Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Let's get an early start....


Can you believe we're on the cusp of a new year already? YIKERS! Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 2009.... where does the time go???

Anywho - I've been thinking about my resolutions for this new year and have decided to try something new. Being that I'm NEVER able to follow through on my resolutions (let's be honest here peep's... does ANYONE follow through???) I'm going to pretend that it's already Dec. 31, 2010.... weird, I know.

Here is my list of things that I will be able to say I accomplished at the end of 2010...

1. I have lost 20 pounds
2. I have quit soda altogether
3. We FINALLY finished painting the interior of our home... (this has been an ongoing project for over 4 years.... you can stop laughing now...)
4. I tried seafood (I have a weird seafood phobia.... just typing that out has me almost "enjoying" a panic attack... it's rather bizarre...)
5. I no longer spend just because I can... I have been able to put more into savings rather than into junk we don't need.

I figure that over the next 365 days (actually 367 if I include tomorrow and Thursday...) I can totally accomplish all 5 of these things... they can't be "that" hard, right?




Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sad news....

Last night we received the news that Jake's preschool teacher passed away quite unexpectedly in the morning. Please pray for her family - her husband and two daughters (one is in 6th grade, the other in 8th). This is going to be an incredibly tough time of year for them both now and probably for a LONG time after.

She was a great teacher - just this past Thursday she put together a little Christmas pageant type of thing for the preschool class to do (not easy when they're all in the 3 year old range). It was such a joy to watch. We then enjoyed cookies and milk with her in the kids classrooms. I'm thankful that we had that time as families with her.... if only we knew then that it would be our last time to fellowship with her until we all get to heaven.

Thank you Mrs. Lueckel for being a wonderful teacher and example for our little Jake...

Our first snowman.... for this year at least....


Gotta love winter in OH.... building one snowman takes ALL the snow in the yard. :) Kind of sad looking... isn't he? We'll have to perfect our craft in the coming months....

Look who turned 4!!!!



Over the weekend the "chud" turned 4 - MY SWEET BABY! I can't believe that he's already 4... seems like just yesterday we were cuddling and rocking him. CRAZY!

We celebrated with family on Saturday - braving the local Chuck E Cheese. This has become a sort of tradition for our family... not sure if we're 100% on board with it... but the kids insist. THANKFULLY we beat the crowd and had the place almost to ourselves for the first hour.

On Sunday we were planning to see the Wildlights at the zoo with Grandpa and Grandma from MI. But.... I got sick. YUCK! Actually... the kids have been dealing with the cough gunk for several days - so our plans changed. We ordered pizza and played games. Perfect. Not too exciting... but heck... he's only 4. I know that in a few more years it isn't going to be this easy to get away with not really doing much of anything.


I wasn't going to include a picture of his "party" cake... but had to. The Chud LOVES Blue's Clue's. We watch it far too often - sometimes I think both Joe and Steve are my bff's. :) Our cake decorator lady at the local grocery store is WONDERFUL. She did a Scooby Doo a few months ago and now this.... *sigh*.... I wish I had an ounce of artistic talent.

All in all - good times. Now he's 4 and darn proud to tell anyone who asks (even those that don't....). Until next year....

Monday, December 7, 2009

I got my box!!!!


I decided to join up with the great "CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT SWAP" put together by Joanna for all of us to enjoy. I mailed my box out to Nicole in sunny (or maybe not so sunny today) CA in mid-November. As soon as it was off... I promptly forgot about it.

So on Saturday when our lovely postal person came to the door carrying a box... I had quite the surprise!

What fun treats!!! :) I unofficially collect snowmen so I LOVED these!! 4 sparkly ornaments, a bright red snowman ornament, and hot chocolate (one of my favs) in a snowman mug! PERFECT!!!!

Isn't it the little things in life...? :)

SO thank you Joanna for putting this together... and thank you Nicole of all the special treats (I hope you liked yours... including the candy cane shot glass)!

the WRONG kind of cardio workout....


Saturday, the kids had the "great" idea of heading to the zoo for the WILDLIGHTS show. For the whole month of December, our local zoo decks the place out with literally MILLIONS of Christmas lights. It's really quite awesome... wish I could do it in my yard :).

Of course... the place is CRAZY busy. Getting dark.... getting busier.

Half the group (we met up with my sister-in-law and her family) went to see the bats, while 4 of us waited outside. Ian and his cousin decided to dink around in some bushes... having fun, being silly... until... Ian disappeared. Literally... disappeared.

Hello PANIC!

My nephew looks at me and says "he went that way" and points a general direction.

MORE PANIC!

Is he hiding in the bushes, is he trying to play on the now closed play park, did he decide to join the other's with the bats? no.....

MORE PANIC!!!!!!

He is literally NO WHERE TO BE SEEN! Trying to keep a calm head, I go one direction and my sister-in-law the other... making a giant loop around the play area (yes... which is still closed). He's no where to be found. FINALLY the rest of the group comes out (seemed like at least an hour... was more like 10 minutes) and starts to help.

So after calling security... wiping away daughter's tears ("we're NEVER going to see Ian again!!!"), TRYING to keep a level head... Aunt Mindy found him. He was curled up in the fetal position under a table. FREAKED OUT. Apparently he didn't see us so decided to go and look for us (not that we had moved... even an inch... we were by a warming drum with a fire burning in it...) then realized he was lost. THANKFULLY he new to stay put... sort of.

I'm glad he was okay... but holy smackers... my poor heart. Thought I was going to have a heart attack. He of course is fine now.... (see picture below... he recovered) but I'm still a bit freaked out about the whole thing. I looked away for .2 seconds... and he was gone. I'm thanking the LORD today that some crazy person didn't swipe him... oh mylanta... just thinking about it practically gives me a panic attack.

Anywho - hug your little one's today!! :)



Friday, December 4, 2009

Jolly eh??......


Let me preface this post with sharing with everyone that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

I love that it's a time to celebrate Christ's birth with friends and family...
I love that I can bake and bake and bake and no one really complains...
I love that I can spend hours thinking of the perfect gift...
I love driving around experiencing all the lights that others want to share...
I love reminding my kids that it's nice to do things for other people...

yeah... I could go on... but I won't... because...

the stress of "being" Santa is FINALLY getting to me. Seriously... he's SO highly over-rated. I keep hoping that the kids will finally "get it" that there is no REAL Santa... sad, sad day.

Here's my issue - this year, we'll be buying stuff for the kids just to buy. There isn't any one fabulous thing that each of them have asked for (except for the American Girl doll... for the daughter who NEVER plays with dolls... seems rather pointless). Another stuffed doggie, a digital Littlest Pet Shop... more junk.

We celebrated Christmas with my family over Thanksgiving... (yes it was kind of CRAZY!) and already the kids are "bored" with their toys (sorry mom and dad if you're reading this... just being honest). How can they go from THRILLED to BLAH in a matter of less than a week?

Our small group adopted a family in our church to buy some gifts for... I've had so much fun with this! I think giving to others is sincerely under-rated... it's a great thing! :) BUT - is it sad that I feel giving to my own is over-rated.

Maybe I need to eat some of those Christmas cheer cookies....