June's "Great Auntie" gave her these PJ's for Christmas...I love her in these colors!

Our Christmas....

A week in review.....

Whew what a week.....I look forward to Christmas every year and this year was no exception. We had a great week even though Russ, June, and I have been battling the worst (I do mean worst) cold ever. We celebrated both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our home. We began our Christmas Eve celebration at Mass. We attend a small Catholic church and it is always beautiful, however, especially beautiful at Christmas....white lights, trees, nativity, poinsettia....it is the perfect beginning to our celebration. We spend Christmas Eve with my dad's family and Christmas Day with my mom's family. This is a tradition we have followed since I was a child, except when we lived in Tennessee. We took it easy this year on Christmas Day since we were all under the weather. Santa was very good to the kids and they enjoy seeing all of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This weekend Russ's family came to visit. Russ's parents arrived on Saturday and Russ's sister and her family came to visit on Sunday for dinner.

June and her grandfather.

June the boys and "the cousins".

June and the girls.

This is a photo collage of the weekend. Russ's parents gave the kids "Mammoth Crocs" which will come in handy during our cold Midwestern winters. June also received a vacuum which has already been around the house too many times to count!

I am thankful for all the blessings bestowed upon our family and am reminded at times like these the reason we celebrate Christmas......Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to all and my your new year be blessed. Have a wonderful week.

PS. For those of you who received the Wii Fit for Christmas my Wii Fit age is 37...down from 54...Whew, I thought one of my New Years Resolutions was going to have to be to work out, what a relief!

June and her "Barbie" Guitar....

One of June's favorite gifts from Santa was her Barbie Guitar....enjoy!

Merry Christmas...............

May the charity that comes from Jesus Christ alone fill your hearts this Christmas Day and your whole year. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

A week in review......

This morning we awoke to -30 degree temperatures with the windchill...actual temp -7, yikes! We live in what most would consider "the country", although today it looked like a different continent with white out conditions and snow drifts every where...I was actually glad to get into work today. This week was a bit of a blur...my cold has stuck with me all week and has been hard to shake, so I did not get much done. I am hoping to be ready for Christmas and plan on kicking it into high gear tomorrow(I hope). Friday night we had our annual "Tree Party". Each year we spend one night traveling to the houses of the four families who cut down trees together, as usual we have a great time!

"Tree Party" 2008

Saturday my brother and his family (My Two Girls) came to visit and spent the night. The kids had a really nice time together and it was nice to catch up. Saturday afternoon the kids went sledding on the hill behind our house, luckily the sub-zero temps did not hit until Sunday. As you can see below the kids enjoyed themselves.
June sledding down on her belly....Russ and the boys did this last week when I was not home...this week..repeat!

June and Rylie sliding together.

June and Rylie warming up after their sled runs.

June and Reese sharing a blanket.

All in all a good week. The boys had a snow day on Friday and squeaked and extra day out of their Christmas break. We are looking forward to the next week....seeing family and friends and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Have a great week!

Junie....

I did not get to post this picture on Sunday because I was not feeling well. Today I was feeling a little better and thought I would post some pictures. The above picture is June enjoying an egg roll with my Mom on Saturday, June loves Chinese food!

This morning June was trying to get dressed to go outside when the boys were leaving for school. June loves Max's skate boarding hat....looks cute too!

A week in review....

I posted quite a bit this week so this will be short...I have an awful cold and after a long weekend I am ready to hit the couch with a hot cup of tea! As you can see from the photos, June's tooth is as good as new and we have had no problems. TJ played his trumpet in the middle school holiday program and did a great job....however, he is trying to convince us to let him switch instruments, stay tuned! I was able to get my cards finished and we decorated the tree. We also attended a neighborhood Christmas party and had time to catch up with friends we have not seen in a while. Today, I finished up shopping, yeah! I guess the big news for the week(for me anyway) is the announcement of DMB Spring Concert dates tomorrow....now the couch! Have a great week.

The Tree.....

Well, all my worrying was in vain, the tree turned out beautiful! I took a picture first thing this morning because I don't think it will stay like this too long. Not only has June discovered the tree so has the cat......this should be interesting.

Some of my favorite ornaments!

I have been tagged....crazy eights!!!

I normally do not respond to tags...so here goes nothing...

8 Favorite Shows: Seinfeld, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, The Office, Everybody Loves Raymond, Beverly Hills 90210, Iron Chef(old), and Spongebob.

8 Favorite Resturants: Lou Malnatis, Romanos, PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Blink Bonnies, Stillwaters, Three Oaks Grill, and Noodles and Co.

8 Things I look forward to: DMB in concert, going to the beach, going to the cabin, Christmas, planting the garden, blogging, talking to R on the phone, and getting June out of her crib every morning(saved the best for last).

Wish List: Happiness for my kids(always), a free dream home, time to learn to use my camera, to meet Dave, to go to Disney every year (sorry Russ), to spend my summers in Italy, Esmerelda:), and all new Christmas decorations.

What I did yesterday: Played BUNCO, watched "Barbie DiamondCastle", made pork tenderloin, car pooled, worked on Christmas cards, cleaned, played "tea party" with June.

I will tag: Donna, Lisa, Shannon, Dana, Happy, and Kayla

I apologize to everyone in advance if you did not want to be tagged:), Jen I save you for R!

Update....

Yesterday my Dad turned 60, we had he and my mother over for dinner (which is always an adventure at our house). The evening went well for the most part. My Dad loved his retro corn popper, I know the kids can't wait to enjoy popcorn with Poppie! The evening did take a turn when June had a bad breath holding spell....Ugh! This was concerning to me because today she had her first dental appointment ever...I was worried she would have an episode at the dentist because she usually clusters her episodes....lucky for us all my worrying was in vain. As you will see below June's tooth is as good as new!

Poppie and the Grand kids.

June showing off her new tooth! She did a great job at the dentist....June loves gadgets, so she was actually interested in all the dental tools and did not seem to mind the work being done...whew!

P.S. The tree has been inside for 2 days and has warmed up, Russ also put lights on it and it looks 100% better!

One more thing....

One more thing....Russ told me "Dave" was on an American Express commercial...I thought everyone should see it!:) Keep reading to see "A week in review and pics from the tree farm!

A week in Review.....

Big week at our house hold. We attended the first Christmas performance of the season. It was a great night all the kids did a great job. June even stayed awake for the whole program!

As you can see above, Max was "Rudolph". "Rudolph" had a speaking part and a square dance with the other reindeer.

Jake was difficult to see from our seat. The fifth grade band showed off their musical talent, Jake plays the trombone. It surprises me how well he plays considering he does not practice too much and the trombone is taller than he is!

This weekend was our annual trip to cut down our Christmas trees. We are so blessed to have good friends to share this weekend with. The pictures above are of our evening at the Wisconsin Dells. Our friends graciously share their condo with us, we swim, eat, play cards, visit, and eat some more. June had a great time. She enjoyed the pool and had a great time playing with the kitchen faucet in the condo. June also left a little part of herself in Wisconsin.....while running with the other kids she fell and chipped her front tooth...I guess the good news was she did not pass out! June recovered quickly, however, my mother's heart is still a little sad for the chunk missing out of her front tooth.

I love this picture of June and Cindy. June was turning the faucet on and off. June would grab Greg's hand to turn the water on and then just laugh. She was having the best time! The next morning we packed everything up and headed to the tree farm. My pictures from the tree farm are a post down in a slide show format. The weather was very cold, but June did not seem to care. There are a few pictures with June laying face down in the snow, no she did not fall again, she is laying face first eating snow, she liked the snow so much we had to keep picking her up or she would have just laid face first eating snow! Our tree looked beautiful at the tree farm, as you will see below there is a picture of all of us in front of the tree. Unfortunately, when I pulled in the garage from work today my question to Russ was...."Who's tree is that?" I hope when we get it in the house and it warms up, has lights and ornaments, it looks a lot better than it does right now in the garage...UGH!! Not only do I have a Christmas card problem, I have a Christmas tree problem too.....this tree does not make the cut for me right now, there is always next year!

When we came home June was playing on the stairs and I was able to get a good shot of the chipped tooth....as you can tell from the sweet smile on her face it is not affecting her at all!

I hope every one has a great week, it will be a very busy one here...

Christmas Tree Cutting 2008

A few year back when we lived in Tennessee I bought this dancing snowman. I have not put him out in a few years, however, I thought June would really enjoy him. As you can see June dances to the song, however, as soon as you bring out the camera she runs to see what is on the screen of the camera. Last night at bath time she had all 5 of us laughing so hard our stomachs hurt....her dance moves were hilarious!

Winter Wonderland....

I post the same thing every year on the first snow, however, the first snow is always exciting and pretty....check with me in March or April, I may not feel the same!:)