I can't believe it's been so long since I have updated. I apologize to my 2 readers. lol Let's see, the last time I updated was when Joe got his new car. That was over a month ago as he has already had to put his permenant plate on it. :) Life finally seemed to calm down a bit after that. Baseball had gotten underway somewhat. Signups took place and Joe was elected to the Grayson Athletic Association board of directors as the Secretary. He likes when I call him "Mr. Secretary". LOL My sister in law got married in Savannah on Feb 7th so I had a lot of shopping to do beforehand. My kids owned only jeans and t-shirts and they all needed clothes for the rehearsal dinner as well as the wedding and so did I.
I spent a solid week looking for clothes for us and finally made the final decisions and purchases the Thurs before we left (Feb 5th). As I was driving home from the mall, my van wouldn't shift gears. I knew something bad was wrong so I drove it straight to our mechanic. He drove it with me and informed me of the bad news..NEW TRANSMISSION. We just put a transmission in it 2 yrs ago and the cost of the transmission was more than what the van was worth so we knew we needed to search for a new van. Obviously, we had no time as we were leaving the very next morning for Savannah. Luckily my sister has an extra vehicle which happens to be a van so we borrowed that from her to make our trip much better. It was hard for me to enjoy my weekend as I knew what my week ahead held in looking for a van for me. We returned home Sunday late afternoon and our septic tank was messed up. We knew it was full and needed to be pumped so that's what I spent Monday doing. I waited around for the septic dudes to get here and empty the septic tank. Finally on Tuesday, I was able to go van shopping. I had to go alone as Joe couldn't take the day off. So..off I went. The first place I stopped was awful. The 2 vans I looked at were in bad shape. I then stopped at a Toyota dealership next door to the first place. They took up A LOT of my time and in the end, talked me in to driving a van home. I knew I didn't want that van and should have never driven it home but I did. That afternoon, I saw that Carmax in Kennesaw had gotten in 2 Toyota Siennas so immediately after the boys got home from school, we went up there (about an hour drive) to look at those. Luckily, Joe works about 15 mins from there and met us there. We spent 3 hrs test driving 2 vans and getting the paper work completed but in the end, I bought a 2006 Toyota Sienna. EXACTLY what I wanted! :) We had to leave it because we didn't have any way to get it home so I went the next morning with my father in law to pick it up. On the way home, the tire pressure light came on. UGH Thursday I had a lot of errands to run and it was a half day at school so I couldn't take the van back to Carmax until Friday. Friday I took the van back and they took care of it. Something about having to call Toyota to get the code to reset that light. So, I now have my van and I totally love it!
We also booked our house for Spring Break in Holden Beach, NC. :) We went there last year and had so much fun. My inlaws will be going as well as my sister in law and hopefully her boyfriend. We are all very excited about this upcoming trip.
Baseball has officially started and all 3 of the boys are on great teams with wonderful coaches! This is going to be a great season! :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The latest news here!
WOW..it's been awhile since I have posted a blog on here. We've definantly had quite a bit going on. Can you believe that as of yesterday morning, all our Christmas decorations were still up? Thank goodness we didn't decorate outside. lol At least now I can drive down the road and think "well at least I am not still lighting the outside decorations" LOL Let's see...New Years came and went. My dad left and we finally had a weekend with no visitors and no where to go. Ample time to take down Christmas decorations but we just wanted to DO NOTHING all weekend so that was exactly what we did. School started Monday, Jan. 5th ...and not a day too soon. lol Honestly, I can't remember what happened that week but it wasn't taking the decorations down. lol
Last week I had a dr's appt on Tues and then I rejoined Curves. I am DETERMINED to get fit this year. Yeah yeah, I know. I say it every year and here I am ...still not fit. I was in gear and ready to head to my first workout on Wednesday when as I was waking the boys up for school I heard Joe desperately trying to start his car. Unfortunately that didn't happen and he ended up having to take my van to work that day. It was COLD that morning and we were thinking that maybe it wouldn't start because of the sudden drop in temperature so around lunch time, I went out and started it. It took a little bit to get it started (and me constantly pressing the accelerator) but finally it started. Once it did, white smoke flew out the back. A LOT of white smoke. LOL It was running really rough but I had to go back inside and get dressed (yep, wouldn't you know it. It started because I had my pjs on) so that I could take it straight to the mechanic's. It stayed running while I ran back inside and luckily my mother in law was able to meet me and bring me back home. Later that day, the mechanic called Joe and explained that a piston had blown and that it needed a new engine and would cost $1700 for a USED one. Joe's car is a 1995 Saturn and he bought it brand new when he graduated law school. This car is a total POS! The headliner is falling (so much so that you can barely see out the back window) and it's just plain OLD! Joe always swore he'd drive this car til it died and he officially did that. lol Joe was heading into a deposition when the mechanic called so he briefly called me about it and I immediately started looking online for cars. I finally got to talk to him afterwards and we decided it was time to "bury" the Saturn.
Thursday morning our dog had a vet appt so I borrowed the inlaw's car and took her to her appt. Joe decided to take a half day and met me at home at 11:30am so we could go look at cars. First stop was a dealership in Lilburn to drive a Toyota Rav 4. I wasn't really interested in this car as Carfax had shown it had been wrecked and had to be towed from the scene but Joe wanted to drive it anyway. We got to the dealership and the lot was so overpacked that they had cars parked in the rows..everywhere. It was INSANE how many cars they had in that lot. We drove the car and decided it was too small for our family. There was also a good bit of wind noise on the passenger side when driving at high speeds and that's the side that was wrecked so we returned it and to our surprise, the dude let us walk off the lot without even giving us his business card.
The next stop was CarMax in Norcross. We went in thinking we were only looking at a GMC Envoy or Toyotas or Hondas. We drove the Envoy and although it had all the bells and whistles that were very tempting, it was quite noisy on the expressway and the gas mileage was pretty sucky. We looking in the lot at the few Camrys and Accords that they had but decided to go inside and look at what they had at their other local locations. As we were walking by the cars inside the showroom, the dude asked if we had considered Fords. I hadn't done much research on Fords on Consumer Reports. Just knew we shouldn't get an Explorer so we told him no. He told us this was a great car (Ford Five Hundred), for a great price, with low mileage..blah blah blah. We walked over and looked in the windows. It was SPOTLESS! Absolutely gorgeous. So we got inside (Joe in the front seat..me in the back). We then decided to drive it. I don't know why but I never look at cars in the showroom because in my mind, you can't drive them but sure enough, you can. LOL It was PERFECT! Joe and I both fell in love with this car. The roomy-ness is amazing. And the quietness is amazing. So..we decided to still look at what the other locations had as far as Camrys and Accords. We found a couple of Accords and 1 Camry we wanted to drive at their Roswell location and off we went. On the way, Joe called our mechanic and asked his opinion on everything we had looked at. He was able to look in his computer and see if there were any recalls or flags on the Five Hundred for excessive problems and said everything was fine. There were 2 recalls but said he could check and see if those recalls were taken care of for us. He said that car is a great car. He also told us that the Accords think they are "all that" but in fact, the Camrys are much better. So...we decided that we would only drive the Camry once we got to the Roswell location.
We got there and drove the Camry and it was so much smaller inside. Joe knew he was still wanting the Five Hundred. We also drove a Ford Escape (because it was on Consumer Reports best pick list) but it drove so much like a truck and it was pretty small and had lots of road noise so we decided no on that one. Then that dude talked us in to driving a Taurus. It was a great deal but it just didn't have the room inside that the Five Hundred had and it sat so low to the ground. So we decided to head back to the Norcross location and buy the Five Hundred.
I honestly think the most time consuming part of our day was spent driving from Roswell back to Norcross in rush hour traffic. OY VEY!!! But..we finally got there, got the paperwork done, and finally got home ..8 hours later!
Thank GOD for my sister in law who watched our kids from the time they got home from school until 7:30pm! There is absolutely NO WAY we could have spent 8 hours car shopping and being as productive as we were if we had the kids. THANK YOU AUNT LALALA..if you read my blog. LOL
Now Joe is totally enjoying his new love. I call it Christine! ;) lol He said he actually looked forward to getting up and driving to work on Friday and even driving home. He said traffic wasn't bad coming home but thinks maybe he just didn't notice because he was on cloud 9. lol Of course I can't drive it today because he has come up with a million errands he had to run today so he's out and about right now. haha
Last week I had a dr's appt on Tues and then I rejoined Curves. I am DETERMINED to get fit this year. Yeah yeah, I know. I say it every year and here I am ...still not fit. I was in gear and ready to head to my first workout on Wednesday when as I was waking the boys up for school I heard Joe desperately trying to start his car. Unfortunately that didn't happen and he ended up having to take my van to work that day. It was COLD that morning and we were thinking that maybe it wouldn't start because of the sudden drop in temperature so around lunch time, I went out and started it. It took a little bit to get it started (and me constantly pressing the accelerator) but finally it started. Once it did, white smoke flew out the back. A LOT of white smoke. LOL It was running really rough but I had to go back inside and get dressed (yep, wouldn't you know it. It started because I had my pjs on) so that I could take it straight to the mechanic's. It stayed running while I ran back inside and luckily my mother in law was able to meet me and bring me back home. Later that day, the mechanic called Joe and explained that a piston had blown and that it needed a new engine and would cost $1700 for a USED one. Joe's car is a 1995 Saturn and he bought it brand new when he graduated law school. This car is a total POS! The headliner is falling (so much so that you can barely see out the back window) and it's just plain OLD! Joe always swore he'd drive this car til it died and he officially did that. lol Joe was heading into a deposition when the mechanic called so he briefly called me about it and I immediately started looking online for cars. I finally got to talk to him afterwards and we decided it was time to "bury" the Saturn.
Thursday morning our dog had a vet appt so I borrowed the inlaw's car and took her to her appt. Joe decided to take a half day and met me at home at 11:30am so we could go look at cars. First stop was a dealership in Lilburn to drive a Toyota Rav 4. I wasn't really interested in this car as Carfax had shown it had been wrecked and had to be towed from the scene but Joe wanted to drive it anyway. We got to the dealership and the lot was so overpacked that they had cars parked in the rows..everywhere. It was INSANE how many cars they had in that lot. We drove the car and decided it was too small for our family. There was also a good bit of wind noise on the passenger side when driving at high speeds and that's the side that was wrecked so we returned it and to our surprise, the dude let us walk off the lot without even giving us his business card.
The next stop was CarMax in Norcross. We went in thinking we were only looking at a GMC Envoy or Toyotas or Hondas. We drove the Envoy and although it had all the bells and whistles that were very tempting, it was quite noisy on the expressway and the gas mileage was pretty sucky. We looking in the lot at the few Camrys and Accords that they had but decided to go inside and look at what they had at their other local locations. As we were walking by the cars inside the showroom, the dude asked if we had considered Fords. I hadn't done much research on Fords on Consumer Reports. Just knew we shouldn't get an Explorer so we told him no. He told us this was a great car (Ford Five Hundred), for a great price, with low mileage..blah blah blah. We walked over and looked in the windows. It was SPOTLESS! Absolutely gorgeous. So we got inside (Joe in the front seat..me in the back). We then decided to drive it. I don't know why but I never look at cars in the showroom because in my mind, you can't drive them but sure enough, you can. LOL It was PERFECT! Joe and I both fell in love with this car. The roomy-ness is amazing. And the quietness is amazing. So..we decided to still look at what the other locations had as far as Camrys and Accords. We found a couple of Accords and 1 Camry we wanted to drive at their Roswell location and off we went. On the way, Joe called our mechanic and asked his opinion on everything we had looked at. He was able to look in his computer and see if there were any recalls or flags on the Five Hundred for excessive problems and said everything was fine. There were 2 recalls but said he could check and see if those recalls were taken care of for us. He said that car is a great car. He also told us that the Accords think they are "all that" but in fact, the Camrys are much better. So...we decided that we would only drive the Camry once we got to the Roswell location.
We got there and drove the Camry and it was so much smaller inside. Joe knew he was still wanting the Five Hundred. We also drove a Ford Escape (because it was on Consumer Reports best pick list) but it drove so much like a truck and it was pretty small and had lots of road noise so we decided no on that one. Then that dude talked us in to driving a Taurus. It was a great deal but it just didn't have the room inside that the Five Hundred had and it sat so low to the ground. So we decided to head back to the Norcross location and buy the Five Hundred.
I honestly think the most time consuming part of our day was spent driving from Roswell back to Norcross in rush hour traffic. OY VEY!!! But..we finally got there, got the paperwork done, and finally got home ..8 hours later!
Thank GOD for my sister in law who watched our kids from the time they got home from school until 7:30pm! There is absolutely NO WAY we could have spent 8 hours car shopping and being as productive as we were if we had the kids. THANK YOU AUNT LALALA..if you read my blog. LOL
Now Joe is totally enjoying his new love. I call it Christine! ;) lol He said he actually looked forward to getting up and driving to work on Friday and even driving home. He said traffic wasn't bad coming home but thinks maybe he just didn't notice because he was on cloud 9. lol Of course I can't drive it today because he has come up with a million errands he had to run today so he's out and about right now. haha
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Holidays and New Years with Family!
I know, I know...I haven't posted in awhile. We have been so busy with family in town since the Saturday after Christmas and life is finally getting back to normal..so I will write.
Let's begin with that Saturday..December 27th. My sister from Texas and her husband and 2 sons (ages 13 and 12) and my Dad had driven from Texas to Birmingham, Al to stay with my oldest sister and her family on Friday, Dec 26th. They got up early Saturday morning and all drove to Georgia. My dad came to my house as he was spending the week here but the others all went to my sister's house in Grayson, Ga (about 5 mins from me) and we all met up there Saturday afternoon. There was my family of 5, my dad, my sister from Texas (family of 4), my sister who lives in Grayson, Ga (family of 4), and part of my sister from Birmingham's family (4 of them) here. It gets kind of complicated as my oldest sister (the one from Birmingham) is 14 yrs older than me and technically my niece is the one with the kids who are the grand kids ages but they all come with my sister instead of my niece so we kind of link them with my sister instead of my niece. Are you lost yet? lol Anywho...my niece (my oldest sister's daughter) has 4 kids but only 2 of them came to Georgia..the other 2 stayed in Alabama where my niece also lives. So here is how me and my sisters break down... Becky (lives in Birmingham) is the oldest. Becky has 2 kids (Scott and Donna) who are in their 30's. Scott has no children but Donna has 4 kids (boys ages 3,7,10,11) Then there's Lori (lives in Texas). She has 2 boys ages 12 and 13). Then there's Kelly (lives in Grayson, Ga about 5 mins from me). She has a girl (13) and a boy (10). And last but not least, there's me and I have 3 boys (6,8,and 10). So...in all, there are 11 kids ranging in ages from 3-13 (almost 14). Ok..now that you are totally confused, on with my story.....
So Saturday we all went to Kelly's to hang out and have Christmas. The cousins all had a great time running around and playing and us sisters had a great time catching up. We played some games and just hung out. Our husbands all get along so great so they just chilled and watched football all day. lol Becky and her family were only staying that one night so we really made the best of it. My family and my dad left late that night but we were back the next day to have more fun.
Becky's family left late Sunday evening and we came home to get some rest too. Monday my family, Kelly's family, and Lori's family all met at the mall for lunch, shopping, and to see Bedtime Stories. It was a lot of fun. We got home a little after dinner and decided it was time to challenge Grandpa to some poker. Grandpa had a great time but had to concentrate on his cards and on Jacob's cards. LOL Jacob ended up winning that night.
Tuesday we were back at Kelly's to hang out all day. Wednesday I woke up with a major migraine. It was New Year's Eve and we had plans to hang out at Kelly's house all day but I couldn't get out of bed. I took the Maxalt that I take for my migraines and went back to bed but unfortunately it didn't help. I am only supposed to take 1 per day but I had to take 2 that day. We ended up at Kelly's later in the afternoon and sadly there was no drinking for me on New Years Eve this year. lol We stayed until around 2am and then headed home. The kids all slept til almost noon the next day. AMAZING!!!
Thursday we were back to my sisters to hang out and eat black-eyed peas, cornbread, and rutabagas (bleh..none for me though). We left around 8pm as Lori and her family were heading back to Birmingham the next morning and dad was heading back towards Texas the next morning so we needed to get everyone to bed in a timely manner.
Friday was a chill day for us. Dad left around 11am to head west and the boys just played and hung out the rest of the day. It was nice and peaceful. We spent the rest of the weekend catching up on laundry and some cleaning. Unfortunately we didn't do any undecorating. lol
I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! Here's to a better 2009!
Let's begin with that Saturday..December 27th. My sister from Texas and her husband and 2 sons (ages 13 and 12) and my Dad had driven from Texas to Birmingham, Al to stay with my oldest sister and her family on Friday, Dec 26th. They got up early Saturday morning and all drove to Georgia. My dad came to my house as he was spending the week here but the others all went to my sister's house in Grayson, Ga (about 5 mins from me) and we all met up there Saturday afternoon. There was my family of 5, my dad, my sister from Texas (family of 4), my sister who lives in Grayson, Ga (family of 4), and part of my sister from Birmingham's family (4 of them) here. It gets kind of complicated as my oldest sister (the one from Birmingham) is 14 yrs older than me and technically my niece is the one with the kids who are the grand kids ages but they all come with my sister instead of my niece so we kind of link them with my sister instead of my niece. Are you lost yet? lol Anywho...my niece (my oldest sister's daughter) has 4 kids but only 2 of them came to Georgia..the other 2 stayed in Alabama where my niece also lives. So here is how me and my sisters break down... Becky (lives in Birmingham) is the oldest. Becky has 2 kids (Scott and Donna) who are in their 30's. Scott has no children but Donna has 4 kids (boys ages 3,7,10,11) Then there's Lori (lives in Texas). She has 2 boys ages 12 and 13). Then there's Kelly (lives in Grayson, Ga about 5 mins from me). She has a girl (13) and a boy (10). And last but not least, there's me and I have 3 boys (6,8,and 10). So...in all, there are 11 kids ranging in ages from 3-13 (almost 14). Ok..now that you are totally confused, on with my story.....
So Saturday we all went to Kelly's to hang out and have Christmas. The cousins all had a great time running around and playing and us sisters had a great time catching up. We played some games and just hung out. Our husbands all get along so great so they just chilled and watched football all day. lol Becky and her family were only staying that one night so we really made the best of it. My family and my dad left late that night but we were back the next day to have more fun.
Becky's family left late Sunday evening and we came home to get some rest too. Monday my family, Kelly's family, and Lori's family all met at the mall for lunch, shopping, and to see Bedtime Stories. It was a lot of fun. We got home a little after dinner and decided it was time to challenge Grandpa to some poker. Grandpa had a great time but had to concentrate on his cards and on Jacob's cards. LOL Jacob ended up winning that night.
Tuesday we were back at Kelly's to hang out all day. Wednesday I woke up with a major migraine. It was New Year's Eve and we had plans to hang out at Kelly's house all day but I couldn't get out of bed. I took the Maxalt that I take for my migraines and went back to bed but unfortunately it didn't help. I am only supposed to take 1 per day but I had to take 2 that day. We ended up at Kelly's later in the afternoon and sadly there was no drinking for me on New Years Eve this year. lol We stayed until around 2am and then headed home. The kids all slept til almost noon the next day. AMAZING!!!
Thursday we were back to my sisters to hang out and eat black-eyed peas, cornbread, and rutabagas (bleh..none for me though). We left around 8pm as Lori and her family were heading back to Birmingham the next morning and dad was heading back towards Texas the next morning so we needed to get everyone to bed in a timely manner.
Friday was a chill day for us. Dad left around 11am to head west and the boys just played and hung out the rest of the day. It was nice and peaceful. We spent the rest of the weekend catching up on laundry and some cleaning. Unfortunately we didn't do any undecorating. lol
I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! Here's to a better 2009!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas 2008..in The House of Blank
Christmas 2008...it was GREAT! The boys woke up early but had already gotten things to entertain them in their rooms until mom and dad woke up. I woke up at 8am and told Joe I felt we had put them off long enough. HAHA So...as I got the camera ready (yep..my NEW camera), Joe rounded up the bunch and marched them in the living room in an orderly fashion (LOL). Santa had left out their top 2 faves unwrapped (Joseph:Nintendo DS and digital camera (my old one), Jacob:Ripstick and Nintendo DS, and Ben: drum set and Nintendo DS). The boys all ran to their designated spot and checked out their unwrapped goods. Then it was time to get to the wrapped goods. We..um, I mean Santa..had left 2 ping pong paddles on the fireplace and Ben noticed them but I quickly redirected him to the gift unwrapping. ;) Once all the gifts were unwrapped and stockings were emptied, Joe said "Hey look, we got new ping pong paddles". LOL He then said, "why would we need ping pong paddles?" and Joseph yelled "NEW PING PONG TABLE....OUTSIDE!!!!" and immediately they all ran out in the driveway in search of a ping pong table. LOL I ran downstairs to the newly remodeled game room to get set up for the surprise and heard them run back inside yelling "GARAGE...CHECK THE GARAGE". Once they went in the garage and it wasn't there, someone yelled "BASEMENT" and that was when Joe said "LET ME GO FIRST" and insisted they line up after him. He instructed them to go into the main room and as they pulled the curtain back, there were many loud, girlish screams!!!! LOL They were jumping and screaming and so excited! It was SO worth all the work I have done over the last month and a half. :) They basically spent the entire day down there and have been down there A LOT today!!! They told my father in law that this was the best Christmas ever and they are so excited to have "their own space" to go to. It has been really nice to have them down there. It's been alot more quiet in this house. LOL Unfortunately, it's been rainy so there's been little time spent outside.
My dad arrives from Texas tomorrow and will spend about a week with us. We will go to my sister's house tomorrow afternoon as my sister from Texas and her family along with my other sister from Birmingham and her family will be here to celebrate! You gotta like having a week long celebration with family!
Sorry..no pictures yet as I am typing this on the laptop and don't have anything uploaded yet but will get to that as soon as possible!
My dad arrives from Texas tomorrow and will spend about a week with us. We will go to my sister's house tomorrow afternoon as my sister from Texas and her family along with my other sister from Birmingham and her family will be here to celebrate! You gotta like having a week long celebration with family!
Sorry..no pictures yet as I am typing this on the laptop and don't have anything uploaded yet but will get to that as soon as possible!
Twas the week before Christmas....
I know it's been awhile since I have posted so this will probably be all over the place. We have been busy for the past week with Joe's family coming in town last weekend and starting our holiday early. Karen (Joe's sister who lives in Tallahassee) and her husband and 2 girls (ages 4 and 6) arrived last Friday evening to spend the weekend at our house. Angela (another one of Joe's sisters) came over that evening as well as Joe's parents and we all had a great time hanging out, eating pizza, drinking adult beverages (well, the adults were drinking those), and playing games! Everyone left around 10:30ish and we got the kids off to bed. Joe, Karen, James, and I stayed up talking a little bit and really enjoyed each others company as we have never had the opportunity to do this in the past since they usually stay at Joe's parent's house.
We all got up and showered the next day and the rest of Joe's family came back over to hang out and celebrate Christmas. In all, we had Karen's family of 4, my family of 5, Susan's (Joe's sister) family of 3, Angela, and Joe's parents here. It was a house full but lots of fun had by all. :) We opened presents, ate good food, and drank merrily!
Karen's family left Sunday and Joe, the boys, and I just spent the day hanging out at home. Monday, Joe did ALOT of shopping and was gone for 5 hrs! He walked in the door at 4:45pm and I walked out the door to babysit a friend's children while she and her husband went to dinner.
Tuesday Joe and I took the boys to Fernbank. We went last year just before Christmas and decided to buy a family membership thinking for sure we'd go back and of course we hadn't gone back and our membership expires Dec 31st so we figured we better go back. This time we decided to go to the science center and to the Plantetarium. There were 2 shows so we decided to stay and see both shows. We had a great time and decided to go out to dinner afterwards. Mmmm...I love Carlitos in Grayson!!! :)
Wednesday we hung out at home and had some family time. I wrapped some presents and the boys all played together. We really had a great day! We ended our day by tracking Santa on Norad, setting out cookies, milk, and beer for Santa, reading a few Christmas books, and the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. The boys opened one gift which were pjs (of course) and a new book for each so they read their books in bed and fell asleep. Around 10ish a HUGE storm blew through and woke Joseph and Jacob up and immediately they started stressing about being awake when Santa comes. I don't ever remember telling them but for some reason they thought they HAD to be asleep by midnight and as 11:30pm approach, they were both in tears so Joe gave them Benedryl and they were asleep soon thereafter. Luckily he had already brought up all the presents and I was deep into wrapping by then. We finally got to bed at 1am. VERY LATE for us. LOL I will post another post about Christmas day as it deserves it's own post! :)
We all got up and showered the next day and the rest of Joe's family came back over to hang out and celebrate Christmas. In all, we had Karen's family of 4, my family of 5, Susan's (Joe's sister) family of 3, Angela, and Joe's parents here. It was a house full but lots of fun had by all. :) We opened presents, ate good food, and drank merrily!
Karen's family left Sunday and Joe, the boys, and I just spent the day hanging out at home. Monday, Joe did ALOT of shopping and was gone for 5 hrs! He walked in the door at 4:45pm and I walked out the door to babysit a friend's children while she and her husband went to dinner.
Tuesday Joe and I took the boys to Fernbank. We went last year just before Christmas and decided to buy a family membership thinking for sure we'd go back and of course we hadn't gone back and our membership expires Dec 31st so we figured we better go back. This time we decided to go to the science center and to the Plantetarium. There were 2 shows so we decided to stay and see both shows. We had a great time and decided to go out to dinner afterwards. Mmmm...I love Carlitos in Grayson!!! :)
Wednesday we hung out at home and had some family time. I wrapped some presents and the boys all played together. We really had a great day! We ended our day by tracking Santa on Norad, setting out cookies, milk, and beer for Santa, reading a few Christmas books, and the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. The boys opened one gift which were pjs (of course) and a new book for each so they read their books in bed and fell asleep. Around 10ish a HUGE storm blew through and woke Joseph and Jacob up and immediately they started stressing about being awake when Santa comes. I don't ever remember telling them but for some reason they thought they HAD to be asleep by midnight and as 11:30pm approach, they were both in tears so Joe gave them Benedryl and they were asleep soon thereafter. Luckily he had already brought up all the presents and I was deep into wrapping by then. We finally got to bed at 1am. VERY LATE for us. LOL I will post another post about Christmas day as it deserves it's own post! :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sweet notes and Pop Tarts..what a way to end a day!
Not sure if you can tell but in the bubble next to my head, I am saying "break it down now"...you know, because I am dancing and that's what I say when I am dancing. LOL Joseph is saying "ok". Now is he saying "ok" in a "Mom, you're kinda weird" way or "ok" in a "Mom, you rock" kind of way?? By the way, that's a disco ball over our heads. Aaahh Freak Out! Le Freak, C'est Chic
I'm sure if you have been reading my blog by now, you are aware that my husband has been out of town for the past 3 days. I have to say it's been a great weekend ..until around 6:30pm this evening when I started losing all my patience with the kids. I had to keep reminding myself that Jacob was sick on Friday so he never left the house which in turn caused Ben to not play outside after school because Joseph went to a friend's house and Ben doesn't like to play outside alone. I guess I can't blame him. Saturday Joseph went to his friends house again and was basically gone all day. Jacob still wasn't feeling up to par so he wanted to stay inside since it was cold and I let him and Ben play video games all day. (BIG MISTAKE). I don't know what it is about this but when my kids play video games for longer than about an hour, they start getting on each others nerves. So although it was a pretty peaceful day, there were definintly times when they needed to be seperated for a bit. Today I had to go to the grocery store. I LOATHE the grocery store..even when I can go alone so taking all 3 kids was not a fun thing for me. The kids were arguing and just getting on each other's (and my) nerves. As the day went on, it just seemed to get worst. I found myself counting down the minutes until bedtime...at 3pm. lol Finally it was bath time (something Joe does..NOT me) and we muddled our way through it and did our "happy thoughts" and off to bed they all went. I went to tuck Joseph in and he had a huge smile on his face and handed me this card he had made. I could tell he had spent quite some time on it and yes, it brought tears to my eyes. Not sure if it was because it was so sweet or because my son seems to think it's appropriate to point out that he must thank me for taking care of them while Daddy is gone (as if I don't take care of them when he's home). lol
Here's what the letter says. "Thank you so much for taking care of us while daddy was gone. You are the best mom ever and I hope you get this letter. Remember, I am so grateful for you taking care of us while daddy was gone. Love, Joseph"
Not sure if you can tell but in the bubble next to my head, I am saying "break it down now"...you know, because I am dancing and that's what I say when I am dancing. LOL Joseph is saying "ok". Now is he saying "ok" in a "Mom, you're kinda weird" way or "ok" in a "Mom, you rock" kind of way?? By the way, that's a disco ball over our heads. Aaahh Freak Out! Le Freak, C'est Chic
So I end this weekend with this wonderfully sweet note from my 10 yr old and a pop tart. Ohh..did I just say that out loud? lol
Traditions
I love traditions..especially at Christmas time.. so I thought I would share a few of the traditions we have around the Blankenship house. (excuse the poor quality images as they were taken on my cell phone).
This is my Bedford Falls Village that my sister gave me for Christmas in either '90 or '91. It came with 9 houses/buildings and the train with tracks however, I have never put the train up because of lack of space. I LOVE my Village and if there were a fire (at Christmas time), I would grab this first! :) I wasn't able to get all the Village in this picture but you get the idea. It's GORGEOUS and takes up the entire fireplace mantel every year.
This is our Lifesaver advent calendars. This is a tradition I have passed on from when I was little. My mom made me and my sisters these and I have very fond memories of pulling the sticky Lifesavers off every night with pieces of the string attached to them and eating them with delight! There are 24 Lifesavers tied to them..one for each night from Dec 1st til Christmas Eve (in case you couldn't figure that one out). I still haven't gotten the complete truth as to where the original ones disappeared to (I think my sister threw them away many years ago..grr) but my sister, Lori, graciously made these for my kids a few years ago and it is as fond of a tradition for my kids as it was for me as a child. Oh..and now Lifesavers come individually wrapped and I have learned how to thread them onto the strings without removing the wrapper so there is no sticky mess. :)
And how could I post an entry about Christmas traditions in my house without including this one! My grandmother made this for me when I was very young. It's the most hideous looking thing I have ever seen but I insist it be hung on the tree and directly dead center! lol Now, you have to understand that I hate clowns. Pennywise completely did me in on this one! So..to hang this thing on my tree shows my total love for my grandmother..God bless her! I wish she were here today to see this. She would laugh that laugh I can still hear. :)
Other traditions in my house include reading "The Night Before Christmas" and the birth of Jesus from the Bible on Christmas Eve. We also get to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve which in the past has been pjs and a book so the boys have nice pjs for Christmas morning and pictures. I think at 6, 8, and 10 yrs old, they are getting tired of pjs as their gift on Christmas Eve. I will have to think of something else. lol Also, we don't put any Christmas presents under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. EVERYTHING is brought by Santa. Some things are left unwrapped and some things are wrapped (by Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, Santa, and others) but for some reason, I have never made any gifts from mom and dad. Joseph still fully believes in Santa this year and has not questioned it at all so this tradition will continue..at least for now. :)
I love traditions..especially at Christmas time.. so I thought I would share a few of the traditions we have around the Blankenship house. (excuse the poor quality images as they were taken on my cell phone).
This is my Bedford Falls Village that my sister gave me for Christmas in either '90 or '91. It came with 9 houses/buildings and the train with tracks however, I have never put the train up because of lack of space. I LOVE my Village and if there were a fire (at Christmas time), I would grab this first! :) I wasn't able to get all the Village in this picture but you get the idea. It's GORGEOUS and takes up the entire fireplace mantel every year.
This is our Lifesaver advent calendars. This is a tradition I have passed on from when I was little. My mom made me and my sisters these and I have very fond memories of pulling the sticky Lifesavers off every night with pieces of the string attached to them and eating them with delight! There are 24 Lifesavers tied to them..one for each night from Dec 1st til Christmas Eve (in case you couldn't figure that one out). I still haven't gotten the complete truth as to where the original ones disappeared to (I think my sister threw them away many years ago..grr) but my sister, Lori, graciously made these for my kids a few years ago and it is as fond of a tradition for my kids as it was for me as a child. Oh..and now Lifesavers come individually wrapped and I have learned how to thread them onto the strings without removing the wrapper so there is no sticky mess. :)
Here is another tradition in our house that was started just this year. I think this might become my favorite over the village. :) My mom had one of these and of course my sister got it when my mom passed away :( I loved my mom's so much that I decided I would make my own. Well, I didn't exactly "make" my own but I did paint it and paint it..and paint it (for over 5 hrs straight..not even a bathroom break). I had so much fun painting it (with my BFF, Kat) and now I have a tradition that I will eventually pass along to my favorite one of my children. The picture really doesn't do it justice as it's a beautiful green and the lights are just gorgeous. The base is a different story but who's looking, huh Kat? LOL
And how could I post an entry about Christmas traditions in my house without including this one! My grandmother made this for me when I was very young. It's the most hideous looking thing I have ever seen but I insist it be hung on the tree and directly dead center! lol Now, you have to understand that I hate clowns. Pennywise completely did me in on this one! So..to hang this thing on my tree shows my total love for my grandmother..God bless her! I wish she were here today to see this. She would laugh that laugh I can still hear. :)
Other traditions in my house include reading "The Night Before Christmas" and the birth of Jesus from the Bible on Christmas Eve. We also get to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve which in the past has been pjs and a book so the boys have nice pjs for Christmas morning and pictures. I think at 6, 8, and 10 yrs old, they are getting tired of pjs as their gift on Christmas Eve. I will have to think of something else. lol Also, we don't put any Christmas presents under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. EVERYTHING is brought by Santa. Some things are left unwrapped and some things are wrapped (by Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, Santa, and others) but for some reason, I have never made any gifts from mom and dad. Joseph still fully believes in Santa this year and has not questioned it at all so this tradition will continue..at least for now. :)
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