Oi, heads up. The next time your wonderful husband buys a new video card, whatever you do, don't let him delete every single drive and the chips that he thinks is associated with the old one. We have learned this the hard way. Sigh......... I really don't know what he was thinking. So off it went for several days to the service department. On the up side, I do have to admit it's running much better now. They removed a ton of spyware. We thought we were being good by running Adaware and Spybot every night, but apparently whomever makes spyware has been working overtime finding ways to circumvent the programs. However, Carey was told that AVG has also come out with their own spyware programs and so far seems to be the best on the market. So, it has now been installed and we'll see how well it performs against our other programs. I have to admit, our computer has been pretty messed up lately but since I thought I was nabbing all the icky bugs with the programs I was running, I was pretty mystified about what was happening. So, I guess, while I don't reccomend it, messing up the installation of the new vid card was serendipitous and was well worth the $30 we had to shell out to fix it.

I also have to admit that it was good too because the computer was gone for three days. Hence, I had no excuse to park myself in front of it and actually got quite a bit done, over and above what was done on Saturday. The kids room is now quite neat, although I admit there are still some toys missing (that were not supposed to go byebye) that I'm just not sure where they'll turn up, if ever. :( I got a lot of clothes put away, as well as a few boxes of clothing I had set aside for Meradydd as she gets older put into just one large storage bin vs. several small boxes taking up a lot of room. I also filled up another box of stuff to go away. I'm truly amazed at how much stuff has gone out of this home, and we still have so much. Except toys. There aren't that many left, which is very nice. Speaking of which, just a big heads up for the family. Please, no more toys that require batteries if you decide to send something to the kidlets.

The kids are still getting used to the new DVD cabinet. Mommy and Daddy were mean when we chose to buy one that locks. :D As well, I also jammed a piece of wood that wound up being the perfect size at the end of the entertainment center so my lovely children can no longer pull movies out through the back. So, no more putting movies in after I have told them no. Hahahahaha. Or, Deedee's favorite past time: pulling several movies out, dumping them out and either dancing on top of them or, if they're just in the paper sleeves vs. the clam shells, pull the sleeves onto her arms and legs.

Kitty has been enjoying her new johnny jump up. She's just figuring out how to bounce but she was really bopping away to White Stripes earlier this evening (you can thank her wonderful father for that one). I am so thankful to my friend Marisa for giving it to me. Kitty has also discovered the little toy piano that the kids received for Christmas. She'll scooch (her newest big skill) right up to it, just as close as she can get, reach up and bang on the keys. We have also had success by propping her up in front of it with our boppy's. She is doing totally awesome with her scooching and she is very mobile now. It doesn't take her long to get anywhere when she sets her mind on something. I have also seen her getting her little knee's under her and poking the butt in the air, so hopefully crawling is not long off. She also doesn't have any teeth yet.

Deedee has just been talking up a storm lately, and she's definitely taken off since her birthday. She's no longer a baby, that's for sure. It's interesting just how quickly those transitions actually take place.

James has been very helpful lately. He was really great helping out in his room. He was the one that went under the beds and pushed everything out. He helped sort a lot of stuff and as a cool reward, he received his newest pair of cowboy boots. I discovered that his old ones were just way too small but he was jamming his feet into them anyway so I had to hide them to keep him from wearing them. He helped me pick out a new pair to order, and they had actually arrived the day before although I hadn't given them to him yet. I wanted to leave them by the door as a nice surprise so it worked out well.