Puppy Love

Seems like lately I am only blogging every couple weeks or so.  SLACKER.  It’s just that life is SO busy.  I am behind on my reading, behind on my writing, behind on my laundry.  Behind, but happy.  Been too busy living to take the time for all that other stuff.  That’s not a bad thing. 

On Saturday we went to pick up our new baby: Lola Susanna Bugaboo Hamilton.  Yes, that is her official name, per Lily.  The rescue had named her Susanna, but we wanted to name her Lola, and Lily felt “Bugaboo” was essential.  I have to agree.  What a unique and beautiful name she has.

This little puppy has been an utter delight.  She is sweet and spunky, playful and cuddly.  She is up for anything!  She is settling in to the crate training really well.  Only cries when she has to potty and NEVER potties in her cage, not once.  She is very much like Percy was in that respect.  The training was SO easy.  I feel so spoiled.  Maybe it is just this breed?  They are so ridiculously smart that everything is just easy with them.  Then to top it off, the “heeler” in them makes them very easy to train off-leash.  Hence when we run with them, they can be off leash and they don’t leave our side.  Pretty cool.

Here are some pics of the little girl…and the kids, and Percy!

...Coming home

 ....Meeting Big Brother

 Camping out with her for comfort....

 Lying on me at 3am!!

 Lola and the kiddos....52.

Peace and stuff

It sure has been a lovely couple of weeks.  I was fortunate to be able to accompany my lovely husband on a trip to Colorado last week.  He was there on business for a few days, but we extended the weekend for pleasure.  It was fantastic. 

The first couple of nights we stayed in downtown Denver.  I chilled, worked out, lunched with a dear old friend.  Jason and I had dinner at said friend's home.  I had not seen this friend for what I kept saying was 18 years but after I thought about it for a while, it may have actually been even longer than that.  The beautiful thing about it was that we picked right back up like we had never left one another's side.  We talked, we laughed, we looked at old yearbooks and all of her old photo albums.  It was amazing!!  Having that time with her and her family made the trip even more special. 

Some pics of Tammis and I:

We also got to see MORE friends as a couple of my friends from college live in Colorado too.  We met them at this perfect little restaurant and bar in a town called Louisville, Colorado.  The town was SO cute.  I kind of fell in love with it.  For real.  The girls came to dinner with their precious babies and it was just SO nice to see them.  It was beautiful to see how happy they were.  I thought about how much we worried over everything in college.  We worried if we would be happy in life, we wondered if we would ever find true love.  If only we would have had a crystal ball, right?  Things would have been so much easier back then.  I had such a great time seeing those two.  Truly.  They were so fun to be around when we were 20 and even more fun now!  .....and then to top it off, THE PACKERS GAME WAS AMAZING that night!

Some more Colorado Pics:

Denver at night...

 Driving between Denver and Boulder

 ......Taking it in

Dining "El Fresco" in Boulder.  It was 60 degrees!  So fun!!

Boulder is a fantastic little town!

This is the view from our hotel.  The mountains are amazing!

....This is Copper Mountain where Jason skiied.  Lucky for me, he skiied with Tammis's husband. Otherwise, I might have needed a stretcher!

Now we are back at work and back to real life.  Not a bad thing.  I am just SO antsy this week.  We get our new baby, Lola on Saturday.  I am a little giddy about that.  She is so precious.  I hope Percy loves her as much as we all do!! 

Sunday--Packers-Bears NFC Championship.  Gotta have a shin-dig for this occasion, right?  Hell YES!  Let's whoop it up!!

:)

....I have fallen in love

We have been on the lookout for a puppy friend for Percy.  We are very partial to blue heelers now because, well, they are amazing dogs.  Much to my joy, I found this sweetie at a rescue in Oconomowoc.  She is not available until January 22nd because she is too young.  Jason was pushing for a puppy "in the Spring" since we will have to be outside with her to potty.  That's the thing about love....you can't predict when it's going to hit!! 

Her name is Susanna right now, but we will name her "Lola".  Lola Bug-A-Boo if you ask Lily.  

2011.... Aged Like a Fine Wine

A few days ago we said good bye to 2010, and hello to a brand new beautiful year.  I was sleeping soundly for the whole New Year’s celebrating and such, but I woke up in the morning grateful for the past year’s blessings and hopeful for the New Year’s promise.

When I look back on 2010, for the most part it was a pretty nondescript year.  No gigantic milestones accomplished or anything like that.  It was a year of life lived.  I shouldn’t be minimizing that though.  Life lived.  Simplicity.  Savoring the small stuff.  Those are what make a year spectacular in my eyes. 

I look back on this year so fondly.

 Jason and I were able to take several getaways, beginning with our cruise.  The sweet man that he is, he surprised me with this trip for my birthday.  We sailed away together, and laughed, and danced, and drank mojitos and giggled at eat other’s silliness.  Then we swam with dolphins, which was an experience so breathtaking, and something I will never, ever forget.  We came home from that trip truly rejuvenated.  :)

This year, my children have truly become strong individuals.  They both have changed so much.  Aidan is this amazingly kind, creative, silly, animal loving, compassionate, warm soul.  He is wise beyond his years, he is sensitive, and he is so smart.  He is quieter than Lily, but he says some of the funniest things I have ever heard. He has become an amazing swimmer; he always gets a 10\10 on his spelling quizzes.  I call him “the guinea pig whisperer” because those little critters are so calm with him.  He delights me.

My Lily belle.  My spitfire, my sparkler, my beautiful little angel. The little girl has grown so much this year.  She’s a little taller, her hair is little longer, she looks more kindergartner than pre-schooler.  Her vocabulary is that of a 9 year old.  She can analyze and philosophize like someone far older than her.   Some days her strong spirit is my greatest challenge, and yet that same spirit it also such a source of pride.  She’s brilliant, and loving.  Watching her grow is one of my greatest joys.  Even at 4 she still wants to cuddle with me every, single night.  She showers me with kisses, tells me I am beautiful, and at the end of the day the joy she brings me is unquantifiable.

As for me, I am truly proud of some of the things I have accomplished in 2010.  For starters, as a family we have really adopted a healthy lifestyle.  I cook healthy, we exercise religiously, and I both Jason and I have lost significant weight.  I feel healthier than I have in years.  So happy about that. Have much more to accomplish in this area…including running in some races this summer.  More on that later. 

I am not a New Year’s Resolution gal, per-se.  However, I can get behind some COMMITMENTS FOR 2011.  Here they Are:

My commitment to my son: Aidan, you and I are going to have more one-on-one time.  I will try to get more into your “boy stuff”.  I will play race cars with you, take you to more movies, and do more things with just me and you.  You were my only child for a while, and I sometimes miss that time when I never had to share you.

My commitment to my daughter: Lily, this year I am going to try harder to embrace your strong spirit.  Sometimes you and I have battles.  I think that is because I am not understanding what you need.  I am going to do better at this.  I know you better than anyone….but this year we will grow together.

My commitment to my husband:  Jason, you and I continue to amaze me.  It seems that every year we grow closer.  I revel in it daily.  You are my number one.  You are the person I chose to make my life with.  You will always have my heart and soul.  In 2011, my commitment to you is to do an even better job of showing you this daily.  I look forward to taking more adventures with you, to having romantic weekends away, and getting more babysitters so we can have dates together.  You are my best friend, and the greatest gift I have ever received.  2011 is our 14^th year together, and it is my promise to you that I will do my best to make it a very special year for you.  

My Commitment to me: This year, Noelle, I promise to tap into my giving spirit further.  I vow to help more people, I vow to do MORE.  This year, I will continue to improve myself physically and spiritually.  I will run at least one 5K, hopefully more.  I will continue to lose weight.  I will love fully and deeply.  I will smile often. 

2011, I am looking forward to the journey you bring. 

HO HO HO!!!

GAH!  The amount of excitement I have right now about Christmas is almost ridiculous.  I can’t wait for the kiddos to come downstairs and see all their goodies!!!  I feel so blessed and thankful to be able to give my children a nice Christmas.  Feeling so blessed makes me explicitly more sensitive to those who cannot give their children the Christmas that they would like to.

I wish I could take care of everyone…..but since I can’t, I have been trying to focus on doing what I can where I can.  This year I organized the Giving Tree here at work again.  We were able to collect gifts for almost everyone who is living in our local shelter.  It is beautiful to witness how EXCITED people get to bring in the gifts they have purchased for others.  Customers and employees alike brought in neatly wrapped gifts to help these displaced families.  I was so proud and excited to help the man who runs the shelter load everything into his truck today.  It was really special.  I was proud of Lily because she willingly gave up her Princess bike so one of the little girls at the shelter could have it.  That almost brought a tear to my eye.  I SO want to instill the spirit of giving to my kids.  All I hope is that it makes some people smile.   LOOK at all these gifts:

I have recently befriended an elderly lady who resides at one of our local graduated care facilities.  She is a customer at the bank and I have gone to her home to help her a few times now.  Of course, in sitting with her and talking to her, I have gotten attached.  Attached like she is tearing at my heart strings and she doesn’t even know it.  Yesterday when I was at her place she was telling me that her family is in Maryland for Christmas.  She is going to be all alone.   I asked her if the nursing home was doing anything special for Christmas and she said no.  I darn near cried right there.  I mean, how many Christmases does this lady have left?  The thought of her being alone, and nothing special happening was too much to bear.  I wanted to invite her to Christmas at my house, but she can hardly walk.  If she fell, I would feel awful!  So, I talked to Jason and he agreed that on Christmas Day, the 4 of us could go to her place after the kids open their gifts.  I thought I could take her a basket with cookies and some of my Grandma’s homemade pimiento cheese.  I am going to get her some slippers too.   I am so happy Jason agreed to this….it means a lot to me.  I know it will mean a lot to my friend, too.

In other news, Lily had her Christmas Program this week.  OMG.  For real—SHE REFUSED the Holly Jolly—COMPLETELY!!  Look—I have photo documentation:

This is her....pretending to be invisible:

....Looking like she might go ahead and leave now:

ON NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!.......actually, yes, she did.  Right off the stage, and sat down next to her teacher.  For REALZ.

I kind of had to crack up at that.  Twas hilarious.  I was VERY shy at her age, so even though it was a little disappointing, she just is who she is.

Lastly, I am SO SO SO excited about the gift I made for my Grandma for Christmas.  She is hard to buy for because she wants nothing.  Hence, I wanted to do something special.  I wrote her a poem, and I collected pictures of all of my cousins, my sister, myself, and our kiddos.  Then, I decoupaged the whole thing onto an art canvas and got it framed.  I am really proud of how it turned out.  I really hope she likes it!! 

On a side note, I am kind of addicted to decoupaging now.  It is SO fun!!!!!  I can't wait to do some more.


I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas!  Spread as much cheer as you can muster!!

:)



Winter Wonderland

I admit, I LOVE the snow.  I love the bright white blanket it makes over everything.  I love how it makes winter a much less brown-grey season.  I love the peaceful quiet in the air after it falls.  Snow is lovely and this weekend we got our first snow of the season.  It was the perfect snow too.  Not terribly cold tempuratures so it was lots of fun to get out into!!  The very best part was how much fun the kids had.  Lily is almost five now and this is the VERY first year where she truly loves the snow.  She wanted to be outside in it all weekend.  It was SO fun to watch!!!  She literally delighted in the snow and that makes it even more beautiful.

Check it out...

 In equally as fun news....Aidan had his second swim meet this past weekend as well.  He did SO great!!  Got a first place in backstroke, second in freestyle and third in breaststroke.  He was so proud.  Watch out, Michael Phelps!! :)

 Here he is taking the lead in his backstroke!!

We also started decorating for Christmas around here.  It's a happy time.  I love the holidays.

Lily and I had a "sleep over" the other night.  That means, I slept up in her bedroom with her and Aidan got to sleep down in our bedroom with Jason.  We do sleepovers probably once a week.  This time, Lily decided to put on lip stick before bed.  .......

:)



Sigh of Relief!!

I survived my preparation and serving of the Thanksgiving meal!  Hurray!  Not only that, but, I rather excelled at the whole thing.  The menu was fantastic, everyone LOVED it.  Made me so happy!!  I was so happy that it made me forget to take pictures.  OOps.  Even had the table all set, real cloth napkins, serving platters full of pretty food.  Not one picture.  Guess I am not as great a multi-tasker as I thought.  However, I must share that next time YOU need to cook a big meal you MUST try these recipes:

Walnut Sage-Gruyere Gratin: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/walnut-sage-gratin-recipe/index.html

Mapple Roasted Sweet Potatoes: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/maple-roasted-sweet-potatoes-recipe/index.html  These are TO DIE FOR.  I actually used sweet onions instead of shallots. I had to make extra onions because Misti and I could not stop eating them.  Go heave on the onions or shallots.  They are carmelized in maple syrup and they taste like heaven.  This recipe is MAGIC.

Pumpking Sage Gravy:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pumpkin-gravy-recipe/index.html  (I used turkey bacon in this and only 3 pieces, don't use a pound and a half--I think that is a typo)


These are 3 of the recipes that I used and I believe they will be staples in my life as they are divine.

Here are a couple cute pictures for ya.  Lily has been sneaking down to our room at night.  She knows she is supposed to stay in her own bed BUT....she ends up in Percy's bed instead:

Poor displaced boy......

So thankful that I only have 3 hours of work today and then can CHILL.  Going to decorate for Christmas and go look at some cabinets.....might be adding a little pantry in our kitchen.  Stay tuned!