Pictures from Jack's 2nd birthday party

We had Jack's birthday party a couple of weekends ago. Here are a few pics of the fun day...




Eating cake with his buddies


My friend Melanie and her boys

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas to my Family and Friends. Here's our Christmas week in pictures and quick review.




The Opening of Presents



New Outfit from Grandma D!


The favorite gifts of Christmas 2010



helping with the baking


preps for Christmas Coffee Cake

Frosty

The week of Christmas we had a beautiful frost! It lasted about half the day.

Little Guy is TWO!

My baby is two years old today!

Jack, you are such a sweet, lovable, happy, sometimes hot-tempered, little boy. I love you lots and lots!

What Jack is like at two:

• Talking lots and lots! He can get his point across almost clearly now. He speaks in small sentences often.
  
• He loves Buzz Lightyear and Cars.
  
• If we let him, he'd live on milk alone.
• He loves to play with his sister.
• He knows how to fight back with sister too!
• He enjoys going to school now - it was a rocky start.
  
• For the most part, he is a good sleeper. He is also our alarm clock. He almost always gets up around 6:30am.
• He loves to cuddle.
• If he could be outside all year round, he would. I wonder if he might be outdoorsy.
  
• He gives me a hug and a kiss before I go to work. He doesn't let me forget.
  
• He loves to play with his toy bus, the train set and the Leap Frog fridge letter game.
  
• He loves music. He can muddle his way through the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle little star and a few other kiddie songs.
  

Love you always Jack!!!

Lily Sings Away in a Manger

Lily has been practicing her Christmas songs at school. Here is one of her performances.

North Carolina Pics

So, I'm behind in my blogging. I must say, Facebook has taken away some of my blogging inspiration. However, I have some pictures from my North Carolina Trip and I'll post those here as well. I feel quite fortunate to have seen the beach twice in two years!


The beach is literally across the street from Bonnie and Mark


Mark, Bonnie and Matthew


My Dad spoiling Bonnie's dog, Sydney


Bonnie, Matthew and Mom


Mom, Matthew and me


Sisters on the beach (sounds like a drink)


Mark and Bonnie at Firehouse Subs - a great sandwich spot!


Matthew and me at Firehouse


This was as close as I got to touching my nephew, Grant *sniff sniff*

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving this year. David made lasagna and a pork roast. I made mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and two pies: pumpkin and key lime. David's Dad came over and had dinner with us. My friend, Christine stopped by that night and hung out with us as well. It was a good day!

Congratulations Christie!

My sister Christie and her boyfriend Jesse got engaged this week. Congratulations sister! Looking forward to your wedding!!

A nice surprise

Thursday I got a phone call from an old friend. He lives in New York City and was in Denver for just two days. The kids and I got to have breakfast with him on Friday morning. Thanks Josh! Great to see you again!

Mmm Chocolate Cake

Grant!

My nephew, Grant was born on Sunday, November 7th. Congrats Bonnie and Mark!

I flew to North Carolina to see my sister, Bonnie and in hopes, Grant. I flew out on Bonnie's due date. I was to be in NC Thursday to Sunday. Bonnie went into labor Friday night, so in my mind, I was certain to see Grant. Well, Bonnie had a long, hard labor (I admire you sister! You did a great job!) and Grant finally came at 12:22pm. I had to leave for the airport at noon. 20 minutes! 20 minutes! Yes, I was crying at the airport and when I think about it, I still cry. I really, really, really wanted to meet Grant. Bonnie said I helped her through her labor, so perhaps that was why I was there early.

Grant, your Auntie Jenny loves you and hopes to see you really soon!

Shadow Pic 2010

I love the fall shadows! This is my traditional family shadow picture for 2010. It's from my phone as I kept forgetting to bring my camera while checking our mail or going for a walk.

School Picture

Lily had her school picture done this last week. Not too bad for the first ever school pic!

Going out to eat...

This last weekend, we went out for pizza. I think David's face says it all. Yea, not the best outing! We'll try again soon.

My future coffee drinker

Jack has learned what "hot" means. He likes to take my coffee cup - touch it - and then say "hot! hot!". The other day he decided to try my coffee. Well, he was just putting his lips to the cup and pretending to drink. I foresee a future of family coffee drinkers.

Dinner Party

David and I are in a monthly Dinner Club. I look forward to these outings as this tends to be David and my "date night" for the month. This is a great group of foodies and we always have good conversation and delicious food. This month we had soup night. We had chili, chicken tortilla soup and corn chowder. We also had an appetizers of queso blanco. yum yum! I was so full I had to stand the rest of the night!
This month we met at Ken and Cheryl's new home in Peyton. Beautiful, cozy home and a nice view!



The Ladies: Betsy, Lisa, me and Cheryl


Date night!

Lifetime Member

Today I made Lifetime Member of Weight Watchers! This means I have been at or below my goal weight for 6 weeks. Now I don't have to pay to attend meetings anymore! I'm required to weigh in once a month to keep my status. I still plan to go once a week as I really enjoy my time with my WW pal, Nicole.

Here's a before and after pic. I normally don't like full length pictures of myself. This before picture took awhile for me to find. In total, I lost 38 lbs! I feel oh so much better and I think this is something I can maintain. I have lots of great support and for me, that is key!

Helping to Save the Ta-Tas

This weekend I attended the 4th Annual Stampin' For the Cure. This group raised $6100.00 for Susan G. Komen. The Stampin' Up Demonstrators put in a lot of time, effort and their own money for this event. Thank you Kimberly, Lisa, Betsy and Christy! We made 7 beautiful cards. It was a nice time for creativity, friendship and raising money for a great cause. I was thinking of my cousin Cindy quite a bit. Miss her lots!



One of the cards we made.


Kimberly and Lisa - Kimberly decided to demonstrate why we were stamping today. :)


My good friend, Betsy. Betsy, thanks for volunteering your time at the event - you are such a sweet person and I'm so glad I know you!


Miss Kimberly. Kimberly started this event 4 years ago. Thanks girl for all your hard work and talent! Many many women will benefit from your efforts.


My good friend, Lisa. Lisa, thank you for your time, energy and money you put in this weekend. You are a great person!

September just flew by

It's September 25th. Happy Birthday Betsy!! It's officially fall. I cannot believe how this year is breezing by. Life is good. We have had our fair share of bumps in the road as most of us have. The kids both had one night where they got sick, but thankfully it was mild and by the next day they felt healthy again. Jack has been banging his head once again - yet it's been almost a week since he last incident, so hopefully it's done for now. His last tooth finally popped through and I have a sneaky suspicion his head banging was partly teething. Next, his two year molars. ho hum.

Lily started preschool this year and Jack started Mom's morning out. This was week three. Jack is still crying when I leave him, but the teachers tell me it's only for about 5 minutes now. Apparently, the first day he cried for almost 45 minutes.

Below are the pics from the 1st day of school. Lily insisted on wearing her jean dress. It's a bit too big and I made her wear a shirt underneath. Quite the fashion statement she is. Jack didn't want to pose for a picture, so this was more of a candid shot...




I'm still making a bit of time to knit and crochet and even stamp! Below is a crocheted headband I made the other weekend. These are quick and easy and can be done in one day. I used this pattern.



And I even wore the headband the next day!


I have more to blog about, but that will have to be later. Mommyhood is calling.

playing with my camera

I have a fairly simple camera. I'm not a photographer. (David is our family photographer. He is very talented and I think he should spend more time on that hobby). I have never taken any photography classes/courses. I was messing around with the "manual" settings and found Sepia. I love the way this picture turned out. I want to play around with my camera some more and see what fun things it does. Perhaps down the road I can take a beginning photography course. Gotta keep up with my Gemini self by dabbling in many things and mastering none - hee hee.

Indiana 2010

Lily and I went to Indiana over Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time with family and friends. We went to Alex's wedding and had Bonnie's baby shower. I love my time in the Hoosierland!



Lily and one of her faves - her Abba!


with Nana



Dancing with the beautiful bride, Alex.


Lily was so excited to see Alex in her wedding dress.


Lily got to hang out with her new friend, Lexi at Symphony on the Prairie


Cousin Cassie!!



Cousin Katie!


Siblings!
Bonnie, Mark, Christie, Matt, me, Carrie and Jesse


Sisters! Christie, me, Bonnie