2010

What a year it has been.

Jeremy took up bike riding this year which means the whole family started riding. Cole loves riding on the trails with Daddy. Hopefully in 2011 we will start riding more.

Cole and Adrienne started piano lessons in February and they love it. I have no musical talent so I am excited about them learning to play.

Cole earned his Probationary Black Belt this year. TKD is his favorite activity he has ever done. He has set new goals for himself for next year in TKD and I have promised him that we will be going a lot more this year than we have lately. Adrienne is an Orange Belt and she enjoys TKD. She is not as competitive as Cole is but that is not a bad thing.

Adrienne is still taking Dance and this year she is in a Jazz class. Last year I thought for sure was our last year of dance because she did not seem to enjoy it as much. This year she loves it and is already excited about the recital.

School this year has had its good days and of course a few bad. We are having a great time during our "school time" and I am learning not to stress myself as much with the small stuff. My goal this weekend is to plan the next couple of months school work. I am always excited to plan but I am not rigid with the plans I make.

There are so many other good, bad, and ugly things that happened in 2010 but I think this is a good sample of what our year has been like.

Come on 2011 I am ready for you!

What in the world?!

I love talking to Cole and Adrienne. Actually they are probably my favorite people to talk to. But then there are the days where I just look at them and wonder what in the world are you thinking.

Today was one of those days......

Cole: Mommy do you think armadillos can lick their armpits?
Me: I have never thought about that.
Cole: Look I can!

You just gotta love the boy!

Snow Day

This snow will not easily be forgotten because it started on Christmas night and that never happens around here. White Christmas has always been a fairy tale to me because I have never seen one.

We had a fun snow day building a snowman, snowball fights, and just rolling around in the snow.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas with lots of food, family, more food,and presents. It was even a more special with Jeremy home for five days. It is nonstop "Daddy play with me" when Jeremy is home.

Of course the snow that came on Christmas night was pure magic. Cole asks every year are we going to have a white Christmas and every year I say no. I did not tell them about the snow until the flakes started falling. I am glad that this year I bought them both waterproof boots for Christmas.

Here are just two of the special memories from this Christmas.....

Adrienne opening her Tangled doll that is almost as big as she is.




Cole opening his wallet that he was been wanting but then he asked why there was no money in it! What am I going to do with that boy?



Of course all can't be perfect all the time. Christmas night we discovered a water leak in our backyard, and the day after Christmas (you know when all the snow was falling) we discovered our heat was out. Both of those are fixed now and we are thankful for our wonderful family that made it happen.

Let the fun begin

Today we are preparing for our family Christmas Eve meal. We love all of our extended family get together but there is something special about spending Christmas just the four of us. The only time we leave the house on Christmas Eve is to go to church that night and then drive around and look at Christmas lights.

I worked on the menu this week with the kids and we have come up with a pretty big spread....

Ham
Turkey
Chicken & Dumplings
Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Jello Salad
Seven Layer Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Deviled Eggs
Sweet Potato Pie
All the cookies, candies, and other sweets we made this week.

I love making memories with my kids and hope these are the things they will remember when they are grown. Most of my childhood memories are the special things we did at the holidays not what toy I got.

They are calling for snow on Christmas and I just say bring it on because we are set for a few days!!!

Luke 2:11-14
"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Christmas in the Mountains

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with our family in the mountains. We had a lot of fun....

Playing games outside with cousins.




Playing games inside with cousins.




Of course there were many gifts to open and they loved all of them.

Music Night

Sunday afternoon Cole and Adrienne had their "Music Night" and they both did great. Adrienne played Away in a Manger and Cole played Jingle Bells. This could have gone bad after spending four hours in the car and getting there just in time for it to start. The kids were exhausted from a long weekend in the mountains but they put on a big smile and got it done!

Big thanks to Ms. Janet for all she is teaching them and the love she shows them each week. They love piano lessons!

Christmas Play

Last night we had our Kids Choir Christmas Play at church. Cole and Adrienne both love choir so this was a big night for them. This year Adrienne was Mary and Cole was a Wise Man.

Of course because things can can never go perfectly they both woke up that morning with terrible colds. I found Cole back in bed at 11:00am sleeping which is very unusual for him. He said all day long "I will be fine tonight" poor guy was afraid he would miss his play.

Everyone in choir did a great job last night! Big thank you to all our wonderful choir leaders Mrs. Connie, Mrs. Patricia, and Mr. Steve!

Let it Snow

Learning to Knit

Adrienne wants to learn to knit. Now that means I have to learn to knit. I am not a patient person so this is challenging for me.

We are taking a private lesson Sunday afternoon and I have this strange feeling I will be the one struggling. I am excited to learn something new and hopefully it will be something we can continue to do together.

Anyone have any knitting advice?

Jeremy says he is expecting a sweater soon so I better learn fast.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Nothing better than Thanksgiving dinner with family.

Making turkey sandwiches out of leftover turkey is the best.

Leaving home at 3:15 in the morning the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping is always fun.

Writing down your December schedule can be a little overwhelming.

Putting away Thanksgiving books and pulling out Christmas books....I love all our holiday books.

Working on the perfect picture for the Christmas card....still working on that one.

Perfect Day

I think it is safe to say that Cole had the perfect birthday. We all went to see the new Harry Potter movie Friday night. On his birthday he got what he wanted most Ghostbusters action figures and a cake too.

Happy Birthday Cole

Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet Cole.

You have filled my life with more love and joy in the last 9 years than I ever thought possible. I am so proud of you and the amazing person you are becoming.

I am so blessed to be your mommy!!!

Lunch

I struggle with what to feed my kids for lunch all the time. I am trying to find the balance of healthy, good variety.....

My kids are by no means picky eaters so it should be easy but I am looking for more than just a sandwich. They both have decided that peanut butter is not their favorite anymore which is crazy how can you not like peanut butter? I know this is my fault because peanut butter sandwiches at one time was lunch at least four days a week.

Today was ham, yogurt with fruit and granola, carrots, celery with peanut butter. They loved it and asked for more of course. I guess that is my problem I now have two bottomless pits and I want to make sure good things are going into the pit!

So what do you feed your kids for lunch?

Owl Puke

"Don't forget your bag of bones" I knew there was trouble when the teacher said that as we were leaving Botanical Gardens yesterday.

So I ask Adrienne what is in your bag? She is so excited to tell me that it is rat bones. All evening I get to hear all about how the owl catches the rat but can't digest the fur and bones so it pukes it up. She shows me the skull, teeth, fur......

So now my wonderful daughter has her very own puked up rat bones and fur.

First Pocket Knife

Last weekend Jeremy took Cole to get his first pocket knife. Cole had been learning all about safety with knives in Cub Scouts and Jeremy thought he was ready. I am still waiting for him to do something crazy like jump out of a tree with it open but so far he has been very careful.

Of course now Adrienne wants to know when she can get a pocket knife.......

Family Fest

Good Food

Face Painting

A new favorite



Always a favorite is the slides.



We had a great time at Family Fest! Cole and Adrienne enjoyed spending the afternoon playing with some of their best buds.

Happy Halloween

Fall Fun