Our First Annual Christmas Exchange

I will admit, it was my idea. With John in the midst of umemployment, I asked the girls if the six of us should exchange names for Christmas gifts and they wholeheartedly (wow, that is a big word, maybe it is supposed to be two words) agreed. Courtney because they are all about downsizing Christmas and Alissa because she also had an unemployed husband.

Well, John thankfully landed a job and things were looking up in the financial area in our home, so I started to regret my hasty decision, but my girls stood firm and wanted to give a try. We could always reevaluate after the trial run. I guess I was feeling badly about not being able to buy my own daughters a Christmas gift especially if I didn't get one of their names. But to be honest, I had purchased many silly gifts over the years just to have something to give them and that is a waste of money. Case in point, the year I gave them the Boyfriends in a box! Note to self: Make some of those up and try and sell on Etsy!

Anyway, back to the gift exchange. It was a huge success. I, personally, had a great time searching for that perfect gift for Nathan. He wanted square bar glasses as opposed to eyeglasses and I looked long and hard for the perfect ones. It was fun and I felt like I put much effort into it. I know John had fun selecting books for our bookworm daughter Alissa, too.
I am going out on a limb here, but I think when we only had to concentrate on one gift, we all really put some thought and work into getting that perfect item. It was fun and it felt good to have downsized a bit.
I just wanted to document the gifts and the gift givers here:
As I said, John got Alissa an assortment of books by two of her favorite authors.

I bought Nathan his square glasses and some small bottles of booze. His PJ's didn't close properly thus the unusual placing of the gift.

Alissa got her sister this cute apron. I think it resembles something that a mom right out of the fifties would be wearing to prepare dinner.

Nathan bought Paul a T shirt which when purchased donates a portion of the cost to some project in Africa. I can't remember the particulars, but if you know Paul and his giving spirit, this gift was perfect for him.

Courtney bought her dad a new cooler on wheels and he couldn't be happier. I think the day that put the old Packer cooler over the edge was when Nathan and Paul had to haul that thing up three flight of stairs into a hotel. It was loaded with beer and it was heavy! We are not getting rid of the old one yet, too many memories tied up in that thing.

Paul got me some awesome gifts and I was so excited with the thought he put into his choices. He got me a Herman Hermits CD, some beautiful homemade earrings, and a very pretty homemade frame. I could tell he put some thought into these perfect gifts for his MIL.

So, to summarize, it was a great idea I had way back when to exchange names. We all agreed it will become an annual event.

Thanks to all of you for making it a fun event and for putting so much thought into the gifts.

Martinis, Tulips, and Memories

Last night John and I had dinner with my college roomate, Joan. We went to a restaurant called Tulips which serves Turkish cuisine. I wasn't sure what I would be ordering as I previewed the menu online earlier in the day, but decided to be brave (I am known for a picky palate) and ordered lamb shishkabobs. This decision did come after an Evil Eye martini which probably hampered my decision making skills a bit! Joan is Armenian and she grew up eating many of the ethnic dishes that were available at Tulips. We started with two appetizers and our martinis. We had sarma which is rice wrapped in grape leaves, (highly reccommended by Joan because she remembered it from her childhood) and some meatballs in a green pepper/tomato sauce. So far, so good especially the martinis, in case I haven't mentioned them yet.

Joan had lambchops, John had talapia and I had the shishkabobs. All was very yummy indeed. Our waitress was Russian with a cute accent. She never rushed us one bit, but let us take as much time as we wanted between ordering and then just sitting at the end. Very nice relaxing night.

We ended the night with a beer at Joan's. We also got to see her DVD from her trip to Morocco. It was so well done it could have been on the travel channel.

We look forward to our next visit sometime in March.
Just one funny note. Joan said she would love to bring her mom to this restaurant to have some of the good dishes, but she is afraid her often outspoken mom just might say, "You people killed my people!" (you know, the Turks who took over the Armenians)

Happy 31st Birthday to Alissa

Today my younger daughter celebrates her 31st Birthday! I want to take this opportunity to wish a very happy day spent with her husband, Nathan. Forgive me if I told this story last year on her birthday, but I am too lazy to check it out myself right now. At any rate, it is a good story and I love to relive her birth. Alissa was three weeks late but when she made her entry into the world, it was quick and easy. We arrived at the hospital and after only ten minutes she was born, delivered by a nurse because the snow storm made for a late arrival of our doctor. It always amazes me that there were no doctors in the hospital at that time of the day, at least that is what they told me when I said I had to push.
We had chosen the name Alissa just days before when we no longer cared for the name Noelle which I thought would forever remind me of how late she actually was. We expected a Christmas baby, but Alissa had her own agenda. To this day, Alissa pretty much has her own agenda and has always followed her own drummer or however that saying goes.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few pictures of my sweet Alissa from a long time ago.

Here is the first shot of her and her daddy. This is such a precious picture since in those old days before digital cameras, we didn't take many pictures. Alissa weighed 8 lbs. and had a full head of reddish hair.

And here is her proud mommy. I wish we had taken many, many more pictures that day, but I am thankful for these two. This is actually a clear picture but in scanning it, something seems to have gone wrong, but I think you get the picture.

Here is our little Alissa at 5 months. Just look at her beautiful hair!

And another one at 5 months.

She developed her love of television very early in life. She was just a bit shy of one when this picture was taken.

And, yes, she was a dancer and that is why she still does so well in a dance off especially with her brother in law, Paul.

First day of Kindergarten

And dressed as Pippy Longstocking for Halloween. I love the way we got her braids to stick out by putting hangers in them.

Oh, how I wish I could scan all the pictures I have of her growing up, but even these few took me a long enough time so I will leave you with these.

So, Happy Birthday, Alissa! You have always made us proud by the way you do follow your own drummer and do things the way you want to do them without any pressure from the outside world. I know the next chapter of your life, the one you are entering now, will be another exciting time and by your next birthday, I hope you will be celebrating in Bloomington!

Happy Birthday to John

I just wanted to take a moment to wish my awesome husband a very Happy Birthday!
John wears many hats in his life and here are just a few of my favorites:
Happy Birthday to the man who still looks every bit as appealing as the day I first met him, just a bit more silver.

Happy Birthday to the gentle giant grandpa who can enjoy an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony with the best of them even from these delicate cups.

Happy Birthday to the a terrific son who has always made his parents proud.

Happy Birthday to a man who is not afraid to fry the bacon as well as bring home the bacon. (Even if this frying caused some major grease stains and a few burns) The man fries a mean bacon.

Happy Birthday to the man who has such a comfortable chest. I know I have fallen asleep on it many, many times.

Happy Birthday to the man who does a lot of the heavy, hard work around our home. Shortly after this photo he used his muscle power to pull Tiz and I on the sled!

Happy Birthday who makes the trip easier for all of us.

Happy Birthday to the man that I still love to go out on "dates" with and toast our great life together.

Happy Birthday to the man who loves his country and the way it was run under great men like Raegan. A man who is not afraid to voice his strong conservative opinion.

So, Happy Birthday, John. I hope it is a very happy day and year for you!

Where Has All the Snow Gone?

As I was writing this title I was singing the words to the song, "Where have all the flowers gone?" In case you are too young to remember that song, let me fill you in. It was popular in my coffee house days (back when coffee houses weren't really a place to drink coffee, but more to smoke funny cigarettes, if you know what I mean) Anyway that was a war protest song probably sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Now back to my point. I was disappointed when our snow had all melted during the last warm spell. I am not a big fan of snow, but I do like to have some on the ground especially now that we are back in the deep freeze.
Today was my first day back to school after my Christmas break. I was happy to get back and see my little ones again. We did the best we could to bring some snow into the classroom even if there wasn't any real snow outside.
Here we are making snow angels. It is just as much fun to make them with or without snow. The kids even wanted me to pull them up so they wouldn't get footprints in their angels just like when you make them in the real snow. We also made snowballs out of stuffing. We had fun throwing the snowballs at one another. Hurts a lot less than real snowballs. The kids thought it was great to be able to take the snowballs home with them, too. I put out a box of winter things so the kids could dress up for pretend play out in the pretend snow. It was funny to see them in all the scarves, hats, and mittens.

Finally, we cut out snowflakes for our ceiling. Is there anything as much fun as cutting out snowflakes? Tiz and I cut out a bunch over Christmas break and they are still hanging from the living room ceiling swinging in the furnace air.

So even though I am missing the real snow outside, I know since it is only early January we will gets lots more snow and have lots more time to sled and play in the white stuff.

Come on snow, I am ready for you! Just don't overstay your welcome.

Packer Sunday in Wisconsin

You gotta love Packer Sundays in Wisconsin. I just got back from a shopping trip to Shopko, The Dollar Tree, and Family Market with mom-time to buy those goodie box items for John and Lis and I couldn't get over all the Packer gear. I think everyone including the store help had Packer clothes on. Yep, gotta love the Packer fans in Wisconsin.
Today is a big game and it is on as I type. This could be the last Sunday that we will watch the Packers this season if they lose to the Bears and all that Packer gear will have to packed away until next season. If they win, then we can wear it for at least a week longer. Then again, being that this is Wisconsin, most of us will wear our Packer gear right through winter, spring, summer, and back into next season, no need to pack it away!
Yep, you gotta love us Packer fans in Wisconsin!
Now, Go Pack!

Welcome 2011, Happy to See You

Well, it came and in just one small moment we went from 2010 into 2011. All that hoopla and here it is.
John and I had a very nice night last night bringing in the New Year in Oshkosh. We started with a mid afternoon trip to Penney's and to Hobby Lobby, found some necessities and non necessitees at both places. After that we stopped at Sonic for our first ever malt and float there. I had heard good things about Sonic and it was all good.
Our reservations for Vitale's were at 7:45 so we headed over there about 7:30 to enjoy a drink at the bar before dinner. We had the specials of tenderloin and shrimp for me and swordfish and shrimp for John. We were given complimentary desserts because of the wait which we didn't even think was all that long, so all in all a good deal for us.
After Vitale's we went over to Becket's where we got these handsome hats and horns. There was a blues band playing which was fine, but we could not make it there until midnight. We were full and couldn't drink anymore, so we headed back to the Van Auken B and B. We made reservations on St. George Island for our 35th anniversary in June and then in came 2011.
Check out time is pretty open at the B and B so we stayed until about 2:00 and then headed home.
Happy New Year 2011 everyone!