Merry Christmas

Aahhh...Christmas Eve. There's something calming about driving home from the Christmas Eve service and all the stores are dark, fewer cars are on the roads, and Christmas music is being played on the radio.

We've begun our annual traditions and we're anxious to spend the weekend with family and friends.


Making Cookies for Santa and others to enjoy.

Watching Polar Express together as a family.


We have two Christmas trees set up in our home. One is decorated all in red and silver and sits in our front entry area. The second is our family tree. It represents our childhood, our vacations, our babies' first Christmases, and our favorite things.
This ornament is a family favorite this year...after our recent trip to see the Mouse.

This angel ornament used to belong on my parents' tree. It's always been my favorite...I love the little angel hanging inside the halo. A few years ago my Mom gave a few of my childhood ornaments, including this one to our family. We have some of Jon's from when he was little as well.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Simple Christmas

With Christmas being just one week away, I think that it is so important to remember the true meaning of Christmas. His story, His birth. It is so easy to get caught up in the commercial celebration of the holiday season. Sometimes it even feels that pop culture is working against us as we try to teach our young children about the first Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the classics like Rudolph, the Grinch, and Charlie Brown. I love to decorate our home, enjoy driving through a particular subdivision in our town that has a decorating contest each year, and love sitting by the tree at night looking at the twinkling lights. I also love to see the expressions on the faces of those on the receiving end and I'll admit its pretty cool to receive something that may have been on your own wishlist.

However, the things that I remember most about the holidays are gatherings with friends and family, the pictures taken, the smiles on faces, and the stories we all share from year to year. I hope that each of you find time to embrace the real reason for the season and take time to make memories with your loved ones. Memories that will be treasured and remembered for years to come.

The Vacation is Over

On Sunday, we arrived back home to a driveway full of snow-a nice reminder of how wonderful it was to be in a warmer climate and feel the sunshine for more than a week!


Here are some stats from our week:

2500 miles on the Honda
-only $140 worth of gas thanks to the drop in prices....more than supporting our case to drive rather than to fly, even though we may have lost a little of our sanity along the way. Thank goodness for the invention of portable DVD players. The final "are we there yet?" count was 56. We became very familiar with rest stops and McDonald's bathrooms. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how smooth the drive went and would consider driving again for other vacations.



5 full days at the Disney Parks
-we walked many miles, stood in many lines, and made Magical memories. It was wonderful to see it through the kids' eyes. I realized after the 2nd or 3rd day that it would be impossible to do everything, but we definitely got our money's worth playing in the parks. It was so hard to leave the Magic Kingdom on our last day...as we were leaving, I kept turning around to see the castle and envision all of the wonderful memories we had made during the last week.


30 Character sightings
-a highlight for the kids on the trip. Avery kept asking if it was the "real" Tinker Bell or Buzz Lightyear, etc. Austin enjoyed them, but I don't think he smiled in any of the pictures with the characters. We have a book full of signatures and plenty of pictures to share.



5 Roller Coasters/Thrill Rides
-Avery has no fear! One of our favorite memories was watching in amazement as Avery overcame her initial fear and then became addicted to thrill rides. Thanks to Disney's Switch Rider pass for families with young children not old enough to ride, Avery was able to ride twice in a row on each ride, once with each parent (and even rode 6 times on Big Thunder Mountain). It was fun to be the 2nd one to ride with her, so that she could tell us what to expect in a play by play scenario for each ride.


1 afternoon at Sea World
-a friend of mine in Florida had given us passes to Sea World, so we happily took an afternoon to explore the animals and attractions there. For the holiday season, they turned their arctic north pole ride into a simulated Polar Express event. We rode the Polar Express to the North Pole and even got to meet Santa Claus once we arrived. We also enjoyed a Christmas Miracles Shamu (or Shampoo, as Austin says) night show.


398 photos and videos to remember the trip
-how am I ever going to decide what select few to put in our scrapbooks??

I hope to take the kids to Disney a few more times while they are growing up. After working for Disney during college, I have such respect for how they manage the day to day operations of the entire facility. Everything behind the scenes is so calculated to ensure that you truly have a magical experience. The level of service provided is top notch and everything was so clean.

We had a blast and it went by way too quickly. Now we're back and Christmas is just over two weeks away and I need to get busy.

Update from Disney

We've been too busy playing with Mickey Mouse and the princesses to update the blog.

We'll be anxious to tell everybody about it when we return, but here's just a teaser:




The weather has been anywhere from the low 60s to 80 degrees and mostly sunny. We've enjoyed visiting as many characters as we can find and have learned that Avery is a thrill ride junkie!

Though she still has little patience for riding in the car. The "are we there yet?" tally is up to well over 30.

Sadly, we'll start making the trek back north where we're sure to encounter snow.
We've enjoyed listening to Christmas music while wearing shorts.

The Adventure Has Begun

M - I - C (see ya real soon)K - E - Y (why?, because we like ya)

M - O - U - S - E

We are already 5 hours into our trip (only 15 more to go)

The "Are We There Yet?" tally is at: 8

There's White Stuff in the Air

It's that time of year. This is my 33rd winter and I'm never really ready for it. Does it seem like it starts earlier and ends later every year?

Well, this year it started with white stuff flying around inside our house....in the bathroom to be exact.


I don't know about any of you, but bathtime is one of the most stressful parts of my day. It really should be a calm, warm way to end the day. But for some reason in our house, it just gets us all riled up again. It could be that I put too many bubbles in the bath, or that I get a little panicky when water starts splashing my walls, or that my 5 year old and 2 year old still take baths together (2 on 1 isn't easy when there is water involved). Last night I was about 15 pages into my new Parents Magazine, when all of a sudden I have a puddle of water in my lap and my magazine is soaked. I look towards the bathtub and little man is standing there with a Princess tea cup in his hand. Interestingly enough, I was just starting to read an article about "Yellibacy" (a mother who vowed to stop yelling at her children). Thank you, God, for that subtle reminder.


Meanwhile, outside our house, there is white stuff all over the place in the form of white fluffy snow. We've broken out all of the winter gear this week...snow pants, boots, hats, scarves, etc. The kids are excited for now. We'll see if they are still excited in March!



All I'm going to say is that the weather forecast for next Friday in Orlando, FL is a high of 73 degrees and sunny!

Big Boy!

Austin's food intake today:

Breakfast:
Two apple/cinnamon cereal bars
One cheese stick
2% white milk

AM snack:
Cottage Cheese/Peaches

Lunch:
Scalloped Potatoes & Ham
Green beans
Mandarin Oranges
2% white milk

PM Snack:
Teddy Grahams and juice

Dinner:
Two sloppy joes
Banana
Chips/dip
2% white milk

He ate more sandwiches (or sammerichs, as he calls them) at dinner than Jon or I. And he's 2 1/2!

I think I better start a savings fund for future grocery bills.

Happy 34th!

Happy Birthday Jonny! What an awesome hubby and Daddy you are~we love you!

Treading Water

Lately I feel like I'm back at Summer Camp treading water for two minutes so that I could prove I was worthy of going into the Deep End.

Treading and treading the water, the end seeming so close, yet so far away.

At work, this has been the busiest time of the year planning & preparing business plans and budgets for 15 hotels for 2009. For every one thing I check off my list as completed, I get three more emails with other tasks to complete. There have been some late nights lately.

At home, I can't keep up. Every time I wash the last dish...I find another cup sitting somewhere throughout the house. For every toy I pick up, there's another one around the corner. Every Saturday when I feel like the laundry is caught up, Sunday the basket is full again. If you're stopping over...better give me a 10 minute warning to tidy up.

Some days there just aren't enough hours in a day!

In Another Life...

The Amish wouldn't have posed for a picture.

The Amish wouldn't have been attending a Halloween Costume Party, either.

Two Wheels!

Avery's been riding her bike without training wheels for a couple of weeks now. You should see it....her smile goes from ear to ear as she is riding. We tried all summer long -- taking the training wheels off, putting them back on, taking them off again. All of a sudden she just decided she was ready and now it's one of the first things she asks about every day when she wakes up...Riding her bike!

Happy Halloween 2008!

Earlier this week, we carved our pumpkins. Avery enjoyed pulling out all of the slimey insides and Austin wanted nothing to do with them...that is until they were all out on the table and then he enjoyed flinging them around on his spoon. Boys will be boys!




We've had several opportunities to celebrate Halloween. Last weekend, there was a neighborhood party for the kids at the library. The kids also enjoyed a party at their school. When all of the kids are dressed up, they parade through each classroom and end up back in their own for Halloween treats! With all the parents rushing back and forth from room to room to help with their children, it gets a little crazy, but the kids get so excited to see their friends in costume.


After Austin's party was over, he hung out in the Pre-K class with Avery's friends.


Austin and his little friends parading through Avery's class.


Since we live in a large neighborhood, we really stock up on the candy to hand out...we had a steady stream of trick-or-treaters from 5 until after 7pm. I started with 100 pieces (well, I think it was a little less than 100...because when I went to empty the bags into the bowl...the bag had already been opened. Jon said I should return it to the store for a refund since the bag surely had already been opened......hmmmm, Jon---is that a new mole, or do you have chocolate on your face?!)

We just stayed outside, since it was so nice, and the kids handed out some candy before they went on their walk with Daddy. Grandpa and Nana came by with Pizza to end the night of festivities!



Happy Halloween from our house to yours!

The Final Countdown

31 days and counting until we leave for Disney World!

Yesterday, Avery and I made a countdown calendar so she could visualize how many more days we have to wait.



Each day she will put another smiley face sticker over the next number and when they run out she'll know that we are oh, so close.

I'm not sure who is more excited...Avery or her Mom!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Over the weekend, Ty, Kelly, Mady & Morgan came to town and we spent the afternoon together at another Pumpkin Patch. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day.


I love pictures this time of year...the beautiful fall colors always add such a nice backdrop. We rode on a hayride out to the middle of a cornfield. We were dropped off at an entrance to a corn maze. After the girls led us through the maze, we ended up in a field of pumpkins.


It took the kids awhile to pick the "perfect" pumpkin...all the while the hayride driver was waiting for us patiently. They really enjoyed stomping on the pumpkins that had already rotted.



Finally, they all found suitable pumpkins to take home.



Even the guys enjoyed themselves, a little!



There was a fun playground and petting zoo with sheep, pigs, a miniature horse, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, and goats.









We ended the day back at our house for dinner and more playtime for the kids. Thanks for the fun day, guys...hope it's not too long before we can get together again!

8 Things

I was tagged by Jamie and Susie to give 8 answers to the following questions...

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. I had to wake my children up to get them off to day care (not fun getting someone dressed that wants to still be sleeping)
2. Had a discussion with my good friend on the presidential debate from the night before (and we don't agree on everything and that's okay)
3. Worked all day (could list hundreds of things that I did, but won't bore you)
4. Took Austin to the Dr. (thought he had an ear infection, but PTL he didn't)
5. Stopped at Target on the way home
6. Had dinner with the family
7. Gave my children a bath (and I ended up more wet than they were!)
8. Wathed too much TV (see below)

8 Favorite Places to Eat:
1. At home w/my family (much less stressful than eating out)
2. Mom's house ('cause I don't have to cook and the food is delish!)
3. Carolyn's house (same reason as #2)
4. Hacienda
5. Logan's Steakhouse
6. Carraba's
7. Chipotle
8. Panera Bread

8 TV Shows I love to watch:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. Jon & Kate Plus 8
4. Lipstick Jungle
5. Survivor
6. The Office
7. ER
8. anything on HGTV

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. The weekend
2. Halloween
3. Our trip to DisneyWorld (not sure if I'm looking forward to the drive though)
4. The holidays
5. Seeing Kevin & Heather again soon
6. When Austin is finally potty trained
7. The Cubs winning a World Series someday(whenever that may be)
8. Retirement (someday in the very far future)!

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Happy, Healthy Family
2. Strong Economy
3. A Minivan(can you believe I just said that?)
4. The Cubs to win a World Series!
5. A New Digital Camera
6. Less work, more play
7. A New Vacuum
8. For someone in a loving home to relieve us of our Cat (seriously-does anyone want a cat?)

People I tag:
1. Anyone who's reading that hasn't already been tagged.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Indian Summer always comes along about this time of year. The weather was cold just a few weeks ago, and this weekend felt like summer all over again. We played outside in shorts and t-shirts and enjoyed visiting with all the neighbors again before everyone retreats inside for the winter months.






We made a trip to a pumpkin farm on Saturday. We'll be going again this coming weekend with friends, but needed to get some decorations for the front of the house.

We Think the World of You!

A dventurous
V ibrant
E nergetic
R isk taker
Y outhful

M otherly
A ware
D arling
I ndependent
S ensitive
O ptimistic
N eat


A thletic
U nique
S queezable
T alkative
I nteresting
N utty

C opy cat
O bservant
O rnery
P olite
E asy going
R espectful

Love you, Mom & Dad

Changing of the Seasons

Are anyone else's kids having trouble with the changing of seasons and their clothing? After a summer of flip flops and crocs, it's hard to get socks and shoes on their feet. Austin doesn't seem to like the long sleeves and Avery would still like to wear shorts outside. I don't even want to think about Hats and Boots.

Because they grow so fast, the kids' closets get a makeover with each season. Wish I could get a new wardrobe each year.

We broke out sweaters this morning for church and I think it's finally time to get the shorts and tank tops put away.

Fall is here! I'm ready for comfort foods, apple picking, pumpkin carving, and hayrides.

Boiler Up!

For the second Saturday in a row, Jon and I had a date with the Purdue Football team. And for the second Saturday in a row, Purdue lost, but we won't dwell on that!

Last weekend we were at Notre Dame, but yesterday we made it back to West Lafayette to watch the Boilers at home.

I love being on the campus during the fall. It brings back such great memories. All the way back to childhood, when my parents (both alumni) took my brother (also an alum)and I to Slater Hill to watch the band play prior to the football game and as recently as last year when I met all of my former roomates for a pre-game tailgate in the parking lot at Purdue West.

It's hard to believe that we were students there 10-14 years ago. We parked the car and walked hand in hand through Chauncey towards the Union passing all of the breakfast clubbers and snickering a bit. We've come so far since those days!

We walked past the fountain and over to Slater Hill and watched the band march into the stadium. It was a beautiful day for a game and it was a wonderful day with my hubby!

Acting My Age

So I'm driving home from work today, by myself in the car.
It's a beautiful day, I have the windows down and the music cranked up.

I'm sitting at a stoplight in the left turn lane with a car to my immediate right that has a 20something girl in the driver's seat.

I look to my right...I smile and she smiles back.

Only then do I realize that I've been singing along and head bopping to:
(wait for it)

Hannah Montana!!

Of course, the 20something girl was smiling at the 30something Mom driving in the car by herself singing every word of the Disney Channel teenybopper!