Happy New Year.... a tiny bit early but....

11:15:00 AM | 3 Comments




We all know how well I have been blogging lately so I figured I would do it early rather than not at all!! These pictures are from christmas eve. The first time we have had a family picture since I think Max's baptism. The kids picture makes me giggle cause it is soooooo just like them all.
We had a wonderful Christmas and it really couldn't have gone any better. It ended up being a white one even though we had 50 degrees and rain on Christmas eve. The weather was a little dicey so grandma and grandpa snyder were not able to make it out which was kind of sad. Grandma gave us all a scare with what we originally thought might have been a blood clot in her leg but thankfully it ended up not being one and was actually an inflammation of sorts. She was put on antibiotics and is doing well.
The big present for the family this year was the Wii....I am not sure who enjoys it more, the kids or Drew and I. It is so much fun and it is going just about every single minute of the day. I have to admit that after the first day of playing I awoke with muscles pretty darn sore!! Thankfully I have played enough now that they don't hurt so much anymore. I highly recommend this game to everybody....young and old!!
We had our annual brunch on christmas morning and there was plenty of food and goodies....I really needed the Wii to work off everything I ate. But you know....it is only once a year so you gotta do it right?
Tonight will be a quiet night I think....we are not big celebraters of New Years Eve and our weather is kind of snowy and blustery today so it will be perfect to stay home and pop in one of the new dvds and play some games. Still waiting to hear if Maddie has to babysit or not but I am hoping she doesn't so we can all be together. New Years eve and New Years day always make me feel a little bit melancholy. You just never know what the new year is going to bring....whether it be joy or sadness. Makes me worry just a bit. It is also sad cause a new year is starting once again without mom.
I am not a resolution type of girl....can't stand making them and then failing them. I am however a goal oriented girl. This past year I realized several of my goals such as earning a spot on a design team as well as some personal goals for myself. This year will be no exception...I have a list started of things that I want to accomplish this year and I will enjoy crossing them off as I do them. It is a new beginning and I plan on making every moment count. No more wasting time and effort on things I can't change and no more whining when I feel that life is unfair.
Athletically....Drew did very well at the wrestling tournament this past weekend. He placed first in his weight class. All matches were pretty quick with him pinning his opponent in less then a minute but the last one. The last one lasted the full 6 minutes....scared the bejeepers out of me when his opponent used an illegal move on his shoulder but thankfully Drew and the coach both stopped the match before things got too bad. I was very pleased with how fast they both responded...Drew by tapping out to the ref and the Coach by jummping on that mat faster than I have ever seen him move. They both know that that is my stipulation for letting him wrestle this season and they both reaccted exactly as they should have. He has another tournament this upcoming weekend so again I will be on pins and needles but hey....he is happy and that is all I can ask for at the moment.
Here is wishing you all a very Happy New Year with many, many, many blessings to you all.

Where do my days go???

2:01:00 PM | 2 Comments







So yes, I haven't blogged in awhile...just haven't had a second to sit down and write a coherent thought!! Even now as I am battling a pressure headache due to the impending storm headed our way....I am not sure how much sense I am going to make. Bear with me.....smile!






So Max had his very first christmas concert at school last week. He was adorable and I know that I am biased but my goodness he was just the cutest thing. Runny nose and all. They also included an art show and the kids worked so hard on their beautiful art as well.






Last night was Andrew and Abby's winter concert....it was amazing. Their band continues to astound us every single time they play. I mean the songs they play are extremely hard and just amazing to listen to.






Drew is wrestling well...last weekend he went 5-0 at our own schools tournament. 3 pins and 2 forfeits. I am still and always will be a nervous wreck while he is wrestling but I am happy that he is happy. We spent all day there saturday putting on this tournament...concessions, scoring, admissions, raffles, clean up.....the list goes on. I was exhausted when it was finished but I so enjoyed a drink or two at the christmas party we went to in the evening. I think that I deserved it. They wrestled last night too...before the concert and I was setting up and selling concessions for that too. Then running across the school to watch the concert....home at 10 pm and asleep on the couch by 10:05!!






I can't believe that christmas is less then a week away. I finished all the wrapping today for my kids and hubby....that is a first to not have that hanging over my head on christmas eve. I am planning on doing some baking and cleaning this weekend. Getting ready for the annual christmas brunch at our house....the kids just love that!! They wouldn't even think of not having it even if it means they have to do a lot cleaning!!






Did I manage to get all of my christmas gifts made? Nope...but I am cool with that...I put an honest effort into christmas this year and I am pleased with what I did accomplish. People will be getting their cards after christmas I am sure but that is only because I have everybody sign the cards and with the schedules of this house....well....let us just say that it is always hectic.






We did get our tree last sunday....it has lights on it but remains undecorated...partly because we didn't have time on sunday but mostly because we wanted to wait until maddie was home to put the ornaments on. Which by the way will be later on today that she is home!! Grandpa is driving out to get her today cause a big storm is coming in tomorrow and we want her home before that. Thank goodness for grandpas cause I certainly would never be able to drive all that way with my hands and if we wait until drew can do it then we risk the storm coming in before we get back!! I just can't wait to see her....oh yeah....and her two new rats....one of which she believes is pregnant. Oh joys!!






Hope you enjoy the picture of max in his outfit from the concert. I promise to blog a little more often then I have!!

Well, the stomach bug has hit our house

4:52:00 AM | 3 Comments











Yep, already, not sure if it is the flu or what but we now have all been officially touched by it. Poor Andrew Thomas was the first to be struck down. He was suppose to wrestle in a tournament on Saturday but he woke up at 2:30 that morning and was sooo sick. So he stayed home and thankfully recovered rather quickly by saturday night. Then Sunday night it hit Max and Abby and on Monday it hit Drew and I. Max was so sad to miss his first day of school ever for being sick but thankfully he will be going back today if he is as well when he wakes up as he was last night.








Andrew Thomas had his Honor Society Induction last week....it was nice to see the number of kids from his class earn this honor. His class is kind of amazing because it is filled with a number of awesome athletes as well as very intelligent students. We parents must have done something right at the time in our lives. LOL. He isn't too fond of the pictures but I am sharing them anyways cause I think that he is a cutie.








My scrappy world has kind of been put on hold while getting everybody through this stomach bug so I really don't have anything to share with you all today. But I am hoping to get into my room today and get some much needed things done. Like my christmas cards....here I thought that I was doing so well getting them done and oops....I have become a little behind.








Our weather has been really snowy as of late...can't remember a time when we have had this much snow this early. Today is suppose to get into the mid 40's but then drop into the teens tomorrow. I do hear that next week is suppose to be in the 40's at least in the beginning. That will be nice except that then the snow turns all brown and yucky. It will be just our luck that we have a brown christmas instead of a white one. But I haven't heard any predictions yet for that. This picture was taken of Andrew on sunday as he and David went out to hunt. David took it with his cell phone so it isn't the best of pictures but it can give you an idea of just how much snow we have at the moment.

Yep....I am behind in my blog again!!

5:13:00 PM | 1 Comments











Just had a busy week last week with Maddie home for Thanksgiving and visiting all of Drew's family that were home over the holiday. We had a very good Thanksgiving...lots of food, lots of laughs and lots of snow. Well actually the snow was the day before and the day after so travel was pretty safe on Thursday.








It was so nice having Maddie home....we had an incident though with her pet rat Trinity. Ummmm....we don't know where she is! Sometime overnight her cage was knocked down. I am guessing it was Kody cause they was a juicy piece of ham in there. Anyways, after searching and searching and not finding any remains (gross...I know but) she is either hiding somewhere in the house or Kody swallowed her whole. Believe it or not I have been investigating his poop over the last several days and no sign of her there. My heart was just broken for Maddie and there was nothing worse then packing up her empty cage to go back to the dorm. I did get a call last night and we have a new baby!! His name is fourty-two....I guess there is something significant about that cause her dad knew exactly why he was named that. Over Christmas break I am locking the rat and the cage in my bedroom so we don't have a repeat performance!!








Saturday was Maddie's 19th birthday too....it was great to have her home to celebrate cause last year she wasn't here for her 18th. That was kind of hard to take. Anyways, we took her to Applebee's and then spent sometime shopping, came home and watched Fred Claus on pay per view and promptly fell asleep. We are quite the partiers aren't we. I took some pictures of Maddie in the new outfit I got her for her birthday....she is so cute isn't she!!!








Now in my scrapping life....loaded my DT work on the first so I can share it here with you. Had so much fun working with this kit from Linda at the Shaker Box. Lots of snowflakes and winter themed papers....perfect for all the snow pics I was able to take this past month. CHeck out Linda's shop at the Shaker Box....she has lots of cool things in there as well as the awesome kit.








Okay, off to make dinner and then get Max in the shower. Oh by the way....Drew will be wrestling this season...match by match....to see how it goes. I have lots and lots of stipulations and they are doing their best to abide by them. So extra prayers always welcome!!

Happy Thanksgiving a tiny bit early!!!

4:27:00 PM | 2 Comments


Just wanted to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and hope everybody is safe in their travels this week. I am so thankful this year for so many things and the one thing that comes to mind first and foremost is the health of my kids. I am watching so many of my care page kids and their families struggle this holiday and some that are mourning the loss of their children. It just makes me take a step back and look at my life and realize that struggles I am having at the moment are nothing in comparison. And to remember that on any given day my world can be rocked to the core without any warning. So I am vowing to not stress, get cranky and have to be perfect this upcoming holiday season. I am going to enjoy the days from Thanksgiving to New Years with my family and have some fun creating memories....ummmmm just like having my two girls today creating paper christmas chains to decorate the house. They haven't done that since they were in elementary school yet today they got the idea and ran with it. So cute to see teenage girls like that.


Speaking of Maddie....she is home safe and sound for break. I went to bed last night with such peace and it was just because I knew that all of my babies were home and under my roof sleeping. It just doesn't get any better than that I think.


And on the weather front...We are looking a bit more like Christmas today then Thanksgiving because yet again we are getting socked with some lake effect snow. I am fretting just a little bit because our satellite has been out all day and there is a Sabres game in a couple of hours. The Drew's are outside at the moment trying to clean it off but if not then I guess we will throw in some Christmas movies and go with that.


Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!
P.S. This layout is one that I made for a layout tag game and I couldn't share it before until everybody finished....this is one of the things that I am very thankful this year....that when Max was hit with the foul ball at the baseball game in the spring that he came away with nothing more than a bruise, a tad bit of a headache and the ball that hit him. Oh my, it could have been so much worse....he had his guardian angel grandma looking over him that day!!



I really hope this isn't a sign of what winter is going to be like!!

12:06:00 PM | 4 Comments









Snow and snow and more snow!! It just keeps coming and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. The forecast for today and tomorrow is 2 feet for when it is all said and done. This is on top of the foot and a half already on the ground. The Farmer's Almanac did say that this was going to be a snowy winter and we have really been lucky the last few but goodness....does it have to be so much so early? This picture was taken earlier this morning and I have to say right at the moment it is NOT snowing and the sun is actually out. It could be deceiving but one look at the radar tells me plenty more is on its way. Oh the joys of Lake Effect!!
So being in the Christmas spirit...how could you not with all that snow? I created this countdown calendar for Max this christmas season. I have had this for awhile but didn't know what papers I wanted to use until I found the My Mind's Eye Be Merry collection. Oh my these are the cutest papers ever and they just make me smile!! I mean really, look at the snowmen....who could resist a snowman this cute!! I am not sure what I am going to fill the boxes with yet....it reminds me of an advent calendar my mom had for us when we were little. One year she filled it with little candies and I can remember being so excited when it would be my turn to open the surprise. I might fill Max's with little ornaments and then get a small tree for him to hang them on so the closer we get to christmas the more decorated his little tree will become. But if I know Max he would probably love hershey kisses inside more than anything!! Maybe I can fit both in. We will have to see.
Back to work for me....now I have to finish up some more of my deadlines before I get fired!! LOL!

Andrew Thomas had a very good day yesterday!!

9:08:00 AM | 3 Comments







I am so proud of this kid...I can't even begin to tell you!! Yesterday he was inducted into the National Honor Society....the official ceremony will be on December 3rd. With everything that he does he still maintains high grades and it just amazes me how he does it all! Then last night at the Football Banquet he received the Joe Annarella Sportsmanship award which is a big big thing in our school. Joe Annarella was a previous football coach for CVCS when he was tragically killed in an automobile accidentmany years ago. This award is voted on by the team so it is really special to Andrew that his team mates chose him for this honor. He also joined the ranks of the 1000 pound club.... a newly formed club which was established for whomever can lift 1000 pounds doing 3 types of lifts. He is actually at about 1200 now but I don't know the exact weights for each lift. I will have to figure that out later. Andrew is such a hard worker in everything that he does. He doesn't give up even when things are pretty tough. I truly believe that this attitude is going to take him so far in this world. I do have one beef with him at the moment and that is because he is completely stressing me out. He wants to wrestle this year...he feels that since he is not having surgery and that he wrestled all last season with the same injury that he should be able to wrestle again this year with a few precautions. I have not decided on this issue yet....I know what his dad wants him to do and I know what the coaches all want him to do but there is a big difference from last year. Last year I knew that his shoulder hurt.....this year I know WHY! And knowing that makes this decision very, very hard to make. Please pray. By the way he is practicing for wrestling and he did get certified in his weight class yesterday but officially nothing has been decided.






Now onto scrapping....since I was talking all about Andrew in this post I thought it would be kind of neat to show the layout that I did this week when he was born and Maddie met him for the first time. He has grown kind a bit don't ya think?? Maddie's face always kills me in this picture because I knew that she loved this new baby but I think that she was trying to grasp just how much her little life was going to change from that moment on.






I am still working on Christmas cards and gifts. Will share more of them later. I have deadlines upon deadlines that need to be met this month and I am running out of time. I think that I need another me!! So cutting this short so I can get off this computer and get myself back to work!!