Happy New Year....So Long 2010, Hello 2011

Well, once again, I have a TON of updating to do and it WILL get done eventually; however, I wanted to send a quick Happy New Year out to everyone first.  I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and an even better start to the new year!  May your 2011 be filled with fun times, happiness, good fortune, and wonderful memories to keep with you forever.

Things here are quite quiet on this New Year's Eve.  We've been trying to dodge getting full fledged colds around here.  Ethan has a cough and yucky stuff draining down his throat, Trevor has a stuffy nose and I'm battling the normal congestion that I've had since becoming pregnant (so not really a cold).  But thus far, that's all... no major colds or sickness going on (yet).  We've been enjoying some much needed family time as we sporadically play games between trying to get something accomplished around the house.  We've enjoyed two very nice days of temperatures in the 50s and 60s which has allowed for some (also) much needed outside time. 

Tonight is going to be a low-key Ringin' In the Year for the family.  Cooking steaks on the grill for all, playing some board games and of course, the Wii.  The kids favorite present from Santa this year!  And I have to admit, Rick and I have enjoyed it as well.  We'll have to make sure we set up some rules for Rick and I, not just the kids, on how much time we get to spend playing it! ;o)   But after dinner and some play time, it'll be dessert - ice cream decorated with our choice of toppings - and then off to bed to bring in 2011 with well rested kids and mom & dad.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday season and I look forward to giving you more updates in 2011, but I will be catching up on 2010 first .  Two thousand eleven should be an eventful year with additional activities for the kids and Dad, an ever growing Mama in the house, and a new addition mid year.    Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true in 2011.

Please Meet our Family

In case you have been following our blog but have never met all of us at the same time in one post, please let me introduce you to everyone in our family. 

This is Ethan.  He is our Kindergartner.  He has brown hair, brown eyes and some super cute freckles (really he does and I just LOVE them to pieces).  Ethan is athletic, smart and can be very silly at times!  He loves school and is a good big brother (most of the time).  He enjoys playing any sport that you will play with him, yet he can sit down and color, do crafts, read books, and have quiet time just like any other kids.  He has lost a total of 5 teeth thus far, but likes to proclaim that he can still whistle even though he has lost his two front teeth. 

Meet Trevor.  He is in preschool this year.  He has light brown hair and bright blue eyes with eyelashes that NEVER end.  (however he forgot to put that on his picture above).  Next year he will attend full day 4K and is looking forward to it so very much!!  He likes to play sports as well; however, gets a bit frustrated when big brother takes the ball away or hits/throws a ball farther than him.  On the flip side, he is our toughie!  He will tackle like there's no tomorrow and has the determination of a fighter.  He is also our instigator.  Enough said on that.  And he is our sensitive one; he loves animals, loves little kids/babies, and shows so much compassion towards them. 

This is me.  I have brown eyes and brown hair (and due to the two above me a few grays poking through as well).  Due to this picture, the boys have named me Pigtail during game time and giggle every time they say it.  I am a mom of 2 (well 2 1/2 if you count the little one growing at the moment) and a wife to the man you'll meet next.  I used to be a career working women; however, now spend my time working with our kids, working in our home and keeping everything running smoothly (or as smoothly as possible).  I love sports and being outside in the nice weather.  I enjoy spending time with my family/friends, updating this here blog, reading, exercising (ugh... yes, I really do when I can do it in a non-interrupted atmosphere - aka without my boys), and volunteering at any events I can for the kids. 

Meet Rick.  My husband and father to Ethan and Trevor.  He has light brown hair (that used to be blond) and bright blue eyes (just like someone else in the house).  He is the man of the house and works very hard to allow us to have what we do.  In his free time he, too, loves sports and enjoys playing them in a competitive arena or out in the yard with the kids.  He loves being outdoors (in non-humid weather) and was at peace when we lived in the mountains of Utah.  He is a wonderful man.  Smart, loving, caring, funny, supportive and a softy at heart.  

So there you have it - our family in a nutshell.  I think we should use these pictures for our next family photo, don't you?!?

Family Christmas

After returning home on Wednesday, December 29th, the boys were tired from the long drive home but were so excited to have Santa come to our house.  Before heading to WI, we had left Santa a note letting him know we'd be back next week and that we would leave some cookies and milk out for him when we returned. 

After having some "get all the silly's out" time once we were out of the van, the boys were ready for pjs and ni-night time.  We put out the cookies, milk, and sugar for the reindeer and the boys were off to sleep.  Surly they would be up ready to go at 5am so it was an early night for Rick and I as well.  Thankfully, they slept til 7am and I told them they had to have breakfast FIRST before we could open any gifts that were under the tree.  This at least gave Rick and I some time to wake up and get ready for the day of fun. 

Upon looking at the plate we had left out for Santa, Ethan exclaimed, "There's reindeer hair in the bowl of sugar!"  What?  Reindeer Hair?  Didn't know they left that behind when they came to visit.  But sure enough, there was some little brown hair-like stuff so of course, it HAS to be Reindeer Hair!  (It just has to be because it just couldn't possibly be brown fuzz from the blanket that Kelty uses as a bed each and every day.)

Following our breakfast, we had held the kids off from the presents long enough and it was finally time to open.  It was a smaller Christmas this year from Santa, but he was very specific about what he wanted to bring the kids and knew that they would need nothing other than this one gift (well, he did bring one other little thing for the two of them), but the other couple of gifts that were there were from Mom and Dad.  At first, this may have upset the boys a little ... not many presents to open.  However, after opening a couple of them, they forgot all about the number of presents and were just excited to see the presents that they actually did get.  

Santa knew.  He just knew, that the kids were wanting a Wii for a very long time.  They have been asking for a very long time and since they didn't get it last year for Christmas, Santa figured that he would make sure to keep one on reserve for them this Christmas.  And that is exactly what he did.  Thankfully he brought that because otherwise I'm not sure how long I could have kept Ethan living here with us.  Not because I didn't want him, but every time we would go to someone's house that had a Wii, he would leave there and tell me for the next few days that he wanted to live with them.  Why, I would ask.  And his response would be, "Because they have a Wii, Mom!"  Now we get to enjoy him here and don' have to worry about losing him to another family. 

The other gifts they received this Christmas were the game Trouble, some new sweatshirts, a new book for each, pjs and new footballs (not to mention all the other gifts that they received from cousins, and Grandmas and Grandpas!) 

It was a wonderful lazy day, our Family Christmas day.  The Wii was set up, we had hot chocolate and just enjoyed the day of playing with our toys and picking up the mess they created.  Thank you boys for keeping the magic of Christmas alive!  It's so special and amazing to remember the magic of the holiday when we live it through your eyes!

Hit With a Brick

While we were in WI, there were more days than not that the boys (mainly Trevor) went without a nap.  That lent itself to some days where he was just plain tired!  One day it was apparently evident that this was the case.  We had gone out to a museum with Rick's parents in the morning and then met up with my parents and some other family friends for lunch.  After lunch we went back to my parent's house and the boys had a few minutes to play and have a Christmas cookie, of course.  There wasn't a day, or maybe hour, that the kids didn't have some sort of holiday treat at Grandma's house ;)  The boys were eating their treat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen when Trevor wanted help getting down from the bar stool.  My mom was standing there and said, "I'll help you down, but only if I can give you a great big hug first."  Trevor gladly accepted and went right into Grandma's arms. 

And that's where he stayed.  He put his head on hear shoulder and never moved a muscle after that.  It was not 2 minutes later and we both started to laugh in amazement.  His eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy.  He had fallen asleep in literally 1 short minute!!  My mom treasured this time and we both laughed at how quickly he was out.  It was as if someone had hit him over the head with a brick and knocked him out!  Needless to say, he took a very good nap on this day!

Christmas Travels and Happenings

Christmas 2010 was spent partially in Wisconsin with our wonderful family and friends.  We were blessed to have clear travel roads not only on the way there, but on the way back as well!  Last year we had yucky roads both ways, but this year we had spectacular roads. 

We were able to spend 5 full days at home and enjoyed every minute of it.  We spent time with family, friends and even some time just as a family.  It was an all around good trip and I hope that every Christmas can go as smoothly as this one did! (I know, I just jinxed us for the next, oh, probably 5 years).  But for now, we'll just enjoy the memories of this holiday....

So here is the run-down of our week in pictures....

Christmas Eve at Rick's parents....

Stocking Time for the grandkids

Opening Gifts...

 Christmas Day at my parent's house

Random pictures...

Sneaky Auntie Bev...

The kids waited all day long to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa...

And the adults had to wait all day long too - to see who had their name this year...

On Sunday night we were able to spend time with our friends the Gunnell's.  It's always fun to see the boys... all six of them... having fun together.  Not to mention that as the boys play, and the men talk, Melanie and I get a chance to chat.  And man do we miss being able to chat like we used to!  So, when we get together, it's a win-win situation for everyone!!



And on Tuesday we got to spend time with the Thoresen's.  We miss them dearly all the time and it's so weird to think that we started with just the 4 adults and have grown like this over the past few years...

We cherish our time with the Thoresen's... we just pick up right where we left off each and every visit!

So that was our visit, in a nutshell.  It was fun, and everyone was ready for naps when we got back to Missouri. I guess that's the sign of a good vacation!  We miss all of you and hope we get to see you again sometime very soon!!

Christmas Time at Holy Rosary

Each that Ethan is in school, I am reminded just how fun the week before Christmas break really was.  You don't do work (especially in 4K and Kindergarten).  You have fun.  You make holiday crafts.  You sing songs.  You play games.  That is what the last week of school is about before the holiday.  This year, I was fortunate to be able to volunteer in Ethan's class each Thursday morning in December while Trevor was in school.  Another parent and I took on the holiday crafts for their class and it was so much fun to see all the kids excited about the holiday the whole month through.   And then each child brought home a paper bag full of crafts, goodies, ornaments and various drawings that they had completed during the month.  Ethan told Rick and I that it was our Christmas gift from him so we had to put it under the tree until we opened gifts after returning from Wisconsin.  The morning we celebrate Christmas here, he was so excited to have us open it.  It was magical for him and he loved showing us all the things he had created.  And even though I was there for half of them, it didn't matter.  It was his gift to us from HIM!

Ethan's Christmas Goody Gift Bag for Rick and I

In addition, the entire school was preparing for their annual holiday concert.  Once again it was a wonderful performance by all the grades!  Ethan had been singing their songs over and over again throughout the weeks; however, he looked a little gun-shy once he was up on stage.  Not sure why, since he is usually not nervous when up their in a group, but this time he was.  He told us afterwards, " I wasn't nervous, but I did forget some of the words so I didn't know what to sing."  That would make me a little nervous, too. 

Daddy's Little Elves

Each year at Christmas Rick does a little something for his leadership team at work.  Part of the little something this year was a treat bag filled with all different kinds of Christmas candy.  The boys were eager to help put these bags together...especially since these bags involved chocolate.

New Past Time

The boys new thing to pass the time is coloring.  I know that may seem like something kind of "every day", but they are actually ASKING to color and will stick with it for quite some time.  Yesterday, they colored before dinner for a 1/2  hour and continued after dinner for over a 1/2 hour.  They sit at the table together and chat like old men.  Talking about their days and what they did at school and how old they think Santa is, and who makes Santa's gifts since the makes all the toys for everyone else.  It is quite entertaining to just stand around the corner and listen to them chatting away.  And did I mention they do this in Nice.  Quiet.  Inside. Voices??   

Here are just a couple of the masterpieces of late.  Ethan has been a good colorer (so I'm not really sure that's a word, but you get the point) for awhile now, but the light just switched on in Trevor's hand/eye coordination and he is doing a magnificent job as well!  I hope they continue this past time because it really is quite refreshing compared to the running and tackling of their normal football games.

Trevor's coloring of "Baby Jesus in His Crib" (that's what he called the picture)

And Ethan's Christmas Tree. 

He was a bit color happy so don't mind the unconventional tree colors.

Beautiful Addition to the Table

On Tuesday we received a delivery from a local flower shop.  They had called my phone to see if I was home for a delivery and at the time I was picking up Ethan from school.  I told them I'd be home in 20 minutes and they could come anytime after that.  Now was is a girl to think when a flower shop calls and says, "we have a delivery".  Of course, I thought, "Flowers, for me?  You shouldn't have."  Not really sure who would've done that since there was no special occasion.  Had it been Rick, he would have earned some serious brownie points; however, I knew better.  Flowers just don't come out of the blue from him.    And who else would send something out of the blue?  Well, I couldn't think of who so I figured I'd let my mind rest and just wait for the delivery truck to show up at the house. 

Much to my surprise, it wasn't for me, but for Rick and I.  Go figure.  (hee-hee)  It was an absolutely beautiful poinsettia from the partners at his plant.  It is beautiful and I have never had one that is this HUGE and gorgeous.  So, thank you, Partners! We love it and enjoy seeing it on our table each and every day!

Changing Hands

These past couple weeks we were receiving package after package from the mailman being that a lot of Christmas shopping was done online this year.  However, there was one gift that Ethan knew he could open when it came... his new winter coat.  Once the cold weather hit and the winter coats needed to be worn, we realized that Ethan had grown like a weed since last winter.  His coat "fit" just as long as he didn't raise his arms more than an inch from his side.  The sleeves were just a tad short when he would put his arms up and as a mom, I have to admit that I was a bit embarrassed that he had to wear it until the new one was delivered!  But he didn't seem to mind.  Kids are so oblivious to stuff like that!  Thank. God. 

But Thursday the new coat came and everyone was happy.  Ethan had a "cool" new coat that actually fit. And Trevor, well, he got a new coat too... Ethan's.  He wasn't so sure about it at first, but I think he'll be ok with it as time goes on.  That poor kid gets all the hand-me-downs and never anything new.  Thankfully he is oblivious to that, too.  Most of the time anyway.   

So here are the smiles with the new coats for the season.  Happy Winter boys. Now GO play OUTSIDE! 

Baby No. 3 - The Full Scoop

Now that the news has been broken to all, it's time to tell the details of baby #3.  Well, maybe not all the details, but the ones that you may be interested in.  

So, we'll start at the beginning.  Rick had a business trip starting on October 31st.  It was the day of the dedication of our church and the boys were sad to see Daddy leave for the week.  I was a week late already; however, every HPT, yes EVERY ... I had taken multiple during that week, but every one was negative so I figured it was just my cycle being... ugh - my cycle.  Rick kept saying, "you're pregnant, I just know it."  And I kept blowing him off.  I wasn't tired like I was with the other two.  My chest wasn't sore like it was with Ethan (maybe that was too much info, but hey, that's the way it was).  I didn't have that empty pit feeling in my stomach that I had with the other two.  I was convinced that I wasn't pregnant.

Little did I know that Rick was right.  On Halloween, after Rick had already left for the airport (he left during the wee hours of the morning), I took another test that I swore was going to be my last until Rick got back (had it come back negative).  But I didn't have to worry about that since it came back positive, positive, positive.  Seriously??  How could he be right and I be wrong??  Seriously?? 

My heart sank.

My heart jumped. 

My worries started. 

My head was spinning. 

How was I going to tell him. 

Would he be happy? 

Would he be upset? 

Do I wait til he comes back from his trip? 

Do I send him something to the hotel? 

Do I tell him over the phone? 

In a clever email? 

Seriously, I have to sit all week and not tell a soul?  That is just not fair.   I didn't know if I could do it.  And like some sign from God, my sister had called, at that exact moment as I was running through all these emotions, so she was the first to know and helped me get through that very first day of ever-changing emotions. 

I decided to wait til he got home to drop the bomb, and being that he didn't get in until after we were all in bed, I told him like this...

Now that Rick finally knew, it all seemed a bit more real; however, I still didn't feel pregnant like I did early on with the other two.  It wasn't until a couple weeks later (mid-November) that I started getting some of the symptoms that are normal to me: an empty pit in my stomach and super-super, fall asleep before I even sit down tiredness. 

We told our immediate families the news on Thanksgiving by way of Rick's Christmas list. We do a Secret Santa exchange with the adults of my family and we make lists for things that we would like. On Rick's list, he wrote down a "Guide for becoming a Dad of 3".  As soon as they saw the list, the phone was ringing and they were excited to hear the news; however, it was different for me this time.  I was excited, but it was different.  Not having family near by to share the news with in person made it different.  I can't really explain it, but it wasn't the pure joy/excitement that we had the last two times when we told them of our pregnancies.  But it was still nice to have them know and to have additional people to talk to about it. 

On December 11th, we had an OB appointment and even though I was only 10-11 weeks along we were able to hear the heartbeat of our little one. 178 beats per minute... racing!  It was a great thing to hear and made it seem more real (once again).  When we came home we told the boys that we heard a little heart beat in Mommy's tummy.  At first they just looked at us blankly.  After asking, "What do you think would make a heartbeat in my tummy?", Ethan got this silly, little embarrassed look on his face and said, "Trevor, you say it".  Trevor had no clue what Ethan was talking about and Ethan continued by saying, "Trevor, you say it.  It's a B - A - B - Y." (spelling it out but not actually saying it.)  Trevor not knowing what Ethan was spelling was still clueless.  Finally Ethan said, "Trevor, that spells baby."  And then he giggled.  It was cute to see his shyness or embarrassment about it.  And then in 2.2. seconds they went about their business and were off playing.

Once the boys knew, it was safe to finally tell EVERYONE.  And that made all the difference in the world for me.  I was in a terrible "funk" before putting the news out there.  I was quiet, I was not wanting to do the extra things that I should have been doing or participating in.  Anything that wasn't related to our family, Ethan or Trevor's school, or home life took a back seat.  But since we've put the news out there, I feel much much better, mentally and emotionally.

Our due date is currently July 5th, 2011.  We have an ultrasound in early January where I will be 14 weeks along and then another one with a perinatologist (high-risk doc) in February.   This earlier ultrasound is just to give us peace of mind that so far things are going ok.  It doesn't mean we are out of the woods yet, but it will hopefully show that the worst of the worst defects are not present.  We've been a bit nervous being that we have Trevor's spina bifida history.  It will be very nice to either put our fears to rest or know what we have in front of us.  The not knowing is worse than anything.   I've taken the precautions necessary to minimize the risk of having another child with spina bifida, but there are no full proof guarantees.  So, we just pray and hope that this baby is happy and healthy!!

So that's the scoop for now.  I will continue to update as the weeks go by on things that are happening, how I am feeling, doctor's appointments, etc.  If you think you might have missed one, just click on the category "Adieu to my Toes" and they will all be listed.  Thankfully I can still see the toes, but I know they will be disappearing as the months go by :o)

Wonderful Sound...

Saturday Rick and I heard a wonderful "new" sound. 

It was a sound of very quick tempo. 

So quick it was hard to keep up. 

According to the "metronome" that was used it was 178 beats per minute. 

Can you imagine that? 

Not quite sure how we're going to keep up with that one,

but I think it'll slow down a just a bit over the next few months...

just like I will.

One Last Detail Put Into Place

Back in October when we had the dedication of our new church, the building was nearly complete.  All the necessities were in place to hold the dedication; however, one very important, and identifying, detail was still incomplete.  That detail is the statue of Mary that was to be placed inside the steeple high above the main doors of the church.  Mary was still being prepared when the dedication was occurring.  She is made of Italian marble that came from Italy and stands 10 feet tall and weighs a measly 5,500 pounds. 

On Wednesday, Mary was shipped to our church and the work began to un-crate Her, connect Her with the utmost safety and precision to the crane, to raise Her and then place Her in Her final resting place.  Towards the end of the day on Wednesday the kids in school were able to take time out of their classroom to see them unload Mary off the truck and start to open the shipping crate she was in.  After school, Trevor wanted to stay and watch them lift her high with the crane so we stuck around for a bit.  It obviously took the workers some time to make sure they had the proper restraints on the statue so we left and went home to get a snack.  Around 4:30pm we returned to school to see if any progress had been made.  Much to our surprise, and liking, they were getting very close to lifting Her up.  Around 5pm the crane starting lifting and didn't put her down like it had a few times before.  She went up, up, up, 39 feet up into the air.  After about 10-15 minutes of making sure they had the exact placement of where Mary needed to be, the crane lowered just a bit and She was placed in the steeple right where She needed to be!

The scene where it all took place

Testing the straps... was everything right?

Yep... must have been.  He's up there waiting and Mary's being lifted

Almost there!

One last little adjustment

And Mary's in place!

 There were many people standing out in the cold to witness this special moment and others, like us were sitting in the parking lot with our vehicles turned toward "the show" so that we didn't freeze while waiting and watching.  Ethan was not all that thrilled about sitting in the van during the whole time we were there, but the next morning when we were able to see the entire statue up above the entrance doors of the church, Ethan's first words were, "Mom, that is so cool that we saw them put Mary up there!!  We saw that!!"   Wednesday night, being that it was fast approaching dinner time when the finally had Mary up in the steeple, we decided to go home once they had set her down.  However, they had not disconnected all the crane wires and security straps, nor had they uncovered her.  So while we arrived at school on Thursday morning we took a little detour to see Mary first.   And this is what we saw...  both the boys said, "Awe.... it's beautiful!", as did I!

Trevor asked why Mary was so much smaller now!  Depth perception, my child, depth perception.  She's still 10 feet tall and 5,500 lbs of pure marble

And now, our church is completed.

Random Tips #11 and #12

Some additional random tips for you.

This is something that I had done a long time ago; however, when we bought our new printer awhile back I got out of the habit because they didn't carry our ink cartridges.  After waiting some time, I figured I'd check it out again (just hoping that their stock had changed) and surprisingly enough they had.  So, my random tip is more of a money saving tip.

Random Tip #11

If you have a printer at home, especially a color printer, go to Inkjetsuperstore.com and order ink from them.  Much cheaper for the same type of ink only in "non-name brand" containers!

My next tip was discovered this year when I decided to fore go getting a second round of pictures of Ethan from a professional photographer.  Last year, I decided to do both even though he had a nice school picture.  However, this year, I only did the school pictures.  But you know, the school pictures are not cheap either.  For the style of picture you get, you pay a lot of money for all the pictures you need.  So, this year, I tried something different and it worked.

Random Tip #12

If you have a printer that can scan and has good photo printing quality, order a smaller package of pictures and just scan them in and print out for additional family members.  I know this might not be the most honest thing to do with all the copyright issues that are out there (however, when you can get a CD with the pictures on from the company, I figured just scanning them in myself wasn't such a bad thing either). 

This tip will save you a lot of money and the family will still oooh and ahhh over the pictures you give them.

Just My Thoughts

Hello, hello, hello.  This is not a normal update about the kids or something fun we've done.  Just a post about the goofy things in my head.  But there are so many of them and I know that I will soon forget them so I figured I'd write them down.  So what if the rest of you can see them.... maybe you can help me figure out some of the questions that are running around rapid in my brain these days. ;o)  So, off we go.... my brain dump.

**What kind of schedule can I make to keep my house looking nice 90% of the time rather than only the 10% of the time that it does now.  I'm tired of clutter.  I'm tired of dust.  I'm tired of toys migrating from upstairs to the living room.  I'm tired of kids clothes being thrown on the floor rather than being put back in the drawers or in the laundry basket.

**What kind of deal is a good deal on the Wii system.  We are not getting a ton of smaller gifts for the boys this year.  They get presents from the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, the friends so we have plenty of new stuff each year.  This year we are going to do something bigger for both of them (and the family) along with a couple small things.  The big thing we're thinking of is the Wii.  We don't have one (obviously, otherwise we wouldn't be looking for one) and the kids love playing it when we go to other people's houses.  So, what is a good deal?  What are the good games for kids of age 6 and 4?  What attachments do you really need to play?  I've see the golf club, the tennis racket, the wheel, the nunchuck, etc, etc, etc.  What are they all used for and what 'extras' do you really need?

**What toys can I get rid of?  I keep trying to go through the boys' toy room, but it never seems like I get rid of enough.  If they play with the train tracks every now and then, do I need to keep the table/tracks up there or can I take it down?  Same thing with board games.  they have their favorites that they play with alot and the others they play every now and then - do I pack away the ones that only get played with occasionally?

**How can I make dinner time more fun?  I enjoy cooking, but sometimes I get in a rut where it feels more like a chore than something fun.  And I am in that rut once again.

**My external hard drive.  UGH.  That should be all I say because I could say some very not-nice words about the piece of junk.  I have had it since we left Utah and it worked there. Then when we moved it didn't work for awhile.  But then one day it worked again.  Right now, it is in a "not-working" state and I have so many pictures to back up so that I can empty my camera disk before it crashes on me!  What do I do???    I should take a trip up to the city to Best Buy with my hard drive and computer in tote; however, I just haven't.  UGH.  Technology is just the pits some days!

**I am missing my family (and my close friends from home and Utah).  Even though we have moved closer, I still wish we were closer yet so that I could make "quick weekend" trips to see them.   It's been since July that I've seen any of them and I think that is contributing to my "Bah Humbug" attitude lately.  I know that's not the only thing, but I miss them all and can't wait to go home for the holidays! 

**When am I going to get my haircut?  The lady I go to only works M/W/F and some Saturdays.  Go figure she's not working on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I could go peacefully without rushing since both boys are at school in the morning.  Saturdays sometimes work, but only if Rick is not working.  UGH... it shouldn't be that hard to get your haircut.  Mom... you wanna make a trip down here before Christmas?  Ha.

** I need to print/order my blog book.  But there is one post that needs to be put in it yet and I don't want to print it without it.  But I'm having a hard time getting that post inserted into the book. 

** What can I do from home to earn some $$ for our family?  It's not that I need to, but I want to.  I wanted to do medical transcription; however, I am not at a point where I can go back to school right now.   But I've heard of other "transcription" like for restaurants with all the comment cards, etc.  Any thoughts? Any other ideas of things that I can do from home that don't take additional schooling?  Please, please do send them my way. 

** My Christmas Crafts.... seriously lacking them this year!  The boys are doing some at their schools, but I feel bad because I haven't done any at home yet.  Bad mom of the year, I know.  But I'll think of something yet and will get it done so that we can enjoy a little craftiness in this house.  Any fun ideas out there from anyone - pass 'em on.

** What flowers are we going to plant in our flowerbeds come spring?  We lost 2 huge trees during a July storm and we need to fill the spots again.  Either new trees, or a TON of flowers/taller grasses.  I need to start thinking about this now so that I'm prepared come March when we need to start planting.

Ok ... there is more in my head, but for now I need to stop.  Vacuuming needs to be done and kitchen cleaned up before I make dinner.    Thanks for listening...or just ignoring if you didn't want to read my babble today ;o)  And I apologize for any missed words or bad grammer.  I am not going back to proof-read this before hitting Publish.  So, you get what you get and that's just the way it is today.

He's a Big Kid Now

(I was singing the title of this post just like the song "I'm a Big Kid Now" from the Pull-ups commercials)

Just the other day, Trevor went for a quick trip to the store with Rick in his vehicle.  Instead of switching over the big car seat we just took Ethan's booster seat (with the back put on it) and let Trevor sit in that.  It was a special treat for Trevor to be in a big boy seat!  However, that was the end of the little boy car seat!  Trevor asked and asked and asked when he could have a seat like Ethan.  We had been thinking of getting him a booster seat since he is a the max weight limit for his current seat so this seemed like as good a time as any to make the switch. 

After looking at many many review of different seats, I ordered one and just a few days later Trevor's package came in the mail. He could. not. wait. for me to take it out of the box and put it in the van.  He sat next to me patiently as I put it together and immediately sat in it once I said I was finished. 

And even though Trevor is normally exicited to go pick up Ethan at the end of the day anyway, today he was even more eager to get in the van.  I don't know how many times he asked me if it was time to go yet, but I do remember that I was relieved once we were finally on our way to pick Ethan up from school. 

(Oh, and don't mind the mis-placed seat belt....it was fixed before we ventured out of the driveway ;)   I wanted to quick take the pictures because I just couldn't pass up the HUGE smiles he had on his face! )

Christmas Tree Decorating

Normally, I love Christmas time and changing our house from Fall decor to the Christmas and winter decor of the holidays.  However, this year, the Christmas decorations didn't go up as "happily" as they normally do.  I love them once they're out, but I just didn't have the energy or desire to put them up this year.  But I had to.  So, after Thanksgiving out they came. 

Rick had to travel after Thanksgiving so we were sure to get the tree bought and put up before he had to leave otherwise it would have had to wait until mid-December and by that time, I would have just said forget it! (in retro spec, I maybe should have said that anyway.  Since I am writing this in January, I can tell you that this tree was the WORST. TREE. EVER.  It stopped drinking water precisely 1 week after we put it up and became drier and drier each passing day.  To the point where we thought it was more of a fire hazard than a beautiful thing to look at.  One little touch and a full branch of needles would fall on the floor.  It. Was. Terrible.)

But at the time of putting up the tree all was fine. The boys loved helping with the ornaments this year and I do love decorating a tree (once I get the lights on, that is).  This year, we moved the tree into our sun room which was PERFECT!!  It was out of the way, but the shining of the lights was beautiful when reflecting on the windows of the entire room.  We definitely will be putting it in there again next year (but we will NOT be buying the tree from the same place as we did this year -- sorry Rick, I compromised this year, but not next year...I will drive the extra 1/2 hour to go get a tree that isn't going to die in one week).

Thanksgiving Program - 2010

Once again this year, Ethan's school had a Thanksgiving Feast for the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes and their families.  The little program they put in is always so cute and there is always yummy food afterward for everyone to enjoy.  This year they had 3 songs for the kindergarten class....

During this next song each child was able to say something that they were thankful for.  The parts that they were saying were not rehearsed before hand.  This is a longer video (just to warn you)

In case you couldn't hear what Ethan said, he said he was thankful for The Navy.  Why the Navy?  Rick and I weren't quite sure being that we don't have any connection to The Navy; however, after I asked Ethan he said that he likes the fighter jets and The Navy ships help the fighter jets in the ocean.  Not quite the warm and fuzzy feeling Rick and I would have gotten if he had said, "my family, or my mom and dad, or my brother", but at least he had a reasoning for it ;o)

In this last video, they went through the letters of the alphabet one by one and read about something relating to Thanksgiving.  Ethan had the letter H and the final paragraphs about how Thanksgiving became a national holiday. 

working myself up to it

To actually post something, that is!  Not sure what is wrong with me, but I realized I have only 4 posts for the month of November.  Four, 4, Quatro, FOUR!!!!  That is just not heard of for me.  And tomorrow is the first day of December, so unless I decide to back date some of the posts, will be stuck a very small, teeny-tiny number of posts in that month.  Not sure what it is.  Just not taking the time to sit down and blog lately.  I love reading everyone else's, I just don't have the motivation to do my own.

Tomorrow hopefully, or maybe Thursday.  Ok, I can't promise that.  But one of these days, I'll get back on the wagon and start telling you what's going on around these parts. 

Our November Jack 'O Lantern

October is supposed to be the month of jack 'o lantern with silly smiles and teeth; however, we've been blessed to have one at our house in November this year, too.   We've been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for Ethan's top teeth to fall out. They've been loose for quite some time and one of them was just hanging there, but he would have nothing to do with us pulling it.  Where was our wonderful pediatric dentist neighbor when we needed him?!?   But the day finally came when it fell out - this past Sunday. 

This is what he was looking like missing one tooth....

And then today that look changed once again. His bottom one's are loose, too and one of those decided to come out while he was eating a banana after school.  So now our "jack" is missing two teeth and soon to be three once that other top one falls out!  What some fun Christmas pictures we will have with his toothless grin!

Just Go Along With It

Sometimes you just need to humor your children.  Ethan got an idea from America's Funniest Home Videos to attach a rocket (via a string) to a loose tooth and then shoot the rocket.  The end result being that the tooth will come out as the rocket is shot up into the air. 

He didn't have a rocket, but he did have a foam dart gun that he thought would do the trick.  As Rick and I suspected, it didn't work, but hey, at least he got to try it out!

Almost Perfect Afternoon

Back in October we had some beautiful weather (and are still having it in mid-November) and the boys and I took advantage of that weather by playing outside.  One day in particular, they had an absolute blast playing football.  Kelty even got to play with them - more by her choice than theirs! 

I wish it could stay like this all winter!! It was an almost perfect afternoon.  The only thing that could have made it perfect is if Rick would have been home to enjoy it with us.

A Beautiful Beginning - Church Dedication

On October 31st we, as a community, witnessed something spectacular in the dedication of our new church.  I have never been though a dedication before and was very excited to see all the rituals of blessing a new church.  It was amazing.  We were there for two and a half hours (and that's a LONG time for us Catholics ;o)  ), but it felt like it was no longer than an hour.  It was wonderful just to see all the hard work and preparation come together in a beautiful ceremony in an extraordinary facility that we now call our church.  We were given sneak peeks of the church as they were building it, but I never pictured the whole thing and how it was going to look. It is more beautiful than I ever imagined and those that worked on it should be very proud of the job they did.  It is beautiful and I will be in awe each and every time I am in it.

At the end of the dedication ceremony a member of our parish stood to tell us about the windows and symbols of the church.  Below is the write up of his talk.  I could have paraphrased it, but it was so well done and explains things so clearly, that I figured I would just copy it word for word.  No need to read it all if you don't want - I am really putting it all in here for my benefit so that I don't forget about the "why's" of the church's design.    Enjoy the pictures that I have added throughout the text.  They, of course, don't do the church justice, but hopefully it gives you a glimpse of the beauty we will see each and every time we step into our new church.

Front of Church - the black area up in the temple is where a 10,000lb statue of Mary praying the Rosary will be placed (it was the one thing that wasn't finished for the dedication)

East side of church (above); North east of church (below)

Write up from church
As you approach the main entrance of the church, you are greeted from the tower by Mary, Queen of the Rosary.  As mother and patroness of our parish, her presence is the constant reminder that she is praying with us, and intercedes for us.  With Mary, we pray that we can come into a deeper relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We are assured that she is with us from conception/birth to death/resurrection.  We join her prayer and example: not our will, but God's will be done. 

The four large stained glass windows in the sanctuary represent the four mysteries of the rosary, and tell the story of who we are and Whose we are - the human and divine story  of LOVE.  Bordering each window are the beads of the rosary.  In the east window we behold the nativity, the incarnation of the Christ in full innocence and humility.  The glory of God shines through this joyful act of human creation.  All humanity, from kings to shepherds, embraces this mystery. 

On the west window is the crucifixion.  Jesus endured, and surrendered it all.  The Pieta not only symbolizes Mary's sorrow, but moves us from hate, pain and agony to compassion and love, that in turn lead to resurrection. 

On the south window is a representation of the Eucharist - real food for eternal life, and symbolic of our oneness with Father, Son and each other. 

On the north window we have the descent of the Holy Spirit.  It depicts God's love and grace poured out on us as the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, to bring us into communion with Father and Son. 

From east to west we have the human story from birth to death, from joyful to sorrowful, from Love to Love.  Facing north and south, in the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist, the love and grace of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are portrayed.  Fruits and gifts from the Spirit, and food for eternal life that help us live God's life.  From Love to Love in all directions. 

On the small stained glass windows are medallions symbolic of God.  They remind us who God is and our relationship to Him.  Represented on the four smaller, corner windows are the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  On the other eight windows God's relationship with us is depicted as....the Light of God... God's presence and call... the Word of God.... God the beginning and the end of all things... God Creator of our wold... God's providence and omnipotence.... God's authority and rule... God's covenant with man.

The inside walls of the church are lined with 14 stations, commemorating the Passion of Christ, The Way of the Cross.

In the front of the church and in the sanctuary stand statues of the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  In the back of church are the statues of St. Theresa of Liseux, and St. Anthony of Padua.  By the example of their lives, and the lives of all the saints, we are reminded of our vocation to live a life of love, centered on God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 

Centered above the tabernacle is the cross and corpus of Jesus that dates back to our mission church in 1896. The alter is framed by an ornate wooden reredos, comprised of three arches, representing the Holy Trinity.  It is here in the midst of these sacred symbols, above and behind the alter, that we place the tabernacle, which houses the Blessed Sacrament.

View from gathering space at back of church

View of front of church from back doors

The alter (closer up) 

For several years it has been our prayer at Holy Rosary that we surrender to God's will and ask the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us to create a worship space that leads to prayer and adoration.  Now, in immeasurable gratitude and humility, we praise God and thank the Holy Spirit for guiding us to the realization and completion of our new church.  May God bless all who visit and pray here.