Pictures are up

Well photobucket finally works so I am able to upload my pictures. So here they are with a little narration.




Julianne teaching Nathan how to eat snow


"Here I will help you brother"


We made lots of cookies that did not taste very well. I am tried of trying to make sugar cookies that are not very tasty. I like the chewy cookies, like the sugar cookies at the grocery store. My co-worker had the best cookies from Gordon Foods, so next year I am giving up and buying our cookies from there next year.





It seems like every picture I have of Nathan is he eating, licking or tasting the icing or cookies. Needless to say we did not give away his cookies.


These are the best pictures of the year. I went into Nathan's room at night time to find him asleep clutching these plastic frame holders like weapons. I just started cracking up and knew I had to capture this moment. These are from his Gigi's personalized wooden room sign that he must have gotten down, dismantled and knew how to hold them like a weapon. Too funny.


After I took his picture of him sleeping I thought I would go ahead and violate some more privacy issues and capture the girls sleeping.

Christmas morning. She was excited and ready to get out of bed.

So was Mallory

Nathan, not too excited.

Santa got Nathan a recycling truck, Julianne an American Doll concession stand and Mallory a fairy village.

These are Nathan's men with swords that he picked out, they are from Mallory. He could not wait to open them up again. The swords punctured the wrapping paper so he wanted knew where they were under the tree and wanted to open them up every single day since they were wrapped.

Mallory and her shawl from Gigi


Nathan recived an official OSU jersey from Daddy and he loves it.


Christmas day we went to Aunt Lisa's house and the girls enjoyed playing on their cousins new vehicle.

This is my grandmothers christmas box that sat under our tree for three days without being distrbued. When I came home from picking up the girls one day Mel had attacked the box in order to find these hidden cookies. I am thankful that I at least got home before he gobbled up the cookies.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-running in the snow
-celebrating the New Year with our neigbors (we don't have to go anywhere)
-A great christmas season.

Holiday extravaganza

Well where has the time gone. I have been supper busy along with everyone else, trying to get Christmas presents, the house organized, making cookies, and everything else a mom does before the holidays. I have really felt like I was about to pull my hair out but I did not and we survived. The hard part was that I was in Knoxville/Atlanta for a 4 day hiatus. I went to visit my friend who just had a baby three weeks earlier. We had a great time talking about sewing, babies, and other stuff. I tired to help out as much as I could with her other child and I loved holding her new baby. She was so sweet and was a typical 3 week old baby, slept, cried, ate. We also went to a sewing store and I bought some fabric for my new quilt. So it was great to see her and to actually have time to talk without interruption.

I also visited other work friends, a couple friend that we knew in Ohio and my old playgroup friends. It was great to have more time there and to really see and talk to old friends. I drove by my old house, ran in my old hood and I also shopped at my old favorite stores. On that Tuesday I went to Coke Headquarters in Atlanta to learn about their sustainability plan and their government relation activities. I almost did not get onto my plane home and I had a sneaky feeling since I could never print my boarding pass 24 hours beforehand that something was up. Well when I finally got to the airport instead of getting a seat assignment I got a "seat request". Which did not seem right since my other co-worker had an actual seat assignment. So I asked the customer service people and they said that I would have to wait and get one at the ticket counter. Well when I got up there they said that the plane was overbooked and that I did not have a seat. They also asked if I would like to get onto a later flight and I said "No, I have not seen my family in four days and I would like to get home to them." So anyway, they did their auction for people willing to give up their seats for a certain amount of money and I guess they had enough since I got onto the plane. After I got into my seat I kept saying to myself, "I am grateful that I got on this plane." If I would have gotten on the other flight I would gotten into Columbus 4 hours later which would have been around midnight. So I was happy that I got on the flight but then mad because I should have been on the flight in the first place. I had a confirmed ticket so they should have offered lots of money to get people off the flight since I wanted on it. But I know it does not always work that way.

Our Christmas was great. My mom was in town with her new boyfriend so I got to meet him. D's mom and step dad came up for Christmas eve dinner and Christmas morning. So that was great to have them around. The kids enjoyed their gifts and they were excited about all the activity and waiting for Santa to come down our fire inflamed chimney. I have yet to organize their toys or get rid of older toys. I am hoping to get that done sometime this week.

Well for some reason Photobucket is not uploading my pictures so I will have to post those later.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-A great healthy holiday season.
-Christmas if over :)
- It is snowing right this minute
-sharing another holiday season with friends and family

Older Pictures

Here are some old pictures that I have not had time to post. These are mostly from Fake Christmas with a few other thrown in there.

I am still in Knoxville and having a great relaxing time. I have visited with lots of friends and have had time to hang out with old friends.


Mallory opening a gift with grandpa

Their aunt gave them a magnetic bracelet that can be a necklace or bracelet or anything else they want it to be.

Cousin Izzy and her two missing teeth


Nathan was not too happy during fake Christmas. He did not want to put his sweater on, then he did not want his picture taken and last he was extra whinny. I love taking pictures of my crying kids. Their faces are priceless.

Cousin Andrew looking so cute.

Mallory and cousin Caitlyn

Julianne loved seeing Lexee at Thanksgiving. She took care of her and loved that she gave her hugs and wanted to hold her hand.

Another unhappy Nathan face.

Julianne made her own tent and was very proud if it.

My sick kids

Well Nathan had a cold for about 3 weeks. It started at the beginning of the month of November and continued throughout the end. Last week he had minor asthma and we thought he might have an ear infection but he did not. Julianne had strep throat on Friday for like the 5th time this year. That bug loves her. She is a strep throat magnet. The other kids never seem to get it when she has it which is great so I don't worry too much but still she was so mad that she could not go to school on Friday. She really wanted to participate in the walking club at recess so she was actually really mad but she got over it. Mallory has escaped most of the illnesses around here so that is good.

I have been busy making my Christmas presents. My goal this year is to only buy gifts from locally owned stores, ETSY, or from resell stores. While on my way to work one morning I was listening to NPR and they were discussing Wal-Mart and how they are discounting everything and other smaller stores are not able to keep up with their prices and have had to close. This is such a shame and I am tired of hearing stories like this. So basically, especially in this economy, the little stores are having a hard time competing with Wal-Mart. So I am making a point to support these stores so that they do not have to close (I'm sure I will not make that much of an impact but it is the thought that counts). If Wal-Mart keeps taking over then years from now we will only have superstores lining our landscape. This is not helping the economy unless you want to work at Wal-Mart as a sales person.

I am getting ready for my trip to Knoxville I am spending a long weekend there and then going directly on to Coke headquarters for a visit. So it should be a great weekend. I am excited to see my friends and to spend some time with my friend who just had a new baby. I am a little nervous about traveling and all the unpredictable that occur with that but I am trying to be rational and not get myself worked up too much. I also am nervous about missing my kids and hubby. I have never been away from them for that long.

ETA (Edited to Add) New computer lingo I just learned.

Well I am in Knoxville right now and I am enjoying my visit with my friends. I arrived this morning, my flights were all on time and ran smoothly, I visited with good friends from Ohio and now I am at my friend Katie's who just had a new baby 3 weeks ago. I will write more later.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Missing my kids and hubby
-Having a smooth flight into Knoxville
-Visiting out of town friends