more from Christmas

whew! I'm tired and the house is a mess. The kids are enjoying their new goodies.

Merry Christmas, of course!

Santa arrived. Santa arrived, for sure. Here is the scene from last night (I was lucky enough to stay up past his arrival to snap this shot).

He was obviously hungry:
Having fun with the self-timer, again!

The kids looked so darn cute for church last night, but were total pills when it came to taking pictures. Ugh.

More pictures to come from the chaos of Christmas Morning. We're getting ready to enjoy a lovely little family meal. We're missing Nanie and Poppy this year and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Nanie.

she's amazing!

Addie never ceases to amaze me. Today she wrapped her teacher's gifts ALL BY HERSELF (of course). She was very patient, didn't get frustrated and she took her time. She tied the ribbon around each package and knotted it (something she recently learned how to do). I told her she needed to make a little card to attach to each bag and I wrote out the words on a separate sheet of paper. This is what she did:Pretty cool, I think!

not sure of the exact total of snow that fell over the weekend, but guess what... it is coming down again!

pictures, a party, a storm and more

Every year for the past eight years or so we've had a holiday party at our home. It is something we look forward to each year. Last night about 30 of our friends gathered at our house to join in celebrating the season. Good food, good wine, great company and EXCELLENT home-brewed beer by Kevin and Joe. The beer was a hit - everyone loved it. I think Kevin is a little sad that it's all gone, now, but there will be more next year. Fun night and today we're all tired!

In the middle of my party -prep, I found a few moment to do a quick session with a repeat client. Mom wanted "just one" good pic of her too-cute-for words girl. It seems a certain 18 month old just doesn't like to sit for pictures and doesn't share her smiles with the camera often. It must have been my lucky day -- just look at this cutie pie - this is my favorite picture of many smiling ones!
We're getting a rather thick blanket of snow. It started last night as our party guests were leaving and is coming down steadily now. I will update as to how much we end up getting, but I think it will be enough!

Ok, it's 3:30. Time to get out of my jammies and ready for another party tonight.

taking a moment

from my busy, busy week to address christmas cards, which is one of my favorite things to do during the holidays. I know other people dread it, but I have always enjoyed it. I love getting cards from people, especially those who I don't see often. I love the updates and the pictures they send of growing children. I especially love the handwritten notes, which are few and far between in this day and age.
I got our cards today and I love them! I hope they bring a smile to the people who will be receiving them, just as their cards brought a smile to my face.

I'll tackle my to-do list later!

Mug Shot

Bail is set for $2.00. Charged with taking off jammies in the morning and pee-peeing in bed. Also charged with throwing food on the floor on purpose. Santa has been informed of naughty behavior.

something green

there is something large and green in our living room. It smells great. It is as tall as the ceiling. It is going to be glowing later today! Its our Christmas tree and it is perfect.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

And, so it did. We're winning the Golden Snowball Award (5 cities in Upstate compete for the most snow a seaon. Here is where we are as of today (first place, BTW). Notice that we're up 20 inches of snow from this time last year. Ugh!

GSB City's	This Season	Normal Average to Date	Normal Seasons Average	Last Season This Date
Syracuse	22.2	13.7	111.9	2.0

The good news is that I visited two cute girls who look WAAAYYY older than they are. Great girls, great family, great dog, Jake!!


Loved playing outside!
Jake says, "I'm cold. Let me in!"
Brrrr... bundle up!

A very princessy party

Addie and her best friend Payton had a dual birthday party today. It was a princess party in every sense of the word! The girls were treated to "manicures" and up-dos, candy necklaces and sparkly tiaras!
The decor was SO darn cute! Decoupage (is that how you spell it?) board games and childhood things... Here is a snap of a HUGE canvas filled with Life and Monopoly and other board game pieces.

December. Snow. The Season.

Can't believe it's December already.
Woke up to a blanket of snow. Kinda exciting. My philosophy on the CNY weather is that if it's going to be gray and cold it might as well snow. It makes things so much prettier! Got my wish today and... stay tuned, we may be getting more! Now, I'm just wishing for snow on Christmas day!
The kids and I had so much fun playing with the self timer on the camera today. I ***may*** have gotten ***THE*** picture for the Christmas card. Here are some shots from our "session." One disclaimer... trying to nail focus and exposure on self-portraits with a timer is rather difficult!!! these are not the best technically sound photos, buy boy are they fun!

Ohhh... serious mama!!!

The kids love playing on our bed.
I'll leave you with this final image! Thank goodness she knows not the error of her ways!
PS... I'm saving a couple of my favorites!!

things

Busy week. And a fast one, too. I'm almost finished with my to-do list that I wrote about on Monday (yea for me!)... but, of course new things have come up and I should start a whole new list. Maybe tomorrow.

I was so proud of myself for going to bed early last night (9:30) -- felt good to sneak in a an extra hour of sleep. My little girly was a snoozer today - it was 8AM before she woke up, and here is what she looked like - fresh from a good night's sleep:
Meanwhile, little brother was up playing with his trucks, oh, excuse me... dumptrucks, digger trucks, scoop trucks, payloaders, Lightnings (from the move Cars), Sallys (from the movie Cars), etc. I am amazed at all of the different types of vehicles are in that kid's head! Oh yes, can't forget firetrucks.
BIG weekend... Princess Party is happening on Sunday. Addie and Payton are having a dual birthday party since they have many of the same friends. Definitely will be charging the camera battery for this!

More later.

To-do lists

I used to carry 4 or 5 different calenders with me and I remember Jenny Wells always razzing me about it when I worked at Eastern State. I had one of those desk calenders that pretty much served as a doodle spot and a place to write down phone numbers, etc (oh, and to mark off holidays and other days off!). I had a wall calender which basically was there for the pictures. I had a work organizer/calender thing that I carried around and used to write down information and other important dates for meetings, etc. This one was important and the one I used most frequently. And, I had a little something that I carried in my purse more or less for personal dates and appointments.
I guess it's not extremely unusual that I used so many different ways to keep track of what was going on in my life. I'm sure many people are like that. For some reason all of those different calendars helped keep me organized.

SO, what is my point...

oh, to-do lists. I have always loved to have to-do lists, too, especially when I can cross things off that I have accomplished. I sometimes write silly things on my list JUST so I can cross something off!! Not tonight, though. I had 7 emails that I flagged for follow up today and I got to 4 of them tonight! Pretty good. Actually, two of the remaining three aren't really things I need to follow up on, just things I need to remember.
So, my to-do list that I quickly penned tonight has 11 things on it (not counting the unfinished to-do list from last week which still has some lingering items on it) , and I was able to cross of 2 of them.

The truth of the matter is that I don't think I have EVER completely finished a to-do list. Ugh. I'll keep you posted on my progress tomorrow. By the way, blogging this entry was NOT on my list. This was probably a very boring and painful post to read, but at least I got that to-do business off my chest!
ta-ta for now.
OHHHH... forgot to mention the VERY princessy dress that Addie got in the mail today from Christi and Quinn. It is a ballerina dress and has a little music box built into the skirt and it plays a tune from The Nutcracker. We spent a good half an hour at a concert watching the beautiful princess ballerina Addie dance. Daddy even made his debut appearance as a ballerina dancer... he did some spins and pointing of his toes and such. Pictures of the princess ballerina Addie to come.

Happy Birthday little girl!

Addie turned 4 on Thanksgiving! She got to decorate her own cake with Papa's help.

Speaking of Papa... we had a nice holiday visit with Nene and Papa. We appreciate them making the long drive and we had fun. Ruby was especially happy to see them!

Grateful

Wow... sometimes you start your day and you wonder how the heck you're going to get through it. The kids are annoying you, you have a million things to do, the house is a wreck, you have no idea what nutritious meals you're going to feed your family, your library fines for late returns are more than you would normally give as a donation to the general fund, it's late November and the leaves that you raked two weeks ago are still in a pile in the back yard and they are killing the grass beneath....
then, Thanksgiving rolls around and you start to count your blessings... since this this little introduction was really about me, I'll make it personal:

I have a beautiful, independent, curious, loving, creative, friendly and outgoing little girl who will turn 4, yes FOUR years old tomorrow. I remember my entire pregnancy with her... I remember calling my doctor at 4 am telling her I thought I was in labor, I remember calling her back at 6 am telling her that I though my water broke... I remember going to the hospital around 7:45 and finishing labor and making it through without an epidural and without any drugs.... a natural birth, just as I had hoped for.... I remember my doctor deliver my baby around 11am and saying, "it's a girl!!!!" I remember the beginning moments with Addie. I remember nursing her and loving her! I remember taking her home and the first few days. I am GRATEFUL!

My son, Jack. I remember his pregnancy, too... I remember the labor (at work, actually) and going to the hospital to deliver him. I remember my favorite OB was out of town and her friend, another OB, was filling in... I remember ALMOST giving up and wanting an epi... but alas, it was too late! Jack was born about 30 minutes after I wanted to give up! I remember when the doctor said, "it's a BOY!" and how happy I was! I am GRATEFUL!!! What a sweet boy!

My list of gratefulness could go on forever... I will elaborate as the days go on...
my husband, my parents, my extended family, my friends - both old and new, my gifts and talents, my home, etc... I am so blessed and I am thankful!

My wish is that you are thankful, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday

Just a random Sunday. Addie "made" our dinner tonight. I love the days when dinner can be prepped in the morning or afternoon. Makes the 5:00 hour so easy! Addie made meatballs (with LOTS of hand washing, don't worry!) while I made sauce. Put it all in the crockpot (gotta love it!) and tonight we just boiled noodles for a yummy, hearty pasta dinner. Loved by all!

I love watching Jack play at his table. He is getting so good at just playing by himself. I love to hear him talk and play pretend. I really should be getting the video camera out and taking some candid footage of him. Poor kiddo has a runny nose... can you see it? I suppose I could have wiped his nose prior to taking his picture!

Flu Shot Day

and here are the band aid-clad shoulders to prove it!
Jack was first... he cried when the needle went in and said, "that's too ouch-y!" Love him.

Addie was next. She hoped right up on the table and said, "it's my turn for the flu shot." Then, she quickly said, "I don't want a flu shot!" "I DONT WANT A flu shot!" "I DON'T WANT A FLU SHOT! AHHHHH!!" Then the needle went in and she was fine. She got to pick out her band aid and she was laughing, skipping and jumping by the time we got back out to the waiting room. Love her, too.

They PROUDLY showed me their band aids after nap time. They LOVED showing Dada their band aids when he got home.

A couple of other things about jack that I keep forgetting to mention. Poor little guy had ear infections for several months last year... so we put tubes in... i think he still has a bit of ear issues because lately he's been telling me that his ears "have bug bites in them!" Luckily, we go for a yearly check up at the ENT at the end of the month so I'll be able to share the news with him.

The other thing about Jack lately is that he'll say he loves things... for example, his band aid from the flu shot today, "I wuv it!" His mac-n-cheese for lunch today, "I wuv it!" So funny!

Feeling glum

Just a yucky feeling today... the sun was shining in the AM and it looked like a promising day. Addie went back to school, after being off Monday for Veteran's Day and out most of last week because of her little bug. I went to work... and then the gray clouds came rolling in.
I went to church tonight to help set up for a very, very, very sad situation... a young lady whose family is very involved in our church was murdered in her home in VA. She was 26 years old. Brutal. Tragic. Very sad. She grew up here and went to college in VA. She just moved back to her college town after living in DC. She had lived in her apartment where she was killed for 8 weeks. I suppose this horrible news is on my mind. Although I didn't know the young lady it still makes me sad. I know her mom.. we go to the same church... Her funeral is tomorrow and everything is being held at the church due to the enormous number of people attending. I helped set up Dwyer Hall for the reception tomorrow. I am taking a salad for the reception. Can you even imagine something like this happening to your child. Unthinkable. My thoughts also go to Shane Roush - a former high school classmate of mine who was also brutally murdered - senselessly. Similar situation.
I did get to visit with our old priest, Fr. Gregg, for a minute this afternoon. He is doing the eulogy tomorrow and it was nice to see him. He baptized both of my kiddos.
Ugh.
Time for Jack to go to bed. Love your children and give them big, big hugs.

A nice day to get some fresh air.

The sun was out and Dada and Joe were brewing beer in the front yard, so we spent some time raking leaves and getting some nice sunny fresh air. Addie continues to strike quite a pose for the camera at times. Isn't she funny.

No school tomorrow due to Veteran's Day. This is Addie's week to bring snack and she is SO excited about it. She wants to make fruit kabobs to take. We were also invited to a gymnastics class with a friend on Tuesday. It will be a busy week.

Sunday night. I'm not cooking tonight... too tired! So, it will be a lazy night - hopefully the kids will go to bed easily (and early) and we'll all be recharged for tomorrow.

The jeans saga Part 2

It continues... my search for THE perfect pair of jeans. I tried on 5 more pair tonight to no avail. Seriously... i have pretty "normal" measurements...." I think.

Fun afternoon at the nail salon with Anne for a long overdue mani and pedi. Next on my list - massage, preferably a 4 hour massage.

Add that to my Christmas list. Thank you.

Hold on tight - things are about to get crazy!

Catchy title, huh??!!

I took a much needed break last night when Dada got home and went shopping! Good thing Addie and Jack can't read because I did some Christmas shopping for them, birthday shopping for Addie and tried on about 15 pair of jeans for myself.

What I want for Christmas: ONE pair of really, REALLY nice fitting jeans... not the ones that are just right in the hips, but too big in the waist, not the ones that are too long and need hemmed, not the ones that fit great except for the fact that they are soooo low-rise it's not funny. Just ONE pair of jeans that fits. Please. Thank you.

love these kids

The energy, the laughter, the smiles... they are so darn cute! They were up for anything and seriously just laughed the whole time.
On a personal note --- we were plagued by a little bug this weekend. Have you ever had two kids sick at the same time??! Ugh. First Jack then Addie about an hour later... then ME on Saturday afternoon. Strange little bug. We're getting back to normal, but looking forward to an early bedtime tonight!

Holy Batman!

We had our playgroup friends over this afternoon for a Halloween party. Fun to see the kids together again, since they have known each other since they were about 6 months old. Check out Batman. Isn't that an awesome costume?! The kids had a blast, the house was trashed, the weather was perfect for some running around the front yard. I have never been in the company of so many beautiful princesses!