Someone's Having a Birthday??

I changed my background just to help remind ya'll how few shopping days there are left until my birthday......February 1st.....of the which, I will be 35.  No comments please!

Happy Birthday Ethan

Ethan will celebrate his 11th birthday tomorrow morning at 5:22am.  I CAN'T beleive it!  Ethan through the years......if I had scanned all my photos pre digital camera there would be more for you to look at.  Well, Ethan was born at 5:22 in the morning.  He slept almost 24 hours a day for the first two weeks.  I even called the pediatrician because I was so worried.  And they told me that very shortly I would probably be wishing he would sleep more.  Well.....they were right.  Holy cow!!  When he finally decided to be more awake he cried when?  NONSTOP!!  Actually, he was fine during the day.  When he heard John come through the door in the afternoon he would start screaming.  We got to where John would come home to dinner ready, have dinner, then John and John would retire to the bedrooms upstairs.  Ethan and I were banished to the downstairs.  We slept together in a recliner for a long time.  In fact, the day we brought him home, which was the day he was born.  I couldn't very well spend Christmas in the hospital, could I?  Ethan wouldn't even sleep by himself the first day he was born.  OK, fast forward a few years.  Ethan likes to quote lines from movies.  It's very funny!  But the first line he ever quoted, at about 4 years old, was "well, maybe I don't want to be a part of this family" from Lady and the Tramp, Scamp's Adventure.  It took us several minutes to figure out that it was a quote from a movie.  I thought I was going to have a little heathen on my hand for a second.  Ethan loves to read.  In the first grade, he read an 8th grade level book.   Most Texas schools have Accelerated Reading, a point system for reading.  Ethan always the most points of anyone in his class.  Let's see what else?  He would argue with a fence post.  And at the same time, he is such a sensitive boy.  John says I'm writing too much.  Let me just tell you.....I love this little boy!  I feel honored and blessed to be his mom.  I have enjoyed every moment with him.  What a wonderful boy!  Happy Birthday Ethan.  Mommy loves you!

A day in the life

    This dog has the easiest life.  Took him to the vet last year for his shots and got chastised by the vet.  At a little less than a 100 pounds the vet said he wasn't eating enough.  So, NOW, the dog gets SpEcIaL dog food to help him gain weight.  Good grief!  AND he will be lucky to survive Christmas.  He thinks the ornaments are toys put there just for him. Just look at him--doesn he look like the biggest baby?  I think if someone broke into the house, he would bring out scones and tea.  Fortunately for us, noone knows that and just seeing him scares people.  

Trying to get Emily out of her sweatshirt after the Christmas parade.  Sorry, no pictures.  I forgot my camera.  Poor girl had to walk 2 miles.  "Next time, I'm RIDING on the float" she said.  And her sweat shirt was a little tight at the head.  It's because she has such a large brain.  And she was in the middle of a fit because she heard me get the camera out and she did not want that episode documented.  Too late!  

We ended up with an extra turkey, so we experimented with smoking.  THE TURKEY!!  Didn't it turn out beautiful???   Way to go Chef Juan.  It was so good.  John stuffed it with onions and sage.  Yummy!  Now, of course, we all know what this means, right?  The Christmas day turkey must go wrong??  Nooooo, not with Chef Juan in the house.  It will be even better.....can't wait!  Thank you Nana Ann and Grandpa Bill for our present!

The artists at work!  We were actually patient enough to use the icing for glue this year.  Last year we gave up and used the hot glue gun and just used the icing for decoration.  John would not have his picture taken.  Couldn't be seen putting the ginger bread house together, ya know.  He is way too cool for all of that.

Hangin' out in the living room watching tv.  Ethan and Emily like to bake in front of the fireplace. Goofy kids!  Ah, but they are cute as buttons.  I LOVE them!!  Emily and I bought that sweater she is wearing on our latest shopping trip.  She wanted her picture taken with Santa.  So, it required a new sweater, new earrings, and a hairbrush.  She's such a salesman.  "We can give it to daddy for a present."  She said this with big pouty lips and her eyes as big as she could get them.  What a sucker I am.  But it is a great picture!  AND she knows that mom and dad are Santa, but there is still something magical about him for her.  

Now let's talk about John.  John spent his own money to buy a gift for a friend (a girl) in Texas.  I was so impressed.  He picked it out on his own.  And listen guys.....he is not afraid to shop in Bath and Body Works and walk through the mall holding a bag from that store.  I'm certain there are many of you who could learn from his example.  

Now, do we really want to say anything about Ethan.....I don't know.  His birthday is coming up.  We could talk about the fact that he was born screaming and didn't stop for 4 years.  We could talk about how he wouldn't have anything to do with his dad for the first 4 years of his life.  We could talk about how he used to climb me like a tree everytime we got on an elevator.  We could talk about how much he loves chocolate milk....oh m word!  We could say that he is growing up into a wonderful young man.  He and his dad are best buds now and it makes me happy.  

Ethan's birthday celebration

And I don't have any pictures, because I forgot my camera. I'll take one on his birthday. Dinwiddie County High School's football team went to state this year. And Ethan loves football. So, he wanted to go. He was the only one who wanted to go, so it became his birthday celebration. The game was played in Blacksburg, VA at Virginia Tech. 3 hours away. And it was supposed to be REALLY cold that day. Initally, Emily and I were not going to go, but since it was Ethan's birthday gig, we were now invited to go on "The Man Trip".

Let's just start with Friday night. We stayed in a hotel there since it was so far away. Got there, got our hotel just fine. And now we have to decide where to eat. Ethan gets to choose the restaurant. All he wants is a good hamburger, so I call the desk at the hotel and get his suggestion. He tells me "Go to Macado's, great hamburgers". We get there, has to be the right restaurant, right? How many of those can there be? WELL, they Do. NOT. sell hambugers! No, they don't. Never have, even. Sandwiches. They make sandwiches. Well, we discover this after we have already ordered an appetizer and drinks. Ethan is very upset, Ethan style, for those of you who know him. Still, cute as a button, though. I love that boy! So, we finish up there, give the waitress a handsome tip for having to put up with us and go somewhere that has hamburgers. Guess where!! SoNiC. But here is the most important question......Was the birthday boy happy??? Yes! Success at last. So, all's well that ends well. Back to the hotel, wear the kids out at the pool, and hope they will sleep well.

So, Saturday morning, game day....it was sooooo cold. Bundled the boys up after breakfast and take them to the field. And I'm thinking they are not going to last long. We saw a few snow flakes on the way to the stadium. Emily and I???? Shopping. In a warm mall with hot chocolate. Yes. We had so much fun shopping, eating a girly lunch at Panera Bread, followed by more shopping. The boys lasted almost the whole game. I was so impressed. And it snowed on them the whole time. John doesn't particularly care for football like their dad and Ethan, and he never complained.They finally decided to leave in the 4th quarter when it was clear that.......Dinwiddie was getting beaten. 37 to 13. Pouty face here. But our team played very hard.

So, the drive home was fairly uneventful except that it snowed almost the whole way home. Poor little Emily has been getting car sick. Mostly when she reads, but this time she was just playing a game on her DS. About 30 minutes before we got home the snow turned to rain, so no snow at our house waiting for us. I felt so cheated. It was so fun to drive home in the snow and watch the snow collect on the houses all decorated for Christmas. What fun!

Money isn't always the most important thing

Here is our tree. That's about the only thing I have up so far. Wait...I do have my village set up. I need to go take pictures of it. This is the first year we put so much effort into the village. It actually has a platform....ooooo....ahhhh. It looks pretty good. BUT, we put it in the room with the piano and I can't stand not having it in the living room. Next year.....

And now for the rest of the story....money isn't always the most important thing.....candy is. Just ask Ethan. The kids got these cute little plastic candies stuffed with money and candy one year from Nana Ann and Grandpa Bill. I noticed that the blue one and Ethan were both missing one evening and went looking for them. Ethan was walking down the stairs with chocolate stains all around his mouth and candy shoved in his pockets. The money?? Tossed aside in his closet. That was not what he was after. Silly boy! I can't believe he used to be that little. He has a birthday coming up. Golly, he will be 11! My little Ethan is not so little anymore.

The Christmas Tree Ritual

We have always had a live tree. We enjoy going to a tree farm, picking out the perfect tree, chopping it down and getting it home. We really had a good time this year too. The tree is not exactly what I envisioned. I wanted a really tall tree this year, but there weren't any really tall ones at the farm and we drove 2 hours to get there, so we had to get it there. We had a really good trip. Once we picked the tree out, John got to work cutting it down and everyone else started playing. He's such a hard worker.
Emily gets car sick if she reads too much so we had to take an unexpected pit stop on the side of the road so she could pull herself together. She was very nauseated. She looked so little standing there beside the truck feeling so bad. She sat down on the ground because she felt so crummy. And her crazy mom took the camera out and tried to take her picture. Did not make me very popular. I put the camera back in the truck and turned around and she was laying on the ground. Poor, poor Emily. She's so tough.
And now since I said something about John and Emily, I guess I have to say something about Ethan too. Ethan, Ethan, Ethan.....what can I say about Ethan??? He is currently possessed with football. Our county's high school football team is going to state and the state game is on Saturday. Ethan is bent on going, but it is 4 hours away. And dad does not want to go. It will make for a LONG weekend. Sooooo, we'll see how that pans out.
I have such wonderful children. I love them all so much! They make me happy. They have homemade presents for each other under the tree. They are all so unique and lovely in their own special way. Christmas shopping for them is so fun. When I think I have found the perfect present it is such a feeling of triumph. John is usually the hardest to shop for, but this year he is making out like a fat rat. He does NOT like me saying that. He gets giggly and it makes his grossed out for some reason. He has been really easy this year. And come to think of it, his father has been easy to shop for this year. He is also doing very well in the presents department. Ethan and Emily have been difficult this year. Emily is moving out of the toy era and she is not quite into electronics. Ethan has switched gears on us a little bit. He moved from Star Wars into the Civil War and now he is into football, BUT football stuff can be VERY expensive. Sooooo, what to do.....I'll let you know after Christmas day.