'Twas The Day After Christmas...

...and all through the house, presents were scattered, oh what a mess. It was the day after excitement, smiles, and meltdowns.....

Well, even though I'd been getting ready for Christmas since September, it still manages to sneak up on you. All the months of hype, buying, preparing, decorating, and then it's done. We did have a very nice Christmas this year though. I of course had to work, so didn't get to see the excitement on my kids faces when they first saw that tree Christmas morning, all full of presents. When I got home though, there was a definite level of excitement, because in my house, we have to wait for Mommy to come home to open presents, and for a two and four year old, staring at presents for 4hrs, and not being able to open them, takes a lot of self control.

Christmas Eve we spent the evening with my family. My sister Nikki got engaged, so that was exciting news! We went to church (our once a year), exchanged gifts, and got Chinese food for dinner. Too bad I have to work this weekend, my sister is only in town for a couple days, and I hardly got to spend any time with her.

We spent Christmas dinner at my Mimi's house. After dinner and presents, the kids got a surprise from a very special guest....yup, Santa made a surprise trip back to Mimi's house to visit the kids. Ryder, who had wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa previously, was jumping with excitement. He gave Santa a big hug, and even let him hold him. The funniest part though, was when Santa gave Ryder a present with Santa wrapping paper, Ryder proceeded to point at the wrapping paper, them point at Santa excitedly saying "YOU, YOU!" The problem was that Ryder was forced to skip his nap, and boy did that come back to bite us in the end. After we got home, we opened a few presents, watched A Christmas Story for the last time, and then when we wanted to get Ryder's jammies on, the meltdown began. WOW, is all I can say. That little boy fought me and Jay so hard, I don't think I could have gotten his jammies on alone, nope, I would have probably lost the battle. Then he freaked out on the floor for several minutes before I attempted to put him in bed. He freaked out, threw a huge fit, yah, great was to end Christmas day. Hopefully he'll wake up this morning all refreshed...(please). I spent hours last night opening packages, cutting clips and twisties off presents, and now I am faced with a pile of new toys, that don't fit into my organizational scheme.

Tonight is the last day of our "three days of Christmas". We are going to my Dad's for dinner and gifts. Then it is all done...till next year. Christmas is such a wonderful time of year (despite the cold). While we make fond new joyus memories, it's makes you reflect on past Christmas memories, and though they are happy ones, it makes me think of how Dad would have loved to be a part of our celebration this year, I mean gee, he even looked like Santa, and had the holly jolly personality to go with it. Well, before I get all emotional...

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

YIKES!!

Well Christmas is fast approaching. There is so much snow on the ground, we have no choice but to have a White Christmas. I told Sage that tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and her response was, "Yikes!...I better start trying REALLY hard to be good!".

Our "three days of Christmas" starts tomorrow, I'm excited!

Let it Snow!

Well today was our first snow storm of the season, (though Winter has not officially began yet). Sage's school was closed, along with every school in the area. So we stayed in, baked cookies, and stayed warm by the fire. Sage did insist in going out in the snow to make snow angels (Ryder and I stayed inside). The kids sure do love the snow. I would too, but it's just so darn cold! I think the weather said we got 8", not bad for one day.Our Christmas party was last weekend. It all went well despite sickness that refused to go away. Poor Ryder was sick for over a week, and Sage couldn't even keep down water and missed a couple days of school. The kids were all better by the party though, and it was a real fun time. I had all my 11 kinds of cookies done, and made my assortment of pizzas. I did though have to work the next day, and despite getting 3hrs of sleep, I functioned quite well.


The kids have been good. Ryder has been my shopping buddy. I've been Christmas shopping while Sage is at school, and that means Ryder has been my sidekick. Sage has been busy making snowflake ornaments for all her friends and teachers at school. She finally finished them all, and was planning on bringing them in today, but I guess that will have to wait until Monday. Yesterday for snack she brought in reindeer cookies. She was so proud of them. Last week she went to a Senior Home and sang with her class to the seniors. It was SO cute, and of course I forgot my camera...(argh).

Well, the countdown to Christmas has began, less than a week....yeah!

'Tis The Season

Well, the tree is up, the presents are bought, the cards are sent, and the cookies are almost done being baked. As much as I hate the cold weather, I do enjoy Christmas. Now that I have kids, Christmas has regained some of the magic that it lost as I grew up. Ryder loves the tree, and wants it lit all the time. (even though there is a lack of ornaments on the tree because of him). Sage is still figuring out the whole "Santa" thing, she understands most of it. Ryder is still clueless, he saw a Santa Claus decoration and proceeded to call it a "Monster". The kids went to see Santa and his raindeer the other day with Jay (I had to work). Sage had been practicing what to tell him, and decided to tell him "Dolls". He asked if there was anything else, which caught her offguard, so he told her he'd bring her suprises, which she is thrilled about. Ryder refused to let Santa (Monster) touch him. He did love the Raindeer (Doggies, as he called them).

It's wonderful to see Christmas through my children's eyes, you can't help but get that warm fuzzy feeling that brings a smile to your face.

Arghh...snow

Well it was bound to happen, we do live in Buffalo, yup, the first real snow fall. Sage was super excited to see it...I mean absolutely giddy with joy, she wanted to go play in it first thing this morning (though she didn't). I had to work, so I was not to thrilled about getting out of my warm bed to be greeted by several inches of snow. Oh well, at least when I'm home I can stand in front of my fire and keep warm.

At least snow does put me in the Christmas Spirit. We put up the tree today, and the outside lights are going up soon. I know it's early, but Christmas is such a warm fuzzy time of year (even if it's cold), that I figure we should make it last as long as possible.

Oh, and though seeing the snow today was not something I was thrilled about, I was super excited to get our new TV hooked up! I'm so excited that I can see it from the kitchen while I'm at the stove...(yeah!)...just hope I don't burn anything. Sage also got a TV in her room upstairs, (I never had a TV in my room growing up, though I would have loved one.). She's so excited to watch her shows in her own room. I'm hoping it will make her actually want to spend time in her room (without me)...we'll see.

Trick or TREAT!

Ahh, another Halloween has come and gone. It's great to see the kids really get into it this year. Sage was a Fairy Princess, and Ryder was a Pirate. They were both so darn cute. Sage had her school party this morning. Her class went to Badding Brothers Farm. It was a lot of fun, even though Ryder refused to wear his costume. The kids took their first hay rides and got to see a big fluffy bunny. The weather was SO beautiful! Though naptime was a bust (probably do to the amount of candy consumed), we had a fun time trick or treating. Ryder actually wore his costume, and very quickly learned the concept of "trick-or-treating". He started off just saying "candy" at the houses, but midway through he caught on to the "trick-or-treat", and had a lot of fun yelling it. Sage wasted no time going from house to house, she was determined. Too bad our neighborhood has so many older people in it, more than half of the houses had no lights on, oh well, what ya gonna do. Of course now I have to go and hide the candy...lol.
Oh, and yes, I carved those beauties myself. My first time. (I'm sure you can guess which pumpkin belongs to which child)

Fall has arrived

Well even though it's been official for a bit now, it seems summer is officially over. After a few weeks of 70+ degrees, the cold has hit. I broke out the coats, and switched over the kids dresser. I think my least favorite part about fall is that it's not cold enough to justify a fire, so I am left cold, drinking my cocoa under blankets.

Sage is quite excited at the aspect of "leaf jumping", but without our tree in front I am hoping there will be no leaves to rake...(hoping).

Guess it's time to get baking, and warm myself up.......brrr..........

simple pleasures

As we bid a farewell to the season for Dairy Queen, I am reminded of the simple pleasures of life.

It's amazing how a simple slice of pumpkin pie, or a few rainbow sprinkles, can bring the biggest smiles, unmatched excitement, pure joy.
One of my favorite things about being a Mom is seeing life through my children's eyes. I love the innocence that they bring. In their eyes, there are no limits, life is just a world of possibilities.

Moving Forward

So, after the drama of getting my truck stolen last week, I was happy to have a smooth, easy-going week. I'd much rather have "nothing new", than stupid crap to deal with. I must say, I am most upset about losing my trust in people's good nature. Oh well, life is what it is....

"There is no future in spending the present worrying about the past."

So, Sage's theme in school has been transportation this month. She was so excited that a school bus came to her school. She got to go on it, and took a little ride. It's amazing how a simple thing like getting to see a school bus can make her day. She is even more anxious to be 5yrs old now. To top off her week she got to see a fireman and a firetruck today. She has a few days off for "fall break" coming up, she's going to be going through "school withdrawal".

I got to pick up her school pictures. I could pick which pose I liked the best, so I got a bunch, oh well, she's only little once.

"I'm good at Y's on Saturdays"

God only knows what that means, but that is a pure and true Sage Quote. She told this to me while we were practicing writing the alphabet. Mind you, it's not Saturday, and when I told her it wasn't Saturday, she didn't care, and stuck to what she said.

Anyway....Just thought I'd update how we are doing here with school and all. Last week she had school pictures. Gee, talk about a "Mom moment", I couldn't stop fussing with her hair, I wanted it to be perfect. I get to see the pictures next week...YEAH! I dressed her in such a cute outfit...something I would wear...flower hair clips...too cute.

She is doing pretty good in school. She loves doing all the art projects. She got to bring in the snack yesterday. She picked out ABC pretzels and strawberry lemonade. She was SO excited that she was going to be the one to raise her hand when they asked "who brought the snack today?" and say, "I did!".

I decided to send her on Thursdays as well. When I originally signed up for the class I was under the impression that all her classmates were also going 3days a week (M,W,F). Well it comes to find out, she is in with kids that all go 5days a week. So she is the only one in her class that missed out on those other 2 days. I felt that she was really missing out socially, being the "odd one out", and she was missing out on info and projects. So I talked to the teacher and Sage is now going to school on Thursdays too (too bad it costs more). She is very excited about going to school an "extra day". For me though, that means every day I don't have work, I have to drive to PreK. Oh well, it's for her, and that makes it all worthwhile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYDER!!!

As crazy as it is, Ryder is officially two. I say "officially" because he has been thinking he was two for the last six months. The day started off pretty rough, Ryder woke up MISERABLE. He was glued to me all morning crying. He cheered up a bit at the prospect of cake when I mentioned it as we took Sage to school. Sage insists it is not a Birthday without cake, so we had to make a cake, chocolate with chocolate frosting was Sage's pick for him. After nap time we iced the cake, and the kids enjoyed adding the sprinkles. Even though Jay had some late work to do, Sage was persistent that we have a "party". She put on her pink party dress, and sang to him. They blew out the candles...several times. I think Ryder was more excited about the candles than anything else. Tomorrow we are going to dinner (with Jay), and continuing the celebration. Two years seems like such a short amount of time in the whole of things, but at the same time, I couldn't imagine life without him, without his smile, and his happy, carefree, giggly take on everything...(if that made sense).

They do grow up so fast...childhood is just a blink of an eye if you look at the whole picture.

Pink Ballerina

Sage had her first dance class today! She has been so excited since I asked her if it was something she would like to do...and of course she said YES. She is in a ballet/tap class for 3-5yr olds. She is so excited to be a "pink ballerina" (as she puts it). Too bad I couldn't watch her, but she said she had a lot of fun, and learned to do "rain and thunder" with her tap shoes, and how to "stomp". Ryder of course was lost without her...again...he kept pointing to the door of the room she was in saying "Sagey". I got Sage candy corn while she was at class, it was her special request. She looked so cute in her little sweatsuit...all grown up. Who knows, maybe dance will be something she really enjoys, and is good at, we'll see. For the time being though, all I know is that she looks SUPER CUTE!

"School sure was fun!"

Hard to believe my little girl is in preschool! For over a year now she was been asking if she could go to school, and finally the day came where she could! She got to meet her teachers the other day at the "open house", and she was so excited just to do go and do that. At the open house she got to paint a picture, and that just made her day, painting was the number one thing she was looking forward to in preschool, and she found out that she can paint every day! I was so proud of her, she was not scared at all about me leaving her, and she had been practicing introducing herself. She wore her Hello Kitty shirt, and had her Hello Kitty backpack, and a smile on her face from ear to ear. Ryder was a little confused though. When we left the school without her, he kept saying "Sagey?", and when I put him in his car seat, he pointed to her seat and said, "Sagey, sit?!" He asked for her at every store we went to...it was pretty cute. She was all proud and happy when I picked her up, like she was a old pro at this "school thing". She brought Pink (her Webkinz pony) to Show and Tell, and painted a "hand print friendship tree" I asked her to tell me all about everything she did...and her response was, "I can not tell you e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g ." She did tell me that she had fun, and that she was not shy, and that she talked and played, and had pretzels as a snack. She is exhausted though, and wanted to lay down for her nap because she said she is "very tired". She's growing up, nothing I can do about that, but I'm proud of the little person she is becoming, and I know she is going to make lots of friends.

Enjoying Summer's End

I can't believe August is almost over. It feels like summer never really began, so it shouldn't be able to end so soon. I think this was the most rainy summer I've ever experienced, funny because last summer we had record breaking rain-less days. Well, we've been taking advantage of what we can. We've gone on some bike rides, jumped on the trampoline, ran down hills, and swam a bit. Hopefully next year when we get our pool we will have a sunnier summer.

The Price of Naptime

So, I've come to realize, you CAN put a price on naptime, and apparently it's over $1000!

Sage starts Preschool in a couple weeks (crazy). I found out, after the fact, that our school district started UPK (which is free 5-day preK). I got on the waiting list, and found out I would be able to get in after all, but only for the afternoon session which runs 1pm-3:30pm. So, I was faced with a awful choice because that time frame falls into naptime. Ryder goes down great for his naps, but only when he's tired. This preschool time would also mean Sage wouldn't take naps M-F, and Sage, without a nap, is a awful thing. She didn't take naps for about a year, and I thought her crankiness and moodiness was just her being a girl. It wasn't until I re-introduced naptime that I realized she was just tired. So, she has been taking naps, everyday, for about 6months now. Well...I decided the stress of dealing with all that isn't worth it. As much as I would LOVE to take advantage of FREE PreK....it's not worth it.

Wet Children

I'm so done with this rain!!! My yard is a swamp, my deck is a big puddle, hardly got to use my trampoline, thunder and hail keeps waking up the kids. I'm sick of telling them they can't play outside, so they are outside now, in the wetness...ahhh...what are you going to do. I guess the up side is that I've hardly had to run the A/C...lol. Jay actually turned on the heat last week (it's off now) I refuse to run the furnace in August. CRAZY. At least there is Dairy Queen to make my summer delicious. The best summer dinner in my book....breadsticks and ice cream. I guess, as far as the weather goes, there's always next summer.

7 Lucky Years

It's my ANNIVERSARY!!!!!

Wow, how time flies!....7yrs!!! I spent some time looking at some old pictures today, they made me laugh and cry. Thinking about the past, the memories we shared. I figured I'd write a little bit about how me and Jay met. It was 1997 (I was 17) and we met through a mutual male friend. I was dating someone at the time, and the mutual friend was both a friend of my boyfriend, and of Jay...though my boyfriend and Jay did not know each other. (did that make sense?). Anywho, I ended up leaving my boyfriend at the time for Jay. Me and Jay were together only 6weeks before I had to leave to be an exchange student in Brazil. It was really hard doing the long distance thing, and even harder to keep our relationship going when I came back 6months later. Our love got us through the tough times and we got engaged on Valentines day of 1999. He proposed to me in the car (it was Feb.) at Glen Falls. We got married 8-11-01, and have lived happily ever after....kinda.... The last 7yrs have had a lot of great moments, of course the birth of our kids being the best moments. There have also been some really hard times, like the death of Jay's Dad. I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it. Even though he wasn't my own Dad, he was as close as they come, and loved me like a daughter, I miss him every day, and it kills me that my kids never got to meet him. On a up note, in the last 7yrs we've bought a house together, and made a happy life together. It's crazy that we've known each other for over 10yrs...but a good crazy.

Here's to 7+ more years of great times together! (and yes, those are flamed champagne glasses)

Puppy Love

What is better than one puppy????....TWO!

They are SOO adorable!

Lucy (the black one) now has a brother named Lucky. Grampa stopped over today and surprised us with a puppy visit. Ryder was in his glory! He was oh so excited, kept laughing and yelling "doggie".

Sage didn't want much of anything to do with them, little dogs kinda freak her out. Which I don't quite understand, because who doesn't love a puppy?