Christmas Part I



 

We had a great weekend celebrating the beginning of Christmas with our Lewistown family.  Stacie and Noah were our gracious hosts on Saturday for the day.  The kids all had a great time playing together, and occupied themselves very well.  Brooke, Anna and Lauren seemed to be three peas in a pod all day, even putting on a show for us at one point with full costumes.  The only dispute seemed to be who was in charge.  I'm sure you're shocked to hear that three little girls, all with Richard blood coursing through their sweet little selves, would have a disagreement about who the boss was.  We all ate way too much, did some adorable crafts (including home made snow globes and Santa handprint ornaments out of salt dough), sang together, and missed my Pap so much that it was palpable.  This was his day-- one of his absolute favorites-- and we all had a Pap sized hole in our hearts.  One thing was for sure, sad or not, there was nowhere we would have been besides together.  And although Richard family Christmases from here on out without Pap there in the physical sense are bound to be different, they'll still always be a major part of my Christmas.  I can just feel the flood of childhood memories come back when our family is together at Christmas-- everything reminds me of why I love the holidays so much.  And this year was certainly no different.

 

 

 

We stayed at Mom and Dad's on Saturday evening so that we could go to church with them and then spend the day with them to have our family Christmas together.  Ever since the kids have been born, we've made it a priority not to be travelling on Christmas Day.  So, although it has changed the tradition a bit, we wanted to have the time to create family traditions of our own, and make memories that would mean a lot to the kids as they grew older.  So, we settled in for a special day with Nana and Pap, Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig and the girls, and Pappy Ray.

 

Nana and Pap outdid themselves with gifts for the kids.  I thought Joshua would jump out of his skin when he opened his PSU home jersey (Christian Hackenberg, in case you were wondering).  He literally jumped up and down and squealed.  It was adorable.  And for all of the girls (minus only poor Hayden), Nana picked out their very first American Girl Bitty Babies with some very cute accessories.  I'm not the least bit shocked to have heard Lauren say on no less than a hundred occasions today that her baby is her new best friend, and her favorite present ever.  She loves changing her clothes, and wearing her in the sweet little Bitty Baby carrier.  Mara loves her baby too, although doesn't seem to grasp the special-ness of this particular baby.  But since all the girls do together is play babies, I think she'll quickly become a favorite for our littlest as well.

 

We ate a delicious lasagna dinner and played the night away with Brooke and Hayden before it was time to call it a night for all of us.  We headed home today and have embarked on the "get unpacked" mission most of the afternoon.  Add to that the need to clean out the playroom to make room for Santa's anticipated drop off here tomorrow evening and it's been quite a busy day here.  I am pleased to report that all of the kids are tucked safely in their beds, while I have unloaded the first of two loads of gifts that need to be brought home from the office.  I find it ridiculous that I loaded them into the van at the office, then took them to our basement, only to need to bring them back up again tomorrow night.  Santa's work is exhausting.  I don't know how those elves do it.

 

 

 

To say the kids are excited about tomorrow being Christmas Eve would be waaaay understating it.  I'll work for a while in the morning, and then head home early in the afternoon to start cooking for Sunday and prepare for an enjoyable night with the kids.  I think we are opting not to go to church.  Although I hate that we have to make that choice, I have been working really hard to make choices this Christmas season that will eliminate stress.  And I don't know what defines stress more exactly for me right now other than occupying Mara in a quiet, darkened (beautiful, might I add) church service during the hours that are usually the most difficult for her each day.  Add to that that there is no nursery (and the last time we tried this with Lauren at this age, there was also no light and no heat on in the nursery) and I just think we're going to be far better off to stay here, tuck into our pj's and just be together.

 

Lots of fun to be had here in the next few days.  We can't wait!

Let it snow!

I think that today's snow storm was a bit of a gift.  Instead of running all over the place trying to get last minute things done for the holiday, we've been given a great excuse to tuck in, stay in our comfies all day, BAKE BAKE BAKE, and just be together.  Although this day hasn't been used to check a single thing off of my list of things to do, I have enjoyed it so much.

 

Please don't anyone tell Mara, but while she was napping, the big kids got to spend some time romping in the snow.  They were so excited.  By the grace of God, I found enough pieces of snow clothing to fit the both of them.  I was short one glove for Josh, but managed to locate it.  They were outside for about a half hour, and then deemed it long enough to qualify for a cup of hot chocolate.  So they brought their rosy cheeks inside and we sugared them up pretty well.

 

Next on the list of things to do today is prepping some cute crafts for the kids in Wee Worship tomorrow.  Pray for me.  I'm breaking out paint.  To put on their hands.  Yikes!  I've already packed the paint shirt and have a strategy.  Although tomorrow around noon I'll likely be questioning my sanity for even thinking that it was a good idea. 

And if that wasn't fun enough, we have a dead string of lights on the tree that is driving us all nuts.  So (preferably before the little tornado awakes), I've got to do something about that.  After that, our stuffed  shells need to go into the oven and we'll tuck in for the rest of the night here together.

Hope your snow day has been awesome too!

A likely "ectomy".

Much to report on...again.

 

You'd think I could soon get it together.  But I wouldn't hold your breath.

 

I owe Lauren a post like this from her doctor's appointment in....oh I don't know....the beginning of October.  Maybe I should just summarize and say that she's perfect.  Grew well, gained the right amount of weight, etc.  All around a great visit for our little princess.

 

I took Joshua yesterday for his seven year checkup.  I was astonished to hear that it had been six months since Joshua was there for a sick visit.  I honestly expected a band to start playing and fireworks to start going off at the sheer wonder of it all.  But no.  Only in my own head.  The doctor assured me that we'd likely be seeing more of them agian as the winter months wore on- a realization I didn't need a reminder about.  Josh did great, too-- grew 3" over the past year and gained 7 pounds.  We knew he was growing and had put (a little) meat on his bones, but that confirmed it.  Our only hiccup seemed to be the exam of Joshua's throat, when (just like every other doctor who has ever looked at him) Dr. Baca marvelled at the size of his tonsils.  Although I had asked about them when he was having his apnea problems as a toddler, no one seemed too concerned at the time.  But they're thinking that it might be a good idea to consult with an ENT doctor to take a look at whether or not those tonsils would be better out than in.  I have to tell you, I'd rather do ANYTHING besides consider surgery, but we'll check this out and see what needs to be done.  The doctor is pretty sure his adenoids are an issue as well.  So stay tuned for the first possible "ectomy" of the Dugan family.  We see the ENT on 12/4 and will go from there.  Poor Josh is more than a little worried.

 

This week has buzzed past as most seem to do lately, but I thought I would include a few pictures from last weekend.  Jason had been away on a trip to California on Wednesday-Friday, so the kids and I were on our own Friday evening.  We decided to go to "almost" midnight madness at the kids' school and had a fun time.  Joshua loved seeing the big kids playing basketball.  Although Daddy was home on Saturday morning, he was off to the PSU game with clients on Saturday, so we had a day together at home.  I cooked up a storm- chicken corn soup, 2 pumpkin pies, oatmeal raisin cookies-- the house smelled amazing!  And then, after the hard work was done (and by that, I am referring to getting Mara down for her nap), the big kids and I headed outside for some fun in what may be turning out to be the last nice weekend before the cold chill sets in.  We played soccer and football and rode bikes and shot baskets.  It was awesome.  And there were pictures.  There are always pictures.



 

I had to laugh about this picture.  I think the kids were all very happy to have Daddy home from the game on Saturday afternoon.  There was much giggling!

Whoa.

Since my last post, I can report a whole bunch of good things that happened.  I don't think we sat down for longer than five minutes all weekend (and our "weekend" started last Thursday afternoon).  The kids were off from school on Thursday and Friday because of parent/teacher conferences at school, which they were thrilled about.  Jason and I were thrilled that we had an awesome report from Joshua's teacher.  We're so proud of him.

 

After the meeting with Mrs. Nornhold, I packed up the troops and headed for Lewistown.  I believe Mara started asking for Nana as soon as she woke up on Thursday morning, and didn't stop until we pulled into the driveway at my parents' house.  We spent the evening with Nana and Papa and Brooke and Hayden and had a yummy dinner and some fun tubs until Uncle Zig was done working and could pick up the girls.  Too bad Aunt Libby missed out on the fun, but we'll get her double time the next trip.  She was holding conferences of her own until late Thursday night.

 

Friday morning we got up and headed to Stacie's for some pictures of the kids.  My plan was completely shot when we woke up to howling winds and temperatures in the low 30's.  So much for my plan of outside pictures this year.  (When, WHEN, will I learn to do this in October instead of November?)  So we took a few outside shots, but spent most of our time indoors with Stacie.  I figured we had a better chance of seeing smiles if the kids could feel their cheeks.  Here's hoping that's how it works out.

 

We had a very fancy lunch of McDonalds...because I'll be honest and tell you that I totally bribed the kids with a milkshake if they behaved themselves with Stacie and cooperated without a bad attitude about the pictures.  That was mostly directed for Joshua, who has declared that he hates having his picture taken.  But it didn't hurt for Lauren to hear it either since she tends to get "hoooooooooot" when she's annoyed with something, and I didn't want to have to beat any children in front of Stacie.  Although I'm sure she would have understood.  But all was well and everyone got to have a milkshake, except me because there are like 30+ points in even a small milkshake and I get 32 all day long.  Sad, isn't it? 

 

After lunch we hooked up with Freda and headed back to Turbotville to get ready for round 2 of the day.  Jen was headed to our house for 4:30 so that Freda and I could jump back in the car and head for Williamsport to meet up with Jason to go and see "Hello Dolly" at the Community Arts Center.  His business sponsored the show and hosted a group of clients, and with one extra ticket, we asked Freda to be our collective date for the night.  We had so much fun.  We even got to talk to Sally Struthers (who played Dolly)...albeit from a distance...but at least we got to hear her answer some questions from the group.  It wasn't quite the same as the photo op that we had with Martina McBride last year, but it was still fun.  By the time we got home it was 11:00 and we were beat.  Off to bed it was.

 

Saturday was our "at home" day....a misnomer because we spent the morning at the grocery store and the afternoon doing laundry and putting things away from the trip on Thursday/Friday and trying to pretend that the Penn State game didn't really happen.  I won't dwell on that, but really....a little defense shouldn't be too much to ask.  I believe I crashed hard sometime around 11 pm that night too.

 

And then....on Sunday morning we were up and at 'em again and on our way back to Lewistown around 10 am.  There was a special little lady who was celebrating turning ONE and we wouldn't have missed her lady bug bash for the world.  The kids had a blast at Hayden's party, playing lady bug ping pong and making crafts and eating yummy cupcakes.  I find it impossible to believe that Hayden is really going to turn one on Thursday, but I guess it's true.  We returned home, shoveled some pizza into our tummies and then started the "get ready for the week" routine.  I fell into bed early due to not being able to keep my eyes open.

 

It was a very very full weekend, but a good one!



 

 This picture was from last weekend, but I love it.  Please don't miss Lauren's ballerina costume that she has been wearing over just about everything all the time, as well as Mara's pink ball cap that is turned backwards.  I don't know whether these girls are on the edge of fashion, or whether we're really in for it during their teenage years, but I guess time will tell.

 

 I love these cousins pictures--- all tubbed up and enjoying a snack before bedtime at Nana's the other night.  I have a bad feeling that the expression on Mara's face is likely the one we're going to see on every single picture Stacie took of the kids.  Oh my word.

 

 I dare you to find a cuter baby.  Seriously....isn't she adorable?

 

 Hayden and Pap....she has a serious thing for her Pap.  And I think he shares it for her!

 

And these were party craft time pictures.  Mara loved that glue stick- found it necessary to put it on everything.  And I do mean everything.  

A whole lot of catching up...

I think I am now officially so behind on blogging that I ought to just post these pictures and call it a day. We are all fine...just ridiculously busy. And despite my efforts to simplify, I seem to be failing miserably. But we have been having a good time anyway. Halloween was awesome and the kids were adorable. We ended up Trick or Treating in our neighborhood in the rain on Halloween and then going to Trunk or  Treat on Friday evening due to a significant improvement in the weather. We all had fun. I don't love Halloween, but I have learned that when it comes to the kids, I love any special day that makes them smile. And this surely did!

The deck is done!  Masonry work and all. The hot tub has become the respite spot for Jason and me after the kids are tucked into bed. It is wonderful!  I can't wait to be able to enjoy the whole deck this spring and summer to get the full effect. But for now, that 102 degree water around 10:00 pm is heavenly!

I'll end with some silliness....which there has been plenty of. These kids, while driving me to the brink of insanity on more occasions than I am proud to admit, bring a lot of joy, too. 

Party Time!

Yesterday was Joshua's birthday party at our house, and to say he was excited was the understatement of the year.  Joshua has developed an intense love of football- akin to his love of the Presidents without a doubt.  I know it's a dream come true for Jason to have a son who loves to watch football with him and wants to know all about the game.  So it seemed a no brainer to have a football themed party for our little sports enthusiast this year.

Unfortunately, Aunt Libby, Uncle Zig and the girls were home bound for this party because Brooke was sick sick sick.  Joshua was sad to miss them and we hope they're all feeling much better soon.  But Nana and Pap, Grandma and Grandpa and the Mowry's were all on hand to help celebrate Joshua's special day.  His actual birthday is Friday, so expect me to be a puddle of mush at the thought of my baby turning 7.  But for now, consider yourself lucky!

 

Everyone dressed in their favorite football team's attire.  (So basically this turned into a PSU party, but who's complaining about THAT!)  There were some very cool presents which Joshua was very thankful for.  My proudest moment came last night after all of the mess was cleaned up and Joshua was sitting in the living room playing a football video game with Daddy.  I mentioned that I would put his thank you cards in my purse and we could work on them tomorrow after school.  At which point, Joshua stopped what he was doing and came out to the kitchen to start them right then.  He said saying thank you was more important than playing football.  I was so proud of him.

 

Here's a view of the cake I baked for Joshua.  I have to say, the more cakes I do for the kids, the more I like doing them.  I'm certainly no professional, but it's been fun to learn how to do the cakes.  You wouldn't have wanted to see the mess in the kitchen when I was working on the cake on Saturday, but Joshua's smile was well worth it.  I curse his peanut allergy most of the time, but I am thankful that we have found little blessings in it like this.

All of the kids gobbled up their cake.  And then I started feeding the leftovers to our neighbors.  Because that cake was GOOD, and my diet can't stand it being in the same house with me. 

There was lots of outside play time for the boys especially as they played football in the back yard.  Lauren participated for a while until she took a turn into the bad attitude department and decided to come inside.  And then she got a little silly on the deck.  OK....maybe a lot silly.  I adore that girl.

I told Emily earlier today that I keep looking at this picture of the little girls together and I just want to freeze them like they are right now.  So adorable.  They actually played relatively nicely together yesterday, despite the fact that Mara told me she had no intention of sharing any of her toys with Kinley.  Of course, she didn't say that, but the way she emphatically said "NO!" about a hundred times when I asked her to please share her toys told the whole story.  But they did great.

Cooper and Josh were like two peas in a pod in their PSU jerseys and playing football.  Cooper could probably teach Josh a thing or two after playing flag football this season, but I think they both had fun.

Our deck project is just about complete.  I'll post some pictures of it tomorrow unless the kids give me more exciting material tonight!

Progress Report

I believe we can officially say I have a streak running here.  Look how many blog posts in a row there have been this week. 

There wasn't much of tremendous excitement to report yesterday, unless of course you count the fact that I got absolutely drenched while also running like a fool through the parking lot to my car yesterday morning on the way to get Lauren picked up at school.  The poor girl has been literally begging me for weeks to PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE have me pick her up at school and bring her back to the office with me.  And so yesterday, since my schedule here at the office allowed for a "visitor", we did it.  So you can imagine my delight when the flood of rain started falling at the exact moment that I needed to leave to pick up my darling daughter at school.  And the best part....my umbrella was sitting happily on the front seat of the van.  I did what anyone in my situation would have done.  I grabbed a garbage bag from the office, threw it over my head, and screamed like a little girl as I ran through the heaviest rain I have seen in quite some time. 

The good news is that Lauren and I had a delightful time at the office for the remainder of the day.  She gave me her opinion on every single thing I tried to do, helped me put stamps on envelopes, shredded a few things, and then we had Subway.  She also had a chocolate milkshake from McDonalds to go with her sandwich, but I did not indulge in that department because of the 94 Weight Watchers points that would have cost me.  And since I saw the scale move in the right direction for the first time in a loooooong time last Friday morning, I am trying to keep up with the motivation and hope for another good weigh in on Friday morning.  Just before I completely ruin it at PSU Homecoming on Saturday.  But I have to draw the line somewhere.

 

 

The project with the deck continues to move along.  It's been kind of funny seeing no deck when we look out our kitchen window.  Last week, the concrete was poured for the pad that the hot tub sits on, and then on Friday, the hot tub was delivered and plopped onto its new home.  The only frustrating part was that it was full, hot and ready to be awesome on Friday evening, but there was no deck around it to make it usable.  So we just had to stare at it longingly from the kitchen window.  But I will say, it's going to be fantastic.

 

Yesterday, all of the actual decking materials were dropped into our back yard, and the guys worked feverishly to accomplish the littlest bit of something before the skies opened up.  They managed to frame a small bit of the new part of the deck before the rain drops chased them away.

 





These pictures are acting awfully strange, but the top picture is the actual view out of our kitchen window this morning before I left for the office.  The one below that is the view from the street right now- with the new part of the deck starting to take shape.  I hear that they are making good progress today, but I guess we'll have to wait to see what that means when I get home after work today.  I'm hoping it's the visible kind of progress.  Or something that is going to get me closer and closer to that lounge seat in the hot tub with all of the jets that I saw this weekend!

All else is well at the time of this report.  Well, sort of.  The second round of back to school crud has officially hit the children and Jason.  And every once in a while I get a twinge of a feeling that I might soon be hit too.  When that feeling strikes, I pop a Vitamin C (or 3) and hope for the best.  I've resigned myself to the fact that even with all the hand washing and vitamins and fruit and veggie eating in the world, this is pretty much going to be the hamster wheel we are on from now until spring, so we're just gritting our teeth and digging in, providing some extra snuggles and understanding when the kids are feeling less than chipper.  Poor things.

I wonder what I can come up with tomorrow for a post.  Have to keep the streak alive!