Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's Eve
The Millers and Amanda and kids came for New Year's Eve. It was great fun with a house full of people. Later on the Chambers sisters came and beat Donna in 3-13! I didn't think it was possible for anyone to beat her! Here's a picture of Spiderman (aka Nathaniel) sitting with Dillon on the couch.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas dinner at Lisa's
Since our camera was broken we don't have any pics of Christmas morning. The kids got lots of toys and games this year (Jenga, Apples to Apples for kids, jigsaw puzzles, Transformers, Army dudes, Littlest Pet Shop stuff, and crafts).
Here are a couple pics from Aunt Lisa's house and the presents received there:
Rebekah got a computer!
Todd and Dan got knives from Albert.
Here are a couple pics from Aunt Lisa's house and the presents received there:
Rebekah got a computer!
Todd and Dan got knives from Albert.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve Service
This is the best picture I could get from as far back as we were (using the digital zoom). Nathaniel is just past the director's left shoulder next to Matthew B in the white vest. Rebekah is standing right behind Nathaniel.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
DISNEY for Christmas
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Zoo lights 2008 - It was COLD!
We went to the see the zoo lights tonight. It was cold! But it was the only weekend night we would be able to do it before our Disney trip. Our plan was to go again while Dan was in town but I think we all froze so much on this trip that no one brought it up when we returned from FLA. As usual the lights were gorgeous - especially the new LED lights. The colors were more diverse and the lights were brighter!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
If you won't set-up a playdate with Noah, I will!
This is a note Nathaniel put on the front wall outside for Noah. It tells Noah that Nathaniel is outside in back and come on back. The funny thing is that Noah's mom and I hadn't planned this playdate and Noah lives 3 miles away!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving was a long, fun day. I slept in, then went for a run (picture pre-run below). Jerry and Carrell read the paper. We wound up deep frying the Turkey which was yummy. All preparations were done before guests began to arrive at 3:30-4:00.
In attendance - Todd Whittaker family, Jerry/Carrell Whittaker, Howard/Liz Wright, Albert/Lisa/Allison Hafer, Darleen/Grace/Kate Burke, Jeremy (family friend), Chunbo Choo (Todd's co-worker), RJ (family friend). We missed Bud and Howard this year. Matthew was sick so Joe stayed home with him.
We had LOTS of food and pie. Turkey, corn pudding, green bean casserole, rolls, oyster stuffing, sausage stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, tortellini soup, cheese/crackers, wine, coffee, wassail, 3 pumpkin pies, 1 black raspberry pie, 1 french silk pie, 1 apple pie, and pumpkin cookies. Fortunately, we provided only the rolls, turkey, green bean casserole, wassail, and tortelli soup
Rebekah and Kate Burke watch a movie.
Grandpa Howard and Nathaniel
Grace Burke
Darleen Burke fixes Kates hair.
Grandma Liz catches up with new mom, Lisa.
RJ and Jeremy
Grandma Carrell and Grandpa Jerry
The boys kibitz.
Chunbo holds Allison
Earlier in the day Grandma Carrell comforts fussy Allison. Allison had a tough day. Lots of excitement and people and gas...
In attendance - Todd Whittaker family, Jerry/Carrell Whittaker, Howard/Liz Wright, Albert/Lisa/Allison Hafer, Darleen/Grace/Kate Burke, Jeremy (family friend), Chunbo Choo (Todd's co-worker), RJ (family friend). We missed Bud and Howard this year. Matthew was sick so Joe stayed home with him.
We had LOTS of food and pie. Turkey, corn pudding, green bean casserole, rolls, oyster stuffing, sausage stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, tortellini soup, cheese/crackers, wine, coffee, wassail, 3 pumpkin pies, 1 black raspberry pie, 1 french silk pie, 1 apple pie, and pumpkin cookies. Fortunately, we provided only the rolls, turkey, green bean casserole, wassail, and tortelli soup
Rebekah and Kate Burke watch a movie.
Grandpa Howard and Nathaniel
Grace Burke
Darleen Burke fixes Kates hair.
Grandma Liz catches up with new mom, Lisa.
RJ and Jeremy
Grandma Carrell and Grandpa Jerry
The boys kibitz.
Chunbo holds Allison
Earlier in the day Grandma Carrell comforts fussy Allison. Allison had a tough day. Lots of excitement and people and gas...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving prep
The day started out OK. I had stayed up late (2:30 last night) because of a decafe coffee at 8:00 PM. I slept in until 9:30 but boy was I tired!
Lisa and Allison came to spend the day with us while Albert worked.
As I began the preparations for Thanksgiving, I began to panic internally. Then... it hit the fan... the Turkey pan was not going to fit in our oven! The list of To Dos I had made while my head was spinning yesterday was completely useless. ADD set in and my mind began to spin... it got worse when Mike Sullivan called to let us know some old friends were coming to our homechurch gathering at their house tonight. My head felt like it was going to pop. Except no one else seemed to feel the pressure. We still needed to figure out the tables and how to seat 20-21 people and finish cleaning the Living Room and Dining Room.
Todd and Lisa saw my panic and helped get everyone in motion... thank goodness!
Everyone pitched in... here is Rebekah mopping the kitchen floor. She was using one mop to mop and the other to clean up her dirty foot prints.
Todd, Jerry, and Nathaniel went out to get Peanut Oil so we could deep fry the turkey in Lisa's Turkey Fryer. They also went to get some last minute groceries. Afterwards, Jerry returned to work on his book he was translating to 32-point font.
While the men were out, we got the carpets swept, the tables set up, and table service set. I felt relaxed again except for Rebekah desperately needing a hair cut. After a while Todd took Rebekah out to a Fiesta Hair nearby while I took a nap.
Todd entertains the kids by juggling oranges.
Lisa and Allison came to spend the day with us while Albert worked.
As I began the preparations for Thanksgiving, I began to panic internally. Then... it hit the fan... the Turkey pan was not going to fit in our oven! The list of To Dos I had made while my head was spinning yesterday was completely useless. ADD set in and my mind began to spin... it got worse when Mike Sullivan called to let us know some old friends were coming to our homechurch gathering at their house tonight. My head felt like it was going to pop. Except no one else seemed to feel the pressure. We still needed to figure out the tables and how to seat 20-21 people and finish cleaning the Living Room and Dining Room.
Todd and Lisa saw my panic and helped get everyone in motion... thank goodness!
Everyone pitched in... here is Rebekah mopping the kitchen floor. She was using one mop to mop and the other to clean up her dirty foot prints.
Todd, Jerry, and Nathaniel went out to get Peanut Oil so we could deep fry the turkey in Lisa's Turkey Fryer. They also went to get some last minute groceries. Afterwards, Jerry returned to work on his book he was translating to 32-point font.
While the men were out, we got the carpets swept, the tables set up, and table service set. I felt relaxed again except for Rebekah desperately needing a hair cut. After a while Todd took Rebekah out to a Fiesta Hair nearby while I took a nap.
Todd entertains the kids by juggling oranges.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Flat as a pancake
Oh no! Spiderman has been run over by one of the pavement rollers!
(make sure you look at the fingers of the gloves.)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Up, up and away...
Oops! That's superman - not Spiderman. So the Spiderman theme continues...
Today as I began to work on dinner Rebekah sat at the kitchen table doing homework. Suddenly, Rebekah said, "Thats the sound of Nathaniel crying!" We both went to the back door and found Nathaniel standing outside crying. He had thrown his Spiderman figure up onto the roof. (our house is a 2 story!)
According to Nathaniel, the Green Goblin attacked spiderman, hit him, and spiderman flew right up onto the roof!
Yesterday, you could barely see it at the 'tippy-top'. Spiderman fell down into the gutter before I could get a picture. But you can at least see how far up he threw it.
Today as I began to work on dinner Rebekah sat at the kitchen table doing homework. Suddenly, Rebekah said, "Thats the sound of Nathaniel crying!" We both went to the back door and found Nathaniel standing outside crying. He had thrown his Spiderman figure up onto the roof. (our house is a 2 story!)
According to Nathaniel, the Green Goblin attacked spiderman, hit him, and spiderman flew right up onto the roof!Yesterday, you could barely see it at the 'tippy-top'. Spiderman fell down into the gutter before I could get a picture. But you can at least see how far up he threw it.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Mini-Me
Todd often teases me about Rebekah being my own personal Mini-Me. She decided today to sneak into my clothes and showed up in the kitchen looking like... well... me.
Rebekah wearing my jeans, shirt, hat and shoes.
Then she tried on Daddy's clothes - no quite the same effect.
Rebekah in Todd's pants, shirt, and shoes
Rebekah wearing my jeans, shirt, hat and shoes.
Then she tried on Daddy's clothes - no quite the same effect.
Rebekah in Todd's pants, shirt, and shoes
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Morning After
This morning, I heard the boys bumping around at 5:45. Noah said... "I saw a 5 on Nathaniel's clock." I said, "Yes - that means it's still night. You can get up when it says 7-3-0. I went back to bed hoping that would work. But those two were too excited to have time together (they go to different schools and church services now). I heard them bumping around downstairs.
"We're hungry." While I fixed them something to eat Nathaniel informs Noah that if he went to college he wouldn't have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. (Apparently, this observation has made an impression on him.) I gently let him know that even though doctors went to college and went longer than the rest of us, they had to work weekends and nights. We'll see what he does with that.
"We're hungry." While I fixed them something to eat Nathaniel informs Noah that if he went to college he wouldn't have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. (Apparently, this observation has made an impression on him.) I gently let him know that even though doctors went to college and went longer than the rest of us, they had to work weekends and nights. We'll see what he does with that.
Sleep-over with Nadia and Noah!
Last night both Nathaniel and Rebekah had friends here for a sleep over. Sleep? What's that?
My plan was to cash in on the short days by feeding them dinner at 5:00 and starting a Star Wars movie by 5:45. They all love Star Wars and decided on Star Wars 3. After 20 minutes, each child except Rebekah had became bored and disappeared into the basement to play. The boys came back up... Rebekah went down to hang with Nadia. We decided to put on Alvin and the Chipmonks. They all stayed for most of that. Finally, after having a cup of hot chocolate, we watched The Grinch.
Around 8:30, all kids brushed teeth and went to the appropriate bedroom. Todd and made sure they were all situated and retired downstairs. I made one trip up and then stood in the hall to make sure there was no "visiting". Nadia was clearly exhausted and had begun to rock herself to sleep on the floor (she wanted to sleep on the floor). After about 5 minutes Rebekah and Nadia were out. Nathaniel and Noah continued to "go to sleep" with bumps and giggles and a couple Dad visits up until 10:30-11:00.
My plan was to cash in on the short days by feeding them dinner at 5:00 and starting a Star Wars movie by 5:45. They all love Star Wars and decided on Star Wars 3. After 20 minutes, each child except Rebekah had became bored and disappeared into the basement to play. The boys came back up... Rebekah went down to hang with Nadia. We decided to put on Alvin and the Chipmonks. They all stayed for most of that. Finally, after having a cup of hot chocolate, we watched The Grinch.
Around 8:30, all kids brushed teeth and went to the appropriate bedroom. Todd and made sure they were all situated and retired downstairs. I made one trip up and then stood in the hall to make sure there was no "visiting". Nadia was clearly exhausted and had begun to rock herself to sleep on the floor (she wanted to sleep on the floor). After about 5 minutes Rebekah and Nadia were out. Nathaniel and Noah continued to "go to sleep" with bumps and giggles and a couple Dad visits up until 10:30-11:00.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Spiderman, spiderman, does whatever a spider can...
Nathaniel has been wearing this spider man outfit for hmmm.... 3 years now. I got it on sale
at Target around Halloween. He was spiderman for 2 Halloweens and has worn this outfit at least 50 other times. You can see the runs in the face mask and the rips around the back zipper. Best $13 I ever spent on him.
And in case you weren't yet convinced that Nathaniel is Peter Parker in disguise - just check out his moves on the videos below.
at Target around Halloween. He was spiderman for 2 Halloweens and has worn this outfit at least 50 other times. You can see the runs in the face mask and the rips around the back zipper. Best $13 I ever spent on him.And in case you weren't yet convinced that Nathaniel is Peter Parker in disguise - just check out his moves on the videos below.
