Happy New Year

Here we are. 2009. Wow, it seems like only yesterday we were all so excited to start the new millenium and now 9 years have passed by. Amazing really.
I am back to work tomorrow, after 2 weeks off, 16 days altogether. Ugh! Another instance of time passing too quickly.
Not much else to report today. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and here's to a fantastic new year ahead!

Snowstorms and cookies

We've been getting hit hard around here, snowstorm after snowstorm. It's all good though, I love snow, especially for Christmas.
And what have I been doing while all this snow keeps falling? Well baking Christmas cookies of course! I swear I sometimes feel like an elf in Mrs. Claus's bakery. Cookies, cookies, everywhere.
How about some Fudgy Brownie Cups?


Brown Sugar Shortbread?


Italian Chocolate Meatballs?

I have lots to make yet.
How many of you are baking your little hearts out? Am I the only baking elf? Happy baking!

2 months

My last post was on October 14, 2008, it is now December 14, 2008. Where have I been for the past two months? I have NO CLUE. Seriously. October is always loaded with lots of birthdays for us, then Halloween came, then Thanksgiving and before I knew it, I was swept away by the usual hustle & bustle of the holidays. (I guess here would be a good place to mention that there was a solid 2 weeks when I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon and spent every spare minute of my days reading the 4 novels. See, at least I can account for 2 weeks out of my mising 2 months! LOL
I haven't been blogging or even reading my usual favorite blogs, but I'm going to try to get myself back in the swing of things. Thanks for your concern Jen, I'm glad to know someone missed me at least :)
We had a snow day on Friday so I actually got some scrapping time in. Imagine that...time to scrap and actually wanting to scrap!
I hope that you are all enjoying the anticipation of the holidays and I also hope that you all have your shopping done. Santa should never procrastinate you know. I'll post again soon.

The end of a decade

So this is it, my final day, or shall I say final hours as a thirty something. Tomorrow I shall embark on a new decade. Heaven help me! Forty is old. (oooh what a nasty word that I just typed there! However I find it better to type forty rather than type the actual numeric symbols. Makes me feel better!) How did this happen? When did this happen? I'm not ready. I am officially going to become one of those people who refuse to tell their age from tomorrow on out. I'll just keep 'em guessing.
Meanwhile, John turned 40 yesterday. Being relatively new to the decade himself, he has no sound advice for me. Although he doesn't seem to be struggling with it at all. He wasn't too pleased with my having to take a picture of him, but I told him he has to sit because it's a big birthday and the start of a new era.

I hope he doesn't try that logic on me tomorrow because I am taking my 40 year old legs and running from the camera! Heehee

The big 7

Seven years ago today, this little guy was born...my 4 lb. 5 oz. preemie...who is so not a preemie anymore! Johnny is a great source of joy to all of us. He has a fabulous sense of humor, is happy-go-lucky, sweet and kind, and who could resist that face? (cheesy grin and all)
I made him dinner of his choice tonight(lasagna) and we had a cake just for my mom and sisters. (His big party is Friday night, followed by a pool party for his friends (at a hotel) on Monday, but of course I couldn't let his actual birthday go by without cake!)
I have to share what he did tonight, but first I must tell a long Nintendo DS story. Two Christmases ago, a boy asked for a Nintendo DS. We thought said boy was probably too young and nixed the idea. Well, as it drew closer to Christmas the boy's true desire was that DS.
Realizing this, Santa decided it was absolutely necessary to get him that DS. I mean, come on, that's what the boy REALLY wanted the most! So, of course, it's less than a week to Christmas and no DS could be found for purchase anywhere...in stores or online. SO, Santa decided to check ebay. Oh yes, the jolly old elf could get a DS...for $180.00! (not to mention the $20.00 to have it shipped overnight) Fine, Santa decides whatever the cost, it must be done. He refuses to disappoint. Certainly Christmas morning was joyous for the boy. Never was a gift so loved as that DS. He definitely got his use out of it and played it and played it and played it.
Then one day early this year, it was determined that the DS was no longer working. This was brought to the attention of the parents by the sister. Funny how the boy had no idea what happened to it. Suspicious? Oh yeah. Angry parents? Sure. Upset, crying boy? You bet. After much deliberation by the parents, it was decided that they would send the DS away for repair for a mere $80 bucks. Oh yeah, that's eight-zero. The DS is returned to us, repaired and looking like new. Happiness ensues. A month or 2 later, it is apparent that the boy is just not playing the DS as much as usual. Upon examination by the mother, it is found that the DS has some strange black lines across the screen, making it difficult to see. Hmmm, time to question the boy. He has no idea what happened. After much speculation between the parents, the sister, and the conveniently absent boy, it is determined he had to have done something to it. Time for the Spanish Inquisition. It is then made clear by the boy, rather timidly, that he couldn't find the pen (stylus thingy) and decided to use a real pen. Ok, the mother realizes she could just wipe the pen marks off the glass screen. Oh yeah, sure. Somehow using a pen must mess up something within the DS. So, here we are again, a boy with a broken DS. The parents are unlikely to ever purchase another DS for the boy. Many tears follow and life goes on sadly for the boy without a DS.
Many months pass and the boys birthday is approaching. That darn mother convinces the father to purchase another DS for the boy's 7th birthday. There is much conversation. The father thinks the mother has lost her mind. The mother wins the battle and a new DS is purchased. Forward to tonight. The parents give the boy his birthday gift. Never in a million years could the parents have imagined the reaction!

This is the not-so-great picture taken by the mother. After this picture, the mother could take no more pictures. The boy ran over to her, buried his head in her stomach and cried! Cried and cried and cried! Tears of joy, tears of disbelief, tears of fear as to never break it again. Unbelievable! The mother began crying, the Grandma was crying, the sister was crying, and the Aunt was crying. Amazing! The parents never expected this. It was truly a gift worth giving and a memory never to forget!
So my baby, with that, enjoy your DS and your 7th birthday! We love you! (and please be careful with that thing this time!)

Mother Nature can be cruel

The pictures you are looking at show the very old tree in our backyard that fell sometime Sunday night. We had some pretty strong winds and when the tree fell, it smashed our swingset. (Indeed that is a swingset underneath it all) Can you imagine? We were shocked to find it like this on Monday morning. I kept waking up throughout the night because the winds were so strong and loud, but I had no idea this had happened. Olivia, who one would think is a little too old for the swingset now at 10 years old, cried. Alot. This is a kid who never cries. Seriously. You could push her down a flight of stairs and she wouldn't cry. But over the swingset? Bawling. Go figure. I guess she has many pleasant memories on that swingset and I have lots of pictures to prove it too. (I don't even want to mention the fondness she had for that tree!)
Putting things into perspective: if that's all we have to suffer is the loss of a swingset compared to what those poor people in Texas have lost, I'd say "the swingset is yours Mother Nature. Take it and enjoy."

Back into the swing

Looks like we are headed back into the swing of things. I've returned to work, the kids to school, and soccer is being played on Sunday as per usual. It appears the usual routine is finally starting to settle in. (Unfortuately, I didn't realize until this morning that this is my last day of the weekend and I should have cleaned the house yesterday so I could relax today. Oh well, so much for the swing of things!)

Our very old little pear tree has provided us with a bushel full of the sweetest pears I have ever tasted. Truthfully. The sweetest. As a matter of fact, I made a pear pie last night and the pears were literally sliding out of my hands when I was peeling them because they were so slippery from being so juicy. So Delicious! I've never had pears this tasty. And to think that a few years ago, our very old little pear tree was hit during a bad thunderstorm and much of it was split apart. I made John salvage what was left although he really wanted to chop it all down. I guess I made a good call. Maybe these exceptionally tasty pears are the trees way of thanking me from saving it.


I hope you are all settling back into your routines as well. Hope it's a good week ahead for all.