Monday 30 December 2013

A Week in Review (December 22-28)

A Week in Review (December 22-28)


Watched: Finally watched the movie 42.  Jack spent the movie appalled that they would treat a man just like that because of the color of his skin. He couldn't believe the way people talked to him. I can hope that these same movies will be made about gay rights. I am not a vocal supporter, but I saw myself more like the random part of the movie where a man approaches Jackie and Ray and let's him know he's pulling for them.  I often wonder if that's doing enough. 


Read: I finished up Hopeless (Hopeless, #1)I was really expecting to be blown away because so many of my Goodreads Friends had given it 5 stars. While I admit that I was sucked right into the story, the writing left something to be desired. The way she wrote the conversations between 5-6 year olds was pretty ridiculous. Also I felt that everything was too interconnected. I know we live a small world, but this was a bit much for me. I will still have to read the second book in the series.  Then I started The Last Song.  I expected it to last me through the new year, but I finished it up quickly.  This book followed your typical Nicholas Sparks formula, I was still quickly drawn in by the characters and the story line. Everything gets wrapped up in a nice little package and leaves you feeling satisfied. If you are looking for a speedy little read, this is for you.  I am not sure what I will pick up

Listened: To Jack ask if we were there yet when we were heading through the park to the light display at Longview Lake. While we really enjoyed it, I don't think we will go back yearly. It seems like a good event once every 5 years so.


Made: Christmas cookies with the whole family.  Jack picked out the shapes, Poppa rolled the dough, and everyone but Nick iced them (we left him in charge of pictures). I think Jack's favorite part was icing them. He had so much fun mixing the colors and dumping on all the varied sprinkles. The cookies look horrible, but I love everyone of them. 

Felt: Excitement to see Jack open all of his gifts. I came to learn that he is not the over-the-top screamer type. He had lots of big smiles and was pleased that he got everything, but there weren't any too outrageous outbursts.

Planned: A delicious menu for the week of Christmas. We had a Mexican, took the family to BD's before the lights at Longview Lake, made baked fish with some yummy Parmesan basil orzo, had our traditional Christmas Eve pizza, and Christmas Dinner consisted of: Prime Rib, Rolls, Parmsean Cilantro Corn, and Strawberry Banana Jello.  It was quite delicious.

Loved: Celebrating Christmas with our families. My family was able to be here for Christmas proper and then we went down and exchanged presents with the cousins and Grandma Denise and Papa Lee. Lots of fun was had by all.  It will be hard to readjust to just the three of us!

Here are the pics for the week:



This made us think of Aunt Valerie because she loves Nascar. 


Aren't those beautiful???


A break from present opening to play some Notre Dame checkers in a Power Rangers suit. 


Family presents cleaned up and Santa's presents under the tree. 


A sleepy boy examining his stocking

Attacking Dad with our new family set of Nerf guns 


Opening up his present from Grandma Denise and Papa Lee. 


The room was very quiet, so I opened the door expecting to find something interesting, but this was all I got. 


But good times were clearly abound since this scrape came sometime. 



Sunday 22 December 2013

A Week in Review (December 15-21)

A Week in Review (December 15-21)


Watched: Jack do a little Christmas performance. He hasn't really done anything like this before and I could tell that he was pretty shy. It's not the greatest video, but you can watch it HERE


Read: I finally finished up We Are WaterIt took me 5 weeks to read this book. That is incredibly long for me. Unlike the rest of the author's books, I wasn't hooked almost immediately. The book really picked up for me just a little over half way into it. There are some chapters that I would have preferred not to read, as they took me to a place that I generally try to stay away from. If you are a Wally Lamb fan, I'd highly recommend it. If you are a person looking to discover the way we are threaded together, I'd recommend it to you too. Hopefully you'll be speedier than me! I started a new book Hopeless (Hopeless, #1). I am not even sure how it got on my holds list. Hopefully it's something I enjoy. 

Listened: To Jack talk his Grandma's ear off.  They have such an awesome relationship. I am so blessed that Jack has so many awesome grandparents who take the time to make relationships with him. 

Made: A yummy blueberry cobbler.  In THIS post, I mention the delicious and so easy apple cobbler, I found for our Fall Fun Day. Since I love blueberries, I thought I would try substituting blueberry pie filling for the apples. I did and it tasted great. The one drawback was that the blueberries were not heavy enough to support the topping and so it fell into the goop making it not the prettiest dessert. 

Felt: That we are unbelievably unlucky when it comes to illness this year. We almost never get sick and this year seem to be getting everything!  Sunday I came down with a stomach virus that wouldn't allow me to keep anything on my stomach. It was coming in one end or out the other. Wednesday, Jack came down with a milder version. At least it passed for him in about 10 hours, but it's left his stomach feeling crampy. Poor thing!

Planned: On wonderful dinners for hosting when my mom and stepdad and here for Christmas. I am looking forward to making food for the crowd.  Let's hope the winter weather doesn't impact my dinner plans to see the lights at Longview Lake!

Loved: That my mom and stepdad were able to travel down here. With all the time Nick had to take off with his knee, he didn't really have the vacation time that is necessary for the 600 mile journey. Our house may be small, but it will be filled with an extra helping of love this season.

Here are the pics for the week:

My cute little Rudolph hamming it up before his song. 


This is Jack's teacher. We decorated her as a tree and each of the kids got to hang an ornament on her. She was a good sport it. The kids had a lot of fun. 

Here is her card and gift basket. I made the card by cutting out each students handprint.  We collected money for gift cards for her. She is a great teacher and I hope she enjoyed her gift. 



Sunday 15 December 2013

A Week in Review (December 8-14)

A Week in Review (December 8-14)

Watched: Jack really enjoy roller skating for the first time. Wilson and Company had a kid's party this year and decided to book the skating rink. While he spent the vast majority of the time playing the arcade games, he was getting a feel for his skates. Towards the end of the party, he decided he wanted to give the floor a shot. He did really well with the trainer and only fell a couple of times. It was nice because there were very few people out there so he didn't fear being run over.  He also loved seeing Santa and getting to chat his ear off. He made sure that he told of Connor's misbehavior.  It's a good thing Santa's have been clued into elves. ;)

Read:  I keep plugging away at We Are Water.  While I am enjoying the book, I still haven't gotten to that part where it just grabs me.  It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't racking up fines from the library and stopping others interested in reading it from doing so!

Listened: To a scene that perfectly encapsulated toddler-hood. We went to deliver a birthday present to Mr C for his birthday (which was on Thanksgiving) and he had just fallen asleep. So we had to wake him up and he was quite mad at us.  Once he realized that the package contained a ball, things were a bit better. And when he realized that he could play basketball super star, he was as happy as a clam. Such is life with a 2 year old!  You'll find a picture below. 

Made: More fun adventures for Connor. The one that was probably the most memorable was the candy cane skiing one.  I had seen the idea of Pinterest and thought it would be cute. I think the people who suggested that one, we one of the ones who also didn't off season surgery on their elf installing wire into his appendages. Nick helped me fashion something that ended up being okay, but getting there was pretty funny!

Felt: That I am the perfect mother for a boy because things just don't phase me and most I find funny. As you may or may not know, Jack prefers to spend his at home time sans clothing.  One day after he was done in the bathroom, he starts singing the words, I am a cottontail, as he walks down the stairs.  I ask him what he meant  and he turns around and shows me a wad up TP stuffed in between his butt cheeks sticking out like a tail. After laughing hard and asking for a pic so I could show his father, I did ask him to go flush it. While I do think you would also get a huge laugh out of the pic, I will refrain due to indecency of it. 

Planned: To go back to work full time for at least a the first full week of January.  My boss suffered a knee injury (maybe I'm bad luck for the knees this year!) and will be undergoing surgery over break.  However, she will need a bit longer to recover than possible.  I am so glad that I have some awesome support around me. What I am even more thankful is that we have decided that it works better for our family for me to a mostly stay at home mom and wife.  I love my days with Jack and I know he likes them too.  He's finally getting old enough to verbalize that he likes hanging out with me.

Loved: The movie We're the Millers. Both Nick and I were constant busting up. It definitely isn't a comedy for everyone because it's full of foul language and sexual and drug references.  It is in NO WAY family friendly.  All that being said, I would recommend it to 90% of people that I know. So if you watch it, I'd love to know your reaction.

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack telling Santa about Connor's naughty nights. 




Thursday 12 December 2013

A Week in Review (December 1-7)

A Week in Review (December 1-7)

Watched: The Broncos sweep The Chiefs!  As a Broncos fan, it was wonderful. As Nick's wife, well not as much. But I didn't let that stop me from harassing him.

Read: I finished up The Girl You Left BehindAnother winner by JoJo Moyers. I didn't realize when I began that this was a book of two parallel stories. It unfolds in an exciting way, but wasn't until it got set in modern times did the story pick up and take me in.

Listened: I started listening to Gift from the Sea. It is a more a series of essays rather than a novel. I picked it up after reading about it in The Aviator's Wife. It is amazing the parallels it has to modern life and relationships , even though it was penned almost 60 years ago. 

Made: My now annual batches of Christmas goodies. This years treats included: Apple Pie Cookies (my favorite this year), Peppermint Meltaways, Cherry Almond Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge, Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels, Peppermint Bark with Oreos (what I felt was the biggest flop), and Butterfinger Bites.  I have so much fun creating these goodies and then sharing them with neighbors.

Felt: Excited for Christmas. I just love this time of year. If it wasn't for the crazy attitudes of shoppers in the stores and the freezing weather, there would be nothing to complain about. 

Planned: To unwrap one Christmas book a night with Jack. This is the 3rd year that we have done it, but the first that he has really gotten into it.  We always read the new one and then repeat 2 or 3 of ones we want to hear again.

Loved: Getting all my Christmas decorations up!  We were blessed with great weather on Sunday and it made it so much nicer to get everything up. Both of our neighbors decided to get their's up on the same day and I think the three guys had fun doing it (although they would never admit that!)

Here are the pics for the week:

My lights all a glow. 


We had fun decorating the tree. Putting the star up was the best of all (but isn't it always!)


Quentin's ornament that he made for us in 2008 makes for a fine gun in this cool dude pose. 


Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Jack started basketball practice!


I've had fun putting out Jack's elf. He was quite upset that Connor took so much artistic license with his picture. Good thing it was just a dry erase marker that wiped off easily!

Monday 2 December 2013

A Week in Review (November 24-30)

A Week in Review (November 24-30)

Watched: Jack battle it out with cousins playing Bey Blades. They put in some foam cubes Valerie had shown me from the dollar store and those were getting flung out with power of the tops. I am so glad that we live close enough to each other that they get to see one another on a regular basis. It is fun watching them grow up together.

Read: Even though I am now paying library fines on We Are Water (hey, it's way cheaper than buying the book!), I paused it so I could read the book The Girl You Left Behind that I got on limited loan. This book is by JoJo Moyes, who wrote , which I reviewed in March. My book club selected it and I am enjoying it so far. It has a historical fiction feel, which I was not expecting. 

Listened: To Nick talk me into spending the money on the new tree that I really wanted. I didn't realize how expensive fake trees had gotten.  We even had a chance to get up, but not decorated and I am so happy he convinced me to spend the money!

Made: A video of snippets from one of Jack's flag football games. It's my own personal version of a Hidden Picture. See if you can spot Jack in every play. You will know it's a new play because you here the whistle at the end. You can watch it HERE.

Felt: Excited. I was able to do almost all my shopping online and only have a few things left to buy for Christmas and all the late Novemember and December birthdays we know. 

Planned: On watching KU beat KSU in freezing cold weather. However, the weather turned out to be decent and KU didn't get the victory. We also were lucky enough to have Aunt Valerie, Uncle Chewy, Uncle Chewy's dad and brother-in-law join us for the game. Despite only seeing the Jayhawks win a handful of times over the recent years, I know that we will be back cheering them on next fall too!

Loved: That Jack has came over to loving the Broncos. It is so nice to have two if us in the house since Nick has practically the whole neighborhood on his side. What I loved even more this week is that Aunt Valerie took the time to make Jack beanie with the Bronco logo on it. I think it made him feel pretty special.

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack in his Broncos Beanie. Doesn't he look just fabulous?

Jack and his Uncle Chewy watch the game. I just love how the back of their outfits say KU Jayhawks. 

This looks totally safe, right?  Don't fear, we only drove this way for 1.5 miles. 

On the left side, you see Jack attempting what he said was probably not a good idea. On the right side, you see it worked though. However, upon his attempt to hang another candy that way, he ended up on the ground. He wasn't to upset by the fall since I think he knew it was inevitable.