The Calm Before the Storm...Or Was It?

Yes, the past few months have been crazy in this household!

It all started with a phone call to ask Daddy to go play basketball. That evening ended in Daddy coming home to tell me that he thought he may have broken his finger...well, he was right about that one. He had what the doctors call a 'compound' fracture in his left pinky. Anyone that knows Daddy knows that this is no good...he is left handed. He had a splint on his hand for a week and a cast after surgery (two pins) for another week. It was several weeks before he was able to have partial use of his hand, so work was a bit...frustrating. The good news is that Daddy is starting to get back to normal after quite a bit of physical therapy and dedication to his exercises at home this month.

Since Daddy broke his finger and has had limited use of his hand, it seems as though we have been hit with one snow storm after another. Even with Daddy's limited help, I think I have shoveled more snow this past Winter than I have ever done in all my years combined (maybe a steep exaggeration), but with tomorrow's 'snowapocalypse,' I just might overtake that record. Really...just think about it...I shoveled about 20 inches of snow just in December. Then add all the little snows in January, plus the inch I already took care of this afternoon, and I'll be at roughly 45+ inches by Wednesday. Hopefully, I'll have tickets to the gun show to sell you by the time it is all said and done (Alex's joke...not mine :).

Just think, if we had delayed that trip to Disney by exactly one year...I'd be living it up at Hollywood Studios right now instead of typing up this silliness and worrying about this crazy blizzard that is about ready to dump on us! But, we couldn't have done that, now could we? As many of you know, Daddy and I are real strict about education and that means that Alex does not miss school for Disney vacations...

Speaking of school...Julia turned 3 and I had to actually figure out where to send Julia to preschool. This was a bit of a struggle for me...I tried to be as carefree as possible about this process as I was with Alex, but since registration for Julia was going to be more difficult than with Alex, I had to suck it up and take it a bit more seriously this time around. I miss Alex's preschool...It was so simple. No registrations. No extra fees. NO APPLICATIONS! No this and that...If you wanted to go to Alex's preschool, you just needed to sign-up before the 18 slots were filled. Period. First come, first serve. Gotta love it...and now it is gone and no more. I'm sorry, but I struggle over this whole phone-in craziness or application process. What is this HARVARD? No, it's preschool people. Having that off my chest now, I can happily say that I think we have found Julia a good fit. It is close to home and Alex's school (bonus), but we think it has the structure that will fit well with Julia's personality. My only complaint...Of Julia's millions of friends, not one will be going to the same school. The first day is going to be rough, but she is a social butterfly, so she'll move on, grow, and catch germs. Speaking of germs...

Alex's big news of the past few months (besides reading like a rock star, having more toys than he knows what to do with, actually having some homework, and teaching me (yes, me) to play chess), is that he has again caught one of the nastiest viruses at Kindergarten. I was convinced it was Strep...His throat was covered in that Strep whiteness they are always talking about. Even his pediatrician was sure it was Strep...that is, until the test came back negative. Alex was out of school for a few days, but as always, he's a trooper. He hung in there, rested up, and tried to keep the rest of us germ free...Let's hope so anyways!!

The Birthday Girl

Getting Ready for the Party

Playing With Balloons

Opening Presents

Getting Ready to Blow Out her Candles

The Very Special Cake She Picked Out in August

A Very Special Cake Made by Meema

Playing With Her New Toys

Showing Off Her Princess Beauty and Mixing Up Some Belle Hot Chocolate

Christmas and Christmas Eve with Families

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!

Christmas 2010 was definitely one to remember!! The kids were spoiled to death and had a wonderful time! Christmas Eve was a bit hectic due to all the snow that we received while at Grandma and Grandpa's during the day. We came home, barely slid into the garage, popped the kids into their jammies, set out cookies and treats for Santa and his reindeer, and put the kids to bed before mommy and daddy had to get ready for the big show in the morning as well as head outside to scoop 6-7 inches of snow in the driveway (was that a run-on sentence, or what?). It was a long night and by the time all the Christmas excitement wore down a few days later, mommy and daddy were downright pooped!! Oh well, it was all worth it...Our family Christmas was wonderful and we both delighted in seeing the excitement in Alex and Julia's eyes on Christmas morning. It is a wonder... Whether Christmas is more exciting when seeing it through your own eyes as a child or when you see the excitement of Christmas in the eyes of your own children when you're a parent!

Christmas Eve...Setting out treats for Santa and his Reindeer

That is right...We were prepared to feed Santa and his Reindeer!!

Coming Down the Stairs Christmas Morning

Checking Out Their Loot! Both Alex and Julia received tents from Santa. Alex also received his much desired Army Men and an Aircraft Carrier. Julia received her 'purple princess bike helmet' as well as her 'blue necklace', which came with pretty Cinderella gloves and a carriage purse.

Digging Into Their Stockings

Julia showing off her 'blue' necklace, new headband, Cinderella doll, and Cinderella dress.

Alex and one of his presents...and, of course, wearing his new, beloved 'footy pajamas.' Who knew a five year old could care about something so simple?

Family Pictures

I have waited to post our recent family pictures because our families were so blessed to receive many of them as Christmas presents!! :) Our talented friend was kind enough to take some pictures of us this fall at a local park. The kids were ornery, the weather chilly, but she was still able to get some very cute pictures. I am sharing some with you that I did not order and many of you may have not had the chance to see! Enjoy!

Happy New Year!!

We welcomed in the new year with a fireworks, game of Scrabble, and a game of Candy Land with Uncle Matt! Yes, that is right...Candy Land!! Julia made it to 10:00 and Alex barely made it to Midnight, but he did it! He was pretty proud of himself!!
We paid for it in the end with a 6:45 AM wake up from Julia and an 8:15 AM wake up from Alex. You would think we would eventually learn that it doesn't matter what time they go to bed, they still wake up at the same old time!!