I wish you a safe and happy New Years Eve and a Wonderfully Happy New Year! May this new decade be your best one yet! Create many lasting memories with those you love!

I ran across The Simple Woman's Daybook today on this blog. I thought this might be interesting (at least for me) to be able to look back at my thoughts, ideas, daily things... well, that is- only if I can keep up with posting! I know I'm not the most devoted blogger, but hey I'm trying! I know you are probably thinking that I should make it a New Year's resolution, but I never keep my resolutions so why start making them now, just to break them in a few days! But in any case... here goes nothing!


-Outside my window- Snow! Beautiful, white, fluffy snow! So much snow! (ok, maybe only 1" max, but that's a lot!)
-I am thinking that my desk chair is not really comfortable any more.
-I am thankful for my fabulous 3 year old son Ace, my husband who cooks us dinner every day, and my many friends and family who make me feel like I am somebody!
-I am wearing a black Ralph Lauren sweater that I have owned for about 6+ years, but can't bear to part with, a new pair of jeans from Maurices and my hair up in a messy knot because I'm too lazy to make my hair look nice for work.
-I am remembering how much fun I had last night in Hermiston at Cassandra Cooper's house creating a vintage advent calendar for Christmas (next year) with my girlfriends
-I am going to have lunch with my friend Tracy today, in her office, and enjoy some homemade chili and cornbread, instead of the frozen Healthy Choice lunch that I brought with me today.
-I am currently listening to my Ipod on shuffle, with Rob Thomas, Owl City, Lady Gaga, Pink & Train (among others)
-I am hoping that the roads are not icy tonight when I leave work and head home
-My favorite song lyrics "Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air", by Pink, song title- Glitter in the Air
-Noticing that it is about 11:30 and I'm really getting hungry for lunch
-From the kitchen come my two pugs, Lola and Lucky, after scouring the floor for any scraps they could find.
-Around the house are Ace's toys, everywhere, every corner, every room, every table, they all have some sort of toy on them.
-One of my favorite things is when Ace grabs my hand, holds it up to his lips, and gives me a kiss, then looks at me and smiles so lovingly. That boy melts my heart!

Wow- that was not as simple as I thought it would be, but simple at the same time. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

I really love the holidays and especially love Christmas. I love putting up the *live* Christmas tree and putting on all the lights and ornaments. Although Ace is only 3, he really enjoys it too. This was his second year getting to put the star on the top once we were all done. I think that's his official duty from now on. He loves it!




I read an article in one of my many parenting magazines a few years ago about how hard it was for adults to give up their nicely decorated tree for one that has ornaments on only the top half. The suggestion the article gave, was to give the child(ren) their own tree to decorate however they like. While I do think this is a good idea in some respects, I have yet to purchase a tree just for him. At this stage, I want Ace to admire and touch the tree the tree, arrange the ornaments, and enjoy the decorations. I want him to remember being a part of the decorating and preparations for the big day! My favorite part of him helping to decorate the tree is a tradition that I started with a few of my close friends. Instead of exchanging gifts for the kids, we started exchanging an ornament. The ornaments I have chosen have been picture frames which I put a picture of the two friends in. It allows us to remember the fun times we had together this year, and next year when we once again unpack our ornaments, we can smile at the growth our children have had over the past year. It's also fun to look at the other non-photo ornaments he has received and smile as I tell Ace who gave that to him (marking with a sharpie helps!). Here is this years ornament for Maddie & Ace.

What are some of your traditions you've started that you just love?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas filled with many fond memories!

It's late, I'm up, I'm baking cookies and I'd rather be in bed. But I signed up for this, well, rather- I wanted to host a cookie party for my girlfriends. Thought it'd be fun for us all to gather and bring cookies to share and have a little gift exchange/steal game. Yeah- it'll be fun. But the process of putting on a party is just, well, so much work! I'm on dozen 4, of 6, and wishing the time would go faster. The timer goes off every 12 minutes. Not going fast enough for me.

I'm really cold too. It's 6* F outside. (that's -14 C, for those who want to convert it). Either way, it's too darn cold! ***BRRRRR*** We're supposed to get a warm spell this weekend. Yep, we're heading back to double digits, all the way to +32* and possibly snow?!? I guess that if it is going to be this cold, that I'd like to have snow. I do feel bad though, that Ace out grew his snow boots last winter, and I only looked at 1 store, 1 time, to see if they had any in his size (which they didn't). So if it snows, guess who won't be out making a snowman, or sledding, or trying to figure out how to ride his skateboard. Poor Ace! Good thing he's only 3. He'll learn soon enough that he can just wear regular shoes for a short time, and then come back in the house.

But on a good note, tomorrow IS my day off. Not sure what Ace and I will do, but I'm sure we'll have fun. He wants to go feed the ducks. I told him when we went to the store earlier that I'd buy bread for the ducks. Ummm- I forgot. OOPS. It wasn't intentional, at all. I'm sure he'll want me to go to the store in the morning. Maybe the duck pond will be frozen over. That's always cool, watching ducks try to land on a frozen pond!

Well, in any case, if you're bored tonight or early tomorrow morning, whip up a batch of 6 dozen cookies and come to my house tomorrow night and we'll have some fun! Party starts at 6:30pm. See you then!

Jenn

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy Ace!

I know these pictures aren't great- they're from my camera phone- but I tried for 30 min to get a pic of him not covering his eyes...

I can't believe 3 years ago, I was laying in a hospital bed, holding my little baby for the first time. I know every parent says this but really... where did the time go? I am thankful that I can look back at pictures and see where it's gone. I always smile remembering all the fun we've had and it's amazing to me how much he's grown. Not just physically, but intellectually too. He wants to do everything for himself, including using a knife to spread the butter on his corn (well, it was a steak knife- so I had to intervene a little). He has an opinion about everything (where did he get that?). He says some really hilarious things and loves to get his morning coffee (aka hot chocolate or vanilla steamer)just like his mama. He's anxious to start decorating for Christmas and his new favorite song is Feliz Navidad- which he pronounces Felly Nah be dah be dah... Funny Boy! Happy Birthday Baby!