Friday Fill Ins

1. Last night we stayed in at Tim & Tiff’s and watched the ball drop, and laughed hysterically at some of the performances and their choice of clothing.
2. I am looking forward to a year based upon the importance of family this year.
3. The funniest thing we saw this week was Reid’s little chant and dance with his Mickey and Minnie plush.
4. It’s a new year, with a fresh start...so where do we go from here?
5. He (Rod) said "I could sit and watch sports all day"; she (Jess) said "why is this crap on tv 24/7?".
6. Ugh! There is a missing pacifier in Tim & Tiff’s house and it's up to us to find it.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to absolutely nothing since we are leaving, tomorrow my plans include sitting in a car for at least 16 hours and Sunday, I want to get things cleaned up and back in order at home!

Christmas Catch-Up

I haven’t posted very much about Christmas. And believe me, I had good intentions, but the times just slips away so quickly and I guess good intentions don’t mean squat if you don’t follow through.

Thanksgiving weekend finished up most of my Christmas shopping. Another whirlwind Black Friday trip with Lindsey and I was pretty much set. Or so I thought. Of course there were the last minute things and two “Oh my goodness I forgot to buy so and so gifts.”

I volunteered at Gauge’s Christmas party (well, not really volunteered, I am the room mother) and the party went great. Although we didn’t have as much time to get everything ready, I have an awesome bunch of moms in the class this year that were so willing to help. I decided that instead of treat bags, I was going to get each of the kids their own hot chocolate mug with their names on them. We filled them with hot chocolate packages, mini Christmas marshmallows, and a candy cane. The mugs were such a hit! I think the best part of the party was when the kids who sat at Gauge’s table asked me if we really had an elf that lived in our house. I told them there was and the story of how he flies to the North Pole each night to report to Santa and how you can’t touch him or he will lose his magic. As I was talking, their eyes kept getting bigger and bigger. When I was finished, they look at Gauge and said , “You WERE telling the truth!” I seriously could have cried at that moment. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that the kids at this age just didn’t believe anymore. I was completely prepared for it and completely bummed every time I thought about it, but I was proved wrong over and over. Oh, and as a side note, I have to say that when I overheard one of the little girls at Gauge’s table say “Gauge, your mom is so pretty”, it made my day. How sweet kids can be.

My camera has died…at Christmastime. Yes, my canon rebel has died. It still once in a while will give me a photo or two, but for the most part, it’s a gonner. I am so upset to even think about it right now, it makes my stomach turn. I mean, sure, I would love a new fancy camera, but I LOVE that camera. I know just how to use it and what setting I love and well, I just love it. Maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t now, Christmastime. I take usually over 1,000 photos in a normal December, and this year, is our year to spend the week after Christmas in Florida with Rod’s family and go to Disney World, so that adds about another 1,000 photos to the total. So I got out the old Olympus camera and Alyssa’s little pink point and shoot camera, juiced up the batteries (AA batteries, which I totally forgot belong in a camera), crossed my fingers, and went along my merry way. I did get several shots at Christmas on my Canon, and a few in Florida, but then that was about it. So thank goodness for Tim and his Olympus camera that he has. We took it to the zoo and got some really good shots and it has a great zoom and took his cameras along to Disney World, too. So I was quite pleased. What a great brother in law I have. This isn’t the first time he’s bailed me out in my photography endeavors. After all, it’s not the quality of the photo, it’s the memory, caught forever, on whatever camera happens to snap the photo. I keep telling myself that, and as I type it, it makes me think of all those photos I have from when I was little, taken on 35mm (and I’m not going back any farther than that in a film timeline because it will just make me look too old, ha ha) crappy film. Those are some of my favorite photos. So there, discussion with myself…OVER. I will worry about the camera when we get back to reality.

Gauge wrote, rewrote, and finalized his Christmas list. The rule in our house is 10 items on the list (this year, I think he snuck a few more on there than he should have). And these 10 items have to be reasonable Check out #1, and IPOD touch…a bit unreasonable for a nine year old, but hey, he can dream. Check out the earlier post about the trip to see Santa at the Roadhouse. So anyways, the reason for this rule is several reasons…1. A child’s Christmas list can go on forever, and let’s face it, there is no way for us to tell which are the ones they REALLY want if there’s a list the length of my arm. 2. Ten in an attainable number. Between Santa, us, my parents, Rod’s parents, and the several sets of aunts and uncles my children are blessed with, it’s pretty reasonable to assume that those 10 gifts will show up somewhere on Christmas day. 3. Anything over the amount of 10, I just personally consider greedy. Now don’t get me wrong, Gauge’s list has about 100 things on it to begin with, but he narrowed it down, and listed in order of importance which gifts were truly important to him. After all, part of Christmas is being thankful for what you have, what you are fortunate enough to receive, and being humble enough to know that there are so many others who just simply aren’t as fortunate as we are.

I waited until the last minute to pack…DUMB. I waited until the last minute to wrap….DUMB. And I waited until the last minute to cook and clean…really DUMB. I mean what was I thinking? I was working 7-6 for the two weeks prior to Christmas and I didn’t get it all done in one night??? Ok, once again, I do this to myself. Like I said…DUMB. It all worked out ok of course. It always does. I wrapped a little each night the week of Christmas, I cooked and cleaned the night before Christmas Eve (and Rod had cleaned that week also while he was laid off – gotta give the credit where credit is due), and I packed as I went. Yes, we had presents to unwrap; yes, we had food to eat at Christmas Eve dinner; and yes we had clothes to wear on vacation, so I guess no matter how you plan it, it always gets done.

Christmas Eve we spent the day at home getting the last minute preparations done for dinner. Gauge spent just about every minute on the site we found on the internet that tracked Santa’s stops all day long. We went to Christmas Eve service and had the added gift of the Cope family sitting with us. Gauge and Tanner got to sit together and although this was the first time Julie and I didn’t sit directly beside each other during a church service, it was so nice to have their family sitting with us during the service. They have become like extended family to us. Gauge and Tanner would be inseparable if we would let them, and Julie and I talk almost every day. We attend each other’s family birthday parties and spend lots of our free time together. And I absolutely love that we have become that close. After dinner we had our family Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year. It was our year for dinner and the sleepover. Our guest included my parents, Chad & family, Amanda, Cory, Aunt B, Bob, and Lindsey’s parents. We ate and socialized and Gauge dragged each guest, one by one, into the front room to show them the Santa tracking system on the internet. When Santa got to South America, Gauge thought it was time to get their pjs on and go to bed. So we put Gauge, Reid, & Jake into their matching sock monkey pjs, got Santa’s cookie plate (which consisted of some cookies and nine carrots for the reindeer) ready, sprinkled the reindeer dust on the front lawn, and took Reid & Gauge to bed. Gauge wanted them to sleep together, so we put them both on the bottom bunk and didn’t hear a peep out of Reid. I went up and looked in on them once. Gauge was out cold and Reid was wide awake, holding Gauge’s hand and rubbing Gauge’s fingernail. It wasn’t long after that Reid was asleep. I was shocked that Reid stayed in bed and went to sleep. That was the first time ever that he went to sleep without one of us (or Meme to get him to sleep).

Christmas morning was crazy in our house. It looked like Santa’s pack exploded in our entryway. Gauge was thrilled that he got almost everything on his list and it was mostly a Bakugan Christmas for him again. Reid opened gifts carefully, one tear at a time and of course took a liking to anything he opened that had wheels. Everything Jake opened, Reid immediately wanted to take from him. It’s so hard at that age for them to understand sharing because when they want it, they want it, and it doesn’t mater who has it. Mom, Aunt B, and us all exchanged our gifts after the madness with the kids was over.

We spent the afternoon at Dad & Beth’s house and again, the kids got so many nice presents. Gauge got this really cool marble track and spent most of the day putting it together. Reid just ran around and played mostly with Ashley. For dinner, we went to Aunt Jo’s. Rod went home to get some of the things prepared for our trip, like hooking up the boys’ new DVD system for the car and our new TomTom (score!!). Once again, it was an amazing Christmas with so many things to be thankful for.

This year was the most excited I had ever seen Gauge for Christmas. He talked about it constantly and for a while, I thought he was trying to convince me that he still believed. But after hearing him talk about it over and over, I realized that it really was just him being excited. He talked and talked and talked about Santa coming, and about Jesus’ birthday, and about his Christmas party at school, and about having our Christmas Eve party, and so on and so on. I love Christmas, but this year, there was just something extra added to the magic of it all seeing the excitement in Gauge’s eyes and hearing it in his voice. Oh I just don’t want it to ever end. I want him to stay this age, right here, right now, forever. I always said that his second Christmas was my favorite, but after this year, I changed my mind. Gauge’s ninth Christmas is my favorite Christmas so far.

This year, we also got to celebrate Christmas with Rod’s family in Florida. We left at about 3am on the 26th . We got there on Sunday and had a big Christmas dinner with Tim & Tiff and Rod’s mom & step-dad. We all exchanged gifts and the kids had a blast again. We try to go down about every other year about this time. It means so much to Rod to be able to spend time with his family, and it means so much to both of us that the kids spend time with their aunt and uncle and their grandparents. We always have a great time and this was no exception.

Sizemore fan reacts to story of salacious photographs - New Philadelphia, OH - The Times-Reporter

The following is a story that my sister-in-law Tiff took part in from The Times Reporter. Too cool. It's kind of funny because while I was working and speaking to Lee Morrison from the TR, he said that the Grady Sizemore photos were his big story for the day. I mentioned that Tiff was one of the girls who formed the Grady's ladies fan club and Lee immediately asked if I thought she would be interested in commenting on the story. I called Rod, who called Tim, who called Tiff and gave her Lee's contact info, and the rest is history. Too cool!



Sizemore fan reacts to story of salacious photographs - New Philadelphia, OH - The Times-Reporter

Leaders of Grady’s Ladies fan club for Cleveland Indians centerfielder Grady Sizemore are surprised, but supportive, regarding racy photographs of him posted on the Internet.It’s been a hot topic of conversation among club members, said Tiffany Pearson Thomas, who graduated from Dover High in 2001.Sizemore said the photos – one of them showing him nearly nude – were stolen from his girlfriend’s e-mail account and posted online. He contacted Major League Baseball officials to stop the spread of the photos, which began appearing Sunday on various Web sites.“If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Grady Sizemore during the 4 1/2 years of running this fan group, it’s that he is a shy, very private person, so the release of these photos has caught us all off guard,” Thomas said in a statement for the group. “While he certainly has nothing to be ashamed of, we respect Grady’s privacy and fully support whatever legal action he decides to take against the person or persons, who stole the photos from his girlfriend’s e-mail account.”Sizemore, 27, is the Indians’ most popular player. His fan base includes “Grady’s Ladies,” and several other women’s groups devoted to the three-time All-Star.Thomas has seen the photos.“Obviously, word spread quickly,” Thomas said. “Most of the Grady’s Ladies I know have seen them. Obviously, those weren’t meant for everyone to see. Being in the spotlight, should he have known better, yeah, but these things happen.”Thomas and five other women formed the fan club in 2005 after they became acquainted through a Cleveland Indians message board on the Internet.“People think we only were interested because of his good looks, but we’re all huge sports fans as well,” Thomas said. “We thought he would have an amazing future.”They launched a Web site www.gradysladies.com in August 2005. The group now consists of more than 500 members.For about four years, Tiffany has resided at New Port Ritchey, Fla., with her husband, Timothy Thomas, formerly of Dover and a 2000 graduate of Indian Valley High at Gnadenhutten.“Even though we live here, I try to fly up to Ohio at least a couple of times each season,” she said.“We get together in a big block of seats in the bleachers and make signs and cheer for Grady and have fun.“We sell merchandise online and all proceeds go to Cleveland Indians Charities. We pride ourselves on the charitable work we do, it’s very important to us.”Thomas considers herself “one of the fortunate ones” because she’s personally met Sizemore three times, including when the Indians had their spring training facility at Winter Haven, Fla.MLB investigators are trying to determine how many sites ran the photos of Sizemore standing in front of a bathroom mirror in various stages of undress. Sizemore used a cell phone to take the pictures of himself and they were intended only for his girlfriend.With a rare combination of speed and power, Sizemore has developed into one of baseball’s best all-around players. He is one of only two players in club history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in one season.A two-time Gold Glove winner, Sizemore has endeared himself to Cleveland fans with his hustle.The Associated Press contributed to this article
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Another whirlwind...

This past week was another whirlwind week at our house. I always rolled my eyes when I was younger when anyone older than me would say “As you get older, the time goes faster”. Did anyone believe that when we were little? Or better yet, how many of us have realized it, have seen it everyday, and now have children of our own rolling their eyes when we recite that same quote?

Monday, Tim and Tiff left to go back to Florida. That is always a sad day in our house. Rod & Tim are super close and it bothers both of them very much to have to say good-bye. Anytime Tim visits, he and Rod have some big project to complete. This time is was a video game project. Their visit this time obviously made quite an impression on both of our boys. Gauge has said several times this week that he wishes they lived closer so he could play Legos and Wii with his Uncle Tim anytime he wanted. Reid also took a big liking to Tim this week. Several times he crawled up on the couch and cuddled with Tim and when he was sleepy, Reid laid right beside him and stroked Tim’s fingernail, just like he does with Rod or I. And after they left, Reid went up into the boys’ bedroom and pointed mattresses on the floor where Tim & Tiff slept, looked up at me and said his little “huh?”, and went off searching for them. Too cute!

This week was a busy week for the photography business. I completed baby shower invitations for Angel, a co-worker and friend of mine. I completed Kyle’s senior photos and when I took them to work to drop them off to him mom, Lisa. I was so happy with her reaction to the photos. We created a storyboard of her favorites and she was pleased with the way it turned out. The funny thing about it was that Lisa left Kyle’s photos out on her desk all day to show him off (as all mothers like to do) and everyone asked who did the photos. When Lisa would tell them that I did them, they all pretty much said “Jess? The Jess from your office?”. I guess I was a little surprised at the reaction because after these past few years, I assumed everyone knew about the photography business. The good news about it is I already have a family photo shoot, a senior photo shoot, and two wedding inquiries. I guess I should pay Lisa for all the advertising she’s done for me!

Wednesday was Gauge’s weekly night to go to XOO with Aunt B and it was also First Wednesday at New Pointe. I felt like I hadn’t seen Julie in forever so getting to visit with her a little before the service was a definite bonus to the evening. As far as the service goes, I hate to say it, but I was a bit disappointed. First Wednesday is usually so moving and so emotional and this service was lacking both. I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I have been disappointed there, so I think that is why I am so surprised when it does happen. We start a new series at church on Sunday, so I’m sure it will be awesome as usual.

All Gauge has seemed to talk about this week is Grandparents Day at school. His class isn’t in the program this year so it will just be the Grandparents visiting their classrooms and then taking them out to lunch. Meme will be taking him to McDonald like last year. Gauge told me that his whole class is trying to get their Grandparents to go to McDonalds so they can all play together. Yikes! Every parent who has spent any amount of time in a McDonalds play place knows how loud it can be in there when there are 10 kids in there. Can you imagine the noise if there were close to 100 kids in there?!? Obviously they won’t all be going to McDonalds, but I hope the Grandparents all brought along their ear plugs or turn down their hearing aids…whichever the case may be. You just gotta love kids and their big ideas!

And lastly...here's a couple super cute photos of Jake & Reid. Jake was trying so hard to take Reid's binky and put it in his mouth, even though Jake doesn't take a bink. I just thought it was so funny! And they both wanted to sit on my lap, so we all cuddled together on the chair for part of the evening.

Seriously, where does the time go?

Two days left in the beautiful month of September and I am at the same place I am every year at this time. For some reason, as soon as my birthday passes, I dive in to planning Christmas (I know, I said it…CHRISTMAS!). Does it seem possible that there is only 88 days until Christmas? I am a planner. I write lists; I write menus; I write notes to myself about ideas for gifts…and so on and so on. I am actually ahead of the game this year. I have each and every person on our Christmas lists accounted for, gift picked out, and many of them already purchased. It’s been one of those years that things just jump out at me for Christmas gifts and I just keep tucking them away. Rod would be rolling his eyes at this point. Talking about Christmas to him means only one thing…winter, which he hates with a passion. This winter, however, we will get to see some warm weather (hopefully), when we make our every other year trip to Florida to visit Rod’s family.

Speaking of Rod’s family, Tim and Tiff are here for a week long visit. Rod gets so excited when they come to visit and this time, Gauge was especially excited for them to visit also. Gauge spent the day with my mom on Saturday and when she asked him if he wanted to stay overnight, he answered “No, my Uncle Tim is coming”. I thought it was too cute! It shows me where Tim ranks to Gauge, especially since Gauge usually picks his Meme over everyone. And after Saturday night, it’s no wonder Gauge loves Tim. Gauge and Tim went down to the basement at 9:30 ish to play the Wii and Rod said that it wasn’t until about 12:30 that they emerged from the basement. Three or so hours in the basement playing Wii with your uncle…like I said…no wonder Gauge loves Tim. That means so much to me that Gauge is developing a good relationship with Tim. Even though he (and the rest of Rod’s family) lives so far away, I want him to be close to Rod’s family like he is with mine. Distance should make no difference in the closeness of a family.

Friday, Lindsey and I took the boys to the fair. We tried several times earlier in the week to go, but it just rained and rained, which is typical Tuscarawas County Fair week. Gauge was just bursting with excitement when I walked through the door Friday after work. So we got to the fair and I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were there! All I can say is, the fair is no place for a double stroller. I pushed Reid and Jake around while Lindsey and Gauge rode the rides. They rode several rides and then decided it was time to dive into the fair food. Gauge tried Cheese on a Stick for the first time…and he LOVED it! He could eat cheese all day long. Lindsey and I hit up the fried veggies booth and I have to say that those fried mushrooms were the best I’ve ever had. We took our food over to the Simpson H/C booth and sat with Chad while we ate. By that time, the little boys were getting tired, so I took them home and Gauge stayed with Lindsey and Chad. They didn’t stroll into our house until about 11:30pm. Gauge walked in carrying his new pet goldfish that he won at the fair. I think almost everyone has a memory of winning a goldfish (and seeing in belly up less than a week later) from the fair. The smile on his face was worth a million bucks when he told me that he was naming him Luigi, from Cars because “Guido and Luigi belong together”. And yet another example of kids say the darndest things. The goldfish has become quite an item of excitement in our house. Reid loves the little fish and points at it and says “fish” (another new word). He even stuck his hand right in the bowl and tried to pick him up. Guido put his front paws on the counter, I’m sure in an attempt to find food, and caught a glimpse of the fish and just sat there and stared. He keeps going back to look at the little fish over and over. Maybe Gauge was right…Guido and Luigi do belong together.

Reid has started this obsession with shoes. Not his own shoes, mind you, any shoes that are WAY too big for him. It’s so cute actually. It's funny that he can actually walk around in them without losing his balance too much! He is more coordinated at the age of 19 months than I am at the age of...well, no need to actually disclose that number. He must get coordination from Rod!

I'm soooo glad it’s football season!!

Ok, so that was probably one of the most sarcastic statements I’ve ever made. Although I absolutely love this time of year, it also brings one of my most hated times of the year. FOOTBALL season! Ugh!! Every Sunday brings an all day fest of football, football, and more football. This past Sunday, I came home from a Pampered Chef party at Julie’s house, walked in the back door and could hear the wonderful sounds of a football game. But when I walked into the living room I couldn’t help but laugh. The tv was on and turned to the Browns game, with the mute on. The Sirius radio was on, playing the Steelers game. And there sat Rod on the couch, laptop beside him checking his fantasy football scores, blackberry in hand, getting text message updates of his fantasy football team, and both the tv remote and Sirius remote sitting on his lap. It was too funny! But I think this is a (bad) sign of things to come! So when is the Superbowl?!?




After all the football festivities, Rod went up to the boys’ room and took the crib apart. I can’t really call it Reid’s crib, since he’s never really slept there. He’s pretty much taken over our bed. But it still made me a little sad to see the empty space in their room. Will this be the last time there is a crib standing in our house? Oh the time just goes too quickly. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Gauge was sleeping in that crib, although he did sleep in it until he was three! I have a bit of a hard time letting go. I don’t think that’s news to many of you. Haha. So after the crib was down, Rod put Reid’s mattress in our bedroom to see if we could get Reid out of our bed and to his own mattress. We should have known better. I think somewhere around midnight I felt little fingers on my feet. And that was that. Back in our bed he went. Tim & Tiff are coming to visit at the end of this month. They will be sleeping in the boys’ room while they are here. After their visit, the plan is to move Reid to the bottom bunk of their bunk beds. That should prove to be interesting!