Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas 2009 has come and sadly gone. Shea was SO thrilled that Christmas time was here. Christmas night when Shawn put her to bed, we think she was a little sad that Christmas with all its excitement and anticipation, was over. Her Elf had gone back to the North Pole, all the gifts were opened and food all consumed. No fear my child, it will come around again.

Shawn was ill over Christmas but he still managed to make the best of it!!

Merry Christmas, Shawn.

Is that you, Santa?

Shea is now equipped with the appropriate attire for riding the motorcycle. We are not sure what her thoughts were when opening it up but we all know she needs it!

Men folk awaiting their turn to open.

This is what Shea kept saying she wanted for Christmas. It's a good thing "Julie" was under the tree.


Will was unsure if he could rip into paper to see what is inside. However, he did like his gits.





Look out Toledo, Wayne is coming with his new amp and guitar. You see, Grandpa Wayne is currently traveling a lot to that fine city in North Eastern Ohio. He needs things to occupy his nights.





Christmas is all about the kids, right? I mean, the gift giving and opening part. There were lots of kids to share Christmas with. Here is our Niece, Nevan. She doesn't like that her doll baby is suppose to go in there...not her. Oh well, go for it girl.

New babies were around this year too.....

Nolan

Brett

My Grandmother said to me on Saturday night when we were exchanging gifts that she would like everyone to gather around the tree for a photo. Everyone obliged, with out one ah, do we have to. I couldn't believe it.

We hope you had a great Holiday. We sure did. This week I cleaned out the toy box to make room for the new items. Goodwill was happy to see me coming! As 2009 draws to a close, I took time the other day to reflect on the year. It has had it's ups and downs as with any year. Shawn worked a lot and continues to do so. The kids are growing at a rate faster than we could have imagined. Our family did get smaller this year with the passing of Grandpa. I miss him so much, everyday. On the other hand, our family is growing! In January, we will get a new niece! We have had a lot of fun this year not only with the kids and family but with our fantastic friends. We look forward to the amazing memories we will look back on in 2010. We can't wait!

New Camera Pics

I've been having a lot of fun taking pictures with the new camera. Of the 142 I've taken in the last week, here are just a few. After Christmas I promise to put up more! We're so busy getting ready for Santa to come, this is going to be a short post. We are off to deliver presents!

Will & Shawn pose for one of the first snap shots. My two men!

Playing outside.

We had our first measurable snow fall last Saturday. I jumped out of bed to take photos. Geek, I know.

We began laying down the new flooring.

Shawn and I headed out for the evening. It was his company's Christmas party.

We sure hope you are preparing for your Christmas adventures! Our kids are SO excited. I think we adults may be starting to get the excitement too. We hope you have safe travels, if you are going anywhere. We wish you a blessed and merry Christmas.

I Love You

There are so many wonderful things in life to love. I love my husband. Our children. The dog. Family and friends. Bright beautiful sunny days. Cold nights to snuggle. The list could go on and on. Chocolate. Ice cream. See, I can't stop with the things I love. I have to admit, I have a new love. Oh how I have longed for this to be in our lives. I dreamed of the things I can do with it. My lovely husband finally agreed that it was time. Time for this...




For Christmas we got each other this beautiful Nikon D3000. It came to us yesterday and I can not put it down. I've taken pictures of every thing in the house. Shea actually told me today that I needed to stop. WHAT??!!! I've longed for this camera. The beautiful shots I can capture. Once I get my PC loaded with the software, you'll see what I've been doing the last twenty four hours! My friend, Jen, advised me to play with it and not read the manual. Sorry Jen, I read the manual... Cover to cover. I even tagged certain pages with a bright pink sticky note. I may need that page in a moment of panic to get the shot I want! I can't wait to play with it. I hope you like the posts that will be coming.

Merry Christmas!!

Santa Baby

Santa Clause is coming to town!!

He's making a list and checking it twice!

I hope you've been nice...

Over the weekend the kids had the opportunity to see Santa, twice! We went back to Darke County on Saturday. I was my family's annual gathering to make Christmas cookies. It was fun, as usual. The kids had flower and sprinkles every where. That's the point, right?!

After the cookies were all made, I took the kids to Greenville to meet up with Shawn and his family. They were waiting to see Santa. Shea was so excited to go. Here she is all dressed to see him. She couldn't wait to tell him what she wanted.




Here is a much better photo. Our BIL, Nathan, took this photo-Thank you. Ah the difference in a good camera. No fear folks, I asked Santa to bring me one this year. I've been really good!!!



When it came to Will getting even remotely close to Santa, panic in sued. Not just the gripping onto Shawn or I for dear life but the lip puckering. Poor guy, he doesn't get it that Santa is a good fella.

Sunday was the New Madison Volunteer Fire Dept. Christmas party. The kids get invited every year. This year, Shea remembered that you get a present. My camera did not get a good shot of her receiving her gift, I'll have to get Randy to email me some. Will was still scared. I had to sit on Santa's lap to get his present for him. However, Will did enjoy Ms. Tanny's deserts she made. See...

The boy must be related to me after all...chocolate is both of our weaknesses! Shea received the Tag Reading System. Will received a couple of Rumbling Trucks. Now the anticipation for Christmas morning has grown. She hasn't stopped talking about it. She keeps whispering in her Elf's ear of what she wants so Santa is SURE to know.

Remember, Santa is making his final checks. Continue to be good!!!

A Boy, A Dog and A Snack

It's a blustery day outside. The kind of day you just want to snuggle up with a warm blanket, a cup 'o joe and a book. Maybe a TV show? You get the point. While Will was napping, Shea and I cleaned out both of our hall closets. This is something has was in major need of being done. It felt good to weed things out.

After that Will did awaken. We snuggled, he likes this after he wakes up. Me too! While I was sitting here catching up on the blogs I follow for the afternoon, I see these two boys out of the corner of my eye. Luckily for me, my camera was sitting in front of me. I snapped a couple of quick photos to document what goes on between Will and Chief when food is involved.

Will with a mouth full of gold fish and a guilty look on his face.

This is the reason for the guilty look.....

After telling Chief to "get" he resumes eating.

Therefore, A boy... A snack... His beloved side-kick.

I did get updated on my blogs. You have to check often, those coupons don't last long!! I hope you are enjoying your day.

Out With The Old

Winter is approaching and as you know, that means an inside project at the Huntington house. This year it is new flooring for the entire upstairs! Wahoo. Saturday we went to Columbus shopping for materials we need to install the flooring, plus a few Christmas presents too.

On Sunday we started the tearing up of the old!! We even enlisted the kids to help and they were happy to do so. We'll see if they are still happy about this in a couple of months. We started in the living room, we boxed up our stuff and the ripping began. I found quiet a few things to purge from the house. Plus, I have talked Shawn into getting rid of that huge entertainment center. A new decor direction is hopefully coming.

Here are the kids helping to take the padding up (what is left of it) and putting it in the trash can. Will and Shea both enjoyed helping. That is until Shea said this was too much work and went off and played.



While Will napped, Shawn and I were able to tear up the rest of the hallway, closets and stair case. I can tell you I am sick of pulling up those stinking staples! The stairs still need done. That's for this week during nap time. I have to say, the plywood floors look better than that old nasty carpet!

Stair way leading up stairs.

Down the hall. We left the carpet in the bedrooms for now. One area at a time is our plan. See Chief laying there... That is what he did all day yesterday. He supervised us working. Ah, the life of a dog. He also found the dirtiest areas to lay in. Why must animals do that?





Will was happy to hold up a sample of the new flooring. It looks good and we love it. It is called Brazilian Cherry. Next to the cabinets, you can see the Cherry in it. Then when it is next to our trim you can see the dark brown in it. The lighting was bad today, it looks more blond here than normal.

Our modeling boy!!

Shawn has to go through and screw down the floor. We have a few areas that squeak pretty bad. It is so exciting to do this project. We've wanted this done for a couple of years!! Stay tuned for updates.

Sunny

The kids (ok, mostly Shea) had an elf that arrived after Thanksgiving! This is a magical elf that flies back to Santa at night to tell him of their behavior. It is becoming quiet popular and is commonly referred to as Elf On A Shelf. While that particular brand was more than I was willing to pay...Sunny arrived!! Shea gave him that nice name.

Sunny, a ray of sunshine, was sent to the kids. Shea had left a letter about a month ago asking Santa to please send one. The behavior change was instant. INSTANT I tell you!! While we were eating breakfast on Sunday, Shea discovered him sitting on the light of the ceiling fan in the kitchen. She turned to me...

"Mamma, would you please cut my pancake".

Shawn and I just looked at each other and smiled. It worked. Sunny is making them behave so well. The manners are excellent. Temper tantrums are minimal. All because of Sunny, who sees everything and reports everything to Santa. Ahh...this will be a great month!!




This morning when Shea walked out of her room for breakfast, this is where she found Sunny. Hanging out on top of the door bell box. These elves are very mischievous and mostly at night. Shea is more than thrilled that Santa sent her an elf. She loves him. We love what he is doing.

Are you behaving?

Thanksgiving Whirl Wind

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope that you gobbled up a lot of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries and the list goes on and on. There were also a few good football games to watch! We had a big week last week. It started off on Monday with the Thanksgiving Feast in Shea's classroom. I spent half of the day there and it was tons of fun! The parents put together quit the spread. Turkey sandwiches, fruit tray, veggie tray, pumpkin bread, popcorn for the movie and cupcakes to celebrate a birthday's (they were twins)! The kids watched a movie about the Pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower, they loved watching it. Of course they learned a lot from Charlie Brown, who doesn't?? They even started a few Christmas crafts.

Indians and Pilgrims getting ready to chow down!

Will stayed home with Ms. Jen! THANKS Jen.

Before we headed to the Grandparents we started getting out our Christmas decorations. It's too over whelming to try to put up in one day. This year I decided to spread it out over a couple of days. It was a nice way to let the kids help too. We started with putting out the decorations around the house. I put up Shea's tree and then she decorated it all by herself. Way to go girl!

Shea's tree!

Will's tree was up before we left but not completed. I needed to do some more shopping. This just left the big tree and the mantle for when we came back home. Wednesday night we headed to New Madison, boat in tow! She had to be put into storage for the winter, THANKS Grandma Pat!

Gobble Gobble, it's Turkey Day! After breakfast we headed to the large hall that my family rents. Years (and years) ago, they started having a family reunion on Thanksgiving Day. My Grandfather LOVED this day. He loved seeing everyone all together, eating, drinking, conversing and of course playing cards. Even though he wasn't with us this year, I know he was looking down with a big smile to see all of us gather again. The food was fabulous and lots of it! We discovered that Will really likes cranberry salad.

Yummy!!

Aunt Nan and Shea.




Shea holding baby Nolan.

After having lunch and stuffing ourselves like a big old fat turkey, we headed to Shawn's family. His sister, Erin, hosted a nice dinner. Again, Will liked the cranberries. It was also time for the annual Huntington family Christmas card photo. Everyone moans and groans about having it done but I'm sure it will turn out just fine. Keeping the little kids sitting still is always a challenge. I now have to go through this challenge with our kids for our card. Oh the joy...

Every year I ask my Mom if she wants to get up for Black Friday. Every year I hear, "NO". However, this year my Mom asked ME if I wanted to get up for the Kohl's sale. I'm game. We couldn't talk anyone else into joining us. I slept on my parents couch since were getting up so early. Shawn and the kids were snug as bugs at his parents. Up with the chickens. We were at Kohl's before 6 AM!! See...

Mom over joyed with shopping so early!

It was a lot of fun! We found fabulous deals. I saved just as much as I spent. I was so thrilled. We were out of there before the sun even came up. We briefly walked through the mall but didn't see anything calling to us. Off to breakfast... IHop here we come.

Early morning breakfast and still beaming about my purchases.

After breakfast we made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby were I was able to get the rest of the things I needed for Will's tree. It is so cute. Pictures coming soon! After getting back to Mom and Dad's, Shawn was up. It was time for he and I to head to a flooring place outside of Greenville. Shawn's parents really wanted us to check this place out, they had gotten flooring there in the past. So has his Sister and Brother-in- law. Shawn's parents, Paula and Wayne, were giving us money to go toward flooring for Christmas.

Thankfully, the kids stayed with Mom and we could think. Oh that was so much fun to think in peace. We spent a few hours there. We found a deal. It was a great deal. Tucked in a warehouse was this palate of flooring that was calling our names. They were willing to get rid of it at an unbelievable price. Such a great price that we went in for 290 square feet and we left with 1,000 square feet. We bought enough to do the entire first floor of our house. YEA!!! No more carpet, anywhere! Yippe Skippie. We were both so darn thrilled. Then the reality of all the work set in on Shawn. He's still thinking about the best way to do a few things. Here is part of the load we brought home. The rest is sitting in storage, we couldn't bring it all at once.

Beautiful flooring!

I'll have to get you better pictures of what it actually looks like. It's a tiger cherry pattern. We LOVE it. See... that was a whirl wind of a week, 'eh?! It was fun but we were all tired yesterday. Now it's Monday and back to the daily grind. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Now get your Christmas shopping done!

You Sweet 'Ol Girl

It was five and a half years ago that Shawn had an "ahh ha moment". He was visiting my Uncle's Garage (he's a mechanic in case you say what kind of garage). He saw this green GMC Jimmy just sitting in a corner calling to him.

He came home to tell me he found the perfect vehicle that we should purchase and it even had 4-wheel drive. Oh great!! Here's the catch... She needed a new engine. After a long sigh and the "look" I gave him, he convinced me this was a gem.

That winter while I was pregnant with Shea he fixed the 'Ol Girl right up. New engine and various other parts. She did run great. Leather seats, that is a MUST with kids as I have now found out.

On April 1, 2004 he drove me to the OSU Medical Center, I was in labor. Let me tell you, that was a R I D E! Nothing like those fair rides. This one had bumps. pot holes and a woman... well... I spare you the details. My OH sounds weren't from the labor at that point. It's a ride that I now look back on and laugh at. Shea came home for the hospital in that SUV.

We went all sorts of places in her. In the summer you'd stick to the seat since the A/C didn't work. We'd just roll the windows down and let the air in. Shawn did a FABULOUS job maintaining her.

September 16, 2008, Will came home from the hospital in her too. I did not get a ride in her to the hospital. Shawn was at work, I had a peaceful ride with Jen to the hospital. Even if there were detours from our never-before-seen hurricane in Ohio.

Chief made his yearly Vet visits in her. Do you see...We did a lot in this SUV. But as with all good things, they must come to an end.





Today, we sold her to a girl in Columbus. Got our full asking price, way to go Shawn!! There were good memories in her, including all the times I was towed in her. Thanks AAA. I said that I would not be sad when she did depart our live. After all, you've seen what I up-graded to. Would you be that sad?

There I stood today in the parking lot of the BMV giving her one last kiss good bye.... With tears streaming down my face. I guess she got the better of me. I will miss you. Shawn already misses you. On the bright side, one less vehicle for our mechanic aka Mr. Huntington to maintain.

Now we start new adventures and make new memories in another vehicle. I get too attached!



Good 'Ol Girl... Thanks for the memories!

Straight...S

Do you remember getting your report cards?!! I'm sure for some it was a happy time and for others... Well... Not so happy! For Shawn and I report card time was always a pleasant time. As you know, Shea is in Kindergarten this year. This week she brought home her first report card! We were so excited!! We knew she was doing well but this just proved it. She had straight S's on her card. S you may say. Yes, they do a Satisfactory (S), Needs Improvement (NI) and Unsatisfactory (US) as their system. Maybe next year we'll get percentages?

Shawn and I were thrilled with her hard work. This met we had to give up some dough! We hear the going rate for straight A's on a report card is $10.00. We obliged and gave her $10!! Plus, she called her Grandparents to tell them the fantastic news. The first thing my Father said was, "This is going to cost me"! Yep, open that wallet Grandpa. Shea is SO lucky, both of her Grandparents have given her $10.00. In case you are not keeping track that is $30.00 for a job well done.

She also got a surprise from a local restaurant, The Der Dutchman. They sent a note home and said any child making the Honor Roll (all A's and B's) were eligible for a free kids meal. Cha-Ching! Aren't rewards fun!

Shea holding up the great report!!

An up close look at it.

Way to go Shea. We are very proud of you. We knew you were smart and anticipate a great report next week at Parent Teacher Conferences. We love you!!!

Playing Around

We went outside this afternoon to play & I took the camera along. It was a nice sunny Fall afternoon. Did I mention chilly? A few turned out. Will needs to learn to cooperate more with women!

Seriously Mom, get her off of me!

Cutie-Pie!

Mom, I am done!

I was trying to get face shots for a contest I may enter.... Guess Will won't be in it.

Fall Prep

Fall has defiantly arrived around here. The mornings are very cool and the last couple of mornings we have seen frost on our pumpkins! We figured we'd better get the outside ready for cold weather. Whether we like it or not, it's coming and unfortunately soon. Sunday was our nice day to be outside this weekend. With the time change the kids were up early, not as bad as it could have been. We had our breakfast and were outside when it was pretty cold. Hats were in order with your warm coat. The kids thought it was funny to wear their hats again. Will has this jester hat that was given to him when he was born. Good thing these kids have small heads, he can fit into it this fall. Isn't it just the cutest thing?



Shea is starting her third cold weather season in this hat. I love it and wish there was one in my size!!! I love this sassy look she was giving me.




Shawn was trimming our Crab apple trees that line our driveway while the kids played and I carried sticks. There were lots of sticks. This process went smooth and pretty fast. Around lunch time we were almost done. Of course we had to have a fire out in the pit to burn our limbs. Chief was thrilled. He loves to lay by a fire and be lazy. Let's classify that, more lazy than the Lab usually is. We love him!!

Go Shawn, trim that tree!

When Shawn had to move his ladder, Will too the opportunity to climb up. He is just like Shea at this age. Scares me but they love it. It was quiet up set when Shawn was at the top of the ladder trimming the tree... He couldn't get to him! Thankfully.




Shea snapped a picture of me carrying one of the loads out back. Good thing I've been wanting to get into better shape! Shawn said there was no need for a gym membership, I could just pick up limbs all day. Hum...

They look so good now!

After burning our limbs and finishing cutting down all the hostas AND putting up the summer lawn furniture it was time to play. We told Shea she could ride her motorcycle before dinner. Heck, after ward it is pitch dark... AT 6 PM! I'm still a bit bitter on the time change.

Here she is, riding all by herself now. Keep in mind, this is 5 mph and in first gear only. A proper helmet is in the works. She just loves this thing. Getting lots of use out of this early Christmas present.

We hope you are enjoying what is left of the fall colors. The smell of Fall is defiantly in the air around here. Plus, all the boats are coming off of the lake. Sad. But, there will be more memories to come next Summer. Now Shea is asking where the snow is. Thankfully I said to her, "still out west"!! Sorry for any of you westerners getting it now. Happy Fall Y'all.