Bye Bye Christmas

We're home from our trip to Maine for Christmas. The travelling was easy. Seriously. No traffic. No arguing among the kiddos. No bad weather. Easy. I'm thankful for that. We blew into town (home) around 2:20 yesterday. Becky had a birthday party to be at so we went directly there. I'm glad she got to go.
Christmas was wonderful, fun, busy. I didn't feel as prepared as usual due to schedules being messed up and people in our house being sick, but Christmas happened anyway and it was perfect. The girls were excited and happy and sweet Christmas morning - that's my favorite part. Katie made a special sign to hang at the top of the stairs for all of us. It said "Merry Christmas" and she must've spent quite a bit of time doing it. Sweet. I'm always surprised by how willing they are to stop what they're doing here at home and get ready to head to Maine. We were on the road by 11:00 a.m. Seeing family is a big motivator. I'll post Christmas pics later, promise.
Today we are hanging out at home. The girls are enjoying their gifts. Becky is on the Wii playing her new Hannah Montana game and Allison is playing her new Leapster Didj. I think Katie is in her room planning the redecoration project we're going to do. She wanted lots of room accessories and other fun things for her room for Christmas, along with clothes and shoes! Typical teenage girl stuff :) The tree needs to come down and decorations need to be put away. I hope we get that done today. I'm not as in a hurry as I usually am to get the house put back together but I'd still like it done SOON! I'd also like to make a trip to TJ Maxx or Home Goods but it's snowing to beat the band right now. Maybe the roads aren't too bad.
Anyone have any big plans tonight to ring in the New Year? Us? No. Never do. I like being home New Year's Eve. I like hanging out with the girls and doing family stuff. I hope you have fun whatever you do tonight.
I'm getting my haircut on Friday. It's too long. It's also HEAVY. I get headaches if I wear it in a ponytail. I'm telling you I have enough hair on my head for THREE people! Time to change things up a bit.
I've got to fold some laundry. Actually I have to fold LOTS of laundry! I'll be camped out in the laundry room for quite awhile! That's the downside to being away - DIRTY CLOTHES!
I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions but I do like thinking about the passed year and what's changed in our lives since last year at this time. I'd like to do a post on the big deal things our family has experienced in 2008. I'll think on it and get back to you. In the meantime Happy New Year!!

Christmas Link

After reading over some of my December posts from years passed I realized that I haven't done much in the way of steering you toward some of my favorite Christmas web sites. This one you may have heard or seen somewhere else but it is certainly worth mentioning on the blog. It's called Soldier's Silent Night. It's just a nice tribute to the men and women who have served and are serving our country as soldiers. It's told from Santa's point of view. I'm definitely a sucker for a good Christmas tale. Enjoy. The link is www.soldiersilentnight.com/

I'm completely over my strep throat! YAY! Katie woke up this morning feeling achy and with a sore throat. yay. I called our pediatrician who graciously decided to just call in a prescription and save us a trip to the doctor's office. The good news is that she'll be germ free by tomorrow afternoon and hopefully feeling MUCH better, just in time for Christmas and our trip to Maine. I'm thinking (hoping, praying) that Allison may have started this whole thing when she was sick a couple of weeks ago. The doctor said it's possible that she carried the virus but didn't have strep herself. That would be good. I went nuts with the Lysol yesterday and aired out the house a bit too so hopefully we've got a handle on it now. New toothbrushes for everyone too. After 72 hours on the meds it's safe to change your toothbrush.

I went out shopping this morning. WOW! What a NUTHOUSE! Target was manageable. The grocery store was not! I haven't shopped for Ed yet - AT ALL. I don't mind the crowds really. I don't enjoy it though when people are rude or grouchy. I guess I've put it off long enough...Time to hit the mall---

Little Update

Another snow storm is pounding us as we speak. It didn't really get going until around 7 this morning. It's very windy too which makes it difficult to tell if it is really snowing or just blowing around what's already on the ground. We have a beautiful view of the western sky from our house and on a clear day the mountains rise up as the backdrop to the city. Today there are no mountains or city visible. Becky is on her way to a swimming party and Allison's basketball game is still on (for now). That's life in New England - no little blizzard is going to slow us down!!

Katie and Allison are still healthy. Ed seems to be doing fine. I honestly can't remember being this sick in a long, long time! The glands on my neck are huge - like you can see them from a mile away! I'm still swallowing razor blades. And I run out of energy pretty quick. We're talking DAY 3 people! When is the miracle medicine going to work? I've had quite enough of this being sick business, thank you very much. Today I'm just going to do what I've got to do - sick or not. That includes taking a shower. I don't think I'm contagious anymore since I've been on the antibiotic for THREE days. I think I'm going to have me some breakfast too.

Is your Christmas shopping done? Mine, you ask,--- not so much. Close though. Even though I haven't spent gobs of time shopping I have been enjoying the many Christmas shows on TV. Lifetime has had some totally sappy, goofy, corny movies on, that have been pretty entertaining. And there always seems to be some special on for the kids before bedtime. Last night they watched a Charlie Brown show that was really cute.

I will say that I am thankful to be sick now instead of a few days from now. And I'm thankful for my dog. She lays down next to the couch whenever I'm resting. She puts her nose up next to my face and waits for a pat on the head. Then she lays down again. She loves me. Sweet girl.

What A Week

As of my last post everyone was healthy in this family. Monday night Becky began running a fever. She had a nasty cough and with her past history of asthma I was concerned that the fever may be indicating something serious. So Tuesday morning I hauled her to the doctor. Her chest was fine. BUT she had strep throat. EWWW. She wasn't really acting to sick but she had that LOOK about her, like she just wasn't herself. After a couple of doses of miracle medicine she was just fine. Wednesday she went to school and I worked all day. It was kind of a funky day because the only real thing accomplished in any classroom in the school was practice for the chorus/band concert that afternoon. I actually got paid to watch rehearsals and the actual concert. I worked Thursday too, and it was a more normal day. Thursday night I took the girls to the mall for some shopping for friends' presents. I felt fine when we left to go there, but by the time we got home I was wiped out and had a sore throat. Friday morning I was supposed to go in and help with Becky's class party. I got up and ready determined to go. BUT, the more I moved around, the worse I felt. Before I knew it I was wrapped in multiple blankets on the couch. I felt awful! Fortunately I got in to see the doctor early and started my miracle medicine by lunch time. I still felt pretty awful ALL day and dozed on and off for the entire afternoon. My wonderful husband worked from home so I could stay permanently stuck to my sick bed, aka the couch in the living room. By 9 p.m. I felt slightly more human and I slept okay. But even today it feels like I'm swallowing razor blades - my throat is still so, so sore! Ed decided he should also take a trip to the doctor because his throat was a bit sore and he was starting to feel achey. Sure enough STREP for him too! So three out of five of us with strep throat - FUN! I'm just hoping that Katie and Allison don't get it! Or if they do that it will be well before Christmas when we're travelling to Maine!
We got about 8 - 10 inches of snow yesterday and last night. It's very pretty. The girls have been out playing in it. We're supposed to get another storm tomorrow. I guess we're pretty much guaranteed a white Christmas! I do love the snow! Now we get to put our new SUV to the test and find out its real worthiness. It has to be better than the van. That thing couldn't make it up the hill to our house in the snow sometimes. I'll let you know.

Our Budding Photographer

We were sitting on the bleachers TRYING to watch Rebecca's first basketball game of the season. Allison had other plans. The plans included whining, whining, and more whining. My bag of tricks got left at home so I dug into the depths of my purse and retrieved the only thing that even remotely resembled a 'toy' - my digital camera. She's five, so I thought she could handle it. I must say that the camera kept her happy for the entire game! Below is a sampling of the action shots she captured during the game...

Becky is the one with white sleeves, behind the girl in red...

In this photo Becky is at the far right.

And here number 5 is Becky.

The game itself didn't keep Allison occupied entirely so she created her own fun - with the camera...

This is Wall-E made out of Fuse Beads. Allison wanted to take some shots of Wall-E and his participation in the game...

Here Wall-E is having a break on the bleachers.

Here he is on the court...

And finally, here he is on Allison boot.

Priceless...

Fuse Beads

Some of you may know what Fuse Beads are but the name isn't familiar. I was completely ignorant of their existence until last summer when our neighbor brought some over for the girls to try out. They were instantly hooked so we went and bought our own big bucket of them. I think any big craft store must sell them. I will say that a certain amount of fine motor skill capability is necessary to fully enjoy them though. Allison does them without any trouble and has for quite some time. Here's a picture of the Fuse Bead bucket we have along with the templates (star & square), parchment paper, and a finished star. We also have tweezer type things that you can buy separately to help in picking up the beads and placing them on the template. Once the design is finished simply cover the beads with parchment paper and iron with a warmish iron until the beads FUSE together. Let them cool, then peel off the parchment and VOILA! You can stick magnets on the back to create beautiful refrigerator ornaments or slip a string through one of the beads to create a Christmas tree ornament.

Here's a close up of the beads. They come in lots of different colors!

This is one of the templates that came with our bucket. Many templates come in separate smaller kits as well.

And here's one of Allison's creations sitting on the parchment paper which was also included in the kit.

Now, stay tuned because my next post is all about Allison's creation and his participation in an athletic activity...

Ice Storm 2008

So. Yesterday was another snow day for the girls. Second one in a row. It rained. Ed & I were going to spend the day in New York (kid free) and have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I was bummed. Then I got an idea. I called our babysitter (who of course was out of school too and hadn't had time to make any plans for the day!) and asked if she was available for the day. She was!! And she brought her sister, who is Katie's best friend, with her. Katie doesn't need a babysitter but I don't feel comfortable leaving the girls all home together so the sitter was here for Allison and Becky and Katie and her friend did their own thing. It worked out GREAT! Ed & I shopped and went out to lunch. We were gone for about six hours!! If we'd gone to NY we couldn't have been gone that long due to the hour drive there and back and the need to be home by the time the girls got off the bus.

Now, back to the rain we got. Our house sits at 1230 feet above sea level and we got nothing but rain. Heavy rain - all night Thursday into Friday morning. Roads were washed out, yards were flooded, water raged down the mountainsides into gullies and small streams. It was pretty remarkable. However, we kept hearing reports and seeing the evidence (cars caked in thick layers of ice) that just a little farther up in elevation got slammed with a MAJOR amount of ice. Today we went for a ride to check it out. Literally 100 feet higher up into the mountains we saw trees down, power lines down, icy roads, and lots of ice still covering EVERYTHING! The area we drove through is part of our school district and after seeing the havoc caused by the ice it's no wonder they called of school! Here's some pictures.

Pretty wild, huh? It was incredibly beautiful to see everything so thickly coated with ice. The sun glittered off of the ice covered landscaped creating a magical, sparkling wonderland. Unfortunately, it will be days (or longer) before many of those people get their power back on. Life is certainly easier with electricity.

We are getting ready to head out in the bitter cold to watch Becky's chorus group sing outside at our town's holiday festival. It should be a fun time with lots of festive music, festive lights, and free hot cocoa!

I need to do a post of my children's obsession with Fuse Beads. Fuse Beads are so fun! But I'll post about that soon! Stay Warm!!

Cinnamon Ornaments

Here's the Cinnamon Ornament Recipe I promised along with some pics and video of the process!

1 cup cinnamon

1 cup applesauce (any kind)

1/2 T ground cloves

1/2 T nutmeg

Mix all together in a bowl to form a dough. Flatten dough on a cinnamon covered surface and use cookie cutters to cut out your favorite Christmas shapes. Use a sharp pencil to poke a hole in each ornament and let dry on the counter for a couple of days. Tie a ribbon through the holes and hang on your tree or use as a package decoration! Enjoy!

Here We Go Again...

The girls are home today. It's a Snow Day! Funny thing is, we aren't getting any snow--or ice--or sleet--or any combination of the three. It's actually raining--pure, 100% rain. Interesting. We are part of a regional school district and parts of our district are at high elevations where they are getting all kinds of wintry weather - I guess. So, the cautious thing to do is cancel school completely. I surely hope this isn't the beginning of a string of snow days like last year. The girls had something like 11 snow days and were going to school until June 22nd! This storm (we are officially under an ice storm warning) is supposed to last until tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is our anniversary. Ed is off from work and we are planning to do some Christmas shopping (which I am severely behind in!) and hit the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Those plans won't be possible with three girls lurking about. Please, no snow day tomorrow!

I filled up my vehicle for $17.15 today. I put in 17 1/2 gallons of gas. That's right, I got my gas for 97 cents a gallon! Our grocery store has this fuel advantage program where we get 10 cents off a gallon of gas for every $50 we spend. And it accumulates. So this time I saved 80 cents per gallon! I think the last time I filled up for less than a dollar a gallon was back in high school when I'd go to Charter and put $5 worth in my mom's Nissan Sentra. Interestingly enough it seems that the prices of everything else at the grocery store are going up--WAY up! I think I'm going to check out our other grocery store and do a little bit of comparison shopping. I'm wondering if the 10 cents off per gallon of gas may be an expensive gimmick to suck us unsuspecting shoppers in. Hmmm.....

Today the girls and I are going to make cinnamon ornaments. I found adorable little cookie cutters at Michael's yesterday. They are perfect for the ornaments! I haven't made them before but I've had one hanging on our tree ever since Ed & I got married. That was one of the most wonderful things about getting married at Christmastime - we got lots of Christmas ornaments as gifts! I love ornaments and the ones we received that year are very special to me! Anyway, the cinnamon ornaments are a piece of cake to make - or so I'm told. I'll take some pictures of our finished products and post them with the recipe later on.

Thought I should post this before the "Two Front Teeth" aren't missing anymore! :)

Hi!

I want to start this post by saying "HI!" to our sweet niece, Makenzie! I hear she has become a regular reader of the blog! So, hello Kenzie! We love you and miss you tons!! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

I love working as a substitute at our school! Even when I think I know what my job will be for the day, it sometimes is different when I actually get to school. Normally, I don't like unplanned changes. I like very much knowing what to expect - in advance. But this job is not like that AT ALL! And, I'm finding that I actually enjoy that part of it! Hmmm.... Today was supposed to be like yesterday. The morning would be spent as a classroom aide and the afternoon would be one on one with lovable Buddy, who is autistic. When I got to school I was asked if I could spend the entire day with Buddy instead. Our wonderful school secretary insisted that it was entirely up to me if I wanted to change things or leave them as is. But, how could I refuse to help with Buddy for the day? They were extremely short handed in the autism room and that is a pretty big deal. And, Buddy and I like each other - we get along famously, actually, so it was a pretty easy decision. BUT - as I was walking down the hall to Buddy's classroom I saw Allison walking down the hall with her teacher - carrying a trash can. Uh-oh. She was SICK. So, another change of plans. I felt awful for my poor little bug and I felt awful for leaving the autism room short a para. But, I'm so thankful that I was at school when my child needed me and hopefully another day I'll get to spend time with Buddy. Now, I just hope no one else gets sick!

We put up our tree on Saturday. It's a big, huge, fat tree! And it smells SO good! I hope to get some good pictures of it and I'll post them soon!

Well, I suppose I should check on my little miss. Have a great day!

Nothing in Particular

Not too much to report today. I've worked quite a bit this week and am finding many parts of my job rewarding. Yesterday I was in Allison's classroom - which is really fun. My lunch break was at the same time as Becky's lunch. I decided I'd rather sit in the noisy lunch room with my sweet girl than in the staff lounge. I asked Becky if she was glad I had lunch with her or if she thought it was weird. She said, "I was really glad you were there, Mom." That did my heart good. How special to be able to spend time with my girls while they're at school. I count it a privilege - one I'm so thankful for.

I finished the fourth book in the Twilight saga this morning. A friend and I are going to see the movie tonight. I can't wait! They'd better start cranking out the sequels to the first film!! As I mentioned before, these books are supposedly geared to teen readers. I found them to be a bit mature to allow Katie to read them, however. Anyway, a must read for adults for sure!!

The Christmas Tree is going up tomorrow. We may go and cut our own this year - maybe. The rest of the inside of the house is decorated just waiting for the guest of honor. My goal for today is to get wreaths in all the windows. That's the job Ed usually does but I don't want to wait!! Plus, he needs to do the outside lights! That'll take long enough.

Have a great weekend!!