Our Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I had an awesome Christmas!

My parents and Big Papa came over to our house on Christmas Eve for gifts and appetizers. The food was yummy and we had a great time together. Big Papa and Papa watched a movie while the rest of us hung out. It was really nice to have everyone over.

It was just the 4 of us on Christmas morning, opening gifts, having sweet rolls later on and napping later on. I swear I have the weirdest kids - they woke up about an hour after I did!

The kids made out like bandits! Nathan had Christmas at his mom's house last weekend and he got a Wii. (Sweet ass Jesus I wish we had a Wii. Tax time is coming though!) Comparatively, it's hard to live up to a Christmas where a kid gets a $300 gaming system, but we tried.

Nathan's big gift for this Christmas was an acoustic guitar. For his birthday we'll buy him stuff so he can learn how to play it, but for now it's really beautiful and sounds amazing. He also got 2 PS3 games, some clothes, books, candy, a new wallet and some board games.

Katherine's big gift for this Christmas was her Fun2Learn Computer Cool School from Gigi and Papa. She really loves it! We also got her all 5 Yo Gabba Gabba plush characters. Those are her favorite things. She got a Life Size Barbie and she loves that one too. She also got regular barbies, clothes, art kit and drawing kit, books, puzzles and candy.

Jonathan told me not to buy him anything, so I didn't, but the stinker went out and bought me a new set of knives! I love them completely. When I opened them up I thought I had a stroke since I couldn't feel my face for a good 2 minutes. It was the best gift and I love them!

Jonathan and I got clothes and body stuff from my parents and a new king size comforter from his parents. Coupled with the fact that we were all able to be together on Christmas, it was a great holiday and we were very lucky.

After Christmas, I was able to have my cousin Steven come over. He's been visiting the last couple days and we've had a blast, especially Nathan. We don't have extended family around here, so when they do come over, it's always fun.

I was also able to go see Sarah and Jackson, which was the first time seeing Jackson. What an adorable boy! Katherine fell in love with him. Sarah took pictures of the two of them playing, so hopefully those will be up on Facebook soon!

Katherine took a picture of me while I was folding clothes last week and I saw how HUGE I am. I'm not happy. I knew I was gaining weight, but this is ridiculous! So Jonathan and I are going on the South Beach diet together starting next Wednesday. This will be something that will help me to feel better about myself and be healthier for me. I'll also look better so that's a plus.

Tonight is New Year's but I don't have any plans except for to get drunk on Crown Royal and Coke and watch movies! Maybe not drunk, but I will drink some. =)

So with my new goals and achievements for the new year, I will start 2009 with high hopes!!!

Posted new pictures on Facebook... here and here. Enjoy! And Happy New Year!!!

Santa RULES!!!

I found the Yellow Robot today at K-mart. WOOHOO!!!!

Holy Christmas, Batman!!

Well, Christmas is less than a week away and I still have gifts to buy. My brother and his lady friend are coming in from California over the New Year, so I have time to buy for them. But as for the other people on my list (Jonathan, My Parents, Bill (found out I'm not done with him)), I still have until this Wednesday. And before my mother tries to say that I don't need to buy her anything, I'm almost 30 - quit bossin'! =P

Well, we had Slimmen Christmas last weekend, and what a weird sensation. I left feeling like Christmas was over. We usually have Slimmen Christmas on Christmas Eve, but couldn't this year. Coupled with the fact that Nathan wasn't able to be with us at Slimmen Christmas for the 4th year in a row, it just wasn't the same at all.

And, considering my brother is in California now, our Christmas schedule is really screwed up (according to me). But the bright side is that my parents will be coming over to spend Christmas Eve with us, hopefully starting a new tradition. I love entertaining, especially my parents, because I love cooking good food for people I love. I'm fat, isn't it obvious? =D

We took Katherine to see Santa at Wal-mart two weeks ago as well, and boy was it bad. They had some 30 year old guy (REALLY YOUNG!!) dressed up as Santa, sitting on a bench handing out leftover Halloween candy. Talk about ambience. So Katherine is asked what she wants for Christmas, and I'm hoping she says doll, car, doll car, game; any one of the items that I've already purchased would be nice. Instead, she says "Yellow robot, please". Yellow robot? Yellow ROBOT?!? What the heck is a yellow robot?!?!?!?

Finally, after trying to figure it out, I go to the internet. Nope, no yellow robot comes up. Darn it! So I'm talking about this with my parents and Ed says "is it on a cartoon she watches?" It hits me! Yo Gabba Gabba's Plex the Yellow Robot!!! She has Toodee, the blue plush, but she doesn't have Plex. So I go to the store where I've seen Plex. None! None at Wal-mart, Meijer or K-mart. I'm in a panic still because it's 4 days to Christmas and the only place I can find them is online and it won't be here before Christmas even if I had ordered it a week ago. ARGH!!

Believe me, I'm still trying to find them. And I WILL find them.

Snow Days! We've had 4 so far this year, and Katherine hates them because they mean no school and no friends. She loves school! We're so lucky. We had parent-teacher conferences last week and they said that Katherine is very well behaved, although a bit impatient when it comes to waiting her turn. She can write her name so nicely and she can do the ABC song, but can't identify all of the letters. Those she can identify, she can tell you the sound and name a word that goes with the letter. So I'm working with her on identifying and writing. And she loves to read!

(will write more later!)

Thanksgiving, then Black Friday, then Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Happy Holidays everyone!

Last week was Thanksgiving. And it was wonderful! I got up early and made some desserts - Pumpkin Pie Bars and Pumpkin Pie. (They were both delicious!) Then I started on the big item - our turkey!

I brushed it with butter and olive oil, put in a bag and put it in the roaster (unstuffed) for almost 3 hours. It was so moist and so delicious! This was followed up by the preparation of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed yams, whole cranberry sauce and biscuits. Yummy!!!

It went so well, I was able to take a nap at 3 pm until 5 pm. It was a wonderful day.

And I stayed up that night until 1:30 am. Then I woke up 2 and a half hours later to go shopping on Black Friday. Now I've never done this before - either we've been completely broke or I've been working. This year we're only semi-broke and neither of us are working. So away we went to shop for some deals.

Black Friday was a complete nightmare at Wal-mart. People were animals! They were running and pushing and just plain rude. I got nailed in the head with a Barbie car, I had my fingers pinched in between my cart and some ladies' ass and I got told by several people to give them some product that was "blocking" them from getting on their own. Aceholes.

But I did end up getting some deals there. Waited for an hour in line to check out, but finally made it out of there. We moseyed on over to Meijer afterward, and it was soo much nicer. The line was not even an issue, there were plenty of items and it was just a gentle let down from the insanity that was Wal-mart.

After both stores, we went and grabbed some breakfast, then headed on home. Katherine slept for 5 hours. I wrapped presents and then took a nap. I was intending to set up the Christmas tree that day before Nathan had to go to his mom's, but she called and rearranged the trade time, leaving us with no time to decorate. So I waited until yesterday to put up the tree and start decorating. Saturday I just cleaned out Katherine's toys and made room for the tree. Here is the before photo:

Yes, those are the gifts that I bought on Friday and weeks previous. I haven't purchased all of the gifts yet, but I'm working on it. Next week I should be able to find the rest of my gifts and be done with it!

So anyway, yesterday, while Jonathan went to get Nathan, Katherine and I put up the Christmas tree. We decorated, lit and had the angel up by the time the guys got home. And it's pretty good looking, even though we have yet to put the bows and the garland on it yet. Here's what it looks like:Yes, Katherine's wearing a dress. This is the only picture I can publish, since the rest of them, and the video, she kept flashing her underwear... that's my girl.

So Christmas is coming up. In addition to buying for my immediate family, I also buy for my parents, my in-laws, my siblings who keep in touch and for the names we drew for the Slimmen Christmas. So far, I've got nothing done except for Katherine, Bill, Steven and Grandpa Slimmen. While I only have one gift left to purchase for the rest of them, I'm nervous that I won't have enough money to drive them their gifts! =) No bother, it will work out.

So I"m off to look at my pretty Christmas light and hang out with the boys, watching CSI reruns. Fun stuff!

Katherine's Birthday - Part 2

Katherine Anne finished off her birthday festivities yesterday. And I am super happy to do so. =)

Thursday, I got an e-mail from Katherine's teacher saying that Katherine was complaining that she didn't feel well. Since that never happens, I was very concerned. She came home and seemed fine, but Friday she woke up with a fever, coughing, sneezing, etc. Needless to say, she didn't go to school. I also canceled her friends' party - the last thing anyone needed was to send their child to a sick child's party. Not fun!

Friday I spent running around and making cupcakes and cakes. And, like their predecessors, they were pretty darn good. Although, I'm glad I'm done with cupcakes for a while. They're great, but I need a break to appreciate them.

Saturday - I made homemade macaroni and cheese and baked macaroni for the party, along with easy cheesy salsa dip. The pictures from the party are here. My family came and Jon's parents came to help celebrate Katherine's birthday. Lots of conversations and playing around. It was great!

This week is Thanksgiving - Thursday we'll be watching the parade in the morning and then having dinner in the early afternoon. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, yams, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie - yummy! We'll also be watching the Lions game. Go Lions!

Then Friday we will be decorating for Christmas!!! Christmas tree, lights, stockings and putting out the presents we already have. Katherine and I had the privilege of seeing several Christmas light displays while driving this evening. She squealed with delight everytime we saw one. A Christmas tree, a bush decorated. They all look beautiful! We are both huge fans of Christmas, so we will be having a fantastic time this Friday and the rest of the Christmas season. The music will be allowed too! =)

Katherine's Birthday - Part 1

Katherine, my little angel, turned 5 years old last Saturday. We had an amazing day. It started out kinda slow. We stayed up past midnight to make cupcakes and Katherine was so excited. Heck, I was excited. It was her birthday!!!

For the record, I stayed up until 3 am making Raspberry Jell-o cupcakes, but I forgot to take a picture. So, here is a picture of the ones I made for her class the day before.

And yes, they were as yummy as you can imagine. They were delicioso!

So anyway, back to Katherine's birthday. This year Katherine's birthday is very confusing. There was the "party" at the school, where I sent treat bags with invitations to her home party, some candy, sunglasses, treasures, a notebook and crayons, along with her cupcakes. Everything seems to be a hit.

Then there was her actual birthday, where we had a visit from Gigi bearing a funny card. Then we were going to go out for pizza, games and bowling at The Gate. Oh, before hand, Daddy took Katherine to the store and let her pick out 2 toys, one of which Gigi had purchased, which is cool. (We paid $17.99 at Meijer on Saturday - Gigi paid $7.29 at Wal-mart the day before. Not cool Meijer, not cool.)

Well, we got through the Gigi visit and Katherine was only a little disappointed that she wasn't going to Gigi's house, but only because I was always convincing her that we were going to the games. So we get to the Gate (3 pm in the afternoon on a Saturday) and it's dark, cigarette smoky and crowded with adults. So we're can't bowl. We run through the alley part to the kids section (why is that at the back and not the front?) and almost all of the games were broken. Talk about crap. Plus, Katherine plowed through 5 bucks in 5 minutes. Not right!

So Jonathan had a brilliant idea - let's go to Chuck E. Cheese's! So we did - we went down to Alpine Ave. We got in there and had to wait in line a bit, but it was so worth it. We ate pizza and took turns running around with Katherine. She loved the crane game, but I didn't get a picture of her on it. But I did get pictures of her on pretty much everything else. =) And guess what? It took her 3 hours to plow through 5 bucks of tokens. That's awesome!

Afterwards, we went to the theatre next door and saw Madagascar 2, which was so funny. The theatre was virtually empty (there were 11 people in the whole place) and so Katherine walked up and down the rows picking out her new seat, all the while through the movie. She was quiet, though, and really enjoyed the movie.

After a long day, we headed back to Big Rapids, but stopped in Cedar Springs for a movie and something to eat. It was a long long day, but the best time. Katherine was so excited to go home, when we pulled into the exit, she screamed "HOME!". It was very cute.

Well, this weekend is the Family and Friends party, and then Katherine's birthday will officially be over. We've only gotten an RSVP from one of Katherine's school friends, so I don't know how fun that hour will be, but once her friends go home we will have family over for games and food. I'm scatter brained as to what I have to do yet, but I'll get there.

Keith Olbermann speaks to us

Fall to Indian Summer to Winter?

It could only do that in Michigan. And it did it within the past week. Talk about weird. Katherine was wearing shorts last Wednesday and wore capris to school on Thursday. Saturday she was wearing a winter coat and her boots because it was snowing.

So this weekend we unexpectedly had Nathan with us. It was awesome. We had a good time. Friday night we had a mini game night. We played Yahtzee and then Chutes & Ladders. It's kind of hard - Nathan and Katherine both have short attention span. It's always fun though to break out the board games, the good music and the hot chocolate to spend time with the kids.

Saturday we woke up and cleaned the apartment. Gigi came over and took Katherine to her and Papa's house for the evening, so the three of us (Jonathan, Nathan and myself) took a midnight stroll through downtown Big Rapids. Not exactly midnight - we left our house at 9 pm and came back at 11 pm. The weather was a bit cold but the air was crisp and it was great for a walk. We goofed around, chatted, listened to music, and got to experience the freaky people that inhabit our town after dark. Mostly Nathan.

Katherine had a lot of fun at Gigi and Papa's (my parents). She got to play Papa's drums while Papa built her a playhouse from a huge cardboard box. Then Papa, the superman he is, made cheese pizza, her favorite. Think she's got them wrapped around her finger enough? =)

Sunday, we woke up and decided to play games again. I whooped Nathan's behind at Monopoly. Thanks to my brother Ryan for being a cutthroat Monopoly player from the age of 7 so that I knew how to completely abolish Nathan at the game. =)

Since I really killed him at it, he wanted to play Risk with me. We had to go get Katherine at this time, so we put the game on pause for a Katherine and food run to Baldwin, then came back and started.

I will state this now - I don't think I properly know how to play Risk. I read the instructions over and over and over again, but I still don't get it. So, we play based on what it seems like the instructions are trying to tell us. It's a mess, but Nathan and I have fun.

Well, it's cold out, but we haven't yet turned on the heat. I really don't want to either. Sweaters, blankets, boiling water, whatever, just don't turn on the heat! I'm dreading seeing the first bill, deciding whether to get the kids presents for Christmas or just to pay for heat. =P

And here is Katherine's "I Love You Mommy" song. It rocks!

It's Fall? Says who?

Ah, says Election Day.

President Obama!!! Katherine calls him Bo-mama, which is hilarious. I'm so so so happy. I felt a thrill through my soul when I found out he won. It's like hearing a close friend won the lottery. You are so happy for everyone involved, including yourself, because you know you will benefit too!.

Well, the kids and I enjoyed this week's weather. It's been gorgeous! During the days, it's been getting up into the 70s. Too bad it's been getting dark so early or else we would be able to enjoy more than early afternoon.

It's been a weird week - I don't know why. I just haven't been feeling myself. I feel awkward and slow and uncoordinated in almost any aspect of my life right now. My weight is becoming a big thing in my mind and heart right now, so I'm trying to figure out what I should be doing.

Katherine's birthday party is two weeks and a day away and I can't for the life of me get back on party planning. I haven't even sent invitations to her class yet! This weekend, I promise that I will be making them up and sending them to her classmates on Monday. Katherine just can't wait to have Aimee Jo come to her house and her party. She can't stop talking about it!

Thanksgiving is the week after her birthday party and I'm semi-excited for that as well. I keep hoping that I will be able to have dinner for our family. I like preparing big dinners like that. Hate the dishes, love the work.

Well, off to collect fundraiser items, see if my car is needing a new radiator and pick up my girl from school.

Halloween 2008

Happy Post Halloween to everyone! We are recovering from our candy fueled rush last night.

Katherine's party and parade at school was fun. She made a craft, then they had their Costume parade around the neighborhood. They then had donuts, cider and cookies while watching Dora's Halloween episode. All the children in her class are very sweet. You can view pictures of her class here.

After school we had to bust tail to take Nathan to his mom's pick up time at 5 pm in Cedar Springs. What a nightmare. We ended up being stuck behind slow traffic and then switching routes to get there faster, only to be 15 minutes after pick up time. Katherine also fell asleep on the way there, fueling my fear that this whole arrangement had ruined trick-or-treating for us.

So Jonathan and I fantasized about being rich all the way home, which was quite fun. It distracted me from being upset about Halloween being ruined, so he's good.

Then we had trick-or-treating. We went to the same neighborhood we went to last time and had a pretty good time. Katherine was escorted to the door on the first house, to the porch on the second, and then I was forced to stay at the sidewalk with Daddy after that. She's so confident and outgoing and was very excited. We kept having to remind her that she needed to say "Trick-or-treat" or "Happy Halloween" when they answered the door and "thank you" afterward.

We got to walk by the Haunted Jail. It was pretty awesome looking. They had strobe lights and spooky shadows. I can't wait to take Katherine when she's old enough. They had treats outside so we bought some popcorn and kept trick-or-treating.

After walking around for almost 2 hours, I came to get angrier and angrier about one thing - Halloween etiquette. If you are handing out candy, you should have your porch light on. If you aren't, you shouldn't have your porch light on. My beautiful, confident 4 year old went to every single house with the porch light on, only to get frustrated because half of the people weren't there. Or how about the houses that had porch lights on, people at home, my daughter screaming "TRICK OR TREAT!" and knocking as loud as possible, they still wouldn't even come to the door to say "no candy" or anything. Losers.

So today we are being lazy. Cleaning the house, eating, playing. Just normal stuff.

More information on Katherine's party coming up!

Big Rapids Fall Fest, Planning Katherine's party and other news

Well, the Big Rapids Fall Festival was this weekend. In my opinion, it was crap. Now, I know that I had no hand in planning the event or donating any of my time, money or energy in the event, but I know for a fact that this could have been A: better planned and B: funner for the kids. I know what the 9&10 news story says. I just don't agree.

There were exactly 11 games at the festival (if we insist upon calling it that). Most of them were a spin on the Bucket Bonanza game made famous by Bozo the Clown (who, in all of his awkwardness, would have made the festival a hit instead of a miss). Then there were 3 different games of Pick a duck, all of the ducks bobbing upside down to show which ones were the winners and which were the losers. Then there were 2 fishing games, in which you throw a line over the sheet and snag a prize. Honestly, I could have spent a dollar at the dollar store and come home with better prizes and more candy.

I will be nice. Most of the groups were student groups donating their time and money to get some penny candies and some little prizes for the kids. The activities were supposed to start at noon, but by the time we got there at 12:15, they were out of prizes and giving out candy that had been dropped on the ground. If you think I'm generalizing, I'm not. I seriously saw a woman drop candy on the ground, pick it up and give it to a child. Yuck.

So, all in all, it wasn't the best time. Katherine really enjoyed seeing all the kids dressed up in their costumes and is really looking forward to trick-or-treating this Friday. She's also looking forward to something else...

HER BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!

She's been using her pretend phone to call me all weekend and invite me to her birthday party, which is perpetually tomorrow. She is so excited, and wants me to have rainbows on everything.

Since it is a rainbow party, I'm still trying to come up with more things that will be Rainbow-y and cheap, the magical combo. So this week I will be hitting up my favorite - Dollar Tree - to get her Halloween party stuff and check out what I can get creative with for cheap.

I have the perfect idea for her birthday cake - a rainbow layered jello cake. I've been searching around online and haven't been able to find exactly what I want to do, but I took an nudge from an episode of Ace of Cakes and an idea from online and I'm going to combine them into a Rainbow shaped jello cake. We'll see!

And for reference, I am looking for ideas for games and activities for the children at Katherine's birthday party, preferably color themed. If you guys have some, let me know!

PS No drinking games. ;)

Katherine's Birthday Party

Hey all.

Katherine's birthday party is November 22, but I've been playing with ideas in my head for well over a month now. Since she wants a rainbow theme for this party (yeeha!) it will be my responsibility to find, create and build ideas for decorations, food and favors.

Now we are on a very tight budget. We have a million bills to pay right now and it's all coming at once. So everything I do for this party is going to cost us BIG, or that's what I'm thinking when being creative.

So, since we have such a restrictive budget, I'm going to keep track of how much I spend on each thing to do with this party. Here is my planned budget.

Food (Entree, appetizers and desserts): $75
Decor (Balloons, streamers, art): $15
Favors (Treats and prizes for the kids and other guests): $10
TOTAL: $100

Now, this is just want I want to spend, at most. I don't want to go any higher than this.

I have a menu, but I post that later.

A different site - a different mind

Well, here I be on this one. I can't figure out how to blog on Facebook and MySpace annoys me, so here I am. Blogger. Wee!

It's almost the end of October, and boy is the weather showing it. Cold, rainy, windy, cold again. It makes me want to make soup everyday. Wish my family would eat it!

Katherine is in her 4th week of ECDD and speech therapy with Miss Molly, and I'm slightly disappointed in her teachers since she's not showing any real improvement. She's reverting back to the gibberish-baby talk more often than not, even though I'm working with her on every single sentence. I'll make her say it over and over, repeat after me, all so she understands the correct words. Maybe I am just frustrated because my expectations of Katherine's improvement was too high.

Nathan's soccer team this year was an enthusiastic bunch. They only won 1 game but they played well and Nathan had fun. Too much fun, if you ask his grades. His grades have been poor since participating in soccer. If he plans on joining basketball this year, he better pick it up!

Next month is Katherine's birthday! On November 15, my girl will turn the big 5. I'm so excited and so is she. I told her this morning that her birthday was coming and she sang the birthday song until it was time to go to school. We are having a birthday party for her on November 22nd, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It's going to be rainbow themed, which will be fun to do decorations and food for. We've invited almost everyone, since I'm sure I forgot someone and will offend them. If I forgot you, you're invited! If you want to bring something, bring it! I've decided on a somewhat Italian theme with pastas and snacks galore.

I'll post some of my recipes for my party later.