I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! We sure did! It was very busy but also joyous! I wish I could put into words how beautiful it is here. We have found that we can not decide which is our favorite season. The snows here are just stunning. It is especially gorgeous on our drive to Laborador Mountian, where we ski (about 25 minutes south of us). All the fields, hills and forests blanketed with sparkling snow makes me look forward to the drive. It reminds me of postcards. Isabella and Teddy started skiing in December and have gone every Sunday. She LOVES it and is asking to go starting on each Monday. She has gotten very comfortable on skis and is flying down the slopes. Teddy is a great teacher. My passes didn't start until the first Sunday in January. I wanted to wait, as December is very busy for me and I have been trying to heel from a groin injury in October. I just started back running the first week of January after a month off. Between that and skiing I am doing ok, but its still sore and I have to take it slow (I'm still at the walk/run stage). I am sure skiing isn't helping but as long as I am good, I'm going, its already paid for! So Mandi, I don't think I'll plan on the Shamrock Shuffle this year, but I am hoping to come see you this summer so we are definately on for a running date!Our third child, Daisy, had a very eventful December.
She managed to tear open her incision from being spayed. She had to go back to the vet to get staples and was ordered to have another week of no activity. I looked at the vet like he was crazy and asked if he could give me sedatives this time because keeping her quiet is impossible. He told me 25 mg of benedryl would do the trick. For the following week Daisy got losts of sleep and Isabella drove me crazy wanting to play with her. The staples held, and after having them removed and weighing in at 40lbs, Daisy happliy took off for a wild romp in the snow. She was 6 months old the day after Xmas and we can't believe how much she has grown. She still amazes us everyday with her intelligence. Her favorite activity is to steal socks, dirty or clean, and run as fast as she can through the house. Usually with someone chasing her. Now that we finally put a carpet in library Seamus can join her. Yes, he is still afraid of the hardwood floors. Until Daisy came I forgot what it is like to have a dog under foot in the kitchen. Seamus has never stepped foot in our kitchen or dining room. Poor boy! I think he needs counseling.I thought that since we decided not to go to St. Louis this year th
at our holiday would be pretty quiet. Boy, was I wrong! Isabella actually made it through the whole holiday season without so much as a cold. She even got to finally attend a school holiday party, which I helped with. We did the usual things, visiting with Santa, seeing Lights on the Lake, etc. On Xmas Eve we went to dinnner and then on to our neighbors', the McDevitt's, for some holiday cheer witht the neihborhood. Xmas morning we were invited to have brunch with our neighbor Isabelle and her family. We had a great time and great food, as always. Bella, Amelia and Luke had a lot of fun playing with the new goodies. When we got there we also got to share in some wonderful news. If you'll remember, a few postings back, in September, I think, I mentioned that our friend Gabriella and I had done some matchmaking but I would not mention the parties until the right time. Well, that time is now. Back in April, we introduced our neighbor, Isabelle, to a Bulgarian friend of ours, Lubo. The sparks flew and fireworks have been going off ever since. On Christmas Eve morning Lubo proposed and Isabelle accepted!! So Congrats to them and good job to Gabriella and my big mouth. We are thrilled they are so happy and hope that they find a lifetime of happiness together!
at our holiday would be pretty quiet. Boy, was I wrong! Isabella actually made it through the whole holiday season without so much as a cold. She even got to finally attend a school holiday party, which I helped with. We did the usual things, visiting with Santa, seeing Lights on the Lake, etc. On Xmas Eve we went to dinnner and then on to our neighbors', the McDevitt's, for some holiday cheer witht the neihborhood. Xmas morning we were invited to have brunch with our neighbor Isabelle and her family. We had a great time and great food, as always. Bella, Amelia and Luke had a lot of fun playing with the new goodies. When we got there we also got to share in some wonderful news. If you'll remember, a few postings back, in September, I think, I mentioned that our friend Gabriella and I had done some matchmaking but I would not mention the parties until the right time. Well, that time is now. Back in April, we introduced our neighbor, Isabelle, to a Bulgarian friend of ours, Lubo. The sparks flew and fireworks have been going off ever since. On Christmas Eve morning Lubo proposed and Isabelle accepted!! So Congrats to them and good job to Gabriella and my big mouth. We are thrilled they are so happy and hope that they find a lifetime of happiness together! 
After our brunch we went home to prepare our Xmas dinner. We had invited a fellow transplant from St. Louis, Jordan. Jordan was alone for the holdiays, working, as his wife, Molly, was in St. Louis attending 5 baby showers for their impending new addition. Isabella was very excited that Jordan was coming, as he is Jewish, and Bella had become obsessed with Hanukah. They had been learning about it in school. She told me one evening, that she would like us to celebrate Hanukah. I told her I really didn't know that much about Hanukah and we aren't Jewish. She said, "That's okay Mama, I can teach you all about it even though I'm not Jesus." I'm pretty sure she meant Jewish, but I was laughing so hard I thought I would have to pull the car over. Anyway, Bella couldn't wait to talk to Jordan about Hanukah and Jordan, being a good sport, promised to teach her the dreidel game. Dinner was great, we all had a good time and we all learned something new.I cannot forget to mention Isabella's favorite gift this year, Spike, the Ultra Dinosaur, from Grandpa. Spike is a 2 1/2 foot tall "camote" control (Bella language) dinosaur. He walks, roars, rears up, sneezes, yawns and sleeps. He can even pick up things in his mouth. Bella adores Spike, and cannot understand how Grandpa knew how much she wanted Spike. She didn't even tell us she wanted Spike, but her and Grandpa think alike. Daisy and Seamus are not to sure of this new pet.
On New Years Eve we were invited to Gabriella and Nick's. Isabella was going to experience her first full New Years Eve. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed seeing everyone. Gabriella had even put together a Newlywed like game for us to play and we all had a lot of laughs playing. Isabella lasted past midnight and even slept until ten the next morning! On January 5th Isabella's break was over and Mama's began. Right!!! At least I have peace and quiet again, a Mom never really gets a break. So we are back to the normal grind, happy to be starting a new year!
I know the news has pretty bleak these days with lots of talk of how awful 2008 was and a lot of people are finding themselves on hard times. After watching all the news I watch (believe me, its a lot) I found myself feeling a little stressed but after some reflection, I realized that we have so much to be thankful for and 2008 was pretty great for us. We are all heathly (and isn't that the most important thing), our family has luckliy not been hit hard by the ecomony (thanks to lots frugal planning and not living beyond our means), we have fully settled in to our life here and become Central New Yorkers (I'll always be a St. Louisan in my heart) and found we love living here and we have each other and so many wonderful friends and family in our lives. It doesn't get much bettter than this! Except that maybe on top of all this, Barack Obama will be President a week from today!!!! (I am doing my happy dance right now!) You didn't actually think I wasn't going to mention it, did you?! One week from today I will be celebrating once again, the year doesn't really start for me until then. So I will be back here next Wednesday. Enjoy the Inauguration! I will!
I know the news has pretty bleak these days with lots of talk of how awful 2008 was and a lot of people are finding themselves on hard times. After watching all the news I watch (believe me, its a lot) I found myself feeling a little stressed but after some reflection, I realized that we have so much to be thankful for and 2008 was pretty great for us. We are all heathly (and isn't that the most important thing), our family has luckliy not been hit hard by the ecomony (thanks to lots frugal planning and not living beyond our means), we have fully settled in to our life here and become Central New Yorkers (I'll always be a St. Louisan in my heart) and found we love living here and we have each other and so many wonderful friends and family in our lives. It doesn't get much bettter than this! Except that maybe on top of all this, Barack Obama will be President a week from today!!!! (I am doing my happy dance right now!) You didn't actually think I wasn't going to mention it, did you?! One week from today I will be celebrating once again, the year doesn't really start for me until then. So I will be back here next Wednesday. Enjoy the Inauguration! I will!
(Sorry for the lack of pics. We kept forgetting to take the camera with us. I promise more next month!)
7 days left of Bush in the White House!!!!
That's 168 hours left till Obama becomes President!!!
