what i did on MY christmas break 2011

Thursday, December 22nd

• worked til 4pm
• stopped and got some last minute gifts
• 6 pm, out for pizza & drinks with kathy :) great way to start my break!

Friday, December 23rd

• lazed around
• finished wrapping
• finished shopping
• delivered a meat, cheese, roll & eggnog package to neighbors whose 21 year old son passed away with Lisa & Kathy
• St Vincent at 5pm for .10 shopping spree! all clothing & toys were .10. Sheena, Aubri and I had a blast!
• pork pies at Mavis & Phil's
• christmas at Dan & Micailly's after pork pies

Saturday, December 24th

• Lisa W.'s for dinner
• christmas eve service at Mitchell with Sheena, Aubri, Steven, Aaron, Maddy, Matt, Liz & I
• prepped some food for tomorrow
• kids opened presents to each other

Sunday, December 25th

• 8am, kids up and opened presents (Aaron was here, too!)
• i made pumpkin puff pancakes
• Aubri & Ty went to their dads
• Sheena, Aaron and Derick to church for 11am
• I went to the ski hill from 12 - 4:00 (it was wonderful to escape the madness!)
• 5pm christmas at our house began....INSANE! my house is way too small. Here is who we had for christmas: Aubri, Tyler, Derick, Sheena, Aaron, Cindi, Steven, Cori, Brian, Brianna, Caden, John, Kathy, Emmett, Martin, Beth, Gideon & Celeste.
• We had had different snacks, everyone brought a couple things
• Maddy, Matt, Liz, Amy, Dennis, Mavis, Phil, Dan, Micailly, Riley, Olivia & Alex stopped over around 7pm

Monday, December 26th

• went on a walk with Tina
• skied from 5 - 8:30, Aubri came with me

Tuesday, December 27th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am
• funeral at 2pm for neighbors son
• out for drinks & chapper burger with Lisa

Wednesday, December 28th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am

Thursday, December 29th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am
• christmas with Kathy & Lisa, exchanged gifts and out for pizza & drinks
• tyler sick all night with the flu, started about 10 pm

Friday, December 30th

• finally went to the nursing home and gave Gram her present (Gram was makeover of the month for December)
• made 6 loaves of gum drop bread, Aubri made peanut butter cup cookies
• went for walk with Tina

Saturday, December 31st

• put christmas away, took tree down
• cleaned all day
• when mom is on vacation and decides to be lazy she pays for it later. I did mountains of laundry today
• cleaned Aubri's room

Sunday, January 1st

• slept in
• took Aubri to Target, that christmas money is burning a hole in her pocket
• picked up K-Con at 12:15...off to make a day of it watching football & having some biers

Monday, January 2nd

• slept in
• did some laundry, cleaned up
• tried to balance gram's account, worked on it for over 2 hours :/
• scanned some photos for ty's grad party
• made a healthy lunch for my lad and delivered it to him

christmas card 2011

it turned out so gooood!

best christmas craft to date...this year

that's all i can say because YOU may get one

pretzels + chocolate = love

first bag with hershey hugs, 2nd bag with hershey candy cane and 3rd bag rolos with cashews

m&m pancakes

breakfast of champions around these parts...this is what the queen requested for breakfast this morning, well chocolate chip but i didn't have any so i had to improvise

christmas wreaths

one for kathy d....

one for lisa w....
getting my craft on...
santa soap holders i bought for dirt cheap last year that i forgot about
aubri & sheena's wreaths

dogs...

ty & lola

martha...
lola's "babies" all washed and looking brand new again

thanksgiving 2011

GO PACK GO...watching the Packers play, why are they sitting so close??

Aaron is always smiling, what's up with you sheen?
ok, now she's on board...
hahahahahahaha...
candy corn hat

Bitte ein bit

i received these as a present today, 3 of them actually...what a great christmas present!

one of my favorite german biers

captain my captain

aubri is a co-captain this year and i am very proud of how hard she works...

christmas party 2011

beef rolls

3 pkgs Carl Budding beef slices ( i actually used 5 this time and had more than enough stuff to spread)

1 - 8oz cream cheese

1/8 t. prepared mustard

2t. worcestershire sauce

onion salt

1 t. horseradish sauce

mix last 5 ingredients & spread on beef slices

baby shower gifts

my first "Maya" wrap, i will make these for future baby showers...directions found here http://www.mayawrap.com/n_sewsling.php

ditto with these if i know the mother is going to breast feed, these will save her a ton of money

the ole bird strikes again...

i just got done telling Tyler that i need to go see grandma tomorrow. 2 minutes later the phone rings, i didn't catch the caller id but as soon as i answered i knew it was my gram. Here is how the conversation went...

Me: hello

Gram: (no hello) did you know the wedding was cancelled?

Me: No, i hadn't heard that

Gram: well it is, they told me it was cancelled because there is a storm coming. I was so damn mad!

Me: well there is a storm coming, we are suppose to get 6 - 8 inches tonight

Gram: Ok well I'm glad you told me, i thought they were just pulling my leg. I tried on 2 dresses but the girl told me that is not what is in now. What is in right now is white pant suits

Me: really? i don't like white pant suits at all, you should wear a dress

Gram: i don't like the white pant suits either, bullshit. What's new with you?

Me: oh nothing really, i am planning on visiting you tomorrow, hopefully we won't have too much snow from this storm.

Gram: we are going to Gail's for Christmas dinner, she has been to our house the last 2 holidays. When i told Gail she said "oh do i have to take a turn?" When Gail was at my house i asked her if that bowl was hers and Gail said "No, i didn't bring anything". It's the understanding that if you have the dinner then you supply the turkey, gray and potatoes because it's too hard to keep potatoes warm.

Me: i don't know what we are doing for Christmas, our plans are still up in the air

Gram: Ok, I'll talk to you later (she hands the phone off to the nurse)

Me: Ok, I LOVE YOU, Gram, i love you...(no response)

she is something else and that conversation made me happy, alzheimer's or not!

quotes...

Live simply so people can simply live

A year from now you will wish youhad started today - Karen Lamb

Let go or be dragged - author unknown (but brilliant!)

The Positive Angel There have been various breakdowns offered about the huge expense parents experience to raise a child--The cost range anywhere from $149,610 to $246,320 depending on family income. This is good information but one must also consider the huge benefits as well:What do you get for you money?

*Naming rights, First, middle, and last
*Glimpses of God every day.
*More love than your heart can hold
*Butterfly kisses and Bear hugs.
*Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
*A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
*Someone to laugh yourself silly with
*You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets, hand prints set in plaster for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
*You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, removing a splinter, getting a wad of gum out of hair, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but gets treated to ice cream regardless.
*You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and mortality that no college can match.
-Source: Unknown