1st Christmas Eve with Girls and Jenna's First Christmas

Wow what a Christmas, it was crazy at our house. Christmas Eve started out wrapping last minute gifts and making cookies for Santa (minus the frosting, lol). We went to Grandma Jan's house for dinner and gifts just us girls. David had to work so he came straight there just in time to eat dinner with us. After we ate we all opened our presents. Jenna was pretty funny, she couldn't figure out what was going on with all the boxes and wrapping paper but after she saw the Elmo from Grandma that kept her busy and the bottle of lotion she found under the table.





We left Grandma's to get ready for Santa. Becca had to get ready for Santa by putting some Reindeer treats on the front lawn made up of oats and some glitter to attract them and then put some cookies on a plate, it took her about 3 tries to keep the cookies on the plat, she kept loosing them on the floor, it was pretty funny. Then she had to put some carrots on the plat too so the reindeer had a snack too. Kayla had to help with the carrots and their Daddy loves to play jokes on them by telling them they had to bite off the tip of the carrots before they put them on the plat, that was pretty funny too. Jenna was already sleeping from our ride home so she didn't get to help get ready. So off to bed the girls went and of course Becca was to excited to go to sleep.David and I had to take care of some last minute Christmas stuff, wink, wink and he had a little snack of a Christmas Peep (marshmallow gingerbread man), I have to tell this story because it was just the funniest thing. He was being silly by squishing it through his teeth when it squished to hard and went in my ear, we laughed so hard we couldn't breathe and tears rolled down our face after about 15 minutes we finally stopped laughing and decided we better get to sleep, by this time it was about 1am. Of course as usual Jenna woke up in the middle of the night, which she seems to do alot lately, about 4am I think it was so not much sleep for me that night.We slept in a bit for us, about 7:30 am, which Becca was going crazy by then to do downstairs to see what Santa brought. We finally went downstairs but wouldn't let the girls come in the family room right away, aren't we mean. We let them in and they were really excited to see all the gifts and Becca was excited to see that Santa ate most of the cookies and drank the milk and saw the partially eaten carrots, Santa was a bit messy though by leaving several crumbs of cookies on the table.We started the way we usually do by opening our stocking gifts first. Then Kayla and Becca pass out the gifts that are under the tree. Usually the girls are the first to start opening their gifts as they can't wait. Jenna tried to open one but lost interest, she just wanted all the boxes and paper and things that we had in our hands until she opened the purple teddy bear from her Great Grandma, she got very excited and took it from daddy and started hugging it and saying "awww" as she hugged it, it was the cutest thing. David helped her open most of her other gifts both Christmas Even and morning where she got lots of clothes from Both grandmas.

The girls ripped through their gifts and then found a couple of gifts hidden in the tree from Santa, Kayla stared to open her's first but had to wait for Becca because she was so excited. Santa brought both of the girls Nindendo DS's and they each got a dog game to go with it, needless to say they didn't put them down the entire day, not even long enough to charge them. My mom had one of Jenna's gifts shipped directly to our house so I brought it out, it was a Fisher Price Lion that Jenna could either sit on or push, she was so excited she figured out if the nose was pushed that would start the music so after a bit I put it together for her and off she went with Becca pushing her around the house.

David got lots of shirts for work, a few movies, some yummy popcorn, backpack, umbrella and even a Vodka decanter with shot glasses, you can't have the decanter without the vodka so David's mom brought out a bottle for the decanter. I got a couple of shirts, slippers, money, and I am and have always been a big Gene Autry fan so mom got me the newest autobiography that I can't wait to start reading. We had Christmas dinner at our house in which Kayla helped her Daddy make the traditional meatballs to go in the homemade sauce for the ravioli.

It was very stressful getting ready for Christmas but overall it was well worth it to have Kayla and Becca there for Christmas morning for the first time and enjoying the look on their faces to see what Santa brought them. Now we get ready for New Year's eve, we are staying home with the kids and I beleive Grandma Jan will join us for a little while. We will have lots of snacks, watch some movies and maybe play some Wii.

So for those of you we missed with the Christmas cards (sorry I didn't order enough this year) we hope you had a very Merry Christmas and have a Safe New Years, if you live near us please feel free to join us if you like.

Christmas update

Things have been so busy so sorry for no update lately. We were hurrying to get shopping done to ship packages out of town and finally got them packaged and shipped on Tuesday, nothing like waiting until the last minute. We were also a bit delayed in getting our Christmas tree so Jenna and I went after work on Wednesday, we picked out a great one, it's about 7 foot and really fat. Ever since I was a kid I have always had a fresh tree and I just couldn't see myself with a fake one just yet. David was off yesterday and got the lights on the tree and Jenna and I started to hang ornaments. I let Jenna put on her first ornament, that was pretty funny since she likes to shake everything to see if it makes noise. We got the boxes packaged and shipped out to my mom and David's brother in California so now we can focus on the rest of the shopping.



We are really excited for the first time in 7 years the girls will spend Christmas Eve at our house and will wake up to Santa gifts with us and it will be Jenna's first Christmas so it should be fun.

Sounds like a barking Seal, oh no it's Croup

Our little Jenna is pretty sick right now with Croup. She started out with just a little cold and then she started getting a cough that turned into a deep seal type cough. David looked online for her symptoms and what she had sounded like Croup but we weren't doctors. I called her Doctor Sunday night and he suggested that we take her to the emergency room for a breathing treatment. But with our luck David's insurance with Countrywide ended on the 30th so we were without insurance so David suggested we keep a close eye on her that night and he would work out the insurance mess with Sears the next day. Well what a mess that was, he was on the phone for a total of about 4 hours with help from his boss also. David was finally able to get most of the bugs worked out and took her back to the doctor yesterday. They gave her a breathing treatment in the office and said her poor little throat is just raw from coughing. The doctors office loaned us a nebulizer so we can give her breathing treatments at home every 4 hours and they also gave her meds for her throat.

The poor little thing sounds just terrible and she won't eat much, except last night I guess she was hungry and ate about half of Daddy's pizza. Today is a different story, I can't get her to eat at all. She is very sleepy today so hopefully she will rest good. David and I have been taking turns staying home with her which is really hard for both us having new jobs.

New Jobs

David and I both have new jobs, David has been at Sears now for abut 3 weeks I think. He is having some trouble getting the training he needs but I'm sure he will take care of that soon. He seems to like what he is doing except that he is having trouble keeping people employed, they all seem to not want to work. We took a visit to the McHenry store so he could see how it was set up and we both got some good ideas for his store.

He survived Black Friday without any trouble in his store but the K-Mart next door was a different story. There was some pushing, shoving, hair pulling (extensions left on the floor) and even a head went through a jewelry case.

I am on my second week at my job now. I have two great bosses and my co-workers so far seem really nice. It's pretty funny, I have always worked really hard in the mortgage industry and those of you who have been there can relate but this job seems really slow to me. I guess it will from the fast pase and hustle of the mortgage world.

Early Holiday Celebration

Saturday all three girls and I braved the cold (about 25 degrees) and went to the anniual tree lighting celebration for the Village of Fox Lake. We had never been before and we were a little unsure on what it would be like but we thought it was probably going to be some singing, music and then the flip the switch that lights the tree, everybody says "ohhhh, Ahhhh" and we go home. Well that's exactly how it was but at least we can say that we have been to it "Once".Saturday morning we again decided to brave the cold, this time about 35 degrees and watch the Christmas Parade also put on by the village. We bundled up with jackets, hats, scarves, gloves and blankets. We waited in the car until about 5 minutes before the parade started then went out to the street to watch the parade.

Jenna was nice and toasty in her car seat with lots of layers of clothes and blankets on her.

The parade was the same as usual, lots of tow trucks, fire trucks, a few motorcycles, the Grand Marshall, Mayor, beauty queen and the normal people tossing candy to the kids. There were a few cool things this year, there was a GIANT shopping car powered by a super charged big block and a really big red shoe topped with Ronald McDonald and the Hamburgler.

The kids enjoyed the parade and I think even Jenna liked it once she heard music in the parade.

We won't be crazy enough next year for the tree lighting but we already decided that for the parade we will get there early, park in front so we can stay in thecar and pack a thermos with hot chocolate.

I GOT IT!!!!!!!

I went for a second interview today with a company called Micro Medics.

The company is a laptop repair facility and I would be in customer service.
We talked, went over things about the company, they give me a little test to see if I could read their repair invoice and I passed it with flying colors, hello, it was only common sense to read the paper. Then I thought they were wrapping up the interview and they said "Well, we would like to extend and offer to you", I thought I almost fell out of my chair. I had never been offered a position right there in the interview. So of course I took it!

I will be starting full time on the 26th so that I can spend time with Jenna, Kayla and Becca next week while the girls are on Thanksgiving break.

Thank you all for saying a little prayer for me and now that David is off and running at his store hopefully things will start to look up for us. Now I just have the stress of leaving Jenna in daycare, I'm sure she will be fine, it's me we have to worry about, lol.

My first Stampin' Up! workshops

I have some great friends who agreed to host a Stampin' Up! workshop for me. Thank you Liz Lee (shown rt with little Spencer soon to be) and Yvette Stauner so much. We made some great projects, a Halloween scrap page, fall card, winter thank you card and yummy candy bag holder.

I was a little nervous at first but then I just did what I love to do and everything went smooth, well except when I realized at Yvette's house that I forgot to cut some paper but luckily my house was just next door.

I am planning some classes for the holidays so look for an email soon.

Halloween

We had a little trouble with Jenna's costume. We bought it before she was born thinking that by October she would for sure fit in 12month clothes. So as I said a few blogs down that it just didn't fit so I found the cute kitty headband and it was only $2.99 which made it even better.

Halloween came and I thought it would be cute to try to add a little nose and whiskers with a make up pencil to go along with the kitty headband I found a few weeks ago. Man did she look cute. While she was napping I even managed to carve a couple of pumpkins.
I think to blog site is having trouble so I'll re-align the pictures in a day or so after they fix the problem

Out at last and Becca did great

So today was my final day at Countrywide. In normal mortgage world fashion, I was ushered out the door while everyone was distracted by a meeting. Nice real class act they are, right up to the end. NOT. What a relief it is to be out of that place. If anyone you know is thinking about going to work there, have them call me first! I start me new position this Monday and a new chapter in my life. I am excited about the challenges and learning something new.

On another note, you probably saw the report card results for Kayla, but we also just got Becca's as well. What a wonderful job she is going. She does not get grades yet, but she got almost all "exceeds expectation". What a fabulous job she did. We are very proud of her.

David is finally out of Countrywide!

FROM DAVID:

I am finally out. I have finally given my notice to Countrywide, that Friday 11/05/07 will end my tenure and my career at Countrywide, FOREVER. I have taken a position in Management for Sears Holdings just north of Milwaukee. Although the drive will be long, the hours will be long, the pay isn’t much better, and the benefits are ok at best, it is a new start by going back to what I am good at, what I enjoy, and what got me my start in management. For those of you that read this, my brother Ric was possibly the best manager I ever worked for and I owe a lot to him. He taught me to put the people first. If they like you, trust you, and believe in you, they will follow you anywhere. Thank you Ric, you are the best brother anyone could ever have. As well, Thank you Tim. You taught me strength and resiliency. You helped me become strong in my heart and mind. I cannot thank you enough for your friendship and all that you have given to me and my family. Thank you for being my most trusted friend and advisor. Most of all, thank you to my wife. I would not be here, I would not have made it this far in my life, I would not have the strength to go on each day without you. I love you more every minute of my day. You make me stronger, better, and most of all, you complete me. I would be lost without you.

On another note; Kayla received her first report card as a big 6th grader. I am VERY PROUD to report that she achieved straight A's with many A+'s. As if that were not big news enough, this wonderful child also made, not only the honor role, but the HIGH honor role in her school. She has tested better than 95% of Illinois students in reading and better than 99% of Illinois students in math. UNBELIEVABLE. This is amazing news to me. We are very proud of her.

Tribute to Aunt Polly

I got a call from my grandma today that my favorite Aunt, Polly passed away last week. To explain how she was related she was my mom's dad's brother's wife, lol, got all that. If you knew my family you would understand why I am just finding out about it.

Aunt Polly was such a fun person, always had a smile on her face and she had one of those laughs that was contagious. I first met Aunt Polly when I was about 9 or so, we went to their house in Anza, in the California dessert. I always remember having so much fun at their house, walking around outside and enjoying nature in the dessert or listening to stories of the family.

Aunt Polly had a favorite snack that always grossed me out, she liked Buttermilk with popcorn or even sometimes cornbread in it, yep you read it right. She would always try to get me to have a taste, knowing that I didn't like buttermilk. Also a favorite food of Aunt Polly's was a fried Egg sandwich with mayo on white bread (some here call it a pepper and egg sandwich), I had never tried one before until she made me one and I was hooked on them ever since.

I didn't speak to her often but always looked forward to her personalized Christmas card every year. After Jenna was born she was so excited for us that she called me to congratulate us and even though she wasn't feeling well then you could still tell that she had her usual smile. I am very glad that I got to talk to her. I will always have a place in my heart for Aunt Polly, I just wish I had some pictures of her to attach, so I'll have to ask the family for one so you can see just what I mean about her smile.

No new news really...

Not much still going on around here. David hasn't been laid off yet but we feel it still may be possible at any time. He has a 2nd interview today so keep your fingers crossed. I have been interviewing all last week and today. I have had interviews all over the place and different fields. I may take a cashier job at Sam's part time in the evenings to help until I find something full time.

Below is Kayla who was recently in a play of Snow White at school, she played a palace guard, she didn't have a speaking part but played a very happy guard.

I have the house ready for Halloween, Kayla is going to be a bad fairy and Becca is going to be a pirate. Little Jenna is still so little that I don't think the sunflower costume we bought before she was born will fit her, it's 12 month and she is barely wearing 6 month clothes so I found her some really cute kitty ears as a headband. She wears them for a little bit before she wants them off. David found a Calderon to put the candy and we found that Jenna fits just right in it.

I've attached a few other pictures that I have taken lately. Jenna and I went to a baby shower on Sunday and Jenna really liked the chocolate frosting on the cupcakes. Picture below is Jenna in her new sale hat ($1.00)

Stuff

Not much new going on around here. David still hates his job and is still looking for a new one so please if you know of anybody hiring let us know so we can get him out of that hell hole he is in. I am interviewing for a position at Kindercare tomorrow in some type of manager position and am interviewing a couple of places for daycare close by.

Jenna is getting so big, she weighs 16 lbs. 14 ozs now and has about 6 teeth. She is still pulling herself up on almost everything but getting hurt less every day. She has a new favorite food just like her big sister Becca, she likes Mac n Cheese.

I'm almost ready for my open house, have everything cut and ready just need to finish cleaning a bit.

Just wanted to get an update poasted and a few new pictures of Jenna, I don't have any updated ones of Kayla and Becca but their school pictures should be out soon. Becca seems to like her new teacher and Kayla is getting used to middle school and all of her activities. She is in band, choir, and even has a part in an upcomming play.

Stampin' Up! Open House

Well it's official, I am now a Stampin' Up! deomonstrator I am very excited to get started. they have a lot of great products and I'm not just saying that. I have been using their stamps for about 4 years now and I'm spoiled, I don't even like to by store bought ones.

To get started I am having an Open House on Saturday, October 6th from 10am-2pm. You can stop by any time and make a card, scrapbook page or just look through the catalog. I will have doorprizes and some of Liz's yummy cookies that I will be making. So be sure to give me a call if you think you will be able to stop by.

Our little trouble maker

Jenna is almost 8 months old already, I can't believe how the time is flying. She has just recently started to pull herself up on everything that she can get a hold of. The poor little thing has a few battle wounds already, two bruises on her face from the table in the pictures. Once she gets up she hasn't figured out how to get down but she sure is practicing, no sooner do I help her down to her bottom then she is back up again at the table.

Jenna is getting about 3 more teeth also. She was running a little fever and we thought it was from her teeth but I decided to take her to the doctor and good thing I did. Turns out she has a double ear infection and a very red throat. They gave her some antibiotics but they are not doing so well with her. The antibiotics have given her the worst diaper rash I have ever seen so I am waiting now for the doctors office to call back as I told them I am not giving her the meds any more and they needed to find a new one for her. I'll keep you posted on how she is doing.

A piece of history

As one of my birthday gift's David arranged with a friend to use two of their Chicago White Sox Tickets so I could see the Anaheim Angles play. A friend was to take me but he got a softball injury so he couldn't go. I'm thinking who in the world would I take, David wasn't able to go as he was taking care of the kids so I could go, after thinking it over for several hours I thought of taking Eric our next door neighbor's son. We headed off to the game after being really tired from our party the night before and Jenna up all night teething and wondering how I would make it through the game but I was excited to see my home town hero's the Angels to I managed to stay awake.

Well not really being much of a Sox fan didn't really know what was going on with the Sox and I asked Eric after the Angels were up by 7 runs what the big deal was with all the signs people had showing "Thome 500", Eric explained that Jim's next home run would be his 500th home run. Over on the jumbo sign they were posting messages for people and I happened to snap a picture of the sign that said "Happy Birthday Michelle" hey, I'm sure it wasn't me but it was the same name and I was there for a birthday gift so as far as I was concerned it was for me, haha. Wow that made the game even more exciting for me. Around the 8 inning my precious Angels started to loose their lead and then by the bottom of the 9th inning the score was tied 7 to 7. Still no home run from Thome, he came up to bad again the bottom of the 9th, I believe it was 1 strike and 1 ball and then BLAM Thome hit is 500th home run(be sure to click on the link and watch the video, it was so awesome).

It was so COOL, fireworks went off all the Sox players left the bullpen and ran to the field, people where going nuts. I guess if my Angels had to loose I was ok for the loss like that. It was fun to be a part of history and see Jim Thome of the Chicago White Sox hit is 500th home run.

So thank you David for arranging the tickets and taking care of the girls so I could go, Eric for going and Billy man you missed it!