PROJECT 365 - Day 365!!! - New Year's Eve!
I can hardly believe that 2011 is about to come to an end. What a year it has been - I wouldn't trade a single moment. We spent the day at Hershey Park and came home to ring in the new year in jammies. The Princess went off to bed about an hour ago. The Boy just gave up and went to bed about 10 minutes ago. My Wonderful Husband has been dozing on and off but is up now. The Bear is still awake and thrilled to be able to ring in the new year at midnight. I am certain that this is the first year in quite some time that I have actually been awake at this time - the things I will do for my kids... ;-) Well 2011 - you have been a pretty good year and as we bid you farewell we welcome in 2012 with hopes for continued happiness, health, love, laughter, and time spent together! Happy New Year!
PROJECT 365 - Day 364 - SR4ever
These two have created a band. They spent the better part of the day writing songs for said band. I'm thinking this would make a great CD cover - introducing.... SR4ever!!
PROJECT 365 - Day 363 - Our first baby
The Puppy was our first baby. We got married in August 1997 and it was mere weeks before I begged My Wonderful Husband to get a dog. I grew up with a dog and was having a hard time living without one. We had gotten married, moved to a new state, started a new job, and I wanted a puppy!!! My Wonderful Husband relented and we found an ad in the paper for puppies for sale in Wilmington, DE. Off we went to Wilmington where we found a few puppies left and picked out this sweet baby as soon as we walked in. We drove home with her in a box on my lap and quickly ran out to the store to get all of the accessories that a sweet little puppy needs.... a crate, food, bowls, and tons of toys including, but not limited to, her Tiger Baby. She quickly claimed My Wonderful Husband's Redskins blanket as her own and went on to chew it to bits but still slept with it every night. She has been with us from the beginning - through 5 moves, 3 states, 3 children, and countless other life events. She is not feeling too well these days and a visit to the vet today left us with some hard choices. I don't know what the next few days might bring, but today she is here and she will always be our first baby.
PROJECT 365 - Day 362 - Trading
You know what's better than getting cool football cards in your Christmas stocking? Laying them all out and trading them!! The boys are having so much fun with their football cards. (The Princess has a few too.... :-))
PROJECT 365 - Day 361 - A Sleeping Princess
Have I mentioned how much The Princess LOVES the sleep mask she got in her stocking this Christmas? Just a weeee bit ;-) When I went in to her room tonight this is what I found - a sleeping princess.
PROJECT 365 - Day 360 - Some favorites....
We spent the day relaxing after all of the holiday craziness of the past month. The kids spent the day playing their new DS's and their new games for Wii. But in between all of their video gaming, they also played with some other favorites that they got for Christmas this year. The Bear built his new Star Wars lego set and was very proud of the finished product. The Princess played with her new squinkies and squinkie dispenser. The Boy played with his new Imaginext ninja castle that he thought was pretty cool! And me? Well....My Wonderful Husband surprised me this Christmas with a new pretty Coach bag and there is nothing better than filling up a new purse;-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 359 - Just Dance
Merry Christmas! While I have tons of great "Christmasy" pictures from today - piles of presents, kids coming down the stairs, huge smiles while opening the perfect gift, yummy food, delicious cookies, etc....the last picture I took today was an overwhelming choice for the picture of the day. The day was winding down, jerseys were off, DS's put aside after a long day of play, piles of loot littering the floor, couch, tables, you name it, and a spontaneous dance party erupted - proving that you do indeed need to "just dance". ;-) I could not love this dance crew any more....and we could not have had a better Christmas day!
PROJECT 365 - Day 358 - Waiting for Santa
I love Christmas Eve. I love the stillness of the day. Even with three kids who are bouncing off the walls excited waiting for Santa to come, there is still a stillness about the day. I love that the day ends in new jammies, putting cookies and beer out for Santa (yes beer...don't you think he gets enough milk? ) and fruit for the reindeer. We said goodbye to the elves tonight too since they will be heading back to the North Pole with Santa tonight. Now, I need to get to bed myself, so that Santa can come... :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 357 - My Elf Posse
My little elves helped me decorate the tree at the beach house today. My Wonderful Husband was out catching some Christmas surf and Poppy was finishing up some physical therapy before coming down for Christmas. So it was up to me and my elf posse to get this tree trimmed and they out - did themselves! They even tied the bows!
PROJECT 365 - Day 356 - Yo Ho Ho Ho!
The Leonard Christmas caravan (two cars, three kids, two dogs...etc etc) arrived on the island tonight ready to celebrate another salty Christmas. We made a little detour to check out some Christmas lights. Yo Ho Ho Ho - it's a pirate's Christmas for us! ;-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 355 - Parties #2 and #3
Today was The Bear and The Princess' holiday parties. They had so much fun!
PROJECT 365 - Day 354 -Party #1
Today was The Boy's holiday party at school. There were cool crafts and a fun game and enough yummy treats to feed all of the elves at the North Pole! He had a blast and was good and sugared up when he got home! :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 353 - Visit with Santa
We took the kids to see Santa tonight. Everyone got a chance to talk to Santa and tell him what they are hoping to find under the tree.
PROJECT 365 - Day 352 - Cookie Tasters
I usually have a strict rule about dipping into the cookies before Christmas.... But My Wonderful Husband let our little cookie tasters test out some today with hot chocolate. "It's the Sunday before Christmas." he said. Then he took a picture for Project 365 and you know I couldn't argue with that. ;-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 351 - Food, Holidays, and Traditions
Food has played an important role in my holidays growing up and continues to play an important role in holidays with my own family. When it comes to Christmas, there are the cookies. When I was younger, my mom started them after Thanksgiving and I think I have mentioned how my role evolved over the years until they became my job. Christmas Eve is about the fish which I have never been a huge fan of, although for the sake of teaching my children to try new things, I have tried everything over the years (with the exception of calamari because...that is just gross ;-)) Whether I eat the fish or not, I do it because the traditions are what make the holiday for me. Christmas day has always been gravy with all of the meats and usually manicotti. I started helping my dad make the manicotti shells ....hmmm... a long time ago.... He taught me how to work the old heavy cast iron pans to move the batter around so it doesn't burn and how to make the shells pop right out of the pan. I was his apprentice for many years before the pans were passed as well as the torch. It then became my job and like the battles that I had with cookies when they became my job, there was sometimes un-Christmas like language involved in the process. But as the years went on, I got better and better and I am pretty proud of my manicotti. In recent years, in an effort to downsize some of the food while the kids were little, we substituted ravioli for manicotti. Although we would get the really good ravioli that you need to order ahead of time, I felt guilty for leaving behind a Christmas tradition that I love. So tonight after dinner I decided to first get the meatballs made and frozen for Christmas and then decided why not make the manicotti too while I am at it. I am not gonna lie, I sort of rock at making these. ;-) So 45 meatballs and 46 manicotti shells later....I am ready for Christmas.... (well sort of...there are still tons of other things to do.... :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 350 - Gingerbread House 2011
Our annual gingerbread house came out pretty good... it might not look like the very professional looking one on the box.... but we worked pretty hard on it and I think it turned out great!
PROJECT 365 - Day 349 - Operation Cookies!
I am a bit behind this year and may not get as much done as usual, but today was all about Operation Cookies! It was cookie central over here and I am not even done yet tonight. I made the biscotti this afternoon and My Wonderful Husband made the chocolate chip cookies tonight. While the cookies were cooling we had some sneaky cookie tasters lurking in the kitchen.... Now that my biscotti are good and cool, I am off to go dip them in white chocolate and sprinkle them to make them look festive! :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 348 - Squinky Soccer
While The Boy was waiting for his turn to get in the shower tonight, he set up a game of squinky soccer. It was some game..... :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 347 - Decorative Mischief
When we woke up this morning, we found that the elves had gotten in to our wrapping paper and had done some decorative mischief! Our chairs look boring and un-festive no more! The kids were absolutely thrilled with our gift wrapped chairs! :-) Thanks Isabelle, Barnes, and Burke - job well done last night! ;-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 346 - Something about this time of year....
There is something about this time of year with all of the excitement and hustle and bustle..... For all of the fun things going on and the countless memories.... there are days when getting three kids ready for bed by 8pm is a really good thing.
PROJECT 365 - Day 345 - Cookie Fun!
I am not sure how it happened but it is already December 11th! I woke up this morning in full panic mode because I realized that I had one batch of cookies complete and not much else done in the way of Christmas prep. The Christmas chain that hangs in the kitchen was mocking me and stressing me out! Yeah, yeah, yeah... I KNOW how many days are left ok? Quit reminding me! So, that being said, I planned a day of Christmas prep today including making some more cookies. Luckily I had a little helper ready to make the thumbprint dough and then two additional helpers later willing to push their thumbs into some dough! The Princess was so excited to help and that reminded me that all of this prep is supposed to be fun....not work.... So, I averted my eyes from the mocking Christmas chain, set to work on the cookies trying to look at it through the excited eyes of my children, cranked the Christmas tunes, and had some cookie fun!
PROJECT 365 - Day 344 - Three guys, a soccer game, and an empty pizza box
Today was the first day of indoor soccer practice for all three kids. After the practices, we split up so I could get The Princess and a friend to another friend's birthday party. Meanwhile, Daddy and the boys got a pizza and went home to watch soccer. When I got back I found an empty pizza box and three guys hanging out watching soccer.
PROJECT 365 - Day 343 - A few hours....
It was so nice to have a few hours out tonight with My Wonderful Husband. Thanks to our neighbor for watching the kids and for taking a picture of me and my love :-).
PROJECT 365 - Day 342 -Magical Bedtime Routine
During the time that our elves are here with us, before our normal bedtime routines there is a magical bedtime routine. The kids sprinkle their elves with magic North Pole snowflakes (that magically brings them to life), feed them something crunchy (that reminds them of walking on the snow in the north pole) and leave them some water (that reminds them of melted North Pole snow). Once this task is done, the kids say goodnight to their elves wondering what magical escapades they will have that night.
PROJECT 365 - Day 341 - They must be calling for snow....
They must be calling for snow, because the grill is on! Let me explain. My Wonderful Husband and I have this strange tradition. It all started when The Bear and The Princess were infants and we had a blizzard in MD..... our neighbors came over and we had a BBQ - yes a BBQ. Since then, it seems that when snow is in the forecast we don't start thinking about soup and hot chocolate but instead we fire up the grill! Strange, I know....but yummy.... and oddly cozy.
PROJECT 365 - Day 340 - The Babysitter
So, Poppy's dog has been with us for over a week now and she has finally resigned herself to her current situation. I believe that she does not feel that she is here so that we can "dog sit" her but rather she is here so that she can "babysit" the children. That being said, she takes that job very seriously and can usually be found where ever you can find the kids. As you can see, it is an exhausting job to be the babysitter. ;-)
PROJECT 365- Day 339 - Burke, Isabelle, & Barnes
The elves arrived this weekend after we put up our Christmas tree. The kids woke up Sunday morning and found them waiting for them in their rooms. Then this morning when we woke up we found that Burke, Isabelle, and Barnes had taken my camera last night and had a little photo shoot! I guess they wanted to make sure that they made it into PROJECT 365! Those silly elves - what will they think of next? ;-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 338 - Let there be lights!
The Christmas decorations are complete now that the outside lights are up! I love the way our house looks with Christmas lights!
PROJECT 365 - Day 337 - The Christmas Tree Farm
Today was our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm. I can hardly believe that this is the 15th Christmas that My Wonderful Husband and I have gone to cut down our tree! It is even harder to believe that we have had "company" on these trips for 9 years now.... We have been going to this tree farm for the past 8 years with first two munchkins, then three. As I snapped this picture (a shot I try to get every year) it was one of those moments that I have been having a lot of lately... My goodness, they are getting so big! I remember carrying them in backpacks as we tromped around the farm. I remember not getting very far and pretty much picking the first tree that looked good.... I think this was the first year that no one rode on Daddy's shoulders. Instead, they set off together down the path and really helped us pick out the tree.
PROJECT 365 - Day 336 - Santa hats
There is just something about Santa hats that make these kids happy and that really makes me smile. It is truly the little things in life. :-)
PROJECT 365 - Day 335 - The Countdown Has Begun!
The countdown has begun! We took the first link off of the Christmas chain tonight and the kids made their own Christmas chains to hang in their rooms. There are now 23 days until Christmas!
