NYE 2014

I'm squeezing in one last post into 2014!  I had planned to write a separate post for each of our Christmas parties last week, but that didn't quite work out.  Time just got away from me.  Ahh well...good intentions sometimes don't pan out.  So I will just give you a little summary of our awesome Christmas week.

We started Friday afternoon before Christmas.  I had a half day off, and Matt and I were supposed to go to the movies that afternoon.  That didn't happen.  Life happened instead.  Thursday night Laura came home with a fever, and she and Emma had a fever Friday morning.  So I worked a few hours, and then we took both of them to the doctor.  I was concerned that we were going into the weekend and there was a possibility that they had the flu that is permeating our area.  Thankfully, they didn't have the flu, just a pesky virus.  Their fevers were gone the next day, and they were left with congestion.  Thankfully we got that out of the way before all of the parties started. 

Next up was Saturday night with the Manleys at the Shamrock Club.  The kids spent the night at Grammy and Papa's house, and Matt and I headed out around 7:30.  It was the perfect way to kick off our Holiday.  There was good Buckeyes talk, which is standard whenever we hang with the Manleys.  They are all confident that we are winning the game tomorrow, so much so, that Aunt Sandy, Don, Joe, and Kristy have their trips to Texas booked!  I love it!  We shall see tomorrow.  I'm about 50-60% confident.  I'm a little conservative with only seeing that quarterback once!  Don told us a hilarious childhood story about cars and eggs...I'll leave the rest to your imagination.  This of course spurred Matt's memory about snowballs and cars and a chase through the field.  Go figure.  And then there was some great conversation catching up with some others.  As always, we had an awesome time. 

And we got a bonus that evening.  Matt and I got to do a make - up, and we saw Mockingjay Part 1.  I really enjoyed it.  It was my favorite of the Hunger Games series so far.

The next morning, Matt and I sprung into action to start packing and getting ready for the Adams family Christmas in Logan.  We were spending the night in a hotel there, so I had to pack overnight stuff for the girls and me too.  Matt took care of everything food and drink-wise that we were taking.  We were meeting my parents at noon to get the kids, and shockingly we were pretty much on time.  We headed straight to Logan so that the kids could swim before the party.  And they sure did enjoy it!  The water was freeeeezing.  But it didn't bother the kids too much.  They would just jump in the hot tub quickly and then back into the pool.  I pretty much spent the whole time in the hot tub.  I'm a wuss when it comes to cold water!  Matt stayed in the pool with the girls. Later that evening we headed to the Bowen House for the Adams Christmas party.  The kids had an fun-filled evening.  They ran back and forth through that place about a million times.  Little Emma and her cousin, Rom, battled the whole time.  He's about 6 months younger than her, and they were constantly body slamming each other, or pinching, or shoving, or something.  I felt kind of bad for him because he was taking the brunt of it.  Santa and Mrs. Claus also visited the Christmas party and brought the kids presents.  So that was pretty cool too.  Thank you to everyone that contributed and made the party happen.  It was certainly an enjoyable time.

Emma posing for me.

 My nephew, Bryce, kissing his sweet Grandma Rosemund.

 Emma's cousin and opponent, Rom.

We went home the next day, and that afternoon Kara and Sydney came over for a visit.  The girls and Sydney played and played and played to their heart's content.  Kara, Emma's godmother, brought her a baby doll nursery set.  All of our girls love it.  As I suspected many of our babies are getting use out of it!  Sydney was so sweet and made the other two girls bracelets and brought them all reindeer food.  She is so sweet and thoughtful!  It was nice for me too to get to have some girlfriend time.  :)

Tuesday night we spend with the Manleys for our annual Christmas gathering.  Our girls love to play with Sophia, and they had a great time this year too!  The highlight for me was Danielle's dinner!  It was SO good!  She made all of these yummy homemade toppings for taco night.  We had pulled beef, coleslaw, pineapple salsa, tomato salsa, rice and beans, and the list goes on.  I loved it!  Of course the kids opened some gifts, which was fun too.  Then off they went to play, while we got some adult conversation.  Yay!!  It was another fun evening.

Next up - Christmas Eve!  We went to Mass at Holy Cross downtown, which was beautiful, and then we headed to dinner with my parents, Alan and Jayne, Chelsea and Josh at Brio.  It was such a nice time!  We got to catch up with Chelsea and Josh, who we don't see often.  I don't think I've seen Chelsea in a year!  And dinner was delicious!  The kids opened some gifts and played and chatted before dinner.  Little Hannah fell asleep at dinner!  Emma crawled under the table about twenty times.  It all went way too fast.   When we got home, the kids put their cookies out for Santa and sprinkled their reindeer food in the lawn and headed to bead.  Thankfully, they were so tired, they went to bed with no fight and fell right to sleep.  I was able to move little Emma straight from the van to her bed (or mine).

Our elf leaving some Christmas Eve earrings for the girls

Matt and Jayne

Alan and Matt conspiring

Jayne and Chelsea (and my mom and dad at the end of the table)

Christmas morning was magical.  The girls watched a secret video that Johnny the elf left them of Santa in our house!  And then they tore into their stockings.  They could hardly hold themselves back as I started to hand them presents.  It was a blast that ended with a tornado in the living room.  After breakfast, we relaxed for a while and enjoyed the morning.  We watched Christmas Vacation and sipped on eggnog.  Perfect Christmas Morning.  Then of course, we headed to my parents' house.  The excitement started all over again.  Dad made some very decadent, traditional oyster soup.  I loved it.  He also had Merry Berry, which is another Prochaska tradition.  It's a frozen juice and bourbon beverage.  So yummy!  There was presents and lots of good visiting.  My mom and Aunt Lisa made an awesome Christmas dinner that I would be remiss if I didn't mention.  It was so good!

The girls enjoying their fancy holiday drinks! (ginger ale)

They have their new headlamps on for hobbit hunting with Papa!

And then Saturday we repeated our Christmas gathering at my parents' again with Ellen and Justin.  They were in Michigan with Justin's family on Christmas, so we met up with them on Saturday.  We had dinner again with all of the fixings and presents and lots of visiting.  I think it was win-win-win! 

Emma got this Cabbatch Patch kid, but Laura claimed her.

And we even squeezed in a little baking :)

Our Christmas was complete.  I would not have changed one thing about it.  And that brings us to the end of 2014!  Whoa!  I can't believe this year is over already.  It seems to have flown by.  Slow down Father Time!  I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Weekend of Memories

On to last weekend!  We started off last weekend with what is becoming our tradition, going to the Nutcracker Ballet at Ohio Theater.  We bought the tickets in July, and Hannah has pretty much been excited since then.  She talked about it all the time.  When the week finally came, she was bouncing off the walls every night.  That Friday during the day, she had to go to daycare, and I think she talked about it all day.  I picked her up, and she screamed, "Is it time for the Nutcracker?!!"  She bounded to me faster than she ever has.  One of her little friends said, "I want to go to the Nutcracker."  It was kind of sad.  So we changed the girls at daycare into their dresses, and got them some dinner.  Then we headed downtown.  Whenever we are driving with the girls into downtown, they always say, "We're coming to the city!"  It's so funny, like we live in the sticks.  We kind of do, but it's not that far out of town. They love all of the lights in downtown, and during Christmas everything is decorated.  We parked by Columbus Commons, which was all decked out in lights.

Ohio Theatre is so beautiful, and I'm thankful that we have it in Columbus.  The girls feel like princesses there.  Speaking of which, as soon as we walked in the door, Cinderella was there, marketing for another show.  Emma was mesmerized.  She went right up to her.  It was over.  Right there.  Nothing could have been better for Emma than that moment.  Of course, the first thing that Laura and Hannah needed to do was use the restroom.  So off we went to stand in line.  Then we looked around for a while and took a few pictures.

So you will notice that I mentioned Emma.  Yes, we took Emma with us to the show.  I knew it was a risk but thought that she might enjoy it or she would at least fall asleep.  Well, we weren't so successful in the first act.  We made it about ten minutes into the show, and I had to leave with her.  We hung out in the lobby area, and she danced about and sang and played.  The ushers and staff enjoyed talking to her, and she enjoyed entertaining them.  And of course we ran into Cinderella again.  She bent down to Emma's level, and Emma held her face in her hands and told her she was beautiful.  She's only two, so she probably won't remember any of it.  But she can read this years later and know that she loved Cinderella that night.  The second act she did a little better.  We made it through anyway.  She was getting really tired, so she was very restless and constantly moving from my lap to Matt's lap to the seat.  But towards the end she was falling asleep on the seat.  Laura was asleep by the end of the show too.  But not Hannah!  Hannah loved it!

At the end of the show, the girls wanted to go look at the orchestra pit again.  They had looked several times prior to the show.  But most of the musicians had cleared out fairly fast.  Matt's friend from band, Doug Droste, was the conductor, and he graciously offered to show the girls back stage.  I think they were really too tired to appreciate it.  But it was really cool.  Thank you Doug.  What a treat!

The excitement didn't end after that night.  Even into this week, Hannah and Laura wanted to bring their nutcrackers to school to show their friends.  I think nutcrackers will always be a part of our Christmas tradition.

They really didn't want their picture taken.

Saturday Laura had basketball again, and she loved it.  She is bummed that they are off for a week now.  I'm so happy she likes it.  I again took the little girls to the store while Matt was with Laura, and they did so well!  I was so proud of them.  Often the store is a challenge, but little Miss Hannah has become quite the helper.  She helped me get things, and she helps entertain her little sister.   Then Saturday night, we headed out to see the Zoo Lights.  We have been to this event many times in the last several years, BUT never on the weekend.  Now I know why.  We had a great time....once we got there.  Traffic was terrible and backed up for miles trying to get to the zoo.  When we finally got there, it was soooo packed.  Thankfully the kids and my parents enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it too.  It was a pleasant evening, about 40 degrees and no precipitation.  So really we couldn't complain.  We got to make a special memory, and that's what counts.  We took the stroller, and Hannah and Laura rode in it more than Emma.  Emma walked almost the whole time!

Sunday after church I finished my Christmas shopping.  Yep, you read that right.  I'm done!  Yay!  Of course, I haven't wrapped a thing.  It will get done, eventually.

And of course the flu is going around Columbus like wild fire.  So we got an email this week that it was in Laura's classroom.  I was so hoping we could just get through the week.  It's the last week before break!  Matt and I are supposed to have a half day tomorrow to go see a movie.  But alas, Laura has a fever.  So I'm praying that it's not the flu.  Say a prayer for us!

We have several parties, family gathering and friend visits planned in the coming week (assuming we stay healthy), and I think I am going to try to blog about each one individually.  We'll see how it goes!

Merry Christmas All!

P.S. I've read Mary's blog at Passionate Perseverance for awhile.  Say a prayer for them too.  Her daughter is in her final days/hours.  Mary's blog reminds me that we don't get to choose what cards we are dealt in life, but every situation happens for a reason.  And every life is a blessing.

Friends, Family, Christmas Tree, and Santas

It's the third week of Advent already, and we have been jamming our Christmas season full of great memories.  The first full weekend in December was the one that we did Breakfast with Santa at our school, enjoyed the B1G 10 Championship with our friends, and we made our annual trip to Saum's tree farm to get the Adams' Family Christmas Tree!  You know it's a good weekend when you get to 11pm Sunday night, and you haven't sat down.  And you are utterly exhausted! 

It started Friday night when Matt volunteered at the school and set up the Breakfast with Santa.  We have to volunteer a certain number of times during the school year, and this is an event that we can do in the evening and not take time off work.  Then Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the event.  The kids enjoyed the pancake toss and the games the most.  When it was Laura and Hannah's turn to catch their pancakes, Emma walked right in front of them and started telling the pancake guy each of her family member's name.  She was so cute!  Then we went into the gym to play the games.  The games were similar to the ones at the church festival, and they give away trinkets, which my kids LOVE... and I don't.  For those that know me well, you know that I will be throwing those away in short order!  Anyway, the kids were not really that interested in Santa.  Once they got close to him, Emma really like him.  She hugged him and snuggled.  Hannah was luke warn about him and told him what she wanted for Christmas.  I don't think Laura believed that he was the real thing.  When he asked her to sit on his lap, Laura said, "umm, I'm 7."  She reluctantly did sit on his lap.  Emma actually liked this snowman that was walking around more than Santa.  I think she thought he was Olaf, and she wanted him to come with us everywhere.

After our eventful morning, we ran some errands and headed home.  Matt and Laura headed immediately back out for Laura's first basketball practice!  Matt said that she did really well.  They ran various drills, practicing the fundamentals.  Then they played a few games, like minnows and sharks, where they practiced stealing the ball from one another.  I'm so happy that she is trying it.  I enjoyed basketball so much as a kid, and I hope that I get to watch my kids play too.

While Laura and Matt were at her practice, I took the other two to the grocery store.  Then we got ready for our friends, the Childresses and Tony, to come over and watch the big game with us.  The kids had a GRAND time.  The girls hadn't seen the Childress girls in a long time, and they played until they practically collapsed.  Emma actually did cash out, and the other two fell asleep fast after our guests left.  It was nice to visit and hang out with friends, and it sure helped that we shut out Wiscy to win the B1G 10 title.

This is Avery and Laura.  I think they are playing zombies.

The next morning after church we caught up on some cleaning, and then my parents came in the afternoon, and we headed down to Saum's.  We have been going there for about six or seven years, and it is an awesome experience.  This year the weather was beautiful, and I think the entire city of Columbus was there.  It was as packed as I have ever seen it.  Hannah chose our tree this year, and it is the biggest one that we have had.  It is about 8 1/2 feet tall and broad.  Along with picking out the tree, the kids enjoyed cookies and cocoa, and then they got to sit on Santa's lap, for the second time in one weekend!  The Santa and Mrs. Claus at Saum's are really good.  They look really genuine, and they are really good with the kids too.  Laura and Hannah loved them.  Emma wasn't into it this time, but Emma being temperamental is not unusual.  Gotta love her :)  When we got home, I fixed us some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  That's one of the girls' favorite meals.  Then my parents left, and we set to work decorating.  Matt got about 45 minutes into putting lights on the tree, and a light on his strand went out and blew the fuse.  All of his lights were out.  He was not a happy camper.  He ripped off the lights and threw them all in the trash.  Then he went into Meijer and bought all new lights and a star.  Eventually we did get the tree decorated.  In fact we got the entire house decorated except for the village that night.  (And we got the village up the next night.) It was an awesome day.  It wasn't without it's stressful moments (Emma may have been difficult from time to time), but overall we will remember the fun parts of the day.  Hannah is very proud of the fact that she chose the perfect tree, and that is so special to me!

Maybe later in the week, I'll tell you about this weekend's adventures.  Only 10 days until Christmas!