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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ten on Tuesday

1. Merry Christmas! I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. We had a great Christmas. The boys got a ton of presents and we all got to spend a lot of time together and with our families.



2. Our furnace broke yesterday, so we don't have heat right now. That's not as bad as it could be because it's been in the 50's the last two days. My dad seems to think it is a relatively simple fix. I'm hopeful we'll be much warmer tonight!

3. With the new year and more energy from not being pregnant, I am gearing back up to work on my stamping/scrapbooking business.

4. Bryce and Jarron got Ninetendo DSs for Christmas-so there's been a lot of gaming going on at our house this past week. Now the 4 year old, Jackson, wants one too. He's got a long wait until July-his birthday.

5. I turned 32 this past weekend, I can not believe that. I can't pretend to be in my late 20's anymore-I am well on my way to mid-30's.

6. Speaking of my birthday, Chuck got me an external hard drive for my birthday. I've already loaded it up with ALL of the pictures that were on our laptop (literally thousands) and it hasn't even made a dent in the memory! Woo. Hoo.

7. So I've realized I'm a bit of a nerd-my last few purchases/presents that I've really loved are all technology related. I am so sad that I am no longer cool.

8. Brody is growing so fast-it's crazy. He holds his head up like he wants to sit up. When you put him in a car seat it looks like he's trying to lean out! And he is constantly smiling! Such a sweet open mouthed smile-so freaking cute.



9. I am looking forward to spending some time with some good friends on New Year's Eve-the best part-we all have boys the same age! I am a bit bummed that we aren't going to Winterfest but it's just too cold to take Brody this year!


10. I can't wait until all of the new programs come back on TV next week-so very tired of reruns. And I am super excited about Scrubs returning-looks like Tuesday will also be a comedy night! (Right now Mondays are super full-How I met Your Mother, Chuck, Worst Week, and Samantha Who-not to mention Jon & Kate plus 8-my poor DVR-it's nice to spread the love with other days of the week.)

Happy New Year!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Ten on Tuesday: Christmas Edition

1. I LOVE Christmas-it's my favorite time of the year. I must have at least 10 Christmas cds and I listen to them all-I usually start playing them the day after Halloween. My favorite song is Winter Wonderland, followed closely by White Christmas, and We Three Kings.


2. I love wrapping presents-I'd wrap my neighbor's or friend's presents, if they'd let me. I worked at a bookstore for 5 years and I got so excited any time someone would ask if we did gift wrapping-"why yes, yes we do!" :)



3.My favorite Christmas memory was when I was 9 or 10 years old. My parents got me a 10 speed bike. It wasn't the present that was so special-it was they way they presented it. They made up a bunch of clues and had a scaveneger hunt that led me to my bike. (For the record-I used the bike about six times before I took a nasty fall and NEVER rode it again.)


4. All of my children (even Brody this year) have worn the same pair of plaid pjs for their first Christmas.


5. In 2004, Jackson's first Christmas, the twins went downstairs before Chuck and I woke up. We had no idea-in fact we were amazed they had slept in until 8 or so when we woke up. They hadn't! They were so excited to open presents that they had gone down early that morning and opened everything up.

We went downstairs to find the twins sitting in a sea of wrapping paper and opened presents. Since they couldn't read the tags, they had opened EVERYTHING. Their presents, Jackson's presents, our presents, aunts, uncles, cousins...everything.

We now have a rule that no one goes downstairs without Mommy or Daddy on Christmas.




The Aftermath




Jackson with his first (opened) presents


6. I'm so happy that the boys are old enough now to help pick out and decorate the tree, I love this tradition.




2005-Clearly, not a great tree picking out year. Poor Jack-Jack.



7. Last year, I handmade 70 Christmas cards-it took weeks! This year, my super wonderful sister in law Bobbi created and ordered our cards.


8.Every year I say I'm not going to make a turkey for Christmas dinner. Every year, I make a turkey.


9.My favorite Christmas movie is 'A Christmas Story'. I have two copies of it on DVD, just in case one gets scratched. I also like 'Holiday Inn' (most people don't realize the song "White Christmas" first appeared in this movie-not the movie 'White Christmas').





10. Merry Christmas!!! Hope you are able to celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ's birth with those that mean the most to you!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Country Singing Santa


Why, what's this you ask? It's the story of a very special Christmas decoration here at the Lakes household!
Each year the twins' school has a Santa's secret shop, where the kids can purchase small items for family members for less than $3 or so. The boys LOVE Santa's secret shop-they love picking out presents for people but have no patience when it comes to actually giving the presents. They never wait until Christmas.
Last year, Bryce came home from school one day and said, "I found the perfect gift for Daddy today; I can't wait until it's our turn to shop the Santa store. I hope it's still there!"
Hmmmnnnn...I'll be honest most of their gifts have never even remotely been something Chuck or I would ever buy for ourselves (although we love every one of them-since they picked them out and all), so I was a little suspicious.
"Oh really," I said, "what is it?"
"Oh I'm not telling you, it's a secret, but it is probably the best gift ever."
Now I was intrigued.
So, the next day when I got home from work, there he was sitting in the middle of our kitchen table, Country Singing Santa.
"What's that?" I asked.
"That's the gift I got Daddy-isn't it awesome, he sings!" Bryce said excitedly, "Daddy is going to love it!"
I tried really hard not to laugh-Chuck's not a fan of country music and to my knowledge he has never worn a large belt buckle or a flannel shirt.
Bryce was so very excited-he'd press the button and Santa would start singing in a country twang. He'd end his song with:
"Merry Christmas Darling!"
Chuck was (of course) very surprised to receive such an unusual gift and made a big deal of how great it was so he wouldn't hurt Bryce's feelings.
Since Daddy liked his present so much, Bryce suggested he put it on his dresser where Jackson wouldn't break it or mess it up.
Country Singing Santa resides on Chuck's dresser most of the year, but at Christmas time we bring out this very special decoration.
"Merry Christmas Darling!"

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Ten on Tuesday

1. Look it's Tuesday and there's Ten! Yay me!

2. Things on my Christmas prep list that I accomplished this weekend:
wrapping presents
getting/decorating Christmas tree
Left on the to do list:
Too many to list! :(


3. Jarron and I got a really horrible virus this weekend and spent much of the time getting sick, waiting to get sick, or being exhausted from being sick.

4. Because of #3, we both missed FBC's Children's Christmas program-but Daddy caught it all on film (well, technically a memory card, but you get the point). How funny is it that our by the rules boy, Bryce, is singing, while Jackson has his hands in his pockets looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but on stage.



5. It's snowing! Not a ton but enough to make my commute home dicey. Still looks pretty though.

6. Jackson has become a little tornado of unintentional destruction. In the past month he has flooded the kid's bathroom (causing damage to our kitchen ceiling) by leaving the sink on, has messed up the ceiling fan in the boys room (I never got a straight answer on how that happened-I do know that toys and the top bunk were involved), and last night he knocked over our fully decorated Christmas tree. I don't mean that it was leaning, I mean laying on the floor with ornaments scattered about. I wish I had taken a picture.

7. Brody is starting to become quite the happy little baby. He's still a Moose though.



8.Basketball is really gearing up for the twins-so I better get used to hang out courtside for the next few months.



9. I'll be spending my evening up to my elbows in pretzels, hershey's kisses and m&ms. For a select lucky few, that means pretzel hugs are in your future!

10. I'm really enjoy all of the holiday related programming that's been on TV lately! Even my very favorite current show, Chuck, had a holiday themed episode last night!

That's it for today! Have a safe night on the roads!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Ten on Tuesday (or Wednesday in this case)

1. Yes, I'm aware it's Wednesday but "Ten on Tuesday" sounds way better. In the future, I'll be sure to have it ready for Tuesday. Do you ever feel like a hamster in one of those wheels-constantly running but getting nowhere? Yea, that's how the last few days have been for me. Look forward to a quiet weekend at home this weekend.

2. Speaking of the weekend, the only errand that I have on the agenda is the annual Christmas tree hunt. For the past two years we've bought our tree at a local landscaping store-I'm looking into a tree farm near our house in West Chester for this year-stay tuned!

3. How is it possible that most of the invoices were not paid while I was out for THREE months! You cannot begin to imagine how much work I have come back to.

4. Look who's back for the season....

that's right-Country Singing Santa-look for a blog post in the next few days that explains the story behind this guy-'Merry Christmas Darling'

5. I'm loving these little block people that Loretta and Don made for my munchkins...

6. Jarron's baptism on Sunday went well-he seemed pretty nervous before hand but did great-so proud of him!

7. I'm not sure why but lately Jackson has been bringing a random assortment of toys into our family room. He'll arrange them all on his lap and play with them. Note that this random assortment included half a plastic Easter egg.

8.This little guy isn't feeling too good-he is so congested...my poor little winter baby.

9. Have you been to the remodeled Michael's in Voice of America? Because, oh my! It's like a scrapbooker's dream store-you just have no idea how happy that place made me. Now I am just waiting patiently for the Bridgewater Falls store to get the same remodel.

10. Finally, this picture of the boys and their cousins, Blaze and Keaton, just cracks me up. Everyone looks so thrilled-except poor Keaton-who looks like someone just punched his best friend. He was fine ten seconds later-just wasn't interested in having the photo taken!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Long Update...

I've been a bad blogger. But in my own defense, I've been super busy the past few weeks getting everything ready for my return to work. So this will be a long post...
What have I missed updating? Well there was Thanksgiving....
We had dinner with the Lakes side in mid November and had a great time. Chuck's mom made pizza for the boys, which was a great idea. (Especially for my super picky eater-Jackson-who will only eat meat-no side dishes at all-or pizza.) And I got this picture of all of the Lakes cousins.
I made dinner for my family on Thanksgiving Day. (And I wore my brand new Christmas Story apron while cooking-made it much more fun!) Bobbi took our Christmas card photos while she was there. I'm not posting the official card photo (only because I don't have it electronically) but here's a couple of shots from the day...


The twins had their 7 year checkup (yes, I realize their birthday was in April). Bryce is now 4' 2" and 56 pounds and Jarron is 4' 1" and 52 pounds. They are growing up so super fast that it is scary-they will be taller than me before I know it!
Jackson got his head shaved last week-we are still having issues with him pulling it out. It actually looks really good. Brody is adjusting well to his new formula and medicine. He's not crying as much and is starting to smile a lot more. He slept through the night for the first time Tuesday (the night before I went back to work) and has slept through the night every night since then.
I went back to work on Wednesday. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I think really liking your job makes it much easier.
It's been a crazy couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to getting settled into a routine. And, of course, it's my very favorite time of the year! I pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up the lights the day before Thanksgiving. Since we get a live tree we've had to wait to put that up but that's on the schedule for this coming week!
Have a great weekend!