Sledding with Gram

No children or grandmas were harmed in the making of these videos. :)

Snow Fun with Grandpa

It was nice to get a relatively warmer day today after the good amount of snow and cooler temps we've gotten in the past few weeks. It made it so we could get out for some fun snow activities with Everlea. It's nice having my parents around to enjoy this time with us too. Grandpa and Everlea's first undertaking was to make a snowman that Ev called Frosty.

I thought the last pic was cute, it looks like making that snowman totally wore her out. lol. In fact she was tired most of the day as she's had more late nights with G & G visiting and us being out later for family get-togethers etc., so a few unprovoked crying spells occurred, but a good amount of the time was still filled with fun and laughter.

Go Pats!

Woo Hoo...16 games undefeated, oh yah!

Bowling

After playing bowling on the Wii for the past few days, Randy suggested we actually go real bowling, something we enjoy, but rarely do. So 7 of us from my immediate and extended family met at the alley and bowled a few games. Our scores reflected the fact that (some of us) haven't played in years and it also showed how much easier it is to get a high score when you are playing a virtual video game instead of a real one with an 8lb-13lb+ ball swinging from your hand. We (again some of us) :) had to pop some ibuprofen afterwards (definite signs we're aging).

A funny Wii story...

After playing the Nintendo Wii (pron. We) a few months ago, my dad really had fun with it. So, we thought it'd be fun if my mom could get it for him for Christmas. Unbeknownst to us, it was impossible to find this Christmas season and sold out instantly once it hit the stores every couple of weeks. Ran and my sister tried two different stores one morning when we knew the stores were getting them in and still no luck. Well, about a week before Christmas, I'm standing in line to checkout in a clothing store in the mall with my arms laden with clothes. Two guys were in front of me, one was in line and the other one was talking to the guy in line. They both had big bags and were animatedly talking about their "purchases" and how the one guy inquired at this small game store and they happened to have 3 of them in their backroom (but not out on display).. then the guy in line told his friend and the other guy got one too, etc. Anyways, they never mentioned what they were talking about but because I was eavesdropping (sort of :) they were talking loudly right in front of me)... I piped up and said, "you wouldn't be talking about the Wii would you?" The guy in line looked at me and smiled and said "yah", I said "shoot I've been looking for one of those for weeks" and the guy said with a grin on his face "the ____store has 1 left, if I were you I'd drop your stuff in line and run... which is exactly what I did (well I didn't drop my stuff, I just quickly placed it on a random clothes display knowing I'd be returning soon to buy the stuff). The guy in line laughed and yelled after me "Merry Christmas!" I ran past my dad who was sitting on a bench outside the store and I said "Um, I'll be right back, gotta go" and ran to the game store on the other side of the mall. Breathless I reached the counter and said "I heard you guys have 1 Wii left, please tell me you still have it!" The clerk grinned and said, "who told you that?" I told him the story above and He said "that's so cool" and said "yep we have one left." So, we got our Wii!! Dad was completely perplexed at why I was crazily running through the mall but I made some feeble excuse which apparently he bought because... He had no idea! Christmas morning was so great to watch his surprise in opening it and we've had lots of fun playing it (for some of you that might not know what it is, it's a fairly newer video game system that has motion sensitive interactive controls... ie. if you are playing tennis, you actually swing your arm as if you are playing and it makes your person on the tv hit the ball)...We've even done some dancing with it with a game my sister got him "Dancing with the Stars" and laughed our heads off. (I'm hoping to post a little video of us playing it in the next couple of days so you get the idea of how crazy and funny we look).

Christmas Morning...

Happy Boxing Day!

Today is another holiday if I was still living in Canada, and it's called Boxing Day. It's the day after Christmas and only the malls I think are open. Growing up I took it for granted that it was just another day off, but this year I decided to find out how it really all started and was pleasantly surprised.

If you are at all curious, here is a link to read more.

http://holidays.kaboose.com/xmas-around-boxingday.html

It's kind of a shame the U.S. doesn't recognize this day as a holiday too. It doesn't affect us too much with Ran being self-employed, but we know friends and family that had to go back to work today. With the busyness of Christmas, it would be nice for this day to be a laid back family day and a day to relax from the previous rush of the season. I also like the fact that it originally was a day based on charitable giving, maybe I'll have to remember that in the years to come and incorporate that somehow into something our family does.

Anyways, enjoy the day!

Christmas day pics forthcoming when I can dig out my camera from out of the box of gifts we brought home late last night from my sister's.

Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to take a second out of this Christmas 2007 to wish all our friends and family a very Merry and Blessed Christmas Day!!

...All is Bright (& Wide Awake)

Christmas Eve. It's been a good night.

It's 11:00 p.m. The presents are all finally wrapped, Ran, Ev and I just finished snuggling on the couch watching the Polar Express on T.V. and the cookies and milk are all set out for Santa. We decided to do something different this Christmas Eve too, we are sleeping in front of the tree and fireplace. This new and fun experience combined with the fact that it's Christmas tomorrow has one tired little girl all wound up. Need I say more. lol

Update: Just checked on her lying on her little livingroom makeshift bed...it's midnight now, eyes still open but very sleepy...poor thing...I see a long nap in her Christmas Day future.

Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm...

Tonight was our church's Christmas Eve service. It wasn't a big production, in fact it was actually quite simple. I've found myself becoming more and more weary during this season of giving, especially as the days quickly seemed to count down to Dec. 25th... but as I sat in the service tonight and as we were singing Silent Night and Away in a Manger and the darkened room was being filled with a soft light as each person in the congregation lighted their candles, I suddenly realized that for the first time during this busy December I was filled with the one thing that has felt just out of reach...

peace...

and it was wonderful.

A labor of love...

I'm very hard to buy for (I admit it) for Christmas, so Ran thought of doing something a little different this year. He had extra wood kicking around and this is what he spent some late nights down in the depths of the basement this week working on. He gave it to me today as we are going to be spending Christmas at my sister's house and of course it couldn't be transported. Even though we've been married almost 13 years (and he does this for a living lol) I still marvel at the gift of carpentry that he has. I love it and feel very blessed.

There is hope...

This song was sung in my sister's church's Christmas service this morning. A great reminder that there is hope for every man. He came to this earth in the humblest of circumstances and died in the worst of circumstances...for all of us...and for that I'm grateful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQn1DEv4z3U

Fun with Friends

Friday morning we had our small group kids Christmas party hosted by our good buddies, Mrs. Jen, Elijah, Logan and Camden. Mrs. Jen had a yummy brunch prepared and some fun activities planned for the kids. They listened to the Christmas story on tape as Jen showed pictures following along with the audio and then the kids acted out the nativity story complete with costumes and props. Everlea was Mary but wanted to wear the crown instead of the headdress (I think she preferred to be princess mary). They also did some cute crafts, swapped gifts and decorated cupcakes (lots of colored sugar and sprinkles were consumed in that activity lol). A fun day with great friends.

Our Little Angel...

...a little reluctant but not uncooperative thankfully... They postponed Everlea's original pre-school Christmas program from a Sunday afternoon (due to one of the many snowstorms we've had in the last 2 weeks) to a Wednesday eve., so the kids were a little closer to their bedtimes, but they did great considering. They were all so adorable in their costumes and it was very precious seeing our little girl up there in her first Christmas pageant. The teacher read the nativity story (with a little cute humor mixed in) and the 3yr olds acted it all out. Everlea's responsibility was to hold up a letter along with 7 other angels to spell B A B Y B O Y on one side then they flipped them over to spell out C O M E S E E. Everlea did well although she flipped over her E back to the Y after a minute so it spelled C O M E S E Y... (Ran and I got a little chuckle out of that).

As I was sitting in the audience I was just thinking how thankful I was that Everlea was starting out her school years in a small christian pre-school that talks about God/Jesus/Bible Stories and does a whole Christmas program on the Real Reason for the Season!!

Building a House...

Gingerbread style...

This was a daddy and Everlea ongoing December project (Ran wanted to spread it out, so every couple of nights they'd pull it out and work on it). Randy has memories of making gingerbread houses as a kid and wanted to pass on the tradition. I bought all the candy and helped a little decorating near the end but it was mostly their creation. I especially like Santa in the chimney and Rudolph (cute marshmallow figures I found in the store) pulling his sleigh (made of sticks of gum and the ends of candycanes). The whole house was done from scratch (if it was me I would have been lazy and bought a cheap kit at the store, but he insisted on making the dough, cutting out a pattern etc., quite the undertaking. :)

The landscaping isn't done yet and some of the sides a little unfinished, but at least we got the front completed. Kind of like our houses, always little projects left undone! :) Same builder I guess... hee hee

Enjoy Mom S.!! :)

The "Worst" Yankee Swap Gift

Ran and I went to a fun Christmas party last night where we had to bring our idea of a worst Christmas gift (yankee swap style, $5 max.). It was pretty funny.... this is what we ended up with, and I think we lucked out. lol
Some of the others gifts included a heavily laquered unicorn clock from probably the 80's, a spanish children's christmas cd (which happened to have no spanish or children singing on it, it sounded like christmas elevator music), a plastic birdhouse toy that had a little bird that tweeted and said some warbled phrases, and one of the highlights (we watched some of it) 2 dvds, one of William Hung (She Bangs) called "Hanging with Hung" and a Chubby Hubby Workout video, hilarious. We brought a cd called Bubba Christmas (a redneck twisted version of Christmas songs), and the Ernest Collection of DVD's (think Ernest Goes to Camp, Africa etc.). It was a good night... some of us stayed a little longer than others too, to watch the first season of The Office's christmas episode. So needless to say the evening was filled with alot of laughter...

A Better Perspective...

Friday was one of those days that just was too crazy, too full and too busy. I woke up and started off the day running and didn't stop til the evening and I was on edge and more grumpy than usual. It was one of those days I wish I could do over to appreciate the good things more fully and handle the bad things a little more graciously. But, instead of listing all the craziness of the day, (I figure everyone has days like that and can relate on some level) I'll share the little blessings and bright spots tucked into the day.

-A good friend of Randy's unexpectatedly called up in the a.m. and said he was on his way with his snowblower to clear our driveway without being asked. Randy had already trashed his back from shoveling a good part of it, so it was awesome to have his friend come and finish and clean up the rest of it for us.

-Everlea and I went Christmas caroling at a senior center with her pre-school in the afternoon. The kids singing was sweet and watching the seniors singing along with 3 yrs olds was cute, but my memorable part of that event was Everlea handing a bedridden little old lady a handmade beaded Christmas bracelet. The look on her face was so precious and she softly thanked us and we wished her a Merry Christmas. In passing her room again on our way back to the group I saw her put it on her wrist and was twisting it slowly looking at the detail of it. It was a sight that gave my heart a little squeeze.

-On my way to drop Ev off at something in the evening, I had realized I had forgotten to bring something I had meant to. I was like, "Shoot, I can't believe I forgot that"... and Everlea pipes up in the backseat "Don't say that Mama, it's OK, you can just bring it another time"... she was right, it was not a big deal and was not worth getting worked up about. All throughout the day she was trying to calm my frustrations by saying things like, I'm sorry mama... it's Ok Mama... don't worry mama....

-Finally settling down in the evening with our small group, people that have become very dear friends, and being comfortable enough with each other to discuss the deeper issues of life. (and be silly with too)...

I think God was trying to gently remind me what this season is all about in spontaneous kindness, a little bedridden old lady, good friends and a little girl that has a better perspective on life than me sometimes.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

...just please wait til I get back from the mall! I made the unfortunate decision today to go to the mall around noon today. I had heard the snow wasn't coming til around 4 p.m. (obviously mis-information), so I figured I'd get there by 12:30 and be home by around 3, plenty of time to watch the first flakes of snow drift to the ground from the warmth of my own home. Well, after about 15 min. after getting to the mall, (which by the time we got there was still perfectly clear, not a flake to be seen), someone comments beside me "look at all the snow!" I turned around and looked through the automatic doors, and was amazed at the quantity that was already coming down. So, we hit a few stores and the food court for Ev and then decided we'd better not risk it much longer and decided to head home. Unfortunately, I think everyone in the mall decided that about the same time we did. It took me over 2 hours to get home, normally a 30 min. ride, and 1/2 of that time was just getting out of the mall parking area and onto the highway, which normally takes 5-7 minutes. Thankfully, Everlea fell asleep about 15 min. after getting in the car, so she wasn't bored to tears and I tried to stay relaxed while listening to softly playing Christmas music on the radio. She was quiet for so long sleeping, it caught me by a funny surprise when this little tired voice piped up about an hour in "Make sure you don't crash". Thanks, lovey, I'll do my best. :) Anyways, I'm very thankful to be home safe and sound and I'm thankful for an all-wheel drive vehicle that got me here. (and God's protection of course too!) I've learned my lesson, that when a Nor'Easter is predicted for the day, just stay home, shopping can wait!

Tabletime talk and random chatter

As mentioned in a previous post, Everlea takes forever eating any meals at the table due to non-stop random chatter. The above video is an example of our lunch today. (She was unaware that she was being videoed as I set up my camera off to the side and just pressed play). Sometimes it frustrates me when she takes a long time, but this is also the time she usually says the funniest things too. Also, as I was thinking about it, I'd rather have a child grow up having dinnertime conversations with us than one that never tells us anything. So, I'm hoping for much more tabletime talk and random chatter in the years to come.

FYI (I think you have to press the play button twice for it to work, at least on mine anyways).

A Dog's Purpose...

Someone sent this email to me a few weeks ago. As all my friends and family know we are big dog lover's in my family. It's a little sad but sweet.

A dog's purpose
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt Shane might learn something from the experience.The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.
Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.We sat together for a while after Belker's death,wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane,who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The four-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn stuff like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
Take long naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

The universal cure...

Everlea was telling us at the breakfast table this morning about how her tummy was hurting in bed this morning (I think it was probably hunger as she didn't eat a big supper last night). Her final comment on the subject "I think chocolate would help my tummy feel better."

I told her I think eating the eggs in front of her would really make her tummy feel better... I know that was the right mommy answer, but really, don't all girls know that chocolate really does make everything feel better! :)

JOY

During the Christmas season the word joy is heard more often than the rest of the year... Joy to the world, Joy of the season, Joyful, Joyful we adore Him... This Sunday morning however, we didn't just hear the word joy, we saw and experienced it firsthand. Our church had the privilege of hosting a group of children called Mizero, which means Hope in Kinyarwanda, and quoting from their website "Mizero is a talented troupe of Rwandan orphans who carry an unforgettable message of hope and joy through song, dance, and drumming. This non-profit group is touring the US and Canada to raise money for the young victims of the genocide and HIV/AIDS." These kids are awesome, and not just because of the talents they possess and share, but more importantly from the joy they exude. Most people have heard of the awful genocide and atrocities associated with Rwanda, but these kids lived it. Many lost parents and loved ones as a result, yet they are able to stand up on a stage and communicate joy, love, hope and forgiveness even though some don't even speak our language. The speaker that gave a brief testimony was humorous in sharing the kids experiences in the U.S. (think seeing snow for the first time and didn't know buffalo had wings lol) yet his message was simple and powerful. Rwanda is in the heart of Africa and when the heart is sick the whole body is affected, and it's only because of and through the cross of Christ that these kids and this country can experience hope and forgiveness for generations to come. The whole service had a big impact on both Randy and I. We also loved seeing our church body experience the joy of unabashed dancing along with the Mizero children on the stage and in the aisles. How often do you get to see a bunch of New Englanders dancing along with African children in church!! It was great! Anyways, it was a terrific service and I truly hope you all experience true JOY this Christmas season and ALL year long...

Here is a link to their website in case you want to learn more.

http://www.mizerochildren.org/

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

I'm far from finishing my Christmas shopping, decorating, baking etc... but having the tree up and the stockings hung, sure help me get into a more Christmasy spirit...

One Stop Shopping...

One stop shopping for all your holiday needs... does that slogan sound familiar? Well it came in handy for me yesterday in an unexpected way. Every year we usually make it a family endeavor to go out and get our Christmas Tree. Well this week due to an unexpected well situation with clients/friends, Randy wasn't available for the night we were going to go tree hunting. We could have just waited til the weekend, but we were having some small group friends over last night for a get-together and I wanted my house at least semi-holiday looking. So, with Everlea in pre-school w/ the addition of you "get a break day" (once a month the school lets the kids stay for the afternoon to play til 4, so I usually utilize it til 2:30 as she is already there from 8:20 in morning, although yesterday she was having so much fun she didn't want to leave, so I might re-look this 4 o'clock thing) anyways..... sorry for that running explanation... I decided to run some errands and potentially go to a Christmas Tree farm I saw online (Ran and I had swapped vehicles that morning so I had his truck). My first stop was the W Supercenter. I got my groceries, bathroom supplies etc. and checked out. As I was leaving I noticed they were selling Christmas Trees there too, hmmm... We tried another W last year and was not impressed at all with their trees, so I wasn't holding my breath. Long story short, I saw a Balsam sitting out front all by itself and it looked pretty nice, but the best part was the sign beside it read $19.98! I usually like to support our little tree place in town, but this year spending $50-60 dollars on a tree just didn't seem to make sense to me. So I looked at some of the other trees inside, but kept getting drawn back to this lone Balsam out front. It really was a nice shaped tree and it was probably over 8' tall, which we wanted a taller tree for our cathedraled living room. So I looked at the tree and said "You sold me" (I don't usually make it a habit of talking to trees, but I was so happy with my find). So this nice Jamaican man loaded it in the truck for me and off I went, very proud of my purchase. It was not the way I pictured getting our tree this year, but I think it all worked out in the end and we were still able to decorate it as a family. So, here's to Sam Walton and his $20 trees.

Baby sister or baby puppy?

Everlea probably takes longer to eat than anyone I know (besides maybe my great aunt E and that's because she's 90+) and part of that reason is because she talks constantly (I think that was partly Aunt E's problem too... Everlea and her would make great tablemates, although no food would ever get consumed in the process lol). Anyways, tonight's conversation was especially entertaining, so it was hard stopping her long enough to eat, because it was causing me much amusement. She started a dialogue about brothers and sisters, and informed us she wanted a baby sister. This in and of itself was amusing although she's brought that up before, so it didn't totally surprise us. Anyways, she proceeded in telling us all the things she was going to teach said baby sister and I won't be able to recall all of it, but some of the highlights.

Ev: You know what I can teach my baby sister,

Us: What Everlea

Ev: I can teach her how to throw a ball,
" " how to do a fwip (flip)
how to roll over
how to string beads (she's majorly into jewelry making these days)
how to suck food down (then proceeded to shovel spaghetti in her mouth and animatedly swallowed it, then asked if I could do it too) (Randy told her at one point that if she didn't eat herself how was she going to teach a baby sister)
how to make a garden
how to eat vegetables to make her big and strong (she is a pretty good vegetable eater and I do attribute that partly to growing vegetables with her this summer and constantly telling her they make her big and strong).
how to eat applesauce
how to walk in the snow

the list continues, I wish I had a taperecorder to record the whole conversation, but it was funny. I did ask her where we were going to get a baby sister and she said "I don't know" and then continued on to say "well (pause) maybe we could just get a baby puppy or a baby kitty".

...to her credit I know she will make a great big sister one day.... and no this isn't me making any earthshattering pregnancy announcements :) ... I know some of you were thinking that... lol

This is what happiness looks like...

Happiness takes different forms for a 3yr old, many times it can be an emotion that is turned on and off in an instant depending on the situation at hand... (I guess that describes me sometimes too lol) but there is one thing that brings my 3 yr old happiness and that is freshly fallen thick snow. Everlea loves it and can't wait to don her 50 layers of clothing (with me praying she doesn't have to suddenly go potty 5 min. after her thickly padded waddling form exits the premises) and play in it. Well she got her wish yesterday as the northeast got it's first real dumping of snow. She could play out in it for hours. I too love the beauty and fun of snow, but don't last that long in the cold. It bums me out because I typically am very outdoorsy. It's interesting, however, that my little 30 lb, zero body fat snow bunny seems impervious to the cold (it could be the extra 20 lbs of outerwear I guess) :). Anyways, I'm thankful that when her daddy comes home from work he takes over outside when I've already surrendered to the elements and am watching from the inside out.

For Rogan, happiness is one word... Walk... and if Ran and I talk about going for one, refer to it as going for a W because he knows the word and will not let you live it down if you dare speak it without actually following through. We are convinced he's learned that W also means it, but not sure yet on that one.

So happiness today for my kids; plenty of snow for Everlea and a winter walk with mama for Rogs while Ev was in preschool.

As for me, happiness takes different forms too, and it mostly pertains to my family and friends somehow, but right now at this moment in time it's daddy giving Ev a bath and me taking a bite out of a warm out of the oven, chocolate chip, oatmeal, walnut, cherry craisin cookie that Everlea helped make, with holiday music playing in the background and a roaring fire in the fireplace. mmm life is good.

Joining the ranks of the blogging world...

So I've finally done it, I broke down and started a blog. I've held out for a long time with the whole internet security issue, but decided I'd give it a go. I've enjoyed my friends blogs and one of my main reasons for starting one is for the grandparents, especially Ran's mom and dad in Thailand. We periodically send them updates, but they don't get to enjoy the little goings on of our everyday life. Plus, it just seemed like a fun thing to do!

So, here's to sharing my life with you all.