HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OUR COMPUTER HAS DIED. ALL MY SAVED PHOTOS ARE GONE, BUT SNAPFISH HAS MOST OF THEM. LAPTOP IS ACTING UP AS WELL. PLEASE STAY TUNED UNTIL I CAN UPLOAD MY CAMERA SHOTS AGAIN. HAVE A GREAT BEGINNING TO 2011.
P.S. OUR VAN'S WHEEL GOT A HUGE TACK STUCK IN IT. HAD TO GET IT REPAIRED TODAY. GOOD RIDDANCE 2010!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

What Batman eats for lunch

A peanut butter sandwich with milk.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

To all of our readers...and especially those who weren't lucky enough to get the actual Christmas card in the mail (sorry - budget saving efforts)...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Lyla's First Christmas and ANOTHER TOOTH!!!

Today was a big day for Lyla...her first Christmas Celebration, another tooth popped through and she is still recovering from all of those 6-month shots from yesterday. Grandma Nikki got Lyla a jumper and I think she is going to LOVE it! Can't wait to get some action videos sometime soon!!!

Merry Christmas Mama

After our guests left tonight, Edwin surprised me with some beautiful diamond earrings (1 c.t.w. bottom ones-WOW!!!). I have been asking for these for quite some time...but apparently I've been asking the wrong person. I told Edwin for the first time this year and TA...DA...Merry Christmas Mama!!!! I can't stop smiling...Special thanks to Dave for taking E shopping! LOL...I LOVE THEM!!!!

All I Want is a BATCAVE...

This is from our visit to EnterTRAINment Junction a few weeks ago. Edwin was very clear when he explained to Santa that all he wanted was a BATCAVE for Christmas. He was somewhat shocked when Santa didn't hand it over right then and there...but tonight...Grandpa Randy and Tiffany made Christmas history...BATMAN EVERYTHING!!! Too fun!!!!

Lyla 6 Months

Today is Lyla's Half Birthday...she is 6-months-old! CRAZY...that went way too fast! We got the okay to try baby food and continue trying cereal today. The doctor was pleased with Lyla's growth and development. She had a few shots and barely cried...she is such a delightful baby most of the time! So thankful. Edwin was pretty good at the doctor today. He was showing off as usual...even drew Dr. Meade an "arachnid with 8 legs wearing a Santa hat playing in the snow!" Needless to say the doctor and nurses continue to be beyond impressed by my smarty pants! So proud!

6-Month Stats:
Weight: 19 lbs 7 ozs 80th percentile (E was 17 lbs 15.9 ozs 75th percentile)

Height: 25.5 inches 50th percentile (E was 25 inches 25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 40th percentile (E was 60th percentile)

For our readers who like to compare looks...here is E at 6 months:

RIP Grams (Dec 1928 – Dec 2010)

Grams joined Paps today in heaven. It is a bittersweet goodbye and makes me sad beyond words once again. It has been a long couple of months for my family. Please keep us in your prayers and ask that God will grant us peace and understanding during this time of loss. A memorial service will be held in January...better (longer and more thought out) post to come...too fresh at the present moment...thanks for your thoughts and especially for your continued support of Betty's Marbles and our fight against Alzheimer's!

WEEK IN REVIEW

This was a whirlwind week of events for us! Our first exciting adventure was attending Madeline's Christmas program. She was the "cow with crooked horn". We are so proud of her ! She actually walked right up to that microphone and sang her solo verse clearly and in tune (which I can't say for some others ...ha!) . We are getting an actual video of the event, but I sneaked a one second bit of her singing.

** My funniest moment was when one of the angels tripped going up to the microphone, regained her balance, did her lines .... all the while with her halo flipped straight up. HILARIOUS!

Our next trip was to Disney Princesses on Ice!! The girls (and I ) really enjoyed this show. They had nearly every princess and prince involved. The seats were great, too! Meredith danced quite a bit to all the music. Madeline sat quietly in her chair. So reserved!!!
Last night Papa, Deb, Grandma, and the rest of us went to Madeline's DANCE recital. As per usual, she was the best dancer there. :) It was quite painful to watch this amateur 2 hour event. Ugh! Madeline did a great job. I didn't take any video with my camera so I taped the tv playing Matt's coverage. Not the greatest, but you get the idea!!! (p.s. check out the karate chop at the end of the video)

To end the weekend, Matt got me McDonald's for breakfast and the person in front of him paid for it! YAY!

Oh Christmas Tree

We hosted a Christmas Craft morning at our house today. We made Christmas trees...they really turned out cute! Although some of our guests couldn't make it because we got a blast of snow last night, it turned out to be a really fun morning. Thanks to everyone who ventured out and made it to our party...hope your post-sugar meltdown wasn't too bad!!! LOL

Christmas In Space Continues to gain momentum...

Santa's elves came last night and decorated our Christmas Rocket!!!

Family Visit

Last night Dave's cousin DJ and his family (Eryka, Ava and Diem) came over to play and have dinner (they brought cupcakes for dessert, so Edwin immediately became best friends with them all) with us. Edwin was so excited to have someone new to play with. Ava and Diem reminded us how short our kids really are...for those that don't know: Ava is 3 weeks YOUNGER than Edwin and Diem is about 1 month OLDER than Lyla. They were so cute and it was fun seeing the kids play together. I can't wait until the babies are a little bigger and can join in on the fun! Hoping to do this more often since they just moved back to Cincinnati from Indianapolis!

WEEK IN REVIEW

This feels great to get a chance to sit down for a minute. I just had a peanut butter cookie marathon. Seeing as though 80% of my Christmas cookies include chocolate and peanut butter, you can understand why I am tired right now. Is it me or did December fly by?? I can't seem to catch up. Megan has volunteered to make 3 recipes this year at home. YAY!!! That helps a lot especially when one of them is the oreo ball. YES YES YES.

The girls helped unwrap the kisses and p.b. cups. They are pretty good at that and cleaned up after themselves as well. I guess my training is working. :) Every time the tip of the kiss broke off, POP! right into Meredith's mouth it went.

The girls continue to love "John" the elf. Meredith was serenading John this morning with made up lyrics to Christmas tunes. "You need to get clean, get clean, b/c you are dirty, dirty, dirty". OH my!! Where does she get this? This week I posted a webcam video of Meredith on Facebook. I don't know how to save it, however, to show you non-FB users. It was a song about mattresses.

Madeline was sitting at the dinner table this week when I noticed her skin getting a dry patchy rash. She gets this every year when it gets cold. When I told her to look at it, she gasped and said, " is this chicken pops?" . HAHAHA. Too funny!

As I brace myself for the winter storm warning, I truly hope to either find nothing at all tomorrow morning or a foot of snow .... then I won't go to work. :)

Teeth

Lyla bit my finger tonight and SURPRISE...WE HAVE A TOOTH!!!!

Christmas Photo Sneak Peak

I took the kids' Christmas photos today...this is a sneak peak...LOVE IT!

School

Last night one of my lifelong dreams came true...E turned his toy screwdriver into a pointer (and yes he called it that without me telling him to) and asked me to play school...he pointed to his ABC and opposite poster and was quizzing me! LOVE IT! I always wanted to play school as a kid and now I finally have someone to play with who likes it - at least for now!

Christmas In Space

Our 2010 Christmas theme is CHRISTMAS IN SPACE. It is really coming together nicely. Dave and Edwin built the spaceship Christmas tree and we've added some decorations. It isn't done yet, but already Edwin has made himself a private wonderland inside. He keeps all of his prize possessions - stuffed dog, a few tools, some Batman stuff and of course a Steelers rug is on the floor. Needless to say, I think he LOVES it! More photos to come as we continue decorating our tree in the coming days...

Winter Hats

We all have something that we buy too much of...well, for me it is HATS. The kids have more hats than I care to admit...but I couldn't pass these ones up. Since Edwin hasn't been liking to get his picture taken lately, Lyla did the honors of modeling both. Too cute!!!

WEEK IN REVIEW

Operation Santa's lap has failed two times so far. First attempt at the girls' school. Imagine chaos as kids gather around Santa's feet , inching their way forward , stretching up their hands in hopes that Santa selects them as the next victim (according to my girls). No line.... what the hell is up with that?!? Meredith didn't even entertain the idea of sitting anywhere near him. Madeline sat there and never once raised her hand. Soo, after we put our raffle tickets in we scooped up the girls to go home. The second attempt was at the mall on Friday. This Santa was awesome. Totally authentic!! Both girls had the death grip on my legs as soon as they saw his "house". They wouldn't even wave at him. Ugh~ We would have been FIRST in line, but no. We turned around and left. Madeline has decided that she just wants gifts from people , not Santa. What to do? Third attempt will be orchestrated at the school when Santa comes to visit their classes. I will not be there to see the success (hopefully).

I did not win anything from the raffles from their school. They were awesome again. Boo hoo! I did win a basket from the high school raffle though, but nothing to be excited about. :(

We had my office Christmas party last night at the Buhl Mansion in Sharon. It had a nice atmosphere and good food! The staff gave me 2 cricut cartridges ( both paper dolls for those who care). I was thrilled!! I only took 2 pictures this week and both using my phone ... so they stink , but here you go!

This one is from the party:

and this one is from our back porch ... a.k.a. Winter Wonderland.

---p.s. our snow blower is locked in the shed. The lock is frozen shut thanks to rain being deep-freezed into ice. man!

Gingerbread Fun

One of my best friends came to visit on Friday night and I bet she had no idea that I'd make her get involved in our gingerbread fun! Tracy is always such a great sport and didn't seem to mind a bit...in fact, I think she had as much fun as we did!!! I've always wanted to build a gingerbread house. Don't remember if I ever did as a kid...but I decided this would be the year that Edwin might enjoy the craft. I think I was right...especially the eat-all-of-the-decorations part. He LOVED that! We made a gingerbread boy and a girl for Lyla (of course?) and a gingerbread train. I had a blast and I do believe we've started a new Christmastime tradition at the Ross house.