Resolutions

We all have them. We all break them. So why bother??

Ok, so they aren't always broken!

My 2008 resolution was to not get pregnant in 2008. And guess what??

guess??

guess???

....
....
....
....

I kept it.

Sorry to get your hopes up.... ;)




Hope you all have a safe and wonderful Evening!

See ya'll next year! :)

Not Really A Post

I promise... just something I can finally share, since the family gifts have all been given! :) Enjoy. Some are obvious "bloopers," but at least we have one good family shot! :)

Bloggy Hiatus

Not sure when I'll be back. Maybe the end of the week. Maybe the beginning of next week. Hubby is OFF all week- and we are going to try to enjoy each other before he starts his new position and before my classes start back up, both happening on the 5th.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :) We did! I have a ton of photos. We celebrated with SEVEN different groups of family members, from Wednesday to today, and honestly... I am all Christmased out. My favorite part, you ask? Watching my boys interact with various cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. And remembering how much fun it was to be a kiddo at Christmas time! (OH! And Amy came home, for a visit, and I was able to squeeze her into one of the family events! :) )

Anyway- see you all soon! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

From our family, to yours, have a wonderfully blessed Christmas. Let us not forget why we celebrate. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

SO Excited!

Two posts, one day... I know... but I have a good reason:

After getting certified, last week, in VM Servers.... Andy....Got....

PROMOTED today!!!!!!


God answered our prayers! ONE year of prayers, learning to wait... The Lord has blessed us SO much and we are forever thankful!


So, congratulations, Love; You deserve it! :)

Favorite Food Swap

So, anyone who knows me know show much I like food. Yea, yea, so you say I don't eat...whatever... I LOVE me some good food... I wouldn't be a very good daughter of a Chef, if I didn't appreciate good food! And I am most certainly a GOOD daughter.... ;) Anyway.... so when Elaine announced the "Favorite Food Swap" I had to join in! And boy I am so glad I did!

So, I come home to a giant Crate and Barrel box, on my front porch. I was a little excited, because I thought maybe Andy had ordered me a special something from Crate and Barrel. Not the case. But what was inside was EVEN better.

Julie was my swap buddy. I sent her a little something, and she sent me a (lot) of something! She went me wonderful goodies, straight from CT! She sent me Apple cider donuts, AMAZING chocolate chip cookies, homemade rice cakes (yum), and an apple strudel that didn't last long, once Andy got a hold of it!

So here are my goodies, and of me opening them up! :) Taking photos was almost as fun as opening the goodies. ha ha ha. :) Thanks, Julie!!!!

It's Beginning to....

Look a lot like Christmas!

What have we been doing, since last Wednesday, you ask? Well take a look (all photos are SOOC... Give me a break; it's been a long past few days!):

1) We made cookies with some of our favorite people!

2) We saw Santa... yea...no pictures with the Man himself...for sad reasons. Poor Santa.

3) We had Christmas with Bop, Gramma, Aunt Michelle (and her whole crew)

This is the apron we made for Bop. I think he liked it! :)


(this is my 10 year old nephew and I... He is taller... bigger...than I am... at least I have one more guy to take care of me! :))


4) Look! Bop got Adam an apron for Christmas! Now "Chef Adam" is official, when making PB & J sandwiches!


5) We spent Sunday at the local Conservatory. It was beautiful!





6) I got THIS in the mail, and will be posting about that, ASAP! :) Thanks, Julie!

Update

Just an update or two:

1) We have been crafting machines! However, I can't post any of the photos... too many granparents read this blog. ;)

2) Starting tomorrow, we are booked straight through Dec. 29th. Yes, that's right, we have a Christmas something everyday until after Christmas weekend.

3) I have a huge paper due Saturday. I've yet to start it.

4) We are ever so thankful for some of our very best friends!




5) I am getting anxious about school, next year. I get to start my internship. Forty-hour work weeks? Can I really do that? sigh.

6) I could ice skate on my driveway, right now. I love winter. Ok, so I don't...

7) My husband wrapped some of my presents and put them under the tree. Evil man. I have zippo patience and he knows it! grr.

8) Andy's been in class all week. We've not seen him much. BUT he gets certified for something that will help out his career... And we didn't have to pay for the $5,000 class, so I can't complain!

9) I love not getting "dressed" all day, when we don't leave the house. Refer to #5.

10) Wait. When do we not go anywhere? hmm.

*Hope you're all having a wonderful week!*

BSM: Weekend Fun

It was a relaxing weekend. A good weekend.

Friday mommy had a girls' night, and had her make-up done. I felt pretty...so I took a picture.


And daddy took the boys BOWLING for the first time! Apparently, Adam is pretty good.



(Adam took this one of daddy!)


And Saturday/Sunday we relaxed. Had dinner with at the in-laws' and I even...took. a. nap! EEK!



I leave you with my super cute boys... :) Do they look insanely old to anyone else??



Want more Best shots? Head over to Mother May I, for more BSM fun!

The Gingerbread House

We assembled our annual gingerbread house. It was great family time, and everyone got in on the action! :)

Daddy's side of the house


Adam's side of the house.

Jofus, Mary, and Jesus watched from afar. Gabriel jumped off and lost his head...seriously... We need super glue, STAT!

Pretty (yummy) candy balls.

This is daddy holding his tongue juuuuuust right. :)


This is Matthew not helping with the house, but stuffing his face with cookies. I can't even tell you how many he ate. I know. Mother of the year award to me!


See...cookies....
This is Adam's smile, after I said "Adam, please smile for me!" sigh.


****

We ALSO went to Bean's house today. We were supposed to be decorating cookies. That happened for all of 5 minutes. The older kids played in Bean's room. Matthew looked in every cupboard in the kitchen (and ate half of the food), and Sprout...Well... Sprout just went wherever we placed him. It was a blast, and good to have the kiddos together again (it had been awhile!).

Adam's favorite part of the playdate? I quote, "I liked jumping on top of Ellie, in her bed." SAY WHAT? ;)

Theme Thursday: Holiday Fun

We've made cookies....
We've been to a Christmas party....
We've gotten cards....

But tonight....tonight... we saw Bethlehem... kinda.



(those were the only two photos I got of the display. I was chasing kids. Sorry!)

I was so proud of Adam. We asked him to tell us the story, the way he remembered it. He was SO good.

Daddy: "Who is that?"
Adam: "Gabriel!"
Daddy: "What did he tell Mary?"
Adam: "Who Jesus was!"
Daddy: "Who are those people?"
Adam: "Shepherds! and 'Jofus!' (Joseph) and Kings!" ..... "Where's Jesus?"
Daddy: "Not in there, yet. It's not Christmas yet"
Adam: "NO JESUS??? NO!!!!!"

hahahaha. Poor Adam. Don't worry, buddy, He's in your belly (or so you say?!) ha ha ha. (He means he's in his heart. He's a little confused about that whole, having Jesus in your heart thing.)

Then we went inside and had some fun at daddy's desk! Here are some photos from that:


Ummm... Notice where Matty's pants are... yea, poor kid. Can't keep his pants up! His 12 MONTH old pants. C'mon kid, grow a little! You're only a month away from 18 months!



Need more Holiday Fun? ME TOO! Go over to Stacy's to see more Theme Thursday photos!

Do you Know the Muffin mEn ?

Do you know the muffin mEn ?



Do you know the muffin mEn ?



They live at....

MY HOUSE! :)

(I think I need a bigger counter!)

Christmas Time

There are many reasons I love where my hubby works. It's a family friendly place. I can take the kids there, let them run up and down the halls, and if they AREN'T laughing and screaming, people wonder why they are so quiet. He has wonderful co-workers, who spoil the kids with candy and toys. And.... this is the main reason I love where he works:

There is a beautiful light display, ever year, since 1930 that goes on display from the first Wednesday of December, until after the new year. And it is BEAUTIFUL! This year, they added five 12-feet tall Nutcrackers to the top of the building. It's amazing. It lays out the entire course of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem, with lifelike figurines and a beautiful story, about the King of Kings. It's really something to see! If you live in the Central Ohio area, and have never gone down to see this display, I urge you to take your family; you won't regret it! :)

One Hell-O a Week

Man. Just when things are looking up a wrench is thrown at us... and it struck us, too! We have spent the last 3 days fixing our hot water tank. It broke on Tuesday, leaked watery goodness all over; and we had to have a late night fixing party with my step-dad and brother. They bought a new water tank, found where all of the leaks were (even the one BEHIND the wall- yea, guess how they got to it?), fixed the leaks, replaced the tank, and couldn't get the darn thing to stop oozing water!

So they tightened

and tightened

and tightened

until they tightened one too many....

when POP

one of the NEW bolts cracked right into two!! Sigh. By this point in time it was after 11pm and all of the hardware stores were closed. So, Andy fixed it with JB weld and...what else.... duct tape. Kudos to the handy husband, who assured me it would stay.

Oh, and did I mention that we had to turn the gas off? Therefore we had no heat? And that we have an ancient heater that takes 2 hours to heat up the coils, in order to re-light??? So, we were without heat until around 4 am Wednesday. IT. WAS. COLD.

Anyway- the duct tape fix....

Yesterday proved to tell a different story.

We were running some errands and we came home to a portable shower in our utility closet. Running water EVERYWHERE. Into the wall. All over the floor. ALL over the computer equipment my hubby stores in there... it was a MESS!

So, Andy succumbed and bought the new part, and we've had no problems since.

But look how pretty our new tank is! AND it actually heats up water in a reasonable time.

AND someday, when I actually get to take a real shower... I will tell you how long the hot water will last.

Until then, I hope we have no more waterfalls in the house.