New Years Eve

Another crazy night at the Woodard house. We stayed home, grilled some steaks. We also had some sparklers. Which up until now have been illegal here, so it was a little bit of a treat. I was excited to see that the pictures turned out kind of cool.

Nate went to bed at 10, I surrendered at 11, and I'm not sure how late the girls lasted. A couple nights later we had the Dana's over for dinner and we pulled out Nate's gas fire and made s'mores. It was a fun weekend!

Meet Debra

Every First Friday of the month, all the Junior High kids at church get together at one of their houses and have a fun night. It's a great way for them all to gather and have good, group fun. In December they had a White Elephant gift exchange. I went to pick Megan up and I was a minute or two early, so I started to go through receipts in my purse. I felt something looking at me, so I glanced up and Debra was staring at me through the window. She about made me tinkle my pants. Oh my goodness. The hostess that month went to cosmetology school and had a garage full of lovely Debras. Megan was lucky enough to win her. Debra has been a bit of a trouble maker at our house. I'll be working in the kitchen, I'll look up and there she is, just staring at me. Megan is suprisingly good at sneaking in a room and leaving Debra. Sam absolutely hates Debra. So of course, she often finds her in the bathroom, in her room, or as you will see in the next post, on top of her Christmas presents. We are a sick, twisted family.

Christmas

Finally time to blog Christmas. This year Christmas was just perfect! Very low key, low energy and just the way we like it. On Christmas eve we made our traditional gingerbread houses while watching Elf. On Christmas Eve at my mom's house we always had french dip, so we did that here as well. We love to drive around and look at all the lights and (fingers crossed) get the girls relaxed and ready to go to bed. Because it doesn't matter how old you are, and it doesn't matter that mom and dad are the ones doing the presents, it's still hard to go to sleep on the big night!

I was excited to give my gifts this year. All Sam wanted was a washer/dryer set for her American girl dolls. I told her that if she is dying to do laundry, I have plenty, but she wasn't having any of that.

And for my Megan...I was really excited about this one. I wish I had a better picture. I bought her a Coach purse. She NEVER would have asked for anything like it, or expected it, so it was fun to give to her.

And for my man...I won that coupon sense contest and we made our goals at work, so I was able to buy him the binoculars that he has been wanting. Thank you to my brother to helping me pick out just the right ones. For a man that likes to hunt, this is a good gift :)

And my Christmas gift? No one took a picture of me on Christmas morning. hahaha. Well, I like to listen to my music really loud in my car. And even though it drives Nate nuts to get in my car and have the music blaring, he bought me new speakers and installed them for me! Aaaannnnnd....he got me a new laptop! My other one completely crashed and died. Thanks honey!
It was a lovely day. I was homesick, I admit, but a great, great day!

36

Nate turned the big 36 this December. We got wild and crazy with his presents. New socks...

A new tie...

AND a white shirt. Wild. And crazy.

And a lazy eye shot for good measure. Love this guy :) Happy birthday sweetie!

Autumn Activities

We stayed really busy this fall with our girl's activities. I don't know how parents of many kids do it, every week was go go go! and I only have two kids!


Megan stayed busy with her volleyball team. So did Nate. He was coach :)

Sam started a new ballet class and had her first recital!

Aaaaannnnd she had her first violin concert.

Despite the busy schedule, this is what I LIVE for! I love to see my girls expand on their talents and perform for others. They both did great and we had a fun time!

For a school project, Megan brought home some Plaster of Paris and an assignment...make a fossil. Easy enough. She didn't want to do a shell, she didn't want to to a plant...when she glanced up and saw my rooster. I have a pair of metal fighting roosters. They are awesome, don't judge me. Megan thought she would use one in the plaster to get a good bird foot impression. However, I guess she underestimated the weight of said metal rooster and walked away from her simple, easy to do project. It sank down too far and she was unable to get a good impression because she had to break it apart to get it off.

But the poor rooster! He looks like the mafia put a hit out on him and gave him a pair of cement shoes :) Hahahaha!

Great Day

Today was great. Nate had the day off and he got both girls off to school, so I slept until 8:30. All week I've been craving Nothing Bundt Cake....haven't mentioned it, just have wanted it. Nate was our running errands, and when he came home he was toting a box of bundtinis!!! They weather was great, open doors and windows, then Nate made bruschetta with dinner. And cut it up into tiny pieces so his brace face wife could bite into the crusty bread. I'm a happy girl.

You can't teach people to be lazy - either they have it, or they don't.

Lately I've been on a Mexican Wedding Cookie kick. I can't get enough of them. Tonight I made a new batch and I was telling Nate that I got smart and annihilated the walnuts that the recipe calls for so I don't have to chew them up. Right then Sam pipes up, "Wow mom, you must be really lazy if you don't want to chew up walnuts."
Well, yes, I am lazy. But not too lazy to CHEW! In my own defense, I just had my braces tightened and my teeth hurt like crazy! AND I'm not supposed to eat nuts, they can pop my brackets off. Thank you very much.
Guess I need to revamp my image around here....

2011

Dear 2011,
I have a good feeling about you. Don't screw it up.
Love,
Jen

2010

Dear 2010,
It's time to say goodbye. Good riddance. You've been a real bee-yotch. Thanks to you I've seen friends, family and loved ones go through things I would rather they wouldn't. Lost jobs, lost houses, lost babies, lost marriages, lost dreams....my eyes tear up just thinking about it. We've all given enough. It's time for a new start. If this was an election, I would Remember November your ass.
So here's to a New Year. To dreams realized, goals reached, smiles and a lighter load on all of our shoulders. May we all be able to find joy in our journey, use the knowledge we attained this last year and look forward to a better tomorrow. To a year filled with good news and happy hearts.