Christmas - Part 2

We've been enjoying our Christmas Break to the fullest this week, by totally lounging around and doing, well, not much of anything.  But, before we were able to relax and be the sloths that we are, we took a little trip back to IN to visit our families for Christmas.  I'm calling this "Christmas - Part 2".  We left on the 26th and went back to see Pete's side of the family.  His sister and her family were already in town, since they drove back on Christmas Day.

Of course, now that our kids are getting older, they spend a lot of their time (especially in the winter when they can't get outside to play) playing on their devices.  If it was quiet in the house, I knew they were all huddled somewhere together, playing their games.

If their devices got "boring", they always had the option of playing on their grandparents SUPER-OLD intelevision system.  It's dated 1979, but they don't care how old or how awful the pixals are.  They all gather around it (the adults too!) and play games like "Dungeons and Dragons" and "Burger Time". ;-)  The same, depressing news is that the unit died sometime that night and now, that vintage system, that has lasted through 3 children and now 7 grandchildren, has said its final goodbyes - unless Uncle Andy can find a way to fix it.

Around suppertime, we all gathered in the living room and opened presents.  The kids were SOOOO excited!!

They all got great stuff.  Lots of fun things to play with and had a ball opening them all up. :-)

I tried to take as many pictures as I could of them opening, but they moved pretty quickly through it all, so I didn't manage to get it all on film.  Hopefully, once we write our thank yous, we'll remember who got what!

One of Madie's favorites was this Minecraft sword.  They are obsessed with Minecraft, so she was beyond excited!

Yes, I would say, everyone made out like bandits.  Lots of great stuff for everyone - since we do a family gift exchange.  It was a great way to celebrate our 2nd Christmas!

Merry Christmas

I have been having a lot of problems posting recently, because we have some stupid virus that won't let me type anything, but I found out that I can load pictures on our computer and type on the laptop, so I'm behind and will need to try and catch up on some of the events that I missed posting about, but I wanted to share our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pictures with you all first. :-)

On Christmas Eve we did our normal, yearly activities, starting with baking cookies for Santa.  I basically make and bake the cookies and let the kids go to town on the decorating.  I'm not fancy enough to actually make cut-outs, so they have to settle for round cookies, but that just means they have more room to pile on the icing and candies, right?!

Looks yummy!  They did a great job adding lots of all the good stuff to Santa's cookies and I'm sure he loved them!

This year we didn't make it to the Christmas Eve service, so we jumped into our pjs after supper was over and they each got to open their present.  They've totally caught on by now that they get a book each Christmas, but even if they surprise is kind of gone, they still are always super-excited to open them!  Madie got a pom pom puppy-making book.  Livie got a make-your-own-sticker book.  Noah got a make-your-own flip book book.

Their stockings were hung.  Their letters to Santa were inside.  They picked out their favorite cookies to put out with a bottle of milk.  Yep.  It all was coming together.

This is the cookie that Livie made for Santa.  That is icing upon icing upon chocolate chips, upon icing and sprinkles and mini m&ms.  It is a cookie made to put Santa in a diabetic coma!  Tater wanted it. ;-)

Sometime that night, it turned into Christmas Day and Santa paid a visit.  The TV you see there was Pete's present to himself this year. ;-)

With instructions to "not wake us before 6am", we were promptly told it was "CHRISTMAS DAY!!" at 6:02am.  They started first with their stockings.  Here they opened up their gift cards to The Bookmouse, a local bookstore.

Then it was on to Santa's gifts.  They each got a Minecraft figure.  I don't get it, but they LOVED them!  They also each got a pair of rollerblades and nerf guns.  Santa hit it right on the mark this year!

Livie also got a Brave bow and arrow set from us.  So, she was outfitted for battle by the time she had opened up all of her presents.

The prize of the morning was opening their new Wii U!  We ended up playing (and by "WE", I mean Pete and I .... and occasionally the kids) it nearly all day long.  It was so much fun and, hands down, the winner of the day

Here, the kids show off their new weapons.  Have I mentioned how much I love Nerf for finally making nerf weapons for girls?!  Love the pinks and purples and teals.  They are awesome!

This was our living room by the time everything was unwrapped.  I call that a great morning!

Tater spent much of Christmas sequestered in the closet, because he received a very large bone and was happily enjoying it in the privacy of his own space. :-)

Here are the kids playing on the Wii U, while we prepared breakfast and the turkey for lunch.  They got to take pictures of themselves and make their own Mii.  They thought this part was hilarious!

We bought Noah a wood kit that allowed him to make a shelf, a tool box, and a toy chest.  He and his dad worked to put the shelf together first.  He was so proud of how it turned out.  We're in IN as I type this and I know he's looking forward to going home and finishing the other two projects. :-)

We had a "thanksgiving meal" for lunch - turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, etc...  It was delicious and a special part of our Christmas Day together each year.

Last, but not least, I wanted to share a picture of Madie's pom pom puppy.  She made this using her book from Christmas Eve.  Cute, isn't it?  The book came with enough supplies to make several of these, so I have a feeling, once we're back home, this sweet little puppy with have many new friends that she'll create.

It was a really fun Christmas for all of us and I'm so thankful that we got to enjoy it all together. Hope you all had great Christmases as well!!

Saying Goodbye

Well, today we said goodbye to some very special friends.  We knew it was coming for a while, but were trying to pretend it wasn't actually happening.  We couldn't pretend today though, so we got ready to say our goodbyes.

Livie was hugging Andrew as much as she could.  Trenton, the boy I babysit, is best friends with Andrew and was having a hard time saying goodbye.  They have had a great time as friends these past 5 yrs.

Here are all are after-school buddies.  I think this is a great picture of them all!  It's fun to see how are group has grown since we first started playing together.

Here is my friend Lisa and I with Patty in the middle.  We're going to miss her like crazy!  She's been my friend and confidante and conscience for 5 yrs now.  I'll miss her most during our after-school moments, when we'd chat.  We're wishing them all the best in their move to New Mexico!  But, boy, are we going to miss them!!

Twenty Years Later

Twenty years ago today, Pete and I went out on our very first date.  Who knew that 20 yrs later, we'd be happily married with 3 kids, a dog, and a cat in our little home.  I can now say officially that I've been with him longer than I haven't.  What a gift that is!!

I thought I'd share some pictures from our dating years.  Keep in mind that most of our pictures together were taken during the first 8 months of us dating.  I don't have a ton from the other 5 yrs, because we spent so much of those years apart, while we were in college or working or co-oping.  Just to share with you how we met, we both worked at McDonalds together.  I was a freshman at Grace College, while he was a senior at Warsaw High School.  We didn't work a lot together, but I remember a friend pointing him out to me to say, "Isn't he cute?".  Well, he had just gotten back from a trip to FL and was all tan with a shell necklace and light denim shirt on and I was like, "Um, yeah!".  Right around my 19th birthday, we went to a party together at a fellow co-worker/friend's house.  We had the chance to chat some more and had a really fun time together.  We talked a lot more at work after that and just 2-3 weeks later, he asked me out.  I remember, we both got off work and were talking in the parking lot and he said, "Would you like to go out sometime?"  My response?  HECK YEAH!  I was leaving school that following Saturday for Christmas break, so we planned to go out that next Friday after I got off work.  He picked me up and we went to Pizza Hut, where I talked his ear off for a good solid 2 hours.  He just smiled at me while I talked to him about all kinds of things.  What a surprise, right?  I talked non-stop, while he listened.  Not much has changed in 20 yrs.  He dropped me back off after that and shook my hand goodbye.  I totally hoped he'd call for a second date and he did.  The rest is history!  The funny thing was, we didn't even know each other's last names when we went out.  We asked each other on that first date.  Glad I found out, because it's been MY last name now for nearly 15 yrs. :-)  So, here are a few pictures as I walked down memory lane today.

This was our first Valentine's Day together.  My roommate and I took our boyfriends out (we all worked at McDs) to Ft Wayne.  We had a super-fancy dinner (I remember maple leaves being in our salad), then walked around the town a bit, before taking this carriage ride.  It was a wonderful night and I was so thrilled to celebrate that special day with someone I was in love with, because after a month with him, I was definitely IN LOVE!

Shortly after that special night, we went together to a Grace event.  It was held at the Friendship House, before Grace renovated it.  I remember we had dinner there, but that's all I really remember from that night.  I love this picture, because I was wearing his class ring.  Never having had a boyfriend in high school, I always wanted to be like my friends that wore their boyfriend's ring and I finally got to do that that year.  He later bought me a promise ring before he moved off to college, but that ring stayed with me until he left that August.

How could I leave out our prom picture?!  Also taken in 1994, like the previous ones.  I'll admit, it was a little weird going to a senior prom as a freshman in college, but I loved the guy and it was a special night.  How could I say no?!  My roommate, again, was also there that night, so at least I had a fellow Gracie there with me.  We had a lot of fun together with our other McDs friends.  And, boy, did he look handsome in his tux!

This picture was taken in 1995, after he had left for college.  I was going through a pretty severe depression about this time.  Having him away was very hard on me, but having him there that night for yet another Grace event made me so happy.  I don't remember a lot from that night either, though I do remember getting my hair done and a new dress for the occasion, but this is one of my favorite pictures together.  I just loved him so much here.

This one was taken at my house.  Just '90s kids hanging out and enjoying each other.  I wanted to share this one, because he's wearing a sweater vest that I got him for Christmas.  Bless his sweet heart, he wore a sweater vest for me!  I knew then he was a keeper. ;-)

This is the year before we got married.  We took this fun "selfie" before there was even a word for it.  Our dating years were filled with ups and downs, mostly because of my insecurities and depression, but we made it through that and, despite my lingering depression during those years, we had lots of happy and wonderful times.

And, I'm happy to say we still love each other 20 yrs later.  I'm glad to be his wife and have him by my side in this crazy life we lead.  Here's hoping for 20 more happy years together!

The Nutcracker

This weekend was The Nutcracker.  Three different dance studios come together, across two towns, to put this show on every other year.  This year, Livie got to be in it!  First time either of my girls were chosen, so we were super-excited about it.  The pictures I'm going to share are taken over 3 days - Dress Rehearsal, Saturday's Performance, and Sunday's Performance.

On Friday, I got Livie all dolled-up and drove her over for dress rehearsal.  She got barely contain herself!  She is such a crazy kid who loves zombies and blood and yetis.  But, this other side of her personality loves make-up and frilly dresses and acting the diva.  

She wanted to pose like this, because this is how they were supposed to sit when they were on stage.  Don't you love her dress?  The diva part of her picked this out.  We shopped online and in a couple different stores, trying on lots of different dresses, before she chose this.  She was very specific about what she wanted.  It had to have sparkles and be poufy.  She drew me a picture to make sure I was clear about her wants.  I think she picked a good one. :-)  Of course, this beautiful little princess will never  be completely a princesss.  She enjoyed belching the entire time I was taking this picture.

When we got there, I had to take a few pictures.  I just let her hair stay with its normal curl for dress rehearsal.  We made it a bit fancier for the actual performance.

She couldn't contain the beast for very long.  After a couple "pretty" shots, she needed to be a monster.

All the girls from her group got to pick out their own dresses.  I LOVED seeing all the beautiful Christmas dresses they picked out. :-)

Her part was at the very beginning.  The girls did a great job!

Their practice went perfectly. :-)  She wanted to stay and watch the whole thing, after her part was done, but the snow that had just started when we arrived, was now coming down quickly and I knew the longer we waited, the worse the roads would be.  And, since this performance was taking place in Peru, which is about a half hour away, I knew I wanted to leave right away.  The trip home was a bit nerve-racking.  The roads were terrible, but we made it home about an hour later and got her off to bed, since the busyness resumed the next morning with the Ice Odyssey.

On Saturday, I drove her over again - we bought tickets to watch it on Sunday.  I put her hair in big ringlets and sprayed the heck out of it.  She hates the hairspray, but loved the look, so she didn't put up too much of a fuss.

While waiting to be called up, she played her kindle and posed like a zombie for his photo.  I swear, trying to get a picture of this kid when she's not being a monster, yeti, or something that eats flesh, is not easy!

They got to have a few moments to practice their performance in the hallway before lining up by the stage.We left right after her performance again this day, so we could all enjoy it together on Sunday.

Sunday finally arrived, and after a very, VERY busy morning doing the church Christmas program, we stopped home long enough for lunch and to get her hair and make-up done and headed back out to Peru for her final performance.  I honestly didn't think Noah was going to enjoy himself.  He usually hates this stuff, but surprisingly, he really had a good time.  We ALL did!

We were in the front row of the balcony, so we had great seats.  We had the railing in front of us, but it wasn't too distracting.  We got to look down at the orchestra, which was really cool.  Noah liked it, because he recognized most of the music.  Madie, of course, loved it because of the dancing.

Livie did a beautiful job and we were so proud of her!

Look at how pretty they all were.

They did their dance, then another group of girls from another dance studio came out and did the same routine, then they all got in groups and danced in circles.

At the end, they bow to the audience and wave goodbye to the "party hosts".

I always get the girls something special as a gift when they dance.  This year we got her a Santa Nutcracker, and we bought all three kids a Nutcracker ornament.  She was so happy with that Nutcracker!

Here they are holding up their ornaments.  They had them for sale in the lobby for $1.  How could I resist? :-)

A very proud daddy and his beautiful dancing daughter.  I love this picture!

And, of course, how else should I end this blog but with a goofy picture of Noah. :-)  It was such a busy weekend, which just added to one of the busiest couple of months I can remember, but in that busyness we were able to enjoy some fun family moments and yesterday's performance was one of them.