Holiday time

So, I'm taking a break from the monthly menu list that I usually post....mostly because these next few months are so crazy and we are out of town a lot so things are bound to change on a regular basis.
As I look forward to one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, I get so excited thinking about the food that comes with this time of year. I think that's why I love Thanksgiving so much. It's about the food, family and fun more than about who bought what person that gift. There's a lot less stress and it's just a time to be together.
With that being said, though, there is some stress involved for those who do the cooking and baking. I really try to bake my holiday goodies ahead of time so I have them for meals, parties, holidays, gifts, etc. Besides, baking like that is a better air freshener than any jarred candle :)
In the next few weeks, I am going to try and start my holiday baking. I'm still formulating my list. I hope to post the items here as I make them with accompanying recipes (if time allows). But, as I'm putting my list together, I'd love to hear what some of your favorite holiday goodies are (i.e. cookies, breads, candies, etc). Feel free to share the recipe as well.
Happy baking to all!

Easter and Spring Break 2009

Last week my kids were on spring break. I decided to take the entire week off and spend time with them (or at least be at home so they can play with their friends). We had a fun and relaxing week. Monday and Tuesday we were in Cincinnati at the Great Wolf Lodge. Of course, i forgot my camera so if you want to see what's a Great Wolf check out their website http://www.greatwolf.com/. We had a really good time.

Wednesday consisted of cleaning out closets (not fun, but necessary) and then the kids spent most of the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

Thursday the kids once again spent most of their time outside. I tried to accomplish one larger task per day, so on Thursday I cleaned out my fridge and freezer - once again, not fun but necessary.

Friday was a gloomy day. I went to the grocery store in the morning and then the kids and I dyed Easter eggs when I got home. That afternoon, Maryna and I went clothes shopping while Garrett spent the afternoon with his dad.

Saturday, another beautiful day, consisted of cleaning the house, making cinnamon rolls for Easter Sunday breakfast at church, Easter program rehearsal at church and then to the movies with Uncle Ben in the evening. Fun, but busy.

Sunday, Easter Sunday. Need I say more? It was a great day. Went to church and then spent time with Brad's family. Kids had a scavenger hunt that resulted in $10 each and 8 boxes each of different snacks (goldfish, Teddy Grahams, etc).

After we got home, Brad and the kids played outside while I went for a 7 mile run. I had been nervous all week about this run as it's the longest distance I've had to do so far. When I finished, I was pleasantly surprised not only at my time (65.58) but how relaxed I felt. Yes, I was tired but not exhausted. Gives me a little hope for the race which is in 5 weeks (YIKES!!!)

So, as you can see, we had a great week. I loved relaxing, working on NO schedule and just spending time with the family. Now that we are back to reality, the relaxation is out the door (6 kids soccer games in 4 days). Oh well, I truely enjoy every minute.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone survived the holidays and enjoyed a wonderful time with family and friends. I know we sure did. Now that 2009 has arrived, it's back to reality. Back to work, school, cleaning, shopping, kids' activities, etc. Did anyone make new year's resolutions? I don't usually make resolutions. There are goals that I am trying to achieve (i.e. training for a half marathon) but no true "resolutions" cause I ALWAYS break those.

I hope everyone has a great beginning to 2009.

I survived!

So, I survived the Christmas holiday. We had Christmas on 4 separate days with 4 different groups of people. Two of the days were at my house. It was a great time having my family in town and was so good to see everyone. Now, all my decorations are down and packed away for next year. I'm catching up on some laundry and cleaning. Plan to head to the store later to buy items for New Year's Eve as we plan to have 25-30 people at our house that evening. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and we are wishing you a very happy New Year!

Christmas Eve

So yesterday was a low key day (which I needed). The kids and I spent most of the day baking cookies as we couldn't really leave the house. We had an ice storm hit yesterday. I tried to go to the gym about 2:00 and got to the end of our block, tried to stop and my car kept going and hit the curb (no damage done). At that point I decided I would forgo my 3 mile run and work it into another day.

Today is going to be a little more hectic. Need to go to the gym, run to the store and pick up a few last minute items, do some light cleaning and then Gigi's plan lands around 3:00 (Jeremy is going to pick her up). Church tonight is at 6:00 and then we have Christmas with Brad's family after that.

So, as you see, not much extra time today. Fortunately, the temperature has gone up a bit so I'm hoping the ice on the roads will melt quickly.

Stay safe!

Christmas Eve eve

Ok, so it's the day before Christmas Eve and it's been crazy around here. My sister and her family (3 kids ages 3, 2 and 2 months along with her husband) arrived on Saturday afternoon. I got to meet my new niece, Mikaya Rose. She is a beautiful little girl! Mel and the family spent a couple hours with us on Saturday before heading to Jeremy's cousin's house (where they are staying).

Sunday morning we headed to church where I was in our adult Christmas program. Mel and Jeremy and kids came with us. After church Mel and Jeremy went to see the Lion King play showing at a theater downtown. So, Brad and I got to watch the 3 little ones for about 3 1/2 hours. I forgot how much work little kids are (especially when there are three of them), but we survived. My kids (ages 10 and 12) were a huge help! That evening we headed back to church for the kids' Christmas program.

After the evening program everyone came back to my house (my family, Mel and her family and Ben) for dinner (french dip subs and chips). Then we decided to play Rock Band on the Xbox 360. Mel and Jeremy had never played so it was fun to watch them get the hang of it. We had a great time. They headed out about 9:15 and I think everyone crashed shortly after.

Yesterday was another crazy day. Got up and went out to finish some last minute shopping (from 9 a.m. to noon). Ben met me back at our house shortly after noon and ate lunch. Mel and family arrived around 1:00. Melanie's friend Lindsey came over to cut Jacee and Dawson's hair. I think Dawson was under the impression that Lindsey's scissors were going to cut him and not his hair as he screamed every time she went to use them. It was quite and ordeal but we all got through it. In the meantime, the kids and I were making Christmas cut out cookies. After all had their hair cut and were cleaned up, we decided to decorate the cookies. Jacee was very content to let Aunt Melissa put the icing on and then she "decorated" with sprinkles. She was very decisive about the cookie and color she wanted and she did a great job. Dawson was mostly interested in seeing how much stuff he could get on his cookie before he shoved it in his mouth. It was so funny to watch. After Mel told him he couldn't have any more cookies, he decided he would dump sprinkles on his plate and eat those (see there's always a loophole). They all left about 5:30 as Jeremy's family was getting together for dinner.

(Oh, I did get a 4 mile run in with a little bit of some strength training at 2:00 - much needed.)

Ben was over last night to watch the season finale of our favorite show - Prison Break - and then he headed home and I headed to bed completely exhausted.

Today should be a little calmer. No shopping to do, some cooking and baking, all presents are wrapped. It's mostly going to consist of relaxing, cooking and hopefully going to run. We are supposed to get some ice this afternoon and evening, so any errands I may need to run, I'll make sure to get done this a.m. Grandma arrives tomorrow afternoon and then all the holiday festivities begin.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

2 weeks...can you believe it?

I'm floored by how quickly time is flying by. It is 15 days until Christmas and boy do I have alot to do. Our weekly schedules are absolutely insane. Maryna made the school basketball team, so she has practice every day after school. Garrett has soccer every Saturday, Brad plays on Tuesdays and Sundays and I am working out everyday (except Fridays) and playing on Sundays. To add to the craziness, we have rehearsal for Christmas programs 2x this week and 2-3x next week. I have yet to shop and have lots of baking to do. Will the madness ever end???? I fear not.

Three weeks and counting

So, it's three weeks until Christmas...that's 21 days. Only 20 more shopping days. Can you believe it? And what have I accomplished? Not much. No Christmas decorations have been put up, no presents purchased. The kids and I have made 3 batches of oreo balls (teacher gifts) and placed in the freezer. Brad and I have a list of "to do" items on our fridge - things we want to get done before my family comes at Christmas. Every day Garrett has to remind us how many things are left on the list. It started with 17 items. I think we are down to 13. I know, not much progress. However, we did spend alot of time over Thanksgiving break organizing and rearranging items. I took 23 bags of clothes, toys and other items to Goodwill. I love just clearing things out. My next big project.....painting. There are several rooms in my house that need repainted, however, I'm not sure how much will actually get done.

I know our schedule is probably just as crazy as everyone else's. It seems like we have something every week and weekend until New Year's. This Saturday consists of Garrett's soccer game at 11:20 and then our church Christmas dinner at 6:30. Sunday consists of the normal chaos. The kids have been dying to put up the tree and other decorations, so I'm hoping we can get that accomplished tomorrow evening. It's at least something to shoot for. Hope all your holiday cooking and planning is going well. If you come across any great Christmas food ideas, please let me know. I'm putting together menus for that week and I'm always open to new things.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

So, here in Indiana, you never know what the weather is going to do. Thanksgiving day was beautiful...sunny and 50 degrees. But the Sunday following???? Not so much. Here's what I woke up to yesterday and then again today.

As excited as I am about the upcoming Christmas season, I was not yet ready for the white stuff. Oh well, it had to come eventually.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday, ate plenty of turkey and was still conscious enough to watch OU whip OSU and be named to the Big 12 Championship game this weekend :)

Have a great cyber Monday and don't spend too much money all in one place!

Updates

So, today was the day. Both my kids were baptized in this morning's service. What an absolutely emotional moment. Not only were both my kids being baptized, but my father-in-law was the one baptizing them. Then to add to the emotion, it was my Sunday to sing a special. So, needless to say, I struggled through the first verse slightly as I had to sing right after the kids were done. Anyways, it was a beautiful moment. Unfortunately I do not have a digital video camera, so I used our regular video camera to tape it (mainly so mom, dad and Gigi can watch when they come at Christmas).

Did you know it's only 18 days until Thanksgiving and 45 days until Christmas? Unbelievable!!! I must admit, though, that I'm so excited for Thanksgiving as it is my 2nd favorite holiday only to Christmas. If for no other reason than being with family, eating lots of food and watching football. I mean, really, does it get any better than that?

One other note of interest. I've decided to do something I don't ever think I even dreamed of doing. I'm going to run a half marathon in May. Can you believe it? I decided I needed a challenge beyond soccer and we have 2 half marathons in Indianapolis during the month of May. One is centered around the Indy 500, but it is always sold out way in advance. So last year, another one was created and the course takes you around Geist Reservoir (a really nice lake area). I'm really excited! We'll see how it goes. The official training sessions start in January, but I've been exercising consistently (about 5 times a week), so the start of training shouldn't be too difficult.

Well, that's it for now. Off to watch some football and then head to church for Christmas program rehearsal.