Our Christmas Photos

I've had so little time to write blog posts with the kids on Christmas break, and all the activities of the holiday. I will get back to it once our daily routine returns to normal! For now, enjoy some of the photos from our Christmas celebrations.

Mom and Mike Christmas

Here are our favorite photos from Mom, Mike, Ed and Liz's visit on Sunday the 20th.

The value of a private school education

In the van this evening.

John: [something, something]...in the booty.
Kevin: (teasing him) In the baby socks?
John: No, the booty.
Kevin: What's the booty?
John: You know, the ass.

(Becky and Kevin doing everything we can to stifle uncontrollable laughter)

Kevin: Where did you hear that word?
John: [Boy X] at school told me it meant butt, and I could say it instead of butt.
Lucy: Plus, you say it.

The Civics Lessons Are Working

Playing doll house with Lucy, after lunch today.

Me: Let's all go to the movies!
Lucy: We can't, because the uncle is going to jail.
Me: Oh no! What did he do?
Lucy: He tried to get big gifts by giving away a special job.

Water: So hot right now.

Behold, the $5.00 bottle of water. After 90 minutes of makeup shopping at Macy's downtown, you can imagine that we were pretty parched. Kimberly got a soda from our hotel bar, and I asked for a bottle of water. This is what I got: a glass tube of water straight from someplace special in Norway. It was FIVE DOLLARS. Somehow, this made the $48 we paid to park overnight less ridiculous. Aah, Chicago!

Now that I've maligned the bottle...I am actually going to keep it and use it as a water bottle at home, because it reminds me of our trip, and makes me feel like a hip Chicagoan who has lots of five dollar bills to throw out the window whenever I want.

Pictured next to my amazing water bottle is K's glass of Coke. It was $4.50.

Hee Hee!

Chicago Weekend

I spent a super fun weekend in Chicago with Brandi and Kimberly to...can you guess? If you said "See Wicked for the third time" you're right! This was Brandi's second time to see it, and Kimberly's first. I can honestly say, I enjoyed it just as much the third time as I did the first. It is arguably the best musical I've ever seen. The story is clever, the music is spectacular, the costumes and sets are intricate, colorful, unusual...it's just amazing. The two actresses playing Galinda and Elphaba were both very good, and we all agreed that this Galinda had some great comedic timing, and added a lot of her own personal touches to the character which was neat. Anything done by Stephen Schwartz holds a special place in my heart, because his musical Godspell has played a role in some life-changing experiences I have had (namely, NFK reunions and giving my law school days the old heave-ho). So a few years back, when my great friend Michelle raved about his new musical Wicked, I was already inclined to love it. She loaned Kevin and I the CD, and we listened to it over and over again for weeks.
It wasn't just the show that was great. This weekend was just what I needed. I really needed a little break and some time away from Urbana. I think it is hard for moms to admit that they need a break but I really did. Kevin is under so much stress right now, he is in the middle of an enormous project at work and also finishing a group project and writing a paper for his U of I class. I have felt really burdened down with chores and errands and all the daily tasks of a five-person family, along with several weighty issues rolling around in my head (#1: what is best for my kids once UPS comes to an end? #2: I want to move across town, but love our home and want to stay in our home, not to mention the housing market). Although it is usually a joy for me, this year the "stuff" of Christmas has been more of a chore. The gifts have been harder, trying to figure out what everyone wants, respond to all the requests for help buying gifts for the kids, sending out Christmas cards, putting up the decorations...all these things that I usually enjoy are feeling this year like just another item that needs to get crossed off the "to-do" list. It just feels like work. Eventually, too much is just too much and nothing is fun anymore. I was starting to feel like I wanted to stay in my pajamas all day and watch TV. This weekend we laughed so much and it was not only fun, but kind of healing too. It felt so good to laugh, and laugh at myself a little too. Lighten up and get some perspective on "real life." It is so refreshing just to have a short period of time where you don't have to do anything for anyone but yourself. What a wonderful feeling to sit at a restaurant and have nothing to do except choose what you want, and then eat it! To wake up for just one morning when your body is ready (not when your Boo is ready) and chat quietly with a friend, then shower and calmly get ready for the day. These two friends and I are discovering all the things we have in common and that is a real treasure, to find people who have been through some of the things you have and understand where you are coming from.
I think one of the best parts of going away is realizing how much you want to come back. And...Kevin and the kids had a wonderful weekend together. As we got on I-57 South heading back to Urbana this afternoon, I was so excited to come home and really happy to see the beautiful faces of my loves. Isaac had no troubles at all, he ate well (and I had 3 bottles of mama milk for him when I got home!), slept well, cooed, played, and was his same happy self. There were several games of Monopoly, some Christmas shopping, a Happy Meal lunch, a Christmas movie, reading time, all with Kevin's special touches.
It was a great weekend at the right time, and with the right musical!

Beautiful Lucy

Our new computer has arrived! The first thing we did was transfer all of our photos onto it, and load up Google Picasa. If there are real magicians in the world, they all work for Google. Picasa is just one of the mind blowing gadgets that Google has created to make our lives easier. As you are viewing your photos (and videos, might I add, which it plays without pause), you can click on a button to email your photo, purchase it from any number of online businesses (snapfish, etc.), and a bunch of other things. But the best one, which I am using right now: turn the photo into a blog post! It just drops the picture right into a new post. Wonderful. Our old computer was too slow to effectively use these features, so I am in heaven now.

I have had a blessed trip down memory lane, enjoying our digital photos from over the years. When John was born, we bought a brand new film camera. We do have a few digital photos of him, but they are very grainy and blurry. They were taken mostly with a web cam we had on top of our monitor, purchased by my Dad so he could see John any minute of the day! Lucy's birth in 2004 was really a transition time for our family with photo storage, so we have some hard copies of film photos and some digital photos that are pretty good quality. Although, I must admit that I have no photographic skills whatsoever. Kevin takes quite good photos, and one of these days when he has some free time I'd love to see him take some photography classes, because I think he has a lot of natural talent there. Baby Boo has been captured exclusively in digital, and we have literally 1500 photos of him. That's the beauty of digital photos right? You can just keep taking them and taking them.

Anyway, I thought I would post a photo of Miss Lucy as a baby. Those people in our lives who didn't know Lucy as a baby never got to enjoy the plumpkin (or, sumo baby as I lovingly call her!) and it is so sweet and funny to me that John and Isaac are such tiny guys, while Lucy was, well, not tiny. Isn't she so gorgeous! She is just becoming more and more beautiful as she grows.

Trouble in Scranton?

I know there are at least two Office lovers reading this blog, so I have to ask...does The Office seem like it's been a little off lately? Maybe it's just me, but I am feeling like the scenarios are kind of recycled and the jokes are so much the same: Michael says the wrong thing and everyone groans. I think it's pretty amazing that I watched every episode for 3+ years before feeling this way. I think The Office has fantastic, clever writers and great actors, but in my opinion they've hit a bit of a wall. Of course I was just as desperate as everyone else for Jim and Pam to get together, but now that they're getting married, it's not going anywhere. I also loved the Andy-Angela - Dwight triangle, and for a few episodes it was excellent, but now it is so implausible. There is no reason in the world why Angela would still be with Andy, except that she's on a TV show and the writers don't yet know what comes next.

I was glad that the ending of last night's episode was so completely awesome, because I thought the rest of it was boring and not funny. But - the last five minutes were great.

When I think back over the TV shows that I have loved and followed - X-Files, West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, The Office - all of them have gotten a little stuck at some point. We did follow the West Wing until the bitter end, but the last two seasons were a mere shadow of the first two (the middle seasons were a steady decline). Grey's Anatomy and The X-Files, we just stopped watching. Eventually both just started to feel like they were grasping at straws, and the smartness and cleverness that we loved at the beginning turned into your basic soap opera. I hope The Office can turn this around.

Other opinions?

We have really been enjoying 30 Rock, and next week is the last episode of our guilty pleasure: The Biggest Loser. I am rooting for Michelle to win.

Overheard

Today, during lunch in John's classroom.
Boy #1: Boys rule, girls drool.
Boy #2: Wait! Your mom is a girl. What about her?
Boy #1: OK, boys rule, girls drool, except for our moms.

Recounting the story later, to Kevin.
Me: I wonder how long boys think their moms are cool for.
John: Ever.

Smile!!

Member Card Enclosed!

I know I am old (going to an Other Guys concert last night confirmed that), but this is a little premature.



My dad got this in the mail today, at his house, which is completely awesome because 1) I've been married for 8 years, 2) I never lived at that particular house, and 3) I'm 31.



I wonder what benefits I get!

Wind Farm

Kevin's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin are farmers in northwestern Illinois on what I believe is the highest point of elevation in the state. There is a wind farm being assembled on their farmland, and on a few surrounding farms. Over Thanksgiving, we went out to see it, and it is really amazing. The windmills are enormous, and there are ~70 of them spread over the landscape. There were workers assembling a windmill during our visit, so we were able to see the huge crane and watch them work for a while. We were also able to get up close to a windmill not yet completed. This first photo is John and Lucy standing near one of the enormous blades of a windmill being assembled.

This next photo is the two kids standing by the center part of the windmill (I don't know what it's called - the rotor, maybe?).

Here is the windmill being assembled during our visit. You can see that the spinning blade part is hanging from the crane, about to be attached to the base. Apparently, there are only a handful of cranes this large and powerful in the whole country. The photo does not do justice to how enormous these things are. Kevin's dad told us that the people putting together these windmills go through a series of height tests before being hired, to make sure they aren't going to freak out up at the top during the assembly process.

Sleepy Boys

Winter Fun

Just a few photos of the kids ready for winter. John and Lucy have been wearing their snow gear to school, for outside time. Here's Lucy prepared for fun on the playground.

Next is John building a snowman in our backyard. The snowman started out fairly normal, except I didn't have any large carrots so we used a piece of celery for his nose. But over the next few days, the snowman ended up with a secret compartment for launching rockets in the bottom snowball, his head turned into a lookout post with laser beams for eyes, and I think at some point he could also fly into outer space and maybe clean John's room too.

I can't leave out little Boo! Here he is getting dressed in his snowsuit, probably to go and get John or Lucy from school. Since the kids don't have a bus to their school, Isaac takes two rides there each day. Again - most peaceful baby ever does not mind, he just coos and looks around. How on earth did I get so lucky?

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Sunday evening we got out all of the Rubbermaid bins of Christmas things and spread them all over the house. :) We put up the tree, and this year we really let John and Lucy take the lead with this. John assembled most of the tree - all the parts he could reach. John strung the lights with just a little help from Kevin, and the kids put up almost all the ornaments and the garland. A great exercise in not having everything exactly the way I would have done it (ha ha), and also letting the kids have that ownership and joy in it.
Why is it that strings of Christmas lights only last for one year? Half of our lights - just purchased a year ago - were not working when we plugged them in Sunday. Sheesh! I know they're cheap but come on!

This first photo is John putting the lights on the tree.

This next one is John being all cute and showing off the ornament I bought last year at Disney World, to remember our completely awesome family vacation just before Ikey was born. Can I just say...I told myself we wouldn't go back to Disney World until Isaac was out of diapers, that I didn't want to deal with diapers on that kind of vacation. But, Isaac has ended up being the world's most peaceful and easygoing baby, and I want to go back to Disney World again in 2009. We had such a great time there, I just can't wait to go back. We shall see!

This is Lucy with our Fighting Illini ornament, another favorite.Here's Lucy with a very important job: putting the star on top of the tree, with daddy's help of course!

Finally, John admires a job well done.

The Nutcracker

On Sunday afternoon, Lucy and I went to see The Nutcracker at Krannert Center. The Champaign-Urbana Ballet Company does it every year and this is the first time we've gone. It was so fantastic. It is mostly children and high schoolers, with a couple of adults thrown in. I could not believe how excellent the dancers were and how professional the production was. The costumes were beautiful and all the kids were so serious and determined about their work on stage. I was really blown away. On top of that, Lucy and I had a very special time together. Our friends Brandi and Heather went with us. The girls each picked out a special gift before the show, Heather picked and purse and Lucy picked a Nutcracker snow globe. We had ballerina cupcakes at Intermission and the girls even sat on our laps for part of the show. A wonderful Christmas memory!
I surprised Lucy with a special outfit for the show: a "santa" dress, silver sparkly tights and black patent leather shoes. The tights only made it about 1/2 an hour into the performace until they got too itchy. But we did get some great photos of the whole outfit before it came off!
Here's my gorgeous girl having fun by our Christmas tree, just before we left for the show.
This is (obviously) Lucy and I sitting together in our living room.
Finally, here are Heather and Lucy, excited for the performance to begin!

Hello!

It's been a while since I've posted anything! Not only have we been so busy with this and that, but our computer has finally died. It is still useable, in the loosest sense of the word. You can't really have two programs running at once, and everything stops responding after about 10 minutes of use. I am trying to post some photos, and it is taking FOREVER. I've already restarted the computer once this morning, and for whatever reason the mouse keeps stopping.

This weekend we decided that, in our family of heavy computer users, a smoothly running computer counts as a need and we bought a new one from Dell online on Sunday. I found a coupon for $150 off yesterday only so we went for it. My main reason for wanting a new one was photos. Right now we have a very complicated system of storing the photos on a server in our basement, then accessing them through a network, and trying to put them online with our old, slow laptop. With the new computer everything will be in one place and so much faster. Plus - $150 off! Woo!

I am a coupon freak. With the exception of necessities like gas and groceries, I really wait to buy things until I have a coupon, especially online shopping. I never buy anything online until I've done a Google search for coupon codes. You should never pay for shipping when shopping online, unless you absolutely have to buy your item on the spot. If you can wait a few days or weeks, eventually a "free shipping" code will surface. For major online retailers like Lands' End, Target, Old Navy, Best Buy, etc. you will always be able to find some sort of coupon code or free shipping code within a couple of weeks. I have saved literally hundreds, probably thousands of dollars this way. I get a lot of (loving) flack about this but it is so worth it. I have been wanting to replace some of our worn out bath towels and I've been playing this coupon game. JC Penney had some primo towels on closeout (I think they are just changing towel colors after Christmas), they were $17.99 apiece, on closeout for $8.99 apiece. Well lo and behold, in my email inbox yesterday I got a coupon for $15 off any purchase at JC Penney. I got two really nice bath towels for $3. Yes! Kevin says that I enjoy getting the great deal more than the actual product. He may be right. :) Next I am on the hunt for Origins coupons. Now that Sylvie has me hooked on the Origins brand I need to find a bargain there. Let me know if you find anything!

Since I've missed a whole week of posting I'll give you a little update. Kevin is working very hard getting the Fox Speed Channel up and running. He and Ryan were back in North Carolina last week and will probably have to go once more before Christmas. They do get some nice meals there, and a very nice hotel with nice beds so that helps. I hate thinking of Kevin working hard 12 hours a day, then eating some crap and sleeping at a dumpy motel somewhere. But they are being taken care of, at least in that little way. John had his "culminating event" as they call it at UPS, for the recycling project his class has been working on. John's small group assembled an earthworm compost and wrote up a pamphlet about their work. It was really cool. My dad surprised John and came to the culminating event. Lucy knew about his visit and she kept the secret!! I thought that was a very big girl thing for her to do. Isaac is still talking up a storm and rolling all over the place. I think now that he is steadily eating solid foods, he is gaining weight very quickly. All of the sudden he looks a lot bigger to me. He feels more solid and he is wearing 6-9 months now. My mom generously bought him some new sleepers and I am waiting to see him in those big boy jammies, hee hee!
On Wednesday, our long time friends the Andersons left Urbana and moved to New Mexico. It was very difficult for me to see them go. Jen and I were very close and I have so many wonderful memories of all the fun things we have done together over the past 5 years. It was very hard watching Lucy and Linnea say goodbye to each other, those sweet best friends. Although they are only 4 years old, I got the sense that both girls knew exactly what was happening. Lucy would not let go of Linnea, as if she could get her to stay by simply not letting go of her. Sob. I am staying positive about it by looking forward to a family vacation out to New Mexico to visit them. We are going to try and go sometime in 2009, once the Andersons are settled in a new home.

At this point I am going to try posting some photos. We'll see if it works! If not...wait just a few more days until our new Dell Inspirion 530S shows up. :)