We have a Wii

We have bought a Wii. Kurt has been wanting one for over a year and I have put him off for a while, but I have relented and decided that it wasn't a bad purchase. We didn't buy each other gifts for Christmas this year (unless you count the blinds duster I ordered days before Christmas and the slippers I picked up for Kurt). We decided that if we saw one for sale, that we'd get one. Kurt mentioned to Jimmy (his brother) that when he went to Target the day after Christmas that if he saw one that he should pick it up for us. Well, lucky day...one was returned unopened and we got it. $300 later...we were set up and playing in the basement.

Meghan got a new game for Christmas, Boogie Superstar. It comes with a microphone and you sing and dance and earn points so you can get more songs to perform to. The songs are mostly High School Musical, Allie and whoever, Jonas Brothers, etc...stuff that I am not too familiar with. Although there are a few that I knew words to. It's Karaoke style, so at least the words are there. After playing it for an hour or so, Julia started to pick up the words and moves that the lady on the game was doing. Here is her rendition, along with her sidekick Jimmy Jams. Warning...what you are about to see is what happens to kids when they stay up past their normal 8pm lights out.

Yeah, not sure that I am a big fan of the hair shaking...my little Beyonce. Anyway...after the girls when back to moms for the night, Kurt and I decided to try it out. I quickly found out that I can't dance (Wii style that is), but I could sing and earn points. Our goal was to earn them enough points to get them some new dance moves and songs, which we did...but painfully when I had to "dance"

Anyway, the past few days have been fun...I have picked up a few games at the library for us to try out. Kurt's newest favorite is the Godfather...although i am not sure he's totally figured out how to actually kill another person yet. Meanwhile, I will just sit by, reading my book giving the aura that I am too good to play a video game. Will I get into it? Highly unlikely. unless there is Dr. Mario or Tetrus...I am not all that into it. I never was a video game girl...just a closet nerd who preferred to read a good book. Which if you see my current selections, are just chick lit, not anything enlightening.

Christmas at Grammie & Poppi's and Random Thoughts

So, the final stop on our Christmas Day Adventure was my mom's house. I hope she got some pictures, as I didn't take any. Why? Well, let's just say that the kids were a little off their rockers by the time we got there. There was crying, there was zombie like stares, there was a bad case of the gimmes. We took a much needed break and ate and the kids seemed to be rejuvenated...well enough to at least open some more presents. The kids got lots of nice things and some much needed clothes for the rest of winter.

Although, I think after this year's experience...we are going to have to start to pick one parent to celebrate Christmas with each year, as going to 2 houses in addition to our own and the festivities of the night before at Kurt's mom's house are just a little too much for the kids. Frankly, they are a little too much for us too, but we have had 25 years to get used to the set up. Even as a kid, I remember getting exhausted going here and there. I am sure that it will be hard at first to do, but I really see no other option, as by the end of the evening, the kids were crazy. Not fair to my mom and certainly no fun for them.

So, word to the wise when you start to think of divorce when you have kids. Think about how it will be in 30 years for your kids and their families. God forbid that they marry someone whose parents are divorced too. Geez...perhaps they will just move far away to make it easier...on them. Sorry parents....not to rip on you...Christmas was lovely...just makes for a long day. Although i think that this post was about 25 years in the making though...I've had a few Christmases under my belt and thinking to myself that the only Christmases that weren't insane were the 2 that I wasn't at home for.

Christmas is about family and I am sure not short on people to call my family. We have Kurt's giant Italian/Croatian Family and my giant Divorced German/English/Irish/Unknown/Mutt American Family. Spending time with them all, even for a short period of time, makes my heart smile.

Christmas at Papa & Grandma Cindy's House

After we finished up our little Christmas at home, we headed to see Papa and Grandma Cindy. There are always lots of people at their house and this year was no different. There were 25 people in 2 rooms, but we all managed to fit. We were all feted with lovely gifts and the kids got a kick out of all the presents. But most of all, they just like being around their cousin Olivia and Josh. Josh is only 11 months old, but he is already enjoying watching his bigger cousins run around. Next year he will be too.

Julia & Olivia

So Sweet

Since Julia was a baby, my dad has dressed up like Santa at some point and came to wave at the kids. This year, Julia was not fooled. As soon as he came in, she looked at me and told me quietly..."That's not Santa, it's Papa!" I told her that we should be quiet, because the little kids thought that it was the real Santa. Jimmy sort of looked at him weird and Olivia didn't want much to do with him. Anyway...Julia gave him some love. She knows where the presents are coming from. Plus, the real Santa may see her.

Lib and Trav got Julia some new pompoms. They got her some Orange and Blue ones for the Tiger Games and some Green and White ones for the State Games. I guess the fact that she's using my early 90s Pompoms from high school aren't cool enough for her niece.

Jimmy starting to get tapped out...more on that to come...

Christmas Day at Our House

Santa....you rock! You brought us everything the kids could have wanted.

Julia got a dollhouse for her Barbies, which I hear that when Santa was assembling, there was some dialogue with the unknown Chinese person who designed the parts that were not the way that Santa thought they should be. Jimmy's big gift was a car bed. The kids were pretty excited.

Julia made gifts at preschool for Kurt and I. She has been just so excited about these gifts since she made them. Just dying to tell us. I bet everyday leading up to Christmas, she told me about Kurt's gift of "Soap on a Rope"...she said that it was good for Dads because they could wear it around their necks and run around the shower and not lose it. Kurt said it would be good for prison. I don't think she caught the remark. Although, it was cute to see the look on her face when she gave us our gifts. She made me a cute beaded Christmas Wreath ornament. I loved the look of pride on her face when she gave them to us. She is such a big girl!

Jimmy love stickers. He loves Cars. It seems that Santa must have known this, since he brought him Cars Stickers. When Jimmy gets stickers, unless he is told to put them on a piece of paper, he just sticks them all over his chest. He was so cute.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a great day...it always is. We had some good news from Kurt's cousin & wife that they are expecting a baby...err...two babies in the summer. Identical twins....wow! It was such great news. They also revealed that they were the person logging on from New Jersey, although that is not where they live. Ahh...i will sleep better now.

We celebrated at Kurt's mom's house. There is always a big group there, but unfortunately we don't eat like the amount of food that was there. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and opening gifts. It was just the start of the Christmas madness.

My boyfriends

The kids were playing Uno. Which reminded me of Christmas Eves of my youth. As a kid, we celebrated Christmas Eve with my mom's family and there was always a mean game of Uno played. They weren't playing as dirty...perhaps next gathering I can introduce Gramps' version of the family game.

Katie, Julia & Meghan

At the end of the night, the kids were pretty tired out. But not too tired to leave Santa a cookie and some carrots. I wish I was 4 again. Although, Julia wondered how Santa would get through our fireplace since the glass doors are sealed shut. How long will the answer "Because he's magic!" really work?

And More Cookies

Our family from out of town is back with us for the holidays and the girls helped us decorate the sugar cookies. It was fun. It reminded me of when Christina & Meghan were like 4 and 8 when we decorated cookies together...it was just yesterday.

And proof as to why we kept the cookies Julia decorated at home just for us...

Christina...15 years old

Meghan...11 years old

Cookies

I love to bake. Christmas is fun, because it is acceptable to be constantly eating cookies and taking cookies everywhere we go. This year i made the doughs, rolled them into balls or cut them out in shapes and put them in the freezer a few weeks ago. It made it so much easier throughout the pre-Christmas festivities to be able to bake a few dozen cookies here and there for whatever event we had.

A few days before Christmas I baked the cookies we would need for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I caught a few thieves stealing and eating in the landing.

Sledding in the 'Hood

Saturday was the perfect day for the kids to play outside. The wind wasn't blowing and it wasn't too cold. Tim and Scott had started to build a giant hill out of some of the snow in the backyards so the kids could sled down a "hill" - it was a hit. I have a feeling it is going to take a huge warm up for it to melt.

Jimmy going down

Julia Going Down

Julia & Megan

Kurt getting ready to "fly the bird at me"

The kids waiting in Line...

Julia goes down the hill

Snow Day

I am not a weather watcher...I rarely watch the forecast, because they always exaggerate. But on a typical day, I don't turn on the TV to watch regular TV. It's cartoons in the morning and the cable radio stations (lately the Christmas station) play the rest of the day. Anyway, my neighbor Ellen dropped off some cookies on Thursday saying she was in a hurry...because we were going to get snow and there wasn't going to be school the next day. I heard her, but didn't "hear" her. I should always listen to Ellen when she discusses the weather. She practically lives by the radar...she probably is more qualified to read the radar than those yahoos on the TV. Anyway...I was in my own little world, because my long lost friend, Bettina, was coming to visit me...she lives in England now and I haven't seen her in ages. Anyway, we spent the afternoon chatting while the kiddos played. But I had forgotten the warning given to me by Ellen. After the kiddos were in bed, Kurt mentioned all the snow we were supposed to get. I was like "what?" - he looks at me like I live under a rock. We turn on the 10pm news and it is all telling about the 8-10 inches we're supposed to get overnight. Friday I had a morning of shopping planned while Jimmy was at Moms' Day Out and his little Christmas Party....what if they were right and I wouldn't get to do my errands? I ran to Meijer at 11:15pm to grab some Milk and Bread, just in case, because we were totally out. Me and all the other yahoos..they were almost totally out of Milk. Seriously. We live in a pretty large suburb and even if people were snowed in...they would be able to get to the store. It isn't like where I grew up...you may not get out for a few days and Meijer being 10 miles away. Anyway, Kurt got up on Friday morning, showering...ready to make the trek to work...I hear the garage door go up and then immediately back down. He came back upstairs and said there was no way he was going to kill himself trying to drive to work. There was a TON of snow. All the schools were closed and the kids went outside and enjoyed a little bit of one of the biggest snowfalls the area has seen since the 70s.

Kurt snow blowing...he hates the Cold more than anyone I know.

Perhaps from now on I will try to watch the weather...or just listen to Ellen. She knows what she's talking about.

Santa Comes to Preschool!

Last Tuesday was Julia's preschool Christmas Party. We are very lucky that her preschool celebrates Christmas...most preschools don't condone celebrating it for fear of offending the few that don't celebrate it. Fortunately most of the students' families celebrate Christmas or "Santa" - so we are good.

Julia shows off her Cookie she decorated

Jimmy Goofing Off

Julia's preschool teacher, Mrs. L's partner (I am not sure what the back story is, but I assume that she was once married and now late in life finds herself with a boyfriend/partner...no sense in making it legal at this point in their lives). Anyway...he is a professional Santa...and he totally looks the part. He was great with the kids. Julia later told me that she didn't think he was the "real" Santa, because he didn't have a "red" nose and the real Santa does.

Julia tells Santa What She Wants for Christmas

Jimmy ran right up to him to tell him he wanted Cars...go figure.

Things They Say & Do

• We have moved pretty much all the kids toys off the ground floor and all of their toys are in the basement or in their rooms. So now Jimmy dances by the basement door shouting "Base! Base!"
• Julia is really into Wizard of Oz and she refers to the Tornado as the "Big Tomato"
• When Jimmy wants to be carried he throws his body at your legs and says "Care, Care!"
• Julia asked me if we see a witch in our house that she's going to "cut her throat"....a little disturbing... not sure where she saw or heard of that.
• Every night before bed, Julia asks me if Santa is coming tonight - despite our best efforts with the Advent Calendar.
• Julia can't wait to give us our Christmas gifts she made for us at school. She tells me every day what she made for Kurt, but tells me that she can't tell me what she's made for me...her lips are "zipped" - although she was rambling in the backseat about it the other day and said what it was by accident and her hand went to her mouth. I acted like I thought she said Dinosaur...she looked relieved.

Wasted Weekend...

Ugh. The weekend was planned so carefully...so perfectly. The kids went to my moms for the weekend so we could get some things done around here. Friday night went without a hitch...Kurt and I grabbed dinner at our favorite stir fry place (even though we didn't have the $5 coupon...we treated ourselves). Afterwards, we headed to Toys R Us with all the other crazy parents on their date nights...figuring out what to get the kids that have everything that don't need anything that everyone buys stuff for leaving Santa perplexed with what to bring. Grateful though. Anyway...we later hit the mall and even got a coffee on the way home. All was well.

I barely slept all night...tossed and turned. Blamed it on the caffeine in the coffee...I am getting up there in age now. Got up, ready to attack my day and get some serious shopping done, so I could enjoy the weeks to come. I had a stomach ache and was tired, but didn't think much of it. Blamed the stir fry. So, I am filled with the shopping spirit, not deterred by the long A$$ line at Kohl's and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The ache, the sweat, the nausea, the need to just crawl up on one of those fake beds. I literally, had to put my purchases back, because I couldn't bear to stand in line for fear that I may pass out. I made it home - all of 5 minutes...thinking that i may just pass out in the car. Then I proceeded to basically sleep all day, missing the neighborhood Christmas Party, then sleeping all night.

Fortunately it was a 24 hour thing, because Sunday I felt much better...but I basically lost a day. The only good that came out of the Saturday sleep fest was that in my bouts of awakeness, I watched a sappy girl movie - PS I Love You and watched about 4 episodes of ER that were on the DVR.

Now this week I need to catch up. I think that Saturday was God's way of telling me to slow down and realize that it will all get done...take some time to just VEG out.

Your Kids Look Exactly Alike...

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that my kids looked exactly alike I would be so rich. Honestly, I noticed it when the kids were babies, but it's hard for me to see now. I see them for who they are and not a matched pair. Someone even asked me the other day if they were twins. In this lady's defense, they were both seated...but seriously? Do they really look that much alike?

And don't get me started on the "Your Kids Look Just Like Your Husband" - at least there is no question of paternity here. I wonder if we had a 3rd if that child would also look like them or me? As intriguing as that question is though, I think we will hold with 2.

Hello Santa!

So, I figured it was about time for us to go see Santa. I was a little unsure of how Jimmy would react to Santa this year. He sort of backed away, taking him all in and just yelling "Cars, Cars, Cars" at him. I guess he wanted to make sure that Santa knew what to bring him. Julia right away sat on his lap and told him some of the things she wanted, but told him that we would be mailing a letter to him soon. I forgot it. Bad mom. Jimmy warmed up and sat on Santa's lap. I was very happy with the photo. One of my friends told me that her friend said that this particular Santa wanted to tickle her girls. I didn't find him the least bit creepy. It's sad that you have to "worry" about the Santa.


Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season...

So, it seems like i can't keep up lately. I feel like I am constantly running like a week behind and can never seem to get ahead. One of these days I am going to get everything together and just be waiting for things to do or be that person who works on Christmas crafts and presents in the summer or early fall. But I guess I am just not that person. I am me and I tend to work best under pressure. Anyway...sorry for the infrequency of posting, but I am sure that this will just be how this month goes. I am sure that once January hits, I will be back to multiple posts each week.

I have been trying to get my house decorated for the holidays and it is taking me forever. We got back from visiting the family last weekend, so I have been working on it all week. I used a "warm" day this week (it was 40) to put the outside lights up. And have been trying to clean up the house to prepare it for decorating. Finally, Kurt brought up the tree on Friday night and i finally fluffed it late on Saturday night in preparation of the family photo that was to take place on Sunday. We skipped mass to get a good start on decorating the tree before the family arrived. Julia has been asking us all week when we are going to get our tree decorated, so she was pretty excited to help put the decorations up, especially my Wizard of Oz collection. When we were in Kansas City, she saw Wizard of Oz for the first time. She saw it once. And she knows every part. Verbatim. She has the memory of a steel trap. Not to say that she is a genius, but she will give a "book report" of what happens in the movie and sings the songs. I don't know. Anyway, she had to put the decorations up in the order of appearance of the characters in the movie and she got it right. Perhaps she is our golden ticket. It's not like our 401(k)s are doing anything for us lately.

So, this morning Mom & Earle, Lib, Trav and Olivia and Kurt's mom came over for Sunday dinner. I made a mean chicken Parmesan that melted in your mouth. I love to cook. Anyway, the purpose for this get together was also to have our family Christmas photos taken. Much to my protest (and the major protest of my husband), my mom still insists on an entire family photo for her Christmas cards. We accommodated her request yet again, although I am 33 years old. She got her nice photo. Merry Christmas Mom!

Mom & the Kids

Olivia & Julia being silly

One of this week's stresses will be getting out the Christmas Cards. Speaking of which, both my sister and I were very disappointed in Sams Club and Costco's collection of photo cards this year. We both felt pretty strongly about the cards saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. But there were way cuter cards that said the later. So we both ended up with cards that said what we didn't want to say. Ugh, but at least I was able to have Merry Christmas written on mine...she wasn't. Ahh...the world is just too PC these days. It's Christmas people. Get over the fact that some people don't celebrate it. Alot of people do.

The other stress of the week will be finalizing the craft that I am running for my moms group this week. I hope everyone will like the craft. I think it will be fun for everyone and a good time to chat and catch up with all the gals. I have missed about a month's worth of meetings and I miss them all. I am so fortunate to have found such a great moms group. It has really connected me to my church, as well as the community and given me some great friends.

You are my Sunshine!

Such unhappy kids...

Trains...like he needed more to Fuel the Fire.

Jimmy is totally into Trains and Cars. It is actually sick...like my kids can't just casually be into something. They have to do it totally over the top. So Uncle Jimmy takes us to this place to eat lunch where you order your food on a phone and is then delivered it to your table via an overhead train that somehow knows where to go and dumps your food onto a platform that lowers to your table. It was a little odd and I kept worrying that it was going to malfunction and I'd be covered with burgers and fries. Anyway, the kids loved it.

Julia and Uncle Jimmy...the Godfather

Jimmy watching the trains deliver food.

To fuel the fire even more, on our way in we saw the largest display of model trains in Union Station. Jimmy was asleep, so he didn't see it. I think he would have had a stroke if he would have woke up right then and there. So we caught it on our way back. He loved it. He was just staring at all of it. Taking it all in. The displays were really intricate and well thought out. There was so much to look at besides the trains.