Some fun over Break Week

Since Tyler and Gracie were visiting from Wisconsin, my mom wanted to take them to the Stong Museum. It was a great idea - it's just too bad that every other family with children in the Rochester area had this idea too!!!!!! I knew it was bad when I had to park SO far away.

We met up with my parents, Brian, T, Gracie, Josh, Ryan, Aidan, Erin, Sidney & Cam. Even though it was very crowded we still had a fun time. The hardest part was just trying to keep track of all the kids - especially Jo Jo - he decided it would be fun to constantly walk away from me - good thing I had my eye on him constantly.

The girls' all time favorite spot is the Wegmans store. They love shopping and cashing themselves out. Joey even got into on this visit too. We even got to meet Curious George!

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, I guess Emily, Alli & Joey had been good kids this past year because Santa brought lots of presents.



Emily got her much desired Nintendo DS with a game. She said that would be her worst nightmare that Santa would bring the DS with no game. Ha ha!



Alli got her DS too. She was very excited and the two of them have been playing with them all the time.



And Joey got the big boy underpants he asked Santa for. They have Lightening McQueen on them which is perfect for Jo Jo. He also got a train table from Santa, but he likes to play his cars on it more than the trains.

Paul's parents and sister came over for brunch and then we headed over to my parent's house for dinner. I've just got to show this picture of my nephew Aidan. My sister had found this Santa Suit for him and he wore it on Christmas. He looked so adorable!



And these pictures are just too funny not to share. Emily asked for wig (why I don't know), but Grandma & Grandpa Farrell brought her a Hannah Montanna one. Well, everyone got trying it on and they looked hilarious.

Here's Em.


Here's Paul - He does NOT make an attractive woman lol - sorry Paul.


And, here's my brother Brian. We kept telling him he looked just like Andy Dick.

We really had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you did as well!

Christmas Eve

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve - I just love this day - even more so than Christmas actually - all the anticipation and excitement.

Paul and I always exchange our gifts on Christmas eve - Paul is too excited to wait until Christmas. I got Paul the game Cam Jam, an amazon.com gift card for dowloading songs to his ipod, a kohls gift card, some baseball cards, a NY Yankee calendar and some candy and sunflower seeds. He got me some awesome slippers (they're so comfortable), the book Marly & Me, the David Cook cd and the Wii fit.

We went to mass at St. Paul's this afternoon. Emily sung in the cherub choir after communion. They sang one song and she did a great job! My parents, my brother and his kids, Paul's parents, sister and aunt all came to hear her sing.





After mass we headed over to Aunt Nancy & Uncle Charlies for a Christmas Eve celebration. When we got home, the girls put out rolo cookies and egg nog for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. They also sprinkled the reindeer food on the lawn so Santa's reindeer could spot our house easier and it also gave them a little extra snack while Santa delivered his presents.

Then, the girls quickly went to bed, very excited to see what Santa would bring.

Introducing Ralphie

My dad got his Christmas present a little early. Today he got an 8 week old white terrier and he is ADORABLE!!!! Since he was a Christmas present, my dad named him Ralphie after the boy from the movie A Christmas Story.

Isnt' this the cutest little face you've ever seen?

Here's Bailey checking out her new baby brother. They have actually gotten along very well so far.

The kids LOVE him! They were so excited to tell me all about him and show him to me when I got back to my parents after work. They couldn't wait to hold him.

Breakfast with Santa

The youth group at our church was putting on a Breakfast with Santa and since we hadn't been to see Santa yet, I signed us up. This was the first year they put it on, so I had no idea what to expect.

Well, it was wonderful!! The teens sat us down and served us pancakes and sausage and we could have coffee, orange juice or hot chocolate for dessert. While we were eating, Nora (the leader of the youth group) and some of the teens sang Christmas songs. Then Santa arrived - much to Joey's dismay. He read the kids a story and then sat with each child for a picture and to hear what they wanted. Em went right up and I was so impressed that Alli did too. Alli hasn't gone near Santa willingly since she was about 2 months old. At first, she just wanted to hand Santa her list, but then she ended up sitting on his lap for a picture - I was so excited! Joey wouldn't go near him, which I totally expected since he doesn't even want Santa to visit our house on Christmas Eve. Oh well, maybe next year I'll get a picture with all 3 kids and Santa.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Friday morning I woke up to no snow, but several of the school districts had canceled school due to the forecast of a big storm (I was shocked - they rarely cancel school around here when there's snow on the ground). Unfortuantely, Webster wasn't one of them. So, I got the girls on the bus and about an hour later, the snow did start and it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. I couldn't believe how hard it was coming down. I was just thankful I didn't have anywhere to go.

They ended up canceling afternoon kindergarten in Webster (which didn't affect us at all) and they dismissed school about 15 minutes early. We got over a foot of snow by the time it stopped and they're predicting more for Sunday. At least we should have a white Christmas.

25 Things We Love About Christmas

Here are 25 Things We Love About Christmas:

1. Cutting down our Christmas Tree

2. Baking Christmas cookies

3. Eating Christmas cookies

4. Extra time off from work

5. 24 hours a day of Christmas music on warm 101.3

6. Freezing our tushies off at the Webster Christmas parade

7. Frosty the Snowman and other Christmas specials

8. Santa Claus

9. Christmas parties

10. Driving around and seeing everyone's Christmas lights

11. Hot chocolate

12. Getting Christmas cards from friends and family

13. The smell of evergreen

14. Hanging the stockings by the fireplace

15. Getting together with family

16. Advent calendars

17. Decorating our tree

18. Eggnog

19. Decorating the house

20. Putting up the Christmas lights outside

21. Celebrating the birth of Jesus

22. Getting and giving presents

23. Candy canes

24. Coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brought

25. Leaving out cookies and milk for Santa

Paul's Company Christmas party

Tonight was Paul's company Christmas party at Shadow Lake. It ended up being a really fun time. They had a casino night after dinner and we each got $1,000 to play with. Gambling is so much more fun when you're not playing with real money (at least for me). Paul and I learned a new game - 3 card poker. The dealers were so nice and took the time to teach you the game and help you along the way. Paul had a lot of luck, me not so much. I moved over to Rhoulette with one of the other wives. I ended up losing all my money, but it was fun.



Paul was recognized for 15 years at Erdman Anthony. I don't know how he does it staying at one company for so long - he used to tell me I got the two year itch. I think the only reason I've been at Bosch for so long is because I'm part-time.



Here's a picture of us before heading out for the night.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Fieldtrip to WROC channel 8

Ok, so I'll share a little secret about me (you may or may not already know) - I think of our local news people as celebreties and get excited when I see one of them around town. Paul totally makes fun of me for this, but thankfully I have my mom and my cousin Erin on my side.

So I was very excited (to put it mildly) when one of the mom's in my Daisy troop set up a tour of Channel 8 news for the troop. We were going to be able to watch the 6pm broadcast and meet Scott Hetsko the chief meteorologist.

Watching the broadcast was so interesting - it was amazing to see how many times they fix themselves up during commercial breaks. The girls, unfortunately, didn't find it as interesting. They had to sit still and quiet for over a half hour, which isn't easy for 5 and 6 year olds. They did a good job though. Scott mentioned us on air (except he called us brownies instead of daisys). Afterwards, we the girls got to go up on the set and get a picture with Scott, Maureen & Kevin.

Journal your Christmas - Christmas Cards

I saw this idea on another blog I visit and thought it would be a great way to remember all the little details of the Christmas holiday. She has lots of different prompts for each day of the month and I thought I'd start with Christmas cards since I'm in the midst of that right now.


Sunday, we had our annual photo shoot for the perfect Christmas picture. I gave Em "a talking to" earlier in the morning because lately she's been making grouchy faces in pictures. Thankfully, all 3 of them cooperated and it went pretty smoothly and quickly - it did take a bit of bribing for Joey to sit and smile - lollipops always do the trick.

We got a bunch of good shots. I'm not going to show you the one we chose, don't want to ruin the surprise. :) I ordered the cards through winkflash and just got an email today that they shipped, so I should have them by the end of the week. Then I can start to adress all of them. I have to finish up our annual letter too. I always send one out to the friends/relatives that we don't see often, plus I keep one for our family scrapbook so we can have a little reminder of what we did each year.

I love getting all the cards and letters from friends and family this time of year too. So much more fun than bills and junk mail. I love seeing how big the kids have gotten and what everyone's families are doing.

Parade of Lights

The Webster Parade of Lights has become an annual tradition for us. It started about 4 or 5 years ago and has gotten bigger every year. Local fire departments will decorate their trucks with Christmas lights and decorations and Santa & Mrs. Claus even make an appearance. Even though we're usually freezing our butts off, we always have fun. It's a great way to start the holiday season and get us in the Christmas mood.

We used to always bump into our old neighbors, the Ramseys while we were there. This year we decided to go together. They invited us over for dinner and then we bundled up and headed into the village. Em & Alli love playing with Elizabeth and Makenzie and Joey has taken quite the liking to Katie.