And that's a wrap...

It is hard to believe that 2011 is almost over! It's been an interesting year for us but survived and are all healthy. Here's hoping 2012 will be a good one.

These were my 2011 'goals'...
*Get myself back into shape (physically) - the goal being to run a 5K this spring. And RUN it not huff and puff my way through it wishing I could die. I started working out in November and there was no 5K this year.
*Read at least 50 books this year - more of them being non-fiction so I feel like I'm working my brain too. COMPLETED - I have read 103 books this year
*On the topic of reading, to get 'caught up' in the ELM CREEK QUILT series. COMPLETED!!!!
*Get DS's scrapbook done BEFORE his graduation in June. COMPLETED!!!!
*Be more consistent in taking pictures this year. I'd like to do more people photo shoots. I think I had 3 or 4 photo shoots this year.
*Make myself a sweater before the end of the year. COMPLETED!!!!

I'm actually quite happy with my progress on this this year. I will get my 2012 goals up shortly!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Whew!

It was a busy holiday weekend but it was VERY nice!!!!

The kids made out like bandits; the weather was wonderful (sunny and in the upper 30s); we got to have lots of family time.

My knitting projects (hat & sweater) got done before Christmas. However, DS's afghan...nowhere NEAR finished! Maybe about July... ;)

(I'll get some pictures up soon!)

Fa la la la la

la la la la!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! (even if it won't be a white Christmas!) Our kids are driving us crazy with their wildness and nit picking at each other. Even with the reminders that Santa Claus is coming to town, it does no good.
(ok - I'll try to stop sliding in song titles now...)

The presents are all wrapped - which is WAY ahead of where we usually are at this time! We took the kids to a drive-thru light display last night. Going during the week has its advantages - there were hardly any other cars so we could stop and look without disrupting traffic too much.

"Shitter's full!"

What we have left on our "to do" this week:
Tomorrow: Work; office Christmas lunch (complete with viewing of Christmas vacation); recital for DD
Friday: 1/2 day of work; office 'beverage stop' after work; Christmas with the in-laws; night two of recital
Saturday: a restful day of just us
Sunday: Christmas with my family


Last night DD was playing on the ipad and she just randomly says:
"Don't shoot any animals. Except the Bumpus' dogs!" then just starts giggling. She has watched A Christmas Story probably 50 times in the last 2 weeks. Wait until it's on for 24 hours... She is looking forward to a discussion with Aunt A on Christmas Day...

Curl this!

See the 2 yellow stones to the left - I threw those...
Last Thursday, our office & another office went curling for an afternoon. SO much fun!!!!! My arms hurt from sweeping but it was worth it.

Real quick...

The rest of the week has been uneventful, thus far (see previous two posts)...

Had a great office outing yesterday (post to come). School program tonight. Extra dance practice tomorrow. Work on Sunday.

Stayed tuned - I'll post this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend!

And the hits keep on coming...

LITERALLY!!!!!

DD versus a pole. DH got a call from school on Monday morning so he went and got her. They kept ice on it off & on for the day and it looked MUCH better by the time I got home from work. It's still sore but it doesn't look bad and so far...no black eyes!

It's been a better week since Monday. Today is Wednesday - hump day - so we're half way through the week. YEA!!!!!

Hope you're all having a good week!

The one with...

the crazy Sunday!

You know the days that you shouldn't get out of bed? Yeah! That was yesterday...

It started when our son woke up with a box of cereal in his bed. Confirming what we have been suspecting for about a year - he's a sleepwalker. He's been in strange places in the house in the morning and he's not sure how he gets there. Our concern is that he might leave the house and not know it... We are trying to figure out what 'safety features' we should put around the house to alert him and us that he's up and about.

So we went along in our morning. I made cookies and burned my hand a little. I knit on a Christmas gift until my hands hurt - but I swear that sucker is going to be done by Christmas!!!!!

We watch the pathetic end to the Bears game. It was agonizing and I'm not even a big football fan.

And the capper on the day? Our refrigerator leaked all over the kitchen. And I mean ALL over the kitchen! I heard a dripping so I went out to see where it was coming from and stepped in a puddle. I yelled for DS to grab some towels and DH came running too. He opened the fridge door and it was like Niagara Falls. We used EVERY towel/washcloth/absorbent thing in the house and wrung them out a couple of times. DH sucked up almost 10 gallons of water with the shop vac and we figured we wrung out probably about 2 gallons more. DH pulled the water filter out of the fridge and it had a HUGE crack in the back of it, culprit found! After over an hour of cleaning up water, wiping down everything in the fridge and watching the fridge with a careful eye - it was time to start washing all the towels we'd used. The positive of this....the fridge and kitchen floor are REALLY clean now and we were home when it happened!

As our son said at the end of the day, "You know it's going to be a bad day when you wake up with a strange box of cereal in your bed."

Oh...DD came home from her weekend at my in-laws and she had lost another tooth. She is really a toothless wonder!!!!!

Looking forward to a better week!

Christmas Tidbits

Christmas is the festival of miracles. There are several facts and strange Christmas customs related to the festival that will make you smile. Here is some of the interesting trivia about Christmas:

Handed down from Druids, burning Yule Log as a good luck charm was part of the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration.

Originated from a Celtic legend about the harvest god Dagda, who stirred a porridge made up of all the good things of the Earth, Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor, which is now replaced by modern Christmas puddings.

Some people connect modern traditions related to Father Christmas to ancient Celtic or pagan religion. Santa' elves are considered to be the modernization of the Nature folk while reindeers are believed to represent the Horned God, which was one of the Pagan deities.

Towns named on Christmas or related traditions in United States are Santa Claus in Arizona & Indiana, Noel in Missouri and Christmas in Arizona & Florida.


Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

70 years ago today

The Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor.

God bless all those brave men and women who were lost that day!

FINALLY!!!!!

How many years have I been waiting for this? LOTS!

RON SANTO elected to the BASEBALL HALL OF FAME!

Ronnie waited a long time for the call, I think most Cubs fans waited a long time for the call for Ronnie. Sadly, it came too late for him to receive it. I am thrilled that his plaque will finally get to hang in the Hall but it saddens me to know that he will not be there to make his speech in July.

God bless you, Ron Santo! I miss you lots!

Holiday happenings

Season's Greetings!!!! I hope this finds you & yours preparing cheerfully for the holidays.

If I may make a gift suggestion for those of you who have elementary aged children to buy for....

MOM'S BACKYARD ZOO by Susan Ferris, illustrated by Phil Rood (my brother)


It's a great rhyming poem/story with fun illustrations. I hope you'll buy a copy and spread the word. (artwork from amazon.com)
*********************
Other Christmas/winter activities:

For those of you who may be traveling through the northwestern part of Indiana, and have a little bit of time, stop by the Indiana Visitors Centor in Hammond for: A CHRISTMAS STORY COMES HOME display. I wouldn't go out of my way, but it is fun to stop and see if you are passing through.

If you have more time and are in the Cleveland, Ohio area...stop by A CHRISTMAS STORY HOUSE. It has been restored to the way it looked in the movie and is a lot of fun to walk through. There is a fee ($10/adult & $6 for kids 7-12; under 7 are free) to take the tour but for fans, it is worth it!

In the Chicago area, check out WINTER WONDERFEST at Navy Pier. We haven't been for a few years, but it was a lot of fun with lots of activities/rides/skating rink. Again, there is a charge and parking if you drive to the Pier.

WHOA!

2 weeks without a post, shame on me!

I really don't have an excuse. Ok, well, I do - laziness! There I admitted it.

Thanksgiving came & went - we took the kids to the Dells for a couple of nights. They do run some good 'during the week' rates. We left before the weekend craziness began.

We still have no Christmas decorations up, BUT I'm not too concerned about it. It will get done in time. I surrendered on the sweater I was knitting - very frustrating stuff for now. It will 'hybernate' for a while.

Hope you all had a nice holiday and your week is going well.