~ Happy New Year ~

We want to wish everyone a HAPPY and HEALTHY 2009!

Chuck E. Cheese

I have a love/hate relationship with Chuck E. Cheese. I love that it’s indoors, tires Zoe out, has pizza, and of course the little mechanical puppet show. What I hate is trying to get Zoe to leave. It’s always a struggle.

I received a coupon via email for several free tokens for Zoe’s b-day. But because it’s been so hectic I haven’t been able to work it in the schedule. This morning I decided to ‘surprise’ Zoe and take her and let her run around. After a few hours, we were out of tokens so we cashed in our tickets and went to the ‘All Mighty’ glass toy case, which is always a production. Zoe can never seem to decide what she wants when it’s her turn. Not to mention, none of the toys are worth the millions of tickets you need to acquire one-ha!

When we left, we stopped for some lunch. I might not LOVE Chuck E. Cheese but, I do LOVE spending one on one time with my favorite girl in the whole wide world!!!!

Happy Kwanzaa

Since the beginning of the month, we have been reading the book, “Together for Kawnzaa”. We are all trying to learn little by little at Zoe’s speed about the African heritage. Kwanzaa is based upon seven principals, and we’ve been going over the seven principals and all the traditions that go along with the holiday. We have all enjoyed reading the book, so much in fact that Zoe wants to buy a kinara, which is the Kwanzaa candle holder. We hope to have one for next year!

Park

This morning after breakfast, Zoe was crawling the walls to get out and try her new scooter so we went to one of our favorite parks for a test drive. Zoe’s old scooter was a three wheeler and the new one is a two wheeler with a brake on the back so it took a little practice to get adjusted to the newness of it all.

When we got to the park, the lake was frozen over. We couldn’t help ourselves and had to throw rocks on the ice to hear all the cool different noises. Some spots were not as frozen so if you hit the ice hard enough, the rock would fall through. We did this for about 30 minutes. It was way cool!

Everyone knows I’m obsessed with my camera and I don’t leave home without it, and now Zoe is now totally into taking pictures. So, for Christmas, Zoe got her own ‘digital’ camera. We couldn’t leave the park until Zoe had a chance to snap a few pics of her own with her new digital camera. She’s taken plenty shots of the dogs lying around the house so, today she excited to get some ‘action’ shots at the park.

We love not having an agenda and being able to get out and enjoy quality time together. When we left the park, we stopped for some pizza, and home for a nap. That is what I call a perfect day!

Christmas

What a day! We had so much fun. As soon as Zoe woke up, she RAN downstairs to see what Santa left her, and if he found the peanut butter cookies she left for him. Not only did Santa eat all the cookies, he left Zoe a personal note, which she thought was super cool. We spent what felt like hours opening gifts. The only thing Zoe asked for this year was a drum set, and was hoping that Santa could arrange some karate classes. Lo and behold, it seems she was JUST good enough to get them both, and Santa even managed to leave her a brand new scooter. All the loot from family and friends was beyond imagination. We were all exhausted by the time we were done opening everything. Shelli made breakfast while Zoe & I played with all her toys and then we all took a nap before heading to Bryan, John, & Shawn’s for an early Christmas dinner.
Per usual, when we got to their house, they had it all from shrimp cocktail, spinach dip, cheese, ham, turkey, stuffing, lasagna, chocolate pumpkin pie, pound cake, cookies, you name it, they had it and it was all HOMEMADE! (Note to all, seek out and befriend a first generation Italian, Good gosh do they know how to host a party!!) I thought Shelli was going to have to roll me out of there. We ate so much, and the kids had a blast playing. We had a wonderful time and are so very thankful for all of the wonderful friends we’ve made over the years.
The holidays are always hard for me. Not having family close makes it hard for everyone to get together for the holidays. In the perfect world, both sides of the family would get together for every holiday but because we are all in different states, it makes it hard. I miss everyone so much. We are grateful to have a handful of close friends here that take good care of us!

We are all beat, it's going to be an early night for everyone. We are looking forward to the LONG weekend together. We hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

Brrrrr.....

Look at the smile on Shelli's face as she scrapes the ice off her frozen windshield. Is she a sport or what???

Loco-Motive

Every year in the Petsch family we have a gingerbread competition. This year although their entry was a little late, my sister-in-law(s) pulled off the cutest little train I’ve ever seen. So, with that said, I had to give them props and post their creation!

Good Job Girls!

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday we had some pretty nasty weather. We didn’t get much snow but we got tons of sleet and rain, mostly sleet. It was a perfect day to build a fire and enjoy some cuddle time. Lori and Zoe watched movies and made cookies while I worked. We expected snow last night, so after work I shoveled the driveway, front steps and cleaned off the cars so we’d be prepared in the event we needed to go out. Today, we went outside to asses, no snow, but it was beautiful! All the sleet had frozen on the trees and limbs and there were icicles on every branch. Below are a few pics from our winter wonderland.

Chopsticks

For lunch, I made Zoe a Cucumber Salad like the one she orders at our favorite Japanese restaurant. She is still in the process of learning how to use chopsticks but insisted on using them to eat her salad. How could I say "NO!" After all, how will she learn if she doesn't practice, right?

Here is the recipe:
Trim the ends off a medium cucumber then cut in half crosswise and peel into strips.
Wisk 2 Tbs. rice vinegar, 1 Tbs. canola oil, ½ tsp. toasted sesame oil, and ½ tsp. honey. Toss dressing with the cucumbers and add some toasted sesame seeds on top.

Super simple and super delish!

Holiday Show

Zoe had her first Holiday program at school today. I took the morning off and we all went to enjoy the show. It was so cute, all the kids had halo’s on as they walked into the auditorium and up on the stage. Once they were all seated the program started, they had several Christmas numbers, all abbreviated to fit pre-school attention spans. Zoe told me last night as I was putting her to bed, ‘Mimi, we get to sing jingle bells with REAL jingle bells!’ So I was particularly interested to see that number.

After the program the kids got to bring the parents a gift that they made in class, and I have to hand it to Zoe, she kept it quiet, no matter how much Lori tried to pry it out of her (anyone who knows Lori and her problem at Christmas can appreciate what Zoe had to endure). The gift was the most awesome display of macaroni art I could have imagined. It was a wreath made of bowtie pasta, spray painted gold. Wow was it nice, we couldn’t wait to get home and hang it on the tree.

Once all the festivities we were over and we had some refreshments, we gathered our things, wished the teachers a Happy Holiday, and headed straight for the nearest Starbucks for some hot chocolate, a latte, and Lori’s new fave, a pumpkin latte.

What a great morning and wonderful way to kick off the last few days before the BIG DAY!

**See video below**

Jingle Bells

Foster/Adoption Party

Tonight we joined several foster and adoptive families for a holiday party at the office of our adoption/foster agency. There were so many cute kids all dressed up in their Christmas outfits awaiting the arrival of Santa. We even snuck in a family picture with Santa. It was great fun and Zoe got to play with lots kids. Some we knew, some we didn’t but we all had a good time munching on cookies and chatting with other families.

Zoe and Jalyn

Camper

After several months of debating, we finally took the plunge. We bought a pop-up camper! It’s not a ‘new’ camper but, it’s a ‘new’ camper to us. We LOVE to go camping but the whole tent camping and sleeping on the ground was getting harder and harder, the older we get. I don’t think I could sleep on the ground one more summer in a tent with Zoe’s legs all over me, Shelli snoring, and two dogs. It was time for an upgrade. The camper we got isn’t fancy or deluxe in anyway but, it’s got everything we need to be more comfortable while we are out in the wilderness. It’s got 2 queen beds, a kitchen table, a stove, a heater, a small fridge, and a sink. Not to mention enough storage space to keep all our stuff. We cannot wait until spring/summer to get outside and enjoy it. Shelli is going to add a small portable a/c for the hot summer nights, and once we add our own little 'personal' touches to it, it’s ready to go!

Zoe has had so much fun checking out all the nooks and crannies of the camper. She’s picked her bed and even found a spot for all her ‘camping gear’, ie: fishing pole, Dora & Diego 2way radios, her binoculars, and her bug kit. She loves to go camping, I’m not sure what she like better, the hikes or looking for bugs.

This spring/summer it's going to be a new adventure with our camper, we cannot wait to get out there and explore.

What a MAGICAL day!

We had the most amazing day. After being cooped up in the house last week, we took a stroll down holiday lane. To me, Christmas is about the pre-holiday stuff. Driving around looking at lights, baking, LIVE nativity scenes, eggnog, gingerbread houses, holiday movies, Christmas plays, etc. I could do without the running around like a crazy person and dealing with all the ‘Holiday’ madness. I just love being with my family and enjoying the stress free things.

Our weekend started off with a trip to see Santa. Zoe’s list wasn’t too long. Plus whenever anyone asks her if she’s been good, she admits quickly, ‘Well, I’ve been a little bit good….’. But as long as she thinks she has been good enough to get a drum set, she figures she’s one step ahead of the game. To Zoe, It’s all about the drums this year. ZOE WANTS A DRUM SET!

Next, we went to see The Festival of Trees, which was beautiful. There were about 30 trees all decorated differently. All equally beautiful! Over in another area of the building there were harpists playing Christmas carols. Zoe and I walked hand in hand around looking at all the different trees, talking about girl stuff, and enjoying the moment. Shelli wasn’t far behind; she stood in line for some apple cider and soft pretzels.

Later in the afternoon (after nap time), we headed over to the local family owned dairy barn where we get our milk. They were having a live nativity in their barn. When we got there, all the kids were dressed up, all the animals were out, and carols were playing. As we walked through, we could see Zoe’s wheels turning. Everything she has been learning in school was coming together. There were the animals, those 3 guys who brought stuff from SO far away, and right in the middle was Baby Jesus in the hay (the main topic in school this month). The nativity scene was set up in the upper level of the main barn of the dairy, so obviously all the cows were in for the night in their stalls downstairs, which much to Shelli’s delight, was open for the public to see. We all went down to check it out. Zoe (and Shelli) couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw all the cows lined up grazing on sweet hay. Zoe says, “Those are the cows that we get our milk from!” Zoe and Shelli spent lots of time playing with all the cows. There was even a 2 day old calf that Zoe couldn’t resist kissing.

When we got home, keeping in tradition, we made our traditional gingerbread house. Everyone who knows Shelli knows the gingerbread house is a touchy subject. She always has issues with keeping the walls up, and it’s usually a not-so-kid-friendly situation –ha! So this year when shopping for the house, we opted for the deluxe set that was basically dummy proof. We had the walls up and roof on in ten minuets. It was a miracle and we were all so very excited to sit down together and decorate it, stress free! Per usual, Zoe ate more decorations than went on the house but that is what it’s all about. If you don’t have frosting all over you and you don’t enjoy all the candy, what’s the fun of it, right?

It was a LONG, but fun day. I treasure these moments and always look forward to them. The time we spend as a family doing family things is priceless. We do miss not having all the family with us when we do all our holiday activities but we bring them along in our hearts, and our blog!

Train

Choo - Choo

We got a train, for the Christmas tree that is! Shelli has always wanted a train for the tree and we happened to come across one on ‘Black Friday’ when we went out. It’s been in the garage because we’ve had so much going on. We finally got it up and Zoe couldn’t be more thrilled! She sits and watches it go round and round. The train even plays Christmas carols. What could be better than that? Because it was the first time setting it up, we opted for the BIG track. Zoe wanted to get the full effect of it. Next year, we will size it down to fit around the tree. That is going to be a Zoe and Shelli tradition!

This week, we were all under the weather with colds. Most of the week was spent in the bed, and taking lots of medicine. It has been nice to be semi back to normal around here.

Thank you for all the get well wishes!!!

Under The Weather

We are all under the weather and have decided to take some 'sick time'.

We will be back when we recover!