We finished decorating the tree just now.
All my life, I have had a hodge podge tree. Every ornament from when Jay and I were kids and every ornament we have collected together as a family. There are a lot of ornaments involved. My parents buy us each an ornament every year, we buy one for each of the kids and each other. There is a minimum of 10 new ornaments every year on the tree. We actually have six trees in our house every year. This year I have to buy one more because I am short the one for our bedroom since I gave it to Cecelia last year. Em and Elle have Princess Pony trees and Cecelia will do another year with my Hallmark Winnie the Pooh collection because she isn't old enough to tell me what she really wants. Our tree is crystal and silver and the one in the kitchen has red and while bulbs on it. The one in the downstairs family room in a real tree that we save from the woods covered with S'more ornaments. They are my little downfall. I love those little S'more guys. I think to date I might have 30 of them? Sooooo cute! I love trees. I love ornaments.
When we first got married, it was an all day ordeal. We would sip cocktails, take a break, reminisce and have a day of it. Then Em came along, and Elle, and Cecelia. Now, I kind of hold my breath while we decorate the tree. Today was a task in itself. I had to unpack ornaments and hold Cecelia back at the same time. It was not an easy job. I suppose we could have waited till naptime, but what fun would that have been. Our entire wood floor is covered in quilts just in case anyone dropped one. I am going to finish putting on all the fragile bulbs when everyone is sleeping. Then Jay and I will have our quiet time by the tree. It's tradition and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
So many things to be thankful for.
Yesterday we had dinner at my mom's house. We spent the entire day there from about 2-9 or so. We dined witm my mom and dad, my sister and her husband, my little sister, my grandpa and his lady friend. I looked around the table covered with food and drink and realized we have so many things to be thankful for.
We have the gift of life. We have GOD who is above all. We have our family. Without Jay and the girls, my life would not be as full as it is today. Without my mom and dad and siblings, I wouldn't have to support I have on a daily basis. Without my parents, I wouldn't have the best possible care for my kids when I need to leave them. We have food and shelter and heat and water. There are so many people out there- especially this year- that are going without the basic neccessities in life. Jay has a job. One that I am unbelieveably thankful that he has. He is still working a lot of hours and for that I am eternally grateful. So many others haven't got it as good as we do. There isn't one thing right now that any of us REALLY need. We ave everything we need to live and so much more. We are blessed. We really are.
Jay and I sat up and talked last night well into the early morning hours. I realized how lucky I am to have him and how lucky we are to have the relationship that we do. We were just like little teenagers bullshitting the night away. We talked about all the things we have and about all the things we have done and are going to do with our lives. I am thankful that he and I have such a connection and that we honestly and truly are one another's best friends. I am thankful that he is such an awesome father to our girls. They really are lucky to have him. We all are.
Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours. I hope your day was as filled with blessings as ours.
We have the gift of life. We have GOD who is above all. We have our family. Without Jay and the girls, my life would not be as full as it is today. Without my mom and dad and siblings, I wouldn't have to support I have on a daily basis. Without my parents, I wouldn't have the best possible care for my kids when I need to leave them. We have food and shelter and heat and water. There are so many people out there- especially this year- that are going without the basic neccessities in life. Jay has a job. One that I am unbelieveably thankful that he has. He is still working a lot of hours and for that I am eternally grateful. So many others haven't got it as good as we do. There isn't one thing right now that any of us REALLY need. We ave everything we need to live and so much more. We are blessed. We really are.
Jay and I sat up and talked last night well into the early morning hours. I realized how lucky I am to have him and how lucky we are to have the relationship that we do. We were just like little teenagers bullshitting the night away. We talked about all the things we have and about all the things we have done and are going to do with our lives. I am thankful that he and I have such a connection and that we honestly and truly are one another's best friends. I am thankful that he is such an awesome father to our girls. They really are lucky to have him. We all are.
Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours. I hope your day was as filled with blessings as ours.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
More great news from Laurence Land
I went to school to help with Emily's class Thanksgiving projects yesterday. I so enjoy spending time with the class and seeing Emily in a different environment. I am so thankful to my husband for working as hard as he does so that I can enjoy this time as much as I do. He was up EARLY yesterday so he could stay with the little ones while I was gone.
I got a note home yesterday that Emily has been awarded the ACES academic award for her class. She is the only one in her class to get the academic one for this quarter. I couldn't be more proud of her. We are invited to the assembly next Friday to watch her get her award. I can't wait!
I only hope and pray that this momentum keeps up thru the highschool years and she gets some super scholarship to some Ivy League school and gets a kick butt job as a doctor or lawyer so she can support her Daddy and Mommy. Hey, A Momma can dream can't she?
I got a note home yesterday that Emily has been awarded the ACES academic award for her class. She is the only one in her class to get the academic one for this quarter. I couldn't be more proud of her. We are invited to the assembly next Friday to watch her get her award. I can't wait!
I only hope and pray that this momentum keeps up thru the highschool years and she gets some super scholarship to some Ivy League school and gets a kick butt job as a doctor or lawyer so she can support her Daddy and Mommy. Hey, A Momma can dream can't she?
The Parade Company
We went on a field trip last Saturday with the Daisies. What a great time. We visited the Parade Company in Detroit and got a tour of all the floats from the Thanksgiving Parade. I am pretty excited to lay in bed Thanksgiving morning and watch the parade and see if we recognize any of the floats. The parade should have a whole new meaning this year.
I am so very excited to be a part of the Daisy troop and ecstatic that Emily likes it as much as I thought she would.
After the field trip, we picked Cecelia up at my mom and dad's and headed to Jay's parents house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Jay's sister in law has family in Ohio, so this is their year there and we won't have them for Thanksgiving so I suggested we do it early. It was a nice relaxed time spent with family and lots of food. What more could a girl ask for? I just love the holidays.
I am so very excited to be a part of the Daisy troop and ecstatic that Emily likes it as much as I thought she would.
After the field trip, we picked Cecelia up at my mom and dad's and headed to Jay's parents house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Jay's sister in law has family in Ohio, so this is their year there and we won't have them for Thanksgiving so I suggested we do it early. It was a nice relaxed time spent with family and lots of food. What more could a girl ask for? I just love the holidays.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
And so it begins....
My baby is walking! She stood up today and took 6 steps. She stopped and took 8 more. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so impressed with her. She just took off and has been walking all evening now. Granted, she still prefers the good old crawling, but she is walking now and its only a matter of time before she is walking then running non stop.
The weirdest thing is....Emily walked at 13.5 months. Elizabeth walked at 13.5 months and guess what? Cecelia is 13.5 months. What do you think the chances of that are???
Maybe now that I have to literally chase her around, I might lose a little of that baby fat?? Ya think?
I am so impressed with her. She just took off and has been walking all evening now. Granted, she still prefers the good old crawling, but she is walking now and its only a matter of time before she is walking then running non stop.
The weirdest thing is....Emily walked at 13.5 months. Elizabeth walked at 13.5 months and guess what? Cecelia is 13.5 months. What do you think the chances of that are???
Maybe now that I have to literally chase her around, I might lose a little of that baby fat?? Ya think?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Th hi-lite of our month thus far
Please be aware that this post contains MAJOR momma brags.
Not that everyday isn't better than the last, but we did have parent teacher conferences this past week. Our first "official" parent teacher conference. We sat in the hallway waiting for the teacher and laughed that we will be doing this for at least the next 20 years! Hard to believe, huh?
We had the best conference any parent could have asked for. Emily is a great student. She gets along well with her classmates and has developed a great voice and isn't afraid to use it (which is always one of my biggest concerns cause she always seems so quiet to me.) Mrs. Champagne told us that she is in an extra reading group that only 5 students total are in in all three Kindergarten classes combined. Emily is reading leaps and bounds ahead of her peers. I can honestly say that I wasn't shocked because the kid can READ and read well. With such enthusiam. I fear she is going to out smart me soon. Seriously.
Then came the shocker! Mrs. Champagne informed us that she thinks Emily is above and beyond and more than ready for FIRST grade! And not first grade next September. She wants her to go to first grade soon. YIKES! I have made mention on more than one occasion that I would like to have her tested just to see where she lies on the spectrum, but to hear another person say what I think is something totally different. She said that Emily is way ahead of everyone in the class and she feels she can't teach her any more than she already knows. She is doing things that the first graders do. The only thing she wants to work on is writing because she would like to see what Em is capable of. Well, Momma had a journal stashed away that I pulled out and Emily started writing. REAL words. REAL sentences. Complete thoughts with a capital letter and a period. I cried tears of pure joy. How she knows this? I am not quite sure. Nothing that has been formally taught to her by myself or her teacher. I think with a little practice and help, the kid will be writing novels soon.
The next step is Mrs. Champagne speaking with the principal to see if this is even a possiblity. Then if that gets us the go ahead, we will meet with the first grade teachers. I am a ball of emotions right now. I have no idea what to do. Do we keep her in Kindergarten and let her be ahead, but be with her friends that she has made? Do we leave her in Kindergarten so I can be selfish and have her home with me at lunchtime? Or do we put her into first grade. A new classroom, new friends, a bigger challenge? Dear Lord. Pray for me and PRAY HARD. I will need all the help I can get making this BIG huge decision.
Not that everyday isn't better than the last, but we did have parent teacher conferences this past week. Our first "official" parent teacher conference. We sat in the hallway waiting for the teacher and laughed that we will be doing this for at least the next 20 years! Hard to believe, huh?
We had the best conference any parent could have asked for. Emily is a great student. She gets along well with her classmates and has developed a great voice and isn't afraid to use it (which is always one of my biggest concerns cause she always seems so quiet to me.) Mrs. Champagne told us that she is in an extra reading group that only 5 students total are in in all three Kindergarten classes combined. Emily is reading leaps and bounds ahead of her peers. I can honestly say that I wasn't shocked because the kid can READ and read well. With such enthusiam. I fear she is going to out smart me soon. Seriously.
Then came the shocker! Mrs. Champagne informed us that she thinks Emily is above and beyond and more than ready for FIRST grade! And not first grade next September. She wants her to go to first grade soon. YIKES! I have made mention on more than one occasion that I would like to have her tested just to see where she lies on the spectrum, but to hear another person say what I think is something totally different. She said that Emily is way ahead of everyone in the class and she feels she can't teach her any more than she already knows. She is doing things that the first graders do. The only thing she wants to work on is writing because she would like to see what Em is capable of. Well, Momma had a journal stashed away that I pulled out and Emily started writing. REAL words. REAL sentences. Complete thoughts with a capital letter and a period. I cried tears of pure joy. How she knows this? I am not quite sure. Nothing that has been formally taught to her by myself or her teacher. I think with a little practice and help, the kid will be writing novels soon.
The next step is Mrs. Champagne speaking with the principal to see if this is even a possiblity. Then if that gets us the go ahead, we will meet with the first grade teachers. I am a ball of emotions right now. I have no idea what to do. Do we keep her in Kindergarten and let her be ahead, but be with her friends that she has made? Do we leave her in Kindergarten so I can be selfish and have her home with me at lunchtime? Or do we put her into first grade. A new classroom, new friends, a bigger challenge? Dear Lord. Pray for me and PRAY HARD. I will need all the help I can get making this BIG huge decision.
Teeth!
Here she is 13.5 months old and FINALLY a tooth has popped out! I can't even imagine that it took as long as it did. I am proud to say that one is out and another is coming. Maybe she will have them all by the time she goes to Kindergarten. Though, I am not complaining. I forsee her being a "nipple biter." Thats a small inside joke, I suppose.
Since she is still nursing once or twice a day, I praise God for the lack of teeth. She might not be nursing that much longer. lol
Since she is still nursing once or twice a day, I praise God for the lack of teeth. She might not be nursing that much longer. lol
November Weekend 2
We spent the majority of Saturday number two surrounded by insulation. After Jay checked out our attics when we bought the house, we realized we needed more insulation. So, after a few years of talking about it, I finally told him that we would be doing insulation "this weekend." We packed up the kids in two seperate cars and headed to Lowes.
We picked up 20 bags of insulation and the blower thinie ma bob and headed home. Cecelia took a nice nap and Jay and I got to work. He crawled up in the attic and it was my job to "feed" the machine. The girls helped but mostly ran around the yard. We had a lot of fun actually. After we did those 20 bags, I headed to Lowes to get 20 more bags to do attic #2.
After about 6 hours of work mixed in with a few breaks, we FINISHED. Our house should be a lot warmer this winter and our heating bill a lot lower. It gives me such a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that we put our mind to something and we finshed it!
We took the girls out for their Trick or Treat free meals at Big Boy for being so great! And we even got a Belgian Waffle for dessert. Yummy!
We picked up 20 bags of insulation and the blower thinie ma bob and headed home. Cecelia took a nice nap and Jay and I got to work. He crawled up in the attic and it was my job to "feed" the machine. The girls helped but mostly ran around the yard. We had a lot of fun actually. After we did those 20 bags, I headed to Lowes to get 20 more bags to do attic #2.
After about 6 hours of work mixed in with a few breaks, we FINISHED. Our house should be a lot warmer this winter and our heating bill a lot lower. It gives me such a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that we put our mind to something and we finshed it!
We took the girls out for their Trick or Treat free meals at Big Boy for being so great! And we even got a Belgian Waffle for dessert. Yummy!
Halloween Weekend
Well since I can't figure out the new camera, I am gonna have to wait for Jay to hook the bad boy up. Ugh. I love being technologically impaired.
Halloween was rather uneventful. Jay took the night off work, which was super nice for him to have a three day weekend. The weather was so nice I felt as if we were doing something wrong with it being daylight and WARM. I felt like we were trick or treating in June!
The girls made it the entire 2 hours. Cecelia hung out in her stroller and the big girls walked. The plan was for me to take them for the first hour and meet Jay for the second, but he was busy chatting with the neighbor when we got half way done, so I kept going with the girls. By the time we got back, Jay was chatting with not one. Not two, but three neighbors and passing out candy.
The girls got home and passed out from the excitement of the day. We turned in early cause we had a BIG weekend planned.
Saturday we all got dressed up to attend the Past Grand Knights Ball for the Knights of Columbus. My grandpa and his family (thats us) got nominated for Family of the Year. We all surprised my grandpa because he had no idea. We danced and ate and partied with the family. It was a great tribute to my grandfather and all the volunteer work that he does.
Sunday we had Festivus with Jay's family. Its early Thanksgiving and Christmas spent with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, uncle and cousins. It's so much fun and so great to see everyone. The kids exchanged gifts and the adults did a White Elephant exchange. I ended up with a pair of candy underware and Jay with a foam finger from a Tigers game. All in good fun! After Festivus, I went and spent a few hours with friends of ours who had a baby on the 30th. I got to hold him and 'mash him a little and I have to admit that I had a little baby envy. I can't help it!
It was a busy and fun weekend- it was quick and over. Not the way I like the weekends to be these days, but at least we saw a lot of family and friends.
Halloween was rather uneventful. Jay took the night off work, which was super nice for him to have a three day weekend. The weather was so nice I felt as if we were doing something wrong with it being daylight and WARM. I felt like we were trick or treating in June!
The girls made it the entire 2 hours. Cecelia hung out in her stroller and the big girls walked. The plan was for me to take them for the first hour and meet Jay for the second, but he was busy chatting with the neighbor when we got half way done, so I kept going with the girls. By the time we got back, Jay was chatting with not one. Not two, but three neighbors and passing out candy.
The girls got home and passed out from the excitement of the day. We turned in early cause we had a BIG weekend planned.
Saturday we all got dressed up to attend the Past Grand Knights Ball for the Knights of Columbus. My grandpa and his family (thats us) got nominated for Family of the Year. We all surprised my grandpa because he had no idea. We danced and ate and partied with the family. It was a great tribute to my grandfather and all the volunteer work that he does.
Sunday we had Festivus with Jay's family. Its early Thanksgiving and Christmas spent with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, uncle and cousins. It's so much fun and so great to see everyone. The kids exchanged gifts and the adults did a White Elephant exchange. I ended up with a pair of candy underware and Jay with a foam finger from a Tigers game. All in good fun! After Festivus, I went and spent a few hours with friends of ours who had a baby on the 30th. I got to hold him and 'mash him a little and I have to admit that I had a little baby envy. I can't help it!
It was a busy and fun weekend- it was quick and over. Not the way I like the weekends to be these days, but at least we saw a lot of family and friends.
Our whirlwind November
Happy November! (a day late and a dollar short, eh??)
We have had the busiest month to date. I haven't bloggesd since Halloween, so I suppose I should get all the pictures uploaded from the new camera and get this party started. If only I could figure out how to upload photos. Ugh.
I think I will turn this into a whole bunch of separate blog entries just cause there are a lotta things that happened in the last three weeks and I'd rather give each event their own special recognition.
Here we go!!!!!!!!
We have had the busiest month to date. I haven't bloggesd since Halloween, so I suppose I should get all the pictures uploaded from the new camera and get this party started. If only I could figure out how to upload photos. Ugh.
I think I will turn this into a whole bunch of separate blog entries just cause there are a lotta things that happened in the last three weeks and I'd rather give each event their own special recognition.
Here we go!!!!!!!!
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