Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. We've had a lovely, low key day. This morning we were up early to open gifts. Last year was our final Santa year- the big guy fell along with the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy. The stockings were still stuffed this year, though. Some things never change. Later we went to Meme and Poppy's house for some lasagna, the traditional Christmas Day food.



This is the monster tree that nearly killed me. Next year- smaller family room tree!




Here's a shot of Olivia lighting the candles on the Menorah. Brad actually made latkes tonight for dinner. Happy ChristmaHanukkah!

Tomorrow: Charlie's surgery.

Celebrity Sighting

We had dinner tonight with Gene Hackman (actor) and Byron Leftwich (injured Jaguars quarterback). Well, we were at the same restaurant, eating dinner at the same time. Brad's business dinner holiday party was at an exclusive spot in Jax Beach. We were mingling on the patio when somebody pointed out the celebs. What fun!

Flakes

It was not snowing today. Actually, the weather was very warm, but our house was full of Flakes anyway. We hosted the annual Flakes Family Christmas celebration, and it was a wonderful success. The food was great, the entertainment was great (Audrey's DVD), and the company was great. I'll write more and post pictures as soon as possible.

Ouch!

Poor Uncle Ned has broken his ankle. He was playing hockey when some other players smashed him into the boards. OUCH! Get well soon, Uncle Ned!

Surgery is on Tuesday. We'll all have our fingers crossed for you all day long.

We spent most of the day at the Jaguar game. We beat the Colts 44 to 17. There were a lot of Colts fans at the game. They were happy for about one play, then they got really quiet. Here's a song we heard some Jags fans singing to Colts fans:

M I C (See you real soon)
K E Y (Why? Because we beat you!)
C O L T S

The holidays are here!

The big news this weekend: the Gators are going to the National Championship game on January 8th. As soon as Brad found out, he started planning the party. That's right, there's a party at our house for the game! Also, the Jaguars AND the Islanders won this weekend. I guess that makes it just about perfect for Brad.

This is B and O making a pie together on Thanksgiving. They worked really hard on it. It was pretty yummy, too.

I never showed you a picture of the finished living room. Here it is with one of our undecorated holiday trees.

My parents gave us this enormous tree. It was a huge amount of work to get it up. I complained. Brad said that it was like childbirth- afterwards I'd be happy and forget the pain. We'll see. I'll post pictures of the decorated trees when they're more finished.

See you next week!

Thanksgiving

Thanks to the multiple hurricanes of seasons past, our school board has worked some "weather days" into the school calendar. I'm not sure why they can't just tack on some days at the end of the year like they do in snowy areas. Since this was a quiet weather season, we have two extra days added to our Thanksgiving break which has given us six days off in a row. We don't go back to school until Tuesday!

We had a quiet T-day since Meme and Poppu were visiting the Seattle relatives. We did manage to cook up a mini feast for ourselves. On Friday we went to the beach to look for shells to use for making ornaments. Last night we trecked downtown to see the fireworks at the end of the boat parade. We couldn't see the boats because there were too many people, but the fireworks were awesome. Today we had another mini feast at Meme and Poppy's house. There is never a dull moment around here.

Throughout it all we've been playing games. Scrabble has been the new favorite diversion. I can't imagine why we haven't been playing for years considering all of the readers in the house. Other faves: Hilarium and Imaginiff.

Brad has to go back to work tomorrow, but don't worry. He's happy. A few days at home is all it takes to make him thankful for the relative quiet of the office.

The Day After Christmas

Charlie is having his tonsils and adenoids removed the day after Christmas. This is good because he'll have two full weeks to recover without missing any school and he may be able to breathe a bit easier. On the other hand, he is going to have to give up his winter break to recover from surgery.

We have a cat scan that gives proof that he has a brain, and that his sinuses are clear. His adenoids, however, are large and in the way. There is a chance that his voice will be changed by the surgery. Right now, his voice is hindered by not being able to force any air into "the mask" which affects his tone when he sings.

Poor Charlie has had a difficult year. First braces, then allergy shots, and now surgery. The only good news...

Ice cream, we're gonna have ice cream...

“It’s time to update it!”

I’ve been given a directive from my grandmother to update the blog. Honestly, I didn’t think that many people were reading, but she’s not the only one who has expressed an interest, so….

From now on I promise to try to do an update once a week. Sunday nights. What's that old saying? "Be careful what you ask for..."

To start, here are a couple of Halloween pictures. We had an awesome night in the new neighborhood. One tradition that we always enjoyed in our old neighborhood was trick or treating, but I think our new neighbors are even more excited about the holiday. Most folks were sitting in their driveways with their bowls of candy, the streets were full of kids (and parents) in costume, and lots of houses were decorated for the holiday.









Mitchell stayed behind to give out candy while Brad and I walked around the block with Charlie and Olivia.



Charlie is a Roman Emporer, and Olivia is a witch.

Living Room

I'm grabbing a moment to get some pictures of our decorating and painting efforts. Here's the white walled living room. We've painted it blue now- a very aqua blue.




Here's Olivia painting.



Charlie is hiding out in the chair in this picture.

Art

I have a lot to post about: Leslie, Josh and Charlotte's visit, Charlie's braces, my recent decorating experiments... BUT I just found this awesome website and I have to share.

Jackson Pollack is one of my favorite painters. I love abstract expressionism. While I was surfing for ideas to create art I stumbled upon this awesome site.

Go there and make your own painting. Click the mouse to change colors as you scribble.

Amazing House Moment: right this second, Mitchell and Bishop are playing chess downstairs! THAT has never happened before. This is just another example of how the house has changed our lives. I was worried that we would interact less with more space, but the opposite is true.

Summer, Summer, Summer

You might think that summer would afford ample opportunity to blog, blog, blog. As you can see, that has not been the case. I apologize for the long delay between posts. There is so much to say, too much- so, "lemme sum up..."

We went to NJ, NYC, Long Island, the Poconos and Philly- all in one week. We've just about recovered. Seeing Charlotte, Josh, Leslie, Stephen and Ned was a blast, not to mention all the other relatives at the big B'nai Mitzvah. I was thrilled to be in New York City with Brad and the kids (and everybody else). We saw the former Lafer house in Long Island, and the amazing Torah covers made by Brad's mom and dad at their former Temple. And, we also stayed at both of Ned and Stephen's homes, which were cool in their own unique and totally different ways.

Mercedes is coming to town tomorrow and Leslie, Josh and Charlotte are coming next week.

School starts in 3 weeks.

On top of everything else we've been spending a lot of time at the pool and the library. I've been savoring the relaxed pace (well, somewhat relaxed) of summer at HOME.

I'm currently actually sewing new window treatments for the game room. I'll post pictures as soon as they are done. This is my first big project for the house.

May

I know, I know... Not much action here lately. May has been busy. Brad turned 40. We had a big party. Bishop graduated from high school. We celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. And, there were all of the end of the school year award ceremonies and field trips. Whew!

Denny got this shot of Bishop at graduation. I think it captures the excitement of the day perfectly. We are so proud of our graduate! Congratulations, Bishop! Way to go!

Party at our HOUSE! May 6th!

If you are reading this, you are invited to a BBQ on the 6th of May to celebrate our official housewarming and Brad's 40th birthday. If you didn't get an official invite in the mail, let me know and I'll get one right out.

Can't wait to see you all!

We LOVE it!!!

The most often asked question by everybody is: Do you love your new house?

And the answer is: YES!!! We love our new house! There is plenty of room for everybody. We feel grateful to live in such a wonderful home. Each day is a joy.

So, why haven't we been sharing the joy on the blog? Well, we've been overwhelmed with house tasks and we are not even close to unpacked! I'll try to keep you all better informed about our many home making projects from now on.

Don't forget, on May 6th we're breaking in the BBQ!

Settling In.... Slowly

After visiting the house so often, week after week, while it was being built, I was surprised when it didn't feel like home right away. For a week I felt like I was living in a bad hotel. It was the similar to the experience of being pregnant compared to the baby once he or she was born. They didn't seem to have anything to do with each other. Every day last week I came home to a place that didn't feel like my home.

Mitchell had the opposite experience. Even with a room full of boxes, he found his center right away. "It's home, Mom." There has never been a happier person.

Charlie got sick, unfortunately. He gets the first puker award. He missed three days of school right before an important solo vocal competition. Even stuffed up and still sick, he got a superior when he sang, "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes."

Bishop hasn't been home very often. He spends more time in Mandarin than here, but he does have the honor of being the first to unpack his room. Olivia is missing a neighborhood full of friends. She wants this house in our old neighborood.

Brad's so settled in he's having a BBQ. He put out the invitations before he bought the BBQ. There's a kink in the Direct TV set up, but once he gets that all worked out then he'll be competing with Mitchell for the happiest person in the house designation.

Slowly, slowly, slowly (or so it seems to me) we are getting unpacked. I'm not surprised that I live here every day when I walk in the door anymore. Maybe I'll win the happiest person award next week during Spring Break when I get to stay home every single day!

Living in the Big House

We are moved in! I'd post the pictures, but I can't find the camera. I can't find anything, actually. I don't know which light switch goes to what light or how to work the microwave. It is going to take months to unload the boxes! That hasn't kept Brad from inviting people over for a BBQ. It's the 18th if you are interested. Oh, we don't have a BBQ- yet.

We ran a load of dishes and marveled at how quiet our fancy new dishwasher runs- then we discovered that there was no water going into the dishwasher. Water is what makes the noise, by the way.

Mitchell lost his clothes. We searched all over for the hamper he thought he put them in. Eventually he found them in the dryer.

The first night I expected the kids to sleep in their own rooms for the very first time. Nope. Bishop and Mitchell spent the night out, and Charlie and Olivia slept in the game room. I'm having trouble sleeping because of the street light in our front yard that shines right in our window. No, we don't have blinds up yet. There just isn't enough time in a day to get everything done.

But, we are moved in and, we are very happy to be here.

WooHOO, We Are Home Owners!

Closing was a breeze- only took about an hour of signing, signing, signing and then we gathered up the kids and had our first meal in our new house.




First meal: A KFC picnic on a comforter spread out on the floor in the family room.
First toast: Champagne or Yoohoo, depending on your preference
First song played on the new CD player: Our House by Madness
Biggest thrill: Kids nesting in their own rooms!
First box unpacked: new bathroom accessories
Most fun: playing with the intercom
Greatest satisfaction: A key that fits in the door!

Birthday and the Eve of our Closing

Mitchell is SIXTEEN today. We went to dinner with PopPop and Ginny to celebrate. Last night we went to dinner, too. Here he is enjoying his one and only gift: an IPOD. As he gets older, the gifts are getting smaller and more expensive. He can get his license in September and then we'll have two teen drivers to worry about.

Speaking of teen drivers, Bishop has managed to wreck his car again without even driving it. He was sitting on his windshield today- yes, SITTING on the WINDSHIELD- when he cracked it with his butt. There is now a huge butt crack in his windshield-actually it is more like a butt print in glass. When he was four we had to tell him not to lick the car. Well, it had been raining... he was thirsty... I didn't think I'd need to actually tell him not to lick the car, and I didn't think I'd need to tell him not to sit on the WINDSHIELD!

As I sit here typing, Brad is telling Charlie and Olivia to be quiet and go to sleep. They are chattering away in their room. There are only a few nights left of chattering. Although all of them have needed their own rooms for awhile now, when we move, they'll miss the late night talk and giggle sessions, and I'll miss hearing them from just down the hall in my room.

Tomorrow at 4:30 is the long awaited closing. I'm feeling excited, tense, happy, overwhelmed, and a little sad, but mostly... ready to move on.

Walk-through

This morning at 9:30 we met with the builder and several other people to "walk through" our new home. This was our chance to learn about how to take care of the interior and exterior and for us to point out any last minute problems or issues. In some ways it feels like we've "walked through" an invisible portal into our new lives.

There were lots of people there- cleaning, painting, and installing. There was an unspoken deference for the "home owners." Who? Us? They kept saying, "It's your house." Really? Ours? Are you sure? Gosh, if they could only see what we are coming from- a well worn, cramped townhouse.

My friend LM said that when I moved into this house I'd be a whole new person. In a way, she was right, although I insisted that I am already that person when she said it. Maybe I'm not that person yet. Now everything seems surreal. Even after almost ten months of driving out to see the dirt every week and tracking the process so closely, it still seems amazing that this house will actually be OUR house.

The house is beautiful. And in five days it will officially be our beautiful house.

Locked OUT!

This was a frustrating weekend as we were LOCKED OUT of the house. grrrrrrrr! Also, they dropped our counter after it was poured a second time and broke it so they are making yet another new one. I hope that the third time is the charm.

Here's our new time frame: Walk-through on Thursday morning and closing next Tuesday afternoon.

And then, we can really call it home.