Christmas Eve 2011

It was so nice that Christmas Eve was on a Saturday this year as no one had to work in the morning.  We gathered at my parents' house around noon for a nice lunch, then got to work on opening presents.  Sounds like such a chore, doesn't it?  ;)

 Reid loves this John Deere Gator!  Hopefully it makes up for the fact that we got rid of the Peg Perego Gator that he could've riden on in the backyard!

 The cutest thing ever:  Reid opened up a box of clothes that included this St. Louis Cardinals T-shirt.  Immediately when he saw it, he said, "Ba-pa!"  He ran across the room with his shirt to show Grandpa Stan.  I guess he associates the Cardinal bird with Grandpa Stan.  (Don't we all??)

My friend, Jen, gave Reid the softest blanket when he was born.  The kids (and I) always claim first dibs on it because it is incredibly warm.  So this year Grandma Linda gave Reese and Ryan their own blankets.  (I  guess I'll have 3 to choose from now.)

 

 Reesie

 Keith and Kelly

 Reese with her blanket.

 This shirt couldn't be more perfect for her.

 Reese and Grandma Linda

 Reese and Grandpa Stan

 Ryan loved his Angry Birds set. 

 The best part was when Holly wrapped up random items to give to her nieces and nephew.  She gave Ryan a lint roller, Reese an aircast, Clare a travel toothbrush, and Grace a camera battery charger.  They were all very confused at first, but very gracious.  They thanked her for their gifts, even though they had no idea what they were supposed to do with them.  (Ryan even asked, "What's lint?")  It was such a cute idea!

 We then went to Mass at Holy Spirit with the whole family.

Keith, Kelly, Grace, Clare, and Baby W--who will be here in just a few short weeks!  Doesn't Kelly look fabulous???

It was past 8:00 and time to head home to get the kids in bed.  Of course we first left out cookies and soymilk for Santa.  (The soymilk was Ryan's idea as he wondered if Santa might prefer it over regular milk.  It was gone, so I'm guessing he liked it!) 

{Indiana Basketball}

My earliest memory of Indiana Basketball involves the fight song.  I remember standing at our upright piano, trying to play the first few notes of "Indiana, our Indiana" and kept trying until I got it right.  I also remember watching the final game in 1987 at my Grandma Young's house where Keith Smart made the last-second shot that made them the NCAA champions that year.  My dad used to take us girls to the Hoosier Classic at Market Square Arena to watch IU play in December.  In high school I had the posters of the team on my wall and would memorize the players' names, numbers, and positions.  My high school best friend, Melissa, and I even got together for most of the games and hosted IU Basketball parties.  (Nevermind that she ended up going to Purdue of all places!)  So it means so much to me to get to pass on the love of IU Basketball to our kids.  This season as been so much fun as they won their first 12 games--including an exciting win over Kentucky.  Ryan has really been interested--even claiming that "SportsCenter" is his new favorite show.

Three years ago, we decided the kids were old enough to go to a game in B-Town.  Going over Christmas break is perfect as we can go on a weeknight and not have to worry about coming back late.  Plus, many college students are home for break, so we can get pretty good seats. 

This year I got a babysitter to come around 2:30 so we could head to Bloomington a little early.  We headed straight to Kirkwood Avenue and picked out new shirts for the kids.  Then we drove around campus for a bit, pointing out many of the buildings--like the Student Union, the Auditorium, our dorms, and Ballentine Hall...which is where Joel and I first saw each other for the first time.  ;)  Then it was time to head to Assembly Hall!

 The usher let us run onto the court really quickly to snap this picture. 

 Here we got great views of the team warming up!

On the way to our seats, I couldn't help but comment on this picture of Damon Bailey.  I was obsessed with him in high school and even got to meet him/get his autograph when he came to Lawrence North.  He was such a great player with so much talent and energy.

 

 I sat with Reese for the first half, and Joel sat with Ryan in different seats.  Then at halftime they came and joined us as we had two empty seats next to us.  We were surprised to see one of Ryan's friends sitting in the same section.

 Ryan and Will

 I-U!

 Final score was IU-89, UMBC-49.

I was all set to stop at Jiffy Treet (yes, that's the way it's spelled), but it was closed.  I was worried it was closed for good, but thankfully they were just closed for Christmas break.  Phew!!!  Joel and I are going back in February for another game, so we'll just have to get double then.

I'm sure my IU friends have seen this, but I just love this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8hdKnr7rpE

Reid's Rough Week

Our Christmas break did not get off on the right start.  Sunday morning, Reid woke up sick with a tummy bug.  He was so pitiful and hardly ate or drank as he couldn't keep much down.  Joel stayed home with him while I took Reese and Ryan to church and then to the Colts game with Grandpa Stan.

On Monday he continued to be sick, and I started not feeling well myself.  By Monday afternoon/evening, Reese and I were also sick.  Reese bounced back the next day, but Reid and I were still not doing well.  Luckily Joel worked from home on Tuesday as I was in no shape to take care of the kids.  Reid and I slowly started to do better during the day, and by Wednesday I thought he was doing better.

Wednesday morning all the kids were coloring at the kitchen table together.  I had this great idea to make a cute craft with them and went to the kitchen island to gather the supplies.  I heard something and stood up just in time to see Reid topple head first onto the kitchen floor.  It scared me half to death!!!  He didn't cry for very long, but I was checking his eyes with a flashlight all day to make sure he was okay.  (I even did this during the middle of the night.  I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about him!) 

Wednesday afternoon I took the kids to Recreation Unlimited for some playtime.  This was mainly for Reese and Ryan, but Reid enjoyed running around a bit as well.  Since he hadn't been feeling well earlier in the week, he was a little clumsy.  He was running in and out of the playhouses and fell going into one of the crooked playhouses.  You know, the ones that look like they're about to fall over?  So darling, but not ideal when the door frames are not at a 90-degree angle!  He scraped up his face and had a nasty bump and bruise. 

The next day he had a relapse and started to not feel well again.  It honestly took the next day or two for him to feel better and get his appetite back.  My nausea and lack of appetite/energy lasted all week as well.  I guess the good news is that I didn't have to worry about finding a substitute or making sub plans--I already had the time off.  Still, I think I could've had better ways of spending the time off than being sick.  ;)  All of us were glad to put the week behind us--especially Reid! 

Our Family's {Express} Christmas

If you watch the TV show, "Modern Family," you'll understand the Express Christmas reference.  The family realized they all couldn't be together on Christmas Day, so they decided to throw together an express Christmas party even though it was December 16th or something.  Since my extended families have gotten so big, it's harder and harder to get everyone together on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  For the past 5-10 years or so, we've found a Saturday in December when we could all get together because that's the most important thing about Christmas.

 First we met the Schenher family at a restaurant in Avilla.  It's a lot easier than imposing on someone's family.  (After all, my dad is one of 6 kids, and there are over 20 grandkids and 10+ great-grandkids.)

 Grace, Clare, Reese, Eva, Ryan, and Reid

 Silly faces!

 Reid was in awe of this moving Santa decoration in the lobby. 

I saw Reidy kissing Santa Claus!

Next we went to celebrate with the Young family.  We met at Aunt Nancy's house for about 2 hours, then the party moved to my grandma's house.  My grandma recently had to get rid of her cat, but Joel and I were still nervous to take Ryan there as he had a very bad reaction the last time we were there.  So unfortunately we had to head home.  But we're so glad we got to see everyone for a little bit!  This picture of my grandma was taken from Kelly's blog. 

On the way home, Joel and I listened to the IU/Kentucky game on the radio.  It was such an exciting game, and even more so when they pulled off the win with a last-second shot!  Joel and I were screaming despite two of the kids being asleep.  ;)  It was kind of like the icing on top of an already perfect day!

Ryan's Star Student Week

Ryan was the Star Student in his Kindergarten class recently, and each day he was able to do something new. On Monday he brought in a poster we had made--which you can see at the bottom of this post.  I let Joel do this with him because I have the tendency to want to have too much creative control when it comes to projects.  ;)  On Tuesday he brought in a cootie-catcher that the teacher had sent home so the class could learn more about Ryan.  On Wednesday he brought in something that was special to him, which was a car he made with Joel at Ride-Makers.  My favorite day was Friday when Joel and I came to the school to do a science experiment with the class. 

Yes, this year the teacher sends home a book with science experiments to do with kids.  You go through the book and select which one you want to do, then you send it back so the teacher can get the materials together.  As a teacher, can I just tell you how much I love this?!?  Every week these Kindergarteners are getting to participate or observe a cool science experiment, plus the student of the week gets to have his or her parents come in and lead it.  Such a fabulous idea!  (Wish I would've thought of it first...)

I couldn't resist trying this experiment at home when I saw it in the book.  I remember one of my high school teachers doing it on the first day of class, and I was in awe.  We hard-boiled an egg--which was an experiment in itself considering I haven't done that in a long, long time.  I actually had to look in the Betty Crocker cookbook to look up directions.  Twice.  But I digress.  We then took this egg and put it on top of a glass jar.

 Then I removed the egg while Joel lit newspaper on fire and dropped it into the jar.  I then quickly placed the egg back on top of the jar.

 The lack of oxygen sucked the egg into jar...or at least most of the egg made it in there.  My hard-boiled egg technique had not quite been perfected at the moment.  Ryan loved this experiment so much and begged to do it in front of his classmates on Friday.

 Ryan with his friend, Ian.

 Ryan with a few of his best buds: Danny, Ian, Jacob, and Eli.  One thing I love about Ryan is that if I ask him who his best friends are, he names almost every boy in the entire class.  He truly likes everyone!

Ryan, Joel, and I explained that we were all in disagreement about what was going to happen with trying to get the egg into the jar.  Joel said he didn't think it was possible, I said I wasn't sure, and Ryan said it could happen. 

 The kids then went back to their desks and circled their own predictions.  They then went back to see us do the experiment to see if they were correct.  Luckily it was a success and the egg went in as planned!  They loved it so much that they wanted to see it again.  They are such a fun class!

 After the experiment, we went to the reading corner to read the book the class had made for him. 

 Ryan asked if he could read it, and he did very well.  He would say, "This is from Cooper."  Then he would look up and ask, "Where is Cooper?  Oh!  There you are!"  He would then read what each student said about him, and then he would show the child's illustration to the class and say thanks to whomever wrote it.  It made me so proud!  I loved hearing all of the kind things the kids said.

His teacher, Mrs. Popovich, wrote:  "I like you because you are a hard worker.  You always do your personal best. You are kind and sweet to everyone.  You are very funny and silly.  You have a great smile.  I'm glad you're in my class."

His other teacher, Mrs. Pappa, said, "I like you because you are such a sweet and loving boy.  You are a very hard worker and so very smart.  I love the way you smile with your mouth and your eyes.  You are such a joy.  I'm so glad you are in our class."

Though his reign as Star Student has ended, he'll always be our Star Student!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We've had many opportunities to celebrate this Christmas season through music.  First, Reese sang with her choir at Fishers Town Hall Cookies with Santa.

 Reese with some of the girls in our class.

 The next day Reese and I joined her Brownies Troop and attended the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Yuletide Celebration.  I remember going to this when I was little with my family, so it was fun to go with my little girl!

 After Reese and I moved away from the fireplace, Reid moved in front of it and started posing and saying, "Cheese!"  We just had to snap a few pictures.

 Finally, at school last week we had our annual Christmas concert.  I was with my class, so I didn't get terrific photos, but above is Ryan's class and below is Reese's class.

All of these things remind me that this truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Science Central

After spending Thanksgiving with the Young family, we headed to Fort Wayne to hang out for a couple days.  We enjoyed playing cards both nights and even got a chance to do some Black Friday shopping.  (Thanks, Doug and Marsha for taking care of our kids!)  After coming home and having some lunch, we headed to Science Central for the afternoon.  As a science teacher, I love this place!  Everything is hands-on and geared towards kids.  I just love that, and the kids do, too!

 They were featuring trains this year and even had some that the kids could play with.

 Reid was absolutely fascinated with the "choo-choos."

 Even Reese loved playing with the electric trains.

 This train was my favorite.  It even had smoke that would come out of its engine!

 Reid was in awe!

 They have a room that completely messes with your head.  Everything is built at a 45-degree angle, and for some reason it makes me dizzy when I walk in the room.  Here Ryan was totally goofing off--imagine that!

 Look, Mom--no legs!

 It's one small step for man, and one strange face for a boy...

 Reid loved the water table!

 Checking out the soft chinchilla.

This was one TIRE-d girl.  (Too much?)  Maybe it was me who was tired from all of the shopping that morning.  ;)  Still, we had a wonderful time!