Ringin' in the New Year . . .

We spent New Year's Eve at Brenda's - just hanging out, eating lots, and playing Rock Band. For the record, I am a pretty good drummer, but Jill rocked the lead vocals and Mia was definitely our star back up dancer. Marcus was brave enough to invite his girl friend over to join us - I'm sure she was more than a little overwhelmed by all of us! Brenda even broke out the sparkling grape juice for the kids and they thought they were so grown up. We also took them outside and let them throw poppers on the ground and make lots of noise. Sadly, I did not even try to tough it out and was in bed by 10:30 or so. I think the kids and Grandma and Grandpa managed to stay up a little bit longer, but I'm not sure anyone actually made it till midnight.

Jill rockin' the vocals . . .

Brenda . . . multi-tasking as a drummer and a back up singer . . .

Mia . . . the dancing queen. . .

We even let the little kids try for a while. . .They were so serious about it!

Cheers to 2009!

What can I say about these next three photos? Payton is too funny and really enjoyed her sparkling grape juice (in her oh so stylish Spiderman pjs)! She totally makes me laugh!

Christmas #5 . . .

Christmas #5 - 12.28.08 - Texas!

No words....just some photos from Christmas at Jill's house

Christmas #3...and 4

Christmas #3 - 12.24.08 - Aunt Becky's house for Lehman Christmas

I don't have too many photos of our Lehman family Christmas get together. We met at my Aunt Becky's house in Bluffton and managed to squeeze around 30 of us into her little house. We spent a few hours eating and talking and just visiting. The best part of the day is that I was able to see both my Grandma's there. My aunt and uncle brought my Grandma D. along. I was so thankful I was able to spend a little time with both of them.

Christmas #4 - 12.25.08 - our house!

On Christmas Eve, Mom and Dad came to our house and went to church with us. Later we finished last minute Texas packing and got ready for Christmas morning. Jenna left a cookie (just one...that's all we had!) and milk for Santa and wrote him a note on her plate.

We told the kids they couldn't wake us up before 7:30 on Christmas morning (I'm such a mean mom!)...and at 7:30 exactly they were in our room making sure we were ready to go. Grandpa and Grandma D. were there too. We also called Chris' parents and they came over and watched the kids open gifts and then stayed for breakfast.

Jacob's favorite gift....a PSP from Santa (I love the blue "glow" on his face from the game!)

Jenna's favorite gift....Bitty Baby Twins and a double stroller from Santa . . .

I made out pretty well in the gift department too! Chris surprised me with a new, bigger diamond for my wedding ring. I was so surprised!! He gave me a note saying he always has wished he were able to get something a little bigger at the time, but he couldn't afford to 15 years ago when we got engaged. He also said that he wanted me to be sure to get the original diamond made into something that eventually we can pass on to Jenna. I decided to have it made into a pendant. He definitely won a lot of bonus points this Christmas!!!

Dad, Mom, Jacob, Jenna and I loaded the van and were on our way to Texas by 11:15am! We ate our Christmas dinner at the Boomland Truck Stop in Charleston, Missouri. (It actually wasn't as bad as it sounds. The choices of open restaurants were pretty slim) . I definitely should have taken photos though!

Seriously?!?!?!

Dear Blogger,

Why won't you let me upload any photos to my blog? Don't you know I have tons of Christmas and Texas photos to share and it's absolutely killing me not to be able to actually post them. Won't you please cooperate with me?!?

Sincerely,

a very annoyed blogger


Seriously, as soon as Blogger decides to cooperate I have lots and lots of photos to share. Brenda, your family photos look awesome and I promise to find a way to give you a sneak peek as soon as I have a minute to breathe!

Christmas #2 . . .

Christmas Celebration #2 - 12.21.08 - Covey/Baxter Christmas at our house

After spending most of the weekend without power, I was really nervous about whether or not we would actually be able to have the Covey/Baxter Christmas get together at our house. But, thanks to the ice melting a little and AEP keeping up with the power outages, we made it through the whole day without any worries. We had Chris' extended family over - Bill, Julie, Lauren, and Megan, Bob and Celesta, Becca and Ryan, and his parents. Ryan's mom, Debby, and his sister Deena and her husband Ryan also joined us. As usual, we had really good food and way too many gifts, but that's part of what makes it so much fun!


The "kids table" . . .

Jacob and Grandpa modelling their new Buckeyes hats . . .

A fun gift for me . . .a one pound Sugar Daddy. I just don't know how to eat it without ripping out all my teeth!

Uncle Bob participating in his traditional after festivities nap . . .

Playing games after presents . . .

. . . an intense game of Scattegories . . .

Christmas Tour 2008

Each year we have multiple Christmas celebrations with family and friends, and this year was no exception. The 2008 Christmas Tour included 5 different celebrations - all with lots of visiting, good food, and tons of fun!

Christmas Celebration #1 - 12.20.08 - 2nd Annual Neighbor Christmas Gift Exchange

For the second year in a row, we got together with our neighbors and had a small gift exchange. This year we upped the price limit to $5 and even drew names. After spending 30+ hours without electricity, we decided to finally have our get together.....and 30 minutes into our party, the electricity went out again. So, we spent the majority of the evening, including gift opening, using candles and flashlights yet again. Please excuse the quality of these photos....they were taken in the dark by candlelight.

L to R: Jacob, Karlyn, Bret, Craig, Jenna, Landrie

Home!!

After spending a week in Texas and two long days in the car, we are finally home again. We had a great visit with both my sisters and their families. The weather was amazing (no coats, sunshine, and lots of time spent outside!) and we were able to cram a lot of activities into our short visit. I also managed to squeeze in lots of sleeping in and plenty of relaxing, including reading all of book #2 and half of book #3 of the Twilight series. Now I need to decide how to spend my last remaining day of Christmas vacation before heading back to school on Monday.

I will have lots of Texas stories and photos to share (I have four - yes FOUR - memory cards of photos to sort through first. That's what happens when you don't see your family for a whole year!) as soon as I find time to get caught up around here and start looking through my photos. In the meantime, I'm going to relax and look forward to a restful night of sleeping in my very own bed!

Merry Christmas.....

The kids and I are headed to Texas tomorrow with my parents. It will be a long, long drive...but we're so excited to see my sisters and their families - especially my neices and nephews. We haven't seen them since last Christmas....and that is way too long!

I am taking a blogging break during our trip. I just want to relax and enjoy the time with my family. Be sure to check back after January 4th though. I am sure I will have lots of fun stories and new photos to share!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A very long 31 hours. . .

Friday morning we woke up bright and early and discovered we had a 2 hour delay, so I headed back to bed. About an hour later I noticed that our house was extra quiet - the power had gone out!! The ice storm that was predicted did indeed hit Van Wert, and left ice everywhere, causing most of the power in town to go out. 31 hours later, at 2:00 this afternoon, it FINALLY came on. The four of us proceeded to do that happy- we- finally- have -electricity dance and immediately started taking advantage of it once again. I took lots of ice photos that I will share as soon as I have a chance to upload them, but in the meantime...here are some of my ponderings while sitting in the cold house for 31 hours without electricity.

1. " Thomas Alva Edison is the greatest American hero" - quote made by my neighbor, Bob. I have to agree with him.

2. I would not make a good Amish person. I just like my electricty way too much.

3. We have awesome neighbors. We had one neighbor share his generator so our basement wouldn't flood. Another neighbor's dad came and scraped all the ice off our driveway with his backhoe. We also spent 4 hours with our neighbors last night, eating pizza and playing Apples to Apples by candlelight.

4. The money we spent on the gas insert for our fireplace was the best money spent this year.

5. Spending money on a generator is probably a very good idea for the future.

6. A dimly lit house without electricity makes me very sleepy. Taking a 2 hour nap was a very good way to pass the time.

7. Even though the electricity was out for 31 hours, we still flipped light switches every time we walked into a dark room. We are creatures of habit.

8. Bathrooms without windows are no fun in the dark.

9. Despite what Chris thinks, you do not need electricity to flush the toilet.

10. I become increasingly more grouchy as each hour with electricy passes by.

11. I think we heard the Hallelujah Chorus when the electricity came back on.

What to do, what to do???

FINALLY a snow day! We had our first 2 hour delay of the year yesterday and this morning woke up to another one. I was surprised, since we had no new snow or ice over night, but gladly turned off the alarm and went back to sleep for a while. Imagine my surprise when I checked the computer at 8:15 and discovered an email that said CLOSED for the day. Chris didn't even believe me. So....what should I do with my day?

-Wrap gifts?
-start book #2 of the Twilight series?
-scrapbook?
-bake Christmas goodies?
-call Grandma L and see if I can go over early to make caramels with her (I am supposed to go tonite)?
-catch up on shows I have DVR'd?
-or just plain be lazy?

So many choices....and I'm loving the fact that I actually have all day to make a decision. :)

All she wants to do is dance....

Last Monday was parents night at dance - one of the two times a year we are allowed to get a sneak peek of what they have been working on. This year Jenna is taking tap, ballet, and jazz again and she really loves them. My friend Michelle and I sat in the front of the class with several other moms so we could take photos of the girls. At one point we were totally laughing because I am sure we looked like some crazy paparazzi moms with our cameras. I was experimenting with some different settings on my camera, so I didn't get too many shots I love...but I was able to capture a few of Miss Jenna doing her thing.

PS On a side note - we will definitely be getting our moneys worth at her recital this year. She is doing 4 dances instead of just 3 (2 jazz, 1 tap, and 1 ballet - but thank goodness only 3 costumes instead of 4!!) and is front and center for 3 of the 4 songs. She also lucked out and got some fun songs this year, including "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie - she loves that one!

A little London love ....

It seems like we just can't help it....our whole family has fallen in love with little Mr. London. We fight over who gets to hold him and just can't keep from squeezing him or giving him kisses or trying to make him smile. Sometimes his mama even needs to ask me if she can have him back (I always have been a baby hog!) Cheryl is so good about letting both the kids hold him and help take care of him.Jenna cries every time he has to leave to go home. I think even Chris might have a thing for London, even if he won't admit it. He has held him several times...and they bonded over basketball while Cheryl and I made cookies last week. Tomorrow Jenna and I get to spend part of the day with London and his mama...and we can't wait. I think we are both in need of a little London love! How could you not fall in love with someone this cute??

Sprinkles, and icing, and cookie dough....OH MY!

Last week I did my first holiday baking. In the past I have made a lot and usually spend a whole day doing baking, but this year I am trying to spread it out more and do a little less....so in the long run I am less stressed and a lot healthier! Cheryl and London came over last Wednesday and made cut-out cookies (I'm sure they are technically called sugar cookies, but we have always called them cut-out cookies. My mom's recipe even says "cut out cookies" on it. Maybe it's a term just from our family though - like dippin eggs.). I mixed up a double batch of dough and then we spent the next few hours cutting out cookies, baking them, and decorating with lots of frosting and sprinkles (the sprinkles were Jenna's job). Of course we found a plenty of time to sample the dough, icing, and finished cookies along the way! I discovered that is a lot more fun to bake with someone else - especially when that someone else washed all my dishes when we were finished!! Now that is true friendship!

UGH - this photo makes me look 100% unattractive...but I decided to be brave and post it anyhow. Seriously - look at my hair and my squinty, beady eyes. What was I thinking when I asked Chris to take a photo of me looking like that???

It's beginning to look (and feel) a lot like Christmas...

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and we are fully into the Christmas season at our house! The countdown is on the chalkboard wall, the decorations are all up, we baked our first batch of Christmas cookies, Santa lists are made, our shopping is almost done (well...except for Chris...he's on his own), Christmas cards are ordered, and the Christmas music has been playing on my iPod. We still have a lot to do over the next 16 days, but I have a really good start. It is my goal NOT to be stressed this year so I can stay healthy and enjoy the holiday!In between all those activities - or maybe even during some of them - we will be watching all the fun Christmas specials on TV. I found a list of Christmas TV shows today and printed it off. My plan is to DVR a bunch of them so we can watch them when the mood strikes. If you want the list, you can find it HERE.

Cartwheel queen....

We were fortunate to have a new tumbling gym open in town this summer and Jenna has been taking classes since it opened. She really has learned a lot already and is CONSTANTLY tumbling around the house . . .she has turned into the cartwheel queen! If you ask her what she wants to be, she will tell you that she wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up! She even asked for a tumbling mat for Christmas. The owner of the gym is the parent of one of my students, so I asked her I could sneak in occasionally and shoot some photos (usually parents are not allowed to watch except for parent watch week each month). She was nice enough to say yes, so on Monday I hung out at the gym for an hour during Jenna's class taking photos. The combination of my lens that I am still trying to learn hos to use, the lighting in the gym, and all the action made it a little difficult to take photos, so I am definitely going to have to go back and try again after I do a little more research. But...I wasn't too disappointed with my first attempts.


PS Jenna doesn't know this yet, but she gets to move up to the next level after Christmas. She's going to be so excited!!

{Chiles Family}

This was quite possibly the quickest and easiest photo session I've ever done. We met at Central on a Sunday afternoon and 20 minutes later I was heading home. Of course, it helps that this family is like a part of my family, and that I've known these boys since the day they were born, and that it was cold out and we all wanted to be done quickly. They almost made it too easy for me! THANKS for putting up with the cold Chiles Family!!