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.

November Highlights

Paul's been giving me a hard time that I haven't updated the blog (it has been a while), so I thought I'd do a quick month in review. Nothing too much exciting happened - the kids kept us busy with girl scouts, dance, playdates, etc, but here are some of the highlights:

Paul was able to golf at Oak Hill Country club on the 2nd. He had a great time and loved the course.

On the 8th, Paul and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. It's hard to believe we've been married so long already - that is until I look at wedding pictures and see how young we look. (I'm going to try and remember to post a picture tomorrow).

The 23rd brought us all to a screeching halt when Paul, Alli, Joey and I all got hit with the stomach bug at the same time. That has never happened before, and let me say, I hope it never happens again. Not that it's great when it's dragged out over a week as one person gets it at a time, but Paul and I both being down and out at the same time and having to care for two sick kids was no fun at all! Thank goodness Emily was a wonderful nurse - she took great care of us.

The 23rd was also the first time Emily sang in the cherub choir at church. I was so disappointed to miss it (I was already puking when it was time for church). Paul was feeling lousy, but was able to get her there - we hated for her to miss it. She did an awesome job Paul said. I'm still so sad that I couldn't be there.

Thanksgiving was a family, fun filled day. We had an early dinner at Paul's aunt's and then headed over to my aunt & uncle's for dessert - we got their just as they were eating though, so we ended up eating again and then having dessert. Boy was I stuffed. I joined Weight Watchers at work and I'm guessing next week's weigh in won't be pretty lol.

Friday the 27th, Paul and I went out to dinner with two of my close friends from college - Pete & Michelle. It was great to see them and catch up. We haven't been able to get together in over a year (maybe even longer).

On Saturday the 28th, we cut down our Christmas tree. I love this tradition. This year we went to Bauman Farms and got a beautiful tree. It was a great day for it - chilly, but not freezing. Afterwards we had everyone back to our house for a late lunch - of course, we had the traditional one pot dinner. Mom & Dad Presutti, Katie, Mom & Dad Farrell, Kris, Aidan and Brian all joined us this year. Later in the evening, Paul, the kids and I had fun decorating the tree, listening to Christmas music and drinking egg nog. I just love this time of year.