A Very American Girl Christmas!

I think the girls have been asking for American Girl dolls for 3 years now. Two years ago we got them fake American Girl dolls. That basically means they are the same size and can wear the clothes and look like them. They knew the difference (and we weren't trying to pull one over on them, but we hoped they saw the wise economical difference). No luck. They continued to ask for them. Isabelle wanted the "Girl of the Year - 2008", Mia, because it looks just like Isabelle. Maria wanted a "Just like Me" doll, very specifically, the one with light brown hair with highlights, blue eyes, and freckles. She would say that whole entire thing every time I asked her what she wanted for Christmas! Here is Isabelle opening hers at my parents. Notice how excited Kim is in the picture - I think she kind of wants one for herself!

Maria opened hers up the next day at Morrie's parents, and was just as surprised herself (although ever hopeful I am sure).

She wouldn't let it out of her sight! I think I was getting a little too close here. Back off Mama!

Oh the Snow!

Really, 18 inches? Here? It seems unbelievable, and I am sure I will have a hard time remembering it. So today's post will attempt to document it. Too bad there isn't a picture of me shaking my head as I looked outside, because that happened a lot! Morrie's car was not equipped for the snow, so it got buried in it's own shame.

Here Morrie is digging out the bbq, because...well...we wanted our steaks to be extra yummy like only a bbq in the snow can do!

The view from the elusive Great Highlander, rarely seen in sunny weather.

Isabelle standing in the snow, it's one thing to be prepared with snow boots, it's quite another when the snow reaches just past the top of the boot. Bummer.

This is the crazy deck, I had taken some tiles out of the table, so the snow piled up on part, and fell through on other parts. At the lower left there is something sticking out of the snow. It is a 15 inch ruler. This shot wasn't even at the end of the snowfall, it was somewhere in the middle!

Izzy taking the dog out for a swim in the snow. Stinks when your legs are only 5 inches long! Annie really loved the snow, she bounded through it, burrowed under it and had a grand old time. I think she is a Husky dog reincarnated.

Christmas: Part I

I have several days worth of posting from all the Christmas pictures and the absurd snow accumulation pictures, so get prepared! Merry Christmas Aaron!!! (because I know you are checking this. So here is Christmas Eve, in typical blogspot fashion, reverse order: Reading "The Night Before Christmas" in Maria's room with 47 thousand dog/horse pictures to keep you company!

Brian and Kim supplied all the kids with Reindeer antler headbands (because if you don't look goofy, it ain't Christmas at our house!). Seriously though, could there BE anymore sisterly love going on here? I can't get enough of this!

Maria is opening Uncle Aaron's gift, the tiny horse box. Perfect for all those special items that little girls collect! I do believe she got some new earrings that will fit just right in there.

Maria opening Uncle Aaron's second gift : the awesome horse coloring kit (my kind of kit!). She was super impressed when we opened it and she saw each item that was included, stickers, stained glass coloring sheets, horse facts, you name it, she has it (don't be surprised if you see me sporting a hrose tattoo on my bicep soon).

Here are the girls right before we started to opened gifts, all the anticipation is just spilling uot of them, they can hardly stand it!! Actually, I think they are annoyed that the adults are taking too long doing God knows what when we should be handing out gifts instead!

Some guys have all the luck! Since mostly women read my blog though, should I be worried that the ladder will somehow end up in my spot in bed? How much can someone even WANT a ladder to begin with?

In case you don't get to hang around any 17 year olds, they like to only be with one another. When they HAVE to be with family (ugh) they like to text each other and talk about how soon they can be together again. You go from unbridled joy as a 10 year old at Christmas to THIS. I don't think I am prepared.

Home for the Holidays

I am really going to run out of Holiday titles here...bear with me. This is Maria...she seems to be saying "Snow Happens Mom". Really though, she just ran and slid on her belly in the yard, and some snow flew up in her face!

Here is one of Isabelle's new ornaments from my Mom. I am trying to figure out how to photograph the ornaments, and this ONE worked, but the other did not. Stay tuned this week as I try again.
This is our FAMILY ROOM!! I finished painting after 3 days. I am pooped! For those of you who have been experiencing the whole downstairs remodel with us, this is the end of a very long 5 months! Yes, we still have to construct the railing...that one is tough!

And here is the house in all it's Christmas glory. I'm not really putting up the pictures for all of you as much as I am for my own reference down the road!

Ahhh, the holiday season...

Maria is romping in the snow drifts outside with the dog, I hope she doesn't lose the dog...

Here is a conversation between Morrie and Ryan, my BIL from yesterday...

Ryan: You guys getting ready for the wind?

Morrie: Yeah, we have all the flashlights out and with the woodstove, we should be okay.

Ryan: (looking at the fireplace) Is that your last peice of wood there?

Morrie: Yeah, but tomorrow is the first day of Hanukkah, so it should last 8 days.

Well, we had no wind but we have 7 inches of snow now, which is much more stauisfying than the 2 1/2 we had!

Merry Christmas Rachel!

And this is all I got you...sigh...it's totally the thought that counts, right?

How We Handle Snow

Some of us like to cuddle up in warm blankets...

Some of us ilke to sleep all day on a hot pad...

And some of us go CRAZY!

Some of us like to play on the computer...

And some of us have recently discovered the blissful hot air of the heater! Stay warm out there people!

Need a good laugh?

http://www.cakewrecks.com/

It is pure awesomeness. It is so utterly fantastic that I find myself laughing out loud, occasionally falling on the floor crying, and staring in disbelief...all at the same time. We (the girls and I) watch Ace of Cakes on the food channel so we are pretty well versed on professional cakes. This site is professional cakes, gone horribly wrong. It is insane. I am so addicted that I think I will look around at the grocery store this evening to see if I can spy a wreck there. There is a story that one lady was trying to take a picture with her camera phone of a vile grocery store creation and they stated yelling at her "No photos! We know that blog!". Some of them are even wedding cake disasters, from professional bakers...The funniest ones are the quotation mistakes...as in...Happy Birthday "Dad". What are they trying to imply with that one? I hope I have wetted your appetite, you need to go there NOW!!!

Locusts...Plagues...

Well, with the freakish gusts of wind we had last week, to the bitter cold snap we are in the middle of this week (got down to 10 degrees at our house lastnight), I am fully anticipating tidal waves or perhaps volcanic activity for next week. Be prepared people.

It WAS Windy yesterday!

The last time we had significant wind damage was2 years ago during the big Decemebr storm and a 60 ft tree fell into our yard (about 20 ft away from our house). Yesterday I was home when the wind started tor eally pick up and pine cones were hitting the hosue (and annoying the dog), but I didn't think much of it. Morrie and I took the girls out shopping, we got Santa pictures and went out to dinner. When we came home, this is what we found! A HUGE limb in the front yard...and no fence for the back yard! All I can say is thank goodness that stupid limb didn't hit the house. The cats would have been freaking out!

Our Email Marriage

Here are some snip-its from Morrie and my emails today:

Me: After having inexplicable pain in my hip for 20 minutes this morning while I sat at my desk, I have survived.

Morrie: Wow, I'm glad you survived the Hip Scare of '08. Did they send "Danger" Jim Foreman out for a special report?

Later...

Me: Keep emailing me, I am NOT swamped today. I am working on this filing project that isn't important and I have until the end of the month to finish it. I have nothing in my inbox, BOO, and that means I need to send out more reference emails, when really I should be calling them. I hate, and I mean HATE using the phone in cubicle land when everyone is here. I usually wait until they go to lunch or something. Yummy, Dr. Pepper at 10:30 in the morning. I'm fat... I wonder why...sigh...

Morrie: So far work has been a lesson in frustration, but a little JD from the drawer goes a long way...

Me: The person closest to me stepped away so I threw a pretzel in my mouth, I'm sooo bad, you know they are forbidden in cubeland, right?

Morrie: For reals? All pretzels or just wheat ones?

Me: Wheat free pretzels are always okay, but they don't know what kind I am eating, I bet they think I am CRAZY.

Morrie: Why would they think you are crazy???

Me: Shut up! They just went to lunch so I need to hurry up and make some calls…

Morrie: I seriously wasn't being funny then...

No Doghouse for Morrie!

So here is my beautiful new friend. She's always upbeat, shiney, always has just what I need, it's a really wonderful relationship we have. Thank you Morrie for securing your place in my heart...I mean...um...for ah...yeah...okay, that about wraps it up for me.

Can I cheer myself up?

I am such a nerd. I was just reading some older posts, and I was enjoying it a lot. When my friends don't post, I'll just read more of my own...

10 Things that Happened Today (can't commit to 10 good things, and I can't commit to just 10 bad things, so here is a mixture)

1. I woke up with cramps...woohoo!
2. 2 minutes past time to leave for school I decided Maria was sick enough to stay home, quick make alternate plans (I had to work).
3. Maria is now fine
4. I am still reminiscing about my out of the country trip from yesterday...
5. Work was difficult as I was managing my cramp situation. Curling up under my desk is or is not apporpriate?
6. My 11 year old is growing up and I'm not ready. Boo.
7. I get to go to the Nutcracker on Friday!!!! So excited!!!
8. I get to go to drive some very bored, maybe lethargic, or perhaps uninterested 6th graders to the Nutcracker on Friday!
9. I'm still wearing my down coat even though I got home over an hour ago. And I'm NOT too hot thank you very much.
10. I thought it was over, but now Maria is reading the "Warrior" books and talking to me in some other alternate language that has to do with cats, clans, and weird names and NO I do not understand it even after Isabelle finished all 20 of them. Wow, so glad Maria just started last week. This is going to be a long year.

The Coolest Thing that Almost Happened To Me

I got a call from the spa asking me to call a potential client that was asking for me specifically. I called, and it was someone's work. Not that unusual. The woman identified herself and told me that I was referred to her by a client of mine that works for her. Not unusual (but it was weird that I was calling her, what kind of medical problem did she have that she wouldn't divulge when she orginally called the spa?).
She asked if I would be available to go on a company trip with them from Dec. 28th through Jan 5th. When I asked if it was local or not, she responded "Let's just say it's off the mainland". Then she told me I would be given more information upon my availability (what is this, the FBI?). I said that I would have to look into it and I could get back to her by tomorrow afternoon. When I verified the dates she said "No, Dec 28th through Jan. TWENTY FIFTH." Hmmm...out of the country for a month, not likely I will find someone to do all the Mom work for an ENTIRE MONTH lady, are you crazy? Instead of saying that, I said I was not available for a whole month, but I could be available for 7 days. Then she went on to say (after sounding very dissappointed) that someone would be making an appointment with me during my regular hours at the spa (and she wasn't happy that I only worked there 2 days...some people do not spend 24/7 at their job LADY!).
Anyway, for about 8 seconds I was thinking I might be on some exotic trip for a whole week, massaging and making loads of mula. It was the best 8 seconds I have had in while. Keep it clean folks, keep it clean.

Couples only...

For you and your significant other:
www.bewareofthedoghouse.com

Then click on "See what life is like inside the doghouse". Watch short film.

Then wait for more blogging to follow. This must be done in steps.

Blog ADD

Well, yesterday I changed the background on my blog three times. It's not even that easy, I have to change all the text so it matches each time, and then I decided I didn't like it, 3 times! I think I'm done. I realized that this background is kind of relaxing on the eyes, and that might be a good thing to have. If my body can't realx, my mind can't relax, then heck, let my eyes relax!

Side note: I think that adult diapers would have a lot more uses if only people really thought about it. Take for instance the camping/hiking trip. Imagine yourself zipped up in your sleeping bag, eighteen hundred layers of clothes on (maybe that's just me), and you realize it's sometime in the middle of the night and you have to go (even though you stopped drinking anything after 6:30pm). I mean really go (let's think pee here folks). Because let's face it, your body knows you don't want to get out there in the cold and the bladder screams "WE REALLY MUST GO, NOW". You can't even unzip a tent without everyone within 1/2 mile radius hearing it. Finding a flashlight in a dark tent can be another trial, and if you succeed at that, get the tent unzipped, find a place to pee, you still have to pretend not to think about bugs and whatnot biting your behind while attempting to get your bladder to relax. Anyway, I was just thinking that PERHAPS a diaper in this situation might not be uncalled for. You wouldn't even get cold, you would actually get a little warmer for a moment, right? Just a thought. No I haven't tried it but I bet if I did Morrie would buy me my own tent just out of disgust.

Balls!

Well, I did a whole post about decorating and somehow blogger decided it wasn't good enough and erased it. Shoot. However, I do have one story left that I didn't tell earlier. Last year when I packed up all the ornaments, I was SUPER organized. Each container was packed in precision like manner. When the lid was lifted off this year, a large peice of paper said "Maria's Ornaments", or Isabelle's Ornaments", or "Family Ornaments", or "Balls". That way the girls would immediately know which box was their's and spend 45 minutes opening it without complaints of "Where is my Reindeer/Star/Santa/Etc ornament?????".

Well, needless to say the children were SO excited that they ripped the lids off the containers and grabbed the first package out of it and started unpacking. My beautiful signs drifted to the floor like some forgotton toy from "Toy Story". It took a whole day for my husband to notice a peice of paper laying around that said "balls". FYI, he is very, very sick, normally his radar would have picked up on it within 15 seconds. I look up from the computer and he has it conviently placed with a grin on his face. Then he staggered back to the couch and and said something that sounded like a 12 year boy (normal) whose voice is cracking (not normal, result of nasty cold).

Shut OUT!

Well, these special girls (Kiana on the left and Izzy on the right) had a great day. They are in the middle of their league standings wise and have recently had a killer schedule playing the top 3 teams back to back. They have had several ties (3 or 4 I think) which would seemingly be frustrating, but maybe they don't mind, I don't know. Anyway, today I was so proud of them. They always play really well, and they were justly rewarded with a 5-0 shut out. Last time they played this team it was 2-2, so it was quite an improvement.

Kiana herself scored 2 of the goals and even saved a ball from going in the net! She was everywhere! Isabelle managed the middle of the field very well even though one of the other players knocked her flat on her back! The girls had an awesome passing game and I think Ivo was quite proud since they work on passing 75% of the time! One more game for the fall season and then we break for 3 weeks (woohoo!).

My New Favorite Blog!

So my friend told me about this hysterical blog. It belongs to someone whose family is very old friends of ours, so I was happy to catch up with her life again. You can find it at www.mrsmouthy.com. She always ends with what they are having for dinner, and it's pretty impressive (seriously, they really eat like this). So here is what she posted recently:


"WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:BraciolaCauliflower Gratin
…and because someone asked yesterday, braciola is a flank steak rolled with parmesan and provolone that’s pan-seared on all sides, then cooked with wine and marinara sauce for 2 hours. It is pure awesomeness. If you ask for the recipe and prove your worth, I will painstakingly type it up and post it so you can all sigh and groan and wish you had such mad cooking skills as me."

So I would like to impress you all and end with what WE are having for dinner tonight. We are having leftover (it's good already huh?) Taco Stuff (yes, that's what we really call it) in a bowl with smashed up chips and ripped up lettuce. Perhaps a spoonful of sour cream thrown in as long as the sour cream doesn't smell too sour. I know, you are jealous...

Hi's and Low's

Hi: Maria had another indoor game last weekend. It was tough, they did loose even though they scored 5 goals. Someone I know scored 3 of those goals and had an assist. It was beautiful! I loved the assist, it was a perfect pass to the center, the goalie totally thought Maria was shooting and tried to block the shot that never came. Instead, Maria had passed it to her friend Jordan, who was playing in her 3rd game of her life, and all she had to do was tap it into the open net!!

Low: Isabelle tripped while she was running outside, and stubbed her big toe, and really scraped it up. She was crying and crying asking me to make it stop hurting. Oh, how my Mommy's heart was squeezed, I was practically crying myself. My kids hardly ever get hurt anymore, and I can't remember the last time she cried because she was in pain. I had her hugging me, as much for her sake as it was for mine. She is doing better today, and I think the band-aid glue that we tried this afternoon might do the trick. *sniff*

What a game!

I had my best photography at a soccer game last weekend! I have lots of pictures of the other girls as well, but I didn't want to overwhelm you! Look at our Izzy go!

Last time they played this team, they lost 0-3. This time they tied 1-1!

The ball is right between her feet!

I am Thankful For:

FRIENDS! Here is Maria (on the far right) and 2 friends.

FAMILY! Isabelle (11) and her cousin Samantha (17!).

RELAXING! Morrie and Annie.

My Baaaaabbbbbyyyyy!

She is nine? When did that happen??? Well, it was so busy last weekend, that I didn't get a chance to post on HER day. So here is a rundown of the weekend, in reverse order of course. It ended with lunch out after Isabelle's soccer game and a free birthday Sundae.

She wanted something for her birthday that had to do with horses. We found a perfect little "Riding Academy" that she was thrilled with!

Here the dog is trying to persuade Maria into playing with ehr instead of Maria's new presents. Maria thought it was slightly annoying.

This was her friend party. It was book themed, so each girl brought a copy of her favorite book and each went home with a copy of Maria's favorite book. Very low key, very easy, it was awesome!

Happy Birthday!! We went to Barnes and Noble to spend her gift certificate and we sat down and I tried to read her "The Night You Were Born" but I was choked up on the 4th word, and I quickly put it back. It's a beautiful book, that we already have, it's just packed away so I thought I would read it to her at the store. Nope. Not going to bawl in the bookstore. Cripes, she's old!