Preparing for Christmas.....

As promised, here are some pictures as we prepare for Christmas - my favorite time of the year! We'll start with that always fun tradition of finding a Christmas tree. As much as I wanted to wander out into the middle of nowhere (National Lampoons Christmas Vacation style), with two young children, it's wasn't very plausible. So, we decided instead to go to Stibbitz Farm, right down the road. We were going to get a Frasier Fir this year, but decided instead to go with a basic Scotch Pine because we like the contrast of the dark green with the white lights that we use. The kids were really exicited to pick out a tree.

Although it was really snowy, the trees were SO PRETTY on the lot!

We had to leave the tree in the garage overnight to defrost, and when we brought it in, a mouse decided to come into the house with it!!

 Here is the tree before:

And after:

And all lit up:

The boys taking a break from decorating:

I'll get some pictures of the kids under the tree soon, but I haven't gotten to that yet. Last night the weather cleared up enough for us to venture out of the house. We decided to take the boys to see Santa Claus at the Lakes Mall. We're used to going to Rivertown Crossings, but since we moved, we had to go somewhere closer to home. At Rivertown, you can use your own camera to take pictures with Santa... at the Lakes Mall we actually had to PAY for the pictures! But, the boys had a blast, so it was worth it.

And then the boys were SO excited, we needed to let them run off some energy at the play area  :)

Today  the big plan is to make cookies. I have the Gingerbread dough in the fridge, so we'll start on those. Lots of different cookies will still need to be made, but at least we can start with those. The kids are busy playing on the snow hill Rick made in the backyard with the plow. Gramma Sunshine brought the boys some new sleds this morning, so they're breaking those in.

Wintery Weather

I love living on the lakeshore. Easy access to the beaches in the summer and literally TONS of snow in the winter! The first significant "snow event" of the season went south of us, but the next one MORE than made up for it. Pictures of that later.

The White Lake Santa Parade was this weekend. I'm used to the Coopersville Santa Parade, which is at night, so it was a little weird heading to see the Christmas parade in the daylight! Not as many Christmas lights on the floats. It was COLD, but we were getting some big, fat snowflakes, so that was neat. Joshua was able to walk in the parade with his Cub Scout Troop.

Here's a picture of the boys getting ready to go:


Logan drinking cocoa in the truck:


His super cute snowsuit (think Ralphie's little brother from A Christmas Story!):


Logan and his daddy:


Here come the Cub Scouts:


Joshua is in the orange hat, looking over the banner:


Oh, back to the snow issue. Like I said, we missed the first storm, but the second system hit us dead on. Thank you, Lake Michigan - it was all Lake Effect. This is our backyard, on Sunday afternoon. It pretty much looked like this when we went to bed on Sunday night:


And this is what we woke up to on Monday:






To say the least, Rick spent most of the day plowing. Logan and I were getting a bit of cabin fever, so we decided to go outside before lunch.











I love living in the woods too. Especially the pine woods. I cannot appropriately describe how pretty they are. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S doesn't even do them justice. I'm amazed at God's creation.









Here's our little house in the wintertime:


We got our Christmas tree tonight. It's just a basic Scotch Pine. We were going to get a Frasier Fir, but decided we liked the dark green of the Scotch Pine as a contrast to the white lights that we like. We're supposed to get a MAJOR snowstorm tonight through Thursday (they're thinking maybe 10+ inches including the additional Lake Effect), and we're supposed to have "blizzard conditions" thanks to the wind on Thursday. It's currently defrosting in the garage, but Rick is going to bring it in on one of his breaks (lol) from plowing tomorrow. If Josh has a snow day tomorrow, the kids and I might start decorating the tree. I've got some of the presents wrapped, and it would be fun to see them under the tree.

Pictures of that to come. Oh, and I'll let you know how much snow we end up getting!!

Unexpected evening...

Well.... Rick and I were supposed to go on a date tonight. I was REALLY looking forward to it. I've been practically BEGGING him to take me out for weeks now. I honestly don't remember the last time we went on a date and that's ridiculous. I understand that it's not always easy when you have kids, but it's still SUPER important to make it a priority. Anyhow, it hasn't happened, for one reason or another.....

Rick asked a friend yesterday to babysit for us today, and his friend said sure - just call him today and remind him. So, Rick was trying to get ahold of him all evening. The guy's cell phone was going straight to voicemail. Awesome. Good thing we didn't have "important plans" (like our relationship, lol). I was mildly irritated to say the least, mostly because I was SO looking forward to going out tonight. We were even going to leave late, after the kids were already in bed, so all he would have had to do was hang out here and watch tv or hang out in the hot tub.... Whatever. It wasn't meant to be, I guess.

So, my night of going out with my husband ended up being centered around my kids, which isn't a big deal, but is it too much to ask to get to be Amanda every once in a while, instead of Mom? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids to death, and we actually had a lot of fun tonight! It just was not the kind of fun I needed, ya know? But, for whatever reason, my kids needed us to be home tonight more than we needed to go out, I suppose. 

We ended up watching Frosty the Snowman, eating popcorn and playing a cut-throat game of Sorry while drinking hot cocoa. It was really great - Rick ended up beating me at Sorry even though I sat with my last guy one space away from home for like 25 turns in a row... Now the kids are in bed, Rick's downstairs playing video games, and I'm just wasting time on the internet... Not exactly what I had in mind for tonight. 

Oh well... that's what happens when you have kids, I guess. Everything else is put on hold until they grow up and move out of the house - or are at least old enough to stay home by themselves  :)

What a way to end the month...

Boy am I'm glad to be done with October.

Joshua had a cough for most of the month - I thought it was just a cold, but it turns out it was the flu. Probably H1N1, but thankfully a very minor case. Despite my best efforts, Logan caught it too, so he got to take a trip to the doctor's office because of his age. Thanks to the flu, our trick-or-treating lasted less than half an hour because neither one of the boys was too excited about it. Rick and I got shafted on the candy this year, lol! Josh went back to school on Tuesday, and Logan (who started showing symptoms on Sunday), appears to be on the upswing. Finally. I had a sore throat on Tuesday night, but it never got any worse than that, so fingers crossed, our house is becoming less of a quarantine and we can again re-join the rest of the world...

On a better note, Josh started swim lessons on Tuesday and LOVES them! He wanted Rick to take him, so we were chatting on AIM and Rick was giving me a play by play, lol. This Saturday is Josh's big Cub Scout Fall Hike, so he and daddy are super excited about that. It's a good chance for Josh to do some really cool stuff and they can't wait.

Logan has been quite a handful, being sick. He's VERY clingy and wants to play endless games of Uno and Go Fish. I love him to pieces, but I have my limit when it comes to card games, lol. Luckily he's pretty good during the day, and it's only in the evenings that he gets really bad, which makes it more bearable. I think he's starting to come out of it - he's been pretty self-sufficient today.

I got some really cool news yesterday!! My sister and my nephew are coming up for Thanksgiving! They haven't been back to Michigan in a year and a half, and we haven't seen them since our vacation in February. Josh and Logan can't wait to see Solomon!!! They're going to spend time with my mom in Indianapolis first, and then come up here for my dad's family Thanksgiving the Sunday after.

Oh, and I'm hosting Thanksgiving for my mom and my siblings the weekend before! It's been a while since I cooked for that many people, but I'm looking forward to it.

Before I go, here are some pictures from the end of October:

Merlin and the Boy Wonder:



I have new hair!!! I was ready for something different, so I made a big change. I LOVE it and I'm really happy with it :)

Before:


After:


Looking forward to November and the rest of holiday season! I LOVE this time of year - it's so family centered. I'm even looking forward to snow (for now), because I want to have a sledding party for Logan's birthday! It's not until December 22, but I'm pretty sure that we'll have measurable snow by then, living right on the lakeshore!

October update!

Yikes - it's been a while! I finally dumped the pictures on my camera so I thought I'd do a quick re-cap of the month thus far.

In case you forgot, the kids were invited to ride in a fire truck at the Fire Prevention Parade this year!

Waiting to load up:


Getting ready to head out:




We also had a wedding this month. Congrats to Kyle and Alx! Here are some pics from the wedding down south:

Waiting very patiently...






Mom and Bob on the dance floor:


My aunt Debbie and uncle Ken celebrating:


Uncle Ken, Aunt Debbie, my cousin Bekah, and mom hiding in the background:


We spent this last weekend with family. We had a Halloween Party with Rick's family on Saturday afternoon, and then Saturday night, we were with my dad and my family for Pumpkin Carving and our annual Chili Cook-Off. I, of course, didn't have my camera, so I don't have pics of the boys in their costumes, but I'll make up for that on Saturday.

Promise!

Super Yum!!!

I skipped lunch and dinner today. It got a little crazy - the kids were invited to ride in a fire truck for the Fire Prevention parade, so they had Goldfish soup and toast, and I ran around trying to locate hats and stuff because it was chilly and rainy. Afterwards, Rick's cousin and his family came over and we hung out and let the kids play until they were tired out. At about 10pm I realized I was STARVING!! Luckily, Kraft foods had an email in my inbox and it contained a recipe for Loaded Baked Potato Soup. I had to modify it a bit because I didn't have everything on hand, but it was ready in less than half an hour (even though I cooked it on the stove and it boiled over...)!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I'm a big soup person, and I just might eat the whole pot myself tonight!!! I added a can of Cream of Chicken soup because I read that it was kind of thin without it. I skipped the green onions, bacon, and sour cream because I was lazy and hungry, lol, so it's more of a cheesy potato soup, but it's totally to die for!!! Here's the link:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/loaded-baked-potato-soup-94649.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-dnr_ideas_from_pntry-_-mjr_mag

Super Yum!! I'm a fan!

Fall Fest, 2009

This weekend was the White Lake Area Fall Fest. It used to be called Oktoberfest, but apparently people were getting confused because it was actually in September (go figure... they must not know about Oktoberfest in Germany....). Anyhow, my mom came up for the day because Rick had to work, so we decided to check it out.

It was fun! Not too big, but really cool. There were some produce wagons with things like apples, green peppers, peaches, and plums. A local farm was there selling flowers, wreaths, squash, pumpkins and funny looking gourds and there was a HUGE selection of giant mum pots!!!

They also had a cider mill there (YUM!), and elephant ears!! We went through the Arts and Crafts stands and came across some really unique stuff... my mom bought me a birdhouse made out of a giant gourd, LOL!! I'll have to take a picture of that one!

The kids favorite thing (besides pizza and elephant ears!), was the hayride. Double JJ Ranch volunteered a tractor and hay wagon to take the kids on a short little hayride. The boys LOVED it! They wanted to go again!!







After the hayride, they got donuts and apple cider, and even posed for one more "brother picture" for me!!!

Budding Photographer...

So, I went to unload pictures from the memory card of the digital camera... imagine my surprise when I discovered there were almost 100 pictures on there!! I was thinking "hmmmm, I don't remember taking that many pictures." As I was looking through them, it occurred to me that Joshua had gotten ahold of the camera, lol.

There were pictures of Riley, Logan sleeping, the basement stairs, Rick on the phone, a scrape on his knee, a full dishwasher, the ceiling, the floor, tons of unsuspecting people (none of whom were even looking in the general vicinity of the camera, lol), and some random self portraits, that he took of himself, while sitting on the toilet.

Oh Lord, lol......







I can't wait to bring those up when he brings his first girlfriend home :)

For the Record...

I was done with my workout by 8:45am today! I was pretty proud of myself! It helped that Rick had to get up early and he wasn't laying in bed sleeping when I was up and about, but regardless, I got it done and out of the way early.

We'll see if that works again tomorrow :)

Oh, one more thing. "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!!!!

Ok, I'm off to finish re-finishing (lol) the console table my mom got me at a garage sale. I'm trying to make the scratches on top disappear...

Been Feeling Kinda Lazy....

Man, I feel like I've been fighting off a cold for a while now. I have a hard time sleeping, but I'm always tired, and I've been getting some pretty interesting headaches lately. The changing seasons are wreaking havoc on my sinuses, so I'm sure that's it, but seriously! I'm ready to start feeling good again!

It's taking some adjusting getting used to the whole "school year" routine again. I'm up with Joshua every morning to get him ready for school, but the minute he gets on the bus, I just want to go back to bed! Maybe I need to start working out in the mornings - get my energy up right away... I'm going to TRY that tomorrow, but honestly, I don't have much willpower, so I'll probably come up with some kind of excuse.

Sigh.

However, I start an aerobic class on the 30th, so maybe that will help get me back in the groove.

We've been busy working out in the yard lately. Fun stuff like yanking out bushes and removing stone so we can fix our fence. The house next to us is in foreclosure, so this weekend we went out there and thinned out the treeline between our property and theirs. Their yard was SO overgrown that it was making our yard look bad too! That just won't fly, lol. So, armed with a chainsaw, we spent the weekend clearing out trees that were on our property and stocking up on firewood, lol. It's not done yet, but it looks a ton better.

Joshua got signed up for Boy Scouts tonight. He read the paper they sent home from school about it and is CONVINCED that he's going to ride his bike through the mountains, learn to shoot a bow and arrow and cook smores over a campfire, thanks to the pictures that were on the paper, lol. He and Rick are BOTH super geeked about him being a "Wolf Cub"!! Rick maybe even more than Josh, lol! The first big "Pack Meeting" is on Monday, so we'll all be going to that as a family. I was a girl scout for quite a few years, so this is pretty fun for me too :)

Other than that, not a whole lot of excitement in our neck of the woods, but I'll take it! I like when things are quiet!

Oh, I forgot to add... on Sunday, my family had a Golf Scramble, and I DID NOT SUCK, even though it was only my second time ever going "real golfing", LOL! It was fun, and I'm looking forward to next year! It's the time of year when I get to see my family a lot... Pumpkin Carving, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, all really close together! I'm super family-oriented, so it's nice for me to see them a lot this time of year!

Have a great week... I'm off to listen to "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. It looked really funny and I could do with some funny tonight! Thank you, book on CD from the library and MP3 player!

Adios Summer, Hola School Year!

Another summer vacation is gone. Wow, was it FUN being home with the kids! We were able to do SO much more stuff than we could when I was working. Plus, Rick ended up working just about 7 days a week, every single week, so it was good that the kids were still able to enjoy summer with mom!!

Time to get back into the "Back To School Groove"... Joshua is now in second grade! He was a little apprehensive this morning, but when we left him at his table in Mrs. Morningstar's class, he was fine. Logan, however, is going to have to get used to entertaining himself, without the help of his big brother. When we got home from dropping Josh off to school, Logan started to cry. He so desperately wants to go to school too, poor guy! I'm sure in a couple of days, he'll be fine, and enjoying not having anyone to bother him :)

Here are some pics from this morning:

His breakfast choice was a bagel with peanut butter and a big bowl of blueberries :)


Getting ready to go:


Showing off his new backpack:


I'll try to get some more pics when he gets off the bus this afternoon!!