Welcome 2009

Surfing the i-net thinking of and enjoying this, that, and the other as the new year draws close.

Stephen, I love you and look forward to another year as your wife. We're having a blast in Indiana, but everyone here is missing you since you left. I never thought I would think of Texas as home, but because you are there, it is, and I look forward to being home in your arms next week. In the meantime, enjoy J-term and some peace and quiet. Your rascals are storing up their awesome wrestling moves to unleash upon you...Happy New Year, Babe.

A smattering of picture posts to capture the past week.

Enjoy below :)

24-hour stomach bug

Nora caught a flu bug this week and endured a rough day of throwing-up, her first experience. Her age and awareness combined with her dramatic personality made for lots of crying, screaming, moaning ("I don't want to do that" e.g. throw up), and pounding of fists into the couch. I remember how awful it was to have that type of sickness as a kid, but I have to say it is worse having to relive it through your children.

I'm glad it was only a 24-hr. bug and I have my healthy, happy, helpful girl back.

Raking leaves

Typically, one rakes leaves earlier in the year, perhaps actually in the season known as fall...But, not in TX.

I had the kiddos start on the job the other day while I made supper, overseeing the, ahem, "progress." You have to start training sometime, right?



I finished the job today and the kiddos once again "helped." :) I love the drama in the last pic. Reminds me of the Anne of Green Gables scene when Anne reenacted the Lady of Shalott poem. Nora is A. Drama. Queen.

Friends and footie pjs

One night this past week, I ran the bath time/ bedtime operation solo while watching our little friends, Francis and Rose. It took about 1.5 hours total. The night was one of the rare frigid nights (yes, "frigid" is a relative term), so footie pjs were a must. Remember those?! Of course, I had to snap some pics...

Joseph loves to wrestle. We're having to work with him now to set boundaries for when/ who you can tackle. At the wedding last weekend, Joseph kept going up to one of our friends and hitting him to try and pick a fight.

Trying to get all three to look at the camera at the same time was impossible.

Joseph is a tough one, but Rosie can hold her own...hehe. No, seriously, Joseph is very gentle with her, and she only tapped his nose with her foot causing him to laugh hysterically.

Christmas cookies

Rolling and baking the cookies after breakfast



Decorating them after nap.

Nora's cookie decorating theory: You can never have too many candies and sprinkles :)

Galen-Annie Wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Galen Thorp

Playing with the leftover car decorations (Nora begging David H. to blow the balloon bigger and bigger...)

Oops! Too big :-/ But Joseph thought it was a riot.

He really likes balloons :)

Crazy TX weather

The forecast for the next five days...the reason I never know what to wear when I wake up in the morning.

Today
Dec 13
Partly Cloudy / Wind

65°
59°

Sun
Dec 14
Partly Cloudy / Wind

74°
47°

Mon
Dec 15
AM Showers

42°
35°

Tue
Dec 16

Few Showers

48°
43°

Wed
Dec 17

Few Showers

63°
51°

Thu
Dec 18

Few Showers

71°
52°

And while I'm at it...

I'll post a link to Anita's adorable apron shop. The red full-length apron is my favorite for anyone who still needs a present for me (hint, hint, hubby...j/k! Because actually he bought me/us a PIANO off Craigslist for Christmas, which we hope to move this weekend. Much excitement about singing carols around the piano this season and in the coming years!)

What I'm grateful for right now...

remembering the kindness of wonderful friends. This post made my day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (inside) and Happy birthday, Stephen (I won't tell you how old he is, but he's nearing 3 decades...hehe)

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Daddy's little helper

My hero tackling the Christmas lights

This was hilarious...Nora created a game of popping the bubble wrap from our Christmas storage box and J couldn't stop laughing.

Nora staging a ball with the Christmas ornaments

The bedecked tree

The mantle, err... festive shelf (the greenery in the vase is from our yard :)

Now this is awesome. The framed artwork is a craft that Anita Higgins did with the kiddos on Monday when she and Nick watched them for an overnight (Joseph's first!), so Stephen and I could have a day "off" in celebration of his birthday (today). The craft has amazing detail and creativity (including their hand prints, the date and Nora's tracing of their names -dotted), and will be a memorable, beautiful keepsake.

Happy Birthday to the best husband/ dad in the whole world!

Joseph loves his daddy and his daddy's chocolate birthday cake

Daddy's princess

TX Thanksgiving, take two.

For the second year, we hosted a gathering of fellow students for Thanksgiving. While nothing can replace the joy of celebrating with family, we had a truly festive day with dear friends.

Preparing the fingerprint turkey place cards

Did you just say I look like a turkey?

The table set for a crowd

The name tags added a fun touch

The turkey (all brined and roasted) and hot spiced cider

Eight desserts (including duplicates) for nine adults and four children; you can do the math...

Nora was right in the middle of the happenings both on Thanksgiving and in the days of preparation. She has been so excited about this holiday season.

Anita doting on the children (on the far left is Nora's best friend, George)

The guys philosophizing post-Turkey and pre-dessert/ historic Thanksgiving documents reading (yes, we are dorks :)

Grandma season

We welcomed a visit from Oma Shipp the last weekend of October, which was delightfully relaxing. We spent time outdoors, at the library (where we voted early and checked out some Thanksgiving books), in an adjacent town block walking for a TX statehouse candidate, indoors eating yummy food, movie watching and reading books.

Oma and Nora paint a birdhouse

The artist

Joseph back from blockwalking

Outside to bid Oma goodbye

Does she have to go??

Fall color from our bedroom window in early November

This is what happens when no grandparents are around to keep things under control, but thankfully...

Grandma Marcisz came this past weekend and offered some much-needed help and fun! Stephen was at a conference in Boston, so he missed out (all but the last morning), but the rest of us sure enjoyed the visit including yummy dinners out and a tour of the Christmas display at the Bass Pro Shops -quite the experience.

Goodbye Grandma!!! We already miss you, but are counting down the days until Christmas break.