Favorite Day By Far

Christmas is my favorite holiday, but the day after Thanksgiving comes pretty,pretty, pretty close... Tradition has started in our little family to set up for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Jon makes pancakes, we stay in our jammies and we watch classic Christmas movies while we decorate. It is absolute bliss if you ask me. The boys loved it too. They had a lot of fun decorating the tree and "hanging," the ornaments... scary! At the end of the day, I just wanted to sit and stare. A little slice of Heaven.

Refusing the ":cheese."

Kev was really "helpful" hehe

Boys zoning out to the Grinch...

Will never ceases to amaze me at his interest in music.
He finds a need to dance no matter what we are watching.

favorite move

Mama's dream right here.

Thanksgiving 2012

To say I feel thankful for my family is an understatement. I am thankful for our health and our time together. I learned early in life that our time here is precious and should be savored.This year we headed down to Bmore for our last thanksgiving at Dad and Carol's house. The house is just too much space for Dad, Carol and now just Courtney, who will also go off to college next year. Christian is away studying abroad in London, but otherwise the crew was all there. It was a laid back, easy day as most of the house is already packed up. Although, Jon and I were busy keeping the boys occupied and some what clean... everybody did their part to help out and I really appreciated it.  I was nervous the boys would be messy, loud and disruptive during dinner, but I was pleasantly suprised. They were pretty good. I was busy and didn't get to eat my food when it was warm, but what's new? hehe. On the way down to Baltimore, I asked Jake what he was most thankful for this year. After a long time thinking... he said," Jesus." I love when I can see right into his little heart! Happy Thanksgiving 2012! 

Good Times St. Albans.... Good Times...

Nonna cooking away

Carol, Mike and Nonna busy in the kitchen the whole day

Love his faces

Poor Eko had to work, but he made it for dessert! Jake was so excited to see him

Aunt Nikki always the fun Aunt

Dad and Carol hooked Nikki and I up with awesome cameras for our bdays this year! THANKS!!

Abs Wedding

Last weekend we had Abby and Thomas' wedding. We decided long ago that the two little guys would not be joining us on our trip down to Atlanta. I missed you boys.... but it was a GOOD decision. We had so much fun and it would not have been fun for you littles. You would have been grumpzillas.
The weekend started in the airport. It was Jake's first time on a plane and he couldn't have been more excited. He was literally shaking. Adorable. He couldn't get enough of the airport, planes, pilots.... he was amazed. Someone along the way gave him a pin or "captain wings," as they were referrred to the rest of the weekend. From that moment on he was Captain Jake. He wouldn't take them off. He even wore them on his blazer at the rehersal dinner. Love that boy.

He decided to, "decorate the back of his airplane seat"

The whole weekend was wonderful. The rehersal dinner was a beautiful window into their relationships with their family and friends and I loved hearing the stories. Thomas and his family could not be more warm and welcoming and they sure love Abs. I think that brings all of us here in Jerz a lot of relief and happiness to know she is in good hands.

On her wedding day, Abby looked like a princess in her awesome and huge dress. It was perfect. The church as regal and beautiful while the reception was modern and cool. Jake, Jack, Ryan and Colton (Thomas' nephew) were ring bearers and Brooke and Hannah (Thomas' neice) were flower girls. Jake was so handsome! He did such an awesome job and I was proud of him the whole weekend. At the reception, Thomas and Abby made their grand entrance into the penthouse reception in nothing other than a helicopter.. only Abby could make that happen! My favorite part was their first dance. I get chills thinking about it. First of all they danced to Tim and Faith... secondly, Abby sang to Thomas the whole time and I have never seen a couple not even notice that anyone else was in the room. It was awesome. I gave Jon's hand an extra little squeeze remembering just how wonderful that first dance feels and the newness of marriage. Ah...
I don't have many pics, stole some from Jill and Jon's phone. I of course didn't take any pics, but once her shots come out I will share! Right now, they are on their honeymoon and keep sending us pictures of drinks with umbrellas and other magestic scenes... not cool! Hope their having the time of their lives!

I should be sleeping...

I should soooo be sleeping, but when I haven't blogged in awhile... I start to get edgy. So, here I am. I've had a very busy week. Fun, but busy. I had two Thirty- One parties, MOPS, a craft show at my home then church and teaching sunday school. It was wonderful and all went well, but I'm wiped.

However, our KITCHEN IS ALMOST DONE...It's pretty much done actually. Little things you would never notice, need to be finished. I am in love! Actually, I usually blog from my bed at night (while Jon sleeps) and tonight I am sitting at my large, awesome peninsula (while Jon sleeps). I just love it. It feels like home to me.

On another note, my boys have been so much happier. We can move around again, eat nice meals again and have some much needed space! I think we were all getting a little sick of sharing the master bedroom. I feel thankful tonight for God's provision, my hard working husband and our joint effort in creating the vision that is this life, family and home. Oh, and of course the wonderful and speedy quick team that put it all together! Thanks again Frugal Fix It Fellas (endless plugs will be had!) I have attach some pictures updates too. Kitchen pic update to come... tomorrow!

Halloween shot... I have more

Kev's favorite new hobby..

Shocker... Will's favorite new spot, the peninsula! He loves it. New Will phrase," Mom-Eat Now?"

Jake very focused.... I get this a lot lately. My boy is growing up! He has always been into games, but lately he is REALLY into them. The latest is battleship. Thanks Uncle Rick for this super QUIET.. and independent (psych) game! hehe. He adores it!

Kitchen Phase Three.... almost done!!

It is truly amazing how fast and productive my contractor and his team have been these last three weeks! Frugal Fix It Fellas are the best!!! (little plug) Here's the current view of our new layout. Floors, cabinets, appliances are all in and paint is almost finished... all we need are lights, granite and backsplash!! YAY! Granite comes Monday and so does the electrician! Couldn't be more thrilled with our new space. Jon and the boys are thrilled too. Oh and ignore the mess, we are obviouly in mid-process... it felt good to clean what I could this weekend, but there's much to be done.

Little bit of a monster...

Tonight, I am feeling crummy about my "momismness" (yup just made that one up). I felt like post 3:00pm this afternoon, I turned into a monster mom for lack of a better term. I am frustrated with myself as a I look back at my reasons of frustration and my lack of patience over trivial moments. I let the lack of kitchen construction, toddler behavior and my cold symptoms get the best of me. Lately, there are a lot of little moments that feel very intense. These moments may last 10 seconds or 10 minutes. They are usually in the early to late afternoon and involve both babies crying at the same time and my biggest feeling very frustrated by their crying. Then, my internal mom mind starts spinning trying to decifer which need is greater. Which behavior to correct first, which child to snuggle first, which spill to clean up first and so on... Lately, I am letting the little meaningless things get to me. It is annoying to me. I wish I could catch myself in the moment and say."really Jo? You are letting THIS stuff bother you?" I have certainly dealt with greater struggles then these. I have overcome tremendous greif and change in my life. These little frsutrations and changes should be welcomed with joy and today they were greeted by a green headed mommy monster. I want to be better! I want to do better for my children and husband. It is during these little times of struggle that I need to remember to lean on God and tap into the patience that comes only from Him. Ugh, how I thank Him tonight that tomorrow is a new day. I plan on getting up early to shower and have quiet time so I can start the day off on a good note!

Room Redo Phase One

As I said, we are currently having our kitchen/family/dining rooms re-done. The main idea is to create a more open floor plan. We had a wall removed between the family room and kitchen as well as expanding the dining room entrance way a foot and a half or so. Then, we extended our wood flooring that is currently in the other rooms throughout the kitchen and dining rooms. Along with these changes come new cabinets, appliances, lighting, trim....you name it. It has been a lot of decision making, but I have love, love, loved it. We were already certain that moving was not the decision that God had wanted for us, but this super fun project has made it that much more appealing to hunker down and stay in this house, the way I always pictured it in my mind. I have visualized, designed and dreamed it for years now. So, it is amazing to see it coming to life. Here is phase one before and after. Oh but... the dust is immense... immense...

bye bye wall, you will...not...be missed

Little Vana for you...

landing fo-sophets and new cabinets on the left to come!

larger doorway and dining walls blue, love it

seeing the vision here people???

chose the middle color for the walls

brightening the hallway walls up as well