Here are a few pictures-

Nana and the boys before we headed to church on Christmas Eve-

Trying out a new church on Christmas Eve proved to be the best Christmas present I received this year. Shamefully, I have been stubborn since we’ve moved to VA and convinced myself that NO church would be as wonderful as Seacoast Church (the church we attended and LOVED in SC) so I just didn’t go at all. How SINFUL and selfish of me. The boys even repeatedly asked me, “Mommy, when are we going to go to church again?” God was always tugging at my heart and trust me, I too always felt as if something BIG was missing in my life, but it seemed so easy to just use baseball and housework and errandsnkeeping us busy on the weekends as excuses. Well, NO MORE! While it shouldn’t matter where I worship a Lord who continues to knock my socks off with blessings, it IS so much more motivating and comfortable to be able to pour your heart out in a place you feel at home, enjoy, have fun and actually want to spend 2 hours at. Add to that, the fact that the boys LOVE their own little church classroom and you have a recipe that equals NO MORE EXCUSES! The church building is brand new and GORGEOUS! It is run almost IDENTICAL to Seacoast. It is just a little smaller. The pastor is laid back, funny, encouraging and a wonderful teacher. I honestly do not know how I survived the past year and a half without church in my life. Every time I go, I feel fulfilled and HAPPY! Thank you God for yet another blessing. Oh, AND, they have a Sat night service. We all know I am not a morning person and with Braeden’s travel team games taking up most of the day on Sunday, Sat night is OH SO PERFECT for us.

Back to the pictures…..

Mikey chose his gift from Mike’s Mom to open on Christmas Eve. Turns out it was his favorite gift of all. It’s a 6-lane, 6 foot long Hotwheels race track-

They also each opened a gift from Nana- new down pillows. Braeden has always said that Nana’s pillow is the BEST pillow he has ever slept on. She bought all her grandkids the same kind of pillow for Christmas. The boys LOVED them. What a great, practical gift….I may or may not have stolen Mikey’s-

Putting cookies and milk out for Santa. I am not sure why their shirts are off-

After the boys went to bed, SANTA came!-

After all those gifts were tore open on Christmas morning….LOVE the expression on the boys faces-

Here are the letter’s Santa left for them (as he does every year)-

After we’d eaten dinner (SO delicous courtesy of Nana), Mike gave the boys these-

They were a bit confused at first, but then we confirmed their thoughts and HOPES….we are going to DISNEY WORLD! March 2-9 I wonder who is the MOST excited. The countdown has begun……

This was Mike’s favorite present. Haha, JK! It took him almost 2 weeks to put it together for the boys. It is a marble racing contraption-

We hope all of you had a very special Christmas and wish you a safe, happy, healthy 2012!

http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/christmas-on-the-potomac/index.html?source=GN||PPC|cotp|||G-DreamWorksICE&s_kwcid=TC|23001|ice%20madagascar||S|b|9834865865

We had such a fun day day at ICE festival Gaylord National Harbor. Basically, you are given these big blue WARM coats to wear before you enter a huge area that is about 7 degrees and filled with characters from the movie Merry Madagascar that are carved out of ICE! They also had slides that were made of ice. Keep in mind when viewing the pictures below that EVERYTHING you see (except for the floor and my kids) is made of ICE! It was totally cool.

Before we got our coats, we watched a short little clip of the movie Merry Madagascar and then a video explaining how the sculptures were made. They flew in the ice and the artists who sculpted them from China!

Mikey and Daddy watching the video-

Boys with their coats on in the ICE room standing in front of Santa (made of ice)-

Some of the characters from the movie (made of ice)-

Ice sculpted penguins and my two little penguins-

AMAZING! The time and detail that must have gone into creating this-

Another incredible one-

More sculptures of the characters-

This is my favorite. The boys are FREEZING while standing in front of a fireplace made of ICE!

Slides made of ice. The boys had SO much fun going down them-

So did Mike. I went down too and it was fast!

LOVE this one too-

Boys with the Lion from Madagascar-

Island scene from the movie-

Hippo from movie-

Nativity Scene. You can see one of the sculpters in the background-

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Since we didn’t send Christmas cards this year, this can be it! YEP, the wreath is made of ice too-

Meet and Greet with the penguin characters-

Mikey spotted a train as we were getting hot chocolate-

It was such a nice day (60′s) that we decided to walk around National Harbor (a waterfront shopping and dining area) and have lunch-

Mikey FOR SURE takes after his Daddy with his inability to sit still. Haha

Here is one more video of ice skating.

The many Christmas shirts of Mikey-

This shirt was a gift from a neighbor. Mickey lights up and blinks-

Naughty or Nice?-

His shirt says it all-

Handsome little dude after his haircut-

Some friends invited us for an afternoon of fun at a place called Rebounderz. Check it out here www.rebounderzsterling.com. It is basically a HUGE indoor trampoline place. The boys had SO much fun. They were tired and sweaty after 90 minutes of fun on the trampoline-

They had to wear helmets and everything-

Even the walls were trampoline (so they could bounce off the walls, haha)-

You could jump or flip into this big pit of foam sqaures-

Mikey was laughing every time he landed in the pit and worked his way out-

We took the boys ICE skating for the first time at this beautiful outdoor pavilion. On the way there I kept saying how I would leave em’ in the dust since I skated so much when I was little and lived in Canada. Well, it is NOT like riding a bike and I almost busted it as I skated out onto the ice assuming it would all just come back to me. Umm, not so much! After a few rounds on the ice I got better, but it was definitely NOT easy. Mike on the other hand was a pro-

I am SO happy that hockey is not Braeden’s sport of choice. He had a hard time on skates, but bless his heart kept wanting to try-

He didn’t let go of the wall much

Mikey was HILARIOUS! He LOVED skating and didn’t want to leave. He was so brave and laughed every time he fell (MANY times). His little bottom was red and bruised when we got home, but he had so much fun-

I went to Braeden’s classroom Christmas party. Here’s a picture of him and his teacher-

They had pizza, chips and cupcakes. They decorated their own cookies and made these hot cocoa ice cream cones. SO cool. It’s hot chocolate powder, chocolate chips, marshmallows and then a chewy gumdrop on the top-

Braeden made this in art class. These homemade crafts are my FAVORITE Christmas decorations-

Mikey had a Christmas performance at his preschool. It was SO SO cute. I of course was crying before the kids even came out. As soon as the director of the preschool mentioned how the kids are getting so big and how they will be in KINDERGARTEN next year, the tears came. The tears continued during the performance, but were mostly due to the fact I was laughing so hard I was crying. Mikey was hilarious. Check out the pictures. I took a video, but for some reason I can’t find it on my computer.

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Mikey was a lamb (with a floppy ear)-

Mikey's picture of Baby Jesus-

I have completely fallen in love with this sweet baby. I couldn’t resist when I saw this shirt. It is PERFECT for baby Thomas. He is 6 months old and only 12 pounds. He IS a little elf, but perfect in every way-

Check back for more Christmas photos over the next few days….3 more days till Santa comes. This has by far been the best year for Mikey. He is SO into Christmas and Santa and being good because “Santa is watching.” Have I mentioned lately just how much I LOVE being a Mommy????

So, this picture does our house NO justice. It looks GHETTO in the picture, but it really does look pretty. For whatever reason my camera doesn’t take good pictures of lights or anything bright. The “bulbs” in the front light up nice and bright. The candycanes switch from red to green and the Santa lights up too. The flag is a Christmas one with Santa on it-

Our skinny, but beautiful little tree. It’s the same one we had last year. I worked hard on it this year, bending and shaping each little branch. I did forget to put the lights on first and let me tell you, it is not an easy thing to do once all the decorations are on-

Stockings-

I replaced the pictures on our corkboard with this Santa-

These are my FAVORITE. I got them a couple years ago at Hallmark. The figures all dance to Christmas music. SO cute!

I try to limit myself to one new Christmas decoration each year. This is what I got this year. It is much brighter and prettier than in the picture.

Our stuffed Rudolph that Mikey HAD to have last year. If you press it’s ear it’s nose lights up-

Snow Globe. Awesome T.J Maxx find about 5 years ago. It also plays Christmas music-

Nightlight-

Towels in half bath-

Door “bells” haha-

Not sure what I love more, the wine or it’s hat

Candy Bowl-

The boys baseball place mats have been replaced for the holidays-

Mikey’s favorite Christmas decoration…..Polar Express train. We only take it out at Christmas and he LOVES watching it go around the tree-

I love when I receive Christmas decorations as Christmas gifts and can pull them out every year (Thanks Robyn)-

It wouldn’t be Christmas time without fuzzy jammies-

Braeden is too “big” for fuzzy jammies (insert tears here), but he LOVES his Phillies Santa Hat. He has worn it every night (and morning) since we pulled out the decorations. Yesterday, he walked out the door with it on and realized half way to school that it was still on. I asked him how he realized it and he said, “my head felt warmer than usual.”

Cutest 4 year old I know. Sporting his holiday attire-

Cutest 5 month old I know. OMG, look at that smile and sweet face. I kiss on those cheeks all day long. I bought him the little Christmas outfit he is wearing. I couldn’t resist and am a sucker for cute baby clothes.

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Ho Ho Ho-

Here are the pictures from the tree lighting we went to a couple weeks ago. Let me tell you that I am SUCH an AWESOME Mom! I took the boys by myself because Mike was working. It was FREEEEEEZING and I stood in line with them for over an hour to see Santa. We listened to the carolers while we waited.

Mikey and Santa-

B and Santa-

The tree before-

3-2-1-

Mikey and the Chick-fil-A Cow-

I hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season as much as we are…..2 weeks today is CHRISTMAS!

I am thankful for:

My little turkey-

…..and the fact that he is loving his school. He can’t wait to go every day and in fact, when given the option of going an extra hour to have lunch with his friends, he is ALL for it! He is learning so much too. It amazes Mike and I how much a change in location, and teachers have helped his learning process. He has learned more in the past month than I think he did in a year at his other “school.” We thought we would show our thanks by giving them each a pumpkin candle to take home and use on Thanksgiving.

For Nik and Ashley (my new bosses)-

Thomas and I made the frame in the above picture for his Mommy and Daddy for Thanksgiving. They truly are a blessing to me, and our families intersecting is most definitely an answer to a prayer (that I would find a job where I would be appreciated and cared about). Every night when Nik picks up Thomas he hugs me goodbye and expresses his genuine thanks and appreciation…..EVERY night! When they got home on Wednesday night and opened their Thanksgiving present, they called me in tears thanking me for the gift and expressing how special it was to them. It is because of moments like that, that I continue to DO for others. All it takes is 1 person to share how much something I did meant to them to make EVERY unappreciated deed worth it!

That Mike has such a fantastic job, is done training for his new position and got to meet this handsome dude…..

…..YES, that IS Ben Affleck and Mike DID meet him!

That despite his plane to Chicago leaving without him, Braeden had a safe and fun trip to Chicago (he got on a flight an hour later) and is home safe.

I am so incredibly blessed with SO much…..far more than I can type in a blog and far more than I am deserving of. I am thankful for a God who is SO good and who continues to capture my heart and guide my life; for a husband who loves me with a capital L; for 2 amazing little boys who amaze me daily and light up my world; and for YOU if you are reading this.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

FOOTBALL?-

Or cheering on the Winnipeg Jets via text with Lisa and Lorne. Thanks for the shirts!!!!

Or I can post pictures of Braeden in uniform that I FINALLY took on the weekend of the end of season tournament! Braeden and his team finished in 4th place overall. There are 10-15 teams in the league so not bad. Braeden pitched the first game of the tournament which was huge because he’d only pitched an inning or two the entire season. I guess the coaches saved him for when they really needed him. He did SO great and we won 17-5. The second to last game was the best game of the whole season. We were playing a team whose players, coaches and parents were bad sports- throwing dirt at our players, calling our pitchers slow and our base runners “scared.” At one point we were losing, so coming back to WIN the game was so awesome. Usually I feel a tad sad for the team that lost, especially if the game was close, but this time I felt nothing except wanting to say, “Ha ha take THAT!” I am so proud of our Bulls players and coaches who did not “fight back”- at least not with words or dirt……we did with our bats though-scoring more runs! I’ve really grown to not be amazed by much that people do and say, but I truly was shocked that a 9 year old boy and his DAD said nothing in response and even gave us a dirty look as we walked out to our car and Braeden said, “Nice game, we’ll see ya’ in the spring” to a player on the opposing team. YIKES, I mean I take baseball pretty serious, but I can’t imagine being THAT sore a loser. What kind of lesson is that man teaching his son?

Speaking of Father and son…..for the record, Mike was louder than me during ALL of the playoff games. He got SO into it and Braeden loved it-

Or I can hang out with the new baby boy that is now a big part of our family. A little boy that I did not have to endure 9 months of pregnancy, give birth to, or have sleep interrupted for to be able to love on during the day AND get paid for it. Not a bad deal. He is a cutie too and pretty laid back. He is almost 5 months old, but pretty tiny (about 12 pounds) since he was 2 months premature. The boys LOVE Thomas! Mikey has really amazed me. Instead of acting jealous or being clingy to me, he wants to help with everything. He is so sweet and gentle and is actually a really big help. It goes without saying how much Thomas LOVES Braeden- ALL babies do. He is just a natural around them and will be such a great Dad someday…..like when he’s 57 or so.

Or I can enjoy the holiday season now that the hard work of decorating is done. We sure did break the rule of not decorating until after Thanksgiving, but Braeden leaves on Sunday for Chicago and we wanted him to be a part of it. So, we decorated last night. I will post pictures soon. We are going to a tree lighting tonight- Santa, hot chocolate, crisp temperatures, Christmas carols, LOVE IT! The town of Gainesville likes to decorate before Thanksgiving too!

Today- “God is SO amazingly GOOD and really does reward for doing the right thing. He continues to knock my socks off with the blessings he brings my way. I am very thankful.”

I wrote this because (among other things) initially Braeden’s end of season baseball tournament was supposed to be an hour away this weekend with us having to be at the field at 7:30am. Mike is working so I would have to do the driving alone both Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to reserve a hotel, but decided to be frugal and tough it out. I received an e-mail this morning that tournament was moved to fields that are 10 minutes from our house.

October 30- “After sleet and snow yesterday we are back at the ball fields for the last regular season game. Go Bulls!”

October 29- “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! In VA, in October, before Halloween, it is SNOWING! We are in for a BrUtal winter.”

October 27- “You know you LOVE baseball when neither team playing in the World Series is a “favorite” yet you are still wide awake at midnight unable to turn the game off until it’s over!”

It was midnight and I was up watching the Cardinals vs. Rangers game 6- BEST game of baseball I think I have ever seen.

October 27- “So, even Superman falls down. Mike fainted last night at work then drove himself to the ER (as opposed to listening to his sergeant and lieutenant who insisted they drive him). Diagnosis? Pneumonia!

Mike is feeling MUCH better now. Yay!

October 26- “I am TOTALLY frustrated. I am in week two with running. My lungs and body feel great and I can run further and further each time, but as I expected (since it happens every time I try to start running again, and thus why I always quit) my knees have given up. I can barely walk today without serious pain. Any ideas, suggestions? I really don’t want to stop, but there is no way I can keep running with my knees like this.”

I went to the Dr. today actually and he gave me some exercises to do to improve my knee cap. Everything he said made sense, just a little hard to recap. Long story short, I must have injured my knees a long time ago and the only way to “heal” them is to do strengthening exercises.

October 23- “Drove 1 hour to Braeden’s games today and it was worth every minute. The scenery was breathtaking. Have I mentioned that I’m falling in love with VA and that I love love love Fall?”

October 21- “This is the part of baseball I don’t love so much! Fat lip, cheek hit so hard you can see the baseball imprint in his swollen cheek!

For the record, he was back out on the field and practicing within about 10 minutes. He ended up with a pretty bad black eye (from the blood vessels bursting), but he was TOUGH!

October 21- “Thanks to the movie Zookeeper and my accessibility to music via I-tunes, my 4 year old is obsessed with the song “Low” by flo-rida. Thank goodness for edited versions!”

Depending on how long it takes with red lights and traffic, we continue to listen to this song at least twice to and from preschool each day AND it MUST be played as loud as possible.

October 20- “I came upstairs to go to bed and this is what I saw- PRICELESS!”

October 20- “Anyone out there wondering if God exists……here’s my testament. I prayed for positive change, and in 4 days I’ve cooked twice (actually using the stove and not microwave) and I’ve ran 3 times. exercise and cooking are the two things I hate most and I have not done either in over 5 years!!!! That’s GOTTA be God cuz that motivation sure doesn’t come from me. I haven’t been this happy in a LONG time!”

So the running is put on hold while I do the strengthening exercises to help the knee cap and the cooking……well……it’s just not for me.

October 17- “I bought my running shoes 10 months ago! Ran for the FIRST time today. Felt SO good. What motivated me? Watching Braeden stretch like a gymnast on 1st base yesterday and seeing the movie Footloose today! Whatever works! Yay me!

October 16- “Top of the last inning, we are down by 2. We score two runs to tie the game. B is up to bat with 2 outs and a runner on third. He WACKS the ball to drive in the winning run! Bottom of the last inning we get em’ out 3 up 3 down! Way to go B and Haymarket BULLS!!!!”

October 15- “Braeden heard something on TV about following your dreams and said, “My dream is to play MLB baseball.” Mikey walks into the room and says, “Oh ya, well MY dream is to play T-Ball!”

October 14- “For a kid that can’t tell time yet, one watch just isn’t enough.”

October 8- “What a better world it would be if everyone saw the movie Courageous and really took it to heart!”

GREAT movie- check it out!

October 7- “Every night this week I have been up late watching baseball (way to go Tigers!) and when I’ve checked on Mikey before heading to bed, he’s stripped down to his underwear. When I ask him in the morning why he took his pajamas off, he’ll say, “because I wanna be a MAN like Daddy!” (Mike sleeps in boxers thankfully)

October 3- “LOVE my sister! Just spent the last 8 hours watching baseball “together” via bb messenger- she lives in Canada. First we cheered on her # 1 team (my second favorite) the Tigers and then the Phillies (her second favorite). At least we got one win out of it though sadly not from the Phillies. It’s OK, Braeden’s team won both games in their double header today! I.LOVE.BASEBALL!!!!”

We ain’t afraid of no ghosts!-

Mikey deep in thought about all the candy he is going to collect while out trick-or-treating-

Mikey aka Spiderman!-

Braeden- “Mommy, I am a 9 year old BOY! A Bleeding Skeleton costume is SOOOOOO cool!” Me- ****SIGH****
I can’t stop the kid from growing up no matter how hard I try!

Cute kids huh?!-

Braeden and his buddies ready to Trick-or-Treat-

Mikey emptying his loot-

“Can I have just one?” For the record, I let him have 2-

I am chatting with my sister as I type this and she told me that I must include the fact that I am a bah humbug and didn’t even pass out candy. At least I didn’t leave the kids hanging…..I put a bowl of candy on the front step. Better than the people with 2 cars in the driveway who turn out the lights and pretend they are not home. Ha ha.

Stay tuned. I PROMISE I will be blogging more. In keeping with my history of working in a law firm for awhile, then nannying for awhile, working in a law firm for awhile, then nannying for awhile, I am no longer working at the law firm I was with and I have accepted a job as a nanny to a 3 month old little boy. He will come to my house M-F starting November 16. Mikey has started a new preschool (like REAL school as opposed to a full time “daycare”) and for the first time in over a year we are seeing OUR Mikey again…..not the Mikey who begged and pleaded with all he had for us not to take him to school. Not the Mikey who would have to be torn out of my arms every morning leaving me baffled, sad, grumpy and worried my entire day at work. Not the Mikey who seemed as though he was trying so so hard to express his unhappiness verbally, but being unable to, simply chose to be uncooperative and at times unmanageable
as an attempt to release his frustration. I truly feel so sad that I didn’t see just how unhappy he was and realize what exactly the cause was sooner. It has taken this change for us to see that it WAS the school that was his major source of unhappiness. I have been home with him for over a month and I can say our sweet little Mikey is back. He is doing fantastic at home, and for the first time ever he can’t wait to go to school, he even asks all morning if it’s time to go (he goes M-F 12pm-3pm). When I pick him up, he has a smile on his face and is eager to share what fun things he learned at school (the only response we ever got when we used to ask him was “I don’t want to talk about it”). Thank you GOD! The statement that “All things happen for a reason” is so very true. Of course Mikey being happy again and thriving is the very best out of all of this, but I am also so happy that once again I can have my baby boy fix! After staring at my 9 year old “Bleeding Skeleton” all night, I am ready for the coos and cuddles.