Happy New Year!!

Megan was up to ring in the New Year with us last night. Samantha was at Gigi's house.


We went outside after we watched the ball drop and were treated with a fantastic fireworks show we could watch from our backyard. There were some fantastic fireworks being fired off not too far away and we really enjoyed watching that together.

Well here's hoping that 2010 is a great year. We have entered it with a new attitude and some great resolutions as well. Normally we aren't really resolution makers but this is a new year and a new decade following a horrible year for us so we are giving it a shot. Maybe I will write a post about our resolutions if you all are interested.

Thanks for hanging with us through the last year. It was a rough ride and I hope that I can get back into the upbeat swing of things now.

Until next time,

Jaime

Christmas Morning

I think that the pictures speak for themselves. The girls were very excited Christmas morning and Santa treated them well (although I wonder if he got them confused with some other girls). They were super excited to play with all their new toys. But of course the new things are opened slowly as we figure out where to put the new stuff and what old stuff to get rid of.

I hope that you all had a great Christmas! We sure did.

Until next time,

Jaime

Christmas Eve and Pajamas

We had a wonderful Christmas with family this year. It was nice to spend time together and celebrate. I love Christmas because of the time spent with family. Of course Christmas Eve is still a work day for Rick and I so we didn't get to spend the entire day together but we did spend the evening at my Mom's house. We had a fantastic dinner and opened presents.

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And we have our Christmas Eve tradition of opening a new pair of pajamas. The girls know what it is but I wrap them anyway. It is fun to go to bed in brand new jammies on Christmas Eve. I should have bought a new pair for myself.

The girls were so excited for Santa to come. Sam went to bed and basically fell right to sleep, which is amazing!! Megan, on the other hand, had a REALLY hard time falling asleep. She was up really late and she came out to the living room saying "someone please help me fall asleep." And then not too soon after that she was in bed calling out "PLEASE HELP ME FALL ASLEEP!!" It was sooo cute, and yet so sad. She was so worried that Santa wouldn't come because she wasn't sleeping. Luckily she did eventually fall asleep so that Santa could bring presents. Santa was pretty late though, like after midnight. I hope we didn't make him run late.

Until next time,

Jaime

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

We finally got to the mall to have a visit with Santa Claus. And Santa was sure to remind the girls to leave him some cookies. It was really cute, as he patted his HUGE belly. Seriously, a real HUGE belly!!!

Since Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are packed full of family time I wanted to get on the blog tonight to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope that you have a wonderful time with your family and friends. I will be back with a full report after the wonder of Christmas is passed.

Enjoy the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the reason for the season.

Until next time,
Jaime

Family Pottery

I was able to pick up our completed pottery the other day. I am really happy with how they turned out. I was the most excited to see the plate that we made together. With the girls hand prints as the wreath and Rick and my fingerprints as the berries it will be a very special Christmas plate for years to come.

Here is Megan's gingerbread man ornament:

Here is Sam's snowman ornament:

Both of the girls made mugs for Gigi. We gave them to her at our family Christmas party last night along with some tea. They were so excited to have her open them and she really liked the mugs. What Gigi wouldn't like handmade gifts from their great-grandchildren?!

I really would like to make this a Christmas tradition. We all had so much fun and we have some great memories and keepsakes
.

Until next time,

Jaime

Christmas Lights

One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is to go look at Christmas lights. I have been doing this every year since I was a little kid. Last year we didn't get to go because of the 5 feet of snow. But tonight we started our adventure by going to Manito Park to walk through the conservatory. It was all decked out with poinsettias and lights. It was so gorgeous. I took a couple pictures (of course).


After that we went downtown for pizza. And then we took off looking for decorated houses. We found a house with a huge light show. They had A LOT of lights that were set to music. The girls LOVED it!! And I loved it too. As we drove around we listened to Christmas music and sang along. My favorite was when the girls and I sang along with a Raffi song that I used to listen to when I was a kid. It is special to share moments like that with the girls.

The craziness of Christmas begins now. Starting with Christmas parties this weekend and a special Church program. We will be busy busy for the next week. Even my work is in on the Christmas fun. Today we had a potluck and next week is Christmas spirit week.

Ahh, the holidays!!

Until next time,
Jaime

Christmas Program

Megan had her Christmas program at school on Thursday. It was cute and Megan was so excited for her program. Although you never would have known it by how serious she was while on stage.

This is a picture of Megan with the tree that her class made.


The parents are always given a minute to take pictures before the program begins. I told Megan to make sure that she looked at me and smiled so that I could get a good picture. And she actually did look at me and smile. Amazing!!

The program only lasted about 25 minutes. The gym was packed to standing room only. Good thing we got there an hour early. Rick and I were able to get two seats in the front row.

"Christmas cookies, Christmas Pie. Christmas goodies, my oh my."

Until next time,
Jaime

Family Fun

So part of getting into the spirit of the season is spending some family time together. Tonight the four of us went to Polka Dot Pottery and made some stuff. This was our first time painting pottery as a family. It really was a lot of fun.

The girls made ornaments for our tree. This is the first year that I have done this. But I am thinking that I feel a new tradition forming. They are so cute. Usually I buy each girl an ornament signifying something special from the year. However, this year I have had a hard time finding them an ornament. So I think having a handmade ornament is the next best thing. Sam painted a snowman and Megan painted a gingerbread man. I can't wait to pick them up next week to see how they look after they are finished.

We also made a plate as a family. My family has a traditional Christmas morning bubble bread that I make for Christmas morning breakfast for my family now. I grew up eating it every year, and now I make for my family. And you know how much I just love baking. (Can you sense the sarcasm?) So I thought it would be fun to have a special plate to serve the bread on. The girls used their hand prints to make a wreath and Rick and I used our fingerprints to make the berries. It is really sweet and I can't wait to pick it up next week. I am really excited to see the finished product.

The girls also made a couple Christmas presents. They had a great time. Samantha especially loves painting pottery. I am thinking that we are going to have to do this more often. Even Rick said he had fun. He suggested that just the two of us go there one evening and make something together. Sounds like a great date night to me!!!

I will show you pictures of the finished projects when we get them back next week so stay tuned.

Until next time,
Jaime

Oh Christmas Tree

I was having the hardest time finding the Christmas spirit this year. I am usually decorating the day after Thanksgiving. That didn't happen this year. But the tree is finally up and the house is decorated. The girls are really happy to finally have the tree up. And I really do love having the house all decked out for Christmas. It has really helped me find my Christmas spirit. I may not be fully there this year, but at least I am trying.

Both of the girls tried to put the angel on top of the tree but they weren't able to get it to stay. So then I tried to put it on the tree but it was not straight so Rick stepped in and finished it off. The angel is now happily looking down on us from her perch on the top of our tree.


I don't know if we are going to get any decorations up outside this year. It is absolutely FREEZING outside so neither one of us want to go spend hours outside decorating. It isn't the end of the world if we don't get the outside stuff done this year. I would rather be in my warm house than outside turning into a popsicle.

Until next time,
Jaime

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I want to wish all my wonderful blog readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know that I haven't been very good at blogging lately. And I feel bad about that. Lately I feel like I don't have much to say, and it's all basically the same boring stuff anyway.

But I wanted to take a moment to let you all know that I am very thankful for all the wonderful readers and comments that you all leave for me. It really lifts me up and gives me the encouragement I need to push through these difficult times.

Enjoy your turkey day and stuff yourselves!!!

Love,
Jaime

Happy Halloween

The girls have been super excited to get to wear their Halloween costumes. They finally got to put them on yesterday for their class parties. They both picked out what they wanted to be without any influence from me. Sam chose The Flash. Apparently it is a superhero from Justice League. I don't know, I'm not very knowledgeable in superhero. Megan chose Daphne, from Scooby Doo. I know, big shock. She is a huge fan of Scooby Doo. At least I knew who that one is.


Nana and Papa with all their little goblins.

I hope you had a fun Halloween. It was a busy day to end a busy month. And it is just going to get busier with the upcoming holidays. I am already exhausted, oh please Lord give me strength.

Until next time,

Jaime

4th of July Fun

We went to my Mom's house for a BBQ in the backyard. The girls played in the little pool and with the slip n slide. They had a blast and enjoyed cooling off considering it was 90 degrees outside. The adults hung out in the shade with baby Mady.

We had an American BBQ with hamburgers, macaroni salad, potato salad, and corn on the cob. It was delicious!!

Then the kids put on a parade for us. Sam was the leader and marched them all around the backyard. That was something that my family used to do when I was a kid. And these kids have fun doing it too.

Of course we had to show our American spirit with our flag clothes.

The girls with cousin Noah. Noah is Mady's big brother.

Then we drove downtown and parked in the Arena parking lot to watch the fireworks display. While we were waiting we did pop-its and confetti poppers. Megan had a hard time pulling the strings so we ended up having to help her. It was a long wait, and the kids were getting a little impatient.

The fireworks were really pretty. And with the almost full moon right beside the fireworks display it was even better.

I hope everyone had a fun weekend. We had a great time celebrating Independence Day. This holiday isn't about a long weekend for me. It is about celebrating the fact that we live in an amazing country. It is about celebrating the veterans that have served to keep this country free. It is about the men and women currently protecting our freedom. It is about our good friend that just graduated Marine Corp boot camp so he can protect our country. God Bless America!!

Until next time,

Jaime