Monday, December 31, 2007

A Sigh of Relief

A huge sigh of relief today as Anthony and I put the final payment for his Philly trip in the mail. After all the car washes, snack bars, craft fairs, beef jerky, pop cans and those blasted bird houses (we still have orders that need to be done). Anthony came with $200 of his goal. The last of the bird houses will go toward his spending money. We are so proud of him and his effort. After March I don't want to hear the words "Philly Trip" in this house for 2 years. That is when we start this vicious circle again with Megan.

Have a safe News Years Eve.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Snow, Snow, Snow and a little Guitar Hero

I only mention Guitar Hero because I became a Rock Legend today. LOL that means I won the easy level, which I don't believe was all that easy. I played the easiest song on medium and failed so badly.

We ended up not sledding yesterday and went to see Water Horse. Me and Jason cried the other two just rolled their eyes at us. Today we hiked up to the hill and had a good time. No pictures, the kids wouldn't let me take my camera so that I could sled with them. I went down the hill once and that was it. While my shoulder is getting better, it is not there yet. Hopefully Steve will be home during the day before the kids go back to school and the weather is nice. We want to go to the big hill and sled. It's not to far out of town but I understand it is very cool. They have a big hill to sled down and a big pit in the snow for a bon fire. I WILL be taking my camera there. That area has been hit with much more snow the we have.

Can you believe that Christmas was only 3 days ago?

Friday, December 28, 2007

A little snow anyone

Anyone want a little snow?? I guess I wished for it so here it is. We are under a blizzard warning today and have been all night. We did get about 4 inches last night (some of you can quit laughing) the winds are 35mph and at times it is hard to see across the street. Two nearby towns have really had a hard time of it, 10 inches and over with the really high winds. I am getting the kids ready to go sledding on the hill two blocks over. Hopefully we can get moving before the wind and snow pick up again. It's kind of funny that this kind of snow is a big deal to Steve and I (Anthony too, the other two kids could care less) when Denver is suppose to get 20 inches. Of course, I will go to the hill armed with my camera and will post some pics later. To hold you over until then, here is a picture from the road web cams. This is the highway coming into town.


Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Recap

I got this morning at looked at this mess of a house. It looks like there where 12 kids here instead of just three. We have gotten about 4 inches of snow last night with lots more in the next couple of days. Steve made it to Idaho OK, but it took an extra hour to get there. The highway in both directions is requiring chains. I am so glad I am not traveling today.

Let's start with Christmas eve. The mass was beautiful. I love how pretty the church looks and Father Hank is always fun to listen to. His only problem is that he gears so much of his sermon to the kids (really not a bad thing, because they actually listen to him) that he gets them all wound up. Jason and the choir did wonderfully. They where all so nervous, but they got over it quickly.
This is Jason and Kleena. They wanted me to take a picture of them.

The girl he is holding hands with is Sabrina, he even gave her a kiss but shhhhhh I am not supposed to tell anyone.

Steve made it back in time to do Alter Service.

We headed to go see National Treasure 2. Really liked the movie. Jason was a little bit bored but he really tried to follow it. We got home, put out cookies for Santa and to bed by 11. All 3 kids decided to sleep in our room. Megan and Anthony in sleeping bags on the floor and Jason cuddled in bed with us. We watched Christmas Story until 1am and fell asleep.

Up at 6:00am to open presents. Each kid got the one big thing they asked for. Jason unwrapped his shaker mp3 player and started jumping up and down screaming. All day long we have had the Guitar Hero 3, air hockey, robo dinosaur and shaker mp3 player (has outside speaker) going full steam ahead. Guitar Hero was what Anthony spent his day playing. Megan and Jason spent most of there time playing with the .88 slime Santa brought them. Megan helped unwrap the GH3 and said "I never wanted this." However, she has played it so much that she can play a couple of songs with her back to the tv. Watch out Andrew, she is good.
That's it for now, I am going to pack up some garbage and plow through the snow to the garbage cans. I am hoping that at some point today I will be able to see the carpet in the living room.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

The kids are tucked in and Guitar Hero is silent. The dog is snoring, he hasn't gotten much sleep today. The house looks like a tornado hit it and I am SO ready for bed. All in All it has been a great Christmas. I will post more tomorrow with some pictures. Once I hear from Steve that he has arrived at his destination safely (the roads are bad here) I will go to sleep. We did get our white Christmas. There is snow (and ice) on the ground and as of right now snow is falling.
Merry Christmas and to all a Goodnight!!!!!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Happy Christmas Eve

I only have a couple of minutes, then I need to get to work. Once 3:00pm hits we are off and running. I am keeping in my prayers our friends and their families who are traveling the next couple of days. While I have been wishing for a white Christmas (snowing here right now), I wasn't hoping for the freezing rain. The highway is frozen over in spots and the high winds are just adding to the problem. We are pretty frozen over here too. The freezing rain drops the ice then the snow covers it. It becomes one big icy mess. Yeahhhhhh!!!

I better get moving, need to check UPS and see if we are getting a package today. A gift for a 6 year old that will just make his day tomorrow.

Have a good day.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

The comments behind the video that you hear is Anthony's friend Hayden.

It is still snowing here. Anthony and Hayden went up the street to sled down the hill. The city shuts the road down so that the kids can use it to sled. We are getting ready for Christmas. Tomorrow the whole family will take part in the Christmas eve mass. Jason in the Choir, Anthony and Megan will be alter serving and Steve if he gets home in time. I am helping with the choir and anything else Charlene needs help with tomorrow night. I was suppose to be on the alter too, but not with my shoulder. After mass we will head out to see National Treasure 2.

December 23rd always marked the beginning of the Christmas festivities. It started with my Dads birthday then off to Grandma and Grandpa house for Christmas eve with my Dads side of the family. Christmas day was spent at my Aunt and Uncles where we saw my Moms side of the family and often included visiting relatives from out of state. When we got married it was Dads birthday, Christmas eve with Steve's family and then Christmas day with mine. It was strange once we moved and didn't have the holiday craziness with all the family around. That is when we decided to go and hang out at the mall and laugh at the people trying to finish there shopping on Christmas eve. We decided to catch a movie that night and have made it a tradition ever since. It is a nice way to take a break from all the craziness and just sit back and relax. We still miss seeing everyone during the holidays and we really hope that one of these days they will make their way up here.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.....

You know the song. This is what my house looked like tonight. The snow has stopped for now but we are supposed to get some more tomorrow. This is the best I could get of the outside lights without my tripod. Need to find that....

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Santa Train

We just got back from watching Santa arrive on the train. We all know that if Santa wants to get some where he rides UP. hehehe
It is a lot of fun and the kids enjoy it.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

7 days and counting

That's right, only 7 days left before Christmas. Steve and I power shopped today, and got it all done. Came home dropped off gifts and then headed to Safeway and got everything I need for baking and Christmas day. I was going to make my Grandmothers beans (a Christmas Eve tradition) but I decided it is just to much work right now. Maybe News Years Eve instead. I helped Steve and Anthony with the bird houses, and now I am tired and going to go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy one.
Here are a couple of pics from the Christmas program at the church. The last one is of the boys with Father Christopher, our new priest.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Executive Decision

No Christmas letters this year. I have had to make a bunch of cuts this year. While my shoulder is on it's way to healing, it is not there yet. I find myself doing something and then having to lie down and let my shoulder rest. As my kids would say "THIS SUCKS". I had to back the family out of being Alter Servers at the Christmas Eve mass and have really cut back on the amount of baking I am going to do. I just ordered some cards with the kids pictures on it and that's it. Steve and I are getting up early tomorrow to finish up our shopping. He is off for a couple of days. He has some union stuff to do, plus the Christmas party and Santa comes through here on the train. Yeahhhh

Sunday, December 16, 2007

It Pays to Have Friends in High Places

By high places I mean Walmart. A lady that works at the store is always talking to Anthony and giving him advice on games and MP3 players. She managed to get us a Nintendo DS today when there are no others in the store. It is not the first color choice of my daughter but I think she will like it anyway. When she heard the stores are all out, she started to tear up a little, and said "I guess I will have to wait until my birthday." I think she is going to be surprised.
Thank you nice lady at Walmart. We will be delivering her some cookies later this week.

Friday, December 14, 2007

It's beginning to look like Chistmas

The tree is cut down, decorated and presents under it. The house is just about decorated, the stuff is all out jut not in the right places. I have a good reason for it not to be done yet. I posted last Friday that my shoulder was sore, well it turned out to not be just a sore muscle. Flat on my back on Saturday and the er on Sunday, I have a badly sprained shoulder. The only comfortable position for me was flat on my back in bed. Steve, thank God, took some time off work to help me out. I am finally able to move around (thanks to lots of pain meds) but still having a real hard time driving. Something about the seats is just killing me. So now we aren't talking about just physical therapy. First I get to have an MRI and then we will "discuss the course of action." Followed by, "Maybe you should have listened to my advice last time you where here." Quoting my doctor. If I could move my arm, I would have punched him. I hate a doctor with a sense of humor. Steve is very concerned about what this means for his annual Christmas fudge.

All kidding aside, I can't thank Steve enough for everything he has done this week. He took care of me (made a chart of my meds and kept track of it) managed the kids and their crazy schedules. Did ALL the laundry, cleaned the house, did the dishes, hiked with the kids to get our Christmas tree and made sure all the homework was done. He made sure that I didn't have to worry about anything. Also, a big Thank you to my kids. The first night I was down and Steve wasn't home, Anthony walked up to the Chinese food place and brought home dinner. All three kids have gone out of their way to not fight and try to help me out.

THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!

Friday, December 07, 2007

Ready for Bed

We finally started putting up all the Christmas decorations. We still don't have a tree yet. We like to go hiking up in the mountains and cut one down ourselves. Today, it was snowing to hard up there so we have to wait a day or two and then see how it goes. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder today and it really hurts tonight. It's an ongoing problem that I have and need to start physical therapy. I just really don't want to. We are friends with the therapist and I don't like how he and Steve are whispering about my possible treatment. I am sensing a lot of pain in my future. lol
Speaking of snow, we have some again. Not as much as before, but it still is very pretty on the ground. Tomorrow we are making a trip to WalMart to see Santa. We watched Polar Express tonight (good movie) and then teased Megan (a nonbeliever) that she could not see or hear our bell. Us being me and Jason, because we of course are believers. If you haven't seen the movie, rent it, it is a good one.
Well, the meds are kicking in, so it is off to bed for me.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Crazy Season Has Started

It is here, the crazy season. Between all 3 kids and a husband, I don't think I have a free night until Christmas. Last night was Jason's Christmas program and it was very cute. He was so excited. The kids where supposed to be teddy bears. Poor kid, today he came home sick from school. We have been putting off getting out our decorations, but Steve is out in the garage right now getting boxes down. So I guess it is time to get started.
I added a video of one of the songs they sang last night. Anthony is the one who did the taping for me. He didn't do to bad. I had to load it up on YouTube and then add it here. The BlogSpot video upload has not been working right lately, so I am trying YouTube.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Weather

We go from near blizzard conditions yesterday, to torrential down pours today. The rain and wind up here are just crazy. So far the only damage to our house, is the icicles that knocked down Anthony's bedroom window screen. By time this storm makes it way through here we should see an inch of rain. Not good for the snow in the mountains. Yesterday Anthony and I had to work outside in the 45mph winds and snow to sell Christmas trees for his Philly trip. They closed the highway in both directions, the wind and snow was so bad. Tonight it sould drop below freezing again and freeze all the standing water we have here. Yeahhhhh, an ice skating rink in the streets. lol