I guess it really wasn't a "Once in a Lifetime Experience"

I entered the contest again this year for courtside tickets at a UD basketball game.  The entire reason for entering was so I could take Cole this time.  I didn't think it was possible, but I won again!  We were really excited.  Unfortunately, the game was the same day as the Suchland Christmas party.  We decided that we had time to go for the first half before heading to New Bremen.  We got to the arena early and enjoyed watching them warm up.  The Flyers were playing Murray State-a team that has had a lot of success already this season as well as the last couple of years.  The Flyers hung tough though.  They were down by a couple of points when we left.  We were glad to be able to pass our tickets off to one of Alex's friends and his wife so they could enjoy the seats for the second half.  We listened to the rest of the game on the drive home and to New Bremen.  The Flyers won!  Go UD! 

 

 

Snow Much Fun!

Well, we didn't have a white Christmas, but the day after Christmas brought a blizzard to the area. We roughly received about 8 inches of snow over the course of the day. With wind gusts up to 40 mph and white out conditions, I made the decision to stay home. When the snow was winding down, Riley began to ask to go out and play. Reed was napping, so we bundled up and headed out. Because it was SO cold, we were only out about a half hour, but we had a blast.  We even made Riley's first snow man.  Ha!  I got her inside with promises to come back out after Reed was awake.

Several hours later, Reed was begging to go out but Riley was fast asleep.  Steve and I took Reed out for a while.  It wasn't long before we saw Riley looking out the back window pouting.  We bundled her back up and enjoyed the snow for a while together.  Steve even built them a snow fort.  After a mild winter last year with no snow, it was great that the kids got to experience it again.

All Wrapped Up!

We had the Suchland family Christmas party in New Bremen on Saturday, December 22nd. We had a lot of fun as always and filled up on great food. On Sunday, December 23rd, we took pizza over to Grandpa and Grandma Howell's and spent some time with them. Christmas Eve day was spent baking and getting a few last minute things done. We went to church at 4 pm. After church, we came home and had dinner and watched a movie together which is our Christmas Eve tradition. Once again, Christmas Day started bright and early in the Howell house. I think the kids asked at 5:40 a.m. if they could please get up. (They later said they had been up a while before asking.) Santa was good to them again this year. Riley's favorite by far is her new vanity. Reed and Riley also got a two screen dvd player for the van which they were pretty excited to receive. Reed and Trent received a soda stream and supplies. (I guess now that I don't drink pop or buy it any longer, they had to come up with another way of getting it. Ha!) Trent was thrilled to receive his iPhone 4s. Cole most liked some video games and more drumming equipment. Unlike years past, this year we were home alone on Christmas. The kids spent most of the day playing with their new things. Later in the evening, a short visit was made to Grandpa and Grandma Howells to wish them a Merry Christmas and tell them about what Santa had brought. All in all, Christmas 2012 was great!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

A Zooper Day

The day before Thanksgiving was suppose to be very nice. Since the kids were out of school, I took the day off work. Steve and Cole had to work. The rest of us headed to the Columbus Zoo. The temperature rose into the 60s. It did feel a bit strange having a picnic outside while wearing short sleeves on the day before Thanksgiving. Stranger yet, they were playing Christmas music all over the zoo. You gotta love Ohio weather.

 

O Christmas Tree

Whoever came up with the idea that setting up the Christmas tree was suppose to be a great holiday family tradition? Of course, the ornament part is fun I guess. It is all the steps that have to happen before that sometimes leave me wanting to pull out my hair. This year, it seemed like the motto for the day was "If something can go wrong, it probably will." I don't remember another year that was quite so bad. The lights were the worst! I got so frustrated that several strings ended up in the trash. After all that, I had to take a little break before calling the kids in to help with ornaments. I wasn't exactly caught up in the spirit of Christmas. Ha! It reminded me how great it is to be a kid. You really get to experience all of the joys in life with little of the frustration. The kids came in, oohed and aahed about how pretty the tree was and set to work on the ornaments. It makes all the effort worthwhile.

 

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Halloween.  It already seems like a distant memory.  That's what I get for trying to update this blog 6 weeks or so after the fact.  A few days before Halloween, I bought a couple of pumpkins to carve.  I usually let the kids pick what they want carved on the pumpkins.  My only stipulation this year was that they had to be "easy".  I didn't want to be the only one sitting in the kitchen for hours after they got bored and quit.  Riley really wanted a pumpkin to go along with her Dorothy costume from the Wizard of Oz.  Trent was interested in helping at all.  Reed wanted to help but didn't care what we carved.  We had three pumpkins so the tin man, scarecrow and lion seemed like a great idea.

The week or so before Halloween was beautiful with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. A day before our trick or treat, the temperatures plummeted. On trick or treat day, it was cold and rainy. So much so, that we were still debating whether to take the kids out an hour before it began. The kids would not hear of skipping it or catching trick or treat in another city that had postponed things to later in the week. I layered up with two pair of socks, long underwear, sweatshirt, coat, hat and gloves and reminded the kids that they better remember the sacrifice I was making for years to come. ;)    Luckily, the rain stopped before trick or treat began. Trent went out with one of his friends. Cole stayed home to pass out candy. Steve drove Reed, Riley and I around. We would get out and walk to 10-12 houses close by one another and then take a little break to warm up in the van. The kids lasted over 90 minutes of the 2 hour trick or treat. Between Steve driving us some instead of just walking and the fact that there were only about half the amount of kids out as normal, the kids ended up with A LOT of candy. They were so glad we went.