2008....the year it FINALLY happened!
What can I say about this year, it really has been a great year. It started in January when our second son Matthew was born on my mom's birthday (and 2 days after my father in law's birthday:-) He has just been a sweet easy going baby. I did not realize how difficult Daniel was until having Matthew. Daniel adjusted so well to being big brother, he is still really good at it. Daniel had bouts of terrible twos that seemed like they would never end, but at times they were greatly entertaining!
The summer brought trips to the zoo and camping....and finally the day we all were waiting for came. An offer on our house! After the offer it only took..... ohhh.... FOREVER to close. A closing which involved us living with my in-laws for a month, renting out our house for free, and then there was several times when the whole thing was called off. All of this while all of our stuff was locked up in a POD in the driveway of our new house and us with only 4 days worth of clothes a piece. Then when we actually could move, we had to do it all in a matter of hours. We could not get the keys to the new house after the closing for the new house which happened in the morning. We could only get them after we closed on the old house later in the afternoon. So my mother-in-law had to pick up our new keys (with both kids in tow) before the office that held them closed. THEN we had to move all of stuff in that night, or else we would have to pay for another month's rent on the POD. We had all the stuff moved in, said goodbye and Thank you to my in-laws and finally spent the night in our beautiful new house. The next day......Chad got up and went to work while I sat in a foodless house waiting for various utilities and Sears to arrive. While it felt good to have the whole ordeal over with, we realized it was going to take a while to heal the anxiety we felt about having our house up for sale during a bad housing slump.
Fall brought us lots of time for apple picking, and walks to the park. Daniel's terrible twos subsided and we settled into a nice routine. I had lots of fun playing in my new kitchen with my ever helpful two and half year old. There is no sarcasm in that statement, Daniel is my little helper through and through.
Christmas time came up fast and quick. We did not accomplish as much as I wanted, nor did we did not see as many people as we would have liked. However it was a white Christmas, we spent it with family, and we no longer had a unsold house hanging over our heads...what a blessing!
I truly do look forward to 2009. Despite all the doom and gloom in the news I believe we will see a lot of good. Even if my inkling of good things isn't true, it seems like no matter what comes we have gained strength and wisdom to face what comes.
Best wishes to all in the new year!
Does Christmas have to be over?
I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow! It has been a nice, but busy Christmas. We didn't get to see as many people as we wanted. We also didn't go to
Greenfield Village Holiday Nights,. We didn't want to take
Manu because it would just be to much trouble to carry him around keeping him warm. Since we live further away it was just going to be to much trouble to drop him off with the grandparents and get there in time. Oh well there is always next year.
Daniel got his first train set. We took the boys still in their
jammies over to Papa and Grandma's house on Christmas day. Daniel couldn't wait to tell Papa what he got. He ran in the house and before he even saw Papa he said "Papa I got a TRAIN!". So cute....after we laughed at him as he told everyone there "Hi Kelly, I GOT A TRAIN"....I remembered what I got I had to say "I got a KITCHEN AID STAND MIXER!". I was really happy to get it (although I
accidentally figured it out....I really didn't want to know, but it was an accident)....but....I am seriously in no mood to make anything sweet lately
lol. Oh well there is always bread...and I just may be making
Manu's first birthday cake from scratch. I am trying to
remember what
Manu got for his first Christmas, but it was like socks, some clothes, a stuffed dog, and toys that Daniel likes to play with. He is still such a baby, he likes to climb and put things in his mouth, so he is just interested in the paper. Daniel got less for his first Christmas. Actually
Manu slept through dinner. Oh and Our Christmas dinner was fantastic!
Last
wek we went to
Frankenmuth with my family to celebrate Christmas. Daniel and
Manu got to swim a little.
Manu got to cold, and Daniel is still iffy in the water but he had a great time. Daniel loved the arcade in the hotel. He loved staying in the hotel so much that he figured out how to open the door and just start off on his own. We figured out pretty quickly that we had to keep the deadbolt on.
I had so many plans for getting the house in shape while I was off....and we didn't get much done. Chad helped me sort through baby clothes tonight and that felt good to get that off my list.
There is still some general organization left to do, and lots LOTS of laundry, but hopefully we can catch up this week.
I had more plans to document this Christmas more (like with pictures).....but not tonight.
Uggg I still can't believe I have to work in the morning!
High winds watch where you poop!
Our Not so traditional Nativity scene
What the bible doesn't tell you.....Bethlehem was experiencing a LOT of construction when Jesus was born.
I can't help but wonder what the animals in the back are all looking at.
And yes we have an outhouse in our Nativity scene...don't you?
Menu Plan Monday 12/07/08
Zip on over to
Laura's site for more great organizational ideas!
Monday - Paprika Chicken Thighs
Tuesday - Chili
Wednesday - Tuna Casserole
Thursday - Pork Roast (
Chad's request)
Friday - Shrimp and Whitefish Tropical Curry (well my attempt at the Thai food I had last week)
Saturday - leftover day
Sunday - Pasta
Long overdue for a haircut
Before
After
And Daniel's inspection after.
Manu didn't seem to notice.
To be quite honest, I don't like it a whole lot. I told the lady I wanted short layers, but not to heavy on top. I wanted bangs, but the top still looks to puffy to me. I wanted a younger look, but it feels very
momish to me. I am happy enough to wait until it grows out a little bit.
I like the back though:
Oh and yes the hair was donated to
Locks of Love.
Quick Dinner
So, earlier this week I decided I was so over eating turkey. We had two turkey dinners and lots of turkey leftovers. I was creative and used up pretty much all of it. However on Monday I made a turkey pasta, and it was good, but I had to push the turkey away. Although guilt ridden that people are starving everywhere in the world, and would not mind eating Turkey for the 8th day straight I declared "I can't eat any more turkey....".
Work has been crazy, so Tuesday we had pizza (again guilt "you're not feeding your family a healthy dinner FOR SHAME!"), and last night I was again stuck. I had some time during my lunch break to put something together. But what? We had bought mashed potatoes from
GFS on a whim for the first Thanksgiving dinner (in case anyone really wanted some).....but I didn't like them. They were still in our fridge mocking me (you DIDN'T MAKE homemade....loser!)... I didn't want to throw it out and I didn't want to eat it. So I made gnocchi....and bad as it was as mashed potatoes, they made a yummy gnocchi. I had the dough ready so when Chad got home he got some sauce ready (leftover red, and a jazzed up jarred alfredo), while Daniel helped me cut the dough (and he did a FABULOUS job for his first time). With a quick simple salad not only did we get a great meal, but we also had a fun time in the kitchen together!
Mary's dream
I saw this on several sites today.....
Mary’s Dream
I had a dream, Joseph, I don’t understand it, not really, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. I think that was what it was all about. The people had been preparing for it for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They’d gone shopping many times and bought elaborate gifts. It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren’t for our Son.
They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and stacked them under a tree. Yes, a tree, Joseph, right in their house. They’d decorated the tree also. The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. There was a figure on the top of the tree. It looked like an angel might look. Oh, it was beautiful.
Everyone was laughing and happy. They were all excited about the gifts. They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don’t think they even knew Him. They never mentioned His name. Doesn’t it seem odd for people to go to all that trouble to celebrate someone’s birthday if they don’t know Him?
I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration He would have been intruding. Everything was so beautiful, Joseph, and everyone so full of cheer, but it made me want to cry. How sad for Jesus -not to be wanted at His own birthday celebration.
I’m glad it was only a dream. How terrible, Joseph, if it had been real.
Author Unknown
