Lots of Happy!!

Happy Birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Graduation, Happy New Year and Happy Valentine’s Day!  Whew!!  Lots of Happy!  Now it’s the dead of winter and I am so ready for Happy Spring!  We can’t even get out of the teens here in Pennsylvania!  It is COLD!!  I don’t mind the snow but when you can’t get warm that’s when I say enough is enough!  Even Ozzie can’t get warm!

Joe turned 50 in November and I had a party with family at our house.  I have to say I outdid myself and we had so much food and tons of fun!  I made pull pork, bar-b-que sausage, grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese, baked spaghetti, pepperoni dip, spinach dip, fresh fruit tray, and I made mini dessert cups of peanut butter pie, chocolate cream pie, key lime pie and pumpkin pie!

Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays!  Eating and shopping!  What could be more fun than that!?  Joe even helped me bake mini apple and blueberry turnovers!

December 13, 2014 Grande Graduated from College with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice!!  What a happy day!  

Grande and his Girlfriend 

Short, Grande and Tall

Joe, Grande and I

It was also Espresso’s 1^st birthday party which we had to miss most of it because of the graduation which was so sad but we still made it in time to see him!

My Dad making Christmas Cookies!  Isn’t that adorable!

Christmas Eve was our usual going to Church then out to dinner tradition.  We went to The Melting Pot which is where Tall and Grande work.  It was so good!  Have you ever been to one?  It is a fondue restaurant.  

Then afterward we went over to Venti and Mocha’s for a Christmas Eve Party.  They got Espresso a ball pit and boy does he love it!

How cute is Espresso and Dudley?

The holidays were great!  It was so nice to have a normal one compared to last year when Joe wasn’t home.  I could see it on the kids faces that they too were so thankful for a “happy” holiday.

I came home to this the other day…..how sweet is that?

We got to spend some time with Espresso Monday.  He is getting so big and just so much fun!

 

Ozzie and Maya

Not a trace!!!

There is not a trace of Christmas left in my house!!  The tree was put away this morning right along with all the decorations around the house.  I know some of you think that is terrible but for me it is a relief!  I like when things are back to normal and it seems like so much clutter is around with all the decorations!  I went through the 10 bins of decorations in the basement too and I have 5 huge bags of donations to get rid of.  Whew!!

We had a really great Christmas! 

  Grande, Short and Tall coming down to see what Santa left!

Grande and Tall with their new hats to keep them warm at college!

This was Tall's favorite gift!  He was always complaining how cold he is at school and he said he can't wait to wear them at college!  lol...only Tall!!

Dinner at my parents house...3 of my boys with 3 of my nephews!

Venti and Mocha with their Christmas pants!!

This is my whole family!  My parents are on the couch in the middle (Mom has a green shirt on and Dad is in Maroon)....My older sister is beside my Mom with her hubby and my younger sister is in the black shirt and her hubby is on the end of the couch.  Joe and I are on the right side of the couh with Venti and Mocha behind us. My boys are in front of us and then all my nephews and 1 niece!

Short, Venti, Tall and Grande!!

I have 4 days off which I am thoroughly enjoying!  We got 5 inches of snow today so it was a good day to stay home and undecorate!  I'm not sure what we are doing New Year's Eve as we were invited to a party by a friend of ours a couple of weeks ago but she hasn't mentioned it since!  Hummmm....if so then we will just go out to eat and then spend a quiet night at home!

I am hoping that once the holidays are over that our house will sell!  We had several showings in December and all of them loved the house but for some reason or another they didn't buy it.  One of them had a boat and needed a flat driveway which ours isn't.  The right one will come along soon I hope!!

If I don't have a chance to post again before New Year's I want to wish everyone a safe and happy one and here's to 2013!!!

Midway!!

I couldn't think of an appropriate title for this post so I decided on midway because it is almost "midway" between Thanksgiving and Christmas! The time where some of us are not evening thinking about Christmas while others are all ready done and wrapped! I am somewhere in between where as I have some gifts purchase (not wrapped) and still have many more to get! Which one are you? I'm curious how many of you are prepared...or not prepared! December 25th will be here whether we like it or not. Its funny how some people absolutely love Christmas and can't wait for it to get here and other people cringe at the "C" word. I tend to be a cringer probably because of the cost and the how much work it is. I wish our world didn't become so commercialized and turned our Christmas into a day that is all about gift giving instead of enjoying the day for what it really is. Speaking of Thankgiving, I had a very nice day spent with all my family! It was Venti and Mocha's turn to eat at my Mom's so it great having them there all day! Here is a picture of the boys and Mocha.

Grande, Tall, Short, Venti & Mocha  

We haven't had any luck yet with our house! We had one showing so far and the lady loved it but couldn't afford it. We probably won't get much action now until after the first of the year. We did find another place that we like and put a deposit down but if someone else comes along that wants it and doesn't have a contingency to sell their home then we will lose that one. We are so hoping that doesn't happen!

Venti like to wear bowties. I think he gets a kick out of everyone's reaction. He has worn them since he was little!

Some things never change! Hehe!  

Work is going good....busy but good. I will be working over-time from now until Christmas which is good for the wallet but bad because I already don't have enough hours in the day! The boys will be home from college for Christmas break from December 15 - January 22nd! Yikes! I'll be cooking and doing laundry non-stop! I do like them home but its funny how we get use to them not being here! Short loves when they are home! What a full house it will be again!!

Merry Christmas Eve and a Recipe!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! My presents are bought, wrapped and ready to go! Although I am missing a couple of presents that haven't been delivered yet!  I am hoping the mailman will come through for me today.

  I got up early this morning and made my Grandmother's Old Fashion Soft Sugar cookies because Tall kept "reminding" me that I needed to make some!

Old Fashion Soft Sugar Cookies

2 cups granulated sugar
3 egs
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup buttermilk
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients together (I use a mixer)...drop by spoonfuls onto a greased (with Pam) cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar (can use colored sugar if desired)...bake at 350 degrees until bottoms start turning brown.

You can add a little more buttermilk if you want them more of a flat cookie.

They are very easy to make!

Enjoy!!
Ozzie

Venti arrived home safely from California on Thursday but we have yet to see him.....hummm...hope this isn't an indication of last year.  He did tell me that he is eating dinner with us at my parents house on Christmas Day so at least they are taking turns!

Short's Christmas program at school. He was a Shepherd!

I have not heard back about the job yet.  They told me they would let me know either way! Hopefully I will hear something soon!

Today we are going to 5:00pm mass which is the children's mass.  We have to get there about an hour before to get a seat because it gets that crowded!  After mass the 5 of us are going out to eat.  The boys picked Red Lobster!  Yum!  Bring on the biscuits!

After dinner we are stopping by Short's best friends house for a party.  Then its home to relax a little before tomorrow!


Merry Christmas to all of you!
Thank you all for being a friend, follower, or both as that is the best Christmas present I could ask for!  

Video From Santa!!!!! Free!!!!

I found the coolest thing and wanted to share it with you although you might have heard of it already.  I never did and had a ball with it! It is called PNP|Portable North Pole!!!




In just a few easy steps, you can create a personalized video from Santa Claus for your children, friends, family members or colleagues by providing a few little details about the person.  Then it is emailed to the recipent and/or watched directly from their site!

It is FREE and I was amazed at how real the video was!  It only takes a couple of minutes to answer the questions and the video is available immediately. I did one for all my kids including Venti! Short sat in a trance watching his!  It is a lot of fun!  Short has watched his several times because he was amazed at how much Santa knew about him!



Let me know if you try it and how much you liked it!!

A Christmas wrap-up...

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!! Mine? Not so much...:(

On Christmas Eve we were getting ready for Church and Grande had told me in the car the night before that Tall got his SAT score and I was surprised because Tall didn't tell me that he got his score.  Grande asked if I wouldn't tell Tall that I knew because he would know that Grande told me.

Me:  Tall...did you get your SAT score yet?

Tall:  Ummmm yea...it was 1250.

Me:  Thanks for letting me know.

Tall:  I just found out last night!

Me:  No you didn't.

Tall:  Omg...yes I did...last night when I looked on the computer.

Me:   I heard that you've know for awhile.

Tall:  No I haven't...I just found out.

Me:   That's really nice that you are lying to me.

Tall:  I am not...I just found out.  You never believe me and this is a bunch of crap.

So the whole way to church I didn't talk to him...he didn't talk to me.

After church we went out to eat.  Half way through the dinner we still weren't talking and it was really upsetting me....here it was Christmas Eve and one of my son's isn't talking to me.....so I said something to Joe because if one of the boys weren't talking to Joe, I would have intervened and fixed things!!  Why didn't he take the initiative to do that himself???  Agrah!  Men!  Anyhow...then Joe starts saying that why is he getting involved and I said because its effecting me and he should have said something to Tall...but he didn't.....so Joe finally says something to Tall.....Tall looks over at me and half-ass says he's sorry.....but....he didn't lie and he only just found out (even though I know he is lying...cause Grande said he knew the night before what his score was!).....so we argued back and forth for a bit and I said, "that's it...its Christmas Eve and I really wanted to have a nice dinner!"......is that too much for a mother to ask for??

After dinner we went home and Tall's girlfriend came over and we exchanged presents.....no word from Venti.

Christmas morning the boys opened their presents and we were out the door to go over to Joe's parents house....they live 5 minutes away.  Joe's parents were asking were Venti and Mocha were and we said that we hadn't heard from them.  They were upset that he wasn't there with us.  Later on we headed to my parents house (remember..they live next door to us)......we got there and my Mom asked where Venti was....I said that I didn't hear from him.  She said that Venti never told her that he wasn't eating dinner (we've eaten Christmas dinner at my parents house for the last 25 years!)....she said that its not right that he hasn't called or come over yet.

3:00pm....Venti and Mocha arrive at my parents house.  By then I was pretty upset that spent all of Christmas Eve....Christmas morning and most of Christmas afternoon with Mocha's family.....then Venti and Mocha only stayed until 6:00pm because they had to leave to go back to Mocha's house to see more of her family!!   We hadn't even exchanged presents with Venti and Mocha!!  They said that they would come over tomorrow....the day after Christmas!

We later find out that Venti never called or went over to see Joe's parents....they were so upset...they are in their 80's and who knows how many more Christmas's they will be around for.

On Sunday (the day after Christmas) Venti and Mocha come over around 3pm.....Joe and I were both upset with them...so was my parents and so were Joe's parents...and his brothers!

We sat down and I said that we needed to discuss what happened on Christmas day.  Mocha says she will NOT change the way that she does Christmas morning and says that she will always wake up Christmas morning at her parents house and she will never change that!  I asked if Mocha would have been okay with not seeing her parents on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and then not until Christmas day at 3pm....and for 3 hours??  She said no, but that's the way it is at her house and she won't change.  I said that they are married now and they need to divide their time and she said that it takes 3-4 hours for all of them to unwrap their presents because they all take turns opening one gift at a time so she said that there is no way to cut down on that and so there is no other option!  I said that Venti has a family too and needs to spend time with them and Mocha said that she doesn't see how because that's the way they do things at her house!

So we argued about it for awhile.  Venti said he would communicate better and they would see what they can do about dividing their time.

Apparently once you marry into their household you have to do things their way...or their way!

Joe's parents never got to see him because they went back home yesterday.

So that was my Christmas....not very good....this marrying your children off is a bunch of crap...especially with a daughter-in-law that has my son whipped already!

Hope all of yours was better then mine.....

Guess there's always New Year's to look forward to!

Hard to get used to....

I wasted several Christmas cards by doing this:

I have written Venti's name on our cards for 22 years!  Its hard to NOT write it!

Starting today I have off until Monday.....yippee!!  I am SUPER excited!  I wrapped most of the presents last night and will wrap the stocking stuffers tonight.  Having 4 children (+ a daughter-in-law) at Christmas time is like having a 2nd job!  It is very time consuming and so much to get everything together...but I'm getting there and now that I have 2 days off before Christmas I think I just may get it done!

Today I'm going to finish up my shopping and all the boys need a haircut...including Venti...I haven't cut his since the wedding!  

I have my appointment today at 10am for the TMJ evaluation.  I'm hoping to get some answers on my ear problems!!

Tomorrow we will take the boys out for an early dinner and then go to 5:00pm mass. I'm excited to spend some time with all of them.

I just found out our cat Ozzie (the European Burmese) has asthma!  He's been coughing and wheezing for about a month now and is on his 3rd medication.  Does anyone have a cat that has asthma?

I will still be posting Follow Friday 40 and Over tonight so I will see you then!  

A Christmas Party

Saturday was our family Christmas party at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  They have a large and very well decorated home.  I thought I'd share some images with you!



Tall

Grande

Venti and Mocha

Joe and I

Short, my nephew and my cousin's son

The breakfast nook

The Kitchen

Looking down into the family room

The Master Bedroom

Master bathroom

The beverage center...in the master bedroom

Looking in to the sitting area in the master bedroom

The sitting area in the master bedroom

One of the spare room's bathroom

My sister trying out the tub!

One of the spare room's

Venti and Mocha

2 of my nephew's, Grande and my cousins son sitting in the library

My Uncle showing off one of his liquor cabinets!

Joe and I

The Dining Room

My parents

The Family Room

My brother-in-law, sister and my niece

Short and my nephew

The food table!

Joe, Grande and Tall singing "The 12 Days of Christmas"

Mocha and Venti singing their part!

My sisters and my Aunt and me!

 It was a really fun night.  I had one too many pomegranate martinis though!  They were so good!

See you tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday!