2010 Outtakes

Memorable moments of 2010 included going to Szalay's in the summer for fresh fruit and corn

Baby working on his rocket for Boy Scouts

Baby shooting his first bee-bee gun at his first camping outing

Jack and his rocket-The boys both did their rockets all on their own and it showed!

My Jack-O-Lantern...his creation is the one on hte right. It even had stitches.

Mah~Mah and her carving skills were put to test in the pumpkin carving contest

Baby was done first and made one with fangs

My two Angels, literally, played on the same team again this year and did GRRR-EAT!

Baby graduated from Kindergarten. I went to Redeemer with his teacher, Mrs. Grulke

We visited the Lincoln exhibit at the GAR museum. Very informational and Fun!

Madison actually had a beautiful school picture...I will cherish this one!

No one can call him a Kindergarten Baby anymore, just Baby will do fine!

Jackson was chosen as QB for his football team. He scored several touchdowns on quarterback keepers. They only lost one game all season!

At school, they did a 50s themed program, Baby is dressed here lookin like the Fonze!

Jack got lots of awards at this year's Blue and Gold ceremony

I turned 32 and had a great evening out with friends at the Spaghetti Warehouse followed by the Barley House in downtown Akron. Several friends and I even took a rickshaw ride down Main St. It was a great night because of the great company!

Christmas Day at Jessa's

Delaney and the Hanger of the Moon shown above

Girls Rule and Boys Drool

Okay, not THIS boy! Apparently, he IS tiresome to Delaney, though.

Ma and Delaney

Delaney and Mommy

Christmas Snuggles

Technically, Charlie and I haven't exchanged gifts the last couple years, but who needs gifts when you have one of these?

The Breakfast of Champions!

After the wrapping paper was torn and ribbons strewn everywhere, Madison put her gift to use by making us Texas French Toast. It was d-lish-us!

Zoose the Moose on the Loose

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a gift for Zoose. He's been struggling a little in his old age, 6, so we got him some treats that were for hips and joints. He devoured six and passed out near the bag, guarding it.

So This is Christmas

The kids got snowman poop in their stockings...Baby was not very fond of this gift to say the least

Delaney and her loot

Delaney and her gift from Jackson

This is when I asked Daddy who the laptop was Really for...

Madison got Delaney her first jewelry...a reindeer ring!

We got Delaney the book, Tickle Monster, by Josie Bissett. It comes with tickling gloves! Growing up, I wish Shannon had tickling gloves. Perhaps I wouldn't have lost so much blood!

Even sleeping, the gloves appear to draw a smirk to Delaney's face. I can't wait to really try 'em out on her...and everyone!

Victoria's Secret Robe for Maddy

Shuffles for the boys with some songs already downloaded, like the Gummy Bear song and some Phineas and Ferb holiday songs.

We'll Know It's Santa By the Paper

Delaney: "OOOOOOH, I GOT ONE TOO!?!"

Baby: "YES! I knew it!"

Jackson: "Wait, ohhh, cool I forgot about that one!"

Madison: Chuckles to herself and looks slyly to me who is all smiles on the couch wrapped in my blankie.

Delaney: "That's it? Totally not what I expected AT ALL!"

Delaney is just like me. She opened her gift from Santa and immediately her bottom lip quivered and stuck out before she began to cry.

Charlie was thrilled to FINALLY get his Lego Police Headquarters that he fondly refers to as his cop lego set. He asked for this from Santa last year, but apparently the elves were slackers and didn't make enough. The plus side is that Santa got it for $30 cheaper this year. I hate how expensive these Lego sets are, but the boys love Legos. It is the only thing, besides the Wii, that they play with. And, Baby wants to be a cop. What kind of mom would I be if I didn't encourage his dreams. He would be such a good cop too. He is always whining about what is fair and what isn't.

Jackson asked for no less than 20 Star Wars Lego sets from Santa, so when he opened this one I think he forgot that he wanted it. He had his heart set on the Slave I, but Santa cut back this year only affording Jackson Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle. He was just as happy though. He had it put together in less than an hour after opening gifts. Jackson is very good at building and fixing things. He doesn't even need directions. He is able to just figure things out. He reminds me of dad a lot in that way. His dream job would be working at Lego one day, maybe I'll have an engineer!

Madison is our pancake maker around here. And this year she couldn't come up with one thing that she wanted from Santa or us, making it rather hard to shop for her. I won't make pancakes anymore because all of my pans are horrible. Madison will make them despite the pans, but complains the whole time, so Santa brought her a brand-spankin-new Paula Deen griddle and Giada non-stick spatula with a box of Hungry Jack pancake mix. Later Madison said, "I think this is more of a gift for you than me." I said, "Hey, Santa probably didn't know what to get you either. I love it, though."

PARENTAL ADVISORY: DO NOT LET SANTA-BELIEVING CHILDREN READ PAST THIS!

The rule is: Santa either wraps in the green paper with Santas on it or he doesn't wrap his gift at all. This rule is the one that let the cat out of the bag eventually for Madison. She found a roll of Santa's paper in the basement when I sent her looking for a gift bag one day. Weeks later she asked why I had the same paper as Santa. Believing ceased.

As a sidenote, Jackson noticed that his gift from Santa had a sticker on the bottom that said "Purchased at ToysRUs." He showed it to me days later with a smirk on his face. I said, "Maybe the elves ran out of that gift and he had to buy it before he came." He said, "Maybe Santa's a phony." He smiled and walked out of the room leaving me cracking up and trying to hide it as Baby stared me down with a look of intense thought. Needless to say, we may only have one believer in 2011 unless the boys get to her first!

No Reindeer Left Behind

Dear Santa,

Amidst the hustle and bustle, you seem to have forgotten something very important, and I think she goes by Vixen. Don't fret, I will take care of this precious cargo! Feel free to replace her, because I will never give her back. Find your own reindeer, I tell you!

Love,

Sparkle

O Holy Night

The mad-wrapping has ceased and the cookies and reindeer food are in place.

Now it is time to take it all in, my favorite moment of each year.

Christmas Eve has long been my favorite day of the year. As someone that enjoys wrapping gifts, curling ribbons, finding cute, unique gift tags, singing carols or listening to Christmas music, how could it not be my favorite day. The Candlelight Service is not only tradition, but it is my one gift to myself each year. I just really enjoy it. I love being in a room lit by candles where everyone is praising God and Jesus through song. It feels like He is in the room. Close.

I love that last minute preparation for something great, wonderful to come. I love running out to the car at 2am to retrieve an almost forgotten gift stashed in the trunk. While I'm out there, I always look up to the sky. Not for Santa, but still something magical. Never disappointing, there is always a stillness to the night that I can't explain, I can only take it in.

I love sitting in candlelight enjoying how beautiful the lights on the tree look and thinking about past Christmases and even future ones. For the past 10 years, Larry has been a part of this special moment. I like to think about him and where he is, and even go so far as to picture him still here with us enjoying this blessed time of year with Alyssa.

Proof Positive

Each and every year the kids argue about whose turn it is to put the angel on top of the tree, so the last few years I have been keeping record through pictures. This is proof that 2010 was Madison's turn despite all the whining in the world from Baby, no not Delaney, but Charlie.
It's a little fuzzy because I couldn't stop laughing, not only from the sight before my eyes, but also out of nervousness from both of their reactions. This is also proof of why Charlie has a bad back, hoisting 13-year-olds on his shoulders can't help! Madison was scared to death that she was gonna fall off backwards and Charlie was cracking up and instigating by acting like he couldn't hold her anymore. Getting off his shoulders proved to be quite the challenge. I was laughing so hard that unfortunately I didn't manage to grab a picture, and I was busy protecting Delaney in case she did fall off his shoulders.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at dad's this year. He and Dani made a wonderful meal of ham and scalloped potatoes. Grandma brought delicious baked beans and fudge and I brought Green Bean Casserole and cookies: Buckeyes, Peanut Butter Blossoms and Snickerdoodles to be exact. The cookies were a big hit! I have to give a shout out to mom for the buckeye and blossom recipe and Shannon for the Snickerdoodle recipe. (P.S. Jackson's favorite cookie is Shannon's Snickerdoodle and that's saying A LOT cause that boy is PIIIIIICKY!)

Most of the cousins were there and Charlie managed to capture a picture of Pearl holding Delaney with her family. The kids really enjoyed playing with her kids, Claire and Owen. Claire kept trying to hug Baby (Charlie) and it was hilarious. He's not the affectionate type!

Overall, we had a great time visiting with family that we rarely see and enjoyed watching all of our kids play together and form little relationships.

After dad's we headed to the Pratt's. We were planning on going to the Candlelight Service at Redeemer at 10pm, but were enjoying spending time with everyone so much that we decided to skip it this year, which was a hard decision for me to make. However, Dr. Pratt read from scripture about Jesus' birth and talked about how Christmas is supposed to be spent in fellowship, not routines and rituals although they make the holiday feel special to us too. So we decided to stick around and enjoy the fellowship. The kids had a really great time with Amy's kids and Josiah.

Tit for Tat

I can't show meeting one great-grandparent without showing the other, so here is Delaney meeting her great-grandpa Bill for the first time on Christmas Eve. She is sporting a reindeer outfit that I picked up from a yard sale in the summer for 75 cents from one of Louie and Maran's neighbors...thanks for the tip!

Have Baby, Will Travel

We all loaded up to go and visit Delaney's great-grandma, Delores. We had a wonderful visit with her, Carolyn, and Brandy, grandma's new dog. Brandy wasn't too keen on sharing grandma, but we had lots of hands to occupy her with petting. I was even sent on my way with a partial chapter of a book grandma is working on. It left me definitely wanting more, the sign of a great book!

It's Official: Baby is 7!

That's weird?!? It's another DQ ice cream cake!

Make a Wish!

Well, Mackenzie was the only one to show up for the cake, so I was stoked I didn't have to share. However, Baby was a little upset that more people came around for Madison's cake-slicing. A lot of people were sick and I didn't formally invite anyone as it wasn't really a party. In reality, I think he was just upset because Bubba wasn't able to come, though. For some reason, Charlie must think Brandon hangs the moon. He's a lot like mom in that regard. LOL!

We got Baby the newest version of Carnival Games for the Wii and he was thrilled. We also got him a caterpillar Webkinz because his old one was about to expire. In fact, the night before his birthday, he instructed us after prayers to put his gifts out on the counter so that he could open them in the morning, just in case we weren't up yet. Good thing we did, because he was up at the butt-crack of dawn opening them. For those that barely even know me, you know I wouldn't be caught up at that hour, maybe just getting to bed, but certainly not getting up!

Baby also became a big brother, and that is a gift in itself. He loves babies, and especially loves his baby sister. I think, well, he told me that I should stop calling him Baby now that he isn't the Baby. I can't. He is my Baby. My Baby boy. He hates that argument. He was sure he was getting a promotion. No such luck.

Baby you're the craziest kid I have. You are nuts. You have endless energy. You are so very dramatic in your highs and in your lows. You can pout like the best of them, and whine even better. You are beautiful, with gorgeous eyelashes any woman would die for, not to mention the baby blues behind them. You are very athletic. You are also an adorable reader. I love listening to you read to me. You also pronounce "Charles" and "Carl" in the most absolutely hilarious way, and I hope you never change that. Besides all of this, you are the most openly polite child I have. You don't need reminded to be polite, you do it all on your own, even to me you are polite, it's not just for show. When I ask if you want something, you casually say, "No, thank you." Your most redeeming trait is that you are very loving to me. I can forget and forgive anything when you talk sweet to me. Baby, I love you!

I hope you have the most fantastic day, but also year, in every way!