like to take time to reflect a bit on the year we’re closing the door on and that’s rather hard to do when you’re yelling at your friends just so they can hear you. I mean, I’m loud but I don’t like to yell at my friends. Often.

Volume aside, or perhaps in spite of, I’m excited for this evening. Good friends, good food and what will hopefully be a good time. Sounds like a great way to end a very good year, doesn’t it?

Happy New Year!

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Also, as a quick aside, I went with this for my January 2010 desktop. You can download it here. It makes me happy.

Let’s Get This Party Started is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

So yes, I churned out a post everyday for a month. I’m tired. I have nothing else to say. My brain is mush. That said, I did have a few posts that I enjoyed, like the boys separate birthday posts. Politically, I reminded people that we don’t just vote once every four years (and, good news, my husband gets to keep his job). We got the dreaded swine flu and lived to tell about it… apparently. Photography wise, I enjoyed some great Wordless Wednesday captures, flu ones included, and participated in all but one You Capture challenge this month (1, 2, 3). (You Capture is hosted by Beth of I Should Be Folding Laundry.)

The biggest challenge for me during this year’s NaBloPoMo was blogging on the weekend. I started a series I called Weekend Outtakes which was basically a picture (or two) and a brief description of our day. Much easier than the deep, thoughtful, introspective stuff I normally churn out. Right? Ahem. Amusingly, I only almost forgot to blog once. I had just snuggled down under the covers at my fairly early self-imposed bedtime when I sat up and said, “I forgot to blog!” I got it up there well before midnight as I’m a big loser awesome and go to bed early. Win.

So, yes, I’m a winner this year. The little graphic on my sidebar says so. And the one on this post. I’m thorough.

As for December, I’ve created my December desktop. I went with this desktop from Eva Kipler Designs this month for three reasons: 1) Christmas-y without annoying me or being pink and annoying me, 2) room for two pictures, 3) the one picture space fit our dorky family picture I took last month. Win, win, win. I needed room for two pictures because while I knew I wanted our dorky family picture, I also needed a photo of myself and that gorgeous husband of mine as our anniversary is also in December. Everybody now, “Awww.” See?

December should be a busy month. (See also: OMG! I’m alone for 10 days!) While I have no intention of blogging everyday, I do have a lot to say so it’s all very well and good. We’ve got normal holiday requirements (parties, get togethers, concerts to attend) along with Munchkin’s birthday, my parents’ anniversary, our anniversary, lots of writing, lots of work and a bunch of other stuff. Today I’m going to put on my Insanity Cap and take the boys to get their pictures taken with Santa.

Furthermore, I hope to keep in the true spirit of this season. Yes, it’s busy. Yes, I’m stressed out and mostly alone with the kids for a large chunk of the month. But it’s my favorite time of year. Why? Because of things like what Burgh Baby has done. She gives me hope. I’m cried when I read that post. I have to believe that people are generally as good-hearted as my friend. Similarly, I do believe that FireDad and I are going to “Elf Someone” when he is home this weekend. What about you? What are you doing this month?

NaBloPoMo Recap + December Desktop + Whoa? December?! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I’ve taken the pink off the site as it is no longer Breast Cancer Awareness Month. November is Adoption Awareness Month which I’m sure I’ll write about elsewhere. Our header features Thanksgiving celebration images. It’s also National Novel Writing Month (of which I will not be participating in this year, thankyouverymuch). Thankfully, it’s also NaBloPoMo which I may or may not succeed in finishing. I did find two desktop backgrounds that I liked this month but, sadly, they each only offered room for one picture. Despite having some great solo-pics of the boys this month, minus their costume pictures, I don’t have a great one of them both. So while my desktop is pretty the photo itself is rather boring. Oh well!

Here’s the one I chose. (And this is another great option which includes an iPhone background that I think I’ll use.)

Considering our busy schedule and the fact that I start my new job tomorrow, I’m sure November will be a very hectic month. Here’s hoping that we remember to stay thankful day in and day out. (Even if we do seem to have some respiratory malady up in here. Ugh.)

November is Here! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I chose this desktop from Design by Dani. It’s bright and colorful but still Halloween-esque. It fits exactly what I was looking for this month. The only problem is that I don’t know which picture I should use. Take a look.

Do I go with the boys in their fall initial pumpkin shirts? (From this Etsy store at a great price.)

Or do I go with the boys in their Aeromax firefighter costumes (review next week) in a cute picture taken after the fire?

Dilemma indeed. I currently have the one with the fall shirts sitting on the desktop but I just want to keep switching back and forth between the two. I love my two little firefighters as well! Such a hard decision. Let me know which one you think I should use for the month in the comments!

I saw a few other nice October digital scrapbooking desktop wallpapers out there in my search. This one at Digital Scrap Cafe was light and lovely. And this one by Traci Reed’s Team Blog, while without a calendar, was definitely adorable. (Plus I have a love of ones that allow for three pictures so I can have one of each child and either a nature shot or one of them together.)

I leave you with this lovely October quote.

“Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.” – Carol Bishop Hipps

So true. Enjoy your beautiful October.

October Desktop Dilemma is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

But it’s September! I love September!

I decided I didn’t want an overly “fall” desktop (though this one is gorgeous). (Though, as an aside, I’ll be decorating for fall probably this weekend. Not Halloween. Just fall. More on that later.) And I didn’t want a school one either (though this one is adorable). And, remember, I like to customize with pictures, so this beautiful verse and these ones made to remember 9/11 weren’t what I was looking for either. Finally I happened upon this gem by Connie Prince. I think it turned out well.

Picture brought to you by BigBrother’s preschool orientation last week and a LittleBrother who had to get his picture taken, too. Love it. Love them!

Here’s hoping that your September is bright and beautiful. Here’s a quote to inspire you on toward that end:

“And the days dwindle down to a precious few, September, November – And these few precious days I’d spend with you, These golden days I’d spend with you.” – Maxwell Anderson

Enjoy.

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[Tune in later today for a very important safety tip. It could save your family in the event of a fire.]

September Desktop is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

And I found it! At Amanda Heimann Designs. Here’s my final result.

The desktop itself is made from two themes, I Sea and Slice of Summer, which you can also purchase in Scrap Orchard.

All that said, I know that August doesn’t mean fun in the sun and vacations for everyone. In fact, by the end of the month, we’ll have switched gears to get BigBrother ready for his second year of preschool. If that’s going on in your home this month (or even next), you might want to know about the current Blog Train. The theme this month is Back-to-School and it features a large number of freebies made by some very talented digital scrapbookers (like this one from Designs by Laura. I’m busy downloading some this morning so I can properly scrap up BigBrother’s second first day of school.

Have a great August! (Thirteen days!)

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[As always, if you know of a good fire truck/engine/fighter scrapbooking theme, please drop me a comment with a link!]

August 2009 Customizable Desktop is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

The customizable desktop she is offering this month is patriotic in theme. And here’s what is smiling back at me right now.

It comes without the picture of my smiling children, obviously. That said, it does come with a blank spot for you to enter your own picture. You will need photo editing software of some sort. Being the (pseudo-)photographer that I am, I have Photoshop CS4. Then you can sort through lots of girly-based digital scrapbooking sites and become annoyed at the lack of available stuff for moms of boys and/or moms who prefer green to pink. But, you know, who is complaining? (Apparently I am.) (That said, there are great digital scrapbooking sets with boy themes, though very few that are with fire trucks that aren’t… ugly. More on that next week.)

Happy July! And thanks to Designs by Laura for offering me something without frills!

My July 2009 Desktop is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.