25 Random Things

A friend tagged me with this and I thought it was fun, so I'm adding it as a blog entry. Truth is I didn't think I had 25 things to share, but low and behold.

1. I am crafty---cross-stitching, quilting, knitting, scrapbooking, (soon to crochet).
2. I am a die hard Redskins fan...even when they are losing. I have clothes and everything.
3. I am very opinionated about Politics/Religion/Spirituality...I just don't share it with many people.
4. My dad died when I was 21 and I miss him very much. My son has his eyes.
5. I love all things sweet, but I hold a special place for COTTON CANDY!
6. Becoming a teacher was one of the best decisions of my life. Teaching and I are well suited and I enjoyed it everyday.
7. My first hero was my grandfather. When we would sit together and read the comics he could read what Woodstock said in "Peanuts." I thought it was amazing and he told me it was the special line in his glasses.
8. I remember the day I learned to read. It was Richard Scarry's Biggest Word Book Ever.
9. I used to live in Las Vegas, NV. I loved it there.
10. I have never loved anything the way I love my son.
11. My husband is a beautiful man and most days I'm not sure why he picked me, but yeah me.
12. I can sign although not as well as I used to.
13. I have more craft projects then I have years left to live.
14. I am secretly a goth chick who digs vampires.
15. I have played the clarinet for 26 years.
16. I am an oil painter, but not a terribly good one. My mother is much better.
17. One of my favorite presents was the year, my husband agreed to be my gopher and I got to sit all day and cross-stitch while watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Needless to say that was before Noah.
18. I spent my 30th birthday at the zoo.
19. When I was able to bring my son home from the hospital, he weighted 4lbs 7oz. I held him for 3 days straight because I was afraid he wouldn't know who I was.
20. I graduated from Longwood University and met two of my best friends there.
21. When I was 2, I beat up the little boy next door for taking my big wheel.
22. I play with the Loudoun Symphonic Winds.
23. One of my favorite things to do is get up early in the morning, grab McDonald's and go have breakfast in the park. My dad and I used to do it all the time.
24. I love photography and wish I were a better photographer.
25. My idea of heaven is an endless array of great food, books to read everywhere, craft projects to do and nothing but time.

2009

Wow has life been busy. I realized this morning that it has been a month since I blogged last and Christmas is now behind us. We had a lovely Christmas this year. Everyone managed to get things that they really appreciated. I made the Grandmothers coffee table books of Noah, which I was rather pleased with in the end. My mother is hinting at a future yearly library and would like a calendar. I got a new lens for my camera and a tripod to properly test out my newly developing skills. This should help with my overall interest in taking nature shots. What can I say I like bug pictures. Stephen was upgraded to the lastest IPOD has to offer. He is becoming our main Mac guy. And Noah....."is gonna be a rock star." (thank you Nickelback :)

Noah is now full equipped with a piano, drums, guitar, and a harmonica. I think he might be a little into this music thing. The guitar and drums ranked as his favorite gifts by far.

Right after Christmas we left for Houston to visit Stephen's family. It was probably one of the most relaxing visits we have had there in a long time. Last year we spent our visit in the hospital. The weather was a fabulous 65-70 degrees and we enjoyed every second of it. Especially at the park with that is next to my Mother-in-law's house. It was a fabulous park with ducks and a soccer field. The kids has a wonderful time.

This dog was even nice enough to let me play with my camera lens and see what it could do.



I also managed to finish up the last of my dishcloths and I finished the book Twilight. I have talked to several people who did not care for the book, but honestly I can't put them down. I have been this excited over a book, since Harry Potter. I even dragged Stephen out with me to see the movie. It made for a great end of vacation date.

Ah, so the Christmas fun is over and the New Year has begun. This year is the "Year of the Purge" for us. So wish us good luck as we more that get rid of the unwanted in all aspects of our lives. I'm starting in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving and a Christmas Parade

I'm amazed at how much work goes into one meal. I love cooking Thanksgiving, but any way you slice it, it is a lot of cooking. We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving with my mom. We tried a new sweet potato recipe that Stephen enjoyed. Sadly for Stephen, I try a new recipe every year in an attempt to reach sweet potato perfection. The problem is that I really don't like sweet potatoes, but both my guys love them. Noah has also discovered cranberry sauce. My big secret....I like the kind out of the can. I open it and think of that dog cartoon, where he watches the dog food slide out of the can and wiggle (still can shaped) in his bowl with a look of complete dejection. I, on the other hand, love cranberry sauce that way. Noah is my first convert. :)

We also started the tradition of going to Bull Run Park to see the Festival of Lights. Noah tradition has become sleeping through the Festival of Lights. This was his second sleep in a row. Maybe next year.

On Saturday, we went to the annual Leesburg holiday parade. It was fun to watch and see the bands perform. Secretly in our heart of hearts, Stephen and I would love for Noah to join the band. It was very cold and by the end, Noah had had enough of the cold and made it known to all that this cold thing stunk. Next year, Mommy and Daddy are driving closer to the parade route, so we don't have to walk in the cold. Overall, we had a good time and Noah got a cool Frosty the Snowman Light to wave around.

Picture with Santa

This year we decided to try the picture with Santa. Last year, Noah didn't really get the Christmas thing, but this year he is much more interested. However, sitting on Santa's lap was pushing it according to him. So to get our photo, Daddy lent a hand or rather a lap. I thought the picture was quite cute. My boys are very photogenic. Sadly Mommy is not so much and I wasn't dressed for picture taking. We even got a haircut before hand and Noah enjoyed his first lollypop. He has a new favorite now. I was impressed; Noah will sit at the hairdressers all by himself. Way to go kiddo!!

Busy Bees...

I am endlessly amazed at how busy this time of year gets. I thought staying home would provide a little more time, but not really. I love the baking and decorated that comes with Christmas. I am looking forward to showing Noah about Santa. In order to get prepared I built a series of cubbies for Noah's toys and then broke out the label maker - one of the world's greatest invention. It really doesn't do much for Noah, but it does wonders for me and now Daddy has a fighting shot at getting the toys in the right spots.

Noah has become quite the accessorizer. Check out Daddy's headphones and one of the medicine spoons that come in first aid kits.



By naptime, he had moved on to new headwear. It is important to keep your head warm when you sleep incase your room has a freak blizzard.


The one shot I have trouble getting is of Noah in Stephen's cowboy hat. This is the closest I get. When I try to get it from the front, he takes off the hat. I'll get it one of these days.

Long Time

It feels like a long time, since I have had a chance to write. I love this time of year, but no matter what is going on there is always a lot to do. I have been working on various Christmas presents and hoping the receivers like them. I have planned the menus and am getting ready to work on baking the cookies. I found the greatest cookie pan that I think will help make sugar cookies and gingerbread a little faster. I love decorating these cookies, but I hate rolling them out.

We recently had Henry come to spend the day with us while his daycare was closed. The boys were very fun together and Noah enjoyed playing with Henry as long as he didn't sit on Mommy's lap. He is a little possessive over his mommy. Henry and I still snuggled anyway. The boys especially enjoyed playing with Noah's water table.


Henry thought this was fun until he discovered the frog under the table and went to investigate.



Noah has been really cooperative while taking pictures. I've been experimenting with pictures and light. These are some I really like.

Halloween

Although this wasn't Noah's first Halloween, he was definitely more into it this year. Since this is the only year, I will get to dress him up in the costume of my choosing (next year he will have an opinion) I went with the Bee costume.

It is hard to get him still these days and most of my pictures are of him running in one direction or another. We did manage to get him in the stoller and down to the parade grounds. He can be bribed with apples, so that is our handy trick.

The parade this year was a little disappointing, since it is usually a lot longer with more of the high school bands (Being a former band geek, I like that part). It turns out the because Halloween was on a Friday most of the bands had football commitments. Noah overall enjoyed the parade and by the time we got home he was ready to crash. He has just figured out what the candy deal is.

We met up with Noah's friend, Henry. (I love this picture. It looks like Henry is getting a tiger hug.) Both boys seemed to enjoy getting out of the strollers and checking out their surroundings to paying attention to the parade. So we had a tiger and bumblebee.

Now to see if Noah remembers what Halloween is all about next year. He has definitely learned that good stuff comes from the plastic pumpkin.