Happy 'friggin' New Year!

Okay, so yesterday I was out of commission. I was hit with the stomach flu that infiltrated my whole extended family and Miss Bets, last week. I don't know what the incubation period is of these types of viruses, but I just assumed, after a week, that I was safe. Fat chance. I totally missed the welcoming of the new year. Which is okay, because I am sorta sad to see 2008 go. With the exception of losing two of my grandparents. It was a pretty blessed year.

Here's why:

*everyone remained relatively healthy, nothing serious anyway
*Rosie learned to walk in February, Betsy in August
*Jake and I learned to manage 4 completely mobile children, all less than six years apart
*Jake has a good job with benefits, one that, so far, has not been effected by the economy
*we've been able to pay all of our bills, get groceries, clothes, health-care, and anything else we might need, without the assistance of the government, parents, or anyone else for that matter
*we bought a Honda van with automatic doors, this may not seem that cool, but with a 50 lb. 4-year-old who needs extra help sometimes, I assure you, it is a Godsend
*Pete learned to read
*Jake gets 100% on his speed addition tests at school, and nearly 100% on the speed subtraction tests, and continues his love of reading, now with chapter books
*the boys have also seemed to forge better relationships with the girls, Jake doesn't even care if Betsy gets her drool on him
*Jake and I celebrated our 8th year of marriage, and we're still not sick of each other
*Betsy got an awesome new talker (a device where she pushes buttons to talk for her), and is getting better at it everyday, Rosie is talking, too (we have hit the 2-3 word phrases stage), I sometimes forget what this is like because Betsy was the last little one we had, but it seems to be a surprise everyday with Ro's communication skills
*Pete uses the 'bleep' word to edit any curse words he may want to say, ex. "what the 'bleep' are you doing, Betsy?', although I am not proud of this, it sure has been entertaining in '08
*seemingly having enough material to sound like the dreaded brag-fest Christmas letter, and having enough common-sense to stop now before I start getting death threats

I can only hope 2009 is equally rewarding. Maybe we will even win the lottery. Who knows what The Man Upstairs has in store for us...

Cheers!