Wednesday, December 29, 2010

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Well friends, this is my last WILW of 2010. I love playing along with Jamie. Head over HERE to read what other people are loving after you read my list of course!ha!

I AM LOVING  that neither Stuart or I have to work this week and we have done a whole lot of sleeping in, reading books, and playing trains with our little guy. When I say sleeping in I mean it. Today and yesterday I was the first one up at 9:45. Those boys can sleep!


I AM LOVING that we have NYE date night plans. We are headed to Louisville with some of Stuart's friends from high school for a night of dinner, dancing and a super nice hotel. I did purchase the dress pictured below to wear, but I am concerned that it will still fit after all of the Christmas goodies I have been eating lately!






I AM LOVING  my new NOOK. I have downloaded my first two books. I am reading Water For Elephants first because it was only $5.00 on BN, and second because I have heard good things about it. I am 150 pages in and loving it.



I AM LOVING that Stuart and I had a great time last night watching our Kentucky Wildcats win. It was so much fun to go eat and go to the game-just the two of us. LOVE THAT GUY.




I AM LOVING  that my summertime guilty pleasure is coming back this next week. I have mentioned before that I LOVE the show Pretty Little Liars and it is back! I can't wait to see what is happening with all of the teen, texting drama! ha!



I AM LOVING that tonight we went to the Cincinnati Zoo to see the lights (will post more later) with some dear friends and it was magical! Something about the zoo, Christmas lights and two cute 2 year olds was such a perfect evening. It was sooooo crowded, so cold, but so much fun!



 
I must stop this list now and get back to my NookBook, I am loving it that much!


Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Our Christmas Weekend

This weekend may go down as one of my all time favorite weekends EVER. We had a jam-packed, family filled weekend that could not have been any better. REALLY.

Friday I cooked my VERY FIRST Holiday meal. I was a little nervous and a lot excited. I might have called my mom and dad about 15 times during the meal preparation for consultations and reassurance. I made Cranberry Pork Chops, Green Bean Bundles, Corn Casserole, Mashed Potatoes and rolls. This may not seem like much to most of you but to me it was quite an undertaking. I am THE WORST at timing things while I cook and getting everything done at the same time so this was major but I DID IT. My mother and father in law, and brother in-law joined us for our Christmas Eve meal and it turned out quite well if I do say so myself. Either they were all being nice or they really liked it. I was AMAZED.

After dinner we headed to church where we attempted to keep C in the service with us instead of sending him to the nursery. This was challenging and took 3 packages of fruit snacks, crayons, books, a NutraGrain Bar, my iPhone (puzzle games on silent....I KNOW that is terrible, but it worked.), and lots of lap changes. He did pretty well for being 2 1/2. He did let out one yell that reminded me why we send him to the nursery on Sunday mornings, but it was nice to have him with us on such a special night.

Once we all got home from church we had dessert, laid out cookies for Santa and then the little guy went to bed. Bed yes- sleep NO. I am pretty sure he was awake until nearly 11:30. He might have been excited, or he just knew that there were lots of people in our house and he was missing something! Missing something he was. Santa worked hard to put together his wooden train set and all of his other goodies.

We enjoyed Christmas morning with The Snyders, but not until 9:30. YES- 9:30. We were all awake and had to wake Clark up because I could not stand it anymore. I was so excited, and he was still asleep. So at 9:15 we opened his door and sent Barney in to wake him up! Once awake he loved all his gifts, he did not get overly excited like I thought he would, but he did enjoy it. Everything he opened he had to play with right then. It was super cute, but took FOREVER.

We had a great morning. I was very excited to find that The Snyders got me the watch I wanted, and Stuart got me a NOOK among other great things like a new jean jacket, a watch, and some shoes. I think he really liked the Abraham Lincoln Chia Pet I got him too! ha! (No- really I got him one!)

After we opened, soaked it all in, cleaned it all up, napped and packed up the car, we headed to my mom and dad's for Christmas dinner and Christmas #2 with my sister and her boys, and my brother who lives on Martha's Vineyard and we do not get to see as much as we would like. So it was wonderful to be at home with them all. Of course my mom (and dad) cooked a delicious meal (that put mine to shame) and we had mountains of gifts to open afterwards. We really must have been good this year because my brother showered us with all things Vineyard Vines. He had such a good time shopping for Clark and got him the most adorable little VV things (like a whole wardrobe-THANKS LANCE!) and we loved it all. My mom and dad might have gotten me a CRICUT EXPRESSION! I am so excited to put it to use. I might have to make a trip to school this week to redo all of my bulletin boards and spruce up my classroom!

The next day, 2 of my mom's sisters came down from Ohio and we had a great visit with them. My Aunt Jennie LOVES her some Clark and Aunt Jeannie had never met him, so it was great to spend the day with them. Being it was Sunday Stuart stayed true to himself and watched football ALL DAY LONG while we visited. We had another huge meal (I am not thinking the dress I bought for NYE will fit now...THANKS MOM.), visited with hometown friends, and played some games. I really loved just being around everyone that we don't get to see nearly enough. It really does just remind me how truly blessed and  loved we really are. I am so thankful for the entire weekend. Yes- I LOVE all of my gifts- but what I love even more is the fact that we were able to celebrate with so many people that we care about.

I took hundreds of pictures because I know Clark will most likely not remember his third Christmas and I want him to be able to see the pictures and know how wonderful it really was. So warning- lots of pictures below! ha! Now it is Tuesday- we are home surrounded by all of our new gifts and just each other. Neither Stuart or I have to work this week so we will get to just enjoy it all. We all slept in until 10:00. YES you read that correctly. 10:00 am. Now Clark and his daddo are putting together a giant dinosaur puzzle, while Barney has his face in the can of Christmas popcorn-ugh!  Most likely you will find us wearing jammies today and doing a whole lot of train track building, puzzle doing, and Mickey Mouse watching. Tonight the Mr. and I are headed to Rupp Arena to watch our beloved Wildcats play basketball (a gift from my mom and dad) and I might even convince him to take me to Barnes and Noble to buy a case for my new Nook! We shall see. But for now I am needed on the floor to finish the dinosaur puzzle and I guess I should think about feeding my child something other than popcorn and candy canes! ha!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and please don't fell obligated to look at ALL the pictures!





My Christmas Eve table.

Yes, I took a picture of my meal.
It was a lot of work for this girl! ha.

This guy posed himself after church on Christmas Eve.
(He was avoiding putting on jammies!)


C reading The Night Before Christmas.
 The book that has been in the Snyder family since the 40s.

Grammy and Grandpa reading The Night Before Christmas.

Yes, we had to leave fruit snacks for Santa. :)
SANTA CAME!!


Clark at 9:15am on Christmas Morning- before we woke him

Checking out what Santa brought.

Checking out the stocking.

Yes- he tried out EVERYTHING.

My boys trying out the new trains.

He "baked" us all some of his new cookies!

He held a piano concert for us too.

Barney loved Christmas too.

Showing Grammy his new toys.

Playing with Uncle Super Stephen.
(He is wearing Clark's new cape.)

Ready for Christmas dinner at Mamaw & Papaw's.

Clark among the Christmas chaos at my mom and dad's.


The hit gift! My dad got he and Clark harmonicas!
It was SOOOOO funny. They played duets all weekend.

Stuart and I with our new VV Shep Shirts! THANKS LANCE.

Mr. Potato Head, Clark and my nephew Brant.
Clark and Uncle Lance.


My sweet boys!



Thursday, December 23, 2010

2 THINGS.

Two quick things to share on this day before Christmas Eve as I really need to be cleaning toilets and showers because my in laws are coming tomorrow and it is nap time so I could be working on so many other things, but this is much more fun!

FIRST:
It is a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. My child got a haircut and looks less mullet-ish and more big boy-ish but I do love it. THANK YOU KERRI for getting us in so that Clark might actually be able to see the
toys that Santa leaves because he now has no hair in his eyes. YAY.

BEFORE
Pardon for the blurry, during lunch shot taken with my phone.

AFTER
Sticking with the blurry, during meal, phone shot.


SECOND:
Last night was our MOPS steering team Christmas dinner. Our fearless leader Betsy brought us some yummy, salty, sweet goodness and my friend Mindy and I tried our best to recreate them today.  You are going to want to write this down. They are the best carmel and chocolate coated pretzel rods you have ever had! So while our boys played and Drew tried to teach Clark how to play online games on the laptop (that kid is AMAZING), Mindy and I worked it in the kitchen making gobs and gobs of yummy goodness! Thanks so much Mindy- We loved every minute of it!!



Step ONE- Make Carmel.
 Carmel:

1 stick of butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Put all ingredients in a pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, boil for 5 minutes- stirring continuously . Then remove from heat and let cool until slightly thickened. Dip the pretzels and lay them on buttered wax paper (to avoid sticking) to cool. After cool, dip in chocolate.



Step TWO: Dip pretzels in slightly cooled carmel.
(Please ignore the no shower look! )


Step THREE: Let carmel pretzels cool.


Step FOUR: Dip in melted almond bark.
We used white chocolate and milk chocolate.

Step SIX: Before chocolate hardens, add decor- sprinkles, sugar and such.

GREAT JOB CLARK! I think Santa will LOVE this one!

Be sure to clean up all messes!

VOILA! Finished product!!

These will be gone in no time!

They are so yummy and cute that we decided this will be what we leave out for Santa- he will need a break from all the cookies. If you do decide to make them, let me know how it turns out!!

Merry Christmas!!



Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Second Santa Sighting

Last Saturday was C's second encounter with the big guy in the red suit this year. He talked about it all morning and was very excited to remind Santa that he expects would love to have trains on Christmas morning. Our MOPS group hosted a cookies with Santa event. We got to sit with Santa and Mrs. Claus and without the hassle of long lines and with the added bonus of enjoying some cookies while we waited. This is our third year at this event and this year he was so much fun and is really starting to understand the whole idea of Santa which makes it all the more fun. I really can't wait to see his little face on Saturday morning if Santa really does bring him trains! :) Here is my guy the last 3 years. Think he has grown???

Clark December 2008- 6 months

Clark December 2009- 18 months

Clark December 2010- 30 months

He really is much more excited for Santa than he lets on in the picture! This must be his serious face. Today alone I am pretty sure he told me at least 5 times that "Santa come to my house on Friday". Speaking of Friday Stuart's parents and brother are coming to our house on Friday to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am cooking my first holiday dinner and I am pretty excited about it- I will keep you posted if I continue to remain excited and on how this goes. Today was our FIFTH snow day of the year so with no school I was able to get lots done around here AND take a nap- I mean Clark and Barney were both napping so I thought I would join them. I may not have showered, or been outside the house but I would call today a successful one and I am sooooo glad to be on break.

On the agenda tomorrow- GET MY KID A HAIRCUT! Pictured below you will notice the lovely beginnings of a mullet. Something must be done!


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