Christmas Extras

 Silly me.  I missed a couple of items in my Christmas post.  I forgot this super cute picture of the boys and Santa.  It's not so clear because it's scanned but I'm sure that you can still see that cuteness coming through.


I'm really glad that they're not scared to sit on his lap.  Joe was the first time or two but now does it like a pro -- that's surprising if you know how reserved Joseph is.  Love it.

The other thing that I forgot to mention in the last post -- my sister.  How could I forget?  You might remember that she got married about a month ago.  Still can't believe it myself.  Right after she got married she up and moved to Georgia.  My brother-in-law is stationed in the army out there.  Needless to say, after just moving she did not make it back for Christmas.  :(  I missed her.  There's no one else that can shake a present with me the way that she does.  It's our thing.  We shake the presents and guess what's inside -- we have a high success rate.  It irritates our mother which makes it all the more fun.  It just wasn't the same without her.  Since I couldn't get a picture of us this year I thought I'd share one from last year.  Love you Gin.

Christmas 2010

I thought now that the new year is approaching I should finally get around to posting something about Christmas.  After all of the festivities were done -- we opened presents on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday -- I realized that I did not take very many pictures.  Considering I've been known to take 100 pictures on an afternoon to the park, it was very strange not to be snapping away.  I think that I was too "in the moment."  I'm okay with that.  I had a wonderful time with my family.


A White Christmas? . . . we got it.

The snow helped set the mood -- thank goodness my drive wasn't bad.  Last year I had to leave town a day early to beat the snow.  It did look beautiful though.

Holiday spirit? . . . we got it.

I do love a decorated tree.



Two adorable boys? . . . we've got them.

Of course, I had to have them match.  Cut me a little slack here people -- I didn't have a girl that I could dress up in all sorts of cute little outfits.  Dressing them alike is my substitution.  :)

Santa? . . . We got him.  (or rather, we fed him)

We like to offer Santa an alternative to cookies because we think that he might get sick of them.  This is what we put out at grandma's house.

Presents? . . . we got them.

Joseph asked Santa for Legos this year.  This is what Santa brought.  It amazes me how he can read the directions himself.  I pick the pieces out for him (to speed the process along) and he follows the picture diagrams.  He made this himself.  :)

James asked Santa for cars this year.  He got cars and a track.  That Santa -- he always gives the best gifts.

A few more pictures from the long weekend.  The boys sleeping on Christmas Eve, Joe with some of his favorite presents (a Batman blanket and Batman hat and gloves), James hiding by the chair and with his "mink" (pink is a favorite color right now) car.  The got everything that they wanted and more.

What?  You want to know what I got?  I got the best gift ever, but that deserves a post of its own.  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Razzle Dazzle

Do you remember that beautiful Thursday night that we had about a week and a half ago?  If you're like me, you have a hard time remembering what you had for breakfast.  Bear with me here, I should have posted this awhile ago but haven't gotten around to it.


If you remember that beautiful night, you'll remember that it was about 30 degrees that night.  Thirty degrees in December!  What to do?  The Holidazzle of course.  I don't remember the last time I went.  I'm pretty sure that it was before I had children.  I wanted the boys to experience this wonderful Minneapolis tradition.  They enjoyed it and I loved watching them enjoy it. 

My little cuties.

I love this picture of Joe with the lights of the parade behind him.

A little blurry but I love downtown at nighttime.

James had to wave at everyone.  So cute.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Brrrr.

Again, I say -- Brrrr. How in the heck did it get so cold?? Thankfully the boys and I had a chance to go outside and play last weekend before it got so frigid. I loved watching my little peanuts play in the snow. Well, I loved watching them until James started falling down because there was too much snow and it was hard for him to walk and his mitten kept falling off. It was fun while it lasted anyway. A few pics from our day:

'Tis the season

Christmas.
One of my favorite times of the year. I have most of my Christmas cards addressed and ready to go (the stamps are another story though). I have started my Christmas shopping and my wrapping. Love to do Christmas baking but haven't started yet. Have started decorating -- probably won't finish until Christmas. I'm trying not to get stressed out this holiday season -- go with the flow. Trying to remember what Christmas is all about. With all that's happened this past year with my marriage, with my dad, financially -- spending time with my loved ones is my top priority.

'Tis the season -- For giving, for loving, for laughing, for sharing, for celebrating, for family, for love.

For all of my followers (yes, all 4 of you) I thought I would leave you with a few pics that didn't make it onto the Christmas card this year.

Joe was cold. I'm that parent that freezes their kid to try to get a quick pic.

Had a hard time trying to fit all our heads in. Had to go with the self timer.

Reasons for Thanks

Thanksgiving.

A time to remember all the things we are thankful for. (Although I feel like I should be doing more of this on a daily basis.) It's been a rough year for me but I still have an abundance of things to be thankful for. A few of my things:



My children (love them so much even when they drive me nuts)
My family (even the crazy ones)
The fact that my dad is getting the treatment he needs to fight this terrible disease.
Mike's family (so happy that I can still hang with them)
My friends (pretty sure they're some of the best people on Earth)
My job
A roof over my head
Food on the table
A reliable vehicle to drive
Cherry coke (yes, this makes my list)
The ability to have a decent relationship with Mike through all of this
My camera (it gives me lots of joy)

The list could go on. No matter how rough things get in my life I know I always have things to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My Ginny

So my sister Ginny got married on Saturday. Yep, that's right -- married. Can you believe it? I'm still grasping the concept. Married and moved halfway across the country. It's easier for me because we haven't lived in the same area in years. It's a different story for my mom. Serious empty nest syndrome going on already. (That's why I got a call before 8 this morning with her in tears.) Wish I could be there to comfort her. Mom's are the best.

Why am I rambling? This is about Ginny and the beautiful bride that she was and the beautiful wedding that she had. I felt honored to be a part of it. I had a great time. Got to meet my new brother-in-law. Seems to be a good match for Gin -- only wish I had more time to get to know him a little better. Got to see family. Love to spend time with them. Got to dance. Everybody knows I like to shake my groove thing. The best part -- got to be a part of this new chapter in my sister's life. Love you Ginny and Nate!

A few pics of the fabulous day.

Aren't they cute?

The first dance.

The father / daughter dance. Awww. . . .

The ladies. Katie, mom, Ginny, me, and Stacey

My baby.

The mischief maker.

Christian -- my nephew (kind of). The hit of the dance.

Dean and Stacey. Cute pic of you two.

Me and my momma.

My favorite one -- Me with my lovely sister. Think this one might have to go in a frame.

My baby sister

4 days. That's it. Four more days until my sister is a married woman. Can I call her a "woman" if she's only 20? She seems so young to be getting married but I have all the faith in her and Nate that they're going to go the distance. Of course this would be easier had I actually met my soon to be brother-in-law. If my sister and mom love him, I know I will too.

It's just crazy . . . Ginny -- married? When I went off to college she was going to preschool. Sometimes it's hard not to think of her as the little girl she was when I left home. I'm super excited for her and this new chapter in her life but sad that she's moving half way across the country. It's not going to be the same at home without her.

Good luck Ginny -- I love you!

The Last of the Nice Days

Last weekend was beautiful. This weekend was beautiful in a different Christmasy kind of way. (Still not ready for it.) Back to last weekend -- The weather was warm and only sweatshirts were needed. Of course my little peanut would not take off his hat. From October to April it seems to be a permanent fixture on his head.

We decided to take advantage of the warm day so we headed to the park. I snapped some pictures of my loves and even tried to get a little family photo. The pure joy on their faces melts my heart. Some of my favorites . . .

Halloween!

I like to do a theme thing for Halloween. Last year we went as the characters from Madagascar . . Alex (Joe), Melman (James), and Marty (me). What to do this year . . .




BATMAN! Joe is very into Batman at the moment. He's never watched any of the movies or cartoons but that doesn't matter. He's go the batcave and the guys that go with it. Joe obviously had to be Batman. I was able find a Robin costume for James which left me questioning what I was going to do. I saw the mask and though -- Catwoman. Easy for me because I could just wear all black -- you didn't really think I would wear a catsuit, did you?

We had a party after school on Thursday, they had a party in school on Friday, decorating cookies at Grandma's and Grandpa's on Sunday afternoon then off to Pump It Up for a Halloween jump, and then trick-or-treating. I thought Halloween was just a one day thing?? :)

Fabulous Five!

My little peanut turned five today. Where has the time gone . . .

Joseph:
You're shy, until you get to know people (kind of like your mom and dad)
You look like your dad
You're so smart -- reading already (and if I had to guess it is probably at a first grade level -- holy cow)
You're not the nicest to your brother but when you choose to be, you couldn't be a better brother and friend to James
You ask lots of questions
You're into Batman, Toy Story, books, and anything related to skateboarding
You've started to wean yourself off of naps and that's not my favorite
You're such a problem solver -- you really think about things to find an answer
You've got the greatest belly laugh
You've got lots of hair like your mom
You have a hard time keeping your pants up because your skinny like your dad
You're very independent
You are my little peanut and I couldn't love you more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH MIKEL!

Some pics from today and Joe's birthday . . .

Staples

I jinxed myself. I jinxed the family. Last weekend I mentioned how I was shocked that neither of the kids had needed stitches yet. Then came today . . .



the hole. I'm not trying to be graphic but it was one of the grossest things that I've seen. When his teacher brought him to my office and I saw the blood I figured that I would clean it and find a gash. When I saw a hole, I couldn't hold back my tears. You can't see that well in this picture but I could kind of see inside his head. My poor baby.
We went to the doctor, they numbed his head, cleaned it out, and stapled it up. 5 staples -- his first war wound. The staples can come out the day after his 5th birthday -- 5 staples for a 5 year old.





The staples. The picture quality is quite poor because I was using my phone and it doesn't have the best camera. The fact that my subject wouldn't stop moving didn't help either. As my assistant said -- I have my own little Frankenstein for Halloween.

I'm so thankful that everything turned out ok.