At least it's Wednesday........Wait, what?!!

Seriously? It's only Wednesday?! I thought for sure it was 2013 already....(Sigh) This week has been dragging worse than last week by far!

But there have been some bright spots since I last wrote...of which I will tell a little!!
                      (or a lot, it depends on how long the kids take to realize I'm on the computer)

Ok--so last post our week was uneventful (to say the least), and Erick was home.

                                                          Part of the week.

Which is far better than this week--as he has seen the kids....well, not since Monday. And even then they had to go to bed only a few minutes after he was home.

"Why is he so busy?" you may ask... I will tell you. It's a combination of pep band, basketball tournaments,  (that never seem to end. ever.) and yet even more basketball games. That's it in a nutshell.

                       On to the bright spots!!

We had our Christmas Concert with Greenville College and that went as well as expected. We were even broadcast on the internet via the radio! That was a first for me, I think. The boys got to play with their fav, Amanda, while we were performing so it was a win-win-win situation. (win #1--they had super fun win #2--we were on the radio and win #3--Christmas concerts are done til next year!!) ((Bonus!!))

When we got back, we had some visitors from the far of Western Lands of Utah. Yep---Mia and Dennis and Taicy.

And Dad and Mom.

           Its always fun to see family around the holidays!

Of course, it was past their bed times, so all the kids went to bed (even though they all really wanted to run around and play)...and we adults didn't stay up too much later either.

Well, the last few days we spent quality time---reminding the kids that  "no, you must share the toys", visiting WalMart for things that we forgot, watching Disney movies (for the 1,000th time for me) and other fun South-Central IL types of activities.

(or nothing....)

It really was fun--then everyone had to head back today, and the boys are showing how sad they are by chasing each other around the house.

So now, I remember that its only Wednesday. And I'll have to find something fun to do, at some point.

Maybe I'll...

.....

Til next time-- Enjoy the cute pics of the boys!!

Only a Week went By...

Last week-- it seemed to go on for-ev-er--is finally over and now, this next week should be a little less busy. By which I mean, Erick may be home one or two nights before the boys go to bed at 9.

Yay!

Let's see...what to add to my most recent post....

Besides Erick being gone for most of the week, there wasn't a whole lot going on for me and the boys. We had band rehearsal Monday night, church activities on Wednesday night....Ooh! Friday, I was able to go to our MOPs bunco game night. That was pretty fun. I hadn't played bunco before (it was pretty easy to learn) and neither had a few other ladies there, so it was just a night of fun and some really tasty goodies.  Saturday we had our church Christmas activity and there was a pretty good turn out! The food was good and it was really fun to see the youth present a nativity play.

Today Miles went into nursery at church for the first time. It was so easy! He walked in and started to play. The only problem was--Jackson. From what Erick was told, Jackson kept bugging Miles. The whole time.  Oh well. Jackson will move on into sunbeams (the next class up) in a few weeks anyways.

So I think I can say this week was a pretty good one.

Well, this week we have one regular rehearsal and a dress rehearsal and then no more Christmas music! ((double yay!!))  Ok, ok...maybe I'm still not ready to be in the Christmas season. Gimme a break, though, since it's December 2 and it was 65 degrees today (!!)

I'll leave you with that, I think, and add a couple of pictures-- I can't post with out adding some pictures--Older ones, but still good!

I can't believe how time flies!

I got a text today asking me if I still had a blog...and I had to stop and think about it...when was the last time I posted any thing on my blog??....2010.

Lame.

So, thanks, Ashley!! I'm going to (try) and get into a new habit of posting something. At least one a week.

Don't quote me on that though.

To start, things have changed quite a bit for our family since 2010....most notably because we went from a family of 3 to a family of 4. (that really does make a difference!!) But before all that---I have to talk about our big move!! Erick won a job here in South-Central IL back in 2010 and so we are living in Effingham. Not the town He teaches in. And that's o.k. It makes life a little easier to live a bit down the road...saves us from being TP'd by His students.  Erick really loves his job--He teaches 7-12 middle/high school band, choir and music classes. (basically, He IS the arts program) We couldn't have picked a better group of people for him to work for and with.

Ok, back to the most notable change: Miles Andrew (for those of you who didn't know) was born June 1, 2011. And he is awesome! He is just as sweet and cute as can be. Currently his nickname is The Falcon, for Falcon for short. ((Why, you may ask, Why would you give your sweet little boy that nickname?)) Well, because he likes to screech like one. All the time. For a reason. Or no reason at all. Its entertaining--until Jackson joins in and it becomes like a miniature falcon zoo in the house....Then I need to turn a movie on so they pipe down. And maybe get 10 minutes of quiet....

Another big change is now I have access to a vehicle and do not have to stay home all day--or drive Erick to work so I can have a way to get around. That is totally awesome. You don't realize how great it is to have a ride until you are stuck. At home. All the time. Boring! My loving, wonderful and fabulous Parental Units have been kind enough to lend us one of their cars. So Generous!! I can't thank them enough for the use of the car.

 Since I have the car to use, I am able to do lots of great things--I teach piano lessons to a wide range of students (ages 5-18 right now) and I've been doing that since we moved here. I attend our local MOPs group (which is super awesome, BTW, you should join one by you) and I really enjoy having a few Friday mornings to socialize and have fun while the boys play and make new friends. I had no idea how much I needed a group like this until I joined up. (Thanks, Jessica, for inviting me along last April!)....In January I'll be starting my adjunct faculty job with Kaskaskia College. Yep--you read that right. You can call me Professor if you like ((grin!!)) I just hope I get enough students for my course (Intro to American Music History) to fly. I'll be teaching one night a week for three hours straight. Long, but short at the same time. I'm really excited (and super nervous) about this. But I believe I will do well.

Hmm...I think that all hits the major stuff...at least that I can think of now...so, I suppose I'll end there.

Check out these pics--Look how much Jackson has changed!! Holy Moly!

Blog Overload!!....

Until next time...which will hopefully not be two years from now......

Here's some Christmas pics!! In two pictures, Jackson is playing with a dancing, singing version of the Abominable Snowman from the Rudolf cartoons---he really liked the soft fur and silly dance moves! And who can resist an Abominable Snowman singing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"?!??

In another pic, Uncle Andrew is holding Jackson. Both are sporting their Xmas digs--Jackson in his cute "1st Christmas" suit and Andy wearing his "Santa Claws" lobster shirt. Classy.

And Aunt Mia is holding a Jackson playing with some wrapping paper from some present. Who cares about the present? Let's just enjoy the paper.

Until it gets tossed.

Well, I'm still waiting to find Christmas pictures....I pulled out one card and there was only one picture on it-- the one we used for our cards this year.

Speaking of our cards, we still have a bunch to send....I hope no one's offended if they get their Xmas card late!

Here's some pictures of Jack---playing in his crib and bouncer....

Christmas was so great---we will get our pictures on here soon---just you wait and see!!!

Its not easy to keep up with the blog some days, and Jackson is always doing something new (even if its small). Just a week or so ago, we started putting him in his jumper (I'll get pictures of that up sometime). Its a stationary play set and the seat can turn 360 degrees, so he can play with all the different toys. At first, he couldn't really reach his feet to the floor--even on the lowest level. But now, he can TOTALLY reach and has turned himself all the way around!  He loves the frog toy and while in the bouncer, Jackson has tried to eat the caterpillars on the seat cover. Now THAT is funny to see--he leans forward and tries to get those caterpillars. Ha! I hope I can catch him doing it on camera sometime.

We are all looking forward to Christmas vacation--Erick will have two weeks off, which he is really looking forward to. Who wouldn't?