Mom, Dave broke it!

No seriously! He did.... he was going to clean my computer because it had been sounding sick... and then it wouldn't turn back on. Turns out he cleaned it a little TOO well. So our house has been a dance of musical chair... in front of the computer. So I have been grabbing the computer in moments when it wasn't being used. Now however Dave has a new computer and so I get his old one. So we are back up and running.
I had a wonderful birthday. My Dave has always been really good about getting just the right gift... and this year was no different. He got me a REALLY nice camera! If let to me I would have used my point and shoot for a million more years, complaining every now about shutter speed and thinking that some day it would be nice to get a new camera. I now have a 14.1 megapixel, 26x optical zoom digital camera. It also takes 1280 x 720 HD video complete with audio. It is NICE! We are still playing around with it... but it is NICE!
Lets see... Since last we spoke I had surgery... Nothing big... just a lady thing. A couple of masses in my uterus that needed looking at and they are nothing to worry about. Aidan's birthday came and passed. He would be four now. Amazing how time flies. No one but me seems to remember anymore... but I still say happy birthday to my angels... because they are still my angels. We got a furnace. Ours broke a few years back and we have been using well placed quartz heaters. ( like the Eden pure) to heat our house. Good thing the house is so small! :) As you might be able to tell we got Dave's retirement check and used it rather than rolled it over. Not the wisest choice by many standards... but we are going to like it when we get the electric bill! :)
I have two kids who are feeling their oats right now. We are now on a 1st shift schedule and at 8 PM it is feeling pretty late for them. Heck Dave and I are often in bed before 10 these days. So I will give you a few pics from my new camera to look at and call it a night.

I took a part-time job answering questions on the internet... from home. It is a nice little gig. I don't make much money BUT I can work when my children are asleep and it adds a little to our pot. I am thinking that if I do it right it might make Christmas a little easier. Keep your fingers crossed... because when I say that I don't make much..... I REALLY mean it. I make between .10 and .20 cents per question that I answer... and I take between 2-10 minutes to answer each question. Doesn't add up to much. Not to mention I have had to abort a question or two because a kid was in need and they can't wait until mommy has time for them. But again that is why this is the perfect situation for me. I have made 6.00 in the last week. ( I know I know) but if you add up 6.00 a week for a couple of months that can make Christmas a little merrier. Especially since Dave's new job gives them two weeks off at Christmas because of lack of work and that is not paid. We are grateful to have that information NOW so that we can plan for it. That will make the crunch a little less painful... and we have gone a two week period with out a check before... just takes a little finagling is all.
We got a chance to go outside today to play. It was so windy that we were afraid that trees would come down and the girls were a little unsettled a few times.... but that means that the mosquitoes weren't out either. Ash has had a few TERRIBLE reactions to them. Last week she got a bite on the soft tissue under her eye and it was swollen for 5 days looked like she was punched in the eye. I have pictures of playing today and you can STILL see the bruise under her eye. All because we can't get bug spray in her doggone eye socket. Taryn has a different reaction to the bug bites.... but no less annoying. She gets ENORMOUS welts that pop up with little blisters all over them. They last for weeks and then she actually has a few scars from MOSQUITO BITES. It is INSANE. So my ladies have been cooped up so that they don't get bit for a couple of weeks. They were glad to get outside. I was glad to get them outside. They needed it.
I will post a few photos for you to enjoy. I have a few really wonderful ones from today.... but then I think that every photo that has one of my children in it is wonderful.