Do You Hear That? Neather Do I!

On the evening of January 11th after a very busy day, Greg and I dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's house for 6 days away from the craziness. We had planned a trip to Charleston, SC to spend some time with friends and to take part in the Charleston Riverfront Festival Half Marathon. We got home that night and packed since we had an early flight out the next morning. We arrived at the airport on Wednesday the 12th at 7am to find out that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. While trying to rebook our connection in Atlanta we found out that our flight out of Louisville had in fact been delayed 4 hours. Turns out Delta did not have a crew fro our flight. We sat in the airport playing with my new iPhone and reading. The airport was cold and after a while gets very tiring. We finally made it to Atlanta just in time for our connection. We boarded the plane and then sat and sat and sat. 1 1/2 hours in fact we sat before we left the gate to head to Charleston. Our short 4 hour trip had become a 9 hour trip and will forever be etched in our minds as the day we decided not to fly Delta anymore. We arrived in Charleston, but our bag did not. Yes they lost it in Atlanta somewhere and were not sure if in fact it was even there. Of course Delta vowed we would have it that night. We did indeed get our bag at about midnight. One we arrived we got our car and headed for the condo. Once inside the quiet of the car I turned to Greg and said, " Do you hear that?" His answer as it always is was, "no!" I said, "neither do I!" It was quiet and peaceful in the car without the children. Just a taste of what was to come the next 5 days. We love our children dearly, but some peace and quiet on occasions is nice. While driving to the condo we happened upon one of our favorite restaurants from our Charleston days and stopped to eat. The Mustard Seed was just as good as I remember. We checked in and got to bed early. Thursday we slept in which is very rare for us. We got a slow start and the went to meet Chris and Laura at the airport. After picking them up we headed downtown. Laura has never been to Charleston and visiting has been a dream of hers. We did all the regular touristy things over the next few days. We walked on the Battery, saw Rainbow Row, the slave Market, Boone Hall Plantation and Angel Oak. We ate like Kings and Queens and had a tome of fun. We laughed hard and relaxed a lot. On Saturday in record low temperatures Greg and I braved the cold to do our half marathon. Chris and Laura were our faithful cheering team. I PR'd by 8 minutes and overall had a good race. I ended up 35th /100 in my age group and 268th/868 overall.
We were very sad to see the end of our time away, but happy to get to see our kids again. since we have been back life has once again been a whirlwind of activity interspersed with several snow days. Life is good.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was a ton of fun this year. Naomi was so excited about learning about the Baby Jesus and opening the boxes of our "What God wants for Christmas" nativity. She also learned about Santa this year and was very excited at the prospect of him coming to our house and leaving her gifts. We did our regular Christmas traditions like making a gingerbread house, baking cookies from scratch and going to Flame Run to blow a glass ornament.
Christmas eve we usually go to Greg's uncle's house, but because of the bad weather we decided not to travel the 2 hours to his house and back. Instead we had a quiet dinner at home and then roasted marshmallows by the fire place. The kids loved it. After the children were fast asleep Greg and I went to work on making it look like Santa had been to the house. Thanks to the ideas from my Mom we were successful. We placed cornstarch around the fireplace to look like he made a mess with snow and then made foot prints from the fireplace to the tree where he left the gift. Of course the cookies and milk were both gone in the morning when Josiah and Naomi woke up. Seeing Naomi's reaction to the snow footprints was so fun. She told everyone that came over for lunch that Santa made a huge mess all over the place. It was fun for us to see her excitement since we never had that with Josiah. He has just never believed in Santa. He figured out the whole Mom and Dad putting gifts under the tree a very long time ago.
Christmas morning was fun with the kids. Greg's family came over for lunch and some fun family time.

Christmas Card 2010

2010 Wishes Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Today we finally made our Christmas card using Shutterfly.com. Making the card was quick and easy and we can't wait to receive them in the mail so we can share them with our friends and family. We have received cards this year from friends that have used Shutterfly and their quality excellent.

Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas

Twas two weeks before Christmas, when all through my mind
Not a thought was stirring, about Christmas cards I must find.
My friends were all sending the cutest I've seen,
To Shutterfly.com it was clear they had been.

The designs are so varied, elegant and great,

How on earth would I choose before it was too late?
There are folded and flat and photo ones too,
What color should I pick? Red, Green or Blue?

When this project is done, to the world I will show,
How creative you can be when you're in the know.
It's as easy as can be,

With Shutterfly's steps...one, two and three.

If you're faster than me, and your cards are all done,

A last minute gift idea might be sorta fun.

A photo calendar for Granny, a mug for Uncle Rick,

A photo book for Mom might just do the trick.

They've got all the tools to do this just right,

May your future projects fill you with delight.

Merry Christmas to all,

And to all a good night.

Now that I'm all done and this poem is over,

I need to make one little disclosure.

Our friends at Shutterfly got some extra exposure

For the 50 free cards they're sending right over.

The Big Four-O

Yes that is right, I am now 40 years old. Quite honestly, I can't believe it. I remember when my Dad was 40 and he kept telling us he was middle age. I didn't believe him then and by golly I refuse to believe it now. For my birthday, Greg organised a "Totally 80's" party for me. It was a small get together of family and a few friends. It was fun to see the way everyone dressed up and it was also fun just hanging out. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Pumpkin Patch

Back in October Greg took a day off work and we went to Huber's Orchard and winery. Grandma and Leah came with us. We packed a picnic lunch and went to play for the morning. When we got there we took a wagon ride to the apple orchard. We picked a bag full of apples and then went back to the farm to play. Fruit you pick yourself always tastes better than store bought. At Huber's they have a petting zoo, a corn maze, slides and many other fun things. Everyone had so much fun. After lunch we headed back to Louisville.

Fun with Hair.

I know I am so behind on updating this blog. I will get caught up hopefully this weekend and then stay caught up. Some time ago, Josiah and Greg went to a baseball game with Uncle Troy (Greg's cousin). Naomi and I decided to try something fun with her hair while they were gone. After bath time I put on a movie and while she watched I sock rolled her hair. IT is really simple to do and the result the next morning is so worth it. She was very excited about having socks in her hair and equally excited when she saw the curls the next morning. It was a lot of fun watching her twirl and spin.