Solitude

Something that I don't find myself dealing with too often is solitude.  My house is busy.  With me, Jim, Michelle and a busy 6 year old in the mix something is always going on.  Most weekend days I find myself  playing catch up trying to make up for everything that I didn't get done during the week, the errands that I neglected, the housework that I didn't have the energy to do or the attention that I failed to give to someone.  So my time is rarely my own.  It is just a fact of life and one that I am not complaining about, it's just the way it is.  But this past Saturday was different.  Jim was working and Michelle was scheduled to work an event down at Baker Park for most of the day. which she has done from time to time.  In the past however, I would probably have gone to the park with her and taken Bella to the different booths and let her play until either Michelle or Bella was done, whichever came first.  If Bella was done first, I would have taken her home and watched her until Michelle got home.  I have never minded doing it either.  Bella and I have a great time together and I would do anything to help Michelle out!  But this time, she didn't even ask for my help, as a matter of fact I didn't even know about it until late in the week.  Why?  Because of this:

This is Shawn.

He and Michelle are dating.  Shawn is also the father of a six year old boy named Aiden, and he was to have Aiden for the weekend.  So, Shawn volunteered to meet Michelle and Bella at the park and take Bella for the day.  He took the two kids around the park for a while and then got them some lunch and then they went to Aiden's baseball game.  Michelle was hoping to get to the game, but by the time she finished up the game was over.  Anyway, Shawn had the two kids for the day and I had the day to myself!  He may be wearing a tiara in the picture (courtesy of Isabella) but in my book he's a real prince.

So, what did I do with myself all day?  Well, first I ironed all of the clothes that had been stacked up waiting to be ironed.  For some reason whenever anyone is home and I want to iron, someone says 'Don't do that now, come sit.' so I never seem to get it done.  Got it all done.  Next I spent about two hours cleaning my bedroom, really cleanig it.  I love it when I can really dedicate time like that to cleaning instead of just giving it a cursory once over.  Next up was the living room.  Now something had really been bothering me in that room all week.  Every time I went in there I smelled something, but I couldn't find the source of the smell.  I kept thinking that one of the dogs had fouled themselves or it was stinkbugs or something, but I just couldn't find it.  Well, I was bound and determined to find the source of the smell and find it I did.  Any guesses?

If you guessed an unfound Easter Egg you would be right!  It was between a large plant pot and the plastic lining of the basket that the potted plant sat in.  The egg was liquified and stuck to both the pot and the plastic and smelled so bad that when I picked it up the dogs went running outside!  What a mess that was to clean up.  How did we not know it was missing in the first place?  Well, Michelle and Timmy hid the eggs and before we were able to get downstairs, the dogs were down there and had taken some of the eggs but we didn't know how many they had taken.  So, when we couldn't find any more, we thought we had gotten them all.  The egg that I found was hidden between the plant and the basket and must have been bumped and fallen down to the bottom of the basket and somehow gotten jostled enough to get underneath the potted plant!  Go figure.  Next year it's plastic eggs all the way!

I finished cleaning the plant up and the rest of the living room, cleaned the foyer floor and the powder room, the kitchen and then made fresh banana nut bread because I had a few over ripe bananas.  It was just a really nice day!  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I even scrapbooked a little bit and got in a quick nap.  Amazing what you can do in a day!

Bunny Tales

What a weekend!  It was so different than what I had expected it to be, but I guess that I need to get used to different.  Saturday Michelle and Shawn had planned on taking the kids to Rose Hill Manor for an Easter Egg Roll and various other activities and of course it was raining on Saturday.  Michelle called and found out that it was going to go on rain or shine, so they went anyway.  By the time they got over there it was down to a mere drizzle and then the sun came out and it turned into a nice day after all.   

While they were playing, Tim came home and invited me to lunch so we went downtown and had lunch together.  Just the two of us.  It was really nice.  We went to Firestone's in Frederick and sat upstairs, our table had a birdseye view of Market Street and the floor below.  Its fun to watch all the activity going on about you on a busy Saturday!  Tim was full of stories of readying for the opening of the restuarant and interviewing candidates and life in general.  It was just so nice to spend some time with him and catch up with my boy!  Love that kid.

Soon after we got home, Michelle and Shawn got home with the kids and the house came alive!  It's amazing the life that children will bring to a home.  Jim had picked up cookies for the kids to decorate and Bella and Aiden had a blast with those.  It was so much fun to see how the two of them approached the same task in such different ways; Aiden seemed to want to get as much icing and decors on each cookie as possible while Bella took her time and tried to make a pattern with the icing finishing with all the icing before adding any of the decors.  It was just funny. 

Here they are working on their creations.  Aiden's face is painted like a dog and Bella's a bunny.

Once they finished with the cookies it was on to dyeing eggs.  We had plenty of those for them to do, Jim had hard boiled 6 dozen for them and wanted to do more! 

They made all kinds of decorated eggs, striped, polka dotted, speckled, plaid, some had writing, some were two toned, but mostly they all looked like this.

Funny how that happens-huh?!

But, the kids had a great time.  All of the kids..

Even the big ones!

Then I made dinner and we all shared a nice meal together.  It was really nice.  I loved having them all there!  After dinner, Bell and Aiden had a surprise for Jim and I, they hid plastic eggs for us.  They instructed us to go in the backyard and look for them and they would give us clues - hot or cold.  Their hot or cold clues included them taking our hands and showing us where they were hidden sometimes, but that's okay, we wouldn't have found them otherwise.  (Buried under the sand.) 

Then Shawn and Aiden had to go home and Bella  had to get ready for bed.  Tim spent the night at our house and in the morning we woke to Bella hunting for eggs.  Then it was time for church.  Where she had another egg hunt.  After church, Michelle and Bella went to Shawn's familys for dinner and yet another egg hunt, Timmy went home and Jim and I had a quiet afternoon alone.  As I said, it was a different Easter for us.  It was good, but different. 

Here's Bella in her Easter dress.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and celebrated the birth of our Saviour!

What a weekend!

Last week was really terrible.  Truly bad. I worked my tail off at my job so much so that I was physically and emotionally exhausted every day, I slept poorly, and I just felt lousy.  It really was a rotten week at work and I couldn't help it that the rotten-ness at work carried itself over to home.  Sometimes that happens as much as you don't want it to, it just does.  I wasn't necessarily in a bad mood or anything, but I wasn't much fun either.  I was drained and I was determined to put that week behind me and start anew.

So on Saturday I figured I knew just the way to do that and I scheduled a massage along with a mani and a pedi for myself.  You know what?  It really did the trick!  Yup!  Nothing like a few hours of pampering to make you feel all fresh and relaxed again.  Umm.  I just love a good massage and this one was a great massage!  My entire body felt like putty, like I could just slide off the table into a puddle onto the floor, I had turned to mush.  And my sinuses were clear for the first time in a long time too!  It was great! 

Later that evening Jim asked if we wanted to go to the National Zoo

the next day.  He has wanted to go for a while now to see the new lion cubs that were born a while ago and I kept saying no, so I surprised him and said sure.  Bella loves the zoo and was so excited about going.  So, Sunday morning we got up and got an early start so we get down there in time to see them as they are only outside for an  hour. We couldn't have been there for more than an hour or two when Bella started complaining that her foot hurt and she didn't want to walk.  That was unusual because: 1) she doesn't usually complain and 2) she can walk around that place for hours on end.  So Grandaddy put her on his shoulders for a while, but she still wasn't herself.  Soon she started asking for lunch, so we stopped for lunch but when we got her meal she would eat or drink anything.  That is also very unusual behaviour.  When we were watching the lion cubs she just started crying and couldn't be consoled.  But when asked what was wrong she couldn't really say, just that she didn't think she felt well.  So we packed it up and went home.  She slept most of the rest of the day, and ran a bit of a fever off and on, so Michelle decided to take her in to visit the doctor this morning.  Poor kid has strep throat!  Her first time ever!

Before she started to feel poorly.

This little red Panda was so cute!  He had just woken up from a nap in the tree and was so close to us!

There are seven babies from 2 different moms, but only 5 were out this day.

These 2 were so curious and were following mom all over and could see their reflection in the water.

This little one smacked mom when mom kept her from going where she wanted to go!

It did not go over well with momma!

The Groundhog Lied

Or at the very least was on the fence about this whole Spring thing.  How do I know?  Because this morning I woke up to snow and ice covering the ground, my car and the roads!  What a way to start the mornig! 

Friday it was 74 degrees and today it is 24 degrees, what is that about?! 

Anyway, Saturday Bella had  her first dance competition.  She was a little nervous, afraid that she would forget her steps or something, but the girls all did great.  The competition was in Baltimore, so we didn't have far to go.  It was an incredibly windy day and driving down there was a bit of a challenge as we could feel the car being blown around the road a bit.  Luckily there was a parking garage right across from the convention center where the competition was held so we didn't have far to walk.  Bella thought she might get blown away, and she could have the winds were that strong!  The girls were among the youngest there, so they didn't have to stay all day.  They danced in the afternoon and then awards were at 5:00 and we were able to leave after that.  Their number was so cute, it was a lyrical routine danced to the song 'Believe' by Josh Groban and some of the girls were snowflakes and the others were skaters.  Bella was a snowflake. 

Our little snowflake

Bella and Miss Casey, she just LOVES this girl. 

Miss Casey is a high school girl who is also in the dance company and has been for some time.  She is also an assistant teacher in Bella's class this year.  The older girls are all so great with the younger ones.  We are a so lucky to be at this studio because everyone there is just wonderful!  The respect show to one another and the level of caring and compassion is just amazing.  Before the competition, each girl was asked to take an index card for every girl in the company and write something nice, positive or encouraging to each girl.  Then Miss Casey gathered all the cards and seperated them and put each girls' into a index card box.  So every girl got a file box with a card from every girl in the company with something nice written on it about them.  Just such a positive experience for them.  

Oh, and how did they do?  They won a Platinum Award based on overall points and a Second Place award!  Not too shabby for their first time out.  Bella was thrilled because she got a ribbon.

But the day really took it out of her.  During the awards ceremony she was falling asleep in Casey's lap!

On Sunday I went to church alone.  The girls were not up to it, Bella had just gotten up.  I was the liturgist, so I had to go, but more than that I wanted to go.  It really helps me to get a good start on my week and it helps to carry me through my week too.  After church, I went home and rested a bit because I knew we had a long afternoon ahead of us.  Tim was coming home to celebrate his birthday.  My little boy is 25!  Well, he will be tomorrow.  We had a great evening just being together.  Tim is always entertaining, but he was joined by his buddy Dan who he has beed friends with for MANY years now, and when the two of them are together they are a riot.  We had a gret time.  Shawn joined us too and we all went out to dinner, then afterwards we came home for cake and candles. 

The birthday boy and his favorite niece!

Blowing out the candles.

It was a great weekend!

Jersey Girls

The Good Kind.

If you have watched that reality show that is all the rage now Jersey Shore, you may think that you have an idea about Jersey Girls.  You do not.  That show does nothing to depict either the kind of girls that New Jersey is known for or the state itself.  How do I know? 
                                     I am a Jersey Girl!  Born and Bred, baby!
I can speak and write intelligently.  I don't hide in a pouf or laquer my hair so much that it is considered a fire hazard.  (My body either.)  But, I can still get my 'New York' up when needed.  So you don't mess with a Jersey Girl. 

Here are two  more Jersey Girls.  They're the real thing! 

These are my cousins: Christine and Linda.  You don't want to mess with either one of these girls either. 

They are actually from the Jersey shore.  But let me tell you something about these girls, they are as nice as can be, they are all about family, they are fun, they are real and just plain good people.  I have the privilege to call them family. 

This picture was taken when we were in Florida last weekend on my Blackberry.  (I didn't bring my camera.)  In the area where my parents and aunt and uncle live, one mode of transporation is golf car.  We had just come back for a nice long ride with a stop downtown.  We thought that my Mom wanted to get rid of us 6 girls (my 3 sisters, myself and my 2 cousins) for a while, but it turns out she just wanted us to take advantage of the Florida sunshine.

Anyway, we had a blast with them.  Considering the circumstances. I'd love to get together just for fun.  Rarely get those kind of opportunities though.  Everbodies schedules and such.  So here's a shout out to my cousins Christine and Linda-Hiya' girls!  Great to see ya'!  You gals made me laugh, you made me cry and you Jersey girls sure can throw  your money around!  Ha! 

I Hate Mondays!

There is really nothing good to be said about a Monday.  Unless of course, it is a day off.  That is a horse of a different color.  But in general, Monday's stink.  I hate 'em!  Today is no exception.  I didn't want to get up, then the traffic in to work was terrible, work is -well WORK, need I say more?!  If I were ruler of all things, I would make Mondays a stay home day.  Different than a week-end day, where you can do what you want on Saturday and Sunday.  Monday you just stay home.  The whole focus of Monday would be to gear up and re-focus yourself and your family for the week ahead.  Doesn't that sound like a good idea? 
No running around?         No errands?             No jumping in and out of the car?            No spending money?       
                None of that.
Just you and your family. At home.  No neighbors.  No stores.  No homework.  No work.  Just family time.
Quite, together, BE time.  The kids won't be bugging you to go outside or to go to Tommy's house or to the movies or anything, 'cuz your can't.  It's the law of the land.  Of the supreme ruler of all things.  Just quiet family time.  See.  Isn't this sounding better and better?   You're liking it, aren't you?  Go ahead, admit it?

Yeah, me too.

In the meantime, Mondays suck.

So, how was you're weekend?

I was productive if nothing else.  I finished up Bella's room.  Curtains are hung, shelf is up, furniture is all moved in, and there are even a few things on the walls.  For all intents and purposes, her room is done.  Some finishing touches need to go in, but we have to wait for those to arrive.
After I finished in there, I moved into her old room and started priming the walls for paint.  Worked on that for most of the remainder of Saturday.  Cleared out some of the junk that remained in the room that no one wanted to claim, and then Jim and I headed out for a bite to eat and then on to Home Depot.  I know, it was a hot Saturday night!  Picked up the paint that I was going to need and some other misc. items. 
So after church on Sunday I headed upstairs to change my clothes and then straight into the next room to start painting.  I didn't stop until I had run out of paint.  Which happened to be 1/2 a wall shy of finishing the room!  I got two coats on everything but that final 1/2 a wall.  By that time it was 4:30, I was beat and in no mood to run down to the store for more paint, so I cleaned up and called it a day. 
Jim has promised to pick up the paint for me today and I'll finish after work this evening.  So close!
Then, we can begin moving the furniture in and I can start organizing my craft room!  It has been nearly six months since my stuff has been in one place and since I've been able to work on anything.  I won't know where to begin.    I'm sure that I'll be able to figure something out though!

But I won't be working on it over the weekend as I found out on Thursday that a Memorial Service has been planned for Richard on Saturday.  So, I will be flying down to Florida to the rest of my extended family on Thursday as we gather together to celebrate and to honor Richard's life.
So, say a prayer if you will.  I know that it is going to be a difficult time, but one that we will get through together and with God's love.

A New Normal

I'm going to try to get back to a more regular schedule of posting.  Things have been rather difficult as of late.  My family has been so shocked and saddened by the news of my cousins' death and the violence surrounding it.  We are all just reeling from the horror of it all.  Most especially, his mother, father and of course, his wife.  It is such a tragedy.  No one expects something like this to touch  your world and when it does, you don't know what to do, where to turn, or how to act.  It has been almost a week since the police showed up at my aunts home to tell her of the news and yet, his body still has not been released.  There has been no service, no arrest in the case, no official word on what really happened, no closure.  Perhaps there never will be.  That has got to be very difficult to live with.  How do you reconcile yourself with that?

What they do know is that sometimes Richard didn't make the best choices.  He fought with his demons, he wrestled with them, he overcame them.  Only to slip and fall to fight his way back to the top again.  He was a fighter, make no mistake.  Richard didn't come by things easily.  He struggled.  He worked hard, he fought and he won.  He knew the feeling of despair that comes from failure and he wore a smile that radiated through his eyes from a triumph that no one but he could fully understand.  He had a heart as big as his chest and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.  He grew up, loved and was loved in return.  We grieve the loss of him.

The circumstances surrounding his death should in no way define the kind of person he was.  He was a good man.  A loving man.  A kind man.  A gentle man.  A man who will be missed.

Okay, the tears are done.  I'll tell you about our anniversary.  Jim and I went to the Bavarian Inn as promised.  It was great.  Cold, but great.  It was just nice to get away and be alone.  The room was nice, king sized bed, fire place, jacuzzi tub, river view.  Jim had thought to have a cheese and fruit tray sent to the room so it was waiting for us when we got in, very nice.  We brought a bottle of wine so we had the wine and cheese in front of the fire place and it was quiet.  Very nice.  When we went to dinner it was freezing!  But it was so crowded, the place really does quite a good business.  The food was really good, but the desert was delicious!  I has a raspberry lindser torte and Jim has apple strudle-mmm good!  Best part was the chef took melted chocolate and wrote Happy Anniversary on our plates with it and then put a candle in it and brought it to the table.  So pretty!  I took a picture, but it didn't come out. 

Here are some pictures of the views:

The view from our balcony.

A side view of the chalet.

The front view of our chalet.

After we got home on Sunday I rested for a while and then got back to work.  I finished painting Bella's room!  Finally!  Last night after work Jim, Michelle and I moved Bella's furniture into her new r oom.  There are still more things to do but we are getting there!  Her old room is trashed, lots of toys and junk that has to be moved, pictures on the wall yet, but the big stuff is done. I'll post pictures when it's done, done.  Hopefully by the weekend I will be able to start priming that room.

This morning we woke up to snow.  All the major school systems in the area have closed for the day.  We are told to expect about 8 inches, which is significant in these parts.  I will be at work for most of the day.  Bleh!

It's Always the Blog that Suffers

                                              ***WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY!!!!***

I know that I said that I'd post again on Thursday and it is now Tuesday, but some things have to go by the wayside and it is unfortunately, the blog that suffers.  I have had a lot on my plate and on top of it all, I got sick and spent 2 1/2 hours at the doctor's office on Thursday.  Diagnosis: Strep Throat. On top of that I got a terrible cold so instead of feeling better, I started to feel worse and then the medicine that I was put on made me sick to my stomach.  So, I've been a mess!  Just starting to feel somewhat human again now. 

Anyway, Christmas was wonderful.  Bella got everything that she wanted and lots of stuff that she didn't even know she wanted. The highlight of her day was probably when she opened her American Girl Doll.  She coveted that doll but hadn't dard to ask for it, so it was a total surprise.  She was SO excited!  She told us that we spoiled her and that she was so, so, so lucky.  Made this Grandma's heart feel good.

Bella discovers 'Lainey'.

It was just so nice to have the kids home and have all of us together too.  That was the  most precious gift. 

We all got nice gifts and just really enjoyed the day.

After dinner Tim went home to celebrate Christmas with his girlfriend and Michelle put Bella to bed and then went to celebrate with Shawn and Jim and I collapsed.  We are really getting old.  Ha!

On Sunday we traveled up to Pa. to visit with Jim's brother, sister and nephew.  We exchanged gifts with them, visited and had dinner and then headed back home again.  It was a busy day, but I am so glad that we have that opportunity to get up there and see them each year.  It's nice to see everyone and it means an awful lot to Jim, so I am happy that we can do it. 

When we got home there was a messag on our maching from my Dad saying that he and Marlena had left N.J. on Sunday instead of Monday to try and beat the snow and they were now in town.  (We were expecting them on Monday.)  I called them and they were safe in their  hotel room, lucky to have beaten the snow that hit the east coast.  So, they came over in the morning.  Bella was so excited!  Her Christmas just never ended! 

Here's my Dad showing off his hat, complete with hair!

To add to the fun, Uncle Timmy came back home to see the Grandparents!  Bella was in heaven!

Tuesday morning we had breakfast and then they left, on their way to Florida and sunnier skies!  Then later in the afternoon, my Mom and Dad arrived from Vermont.  They had gotten snowed in for a day or so, having gotten more than 24 inches of the white stuff.  So they finally were able to make it in and we had a nice visit with them.  Bella and Nana had fun playing with all of Bella's new toys.

                                                                   
Everyone had a chance to meet  Shawn, so that was nice too.  Then it was on to birthdays!
First up was Michelle.  Friday the 31st, we all had the day off so we took it easy getting up, didn't rush to get dressed or anything.  It was nice.  Finally, Michelle opened her presents and loved everything-especially her cowgirl boots!  Later in the evening Shawn and Aiden joined us and we all went out for dinner at a Japanese hibachi restaurant.  Mmmmm!  Good food.  Then on home for ice cream cake and happy birthday.

Bella and Michelle

Bella and Aiden

Shawn and Michelle

Michelle & Shawn were going to keep the kids at our house until Bella went to bed and then go back to Shawn's house and put Aiden to bed, but the kids had such a good time playing together and were so well behaved that they just stayed at the house.  Shawn and Aiden wound up leaving at 12:45 and left with the promise that if the kids got a good night sleep, Shawn could bring Aiden back to play again the next day!  It was too cute!  When Saturday arrived and Bella woke up her first question of the day was ' When is Aiden coming over?'.  We heard that until Aiden actually arrived.  At dinner that evening they announced that they were buddies who played well together and had fun together.  Aiden said 'That's because we love each other!'  Kids, gotta love them!

Buddies!

We also celebrated Jim's birthday on Saturday.  I gotta tell you, he probably has the worst birthday of all.  By the time his birthday arrives everyone is so tired of partying and eating out and all that it is kinda like- oh yeah, happy birthday!  Even Jim.  For his birthday dinner this year he wanted chili, so we had chili.  He was tired of heavy meals and eating out and thought chili would be good to have while the football games were on and to have as leftovers the next day as well.  So, chili it was!  Lucky me. 

Jim opened his gifts and was quite happy with his presents as well, especially his heated bird bath.  (The birds like it too!) 

So, that is it for the celebrations.  Now we are back to school and work and trying to get back to a normal routine.  Not easy to do.  I'd like nothing more than a nice long nap about now!  

Until the next time-

Karen

Such a Wonderful Time!

I have so much to post that there is no way to fit it all in one post, so I will have to divide it into multiple posts!  I tried to login and post on Friday but I couldn't get a good connection and just wasn't able to do it for some reason. 

Anyway, let's start with Christmas Eve.  We started the day with a trip to the Way Off Broadway Breakfast with Santa.  What a great way to start the day.  The show was so full of energy and so much fun, it was just such a treat to watch the delight in Isabella's eyes as she watched the elves  and Mrs. Clause frolic and play on stage.  Then when Santa joined in on the fun-well, the crowd really got excited.  It was such a great morning of fun, too bad the food is so lacking.  (It really is terrible!) 

Bella and Mrs. Clause

Doing the limbo-how low can you go?

Bella with Jingle the Elf

Catching some of that Santa Magic!

I think all the excitement got to her because when we got home she asked if she could just go take a rest in bed.  Rest she did waking nearly 2.5 hours later!   While she napped, Jim and I ran up to the hospital to visit our nephew Justin who was hospitalized for complications following an appendectomy.  (Justin has since been released and is doing well, thank God!)

Then it was time to get ready for church services.  We were going to go to the 5:00 service as Bella was going to sing and ring the bells as part of worship.  The 5:00 service is the children's service or as our pastor refers to it as 'Controlled Chaos'.  That it is!  It is fun to see all the little ones all dressed up in the Christmas clothes and see the excitement in their eyes and hear it in their voices.  The children all did a great job singing and ringing and the service was very special.

Our serious one!

Then it was out for dinner and then on to home for our one present.  New pajamas of course!

Gotta look good for those Christmas photos. 

Snow Belle!

Next, we sprinkled the reindeer food, milk and cookies for Santa followed by a story before bed and then it was into bed for this little one!  Off to dreamland. 

Let sweet visions fill your head!

Post more on about our Christmas tomorrow!

 

Hersheypark Happy!

We are all on a chocolate high, but it was well worth it.  Everywhere we went we were handed chocolate and, not wishing to appear rude I ate it.  Yum!  We had a great weekend, once we got there.  Let me start at the beginning. 

Friday, I was to leave work early so that we could get up to Hershey nice and early and maybe get to the park after we checked in or go to the pool or something.  I left work shortly after 12 and headed home and at that time of day the ride should have taken no more than 20 minutes.  But, a small snow squall had blown through the area dropping maybe a quarter of an inch of snow on the ground.  (Let me stress the maybe!)  There were no less than six accidents on the roads and my ride took me an hour and a half!  I was lucky because shortly after I got home I heard that both routes home were then closed due to accidents.  Anyway, we finally did make it to the Lodge and got checked in with just enough time for me to take a rest before we had to make our way to the "Red Room" for our 'Christmas in Chocolate Town' musical review dinner theatre.  The food was good and the review was cute, it wasn't great but we weren't expecting great.  It was too long.  There were a lot of children in the audience and the way it worked was they served dinner first and then put on the show.  With dinner starting at 6:30 the show didn't start until almost 8:00 and lasted until 9:00 and by that time there was a lot of whining and crying and the kids were getting restless too!

The next morning we went to the park for Breakfast with Santa.  That was great!  Bella just loved it.  They had characters there and juggling elves and a strolling music man.  The kids all wore name tags and the music man had a great way of incorporating their names into his songs and they loved that.

Bella was picked to help the music man strum his guitar and help him with a song.  She thought that was pretty special.

Bella and the Reese's Bar

Bella and the Big Man!

Bella asked Santa for a Unicorn Pillow Pet.  Santa told her that he thought that the elves had one back at the workshop for her and he would work real  hard to bring it for her.  She was very happy to hear that as that has been her number one request for months!  On our way out, the children got to sit with Santa and Mrs. Clause and have their picture taken with them.

Bella remembered one more thing that she wished to tell him.  She told Santa that she had a Hershey Hooded sweatshirt that she had gotten last year but that she had grown out of it and if it wasn't too much trouble, could she get another one.  He said that he would try to remember that and Mrs. Clause asked her for her size and Bella gave her her size and her mom's size too. 

Even Big kids like Santa!

After that we made it into the park and even made it onto some rides. 

Well, nobody said it was going to be warm!  These two could hardly walk when they got off this ride, they were COLD, but not complaining!

We shopped, rode rides, went to chocolate world, saw the house made of candy, visited the gardens and the museum and even had a chocolate martini.  Yummm!  It was a jam packed, fun-filled week-end and we were all glad to get home.  Bella said that she wished she could stay for more days, but she crashed in the car and slept almost the whole way home and went to bed nice and early that night.  Yesterday she shared some of the magic with her classmates by bringing in some Hershey Kisses to school to share with the class. 

And now, it is a mere 11 days until Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally Friday!

I am so excited to get started on the weekend, I feel like a little kid!  We have big plans for this weekend and we are packed and about ready to head out.  Just a little matter of work and school for some of us, but then we will be on our way.  Where are we going?  Well, I thought  you would never ask!  We are heading to the sweetest place on earth! 

Hershey, Pa. for Christmas!

Not really for Christmas, but close enough.  It is a great way to really get the holiday season kicked off into high gear.  The park is all decorated for Christmas with more than 1,000,000. lights, decorations, Christmas characters, live reindeer, rides and of course the whole experience is accompanied by the sweet smell of  chocolate.  Mmmm!  How sweet it is.  We have taken our kids since they were little and now we are lucky enough to take Bella.  Life is good!

Although we are expecting a COLD weekend, we have packed gloves, scarves and lots of layers to keep warm.  Hopefully it will work.  There have been times when we have been there when it has been truly freezing and bitter cold, but when it gets to be too much we go inside to see a show or to go through Chocolate World.  Sometimes just a steaming cup of Hershey's hot chocolate is enough to warm us.  Diet be darned!?  Maybe all the walking that we will be doing will balance things out a bit.  Ha!  Likely story!

Anyway, that's what we will be doing.  I'll check back in on Monday.

'Till then, Candy Cane Wishes and Sugar Plum Dreams!

Bella's Night to Shine

Tuesday night was Bella's night to shine in her Holiday Concert at school.  The children have been working so hard with their music teachers to prepare several songs for a 40 minute concert to be presented to family and friends.  The first grade classes sang several songs all together and then each individual class sang one or two songs by themselves.  Bella was choosen from her class to give the introduction to one of the songs and she went right up to the microphone and said her lines without any hesitation.  Wonder where she gets that from?  Ha!  As my Mom likes to tell me, that gene must skip a generation as it seems to have been passed right down to Isabella from her Grandmother. 
Anyway, her class sang "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".  How appropriate for Bella!

Our Girl!

Two Front Teeth!

It was a very cute program and we had one sleepy little girl when it was over!  She had been so excited about it and her part in it, the poor thing was just done when it was over.

In other news, progress continues on the bedroom move in our house.  Jim has been working hard at clearing out his 'den' to move everything to the finished basement and give up that space to allow for Bella to have a larger room.  She has really just grown out of her small room thanks in large part to all the stuff that we and others like to spoil her with.  Ha!

Anyway, the room is about empty now save for his desk, TV and the futon.  So whenever I have some spare time (read: after Christmas) I can begin the process of painting.   But in the meantime, all of my craft room stuff and all of Jim's den stuff are in the basement together.  It is crammed! 

Update tomorrow on our weekend plans.

Weekend Review

Oh, how I love the weekends!  After putting so much time and effort into work all week long, it sure is nice to have a couple of days to unwind and catch up on some fun! 
Friday night I went cropping-I know.  I haven't been in so long I know that Tootie was shocked to see me.  I was so glad to go though.  I even got some cropping done, though I can't show it on the blog right now as it is a work in progress and is a planned gift.  But oh, it felt so good to be able to be creative!  We had fun catching up too.  I really wish that I could go every Friday  night, but there is just no way that I am up to it any more.  It is really hard for me to admit that, but it is the truth and it is time that I face the facts.  But, I'll take once in a while!
Saturday was a great day.  Jim has really been working on cleaning out his den and it is now about ready for me to begin painting.  (If I can only find the time!)  He has gotten the large majority of stuff out of there and though the basement is immovable, it is out of the den.  So that was really good.  Score one for Jim!
He and I had planned on going on the Candlelight House Tour and we left earlier than planned and walked a bit around downtown and stopped in at a new restuarant for dinner.  It was only a little after 4 and we didn't have reservations so we were able to get in, but we were the last ones to get in without a reservation.  The food was excellent and we had a wonderful time.  The streets were just bustling with people shopping, carolers singing, horse drawn carriages, it really was like a picture!  Just a beautiful night.  Then we went to the house tour, which is a self guided tour of 7 homes that have been beautifully decorated for the season and opened for visitors.  The homes this year were in an historic district and were mainly from the 1920's with the exception of one home which was built in 2001, but was in the same neighborhood.  I just love to look at homes, especially older homes and see how they are decorated.  It is such a treat for me!  They were very busy this year too, lots of people wanted to see inside these homes!  There is a small skate house by the lake that was open and used as a reception center where you could get cookies and warm cider and hot chocolate.  Jim had never been inside that building so it was a nice opportunity for him to see inside it.  (t is not used much anymore.)   Unfortunatly, I fell at one of the homes and went down pretty hard and it kind of put a blight on the evening for me, but overall it was still a wonderfull evening for us. 
Sunday Jim had to work and after church, I laid on the couch for most of the day.  The fall the night before had brought about a lot of soreness and a wicked migraine, so my day was pretty much shot.   But it was nice to lie on the couch because Michelle was baking Christmas cookies and listening to carols and Bella was playing about, so if I had to feel lousy that was the way to do it. 

Later in the evening, Jim andMichelle took Bella to a Night in Bethlehem at our church.  It is meant to give the childen an idea as to what it would have been like in Bethlehem in the days of Jesus' birth.  They made bread and crafts and even had live animals. 

Making Bread

Outside with the lambs and goats.

Making a pot from clay.

I am so thankful for our church and the family that we have there.  They are such a wonderful resource and a place of welcome and love.  We are truly blessed to be part of such a community!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!