Random pictures

Last night after I had put Nick to bed I went to take my bath. When I had finished I came out in the living to find Nick and Mike cozy on the couch watching the movie, "Curious George." What could I possibly say? Instead I joined them. I got cozy with Jay and together the four of us watched that sweet movie.

This isn't the best picture of Jay but even at almost age 9 he still loves Curious George. When we talk/think about Curious George we always think of Aunt Mimi - Curious George rocked her world growing up, that along with "The Berenstain Bears."

If you look closely you can actually see Nick - amongst all of his penguins and giraffes and look in the back, he ventured out and got a reindeer for Christmas. This is his typical "arranagement" at bedtime. He hardly leaves enough room for himself. I have to put up his bed gate so he doesn't fall out. Ha.

The after Christmas reality check

I have been fortunate enough to take some time off work and spend it at home. It's been lovely and the time is never enough. I don't mean to complain because I am thankful but I'm not ready to head back to work tomorrow and since I'm not a teacher or government worker I face all of January, February, March, April and most of May with no time off! Ugh. It's kind of daunting, if you think about it. The alarm goes off at 5am in the dead of winter and it can be a long couple of months. But that's not what this blog is about - sorry I was sounding a little negative there. Ha! I have spent my vacation inhaling whatever food I could get in my mouth and never stepping foot on a treadmill! If I eat more one of those peanut butter cookies with hershey kisses I think I'll turn into a giant hershey kiss. My fridge is packed full of left overs, sweets, wine, you name it, we probably have it! I've spent my evenings reading in front of the fire with a bowl of peppermint ice cream and those darn peanut butter/hershey kiss cookies. I kept telling myself it was okay because I NEVER get to just sit and relax which is true but stuffing food into my mouth is unfortunately one of my favorite past times, along with a good glass of wine which doesn't help my waist line either. I wouldn't dream of getting on a scale right now and I'm sure when I stuff myself into my work pants tomorrow I'll feel and look like a sausage. Needless to say I plan on becoming really good friends with my gym and actually getting good use out of my membership - at least that's my hope. I'm more of a "good enough" kind of person. I hope to lose about 15 lbs but I may lose 5 and say, "Good enough!" In any case the peanut butter/hershey kiss cookies are going to be served to Jay and his buddies today and if there are any left they are hitting the trash tonight!

Christmas festivities

On Dec. 23 the Ausili's came out! Through the years I've gotten a lot of pictures of the four of them. I love doing it because it documents how old they are getting. Of course we had to "bribe" them for this picture with peppermint ice cream but hey, whatever works.

Jenny and I enjoying a good glass of wine - our favorite past time.

Jay unwrapping gifts. He was really hard to buy for this year but somehow we all figured out what he would like and came through for him. He had some favorites: The remote control car my mom got him, the remote controlled helicoptor Santa got him and his huge lego sets from his dad and I.

My mom came through and got Nick "Stinky," the talking garbage truck. It toots and excuses itself and also says about 90 different other things. Yes, it's one of "those" toys. Ha.

Love this pictures. This could be the first picture of the three kids on Christmas where we actually got a good picture. It helps that Lauren is 3 now and Nick is 4. Next year we'll have little Lukie to add to the mix!

Oops where is Jay, hiding under Lauren's dress! This is one of those pictures he won't appreciate in his later years.

We really had a nice Christmas and have so much to be thankful for: our health, the fact that Mike and I are both employed in these hard economic times, and our family. God is good and we are so thankful.

And finally - To all a good night.

Christmas Eve

Here it is Christmas Eve! As usual the month of December flew by. I love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and by Dec. 26 I'm a little depressed, it's such a let down after Christmas. This was truly a nice Christmas Eve. Some highlights:
*We ended up missing church due to the weather (one of the highlights). Mom, Kim and I can only remember 2 other times (tonight makes 3 times) we have ever missed Christmas eve church. The first time was the year my mom was married to Thom and we went to Springfield to spend it with his family. The second time was the year Lauren was in the hospital and the third time was tonight. The church service we were going to go to got cancelled and the snow was coming down in buckets.
*As I'm writing this at 9:15 p.m., we have gotten 5 inches of snow and it's still snowing.
*The minute we walked in the door tonight Jay started writing a letter. Mike and I were busy bringing in packages from Nana's house. When we had a moment to catch our breath, we read the note. It said, "Santa, I always wanted a dog." It was the note Jay left for Santa. He was too cute tonight. He put out the cookies, poured some milk and left his note with the cookies and milk. I wondered if Jay still believed this Christmas and clearly he still does.
I'll post pictures over the weekend. Merry Christmas everyone.

Mrs. Ramage & velvet cake

When I was little we had a neighbor named Mrs. Ramage. She was very old, nearly blind and had no family but still managed to live on her own. Every Christmas Eve my mom made us a really nice dinner and she would make a warm plate for Mrs. Ramage. My sister and I would walk the warm meal across the street and present it to Mrs. Ramage every Dec. 24. She was always very appreciative!
In November I was reading a story out of "Guideposts," wherein a woman wrote a story about her great grandmother and her Christmas cakes. This grandmother could not afford to give her children presents at Christmas so every January she would start collecting and saving as much "baking" items as she could, sugar, cinnamon, etc....On Christmas eve when all her children were asleep she would start baking cakes. Every Christmas morning she presented her children with seven cakes and they were allowed to eat one cake for the next seven days, now that would be exciting to my kids!!! The story included a recipe for a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. I was inspired and went to the cake decorating store in my town and start baking them for my friends and neighbors. I made six cakes and I loved it! I hope to bake some kind of cake every Christmas season as a way to say Merry Christmas! If you want the recipe, here it is!
Red Velvet Cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1-ounce bottle red food coloring
Preheat oven to 350 and grease two 9-inch cake pans. In medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl mix together sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vinegar. Add dry mixture to wet. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and food coloring. Bake about 25-30 minutes.
Cream cheese icing:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 pound confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Ms Barb

Everyday after Pre-K Nick gets on a bus to head to Anna's (his daycare provider) for the remainder of the afternoon. His bus driver is a sweet woman named, Ms Barb. I have personally never met Ms Barb but I love her just the same. Ms. Barb has given us a lot of laughs in the evenings when we all come together to discuss our day. At least once a week Nick comes home with something that Ms Barb has given him - his favorite are the silly bands. He brings home candy from her, pencils, etc..... I always say to Nick, "Boy, Nick, that Ms. Barb is sure good to you," and he always responds with, "Yes, I know." Ha. Yesterday Nick came home with a goodie bag from Ms. Barb which included hot chocolate, candy and the mug you see Nick holding in the picture above. He's been obsessed with that mug and has insisted on drinking his milk out of it for every meal! Thanks Ms. Barb for bringing so many smiles to Nick and our family!

The Christmas Program

Since the first of November Nick has been practicing for our Christmas program at church. It has required me to get to church an hour earlier each Sunday and keep a close eye on him, in other words, keep him on task and focused. Jay didn't want to particpate. Christmas programs and music have never been his "thing" and it doesn't help that there are only girls (his own age) and no boys. So, today was the Christmas program and I wish I could say it was all worth it! Mike pointed out that at least Nick did it and he's right, that is all that really matters but when am I going to get it through my thick head that my kids don't really like "performing," especially when it comes to music. Nick usually likes being the center of attention but not today. He didn't sing and once during the performance I caught him playing with his you know what. At one point I had to break out my mad mom face at him because he was frantically beating his slipper (the kids wore their PJ's) into his hand, distracting not only the audience but the other kids. When it came time for Nick to perform his one and only line, he wouldn't do it! Ugh! I'm more of a glass is half full kind of girl, I always try to see the positive so Yes, Nick did get up and perform, pathetic it may have been but regardless I'm sure God was gracious and smiling this morning,, even if Nick's performance was less than to be desired.

I also forgot my camera so I have no pictures to post with this blog. It was a stressful morning.

And Happy Birthday to Mike! The big 3-8!

My dad, a cell phone and the nursing home

It's been a year since my dad went to live in the nursing home. He adjusted to his new home rather quickly - which is a really good thing. The biggest adjustment for me personally was not being able to call him or vice versa. Because I work full time and I have a commute to and from work, days would go by and I wouldn't make it to the nursing home. It really bugged me and I felt really guilty about it. Recently, I thought it would be a great idea to get my dad a cell phone., that way I could talk to him everyday, even if I couldn't see him. The night I presented it to him he simply couldn't get the hang of it. He'd go to pick up his phone and accidentally hang up on the caller so getting him to try and figure out how to call me seemed like an impossible task. I came home that night feeling defeated, I had such good intentions and it appeared my dad wasn't going to figure out how to use his phone, despite my best efforts to get him a "user friendly" phone. Just the other night I went to visit dad and spent some extra time with him, really showing him how to use his phone. I was pleased to see he was carrying his phone around in his pocket. By the time I left I had a little more confidence that perhaps he had a better handle on how to use it. Any doubts I had were ended today. While I was at work he called me 4 times!!!! The fourth time he called me I choose not to answer it - I was at work, after all - and he left me a voicemail! All four of the calls came within about a 30 minute time frame. Needless to say dad has figured out how to use his phone!

Santa Claus

This weekend I took Nick to see Santa. Jay has asked several questions and has even said his friends say that parents are "Santa Claus," but you can tell he wants to believe Santa is real. We've told him Santa is always real, if you choose to believe in your heart. In any case he did decide he was too old to sit on Santa's lap which is completely understandable. Nick, on the other hand, loves Santa. He jumped right up on his lap and told him he wanted a talking garbage truck for Christmas! Notice Nick's new hat. My sister found him a penguin hat. Doesn't it fit his personality? Even Mike likes it! Have a great week everyone.

Jay's Apparatus

About a month ago we found out that Jay needed some orthodontic work - Yes, he's only 8! Apparently he has a severe crossbite and we were told it would medically harm him if we waited to do anything so as a parent, what do you do - you dive in head first watching all the money you're spending swirling around you. Yesterday was the first phase in this year long "adventure." Jay got this apparatus glued into his mouth. It is glued into his top back teeth and positions itself right on the roof of his mouth. The goal is to shift his jaw so not only does it impair his speech, make it difficult for him to eat but it's also somewhat painful. I feel so bad for him and I remember quite well what it was like to have those apparatus's in your mouth. My parents were told I needed orthodontic work to help my breathing, aka snoring - Yeah, a lot of good that did! Mike says I can wake up half the neighbor on a good night. Anyway, back to Jay......as I mentioned, his speech is a little impaired by this device and I was dreading him going to school today as I knew someone would probably make fun of him and sure enough, someone did. Jay said kids on the bus made fun of him when they heard him talk and called him dumb! I just cringe when I hear things like this. Instead I put on my serious mom face and acknowledged how Jay felt and told him to ignore those punks (yes, I said punks). So, even though it's freezing cold here, we may just have to make an ice cream run tomorrow and Jay can get whatever size or flavor he wants.

A parenting message

The boys and I went to church today and the message was centered around the commandment, "Honor thy mother and father." Before I go into my story, I should probably give you a brief run-down my older son's attitude! He fights with me every Sunday about going to church. I waste a lot of energy being very frustrated about this but after today, I have decided I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing and give the rest to the Lord. So, both boys go up for children's time with the minister and when he tells them he wants to talk about the "honor thy mother and father" commandment, Jay rolls his eyes but then makes eye contact with me and gives off one of his best grins - gets me everytime. But as I was looking around at the other children I noticed many of them were listening intently, partipating in the discussion and seemed happy to be there. It annoyed me and I thought to myself, how is it that my kid is the only one up there that looks ticked off? After children's time, the minster delivers a sermon about parenting which I really needed to hear. He said no one is perfect and no one is raising the perfect child - they all do things we don't want them to do, they don't always listen to us and we wonder how or if we'll ever get them raised - then he asked us, are we honorable parents? He said there are 4 things all parents need to tell their children: 1 - that they love them, 2 - that they are proud of them - 3 - that they are good at......(fill in the blank) & 4 - that they are sorry. I tell the boys each day that I love them and I try to tell them the two others frequently & ask anyone, when I'm wrong I have no problem saying I'm sorry. I have apologized to both boys several times. The bottom line is I'm doing the best I can. There is no sense in comparing my life or my children to other's because each of us have our own "fingerprints," if you will. God has different things planned for each of us and I keep thinking that he entrusted me with these two boys - he must have thought I was up for the challenge and the great rewards that come from being their mother.

Nick's dreams

Nick has really been battling bad dreams lately. Last night when I went in to check on him this is how I found him, all snuggled up with his penguins and Topper, the giraffe! Ignore all the "grease" on his face. He is battling some serious chapped lips right now. When he falls asleep I load his face and mouth with Aquafor - something I'm sure he'll appreciate one day when he sees this picture, ha.