Monday, December 15, 2008

Ho Ho Ho


We had a special visitor to our house last Thursday! SANTA CAME! We had our annual Xmas block party bash with Santa's visit being the highlight. All the kids (13 of them) had time to sit on Santa's lap and rattle off requests for Xmas presents. Just so there was no errors, Jet and Charlie supplied Santa with lists ... with pictures! As you can see ... they were leaving no margin for error. Somehow, I bet Santa will come through. Friday was a little rough for all of us. We were up past bedtimes and that led to early bedtimes on Friday ... especially for Charlie and I since we had Tae Kwon Do belt testing on Saturday.








Yes, Charlie moved up a belt level to Orange and I am no longer a rookie as I moved to a Yellow belt. Charlie ofcourse woo'd the crowd as he performed his moves. He ended up with quite a cheering squad applauding his form, kicks and board break. He upstaged us all.



I did receive an award patch for best form .... having to perform a 20 step stance of low blocks and punches as part of the requirements. I also had to do one step sparring (low, mid, high blocks), 4 kick series and break a 1/2" board with a single punch. Watch out Chris, I have some power in my moves now! It's a great workout. I never leave Master Jeon's without a major sweat and it's so much fun. It's a great builder of core and beats being a treadmill rat.














We are in the crazy last week before the Holidays ... staring down parties, school events, birthdays and outside activities. I'll be ready for some nog and rest on Christmas day.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Idiot!

Yesterday Charlie, Jet and myself were driving to Tae Kwon Do. It was dark, sleeting and really slick. I was waiting to cross an intersection and madly flashing my lights at a car that hadn't turn their lights on yet. Well the idiot ignored me.

Me: (irritated and loudly) Turn on your lights you idiot.

Jet: Mom, which car doesn't have it's lights on?

Charlie, in reply to Jet: The Idiots car.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

A Break From The Rush!



The holiday rush is on: parties, events, birthdays and getting ready for Christmas. We've already had some nice snowfall which add to the Holiday mood. We took a break from cards and cookie baking to enjoy the snowfall by hitting a local sledding hill. It was a balmy 15 degrees but funny thing is when you are outfitted correctly ... It feels as comfortable as when it's 80 degrees. Chicago planners have designated green space called "forest preserves" around the area (much like Central Park in NY). We are lucky to have several preserves within 5 miles of our house including this sledding hill. Jet LOVED sledding the hill, including several races against his dad.
Charlie, on the other hand, took one trip down and decided that his time was better spent at the top of the hill. When I coaxed him to join me on a sled, he went down the hill with his hands over his eyes and face buried against my coat. The only other time that I was able to get him back on the sled was to ride down the hill to our van. After about 10 rides down, Jet was tuckered out. On our way home, Charlie said next time Jet and I could go sledding and he would stay home. Charlie said he's go to the beach and play in the sand to which Jet remarked that's when he'd stay home and Charlie and I could go. Jet doesn't care for sand. They're not making it easy to decide vacation destination spots are they!




Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Things Change, Things Stay The Same!

Per my last blog, this is the fourth year that we have gotten a nice snow in the first two weeks of December. Here's proof! A lot changes and a lot stays the same. I think we have gotten our $$'s worth out of the blue winter coat! 2005









2006----->




<-------2007
------->2008

Monday, December 1, 2008

It's a winter wonderland!

We are going on our fourth winter in Chicagoland. Every year that we've lived here, the first snow has come in the first two weeks of December. It's the moist heavy stuff ... good for shoveling, snowball fights and snowman building. Now mind you, two days ago, Saturday, it was a balmy 47 degrees and every neighbor was out in vests or sweaters putting up holiday lights. We are all grateful for that respite ... sure beats hanging lights in 30 degree weather and snow.


Jet and I got busy clearing the driveway with shovels while Charlie was at preschool today. Our snowblower made a trip to the hardware store for repairs. FYI - gas is only good for 30-45 days ... always always empty the tank at the end of the season (Unfortunately, the lawnmower will probably be making the same trip in the spring). Anyways, I promised the boys a sled ride after Charlie gets home.

We hope everyone reading this blog had a great thanksgiving. We sure did! Uncle Dave, Aunt Gina and cousins Drew and Anna made the trek from Omaha to join us for the holiday. It was a great visit. The neighbors were well aware that the Nebraska relatives were here when LITTLE RED (a Nebraska Husker Mascot) made his appearance on our front porch for the weekend. Little to describe his size is not quite accurate as you can see, He's at least 10' tall with a goofy smile on his face. And in case the neighbors didn't get enough of Little Red during the day, he lights up at night for all to see.

All I can say is that we are thankful that Nebraska won the game and nobody knifed Little Red to deflate him, put him in a compromising position (known to happen to the Xmas deer in our hood), or dressed him in drag. All was well when he went home on Saturday.
Here's a few things that we are thankful for and reflected on this Thanksgiving:
1. Aunt Penny's cancer is in remission! A big hip hip hooray!
2. Grandpa's 3 broken ribs and punctured lung are mending. He seems back to his old self.
3. Our friends - the Murphy's - in India are safe and sound. We are ready to have them back stateside.
4. Aunt Dodie is on the mend for a few surgeries.
There's more but it's all Gravy (sorry the turkey day pun) after the list above.