Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

& Happy New Year

from our family

to yours

Little Miss Christmas

Our little Miss Christmas

wishes all of you a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Trying to get....

We like to send Christmas cards with a family photo on it. We also like to take the photo ourselves. It saves us time (usually) and we can aim it for a time when everyone is in good spirits (you hope). Getting our family photo & a good shot of the three wonderfully behaved children (because it was after nap & feeding time, and my children are always well behaved) should have been easy. Right? I mean how hard can it be to keep the baby happy, the toddler from having a melt down or being the human blur, the (almost) teenager from moving, set the timer, auto focus on, look at the camera, remember to smile, don't squint, don't blink, and make sure we're centered in the shot. Here are a few of those shot's to put you in the Christmas mood.

Everyday

I was recently informed that it had been 17 days (but who's counting) since my last post and that I needed to post some new up-to-date things. So for those of you who check just for cute shots of the kids, here ya go:

"Look what brother taught me."

The offical diaper sniffer

"Aren't I cute.

Thank you Grandma Betty for the outfit!"

Ethan wearing Papa's hat.

Merrick unwinding after Student's of Promise induction cermony.

Induction

Well Merrick was inducted into Students of Promise (SoP) on December 13th. Turns out, they only chose 3 students from Clare. They had a very nice ceremony where the President of the college, one of the SoP board members, and the co-ordinator Jessie Gordon spoke.

They were given a card to write on that Ms. Gordon read as they approached the sign in book. Merrick had to write who he came with/was supporting him and what he wanted to be when he grew up. Tim, Ethan, Sophie & I were all there for Merrick. Grandma Betty, Grandpa & Grandma Mann, and Grandpa & Grandma Fiero were also there. Merrick mentioned that he wanted to be a police officer.

If you want more informaiotn about SoP, check it out at
http://www.midmich.edu/students_of_promise
In the meantime here are some photos of the evening:

The inductee's listening to one of the speakers

(Merrick is the last row,

1st on the end)

The co-ordinator

Ms. Jessie Gordon

Having signed the book they recieved a certificate

After the induction there was a reception for all the student's and their parents. It was a lot of fun and we are so proud of Merrick. Merrick is also a member of Student Council. Keep up the good work Merrick.

'Tis the Season...

'Tis the Season for Christmas parties, lot's of food, icky snow/ice, snow days, and spending extra time with good friends and family.

This past Saturday (the 1st) I had 2 Christmas parties to attend. The first was for our womens group from church, and the second was for the Christian Cowboys. That Saturday was also the day all the nasty snow/ice started to pour in. We made it safely to each party and more importantly, we made it safely home. Here's a shot of the two youngest dressed up for the fun:

Ethan's shirt says: "Dear Santa, I can explaine."

We all snuggled in for the winter storm and enjoyed the rest of the weekend together. Merrick ended up having 2 snowdays. He enjoyed the time at home and outside.

We don't live far from our church, and during the winter Merrick enjoys sledding/boarding down the large hill that the church sit's on. He was sledding down the hill, that was covered in a nice layer of ice, when he put to much weight on the front part of his sled. It caught under a lip in the ice and sent him for a header.

The sled survived, it came away untouched, with nary a scratch. Merrick on the other hand. Well the photo shows you his head. What you don't see are is cut up hands, and any other bruises that he may have gotten in his tumble. I don't think he'll be going down it much this winter, at least not after it beat him up.

So I'd like to leave you with the following links. My Aunt Ginger sent my mom the cutiest email, and mom sent it me. Once I saw it, I knew I had to 'elf' the kids. That turned out so well, I had to 'elf' the cats. Then I figured I'd better 'elf' Tim & myself as well. I hope you enjoy, and elf youself.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1214590935 - the kids

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1221312760 - the cats

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1221456674 - Tim & I

Enjoy!!

Sleeping

How nice it would be to be able to drop off to sleep anytime, anywhere, in any position.

The other day I gave the two youngest kids a bath (yes, I was home alone). It wasn't that bad, Ethan is a regular fish & doesn't need much hands on except for washing. Sophie was fine if I kept her covered with a warm washcloth. My purpose for the bath was to tire Sophie out so I could put Ethan (who has broncitis) to bed for a nap.

After the bathing, diapering, lotioning and dressing of both children I was able to sit down & nurse Sophie. Ethan wanted to stay upstairs and play in his room. Okay, I thought, I'll clean his mess up later. So I went down and nursed Sophie. Well as you can guess, I was tired. So while I dozed, Sophie ate & Ethan played. And then IT happened, you moms know what I'm getting to.

I awake with a start (no it was not to the clatter of 8 reindeer on my roof), IT was quiet. There was NO noise. All was not right. Sophie was finally asleep, so I carried her to her bed. When I entered their room, the toys were all over the floor and I found my youngest son like this:

The funny part is he's laying on top of the heating vent. Come to find out his daddy liked to throw a blanket over the vent and then curl up under it. Don't worry his face was not on the vent. I did what any good mom would, I laughed (quietly so as not to wake his sister) and then grabbed the camera. Oh yes, I also picked him up & put him in bed.

Student of Promise

CONGRATS MERRICK!!!!

We just recieved a letter today (Nov. 28th) letting us know that Merrick was accepted into a program thru Mid Michigan Community College called Student of Promise. Merrick was 1 of 25 students chosen out of the many students nominated within 5 school districts.

The program follows them from 7th grade to graduation. Each year of the program deals with a different goal. The first couple of years (7th & 8th grade) deal with showing the kids what they can be/do when they grow up and how to give back to their community. They bring in guest speakers, or travel to a museum or a zoo, and many other places.

This program is only in its 2nd year, so Merrick is starting out at ground level. This program will give Merrick a wonderful opportunity to experience the world, set and achieve personal & educational goals, create a peer support group, and when its time to think about collage it will help with applications & looking for scholarships and grants and financial aid. There is also the possibility of a 2 year scholarship to MMCC. Which would offer Merrick time to get his basics, save some extra money, and decide upon a university.

This program will also help keep Merrick focused on his school performance. One of the nice things about this program is that it also goes thru the summer, keeping them in touch with their peers as well as their goals.

Tim and I are very proud of Merrick, he worked hard to obtain this honor. He had to fill out an application for them to review and he spent several days working on the questions and it must have paid off.

The activities that the kids attend are parent free, so unfortunately I won't have tons of cool photos to post. But that is a small price to pay for Merrick's future :) Needless to say, Merrick is excited about being accepted and is looking forward to his induction ceremony (I'll have photos of that) on Dec. 13th. His first activity will be the 15th.

Gobble, Gobble

Today was Thanksgiving. Tim, Ethan, Sophie, and I spent the day with my parents. Merrick was with his dad this year. We missed having him this year. But because he was gone, mom bought a smaller tub of CoolWhip. Merrick likes a little pie with his CoolWhip.

Mom really outdid herself with a wonderful dinner. We are so glad she is a wonderful cook (I'm not much of a cook or truth be told, I just don't like to cook).

MMmmmmmm yummy!!

My contribution this year was the table, as it is most years. The centerpiece and setting it. I did do a little cleaning, but dad & Tim took care of most of the after dinner clean-up (wish I had a photo of that). Maybe next year I'll cook the dinner at my house. Mom still has to make the pies! And mom Betty can make her wonderful cheesy potatoes. Yeah, that could work. Now about the turkey......

We had a good dinner and enjoyed the day. Sophie even sat contently in her seat while I ate.

This being Ethan's 2nd Thanksgiving, he was only 9 months old last year & couldn't eat much of the table food. He tired a little bit of everything and ended up not really eating much. It was too close to nap time and he was really tired. He did end up eating 2 pieces of pumpkin pie, with coolwhip, after his nap. His grandma Pauline would have been so proud, another grandson who loves her pumpkin pies!

We all stuffed ourselves. Me, I stuffed myself on stuffing (I love my mom's stuffing - a billion times better than stove top). All the food was wonderful. I even enjoyed the turkey (hope your sitting down mom). I normally don't like turkey, it's tooooo drrryyyyyy (desert dry). But this turkey was nice and juicy. I might even have leftovers.

It was a good time of food and fun. Here's a shot of Tim enjoying the wonderful food that he got to help with. He has a mouth full, and it's the only shot I've got. And yes, the white shirt stayed white.

Mom just wanted to eat and the camara put away. So I took a shot, the look says it all.

And dad, well he didn't care about the camara. His focus was on his meal.

Dedicated to...

This posting is dedicated to my Auntie Steph & Uncle John. Mommy finally got around to taking a photo of me in my crib, in the outfit you got me. Just wanted to say thanks & show off a bit!

Here I am practicing the Can-Can. And kick one, two, three.....

Giraffe, elephant, and my bunny keep me company when I'm in bed.

What's going on over there?

Sharing

I always hoped that my kids would share their stuff with each other....but I didn't want them to share their colds! Oh well, they've shared with me also. In their defense though, I gave it to them first and they are just returning the favor. How sweet of them.

Well Sophia is now 3 weeks old, and doing just fine. She doesn't like to sleep in her carseat when she is sick, but has no problem crashing in bed. Hope her sinus don't mind too much.

Ethan has gone from a very "whatever" kinda baby to a whiny toddler (but he's also got a cold and is cutting more teeth). And mommy, is suffering another head cold on top of little to no sleep, so I'm in a complaining mood. I should be sleeping, everyone else is, except Merrick he is getting pumpkin seeds outta some pumpkins so they can be baked.

Sophie, the queen of the 10 - 15 min. power nap, is now awake. Ethan, who once he falls asleep sleeps, is snoozing through his 3rd hour & headed into hour #4. Oh to be young again! Forget being young again, I would just enjoy some sleep again. However, I know that as Sophie get's older, I'll get more sleep. At least until she start's dating :)

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, the ultimate day of sharing. I'd like to take this moment to share what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who calls me mid morning just to see how I'm doing and to tell me he loves me, and who comes home to ciaos after a long day at work to find me still in pj's (in pretty much the same spot he left me in) and calls me beautiful and tell's me he loves me & then jumps in the middle of ciaos with the kids.

I'm thankful for my wonderful, oldest son Merrick. He's been thru a lot with me over the years and hasn't flaked out (not to much anyway) on me yet! He welcomed Tim into our lives and then has been a terrific big brother to Ethan and now to Sophie. He's also taught me a lot about parenting.

I'm thankful for Ethan, who is still teaching me a new language. He is my snuggly reader and likes to curl up with and nap with mommy. He keeps me on my toes (as do most toddlers) and he keeps a smile on my face.

I'm thankful for Sophia, who's delivery was quick & easy (compaired to the other 2). She came on time and didn't cause much trouble, but she's making up for it. Her daddy calls her "little miss temper tantrum". I wonder where she get's it from......

I'm also very thankful for the rest of my family! Without whom (and you know who you are) I would have joined the looney bin long ago!

So as you are at the dinner table this Thanksgiving, look around your table and think about who & what your thankful for.

Cowboys

You know when your kids are little and they like to play 'Cowboys & Indians'? Sometimes those little kids grow up and still like to play cowboys. My husband is one of those cowboys (blue shirt & brown vest).

Tim is with a group, called The Christian Cowboys (http://christiancowboys.wolfsdencomputing.com/), that preform reinactments. They also do comedic routines that the group, or members of the group writes. One of their biggest reinactments is the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Most of their skits have a christain based theme and a scripture is read at the end.

Tim's been with this group for two years now and they've been in parade's, at a fair, they've been part of the Bay City River of Time, and they were at Uncle John's Cider Mill this year.

This is a group that mainly preforms about 6 or 8 weekends (or a full fair week) in the summer/early fall. You'll have to check out their web site (http://christiancowboys.wolfsdencomputing.com/) and see what their schedule looks like for next year. If you're ever in the area when they are preforming, you really should check them out.

Here are some more photos of the Christian Cowboys:

Welcome to the Bean Brothers skit. Here you have Pork'N, Chilli, and String Bean (Refried is still hiding in the root celler of the Outhouse.). In this photo, the Bean Brothers have found their long lost brother (a kid in the audience), Pinto. After viewing this skit, you will never think about beans the same way again.

This is a new skit that the group added this year. It's about Wild Bill (the one in the dark hat, with a mustache & long hair). I know that Caleb's friends on the Bay City Police Force will enjoy this picture of him.

Here's a shot of Tim and some of the guys in the OK Corral. Tim plays Ike Clanton, one of the cowboys, an enemy of Wyatt Earp and the Earp Gang.

Here's our ruff and tumble cowboy with one of his biggest fan's. Ethan likes to watch daddy shoot'em up and then likes to run around shooting us and acting out all the people getting shot and dying.