Nothing exciting...

that is what is happening around here, and that is fine with me! We finished up our Christmas celebrations Sunday and came home and absolutely crashed. The kids were way past exhausted. I could tell especially in JC & HT. Everyone time anyone looked at them funny, they began to cry. They had lots of fun playing with the cousins Sunday afternoon, and we all enjoyed meeting the newest member of our family who arrived right before Thanksgiving. She's beautiful! Yesterday we began organizing our house again, and tonight we are having friends over. So, there's nothing exciting happening here and that is perfect with me! I'm enjoying the last few days before school and the rat race begin again!

The Days After

We are still visiting the in-laws and enjoying our visit. We've continued to have a wonderful Christmas, and there is more today and tomorrow. My husband's brother and girlfriend will be here today, and then we rush back to Ohio for more Christmas tomorrow! Yesterday our family went to see Marley & Me at the theater. We really enjoyed the movie, and although we don't own a dog, we could still completely relate to the adjustments of life! At this time of year I just can't help but to look around and be so grateful for all of our friends and family, and everyone who has supported us through life's journey. We hope to share in many more fun times with everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Santa has arrived, and everyone seems happy with what he left for them! The kids have opened their packages and are having fun with their gifts, and my wonderful husband and I received wonderful gifts, from each other and from the kids. It was so cute how excited the kids were to give us the gifts they made in school...it gives me hope that someday they'll really understand the true meaning of giving. Yesterday afternoon we attended church and then had Christmas with my sister and parents. It was a nice evening. This afternoon we are headed east for three days for Christmas with the in-laws, and then we'll rush back on Sunday for more extended family Christmas. As busy as it is, I'm very grateful that we have so much family with whom to share the holiday! Hope you and those you love have a very Merry Christmas!

Crazy!

The last two days have been absolutely crazy, and yet full of so much fun! Since we had gone to church Saturday evening, we got to sleep in Sunday (yes!) and that gave us time to pack in the morning for our overnight trip. Around noon we left for my grandmother's house for Christmas and fun times with Dad's extended family. The cousins are all good about playing together, and everyone loved their gifts. After spending the entire afternoon there, we headed up to my dad's cottage for an overnight stay. Grandma sent along ham, rolls, & mac & cheese for a leftover dinner and my uncle had brought the kids some new movies. Dad has the cottage set up with a great layout. The kids could watch their DVD in the main room, and my wonderful husband and I could be in a back room watching the football game. It's such a cozy room and we all had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, we woke up yesterday to frozen pipes! We had let the water drip, but we were far enough north that the wind chills were around -20. Through the process of trying to thaw the pipes, we discovered an outside access panel that was probably the source of the cold air. My wonderful husband covered and secured that area, and we are hopeful that Dad won't have to worry about it anymore. We rushed home to make it to another recital for JC, and as soon as she was finished dancing we took the kids for dinner & ice cream. It was 9:00 before we finally made it home and the kids tumbled into bed. They've been up late ever since school got out, and it was really starting to catch up with them. On the bonus side, they all slept in this morning, and HT slept until almost 10. As crazy as everything was, we all loved being together and we are blessed to have so much to do! Although there are many things to get done today, we have no schedule so I'm looking forward to slowing life down today, and enjoying the last couple of days before Christmas!

A lovely evening

Tonight was a beautiful evening. We just returned from a lovely evening at an old friend's house. She had a small gathering and we so enjoyed getting to visit with her and several other friends, even if for only a brief time. The highlight of our evening was a trip to the mall. Not to shop (yikes!) but to see our daughter in her Christmas dance recital. JC began her ballet classes in September, and after several soccer and baseball seasons dance is a new experience for us. She and one other young lady danced to "Oh Holy Night". I'm biased, but it was beautiful and it brought tears to my eyes. It was one of those really proud parent moments and I felt so blessed to have it.

A quiet evening

It's quiet around here...almost too quiet! My sister took the little two before dinner and is taking them to see the Nutcracker performance this evening. My wonderful husband is at a friend's house playing poker, so it's just JR and me. He's grounded from the television, so it's a very quiet evening around here. I'm enjoying the peace & quiet, but I'm just not used to it! I'd better enjoy it because Christmas starts tomorrow. I know the calendar says that it doesn't arrive until next Thursday, but tomorrow is the day we let the kids open packages from out-of-towners. That way it spreads things out a little, and the kids are able to really focus on the gifts they'll receive tomorrow and really think about the people who, though they can't be here to share in the fun, love the kids enough to send packages! Then on Sunday is a Christmas with my dad's side of the family, complete with more presents and cousins to play with. So the holiday is beginning and we are excited...but no more quiet!

Just as I suspected...

the shrimp was not a huge hit. My wonderful husband and I loved it, along with the oldest who loves shrimp. The little two however were not pleased with dinner. Before I even started serving, JC, the seven-year-old, tried the "No, thank you" approach. I informed her that this was dinner and she needed to at least try it. HT informed me it just didn't smell good. Oh well, it left more for those of us who really enjoyed it!

On another topic, today is the last day of school before Christmas break. While I'm looking forward to all of the fun that we are going to have together as well as the break from our daily routine, I'm treasuring my last remaining quiet time today!

Three for three?

The last two nights we have had a very successful dinner. By successful, I mean that everyone ate happily and without being under duress. Thanks to the pickiness of the four-year-old, this is seldom the case around here! However, Tuesday I cooked up ham slices and we had mashed potatoes, green beans, and pineapple slices. They all cleaned their plates! Last night was even more surprising as it was nothing more than chicken patty sandwiches and tater tots. I knew everyone would love the tater tots, but wasn't so sure about the sandwiches. Especially HT who in his little world thinks chicken is the plague. He ate every bite, and all three plates were squeaky clean! At one point my wonderful husband looked at HT, then looked at me and whispered, "Do you think he realizes he's eating chicken?" Maybe he's entering a new phase in eating! We'll see how tonight goes though. I've spent all day chopping onions & peppers, thawing shrimp, and marinading everything for shrimp kabobs. Anyone who knows me knows I really don't enjoy cooking, but this might actually taste so good it will be worth it! The big question is will the kids think so, and can we go three nights in a row with happy eaters?

Snow day!

That's right folks, no school today! Although technically there isn't a flake of snow to be seen. Unfortunately, it's the ice that is keeping everyone home today. Everything is literally covered in a solid sheet of ice. I know that many of the rural areas (such as the one in which my family lives) had to cut back on salt purchases because of the cost and lack of availability. So we are home today. Except for my wonderful husband, who teaches in a school district 45 minutes away. I never enjoy it when the roads are bad enough to stay home here, but he still has to travel that distance. He sent me a text though to let me know he had arrived there safely, and they are calling for the ice to melt throughout the afternoon so hopefully his trek home will be fine. I like to think of snow days as being given the gifts of time! Everyone's homework was finished last night, and although there is still reading and spelling to work on, there is no additional homework, and the lunches for today are now made for tomorrow! I'm looking forward to just hanging out and enjoying the kids!

It's only Tuesday?

I would swear it is later in the week! I've almost not been home at all the last two days running around doing errands. Tomorrow though, I have absolutely no where that I need to go...I'm so excited I'm almost giddy! It sounds like a good thing too, because they are calling for bad weather here tonight. I'm not really getting too excited though, because they've been calling for cold precipitation for a couple of weeks and I keep hoping for a school delay. Each day though, I wake up and things are dry! A couple of extra hours of sleep tomorrow would be wonderful though!

A nice weekend

Our family has had a very nice weekend. Friday was exactly the lovely evening I had hoped it would be. My body is in school mode, so unfortunately there was no sleeping in yesterday, but it was still a nice day. My wonderful husband and JR (nine-year-old son) had a scout outing yesterday, and I enjoyed reading and hanging out with the other two. Last night was an annual party at some dear friends' house, and we loved every minute of it! Today, we finished our Christmas shopping! Now the wrapping begins and I get even more excited about Christmas arriving. And to top off the perfect weekend, the Steelers just clinched not only the AFC North division, but a first round bye as well!

A Frosty Evening

Yes, it's frosty here this evening on many levels! I'm not sure it ever got above freezing today, and now there is a lovely coating of snow on the ground. And tonight is another holiday classic with Frosty the Snowman. I'm looking forward to sharing this with the kids again. My wonderful husband has gone out to run a few errands and is picking up my absolute favorite pizza in the entire world. Plus, no one in this house has any plans until tomorrow afternoon so we can even sleep in tomorrow! This might turn out to be one of my favorite evenings of the entire season!

Going green about red and green

Anyone who knows me would laugh at the thought of me being an environmentalist. I love the great outdoors, as long as I am viewing it through a nice, large picture window. However, I am, without a doubt, cheap and frugal! And some of the nice things about being cheap and frugal is that is also happens to be good for the environment. I shudder when I think about how much electricity ($$$) the clothes dryer uses, so whenever possible I hang my clothes out to dry. I try to never let the dishwasher go through the dry cycle...air drying is great! And I detest wrapping paper! Now, I'm not totally "green". My kids' gifts will be wrapped in Christmas paper and I just can't see myself changing that. However, nearly everyone else receives their Christmas gifts from our family in gift bags. Because I save them when I receive them, I basically didn't have to buy any this year. I love that! And to save on some of the tissue paper that is in the bags that also winds up in the trash, I try to use the disposable grocery bags (I have definitely been known to forget to take my reusable cloth totes into the store with me!) to stuff the bottom of the gift bags, and then only one sheet of tissue paper on top. The gifts still look great, and my family is also great about saving bags and using them again. In fact, I know of one gift bag that has passed back & forth between our house and my in-laws several times now!

Gotta love kids!

This post goes along with two similar posts I've read on other blogs lately. The first is by a mother of 10 who was relaying a conversation between two of her girls and she was both amused and amazed by what kids come up with! The second post was one by a friend of mine, who found some (what we think to be) really unfortunate packaging and gift ideas at a mass market retailer. I'll warn you now...do not read this post while eating or drinking...it may come back out your nose.

Today I was eating lunch with my youngest. Meal time with him is never particularly pleasant as he is the world's pickiest eater (he takes after his mother). Today we were in something of a hurry since we'd been running errands this morning, so I made two corndogs. Pretty much his favorite thing to eat in the world after poptarts. So HT and I are sitting there, and the little guy doesn't eat like a normal person. He eats everything in layers. What this means for corn dogs is that he eats all of the breading, leaving only the "dog" portion on a stick. He picked up the stick and asked where corndogs come from. I explained that the "dog" portion came from a pig. He gets this strange look on his face and says, "What did the pig do, poop it out?" As I attempt to calmly recover from the milk I'm nearly snorting out my nose (hence my earlier warning), I replied, that the pig did not poop out the corn dog. HT is not deterred however, and goes on to ask, "Did the pig puke it out then?" "No," I reply, "not puke either." HT then asks, "Did the pig pee it out?" "No," I explain, "the corndog did not come out of the pig in any way, shape, or form." HT then gets this look on his face, puts the corndog down, and exclaims, "I am not eating a REAL pig!" At this point I simply look at him and told him to think of them just as corndogs and to chow down so he could go to school. I guess at this point I'm grateful that the child refuses to eat chicken nuggets so we don't have to have that conversation tomorrow!

Early Christmas Presents

In some ways, getting to watch all of the holiday classics with my kids is an early Christmas present each year. And I definitely felt like I was getting an early present yesterday when I realized my nine-year-old son is taking the Iowa tests this week so there is no spelling. I realize it sounds awful, but working on spelling each day with him is not on my "fun" list. However, I found out last night that my best friend and her family truly received the best early Christmas present of all, and it helped me to remember the things that are truly important. Her brother-in-law is in the National Guard, and has returned home after finishing his tour in the Middle East. They should be visiting with him now as I write this. We are all grateful for his safe return, as well as the safe return of his unit. Welcome home Mark!

It's definitely Monday

HT, my four-year-old son stayed home from preschool today. He's had an awful cold for a week now, and today he literally choked on the phlegm, leading to an unpleasant situation! I'm sure many other moms of preschoolers feel the way I do about the little ones...sometimes it's obvious when to keep the little one home, and sometimes it isn't. Today for instance...my rule is, if you vomit, you stay home. However, I knew that he didn't have the flu, it was just the phlegm, and he really didn't feel badly. But, since he had the cold and there had been vomit, home is where he stayed, which just broke his heart. He was also none too pleased that I was making him take a nap after lunch. As I put him down I gave him a hug and said, "I love you." He was still mad about the nap and replied, "Well, I don't love you." I know that he'll be over that by the time he wakes up, so I just smiled. I also know he'll feel differently when I let all three of them watch Charlie Brown's Christmas tonight, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with them!

A new beginning

I'll be honest, I've thought about blogging for some time now, but fear (of appearing to be an idiot, mostly) kept me from trying it out. However, I've decided to give it a go! I'm not sure how good this will look because I'm technologically inept AND I'm still on dial-up. However, as the stay-at-home mom of three children, I can almost guarantee to have some funny stories to share!