Merry Christmas

We were off from school and work on Friday Christmas Eve. We made lots of cookies. We tried to go to the 4:00 Mass, but too crowded, so we changed our plan and had our dinner first and then onto 6:00 Mass. Grannie, Uncle Jon and cousin Collin came with us to church. The kids did lots of asking for drinks, asking when it all would be over, and even tears between Amelia and Collin when they wouldn't wish each other "Peace". On a happier note, Ava did a great job singing "O Come All Ye Faithful". She can pick up the words and tune to songs so easily. We got home just in time for jammies and cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. Dave and I worked wrapping and assembling. We were done in a timely fashion with out even a peep from everybody upstairs. Once in bed, I did have to go back downstairs for a few things hidden away which I forgot until I lay there thinking about it all...Morning came way to early.... Jenna's been sick with a cold, so she was up coughing at 5:30am, the girls were up by 6:00am, and we waited for about 1/2 hour for Drew and then woke him. Christmas was similiar to last year, Drew sleepy, but putting up with us, Amelia barrelling through every gift and finding the most joy in the wrapping paper and bows, Ava a little shocked and taking it all in gift by gift, and Jenna into everything else but her gifts. She did enjoy riding around on her new wheels for a little while. We had a surprise dusting of snow in the morning. Grannie and Uncle Jon came for a special lunch with all of the food. It was delicious! It was interesting to watch Amelia working hard making gravy lakes with her food.....We recouped in the afternoon, and headed out to Grandma & Grandpa's. We had dinner (Chinese food :))) and celebrated with them for a few hours.

Some gift favorites...Drew's Montana Grizzlies jersey and Paper Jamz drum set, Amelia's Chinese Checkers game, pillow pet & long beak dinosaur including a special note from Santa, Ava's Barbies and nailpolish, and Jenna's baby stroller with her newest baby -who is ill. :)

I took lots of pictures.... here are a few!!

Merry Christmas! We are here on Sunday...just waiting for the "significant" snowfall the forecasters are calling for....

(BTW - Today marks post #100 for this year - 2010!!)

Santa, Santa, Santa...

Busy this weekend....... Friday was a late start for school due to our Thursday 2 inch snowfall. We visited Drew in the afternoon at school for his holiday program and for his visit with Santa. Santa hooked Drew up with a cool keyboard.

Saturday afternoon Dave took Amelia, Ava, and Amelia's bff Tanvi to see Tangled and also for some ice cream. Jenna took a nap, and Drew and I enjoyed some down time - just us!

Today we took the kids on the Walkersville Railroad Santa train. We were worried we would be cold, but no, the spot on the train for the wheelchair was right next to the heater! Woohooo! We missed the Santa Train last year due to snow - the first of three blizzards we would endure last winter.

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY MILLIE!!!!!!!

Amelia is 7 today!

She came downstairs this morning with an announcement from Ava that the birthday girl was coming down! Amelia opened a few gifts and off to school. Then the snow started to fall - so school was let out early!! All for Amelia!! She's been outside playing for close to 3 hours now and would probably stay out all night if we let her. Amelia requested her special dinner of french fries, perogies and tater tots - oh yes, and salad for Ava. We'll have our special dinner tonight with a red velvet cake. Amelia is taking her friend Tanvi to see Tangled this weekend as her special birthday treat.

Happy Birthday to Amelia!!

Our house..

is off of the market after 100+ days and only about 10 showings......
Hopefully springtime will bring some action......

Our Christmas Tree Hunt......

consisted of bringing the box up from the basement and the girls movin' it into the living room. That's Jenna observing the finished tree after her nap.

Her reaction consisted of a lot of pointing and a lot of ooooohhhhing!!!!!!

FIRST Haircut

Jenna got a new hairdo today, and it's snowing here!

911....NOT an emergency.....

Grannie watched Jenna for me today while I took Drew to therapy. When we got home, I heard a lot about how much of a handful Jenna was even though she actually slept 2 1/2 out of of the 3 1/2 hours I was gone...

Tonight, Dave was talking with his mom on the phone. They hung up. About 15 minutes had passed and Dave decided to call her back. He asked Jenna to get the phone off the couch and bring it to him. She did. Ten minutes later the door bell rang. The police officer at our door was asking if we had an emergency. Seems someone from our house dialed 911........

Family Adventure - SANIBEL!!!!!!!!!

Well, Dave, Andrew and I did wake the two sleepy older girls up at 5:30 am the Friday after Thanksgiving and said we had a surprise, when Amelia promptly said "You got me a long beak dinosaur?!", WHAT?? (I better work on finding out what a long beak dinosaur is before Christmas......) We explained we were leaving for a surprise, early birthday trip to Florida. Everyone including baby Jenna was ready to go!

We made our usual pit stops, one being "South of the Border". Seems they should be there waiting for us behind the knick knack store- in front of the campground. We've stopped there so many times to stretch and take a bath room break... We stayed at our usual hotel in Brunswick, GA and after what seemed like a really, really long next day - finally made it to Sanibel. Immediately following dinner we all dove into the pool. The temperatures in the beginning of the week were in the upper 80's - very warm. They cooled off to low 40's some mornings towards the end of the week. We did a lot of beach walking, bike path walking for donuts and coffee, lots of swimming and hot pool time. We went shelling, plenty of beach walking and sand time. Dave took the girls fishing and caught a flounder, we saw an iguana, which I first thought was a baby alligator, because he was sunning himself right next to the alligator pond right outside our back door. We went out for a dinner one night and on Friday night went to Sanibel Holiday Illumination night - where every 6 feet or so for about 5 miles along Periwinkle Place there was a candle lit and all the restaurants and shopping centers had lights up and decorated for the holidays. Really beautiful.

We celebrated Jenna turning 20 months old on the 2nd, and no matter how many times those elderly ladies asked me at the pool how old she was I still had to think about it!!

My most memorable moments from this trip are - Andrew super relaxed in his hot tub time, Amelia and our shelling excursions, Ava and her super excited self enjoying the Christmas program at the Church on that last night, and Ava mastering swimming without her floaties - diving underneath and everything! and Jenna swimming with her floaties by herself all over the pool. I love to watch Jenna fit right into our quirky family time - donuts, fast food and beach time. It's like she's always been here.

And to note... my least favorite memory was my forever attempting to get that annual christmas card photo. Funny thing though.... a German tourist stopped to ask to take our family picture - and didn't that ONE photo turn out the best! That ONE photo - that ONE time! Darn!! The other thing that wasn't good....at all.... was Jenna learning how to open the front door to the condo and leave. This has reminded me for certain that I need to stay one step ahead of Miss Jenna at all times..............

Thanks to my husband for not stressing out at all on the 19+ hour drive each way. I love my husband so much for basically rearranging his schedule to take me up on my last minute whirlwind desire to purchase a cheap week to my favorite place in the world!

Happy Thanksgiving

To celebrate the day, today Grandpa & Grandma came over for dinner. Amelia made everyone their own placemat, both girls drew Thanksgiving themed pictures for the walls, and we made the turkey with all the trimmings.

My side of the family got together this past Sunday for brunch.

Today, we've been busy cooking, and packing for our surprise trip to Florida. Dave, Drew & I are in on the secret, but the girls have no idea that we'll be waking them up early and heading out in full pj mode. The kids really love being on the road!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nap time.............

couldn't come fast enough today......

That's Jenna in the medicine cabinet, and then there's Jenna helping herself to a snack. Note the kitchen disarray as it is, but she still manages to find something to climb.

At first she was getting into the lower cabinets, then it progressed to standing on drawers to get into higher to reach drawers, then it moved to climbing on the desk over the counter, and now - pulling a chair up - playing on the computer and then getting into the top cabinets.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Daisy Troop Investiture Ceremony

That's Amelia last night receiving her Daisy pin from her troop leaders.

Long Beak Dinosaurs

It was a great Saturday to chill out! Amelia transformed herself into a Pterodactyl, or was she a Long Beak Dinosaur? She won't tell....no really she won't! When Ava came home, Amelia did the same for Ava - tail, wings, claws, and beak. The frightening photo above was taken before the girls went outside. They played for over 4 hours outside this afternoon, and also convinced their backyard buddies to transform themselves into dinosaurs. Drew & Dave took a much needed rest, and that's my sweet Jenna in the picture spot. She knows when I take out the camera that most of the time I ask the girls to stand against this wall in the kitchen.. so now Jenna sees the camera and she takes her spot!

National Epilepsy Awareness Month

I've talked about Andrew and his battle with daily seizures before, so that's not new to note today.... but in my little way to try to raise awareness and understanding of Epilepsy and our entire family's struggle, here are a few facts about Epilepsy that you may find of interest...

WHY: Epilepsy/seizures happen when the electrical system of the brain malfunctions. This malfunction causes an uncontrolled surge of energy through the brain causing unconsciousness and contractions of the muscles. Epilepsy can be caused by abnormal brain development, lack of oxygen, brain injury, brain tumors, genetic conditions, infections, and for many there is never a found cause.

WHO: A whopping 3 million people suffer from some form of Epilepsy. There are over 200,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. 3 MILLION PEOPLE!!!!

ANDREW: Andrew's seizures fall in the syndrome category and are classified as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). ONLY 1-4% OF PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY CONSTITUTE LGS. LGS is rare and a debilitating form of childhood-onset epilepsy. This syndrome is characterized by frequent seizures, multiple seizure types, a resistance to medication or therapies, mental retardation or regression, and an abnormal EEG. Andrew meets all these criteria. It is highly unlikely that we will ever find medication or a treatment to stop Andrew's seizures. We've been working on that for over 10 years. Andrew continually struggles with daily seizures and their effects. We struggle with what is the least amount of medications we can give to combat the seizures in any way possible, and in turn not leave Andrew in a drug stupor.

10 years ago I knew nothing about Epilepsy, nor did I know anyone who suffered from it, now it is one of the hugest parts of my life.

19

The 2nd - Jenna is 19 months old today. Jenna at this age is always "helpful". Helping Drew with his toys and food, helping the girls with their shoes, socks and backpacks, helping me with the laundry, dishes, e-mailing and whatever else she can climb and run to. If Jenna hears someone even walking upstairs, she has to run up there too so that she can rearrange every item of make up, hair product, soap, cd's, and chemical product she can get her hands on. It's non-stop. The only thing that has stopped Jenna to date is the Halloween mask that Dave wore last week in our nightly spooky story time. Jenna was at my side for awhile after that one. Today is Tuesday and we are all home for Election Day - no school. Prayers for Grandma tomorrow. Hoping her surgery brings her relief just as Dave's surgery did, and that her recovery is quick and easy. We love her very much!

Halloween 2010

Tonight we have..... Cowboy Drew, Cowgirl Amelia, Mermaid Ariel Ava, & Meooooww Jenna.
Tonight is chilly, but not too bad. We've been busy this weekend. Drew had trick or treating and a dance at school on Friday. Amelia had a Daisy dance on Friday night. We had Trunk or Treat on Saturday night, stopped by to see Grandma & Grandpa today and tonight's the "big" night. Happy Halloween!

Today....

was International Children's Day at Ava's school.

Ava beautifully represented French Polynesia. There she is with her tropical gown, her shell bead necklaces, her flowers in her hair and her pareo.

Why??

SHE FOUND THE SPICES!!!! There are rooms and rooms of toys in this house!

The Perfect Pumpkin

There it is.... "THE Perfect Pumpkin" as deemed so by Ava.

We searched high and low for that one....... Well not really.....We did make a trip to the super duper highly talked about Summer's Farm (the giant pillow, train, slides, extensive corn maze, and much more....), but we had no energy to actually venture out on the hay ride to the actual pumpkin patch. So....we returned to "our" patch - Jumbos. Our annual family tradition. Just the basics (hayride & pumpkins).....Jumbos in Middletown.