A Quiet New Years Eve

Tonight we spent a quiet New Years Eve at home. Jordan was hired to babysat his cousin tonight and will sleep over so his aunt/uncle won’t have to bring him home.
So tonight we took down our Christmas tree. I am always amazed at how much more room there is in the living room once we take the tree down. Tomorrow Todd and Jordan are supposed to take down the outside lights but I am not sure they are going to be able to do it, we are getting a nice snow storm right now and the temperature is really supposed to drop. So tonight I made some snacks for the 3 of us and we played a game of Scrabble. Between the 3 of us we used all but four tiles/letters. After subtracting the unused letters, Ethan and I tied for 1st with 137 points. Todd had the lowest score but he didn’t have any tiles left so in a way he won too. After the Scrabble game, Ethan picked the DVD Monty Python and the Holy Grail for us to watch. Not sure if midnight will come before the movie ends or the movie will end before midnight strikes.

Disney's Enchanted

I went with my sister today and saw the matinee of Enchanted



This is a corny, cute, girly movie. As a mother of 2 boys there was just a brief moment during the movie that I wish I had a little girl that I could have taken to see this movie. The movie had some funny parts and was enjoyable. This is definitely a movie for girls 4 to about 12 or the young at heart who someday hope to find their prince charming.

He was robbed

Ethan had a wrestling meet today in Bartlett.
There were a total of 6 schools there and we found out that they were wrestling all the schools. This was going to be a long day!
It seemed DGS brought all their mid-weight to heavy weight wrestlers today and very few from other weight classes. We ended up forfeiting over 1/2 of our matches.
There were 3-171 wrestlers 5-189 wrestlers and 3-215 wrestlers.
Ethan got to wrestle twice but unfortunately he was pinned in both matches.
The match agents Bartlett was a joke. We think they slipped the ref a little extra on the home team mat to let the home team win all their matches.
Ethan litterally had the Bartlett guy on his back pinned 4 times during his match and the ref wouldn't call it. But the second the guy got Ethan on his back the Ref called a pin.
Talking with other parents from other teams; they noticed that also when their school was up against Bartlett.

Oh well what can you do, at least we tapped Ethan's match and the tape doesn't lie...

2 For Dinner

The boys were invited to an 18th birthday celebration for their friend Mike at Papa Passero's which included dinner and arcade games. So it was just Todd and I for dinner.

We picked Uncle Bub's BBQ in Westmont.


The food was pretty decent; I had a pulled pork BBQ sandwich with a side of home style green beans and fried macaroni and cheese. Todd picked the brisket sandwich with a side of hand cut french fries and cole slaw.
Uncle Bub's has won awards at Ribfest in the past for best sauce and best ribs.
I thought the regular sauce was on the sweet side and the spicy wasn't really that spicy but it too had a sweet taste to it. They were good just wasn't expecting sweet. I liked the fried mac and cheese; it was really good warm but once it turned cooled it wasn't as good. Just like must fried items, it tastes better hot.
I can cross this restaurant of my list of places I would like to try sometime.

5 Changes for 2008 I hope….

I think mentally I would rather call them changes then resolutions

1) Read more. I have 3 books I would like to read in the 1st part of the New Year. I actually want to read more then just these 3 books in 2008; the 3 books would be just a start.

2) Like almost everyone else’s New Years list; lose weight and keep it off. When I put my mind to it and focus I am really successful losing weight, that’s not really the hard part for me. The hard part is for me to keep it off and not find myself yet again with the weight back on.

3) Say something positive everyday.

4) Save money, since September it seems like whenever we are putting money into savings we are withdrawing it to cover extra expenses that have come up every month. Wrestling, Chess, Class Ring, Pre-College expenses, Christmas.

5) Organize. At work I am very organized, before I leave for the day everything on my desk is in its appropriate spot. But when I am home, I just don’t have the ambition to organize. My main organizing problem is with information I receive that I would like to save, but where? Mostly these papers and such get put in a box and occasionally I go through the box and end up just either throwing this information in the garbage or throwing it back in the box still not knowing what to do with it.

Christmas Photos

Below are some pictures taken Christmas morning and discriptions below about the photo.

This is me Christmas morning. I actually received both Will Ferrell SNL DVD's


2 pictures below, Todd receiving his boots and him wearing them.



Ethan opening a gift


This one is kind of dark
Jordan receiving his Simpson Movie Poster

My Favorite Christmas Song sung by one of my Favorite Artists

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

A DVD Christmas

Here is a list of the DVD's that we received for Christmas.

300
The Prophey 1
The Prophey 2
Sonny and Cher Ultimate Collection
Walt Disney's Jungle Book
Unbreakable
Disney Pixar Ratatouille
Disney Pixar-Pixar Short Films Collection
Walt Disney's Pirates of the Carribbean At World's End
Dreamworks Shrek the Third
SNL The Best of Will Farrell
SNL The Best of Will Farrell Vol 2
Ghostbusters
The Simpsons Movie
Garfield and Friends Vol 1(the cartoon tv shows)

Boy we have alot of DVD's to watch!!!

Dillinger and Christmas

This morning Dillinger our dog woke 3 of us up early (5:15am), probably to wish us a Merry Christmas and he wants his presents. We can't put presents under the tree until Christmas Eve because Dillinger thinks they are his. Dillinger goes around sniffing them and sometimes even grabs them with his mouth to try and open them.
When we put the presents under the tree last night we placed his gifts on the book shelf so he couldn't get to them. The 4 of us had to constantly monitor him to stay away from the tree.
Ethan suggested that the dog sleep in his room with the door closed to keep Dillinger from going to the presents while we slept. Good idea!
Now Todd, Jordan, Dillinger and I are sitting in the living room by the Christmas tree chit chatting. Once Ethan gets up we open presents making sure Dillinger gets one of his 1st. If he wasn't a dog I would think he was a 4 year old child.
If you don't believe this, below is a picture of Dillinger opening his birthday gift on December 16th

And here is Dillinger with his gift

Christmas Family Get Together

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. My sisters and their families came by to celebrate. We had lots of good food and presents for everyone.
Below is our family picture taken yesterday. I got creative and added the date.



Ethan with his cool pajama bottoms:

yes, those are lounge pants and not jeans
and Jordan with his bendable Simpson characters

Ahhh Good Times!

Elmo's Christmas Countdown

In continuing our Christmas special watching, we set our DVR to record Elmo’s Christmas Countdown tonight but we actually were able to sit and watch it at the time scheduled then having to watch it later.
Because of Oscar, Elmo and Abby need a miracle to help Stiller the Elf and his sidekick Stan the snowball find the missing numbered boxes of the Christmas Counter-Downer. Ben Stiller supplies his voice for Stiller the Elf and Charles Gibson provides the voice of the reindeer anchorman Charles Blitzen. Other celebrities include: Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Brad Paisley. But my favorite was The Count and Ty Penningtion with their rendition of I Saw Three Ships; but it ends up being more then 3 ships in The Counts version of the song. A very enjoyable Christmas special.

Holiday Cookies

Yesterday I divided up all the holiday cookies that were made by me and the participants of my cookie exchange to be given to our neighbors, work and for us.
The boys took the cookies to the neighbors as a thank you for hiring them throughout the year doing yard work and pet watching. We in return were given a thank you gift from one of the neighbors. An ice bucket filled with movie treats and a gift card to Blockbusters. What a wonderful surprise. I took a tray of cookies to work and was complimented on them. I confessed that I didn't make all of them. It kind of made me ponder opening a cookie store.

Frosty the Snowman & Frosty Returns

Have you ever watched a movie and really enjoyed it and then a few years later they release the sequel and it's a dud? Well that in my opinion is Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns. Todd and I watched both of the holiday specials tonight. In Frosty the Snowman, you root for Frosty and Karen. This is a real cute animated storyline with great voice actors portraying the characters. Jimmy Dirante fills in as the narrator; but my personal favorite is the voice of Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle the evil magician. Leave it to Santa to come and save Frosty and blackmail Professor Hinkel.
As Frosty would say: "Happy Birthday!"

Happy 16th Birthday Jordan and Happy 10th Birthday Dillinger

Today we celebrated Jordan's 16th birhtday. 16 on the 16th. He was up very early, wanted his presents of course. He had to wait until everyone was up before he was able to enjoy his gifts. He is just a few months away from getting his drivers license. Oh Boy!!!!
We also purchased a few dog treats for Dillinger wrapped them up and had him tear the paper to get to them. For a dog, he does a pretty good job opening gifts. We had a pretty big snowfall yesterday so all Dillinger wanted to do these last 2 days is spend time outside. He loves the snow.
I took a few pictures from today's events and will post them after we have cake later on.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

This morning we threw in the DVD The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
I really like this version the best. Martin Short really makes the movie. His acting at times can be over the top; but this time it works for the Jack Frost character.
I just can imagine the fun Tim and Martin had during the taping of this film.



A good story that fits in great in the Santa Clause trilogy

2nd Period Pin

I had the opportunity to go see Ethan wrestle today at Oswego High School. It was a Quad match and he was only going to wrestle once. He finally made weight to wrestled 189. The way the match started I thought he was going to get pinned, he kept reaching for the guy and with this opening, the opponent was taking advantage of that.
Right before the 1st period ended Ethan had the guy on his back, he only needed to get his arm out from under the guy and hold him down for a pin. Of course at this time the buzzer went off. (I hate when that happens.)
2nd period, again Ethan started reaching for the guy and I think Ethan finally realized what he was doing wrong. The opponent took the shot, had a good grip on Ethan and they both went down, I thought that's it, he's going to roll Ethan and get a pin, but Ethan got out of the grip and quickly turned on the guy. Ethan got the guy on his back; all Ethan had to do is get the guys right shoulder down. Everyone kept yelling for Ethan to lift his head. I think it took all of the DGS wrestlers and parents to get Ethan's attention. Ethan lifted his head and got the pin. I took pictures but have to wait until they are developed, my old 35mm takes better pictures then my digital does in gymnasiums.

A Christmas Story

We spent the rest of the evening watching A Christmas Story.
Who doesn't love this story of a young boys quest for his dream Christmas present.

Here's what Peter Billingsley/Ralphie looks like today?

Art Show Winter 2007

We attended the art display at Ethan’s high school tonight. They have quite a variety of Medias displayed. On display are Ceramic, Basic Design, Jewelry, Painting, Drawing & Photography each showing the art work from level 1 to the advanced levels. Ethan's class is painting I, this is the 1st time he had ever taken a painting class. 4 of his paintings are on display along with the group collage. For this collage, each student painted a square, then assembled the squares to produce a painting. Ethan’s square is the top right.

He did these 2 bottles


Green Onions

But my favorite one is this dog.

Miracle on 34th Street 1973

I had a flash back to the 70's tonight. We watched the 1973 version of Miracle on 34th Street tonight. I have always liked Sebastian Cabot and he makes a great Santa in this version. An all star cast which also includes Jim Backus, Roddy McDowell, David Hartman & David Doyle just to name a few. This doesn't beat the classic black and white 1947 version but for a nostalgic look at the past, this is a good trip.

I Want A Dog For Christmas Charlie Brown

Sat down and watched another holiday special tonight. I have never seen I Want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown before. This one features Lucy & Linus' brother ReRun. He is such a trip in this special. They gave this character all the best lines. Enjoyable family special, I don't think it will ever be considered a "classic" but still fun to watch.

Boston Massacre

Jordan spent the whole day at a Chess tournament today.
As he said Loss, Win, Loss, Loss. His win was a Boston Massacre. HUH?
That would be a 4 move Check Mate. He said one of his team members did a 2 move Check Mate.

Cookies

I spent the better part of the afternoon baking 2 different batches of Cookies for my annual cookie exchange. I made Confetti Snowball and Eggnog Snickerdoodles.
I will have everyone over tomorrow for the exchange. I will save a tray of cookies for Christmas and give the rest out as gifts.
YUMMY!!!

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Yet another Christmas special was watched tonight.
The story of Santa Clause from birth to adulthood is told during this stop animation special. The names of some of the characters are rather funny; like Burgermeister Meisterburger. The voice of Mickey Rooney as Santa and Fred Astire as the Narrator is a large part of why this holiday specail became a classic.

Holding Letter

My sister sent me this picture today.
This is Ethan holding his acceptance letter for Columbia College.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Todd and I watched another Christmas special tonight. The boys had no interest in watching Rudolph. We both kept pointing out things we liked, disliked and remembered about the show while watching it. Got to love Burl Ives as the voice of the snowman though! Not one of my favorite holiday specials from my childhood.

Flagfall

Not being a Chess player I have no clue what this meant until tonight.
My son Jordan plays Chess for his High School team. He is the 1st to admit he is not the best Chess player, he makes moves without thinking sometimes and then realizes once he lets go of the piece what he did wrong. Today's meet he must have taken his time and thought about his moves because he won his game by a Flagfall.
A flagfall is when the opponent runs out of time. It is considered the same amount of points as an actual win. YEA for Jordan!!!

Birthday Cake

We celebrated Ethan's 18th birthday and Jordan's 16th birthday with my sisters and family this weekend.
Jordan made this cake and frosting by scratch (no Duncan Hines here)


Here is a picture of the birthday boys:


And one of the cousins:

Sympathy Card

Todd's Aunt Bobette pasted away late week and we were unable to attend her funeral.
I made this card for the family to send them our heartfelt thoughts.

College Bound

We found out this afternoon's mail that our oldest son Ethan has been accepted at Columbia College Chicago.


We are such proud parents, we are beaming. Columbia College is a visual,performing,
media and communication art school. Ethan has had a dream to be an animator since he was in 5th grade and we are so happy that he has a vision and goals that he is following.