Christmas

Our Christmas started on Christmas Eve. Every year we go to Michael's grandparents house. All the aunts, uncles, and cousins and their kids come over. We eat finger foods and watch Christmas movies and visit. It seems to be the only time of the year that we see some of his family. Michael got off work a few hours early that day, which was nice because we didn't have to rush over there like we would have otherwise. We drove over with his parents and looked at Christmas lights on the way.

Christmas morning I woke up before 8am, and against Michael's warnings, I woke him up anyway. I think he was excited too, he didn't complain at all about the early rise. We went downstairs and opened presents. I was really excited to give him gifts this year and spoil him a little extra. He got me the Santa Claus movie set (I had never seen any of them) and so we watched the first two that morning. In the middle of watching the movies, I also needed to prepare the dinner food, so I made the apple bread and prepared the casseroles so they would be ready to just pop in the oven. I had made the pies the day before, so I didn't have too much to do until the turkey went in the oven. That evening Jaime, Jeremy, and Lucas came over. We had dinner, which is a lot of work but it's my one big meal of the year and I love doing it. Everything turned out well, according to them. I'm probably my own worst critic. After dinner we opened presents. It is so entertaining to watch a two-year old open gifts. So much excitement with each tear. The hit gift was the $5 play-doh fun factory, which he went into the kitchen to play with while we finished opening our gifts. When we were done, we followed him in to play with a little play-doh ourselves. After Lucas went to bed, we ate some yummy dessert and played a little guitar hero. Jaime and Jeremy had never played before and they did quite well.

We finished our Christmas yesterday at Michael's parents. His sister and her girls came over and we ate dinner and opened presents. We watched a couple movies, one of which was the Polar Express, which I had never seen. Those animation movies are amazing. I ate too many rice krispy treats and so it was a good time.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. It was so nice to spend time with family. Michael's off work all this week so we'll be playing and relaxing before he goes back to work and I start student teaching. We are also watching Zeus for Jaime and Jeremy and it's good to have both of the dogs together.

The Holiday Celebrations Begin

On Saturday, we went to a friend's for a Christmas party. It was so much fun. Finger foods and board games, is there a better combination? It was nice to get together with my friends and meet their 'others' finally.

And then on Sunday we headed down to Madison to visit with Alex, who was in Ohio for a friend's wedding and alotted an extra day to spend with us before flying home for the holidays. It was so good to see him again. The last time we saw him was at his basic training graduation, about a year and a half ago. We spent most of the time playing the wii, but we took some time out to grab a bite to eat and make some Christmas cookies. He was really good with Lucas and we played blocks for awhile too. He was supposed to leave Monday morning, but the flight was delayed and so I drove back down to Madison on Monday as well. We played on the wii until it was time to drive him back to the airport.

Yesterday was my day to finish all my shopping for Christmas. I had a couple of gifts to get and a lot of groceries--dinner is here again this year. I look forward to making the big dinner, I guess I like to entertain. So today, I'm going to be making some pies and dips and cleaning the house.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yucky Days

Well, the last couple of days have been sick, yucky days. I woke up on Tuesday with a headache, body aches, and a really bad head cold. I didn't do much in the morning, but I had a doctors appointment in the afternoon. So I was already not feeling well and I had to go do that and get blood drawn on top of it. I needed to do some grocery shopping, so I forced myself to go to the store while I was in town. It was absolutely horrible. I was tired and achy and all I wanted was to go home and lie down. The only thing that got me through the shopping was knowing that I was picking up stuff to make some homemade soup. It's my Grandma's recipe and my favorite soup. So when I got home I started that up, just to fall asleep on the couch, and the soup ended up burning. Yes, I burned soup. I was so upset. I had to dump the whole pot. And then on top of it, I got a bloody nose later that night, which was bad enough but it was coming out of my mouth too. It was disgusting. Yesterday, after I woke up, I was in the kitchen getting something for breakfast when Michael walked in the back door. Well, I didn't realize it was him (it was the middle of the morning after all, he should have been at work) and I was so upset, as if someone was breaking into the house. I rested most of the day, which means sleeping next to Sammy, which isn't so bad. I ended up going to bed last night with a migraine. So this morning when I woke up with just some congestion, I was more than pleased. So I still have a little nasal and chest congestion but I'm feeling much better than I have.

We had such a great weekend too. We bought ourselves a XBox for Christmas, so we spent the weekend playing on that, mostly guitar hero. We laughed that it was a "hero" kind of weekend, playing guitar hero and watching Incredible Hulk and Hancock. We didn't even plan that. Michael is much better on the guitar than me, but maybe now that I'm feeling a little better, I'll get some practice time in while he's at work. Hehe.

The salt truck just passed through the neighborhood. It only took a day. We got some freezing rain on Monday night and so the roads were sheets of ice yesterday. Most of the schools in central Indiana were closed. I'm always surprised at the delay of getting the roads taken care of here. I remember when it would snow back home the roads would be plowed by the time I left for work/school. Not here, but we just don't get that type of weather either. I'm still waiting for some snow to really stick. It usually does in January when I don't really want it anymore. I guess I'll have to get used to having a non-white Christmas.

Disney on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice this past Friday. It was us, Jeremy and Jaime and Lucas, Jill's family (including Lucas' girlfriend, Abby), and another couple and their baby. It was up in Indy so we all met in Franklin and then convoyed up from there. The only ice show I've seen was on our honeymoon on the boat, and this one was pretty good, but watching the kids was the best part. When I asked Michael later if he liked the show, he said the same thing. Abby sat on my lap and since Michael was sitting next to me, Lucas sat on his lap. They shared cotton candy, held hands, and danced and clapped. It was so great just to see their little faces mesmerized by the show. Lucas loved Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, and at one point when Mickey left, he started chanting "Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse!" Abby could name the different princesses that came out, of course. And I think they both enjoyed all the fireworks and costumes. Abby quickly warmed up to Michael; I think this is the first time they've met. I carried her there, but she didn't want me to carry her back to the parking lot. She looked up at everybody and then chose Michael. What can I say, I'm easily replaced. It was definitely a great time and something we will do again in the future.

8 is Great!

Our tradition on the 8th is to put the star on the tree, so we did that last night. It seems like a lot of build-up waiting until the 8th to put it on and then up it goes and we're done, just like that. So I think next year we're going to modify our little tradition to make it more exciting! Either way, our star is up and our tree is finally complete.

Yesterday, the 8th, also concluded the semester! Ah, it feels so good to be done and to know that all that is left is student teaching. We had our meeting last night to learn about our requirements. I am really excited/anxious/nervous/ready to start student teaching. My first placement in January will be my special ed placement. After 40 school days, I will move to a 3rd grade classroom to finish out my last 40 school days.

I don't think I will ever get used to Indiana weather, although I don't feel bad about it, because I don't think the people that grew up here can get used to it either. In the last week it has been rainy, snowy, sleety, and sunny. It has been absolutely freezing cold and then sweatshirt comfortable. It's raining now...we'll see what tomorrow brings.

I went up to Bouncertown with the Toppes last Friday. We met Jill and her girls up there. Lucas and Abby were so cute running around together. When we left, they gave each other a big hug and kiss. It's too sweet to see them together.

Not much else to report. My school break will probably consist of cleaning and organizing the house and subbing when I can. Oh, and relaxing. ;)

Family Night

We went down to Madison to celebrate Jeremy's birthday at family night. It is always so good to go down there and see everyone, and extra good this time with Jeremy home! We visited for awhile and played with the kids before dinner, and then wrapped up the night with some cake and birthday presents. Of course, we forgot our gift for him, but I'll be seeing him on Friday--we're going to Bouncertown!

I'm wrapping up the semester as well. I stayed up late finishing the paper/presentation for today, which is the last big assignment. Monday is the last day and it's just a "be there, show up" kinda day. We also have a meeting that afternoon with our sponsor teachers for our student teaching.

The weather here is still ridiculous. Its cold and snowy one day and rainy the next. We haven't had any snow stick to the ground yet, but I'm still hopeful for some on Christmas day. We'll see.

We've also been thinking about getting Sammy a brother. We found one we really liked (and looked like Sammy!) but he was already adopted when we called. I guess the search will continue but if we don't find one soon, then it might have to wait. I won't get a new dog right before I start student teaching. So we'll how that one goes too.