Thanksgiving and Christmas 2011

It is pretty ridiculous how long it has been since my last entry.  My excuse is traveling and the holidays.  We went to visit family for Thanksgiving and before that had family here for several days.  Then of course Christmas prep, and now Christmas!!  It has been a busy few weeks and it ended today with a lovely time with my little girls and husband.  Here are some "catch-up" pictures since the Baptism right before Thanksgiving.

Baptism Sunday for the girls

Thanksgiving

End of November Christmas Prep.

2011 Christmas Tree

Making a Gingerbread House

Dollhouse

Castle

Roller-skating for the first time

Candlelight Service

Wall Displays in Our Home

master bedroom collage and shelf placement

I have been inspired by the cold weather to stay inside and decorate my bare walls.  I have had ideas and just got up the motivation this past week.  Our one year anniversary week in our home.

the original picture in the frame

chalk board paint and the initials of streets we lived on

"frame a frame" concept with inspirational words suspended within them connecting the middle art with ribbon coordinating with sofas

This is the third attempt at making the large living room frames more pleasing.  So far I like it the best, but can not guarantee it will stay this way.  I average on changing displays and rooms every three to four months.

I created a framed display in the living room on the back wall as well.  I incorporated my black and white them.  I love the contrast.

My Little Astronauts

My Little Astronauts

I had so many ideas to create for our home when my mother was here-an extra hand with the kids.  She unfortunately ended up in the ED  several times and hospitalized twice.  Needless to say all extra activities were put on hold.  The week was challenging and unproductive.  I was trying to fit in sleep time, much less craft time.  I had posted earlier some ideas for inspiration.  I wanted to to create the black and white wreath.  When I did get to the craft store the wreath was not in stock-although I bought the yarn for a later time.  The Halloween get to together was fun and trick or treating successful.  I ended up with a "Beetle Juice" punch, mice on the stairs, and several arrangements of spiderwebs and rubber spiders and mini pumpkin groupings in our home.  I cleaned the day before while my husband and little girls went to the neighborhood parade.  A good friend of mine helped the morning of the party.  It all came together.  My mom is healing now back at home and has improved greatly.  Now it's November: Thanksgiving prep time and really short days-we set our clocks back tonight.

Pre-School Pictures

gotta love the little kid on the floor

perfect

My oldest daughter had her first school pictures last week.  It was so adorable.  All the "Little Lambs" gathered together for a class photo and all the parents stood around with younger siblings.  Between wrangling the siblings and being silly to to get the students to "smile for the camera" it was a hilarious scene.

One Year Bucket

I had these grand plans to create a Trick-or-Treat bucket for the girls.  I found some magnificent ideas in BHG magazine.  So crafty, yet so easy.  Then, while shopping today with my youngest daughter she spotted the dreaded plastic pumpkin buckets.  Now, yes these are convenient and a great size for the kids.  I just had something else in mind.  They were priced right at $1 each.  I couldn't say no to her at that price.  That's when I wished that they were like $100 each, then I could have used that as my excuse not to get them.  My daughter was so happy carrying them to the register.  I added ribbon and some pom poms to help get rid of my creative bug.  My oldest daughter LOVES them and keeps saying "they are so cute mom".  They have been "practice" trick-or-treating with the legos downstairs and have even pulled out the astronaut costumes to add to the "pretendness".  I may add more to them, but for now this is how they turned out.  I am not thrilled, may be they will only be used for one year.

One Year Buckets

Halloween Pre Trick Or Treat Party Inspirations

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

We are planning on having friends and their little ones over for a "Pre-Trick or Treat Chili Night".  My friend in Michigan had this tradition and I wanted to continue it in our new home.  Halloween weekend will be our one year anniversary of taking possession of our current house.  A super big blessing!  We love our home and the neighborhood it's in.  How better than to celebrate with new and old friends!  I have been researching holiday decorations online and, as always, enjoy crafty ideas from both Etsy and Martha Stewart.  These are just a few images from my inspiration board in regards to decorating our home.  We are working on a tight budget-nearly none for this kind of thing-so I wanted to create it myself.  Something fun that costs a little.  I love the black and white wreath, that is a must!

Turning 29 Again Isn't So Bad

My husband has been truly amazing!!!  He planned a family get-away at a nearby resort.  He packed everything and arranged for the dog to stay with a friend.  He pretty much took care of the girls and even took them swimming this morning without me so that I could enjoy coffee in silence...what??!!!!  Wow, thank you.  Although my husband was truly perfect, I could not say that for our girls.  My youngest daughter slept with me.  Between her torpedo-like sleep habits and her intermittent wails from 1-5 am averaging every 20 minutes-let's just say I did NOT sleep. Then, this morning was a series of one tantrum after another-go figure she didn't sleep.  Instead of enjoying lunch at the Harbor we picked up Chipotle on the way home due the extremely gentle state our children were in.  My oldest daughter did learn to swim under water without any flotation devices at the resort.  This was very exciting!!!!  My husband did the dreaded unpacking when we got home too.  Still wow!  Still thank you!  I will end the night in a free "Happy Birthday" yoga class at a nearby studio.  I look forward to Savasana.  Turning 29 again isn't so bad.

Neuroma shroma

I have most recently gone to a podiatrist who has diagnosed me with a neuroma in my foot.  This explains all the pain and numbness in my foot this summer.  Sadly, I am still in pain and the metatarsals are irritated every time I walk  greater than a half mile.  Aside from missing out on completing my training and the sprint tri's last month I have missed out on a lot of walking in the neighborhood due to the "problem".  I started to feel better (after all it has been two months of nearly no exercise, NSAIDS, ice and rest) so this past week I walked to church, my daughter's pre-school and the park today for some family time, and believe me it is sore now. So discouraging.   I hope that I can get this issue under control before the holidays.  "You need to get back to working out", says the scale and my jeans!

Pre-School and Apple-Picking: I love Autumn

I just love Autumn.  I  enjoy back-to-school events, the weather, apple-picking, pumpkin-patching, the smell of fall, and the light layering of clothes.  What is not to like about Autumn, except of course that it leads to winter.  Let's focus on Autumn for now.  My oldest daughter went to pre-school this year for the first time.  She was very much looking forward to it all summer.  Whenever we would drive past it she would shout with joy!  She is in the the 3's program just two short mornings per week.  Her teacher is wonderful providing organic snacks, Fancy Nancy at story time and is very organized and crafty.  She is also being taught the Catholic tradition at this pre-school.  It is a good time for her little sister and I to have some quality time together.  When we drop off "big sister" Isabelle says: "No.  I don't want to go to school."

M.'s First Day of Pre-School

M.'s Second Week of Pre-School

 Apple-picking is a tradition we do every year.  We went back to the same farm we went to last year.  It's about an hour away from the city.  They have farm animals, an orchard, and both a market area and picnic area.  We look forward to making desserts with all of the apples we picked!!!!

Apple-Picking on the Farm in the Rain

Hello fall.

We had a wonderful time in Indiana visiting family.  Of course the trip was not relaxing and full of stress, we have a two and three year old, but it was wonderful to spend time in my brother-in-law and wife's town.  My husband and his brother completed their first Duathlons.  It took place in a rural town about an hour and a half outside of the city.  Remember this was the race I was also signed up for, the sprint triathlon portion, but was strongly advised by the medical world not to do the race due to a foot injury (so sad).  So I watched from the sideline cheering the boys on with my family imagining which girls I would have pummeled if I was racing.  We got to visit a wonderful children's museum and took a quick trip to the city mall.  The best meal of the weekend was at a locally owned Greek restaurant.  One of the appetizer's was cheese that they lit on fire, like a four foot high flamed fire, and pita bread.  Not only did we enjoy the cheese, but the girls enjoyed watching everyone else in the restaurant receive their well lit appetizer.  The entire round trip was about 20 hours on the road.  We left warm weather and returned to fall-like weather-rain, leaves blowing, and shorter days.  Hello fall.

After the Storm

We survived Hurricane Irene with only a yard full of green leaves.  We never lost electricity or water.  We had minimal water coming in our front french doors, but really who cares about that.  It dried up in a couple of hours.  We stayed up 'til about 2 am this morning making sure that the bridges would still be open if I had gotten called into work.  They stayed open and I didn't get called in-two good things.  Although I am still on call today, my mind is at so much more peace about the quick commute than it was less than 24 hours ago.  This next week will be the last of August and we are finishing our summer days in Indiana with family.  Looking fwd to the trip!  Oh, I had mentioned posting photos...there are really none to speak of.  At least none that would merit any "oohs" or "ahhs".  Just green leaves in the backyard.

Hurricane Irene Tidbits

Mommy: Poor guy (referring to the news guys in the blowing wind in Ocean City, MD)
M. : Why'd you call him a poor guy
Mommy: Because he's out in the rain
M. : I want to be poor...let's go out in the rain!!!!!!!!!!!

Earthquake, hurricane, what else?

Since my last blog life has been busy (as if it is not always like that).  My second daughter had a fever most of the time for my MIL's visit.  I obtained a lovely wrist injury and continue to have problems with the metatarsals in both feet.  My training for the tri's has stopped due to the injuries  and the MD recommendations.  I am super bummed because I will probably not be able to participate in both tri's I have entered in.  We had an earthquake last week and a hurricane today.  I am stir-crazy and the storm is not even supposed to hit for another 7 hours. We have spent several hours of the last two days getting supplies/stock for our family in case we lose electricity/water after the storm.  I am on-call for work and keep checking the storm update centers to make sure it will be safe to drive in-trying to avoid having to stay in the city away from family.  So far so good.  I will update with Hurricane Irene photos over the next day.  Off to find another indoor activity for the girls that keep mommy and daddy sane.

My Baby turns turns 2!!!

We traveled back to the mid-west to celebrate my daughter turning two.  We enjoyed time at the lake, the farm and both of our hometowns.  We were able to see many grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncle, and many of the girl's cousins.  It was a whirlwind!  Although after returning, as the parents juggling everything, we feel as if we need a vacation from our vacation. Still, it was worth it.  The flights went well, and both kids stayed healthy while away.  The day after returning the birthday girl became febrile simultaneously with the AC unit breaking at home.  All is good today and I must say we have fully recovered from the travels.  The house is clean, laundry caught up, my daughter is afebrile, the AC is working, and the girls are coloring quietly at the kitchen table.  We are ready for the weekend and our guest to arrive on Sunday! (I only have photos from my phone.  The rest need to be downloaded from the g-parents camera's since our camera was missing for the trip)