Fireworks At Last

Our 4th of July festivities kicked off on the 3rd.  We had Alex and Mi Kayla over for a cookout and then we went to the fireworks show.  We haven't  been in years together and I haven't been since I was pregnant with Nate.  So I was pretty excited to get back to some traditional 4th of July activities!  I had the kids nap late so they would make it until then (the show didn't start until 10pm), which worked out nicely.  Our friend Wanda and her daughter Corry joined us there as well.  Columbus fireworks are always done on the 3rd, which I like because Michael always has off on the 4th but works the day after.  The local radio channel sets up the fireworks with music and it's an awesome show. Except this year. I hate to even complain because they were still beautiful, but just not quite what we remember. The music was off, the show was short and the finale was anticlimactic. BUT, it was fun, the kids loved it-no tears-and stayed awake the whole time, and it was awesome to have family and friends together and to restart this tradition that has been long overdue.



















On the 4th we had our friends, the Herters, over for a pitch-in dinner. We made pulled pork sandwiches, which I haven't done but maybe once a looong time ago. Dinner turned out great and the kids played outside afterwards so us adults could enjoy a visit.  The weather was perfect too-the rain held out and it wasn't super hot. We did this last year but it was so hot that we stayed inside the entire time. Overall, a pretty good 4th of July!

Christmas 2012

Okay, I'm way overdue with this post! It just gets so crazy around the holidays and I wanted to enjoy the time Michael had off from work, and so I was in no rush to get up to the computer to update the ol' blog. :)  I had great intentions of getting everything done for Christmas.  I even started my shopping early this year.  Last year Maddie was still so little and still not sleeping so I didn't have the time or energy to really get into the Christmas activities.  This year was going to be different! Was is the key word.  While I did have great intentions, my health decided to make different plans for me.  The week before Christmas we all came down with a nasty stomach bug-all on the same day.  Probably the WORST day of our life.  We managed somehow to get through it but the day I started feeling better I got a cold that turned into a sinus infection.  I did not have the energy or motivation to do anything.  It was enough just to hold down the fort everyday.  So I made my m&m kiss pretzels and that's it.  No other candy, no cookies, nothing.  I didn't get my packages sent out on time and it's a good thing I started shopping early or that would have been last minute too.  Kind of a big bummer because I was really looking forward to the baking and making crafts etc. But we did enjoy a few celebrations for the holidays with family and friends.

Christmas eve we always go down to Mitchell for a family reunion (Michael's mom's side of the family).  We thought it started later and so by the time we got there it was basically ending.  No biggie though because we continue the festivities at Michael's aunt's house.  There we snack on treats and the kids open presents.  She has a basement with tons of toys so they spent most of the time down there playing.  We were able to visit with cousins and relatives upstairs, which was nice. We got home pretty late, so we put the kids to bed and put all the presents under the tree and headed to bed ourselves.

Christmas morning was so much fun.  I had anticipated this for so long! Nate is at such a fun age for presents!  He didn't really understand that Santa came and put presents under the tree until he got downstairs and saw them all.  He ripped through the first one and didn't really get excited or pay much attention to the toy, just wanted to get to the next one.  I was a little upset that he didn't care about the toys but he just wanted to open presents!  Once they were all open he was so excited to go back through his pile of toys and play with them all.  Maddie didn't care much about opening her presents and paid more attention to the toys that were already open.  So Nate helped her out some since that was his thing.  We played all morning long and time flew.  We didn't even realize several hours had passed.  That evening we went to Chinese buffet for dinner. We started the tradition last year and this year our friends joined us.  In the words of Yao (their Chinese exchange student) "best tradition ever".  We think so too. :) Afterwards we went back to the house to visit while the kids played with their toys. It's amazing how a new toy can be such a good babysitter. :)

We ended our Christmas celebration on Friday at the Toppe's.  We opened presents, had our big holiday dinner, and played with toys and games (there was also some dancing involved with the xbox).  We decided to spend the night-Maddie is old enough that she's not getting up every 2 hrs anymore, although she did sleep with us of course (there was no way she was going to sleep in the playpen right next to us).  Nate was so excited to not only sleep in Lucas and Landon's room with them, but in the bunk bed too!  I was nervous about him sleeping on the top bunk but he did fine.  After breakfast the kids headed outside to play in the snow.  Looking like fun, Jeremy rounded up a bunch of winter clothing for us adults and Maddie and we all headed out.  We built a snowman, had a snowball fight, and went tubing down a small hill on the side of the house.  Awesome.  Definitely a memory I want to hold onto forever. 

 

So even though I didn't feel as well as I would have liked, this turned out to be another wonderful Christmas.  So very blessed.

Christmas Lights

We've driven around a couple night looking at lights.  We just love it!  Might even go out again one last time Christmas night.  Nate is obssessed with Santa this year and so he is only interested in the houses that have santas as part of their decor.  And the minute we find one he's ready to find the next.  Maddie doesn't seem to care much about the lights but every now and now we'll hear a little "ooh" from the backseat. Hopefully next year we will be able to drive around a little longer.  Either Maddie gets fussy being in the car too long or Nate has to use the bathroom.  But it's fun while it lasts!

First Christmas Celebration

We kicked off our first Christmas celebration at Michael's parents this past Saturday.  A couple of years ago we started spacing out holiday visits and I love it!  It makes the holidays less stressful, not having to travel everywhere in just a couple of days. 

It was fun and I enjoyed watching the kids open their presents.  Maddie still needs help but likes to see what's inside. 

Donuts with Santa

 Instead of standing in line at the mall forever, we were fortunate to be able to visit Santa at Grace Lutheran Church, where we go to MOPS.  The MOPS group organized a visit with Santa last Saturday morning.  It was wonderful and can I say again how happy we are that we are in MOPS this year!  There were tables set up to enjoy donuts and an area to decorate little wooden ornaments.  Santa was set up in a secluded area on the back stage and we had to wait a total of 5 minutes!  Nate got right on his lap (wasn't sure how this would go since this is the first time we have done this) and talked to Santa for a little bit while we snapped some pictures.  We put Maddie on his lap at the last minute and she wanted nothing to do with it and was off immediately.  I'm lucky I even got one picture!  We had a big breakfast before we went so no donuts for us (although they were screaming for me to eat them) so afterwards Nate colored some ornaments and then we left.  It was smooth, quick, and fun!

Carving Pumpkins

Last weekend we decided to carve our pumpkins.  I figured that Nate probably wouldn't want to touch the insides, but thought Maddie would care yet at this age about digging into gross stuff.  Well, neither of them wanted to get in there and help so carving pumpkins consisted of me doing it all.  They did point to where they wanted their eyes, nose, and mouth, but that's about it.  We did pick up a couple small pumpkins as well and painted them.  The kids had fun with that!

 

On Halloween we put a bowl of candy out on the porch and headed to Fall Family Fest at church.  This would have been their first year trick o' treating, but with Michael gone, I didn't want him to miss out on anything.  They're at an age that they don't know any different anyway so it's not a big deal.  Probably more disappointing for me not to dress them up. Nate did have fun seeing all the costumes as we were driving into town.  He saw a Buzz and various other characters that he thought was just the greatest to see walking down the street. 

 

We had a good time at the fest.  I wasn't sure how long we'd last but the kids did great! It was hard to keep eyes on both but Nate was glued to Anderson and they spent most of the time in the bouncy house.  I don't have any pictures, my hands were a little full, but most of them would have been a blur anyway. :) But we lasted until around 7pm and both kids ate their dinner! (this is a success if you could have seen how badly Nate wanted to play but sat and ate his hot dog and chips until they were all gone). 

Hackman's Farm

We decided to go to Hackman's Farm after story time at the library this morning (which didn't go terribly, but still glad it was our last time).  I knew it was going to be hard to do this by myself, but Nate's obsession with pumpkins trumped my fear.  So off we went!

It actually went pretty well.  Nate was so excited to see the field of pumpkins as we pulled in, but instantly forgot about them when he saw the animals and then forgot about them when he saw the tractor.  I was happy they could actually climb on the tractors.  We avoided the corn maze, for obvious reasons, and stuck to the animals and tractors and finally the pumpkin patch.  We did make a pit stop in the barn so Nate could crawl through the straw tunnel and throw some balls around. 

They weren't as excited about picking out a pumpkin as I had thought they would be.  Maybe it was the constant tripping over the vines, but I kept encouraging Nate to find one he liked, but he just walked around pulling at the vines.  You never know what to expect.  So instead of actually picking our pumpkins we grabbed some from the pre-picked piles at the front (which actually worked better because I didn't want to carry pumpkins all the way back).  Nate picked the first pumpkin he saw, was much more interested in pushing the cart around.  Maddie could care less about picking a pumpkin but did enjoy picking out a small pumpkin and putting it in the cart.  Only one timeout and no major meltdowns, left with pumpkins the back of the car....I'd call this trip a success!

Easter

We had wonderful weather for Easter and wonderful friends to share the weekend. On Friday we went to the Herter's for a cookout. They grilled chicken and pineapple and also made cous cous. Our first time having cous cous and grilled pineapple. Enjoyed them both! After dinner the kids "found" Easter eggs in the yard. I say "found" because they weren't very hard to find...just littered all over the ground. Aubbie had a blast but the boys weren't too interested after picking up their first egg and finding the candy that was inside.

On Sunday, after church and naps, we went back to the Herter's for Easter dinner with them and the Baker's. Again, delicious dinner, of course and a great time visiting with friends. It was really nice to spend the holiday with all of them.

The Last Christmas Celebration

Our last celebration was with the Toppes on Friday. Making dinner this year was a little bit more difficult with the two little ones (and Michael at work all day!), but somehow I managed to not burn anything and it all turned out pretty good. I really love making the big holiday meal even though it's a lot of work. After dinner the kids opened their gifts. Nate actually clapped his hands after opening one gift, which is the most reaction he's had this whole time. Not that he's not happy with his gifts, he just opens them and then starts to play with them. I think the more he does this the more he gets into it. It's fun to watch the kids open their gifts. Not so much fun to watch the fighting about playing with each other's toys afterwards. Oh well, part of the age I guess.

The plan was to have them stay overnight and make a big breakfast the next morning. Did not happen. I had been up since 4am with Maddie (and that's still getting up every 2 hours with her as well) and after cooking all day, I was beat. Since we weren't going to stay up late, they decided to just head home.

And New Year's Eve was no late night for us either. We went to the Herter's to celebrate their daughter's 4th birthday. They made homemade pizza (delicious!), the kids played, and the adults visited. It was nice and we were home by 9:30, the party animals that we are.

But it was a good time and a good way to end the holiday season. I'm so glad we space the holidays with everyone out so that we aren't rushed and we don't have to try and cram it all in in just a couple of days.

Christmas Day

I was very excited for Christmas this year. Nate is understanding the idea of wrapped gifts and it is so fun to watch him open them--although he doesn't have amazing expressions yet when he sees the toy, but he is very happy and that shines through. I had to wait awhile, though, to see this because we decided not to open presents until after his nap. He's not at the age yet where he understands the idea of Christmas and Santa and all that good stuff, so timing really didn't matter. Church service was at 10am, and so we decided it might be better to open them when he has more time to play with them and avoid a meltdown. Some days he hates leaving the house, let alone when there's new toys to play with.So we waited until after he woke up and when he came downstairs he went right to the gifts (hard not to when one of his big gifts was a tool bench). He doesn't tear into the gifts, but slowly peels away the paper, examining what is underneath. He was very happy to see the bench and some play tools. He loves when Daddy has his tools out working on something so I knew this one would be a hit. He continued to open some smaller presents while Michael and I exchanged our gifts. When he was done, he headed towards the kitchen (that's where we put his trampoline). When he saw it it's like he knew exactly what it was for: jumping, his number one activity. He got right on and started jumping and I don't think he's stopped since. No, he does play with his other toys, but he sure does love to jump. Even so much to the point it makes him sick and has thrown up a couple times on it.
I didn't make a big Christmas dinner since I make a big holiday meal when we get together with the Toppes, so we decided to "Christmas Story" it up, and headed to Chinese buffet. It was awesome. Not exactly like the movie, but still fun. May be our new tradition every year. We will see.

Christmas Celebration #2

On Christmas Eve we always go down to Mitchell to celebrate Christmas with all the extended family. This year, we decided to go to the annual Briscoe family reunion. It was good to get in that extra time to visit with family, however, our kids did not agree. Nate, of course, wanted to get into everything he couldn't. But Maddie, our normally so good child, decided that on the night she was going to meet everyone she was going to cry all night. I don't know if it was all the new faces or the big open space or just her mood that night (tired, not feeling good??), but she was completely out of character.

The night definitely smoothed out once we got to Michael's aunt's. She has a playroom in her basement so Nate could play with toys and Maddie was much happier there. So after gifts, lots of snacking on goodies, and visiting, we headed home. It's always nice to see family and spend time together. I always look forward to this time.

Christmas Celebration #1

Dividing up the time we spend with family makes it much easier to get in quality time (and more of it!) because we don't have to rush around to everyone's houses within a day or two. So our first Christmas was with Michael's parents this past Saturday. His sister, Christy, and her family were supposed to come too but her daughter was sick. So it ended up just being us, which is okay because we will be able to see the Bunch's Christmas Eve. Nate is getting more into unwrapping presents now that he is learning that new toys are underneath all that paper. He had a good time opening his gifts and would have probably been content with just one as he stopped to play with it and left the rest of the presents. But he did come back for more and Mamaw and Papaw really spoiled him. All of us, really. It was a really good visit and a good kick off to the holiday week ahead.

Thanksgiving

We went to Michael's parents for Thanksgiving, as is the tradition each year. Luckily we had good weather we took Hwy 46 down so it was a lovely scenic drive. Of course his mother had all the fixings and dinner was delicious! Afterwards we visited and although I don't remember everything that was discussed, I know that my sides were hurting from laughing so much. We even played "telephone" with the kids, which they loved. Nate did really well and I think as he gets older and can interact better with Christy's girls, the more fun he will have at these family gatherings. Usually it is so much work to take him anywhere that is not baby proof, but he did great and I felt like I could just relax and let him play. Of course Maddie was an angel. Next year she'll be able to eat the food with us!

I try to be thankful year round but Thanksgiving is always a time that makes me really sit and think about the things that I am blessed with. This year I would like to take time to say that I am thankful for God's love, my family & technology that keeps me connected to my family that is not close, my children and husband, good health, making good friendships, a home, and happiness.

Mother's Day

It is my second Mother's Day. Michael is gone again this year so it will just be Nate and I together today. Which is okay. He is the reason I am a mother after all! So while it would be nice to have Michael home to pamper me on this day, just getting to spend the day with my son is awesome.

I went to a friend's house on Friday for her birthday and then I had a bridal shower to go to on Saturday morning. So Nate spent the night at Jaime's house. I was probably more sad to leave him than he was me, and when she called me moments after I left and all I could hear were deep belly giggles in the background, I knew this to be true.

Spending the night and next morning in the house without Michael or Nate is something that I have never done. It was too quiet and lonely and I missed my baby boy so much. It is so funny how mommies need a break from their children, but once they get one all they can do is think about and miss their children!

Nate is sleeping in (way in-it's almost 10am!) because the last couple of days exhausted him. So it has given me a chance to have some more alone Mommy time before he gets up. While I didn't have breakfast in bed, I did make myself some orange danish (my favorite) and had to seriously keep myself from eating the entire roll. It has been a nice, quiet morning but I am looking forward to seeing Nate's little smile when he wakes up.

I am so happy to be a mother. It is the best job in the whole world. I can't believe this is what I get to do in life. God has truly blessed me.

Easter

Growing up, we always had a big to-do for Easter. Easter egg hunts, finding our baskets, scavenger hunts. It was awesome. Although I wasn't raised learning the real reason for Easter. Last year Nate was too young but now he's at the age where I want to start creating traditions for him like I had AND to learn the meaning of Easter. I think the message of Christ's death and Resurrection is a little over his head, so I guess we'll just stick with the eggs and candy this year.

We went to Michael's parents for Easter lunch and the egg hunt. Christy and I went out in the yard (the brief period of time that it stopped raining) and hid the eggs. We put some not so hidden eggs in the middle of the lawn for Nate. He had such a good time running around and picking up the eggs and putting them in the bag. I was kind of surprised that he got it. But it didn't take him long to figure out that these eggs had good things inside. He opened the first one and there was a shiny candy wrapper in it and then it was on! Afterwards he thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate. I wish I had some pictures but my camera is broken and I haven't been able to get a new one yet. :(

Thanksgiving

We look forward to Thanksgiving each year, especially Michael, as it's his favorite holiday. I can't say this year was a complete bust, but it didn't start or end very well. We were getting ready to head down to Bedford for dinner when I noticed Sammy still had not come to the back door to come inside. I knew it would be bad because it was raining and there's no way she's going to stay outside longer than she has to...unless there is something of interest. And there was. One Mr. Bunny Rabbit. By the time Michael got to her she had made her way under the shed, so she was covered in mud. If there is a positive note in this, the bunny got out on the other side safely so there's actually two positives: 1, no bunny carcass to clean up and 2, Sammy came back out from under the shed willingly. But then it was straight to the tub to clean her up and then Drano the tub due to the hair and mud mixture. And then finally clean ourselves up and get out the door. Dinner at Michael's parents was good and his sister and her family came over later to visit. So the middle part of the day was good. However, we had to leave sooner than we had hoped because Nate was getting so tired and cranky he was terrible. It was hard for him to get a nap in there because of the noise and excitement, so he wasn't going to last if we stayed any longer.

So even though the day didn't go exactly as planned, as I reflect now on it (and even though I did not feel this way Thursday), I think I may not necessarily be happy that Sammy was a mess or Nate was a terror, but it means I have a precious son and naughty, but adorable dog, both part of my amazing family. And for all the downs that might happen throughout the days, weeks, or months, it just reminds me to focus on the important and the good. I am so thankful that I have people in my life that I love and that love me too.

Trick O' Treat

The Toppes came up on Saturday. They were in the area for their family pictures and came over afterwards so that Lucas could go trick or treating in the neighborhood. He dressed up as a ninja and it was so cute to watch him go to the houses. He was so excited about getting candy and was so happy when one lady commented how nice his costume was. We probably hit less than a dozen houses but he was ready and that was good amount for a 3 year old. We came back to the house to look at all the candy he got, drink some hot cocoa, and watch a Halloween tv special. I'm so glad they came up so I could go trick or treating with them. These are the activities I can't wait to do with my own kids. It will be such a fun part of parenting. And I haven't been in a really fall festive mood with Michael gone (I didn't even carve a pumpkin which means no seeds for me), but I just wasn't into it. I can always count on little Lucas to lift my spirits. And maybe trick or treating will be a new tradition for our families.