Snowing and Blowing

We have quite the winter wonderland here again today. Just got another 2-4 inches of snow earlier today. The trees are beautiful, covered with snow!
It sure doesn't feel like Christmas time to us. We are usually scrambling to stuff everything and everyone in the car to drive somewhere for Christmas. This year we are treated to Bill and Marilee at our house for Christmas eve and Day. Kay and Mike came to visit and celebrate last weekend and then we enjoyed the Bystry Christmas on Sunday in Monroe. Friday we will be loading up the car to head up to my parents.
This afternoon has been spent cleaning up the house and baking some cheesecakes. I bundled Grace and Owen up and sent them outside for a little while with Dad to play in the snow. I tried to go out for a little while but I am battling another cold and it was making me feel worse being out in the cold. Kids didn't stay out for very long, its a little blustery with the wind. Dad brought Owen in kicking and screaming. He loves it out there it seems no matter how cold! Thats kids for ya!
Well, I am looking forward to a wonderful holiday!! And of course for Santa's visit!!

Snow Day

I just have to say how much I love our neighborhood. I am sitting here right now watching Grace play in the snow with some of the neighbor girls down the street and it makes me smile. I think of what it might be like if we were still in Milwaukee and how much she would miss out on. It brings me back to my childhood, growing up in a small town and being able to go down the road to play with my friends or even ride my bike a few miles to see Teresa. That freedom and responsibility to have as a kid is priceless. I am taking this peaceful moment and thinking about how we are so blessed to have such a wonderful home when many people now days may be losing theirs. I think about my family and thank god for my healthy wonderful children, husband and close family members. What a wonderful time of the year to reflect on how lucky we are! Love to everyone who reads this and may this find you at a happy time of reflection also!

Bitter Sweet

This weekend turned out to be a bitter sweet one. We had plans for my Dad and Holly to come down for an overnight visit from Sat. till Sun. We had big plans to bake Christmas cookies, attend Grace's dance program and just spend some quality time together. Plans changed when Holly came down with a double ear infection AND sinus infection. What a bummer for both her and us. I know how she is feeling since we are still all on the mend from our bout over Thanksgiving. So, needless to say Holly was not up for any traveling and don't blame her. We were a little bummed because we were looking forward to the time spent with them. However, we did end up having a nice relaxing weekend at home and even got to lounge around a little which is something we don't get a lot of these days. Sat. was spent baking cookies, truffles and mint thins by Mom and Grace. That evening we enjoyed the roast we had planned to make for the weekend and sat down as a family for a nice relaxing dinner. Aaron was falling asleep during our movie we sat down to watch at 9:30 followed by myself drifting off close to the end. We decided to call it a wrap and head to bed without seeing the ending.
The next day Grace had her dance program. It was a really nice time. There were a lot of our friends and neighbors children in the program so it was neat to be able to share the time with our friends. Grace was pretty disappointed in the performance of her group. She danced great but they were all thrown off because they were put on stage in the wrong order which caused them to crash when they turned the wrong directions when forming their circle. I felt so bad for her because she looks so forward to these performances and when something goes awry it really brings down her confidence. She is also starting to get to the age where she is catching the nervous anxiety bug so this all does not help. I plan on talking with her dance teacher tonight about the performance so that hopefully this can be avoided next time. I really hope she sticks it out and doesn't let this bring her down, she is a good dancer and a great performer. It was a really enjoyable day, we treated Grace to lunch out with friends and ice cream at Culver's. So all in all it was a great family weekend!

Happy Birthday Aaron

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Husband! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life and to share my life with. I love you dearly!
Aaron has a wonderful surprise in store for his Birthday tonight! I have been cooking up a little surprise for him this evening. I reserved the private gaming room at the Velvet Lips Lounge and restaurant in Ft. Attkinson and invited a bunch of our guy neighbor friends for a guys night of poker and pool. Right now Aaron thinks he is just going out for the night with our neighbors Kenny and Rich and has no idea what I've been cooking up. Looks like it should be a good turnout with about 10+ guys. Its sure to be a good time for all!
God knows he deserves a fun night out. He has been working so hard fixing our cars, and everything else that has gone to s*** here lately. Plus I know work has been getting crazy again for him then throw in the holiday madness and needless to say it gets stressful. So, great husband of mine, go out and have a great time, on me!!! XOXO

Well, it sure seems like Thanksgiving was a long time passed. Now it seems like we are diving right into Christmas. Anyway, our Thanksgiving trip was a good one. Our trip out was a breeze. We arrived about 3pm on Wed. afternoon and checked into the hotel to freshen up and then headed to Adam and Ami's. It was so good to see Adam, Amy and all the kids which had all gotten SO big, the kids that is, not Adam and Amy, ha! We visited that evening, had a chilly dinner then went over for church service at Adam and Amy's church. I got the pleasure of taking the kids to the nursery to entertain which I really enjoyed since I got to have some one on one time with Miss Taryn. She is such a little sweetheart and such the cuddle bug all weekend. We had a good time in the nursery playing our own version of the My Little Pony Memory Game. She knows the name of every Pony and I love it when she says "Pinkie Pie" in her sweet little voice. It so makes me miss Grace at the age. The next day Adam brought the kids to the hotel to swim then we headed back to hang out, watch some football and cook up the feast. It was a wonderful relaxing afternoon. Just what I needed since I had been suffering from a cold that I came down with just before we left. Aaron and both Owen and Grace ended up coming down with the same thing while we were visiting to so needless to say none of us got the greatest of sleep while we were there. So, we had a wonderful feast of turkey, of course, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, dressing, cranberries, corn casserole and chocolate and pumpkin pie for desert. We had a fun evening of playing games and just catching up with one another. I can't remember what night it was that we were playing catch phrase and one of the words was conductor, Adam was trying to guess and Aaron was giving clues. Adam kept coming up with all sorts of guesses but just couldn't pull it out. We were all laughing SO hard, I can't remember when I had laughed so hard, guess you had to be there. It was a good time and will be a unforgettable memory!

Friday the girls gathered all the bravery they could to tackle the stores after Thanksgiving. It really wasn't so bad other than the 15-20min. line to check out in Kohls. It was a huge success for me I ended up getting a lot of my shopping done. Thanks Kay for lugging it all back to the Midwest for me! That afternoon we all headed downtown State College to make a visit to the library, take a look around and hit the souvenir store for Penn State shirts Afterwards we made our way to the university creamery for ice cream. The kids really enjoyed their ice cream as they always do and it was a nice treat for all of us to get out. What a beautiful town State College is. I would love to return and be able to see a little more when its not so dang cold! That evening we enjoyed the hotel swimming pool and local pizza before an early bedtime for family pictures in the morning!
The next day we headed over to the mall to try and get some family pictures taken. It turned out better than we had thought. The kids did real well despite my little man on the move that won't sit still for a split second. That evening Grandpa Mike treated us to his famous Choc. malts, what a great way to wrap up our visit!
Well, Sunday morning came and we headed out by 7am that morning. That morning some snowy, wet weather came our way but nothing unmanageable. We got on the road only to find the traffic coming to a stand still 40 min. outside of State College for a 5 car accident. So, there we sit parked on the freeway for 2 hours while they clean up and get things moving again. However, I do have to say that despite our very long day, arriving home at 10pm the kids were both angels. Owen and Grace both watched movies and slept the whole way. Grace is a wonderful traveler and doesn't make a peep. Owen can get a little restless but he was very manageable, thank goodness. It really was a wonderful trip and time very well spent with our family. Sure do miss having that family close to us! We love and miss you all!

Penn State here we come!!