Christmas

I think I may have made too many Christmas cookies this year. Considering the fact that we just moved, so we don't know anybody yet. Meaning there was nobody to share them with. So, um hubs and I ate almost all of the cookies ourselves. It all started the week after we moved in and my Mom came for a visit. While she was here we made a TON of Christmas cookies. We made three batches of sugar cookies and some oreo dippers. Then after she left I made another batch of sugar cookies with my SIL and kids. Then I made some more oreo dippers and finally I made some chewy chocolate drops.
The kids really enjoyed making the sugar cookies with Grandma. I'm not sure why both of my kids have no pants on. I'm sure it had something to do with Grandma visiting and the kids running wild.

Alex would get so excited every time he cut-out a cookie. He would proudly hold up his cookie and say "LOOK!" Of course this resulted in most of his cookies looking more like a blob then anything else.

Hannah was so serious about cutting out the cookies. She would get upset if her cookie didn't turn out perfect. It was kind of cute and scary at the same time.

We waited to ice the cookies until Zander took his nap. I'm not sure why we did that. Maybe because I am smart bad mom and didn't want to have to clean up the mess he would make.

These are some of Hannah's beautiful creations. She worked so hard and used almost an entire bottle of sprinkles on her creations. When we were finished she said that she wanted to give some to B (my brother's girlfriend) buy not Matt (my brother). So we wrapped up a plate and sent some to "B ONLY!"

The next day we made the oreo dippers. Alex worked so hard creating his oreo ball. Only they did not turn out very round;)

Hannah loved squishing the dough together to start the ball. It was so fun watching these two make cookies.

We had a hard time finding a tree this year. Normally we would go to an awesome tree farm where we cut our own. This year since we were new to the area we were not sure where to go. Hubs was sort of a scrooge and did not want to mess with finding a place, he wanted to just get an artificial tree. I love real trees, so I vetoed the idea and he told me that it would be my job to find one then. So, my Mom and I trekked out to find the perfect tree. However the first place we went to was outrageously expensive. I refuse to pay more than $40 for a tree that is only going to be up for a short period of time. So, then we went to a nursery nearby. They did not have a very good selection, so I said we should go home and do some research. I found a couple of places online and then off we went. However, when we left the house it started raining. Yuck. We didn't want to take the kids out looking for a tree in the rain, but we decided we would drive and find the place anyway and hopefully it would stop raining by then. On the way we passed Lowe's and my Mom saw that they had trees. We decided to stop in and see what they had. We ended up finding one, it was kind of short but I prefer fat trees over tall trees anyway so we decided to get it. Somehow, in all of that madness we ended up forgetting to check the trunk. Big mistake, as it was very crooked.

Shortly after we put up the tree it toppled over smashing some of my favorite ornaments. I was so worried that it would fall again that I decided we would have an old fashioned tree. Complete with popcorn and candy canes. Hannah and I really enjoyed stringing the popcorn together. However, she lost interest before we were done and I had to finish it myself. Which was kind of boring, but it was SO easy to take down the tree this year that it was worth it!

Christmas morning I made the kids wait on the steps while I got the camera's ready. The were so adorable and so patient. I had charged the batteries the night before, however I forgot to check the tape on the video camera and ran out of film before they even made it down the stairs. So they had to wait some more while I ran around trying to find a new tape.

We had a relaxing Christmas morning at home. The kids were so much fun. Although Hannah was kind of confused because we gave her lots of presents and Santa only gave her one. He was supposed to give her lots. She kept asking why we gave her presents and why Santa only gave her one.

Stockings were opened last. I managed to get both kids to pause long enough to snap a picture. However I am a little sad because I was trying to take video and pictures by myself so I didn't end up with very many good shots of the kids opening their presents.

After a leisurely morning we packed up the kids and headed to my parents house for about an hour, then we headed over to Tony's parents for the rest of the day. We spent Thursday night and Friday night at Tony's parents house, then we headed over to my parent's house on Saturday for my family Christmas. We had some drama on Christmas Day involving family. I can't really go into it here because I'm sure the person who it involves reads this. I will say that it involved a little miscommunication, too high of expectations and a little bit of selfishness. All of it resulted in Tony and I deciding that next year Christmas Day is OURS. We will not be making any plans on that day other then spending OUR time how we choose. If that means we stay home most of the day or travel all around the country it will be up to us how we spend it.

Word of Advice

Yeah, I know I suck already! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. Geesh, I said I would be MIA for the next couple of weeks. Alright so five or six weeks might be a little longer than a couple but whatever. It has been pretty eventful around here. Not to mention that moving between Thanksgiving and Christmas has got to be the worst time to move. EVER. So, just a word to the wise, if you are planning to move in the future, try to avoid the holiday season.

So, what have I been up to. Well we moved the weekend of Thanksgiving. That week was spent unpacking and unpacking some more. We also laid a floor, got appliances, and hung at least 15 light fixtures. We bought a live tree and decorated it, only to have it come crashing down the very next day and smash some of my favorite ornaments. Bah! Our basement flooded on the 19th, on the 20th we had a Christmas party, on the 21st I started painting Alex's room and Alex got sick. (Have you ever tried to paint a room with a sick two year old? Not fun.) So that was a really great weekend. Alex was sick for three days, but thankfully nobody else contracted his plague and we had no sickness for Christmas! We had five Christmas gatherings mixed in that as well.

So, I found myself having no energy to blog. Normally I blog when the kids are asleep, but with all the unpacking and organizing I have been doing there just was not time. So now that things are starting to settle down, I should resume my normal posting schedule. Hopefully soon I will have up a Christmas post and some pictures of the new house.

It's getting closer...

Because I wouldn't want to forget them!!!

I might be MIA around here for the next couple of weeks, you know with trying to move and all. Right now my house is filled with boxes, most of them empty. So, yeah I really need to get busy. However, for some reason I cannot seem to get much done during the day. Hmmm, not really sure why. Oh right, because of two small "helpers".

Also, I updated my blogroll, please let me know if I forgot someone. There are so many blogs these days that it is hard to keep up with them all.

Freedom is NOT Free

Happy Veterans Day. Although, I think that statement contradicts itself. How can somebody be happy that they are a veteran? That they fought in a war? So, I guess the proper thing to say would be: thank you. Thank you to those past and present for serving our country. Thank you for giving up your "freedoms" so that we can all continue to enjoy ours. Thank you to all of the faithful wives/husbands of veterans for proudly standing by your solider.

On this day, we remember those who have served and who are currently serving. I for one am grateful for your service. I just don't think that thank you covers it.

The HOTTEST of them all ;)

Christmas, Christmas time is here...

Well, it is almost here anyway. I seriously cannot believe that stores have their Christmas stuff out in full force already! Of course my children love to go into said stores and marvel at all of the gaudy decorations. Needless to say, all the Christmas decor has made me realize that Christmas truly is around the corner and I need to get busy shopping. However, I am hoping to score something for myself (and possibly others) over at 5 Minutes for Mom. They are having an awesome Christmas giveaway throughout the month of November. Hop on over there and check it out!

Happy Almost Birthday

The USMC birthday is coming up and it makes me a little sad. Normally we would be celebrating this occasion by getting all geared up for the Ball. Obviously since Bologna is no longer in the Marines, we will not be attending and that is partially what makes me sad. What it really boils down to is that I miss being a military family. I miss the community, the understanding between the wives, I miss NC and I miss our friends. However, there is not anything I can do about that. What I can do is wish all the Devil Dogs a safe and happy birthday. As well as a big Semper Fi!

To keep with the military theme here, I was thinking the other day about when Bologna was deployed to Iraq. I was thinking about how it almost seemed easier then the current separation we are in. I'm really not sure how to explain it. He was deployed for seven months, in a relatively "safe" area. However, there was no choice involved. He had to be there. Right now, it is more of a choice for us because he is only two hours away. Really we could be together if we wanted to. I mean he is paying to stay with friends. We could pay for something for all of us or drive up and see us more.

I think that is what makes it so hard. That we could be together and we are not. When he was deployed we were so in love. When we would correspond or talk it was similar to when you first start dating someone and everything is all sunshine and roses. I'm not saying we didn't argue, because we still did but it was different. It is much harder this time. There seems to be such a strain on our marriage. We are still in love, but we have to fight for that love.

I am just so excited that this is almost over. That we will soon be living together again and instead of missing him all of the time I will probably be wondering why I missed him so much in the first place!

Fall Fun and Other Ramblings

Yesterday we enjoyed some awesome warm weather, so we decided to take advantage of it and play outside. All. Day. Long. (Except nap time because I'm not crazy!) We had such a wonderful time; raking the leaves, jumping in the leaves, throwing the leaves at each other, burying each other in the leaves, basically doing all things involved with leaves.
I managed to get some good shots of Hannah. I could post quite of few of her in the leaves because she is such a good subject. She will comply when I ask her to sit still for a few minutes.

Alex on the other hand is a different story. Being his two year old self it was hard to get a good picture of him. He was a ball of constant motion. So, I finally gave up, put the camera away and just enjoyed my kids.

We had such a fun time together! The downside was that the house got a little neglected. Never mind the fact that we spent all the daylight hours outside, there still managed to be a big mess! Oh well. It was worth it and I will gladly choose spending time with my children over housekeeping any day.

Also, I somehow forgot that since I was the one responsible for making beer bread for a Tastefully Simple party tonight, that I would you know need beer. Of course I did not remember that small little fact until well after the kids were in bed. So first thing today we ran out and bought some beer so I could make the stinking bread. After only 30 minutes in the oven (it is supposed to bake for almost an hour) I started to smell burning bread. Uh-oh, sure enough it was a little burnt. Again, oh well. We'll just scrape that part off!!

Lastly, some house news. It is finally official, I think. We have a closing date!! We will finally be closing the week of Thanksgiving, which will make for a busy Thanksgiving around these parts. Of course it will be worth it to finally be living together again.

Why Mommy?

When I met Lisa recently one of the things we talked about was talking to our daughters about the fact that they were different from other kids. She said that one of the tools she uses is watching Little People Big World with Lizzie. Unfortunately, we do not have cable so that is not really an option for us. I have talked to Han before about how she is special, that God made her look different, but that she is just as smart and can do just as much in her own way.

When talking to Lisa, I said something about the fact that Hannah had not yet noticed that she was different then any of the other kids and that I was not sure if I wanted to ruin her innocence on the matter just yet. I just wanted her to remain worry free for a little longer. I do not know if that is the best approach, and I was struggling with what to do about it. How do you make a four year old understand what most adults don't understand?

Well, recently she has started to notice things. Like, that her two year old brother can reach the light switches and she cannot. Or that on most bikes/trikes she cannot reach the pedals while most kids can. This has caused her to start asking questions.
"Mommy, why can Alex reach the lights and I can't? I even stand on my tipey-toes and can't."
"Mommy, why can't I reach the pedals like Dax (our next door neighbor)?"
"Mommy, why am I different?"
"Mommy why are my legs short and Anna's legs long? I don't want short arms and legs."

Although it is a little heartbreaking for me to hear her question and express these things, I keep reassuring her that she can do those things with a little modification. Such as using her light wand to reach the switches, and her pedal blocks to reach the pedals. I also reiterate how special she is, how much I love her and that she should not let her difference hold her back. That one day she will be able to do these things and until then she gets to do them her own special way.

She still questions why she has short arms/legs. I'm not sure what more I can do for her, other than surround her with love so that she can realize that, short or not, she is an amazing little girl. Now the pressure is off on how to tell her she is different, but the pressure is there on how to help her embrace her difference. Any great suggestions?

We Rocked the Vote

I VOTED....with a two year old on my hip. It doesn't get much harder than that, so really there is not excuse as to not voting.
(Apparently it is harder to take a self portrait in the mirror than I thought. This was the best out of a million shots, and even then I had to crop it.) Also, in case you were wondering if I left Tater at home by herself while the boy and I walked downtown to vote, I didn't. She was with her Grandma Cath and got to vote with her. Although, she wasn't sure what a vote was and got quite anxious in line since they had to wait 40 minutes. We on the other hand walked right in and voted.

Finished Product

Here is the finished product at night. This is Hannah's clown:
Alex's pirate:

Sorry for the blur, that is what I get with no flash and night photography....apparently I cannot hold very still.

60 YEARS!!!

Today is my Grandparent's anniversary, they have been married for sixty years. Can you believe that? Sixty years and they make it look so easy. This past weekend we had a surprise party for them. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I did not get any pictures of the grand event. I will have to steal my Mom's memory card so I can put up some pictures of them....they are so cute! Anyway, we had a great meal, went on a hayride and had a bunch of crafts for the kids to do. One of the crafts was to color and decorate pumpkins.
Here's Zander, cheesily showing off his pumpkin creation:
And Missy with hers. She spent a long time just coloring her pumpkin, the other side is also colored.

We decided that we also wanted to carve the pumpkins with the kids. So Sunday evening before Bologna left we carved them. Alex jumped right into the goo.

Hannah on the other hand was a little more timid. Tony finally put some in her hand and let her feel it so she would be brave enough to stick her hand inside.

I caught her face mid-yuck. She actually got better after a few times of sticking her hands in.

I will have to post the finished product later because I do not have a good picture of them yet. Tony is so creative, he made Tater a clown face and Zander a pirate. I think that he actually enjoys carving the pumpkins more than the kids do and in a few years we will have to get an extra pumpkin so that he still gets to carve one;)

Disgusting doesn't even begin to cover it...

Last night the kids and I went over to my Mom's house for dinner. My brother's girlfriend B wanted to learn how to make my Mom's square noodles, so we all got together to eat them. After dinner we decided to play Phase 10. During which, I was drinking some water from a water bottle. My brother, who was sitting next to me was spitting into a water bottle. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

At one point in the game I had Zander on my lap and was trying to keep him from grabbing my cards and I decided to take a drink. As I unscrew the cap and lift the bottle up to my lips I hear B. yelling "no, no, no!" It takes a few seconds to realize that she is talking to me. By then I had the water bottle up to my lips, and started to tip it up. I look down and to my horror realize I grabbed my brother's spit bottle, not my water bottle. But, it was too late, the brown liquid spit had already made it's way past my lips. Thankfully (if you can even say that about this situation) I had realized it in time to only get a tiny bit past my lips and it did not even make it to my tongue. I spit it back into the bottle and ran to wash my mouth out....several times.

The bad thing about the situation was that at the dinner table I was laughing at my Mom for actually DRINKING some of the spit that was in a diet coke bottle. Yeah, not a good idea on my part. However, B let Matt know that from now on he has to throw his bottles away as soon as he is done with them.

Like I said, disgusting doesn't even begin to cover it!

I've been tagged!

I am so excited! This is the first time I have ever been tagged, hooray! Here it goes:

{10 Years Ago I ....}
1. Was a Senior in High School
2. Had been dating my hubs for four months
3. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up
4. Could not wait to get out into the "real" world....haha, like that was the real world!
5. Drove a manual Pontiac Sunfire and loved it!

{5 Things On Today's to-do-List}
1. Make and decorate 48 cupcakes and 2 cakes for my Grandparents 60th anniversary party tomorrow
2. Lots of laundry (it never ends!)
3. Dishes (they never end either!)
4. Work on BIG A, little a
5. See my HUBBY :)
Really, this list could go on and on...

{5 Things I Would D0 if I Were a Millionaire}
1. Pay off my new mortgage and furnish my new house with all new stuff
2. Pay off my student loans (and all my debt for that matter)
3. Go on a shopping spree for ME!
4. Buy a fancy new SUV because hey, I could afford the gas!
5. Help out the ones I love

{5 Places I Have Lived}
1. Fostoria, OH
2. Luckey, OH
3. Rogers, AR
4. Havelock, NC (I heart NC and would LOVE to move back there!)
5. Columbus, OH (soon...very soon!)

{5 Jobs I've Had}
1. School Aide at local County Hospital
2. Bakers Apprentice at Meijer
3. Teacher at Daycare
4. Assistant at Dr's office
5. MOMMY

I tag, Destini, Trisha, Cat, Lisa (who has not updated in two weeks!) and Sarah (because if we all tag her she might update!)

A Public Service Announcement

Last weekend when my cute husband was home, he started coming down with a cold. Somehow when he gets a cold the children always manage to catch it. When the children catch a cold it is inevitable that I will then catch it because of the constant in your face communication they like to have. So, I would like to take a time-out to give my family a public service announcement.

Dear Cute Husband,
I am so sorry that you started to come down with a cold over the weekend. However, for future reference, when you start to feel like you have a cold please refrain from allowing our children to drink after you. Drinking after someone who is sick is one of the easiest ways to pass germs from person to person. Furthermore, please wash your hands every five minutes or so. Thank you very much. I love you, I just do not wish to share your sick germs with the entire family.

Love,
Your wife

Dear Missy,
When you are laying in bed with Mommy in the morning and you want Mommy to turn her head towards you because you "love me", please do not cough in my face. Furthermore when you continue to cough in my face over and over again, please do not get upset when I turn away from you. Also, please wash your hands every time you cough, sneeze, or wipe your nose (basically every five seconds). I love you very much but I wish you would not share your germs with me.

Love,
Mommy

BIG A, little a

Today I decided that since Missy Tater is not in preschool, we really need to start working on her letters. I figured we would start with A and work our way through to Z (ingenious I know), doing one letter per week, capital and lowercase including the sounds that they make. We'll see how it goes. Today we worked on writing big and little a's and sang a song about the sounds they make. Then for lunch we had "Aa" sandwiches.
We also had tomAto soup. It was very yummy and the kids just loved eating their letters.

After lunch we ran to the $ store and bought some art supplies so that we could do some serious "Aa" art projects this week. When we were done there we went to my friend Steph's house for a little play date. It was great to catch up with my friend Molly who I haven't seen for a few months. Towards the end of the night we tried to get all of the kiddos on the couch for a photo, but it did not work out to well.

I chose this one because H, was sitting there all nice and proper while everyone else was in their own world. Yep, that basically sums up us trying to get five kids to sit still for five minutes.

House Update

I am a little nervous to post this, but we *might* have a house! This is all so different from the last time we bought a house that I just do not know what to expect. When we bought our house in NC, we were in a military town and the market was great. It really did not take much to get everything in order, and it seems like from the time our offer was accepted until we closed was really not that long at all. This time around everything seems to be moving in slow motion. Our offer was accepted like two weeks ago and we still do not have an end in sight. We are hoping to close by November 24th, but we still do not have our financing through, our home inspection or the appraisal. So, hopefully that will all be settled by this week.

It is a really great house!! One of the most exciting things is that it is REALLY close to my SIL's house. I won't bore you with the details, but it was one of the first houses that we looked at and loved. It was a little out of our price range at the time so we decided to keep looking. Well a couple of months later and the bank had dropped the price $10,000. We offered $5,000 less and they accepted our offer! See it pays to be patient (and picky).

VOTE!!!!

No, I'm not talking about voting for the next president, I'm talking about voting over at 5 Minutes for Mom. I recently found a blog and instantly fell in love with the family. Well it turns out that they are a finalist in a contest to win new bedroom furniture. You can vote once per computer until October 29th. So head on over there and help Kaden win a new bedroom set! He's finalist number 18 and if you read the story behind the picture, it will probably melt you into a puddle of goo when you read it. Please take the time to vote:)

Happy Birthday Anna Michelle!!!

Today is my niece Anna's fifth birthday. I cannot believe that she is already five years old. Since I started asking her two weeks ago what she wanted for her birthday she kept saying "I need more time to think about it." So, since her party is this weekend I decided that I would just take her shopping and let her pick out whatever she wanted.

So, I picked her up yesterday afternoon and took her up to a big toy store to let her pick out whatever she wanted. After she picked out her stuff, I knew that I would be in for some serious paybacks! She picked out a bunch of art stuff...only the messy kind. The kind that most mothers either don't buy or hide on the top shelf where they can't be seen. Oh well, you are only five once!

We then came back to my house for some Wii. Let me just tell you that little miss Anna can kick some booty when playing bowling. The first game she bowled a 130! The second game she bowled a 156! After that I let her play by herself because I did not want to get beat by an almost five year old. I wish I would have thought to take a picture because she looked really cute striking her bowling pose.

Happy Birthday Anna Banana! I cannot wait to enjoy your princess party on Saturday and to see your parents expressions when you open your gifts.

Poor Little Boy

Remember the baseball tee that Zander got for his birthday? He really loved that tee, it was one of his favorite things to do when we went outside to play. He would put the ball on it and hit it, then chase it around the yard. It was actually pretty cute.

Well the other night I did not put it away. I left it in the yard thinking that we would be going back outside later and we would put it away after that. However, we never made it back outside and later that night I forgot about it and shut the garage door. Well some schmuck decided to steal a two year olds favorite toy! Mind you it was in my BACKYARD in a very small town. I would have thought that it would be ok to leave a toy outside overnight.

I was so angry when I went outside the next morning and found it missing. I called my hubby and he laughed and said "What are you going to do when you move to Columbus and somebody breaks into your car....or your house?" Which made me laugh! However at least my two year old would most likely not be missing his brand new favorite toy!!

WE MET LIZZIE!!!

Very photo heavy post...however there are about a thousand pictures I could post so really you are getting off easy!

Tonya had a party on Saturday and I was soooo excited not only to see everybody, but because the Hedger's were going to be there. That meant that not only was there going to be somebody Hannah's age, but there was going to be a GIRL that was Hannah's age! However, what I did not expect was how much I would enjoy talking with Lisa. Not that I don't enjoy talking with Tonya, Sarah, Sue and Cat, but this was different. This was a mommy of a girl my girl's age. (Are you following me here?) That meant that we got to talk about things that applied to our girls. Things that the other parents are not facing either a. because they have male children, or b. because they are younger than Hannah. Anyway, what I am trying to convey here is just how nice it was to be able to talk to somebody at the same point that I am. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, moving on. The kids had such a great time. As always, Tonya was such a great hostess and had so much for the kids to do. They were buys most of the time which gave all of us mommas a chance to chit-chat. There was a cardboard box house, that had a bunch of shredded paper in the middle that hid the candy. Hannah and Liz actually sat in there forever picking out that candy. It was quite funny.

I think it is so cute how Alex is just peaking in!
There was bobbing for apples, and really what more can a bunch of almost two year olds want than a big bucket full of water and apples?

Hannah and Liz really enjoyed the bobbing.

They each got to make their own bag to collect the candy in. Tonya, so crafty had foam stickers, stamps and puffy paint for them to use.

There was even a bouncy house for them to jump in and boy did they love that.

When they weren't occupied with all of that, Will gave them a box of rocks to throw into the little fish pond. I think that was on of the highlights of the night. However, it was not until much later that Hannah discovered the fish.

Hannah and Liz were just so cute together! They played so well and at one point were upstairs playing by themselves. Every now and then somebody would go check on them to find that they were playing "Princess of the year!" Not sure what that is but okay. The one bummer is that they live so far away:( I did google it and if I have the right city then currently we are only roughly two hours away. Once I move though we will be almost four hours away!

Hannah and Liz saying goodbye:

I will leave you with some of the other cuties at the party. Unfortunately I am so bad about getting pictures of the older kids, mainly because they are so busy running around!

Dude, is this party over yet? 'Cause I am wicked tired!