Good Bye 2012

Whew...I can not believe 2012 is almost over!

It was a great one! 

Hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

How cute!

(photo from here)

I have been meaning to make a gingerbread house out of clay for years now.  I found this edible one on Pinterest and it is just adorable!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.  :)

What is your Elf Name?

Mine is Twinkle Monkey-Buns.

Sunday Citar - Shout Out

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~ John Quincy Adams

Last Friday Lily's school had their monthly Read & Lead.  Parents are welcome and Jeff & I have not attended yet. 

We were planning on attending this month to check it out and then Lily brought home a sheet of paper stating she was going to be the "shout out sign holder".  Well we definitely had to go then.  She was so excited we both came.

Poor girlies arms were really tired and shaking a bit when carrying that sign back and forth.  Bad planning by the person who made that sign...they really needed to put the stick in the middle.  O_o

They also announced the PTA reflections winners.  Lily was one of them.  Her piece was sent on to the next round.

I am super proud.

I would love to tell you what she did...but I do have to admit, I have NO IDEA.  While I remember reading the paperwork that was sent home about the program, I have not seen what she made.  I have asked Lily what she made/did and she is really no help.  (Which made it hard to fill out the portion on the paperwork that said, explain what you made.)  I tried asking the people on the school office last Monday (after I was congratulated by another mom for Lily's accomplishment...she heard it on the morning announcements) and they had no idea either.  Which I find odd because they are the ones that did the announcements a few hours before I asked them about it.  They were able to tell me that they were planning on having a Reflections Reception in Feb/Mar.  I guess I will see it then.  :D

Tuba Christmas

This is the last year with Ian's music instructor and he wanted me to make her a special ornament for Christmas.  How could I say no?  She is a lovely woman and pretty much the reason my son LOVES to play. 

"Have a Very Merry Tuba Christmas" 

Let me explain the Tuba Christmas thing...

Last year I read an article posted on the Disney Blog about how Tuba Christmas was coming to Disneyland.  I had never heard of such a thing.  I showed the article to Ian and then looked further into it and sure enough they have one here in Buffalo every year, too.  Ian said that someday he would like to play in it.  When he heard about it told everyone about Tuba Christmas.  Now his nickname in band is Tuba Christmas.  ;)

Lily's Birthday - Part 2

When we got home from our trip to Canada on Fridat, Lily had presents to open. 

First she opened Nana & Papa's presents.  She had to call and talk to Nana to tell her she LOVED her new scarf that she made.

Lily LOVES talking on the phone.

Last year Lily had bought Jingle the Husky Pup after Christmas with her own money.  They are an interactive stuffed animal and book Hallmark sells. (The dog reacts with noises when you read certain phrases in the book.)  She carried that dog around forever!  This year we gave Lily the new Bell Husky Pup.

Along with the extra book to read (that works with both puppies).

Glad she had a wonderful 6th birthday!!

Wordless Wednesday - Mr & Mrs Claus

Only 6 more sleeps.  :)


For more WW check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Seven Clown Circus  Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, The InfoMouse , Focused on the Magic & Fresh Mommy.

Family Photo Time

Last year I started a tradition of taking a group photo of the grand kids at my in-laws Christmas & Easter celebrations.  I wish I would have started doing this years ago. 

You know how hard it is to get 6 people to look forward and smile at the same time?  O_o

Here are the ones I took at the Christmas Celebration we had on Sunday.

Here are the photos I took last Christmas and last Easter.  I love seeing how they have changed so much over the last year.  :)

Lily's loves!

We spent yesterday celebrating Christmas at my in-laws.  My husband's Aunt & Uncle came, which made my daughter soooooo happy.  You see they brought their 2 doggies with them.  She LOVES their doggies (and she also loves to talk Aunt Mary Ellen & Uncle Tom's ear off).

Daisy is her favorite, she is the one on the left.  I am pretty sure she is her favorite because she is a girl.  ;)

Chopper is the one on the right.  He is really sweet. 

Lily spent forever petting these doggies.  She loved them.

They are so cute and sweet!! 

I wonder what my kitties would think of a dog that is about their size?....

Christmas Concert

Ian's Christmas concert was Wed night. 

The kids have grown so much in a year!  Here are photos from last year concert. 

This is Ian's band teacher.  LOVE this woman.  She has been awesome over the last 3 years.  We will truly miss her next year when Ian goes to the middle school.

 Practicing before the concert.

There are 3 tuba players this year in the band. 

So proud of my little (ok, not so little anymore) tuba player.

Celebrating Lily's 6th Birthday!

My baby girl turned 6 yesterday.  Our schools were off on Friday so she celebrated in school on Thursday.  After she got off the bus on Thursday we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge over the border in Canada. 

On Friday morning we put our name in the drawing to be the "family of the day".  I was soooo shocked when they called our room number!!  It was an amazing extra gift for our birthday girl.  We got the cabana for the day, water, snacks (fruit, veggies & dip, cookies & a snack mix in the mini fridge) and a coupon book. The coupon book was good for a late check out (1pm), magic wand & to play the quest game, free arcade game tokens, free tickets in arcade (or mini golf if open), money off crafts in kid club & a free ride photo. It totally made Lily's day even more special.

 Lily told me it was the best birthday ever. 

Her favorite thing is the lazy river.  She loves to "swim" around and around and around and around.  We spent hours in there.

We had an amazing time Thursday & Friday!

On a personal note....I had turned off my phone shortly after taking these photos.  I am wishing I never turned back on my phone and my computer last night when we finally got home. My heart is broken for the loss of those sweet, innocent lives.  :'(