Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas - the good and the hopeful

We are all so blessed that the Lord has given us this time with each other. That is has never been more evident than the past few days. Our holiday has come with mixed emotions.
At the start of the week, Todd's grandmother fell and broke her shoulder and scapula. She is a feisty, spirited woman, I often compare her to Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies. I know it won't impair her for long.

Todd had dental implant surgery on Tuesday and is still trying to recover. We don't usually fix a Christmas feast, so this year, it is definitely out. That was the day of the ice storm and I still had shopping to do. I decided to go to Minute Clinic for myself (since I knew there was no getting into my doctor at the last minute) to get checked out for a sinus infection I have been battling x 3 weeks now. So, I got what I wanted - antibiotics! They are kinda killing my appetite. That evening, I decided to venture out to get those last minute things taken care of, when I went sliding on the ice and took out a mailbox with my car. The owner was cool about it and said to forget it. It's nice to know there are still good people in the world.

Later that night, Todd's grandfather had a stroke. They rushed him to the hospital and found out he was also in renal failure. They moved him to a nearby hospital were he could start dialysis.

Christmas Eve was a disaster at work. When I came in at 11 am, there were at least 7 people waiting to go to surgery - all of whom which had fallen on the ice the night before. The orthopedic surgeons had been doing surgery non-stop. I imagine it was the same all over town.

That night, things were looking up. We went to Bob's for the annual Christmas Eve pizza dinner. The boys all opened presents and had a blast. Jake liked playing with Bob's dog, Rascal. It would be nice to get a dog, but I just don't think I'm up for it now.

Christmas Eve at home found the boys staying up until 11:30 despite our best efforts to convince them that Santa wouldn't come until they were asleep. Todd and I were up until 1am setting up gifts. We got the boys some of the classic cardboard jumbo blocks which we had to assemble. I have to say that setting the presents up ahead of time is definitely the way to go. You don't have to deal with the dreaded twisty ties and plastic wraps when the kids want to play with it NOW.

This morning, we woke up late (9am!!!) and got started. Christian wasn't too into the new toys, he wanted to play with the one's he got from Nana and Bob the night before. Jacob is still abiding by the toddler rules of property - everything is mine! As I'm typing, he is playing with his V Smile and having a blast.
Here are some pics of the boys enjoying their presents:


Christian playing with his farm from Uncle Bob and Aunt Bev







Christian enjoys some candy from Santa









Jacob playing with his remote control Rocket








Jacob with Papaw Craig and Lori

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Polar Express

We took the boys on the Polar Express Saturday night. It was so much fun for them. We went to the Fisher's train station, where they read the Polar Express. Then, we got on the train and headed for the North Pole (Noblesville). At first, I was disappointed because we sat on the right side of the train, which had more of an industrial view. But, when we got to Noblesville, things were a lot better. The court house was all lite up and it was on our side of the train. Also, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the polar bear waved from the right side, so we got a good view in the end. They all boarded the train and journeyed back to Fishers with us. Jake absolutely had a blast.









Christian seemed to enjoy himself too.










And finally, I have to share a couple of pics. This one is Christian whose fatigue got the better of him while he was trying to eat.










And here's one of Jake making an improvised train with my laundry baskets. Yes, I later found all of our clothing on the floor. He decided to pick up the house during the process.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jacob

Well, as many of you know, my son turned 4 this week. It's hard to believe that it has been that long ago. As I look back over the last 4 years, I remember many things. A tiny baby with jaundice who came home with a bili blanket...





The boo-boo face...







And let's not forget "D"
The first birthday...
and the happy-go-lucky boy..




We went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. I wasn't too sure how he would react. Jacob can party with the best of them or clamp down. He really enjoyed himself. Didn't want to eat a thing, just play. It was a nice evening. We were joined by Nana and Papa, Uncle Bob, Aunt Bev, and Riley. Randy and his family also joined us.








Jake got his picture taken at one of these sketch booths, similar to the old Create-a-card stations (only one token!).










So I opted to get one of Christian as well. Christian was wondering around, checking everything out.








The boys crashed on the way home, so Jake didn't get to open his presents from us. He opened them the next day. Now that all of that fun is over, it's time to get ready for Christmas!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Well, the holiday went pretty well.

I was suppose to work on Thanksgiving Day, but we were so slow that they sent me home 3 1/2 hours early. Nice, but I lose out on the holiday pay.
We made the 2 hour trip up north to Todd's mom's for Dinner on Friday. The boys liked playing with their cousins, but they didn't eat a thing. Well, except cookies. Great! They were actually pretty good during the drive there and back. We borrowed my mom's DVD players. Jake fell asleep on the way back and missed the pretty flashing lights in the rear view mirror. That's right. Todd got pulled over. We were coming into a small town and he didn't slow down fast enough. The cop let him off with a warning.
We did our Thanksgiving on Saturday. Again, the boys didn't eat at all. My mom cracks me up. She was really wanting a picture of the boys, so here's what we got:




As you can see, children are never all in a good mood at the same time. Todd also put up our Christmas lights (and beat Julie, haha).

Sunday, we put up our tree. In case you don't have kids, this is what the typical tree looks like in a house with toddlers:

(no ornaments around the bottom, several up top, and a few on the floor).

Well, Jake's 4th birthday is tomorrow, so we are going Chuck E Cheese for the first time. More to come, I'm sure....