Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful Christmas Holiday in Cleveland filled with wonderful family and friends and most importantly naps.

Crazy how these 2 sleep the exact same way.

We now have some very special friends who are more like family staying at our house for 9 days. It is refreshing to find another family that has the same beliefs as our family. They aren't even from Camp but they are British. Maybe that is it.......

Dance Parties

Drive in Movie Night.

Gingerbread House

The girls and I went to Grandpa's house to make a Gingerbread house for Christmas. The house was a huge success and was still standing after we left! Can't wait to see how long it stands for!

Ruthie and Lulu with their Aunt Regan and Uncle Kevin.

Lulu lost interest and decided to have a dance party instead.



Regan - in her Freshman year at Notre Dame and Kevin 8th grade.

Disney on Ice

Love how the tv says AC/DC. Wouldn't that have been fun, the girls at that concert.

While in Cleveland my mom got the suite at the "Q" and we went to see Disney on ice. The suite was great with tons of yummy food, great seats and plenty of room to move around. The girls loved the show. Ruthie really enjoyed every minute of it, while Lulu only started to warm up with 20 minutes left in the show. My sister Katie joined us as well, what a treat!

A huge hit was Lightning McQueen, Ariel and Tinkerbelle.

Waiting for the show to start.

Gammy and her girls

Lightning McQueen

Little Mermaid

Watching Tinkerbelle

Snow Storm

A huge snow storm has been dumping tons of snow on us for the past week! The girls have really enjoyed all the playing outside. Ruthie really enjoyed snowboarding and is looking forward to more soon.

Ruthie Snowboarding

We had 10 inches of snow and we all enjoyed playing outside today. While I have tons of pictures to go through from today I couldn't wait a second longer to post this video of Ruthie.

First attempt at ever snowboarding and she is up at at it like she is an old pro!

She didn't get the memo that she is only 3.

Mani-Pedi

The other night Ruthie and I took our babysitter out for a night of pampering. All of us had a mani-pedi. Both the girls love their babysitter. She is so great with them and they always beg for her to come over and play! Simon and I love her so much because she takes such good care of the girls, and anyone who loves our kids is tops in our books!

Andrea and I loved our pedi's especially the massage chair. Ruthie really loved that they put sparkley designs on her toes and her fingers for Christmas.

This is only Ruthie's second manicure and I am a little nervous at how much she enjoyed it and how content she was to watch her every move!

Of course, the Dude decided to stay home and play with Daddy. Maybe next time.

Sweet Realization

I had to make cookies for Ruthie's Christmas party at school and I also needed to make something for Simon to take to a potluck at work. So they both lucked out and got delicious cookies. Simon really lucked out and his were decorated with mini m&m's. (Ruthie's school is "peanut free" and I forgot that on the label it says may contain peanuts.) I hope that Simon's co-workers like the pre-school cookies!

As I was sitting in the kitchen icing the cookies I had a Mom moment...........

The girls had played in the snow with Simon after dinner (we are expecting 5+inches) while I was rolling the dough and baking the cookies. They had a ball, and came inside exhausted, put on jammies, had some hot cocoa and watched a show. They were all snug in their beds, with bedtime a total breeze. So there I am sitting in the kitchen admiring the Christmas tree icing my cookies, when it hit me....

This is exactly the life I always hoped,dreamed and prayed I would have some day.

I get to sit in the kitchen make my cookies for my kids, take them to school, play in the snow, take them to swim lessons, pile all our stuff in the mini-van and drive to Cleveland to see wonderful friends and family. We are making wonderful friends here, I really feel like we are finally settling in to life in Michigan and we are truly blessed.

Yes, there will always be the nagging worries of health, wealth and employment. Then there is the constant worry of "am I doing the right thing" or the motherhood guilt, or other issues that we have to face.

But this is where I always hoped I would be some day and I am going to stop, smell the cookies, catch snow on my tongue and cuddle on the couch and thank god for every day!

Build A Bear

Our generous friends Vicki and Tony from New Jersey sent the girls gift cards to build a bear for Christmas. There is one in the mall 25 minutes from our house, and the girls have always looked longingly but we have never taken the plunge.

We took the girls on Saturday and had so much fun! We got there right after it opened and went to town. For Ruthie it was an extremely difficult decision as to what bear to choose. For Lulu her mind was made up the minute she walked in, obviously it was the elephant.

They loved filling the bears, and picking out outfits, along with naming them. What a wonderful present and it would have only made it more perfect if Vicki and Tony were with us when we made our bears!

Ruthie selecting her bear.

Ruthie filling her bear by pushing the pedal.

Ruthie and her Bear - "Baby Tessa" - she named her after my friends baby who she hasn't even met yet.

Lulu filling her Elephant.

Lulu and her elephant - "Ellie" I think that makes 972 elephants we own. All named Ellie. Although this one has moved directly to the top of the list and is in bed with her.

The girls walking out with their bears.

Of course the bears had to go for a ride on the carousel before we left the mall.

I just love this pic from the way home. Yep, she has pretty much had this tight grip on her "Baby Tessa" since she got home.

So much fun!

Chocolate covered pretzels

Official candy taster. Even has chocolate in her hair.

As Christmas nears it is time to make our annual treats for Simon's co-workers and our neighbors. I have really gotten it down to a science with a good assembly line. Ruthie was a little bit of a help. In total 15 dozen pretzels and chocolate covered oreo's. Also, once I ran out of pretzels and oreo's I started to cover grahm crackers. Yum! The chocolate ran out just before I was going to cover some potato chips!

The men in this family don't have a chance....

Lulu recieved a purple tutu in the mail from her Gammy for giving up her paci. She loves to wear her current ripped tutu everywhere, yet, what better place to put it as soon as she received it than on Guernsey........

Poor guy, you think there would be safety in numbers with the men in the house, but not so much.

Poor Simon too!!!

Lunch with Santa

Simon's work always has a huge lunch with Santa with everyone on campus. We make it a priority to attend every year. I was excited to go expecially to seek out my cookie helpers!

I always love going as it is fun to be with the boys, the Santa is great, and I love the people Simon works with.

We always go to the mall, and the girls take horrible pictures this year, we didn't even buy the mall pictures. No matter what we always get a good Santa shot at Simon's work.

Check out our previous year pics. When you look at them like this.... I can't believe how big the girls are getting!

2006

2007

***********Lastly, no matter how cute she looks with Santa, and no matter how deep blue and adorable she can bat those eyes of hers.............. She will not be getting a "MOTORCYCLE" from Santa, She tells him everytime she wants a motorcycle and one with training wheels for Lulu.

Fun Facts

In honor of my birthday, for many of the readers out there who just can't get enough of lists here is a birthday treat for you. Things not too many people know about me.

1. Orange is my favorite color

2. My favorite food of all times is nacho's. I could eat them every day, every meal, and never get bored. (that probably isn't un-known to most)

3. I still have a crazy re-curring dream about my highschool dance team (Rockettes). It isn't the exact dream every time but the concept is always the same. I have forgotten something, pom-poms, my boots, my gloves, and then I can't perform. (wierd) That was 15 years ago!

4. I love swimming but haven't swam laps in years (perhaps a new years resolution?)

5. While it may have seemed hard, and stressful while I was in the middle of it, my favorite job looking back had to be when I worked at camp.

6. I am a crazy good typer. (typing in highschool served me well)

7. I am insane with numbers. I know all of my friends, my moms friends phone numbers and address. I can practically address all my Christmas cards (I think I did 75 without having to look at my address book). Especially zip codes and area codes from when I was at camp.

8. I am a worst case scenario kind of person, as in, I am always making sure I know where the exits are.

9. I am not usually an emotional kind of person and am the authority figure in the family, but the littlest things can bring me to tears. Lulu running in the snow (just the other day), Ruthie swimming all by herself. I totally lose it.

10. My favorite thing to wear is jeans and a black top. Like there is anything else to wear. Only becomes problematic when you are friends with a group of people that have the same fashion sense as you and you all look like twins. (what's up Too, Inc. or whatever you guys are now)

11. I LOVE to bake, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT. I actually never really eat the finished product as much as I eat the dough. I don't feel centered unless I bake, all the time. I usually have to go on flour and sugar probation every once in a while.

12. My favorite adult drink is a good old fashioned beer.

13. I have a pile of clothes next to my bed at all times, sweatshirts, sweatpants, the outfit I wore yesterday, socks, hairbands, shoes, books, water, etc. You never know when you are going to need something, in the middle of the night, you might get hot, cold, whatever and it is nice to know all that stuff is right there. - downside is the "stuff" drives Simon to the brink of no return. He folds it, moves it, puts it under my pillow, puts it in the front seat of my car. No matter what he does, it is not going to kick my habit of having my emergency pile of crap next to my bed.

14. If I could sleep in my Uggs I would. I have tried, but it annoys Simon. They are quite possibly one of my favorite pairs of shoes. I leave them right next to my bed. Imagine that!

15. I am a totally shoe person. Love them, could talk about them forever.

16. My hair is curly but I straigten it, everyday. I just have never liked the way I look with curly hair.

17. I can ride a unicycle.

18. I can juggle really well, also while riding a unicycle. Maybe I could join the circus.

19. I don't like to clean at all, and am generally quite messy. Thank God Simon is the neat freak.

20. I really don't travel very well at all, I like my own bed, I don't like to fly and I don't like being away from home. I am much better if my traveling partner is Simon.

21. If we drive anywhere, nine times out of 10 I drive. Partly because Simon is horrible with directions, (HORRIBLE - he still misses the turn to get to our house on a monthly basis) and I might have a slight problem with being in control.

22. I am a sucker for 80's movies.

23. I asked Simon if he could think of any more his response: I am horrible at getting up in the morning.

24. I love cuddling with the girls.


I was really trying to come up with as many as years old I am today, but let's just keep it in the 20's feel's better that way!

Brass Band Concert

Saturday night was the perfect ending to a wonderful day. We were asked by some dear friends of ours, and some even better friends of Simon's organization to join them for the Brass Band concert. This is something I knew we would enjoy but something we would never take the time to do by ourselves. We had a marvelous night listening to delightful christmas music, great conversation and being with good friends.

Simon said that he doesn't think that the blog is that intersting without pictures so here is one to peak his interest.

Wonderful Day

Saturday was a wonderful day. In the morning Simon and I went to campus and spent the morning making cookies with a group of 8 boys, and 2 staff. The boys ranged in ages of 12-15. It all started with me making cookies for this group of boys for Halloween and their group leader mentioned that they loved them.. (of course) and I suggested perhaps they would enjoy making Christmas cookies. We reserved the kitchen in the Admin building so we had plenty of room. The boys were so well behaved, and eager to learn. There were a few at the begining that weren't sure, or did not want to get their hands dirty, but once they saw how much fun it was they were making their own designs instead of using the cut-out shapes I brought. These boys made me so happy when they each came up at differnt parts of the day and said how "excited they were to do this with us" and that "they didn't think it would be this fun". Their group leaders even mentioned that this was the best team work they have seen in a long time.

When we lived in Columbus we used to go to Campus and have dinner with the boys quite regularly and since moving to Michigan I have not been extremely involved other than Founder's Day, and Holiday Lunches. Simon also used to have softball games and stuff on Saturday mornings, but I was always prego or had the girls. I know it is easy to make excuses when life gets so busy but it is so important for us to REALLY get involved. It is really all about the boys (and girls, although we have never lived near the campus that has girls). The whole morning Simon and I kept catching each other's eye and really smiling, This is what it is all about, getting to know them, making a difference and being there for them. I hope that we can get more of the administrative staff involved.

This is just the beginning of my involvement with them, and I don't think they are going to know what hit them! I can't wait!

Simon's work is located on the left as (A GREAT ORGANIZATION, UNDER THINGS CLOSE TO OUR HEART), They are doing amazing things, and making the world a better place one kid at a time!

Baby Jesus and Pinkalicious

The girls LOVE Baby Jesus. We have a nativity and the girls love to look at it and play with it. Last year I found Baby Jesus in Ruthie's bed. (That is another story for another day).

This morning I heard Lulu reading her books, which is an everyday occurrence, yet I couldn't find her. There she was on the floor reading Pinkalicious to Baby Jesus and all his "friends".

Just another day....

This morning started off rather chaotic, much like every other school morning, of course there was crying of daddy not hugging, or daddy not kissing good-bye. In his defense, if he hugs them once it is a million times and they always say that for that extra dose of drama in the morning.



Dropped Ruthie off at school, Lulu and I ran a bunch of errands. Went back to pick Ruthie up and Lulu fell asleep in the car line.



So far, your typical day, everything is going along swimmingly.



Bring in what feels like a million bags from the car, then head to the empty garbage cans at the street. Hit a patch of ice on the driveway and totally wipe out. Covered in snow, outfit change #1 Molly.



Come in to find Lulu who sneaked some strawberries from a bag while I was bringing stuff in, covered in strawberries. Outfit change #1 for Lulu.



Ruthie just complaining of being "HOT" while seriously our heat is at 67* clothes off for Ruthie. Outfit change #1 for Ruthie.



Make lunch for the girls, and then they quiet down for a show before nap time. I try to clean up the kitchen, at which point I clean the coffee maker which has spontaneously combusted on the counter, coffee, grinds, stuff everywhere. Outfit #2 for Molly.



No nap for either girl. Lulu has pacifier withdraw and won't nap now. Get them up play a little, and they ask to go downstairs. I try to do some laundry, a lot of outfit changes today.......



Ruthie comes running up the stairs, Lulu has taken a capri sun and used it as a watergun soaking Ruthie and all the toys in the ball pit downstairs. Outfit Change #2 for Ruthie.



Clean up all the "kitchen toys" in the basement. Empty and clean ball pit, suggest perhaps it is snack time.



The girls want Graham Crackers so I get them milk, and we sit down for a snack.



At this point I show Ruthie for the first time how to dunk her graham crackers and milk and how yummy they are.



*****Here is the moment, the moment moms stay home for, the girls and I have a nice snack dunking our graham crackers in milk, and chatting.*********



I think I even thought to myself, this is so worth it, this is why I stay home.



At which point. Lulu spills her milk everywhere!



Outfit change #3 - Lulu

Outfit change #3 - Ruthie

Outfit change #3 - Molly



I am now wearing Simon's pajama pants and sweatshirt, Ruthie is wearing a funky outfit with the Banana costume over it and Lulu is in her pajamas, it is 4:30 and the girls are playing with their friend in the basement.



I am SO ordering Pizza for dinner.

Great job on the house but......

Simon ALWAYS does a great job decorating the house for Christmas.

The girls however have a different idea of what our house should look like. This is probably due to the fact that their favorite place to go is Lowe's to look at all the inflatables.

So tonight, as I was driving home in the dark with them, all I kept hearing from the back of the car was...... "O, Jesus" and then another "O, Jesus" When I realized what I was hearing (over the vidoe player in the car) and asked..... Ruthie said "Well didn't you see the baby Jesus?" She apparently was commenting on all the manger scenes she was seeing.

Then we drove by 2 houses on oppostie sides of the street from each other that I swear is having a duelling inflatables war. No matter what the holiday you can count on at least 50 between the 2 houses and it is always fun to see.

So, out of Ruthie's mouth comes this.......

"Whoever drives by our house is going to look at it and say.....

(and then she uses her deepest darkest man voice you have ever heard)


"That house doesn't look good because they don't have any inflatables"


*** This is particularly funny since, I literally tell a story and most of the time have voices for EVERY person. My mom has a voice, my sister has a voice, my brother (his is my favorite) has a voice. I am glad to hear that I am rubbing off on her.

Turkey Festivities

My mom, sister Katie and her husband Tim came to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a great time, the kids love, love, love having visitors! Here is a recap of Thanksgiving in pictures.

Night before making pumpkin/pecan pie

Lulu making stuffing

Break from cooking "DANCE PARTY!"

Anyone seen this move before? Yes, ladies, he still has all the moves.

Dance party turns into a jam session.

Watching the parade Thanksgiving morning, totally my fave activity

Tim hanging Christmas lights, we put our guests to work.

Maybe that is why we don't get many visitors.

Dual ladders. Funny though how Simon made Tim go on the higher ladder. Girls helping.

Gammy cooking. (yes, my cupboards have turned into an art gallery. Ruthie likes to hang all her artwork from school. I think it is important for her to hang her stuff and Lulu's too! She comes home and decides where each piece will hang.)

Katie stirring the gravy. We cooked our turkey on the grill to have more room in the oven for yummy food.

**Katie is 7 months prego.

While we were cooking Tim entertained the girls with a paper airplane throwing display.

The girls loved it!

I did cave and make Yorkshire pudding's (shown) for Simon and roast potatoes as well as mashed.

This picture was taken under the dining room table after dinner. Dogs were smart to hang out under there and then the girls decided that would be fun too!

Lulu loved Chloe as well! We are so NOT getting another dog!

After dinner tried to get some pics but "The Dude" would not get in a picture unless she had on her shades.

These are the best we could do with the pics.

Finished off the day with a family walk around the neighborhood to admire the lights!