Christmas 2010

 Mom after opening Evan's gift

Christmas 2010 has come and gone. Hard to believe that we're into 2011 already!  We had a very nice Christmas although it was different because my brother and sister-in-law were not with us. Unfortunately, Kate's dad passed away on Dec. 29th and they had gone down to Hilton Head on the 22nd to be with him in his final days. Jack and Sam stayed in Columbus so we had fun with them.  I couldn't imagine Christmas without my nephews!  I think the highlight of the day was playing Michael Jackson: The Experience on the Wii.  OMG.  Talk about fun. I've laughed so many times since then watching the videos.  Good times!  Oh and Mom surprised us with new masks.  Need I say more?



Christmas Eve

We went to the 5:30 Christmas Eve service tonight. It was a childrens service so it was a nice mix of the Christmas story and all my favorite carols. The time came for the candlelighting and the singing of  "Silent Night". I always get choked up and I tried my best to keep it together. After we were done singing, I looked over at Evan and he had tears streaming down his face and of course he's trying to wipe them away once I looked at him.  I said "honey, why are you crying?" and he shrugged his shoulder and said that he didn't know why-I could tell he was trying not to cry more. I told him that was okay and that it always makes me cry too. I asked him again in the car after he had composed himself and he said that it was just so peaceful and that the tears just came.  Oh my. I was blown away and of course had to hold back the tears yet again.  What a sweetheart he is. What a gift.

WHY???

Why do kids get sick at Christmastime? It's just not fair. Poor Evan woke up sick yesterday but was determined to go to school-he didn't want to miss Santa or his class party. I told him to go to the nurse if he just got to a point where he couldn't make it and I would come and get him. I tell him that every time he goes to school when he complains of not feeling well (unless he has a fever, he goes! Rosemary's rule). He's never been to the nurse's office until yesterday. I went to school for his party and his teacher told me he just got back from seeing the nurse. :-( Today he didn't leave the couch. I have a feeling we'll be going to The Little Clinic at Kroger in the morning. I just pray he's feeling better by next Saturday!

He listens, he listens!!

"It is important to nurture their children until they become mature because you want your kid to be responsible for everything and that is one step to be mature."

Evan wrote this at school. He actuallys hears what I'm saying once and awhile! Well, his version of what I say. :-)

A letter to Evan

Dear Evan,
We just came from your parent teacher conference at school and I am so very proud of you. Yes, I'm proud because of your good grades and your passion for learning but more than that, I'm proud of the young man that you've become. When I hear your teachers tell me that you are well-rounded, kind and loved by all your classmates, my heart swells with pride and my eyes fill with tears. What did I do to deserve you? There are many days that I struggle with being a parent and I feel as though I'm doing it all wrong but then a day like today happens and I realize that I must be doing something right, at least from time to time!

Lots of love,
Mom

So proud

Written by one of Evan's classmates. Click on the photo to read it. Click on it again to get it really big!

Halloween 2010

Halloween has come and gone. Evan starts talking about it in the summer (it used to be February) and it's all Halloween all the time until the morning of November 1st. Then the talk is Christmas. A little Thanksgiving talk but mostly Christmas. He wrote out his Christmas list today. Anyway, back to Halloween. His first idea for a costume was a zombie army guy. I said he needed to be something different because last year he was a zombie businessman. I wanted one more year of something fun and not gross!! Thankfully our trip to the Army Navy store convinced him (with some prompting from me AND a screening of part of Top Gun) that it would be cool to be a fighter pilot. I found the glasses at Wal-Mart and he borrowed Liz's dog tags from the Air Force. He looked at himself in the mirror and said, "yep, I'm hot".

Mike and I actually went to an adults only party on Saturday night. Can I say I was excited for it all week? My friends Keith and Alex have a huge garage w/a projection TV and they have a gathering every away OSU game. Lots of food and alcohol. My two new favorites-blueberry vodka w/blueberry and pomegranate juice AND Frosty shots. Chocolate pudding, whipped cream, Bailey's and vodka-frozen. OMG. I had one about 5 minutes into our arrival and the headache I had all day disappeared. So, I thought I better have a few more just to make sure the headache was gone. :-) You can't beat spending time with old friends.