I know, I know...

it has been entirely too long since I last posted. I have lots of stories and happenings to catch up on but am just plain too tired and busy. I promise to update soon...with pictures.

In the mean time, some highlights.

It rained in our house.

I finally got my hair cut.

Brenna is in a big girl bed *sniff.*

School, lesson plans, grading and more grading. Gearing up for testing.

Laundry, more laundry, more, more laundry.

There was time for scrapping ~ a while ago.

Neurotically planning for vacation in June ~ it makes me stress less to organize and plan now.

and last but not least...."as a matter of fact Jack, I like Yaks!" Moms may agree...

Snow Day!

I can't believe how much snow we have...thank you to the guy who plows our driveway...I can actually get out of the garage which is quite important if I am going to make it to work tomorrow. The drive should be interesting. Hopefully it won't be too bad. B and I had a wonderful day together. We played with playdough, fingerpainted, played in the snow, colored, snuggled, read stories...had a great mommy and Brenna day.

I interupt this post to say that the weather man said that we are going to get more snow on Friday...MORE SNOW! Seriously, I think we have had enough.

Ok, ok back to the blogging. I even managed to complete another layout today and get some of my work done for renewing my teaching license.

Pictures to come soon...

The once a week blog

So apparently I am only blogging once a week...better than not at all I guess...it's still cold and snowing, snowing, snowing (again). I'm just glad we seem to be out of the really bitter stuff.

Right now: blogging, Sean playing Tiger 09, Brenna napping

Should be: doing laundry, taking a shower, changing bedsheets, and a very long list of other things.

Getting ready to: nap? (doubtful - although I could really use one), upload photos to costco to be printed...getting ready for hooky scrapping!

Don't really have anything else to say today.

Things I did Today

*Played with a funny, funny, little girl.
*Started my 2009 Projects List ~ a ridiculous list of things I would like to accomplish this year, mostly comprised of reorganization in each room of the house, some professional stuff to complete for my license renewal, and some mini-projects in the house. I have already checked-off one thing...backing up photos, thanks to being snowed in yesterday. While this is on-going, all of the old stuff is done.
*Went to calling hours for a friend of our family.
*Spent time with my parents (thanks again for coming to stay with B today).
*Looked through some "new" scrapbook treasures~ Thanks Missy! I already have plans for some of the papers!
*Booked airline reservations for our vacation this summer (thought, discussed, clicked and paid within an matter of 45 minutes).
*Played with B some more.
*Started stressing about seat assignments on an airplane when I can't do anything about it for 60 more days! I'm a little obsessive and sometimes a little nuts, in case you haven't already figured that out.
*Put B to bed.
*Called airline to get seats changed with some success...now I have to wait the 60 days before I can be sure the changes took.
*Updating blog, getting ready to spend some time with the husband, zoning in front of the tv before I fall asleep early on the couch as usual.

Here's my sweet girl...sleeping with Baby Annie - she slept this way most of the night. It was very cute.

Over all a good day...the snow seems to have subsided but I've heard we could get more later in the week...that and some very cold weather. As if temps in the 20's and teens aren't cold!

Here's to a great week!

Snowy Saturday

We're sort of snowed-in today. We might venture out later for food but other than that I think a quiet Saturday at home is in order. I put B down for her nap at 10:45 and she has yet to wake up - almost 3 hours later. Sean's been working and I am currently burning back-up CD's of all of our digital photos. I'm finding that in my attempt to back them up to flash drives I have multiple copies of things but I guess it doesn't hurt to have that either. I know, I know...the only true way to not lose these files is to get them printed but I am not excited about footing the bill for the over 3000 photos I took in 2008, let alone the previous 2 years of B's life. While I know I won't print them all (lots of them are blurry, dark, etc), there is still a quite hefty amount that need to be printed and scrapped or put into photo albums. I think I need to do it methodically so that there is some order to the albums. I did manage to sort them by date taken so each month has a folder. There are the few hazy months before we got the new camera that are date questionable because I dropped the camera in a baby pool while on vacation in Californa 2 summers ago. Luckily I didn't lose any photos and believe it or not the camera still worked - not well - but we were still able to capture the important moments. Thankfully we received a new camera for Christmas last year and the photo organization has been much easier. So far I have everything from when Brenna was born to May of 2008 - I had already backed up some of the photos previously and forgot that I had done that...saved lots of time!

Enough about that...here's a funny photo to brighten your day...Thursday, while getting ready to head to daycare...B decided that this was how she wanted to brush her teeth.

My first official tagging...and first post of the New Year!

I've been tagged! Thanks, Marie for getting me back into the blogging mode!

Q. Five Names You Go By:

Mrs. Sullivan
Steph
Stephie
Stephanie
Mommy/Mom - whichever she chooses at any give time.

Q. Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now:

Cream Colored Zipper Shirt
Brown Pants
Cozy Socks

Q. Two Things You Want Very Badly At the Moment:

Sean to be home safe with us instead of on his way home from work.
MORE TIME!!! To spend with Sean & Brenna, to get things done, and to scrap!

Q. Two Things You Did Last Night:

Played in our new finished basement with Brenna - we make the most obnoxious band ever!
Slept through the night with out waking up - yea for me (I've been waking up a lot lately!)

Q. Two Things You Ate Today:

Pirate's Booty (Brenna's "popcorn")
Ritz Crackers

Q. Two People You Last Talked To On The Phone:

Sean
My Mom

Q. Two Things You Are Going To Do Tomorrow:

Teach my students how to be persuasive writers...obviously not going to happen in one day.

Play with my little sweet potato!
Q. Two Longest Car Rides:

Coming home from Spring Break in Florida with Freddy with the heat just barely on in 30 degree weather while everyone else in the car was asleep, just so we could get back and go to sleep.
Coming home from our band trip to the Florida Gator Bowl with a crazy bus driver who was driving too fast and weaving, and wouldn't turn the heat on (thanks for sparking that memory Marie!).

Q. Two of Your Favorite Beverages

Pumpkin Spice Latte (Starbuck's Style)
Diet Dr. Pepper

Q. People You Would Like to Tag

Missy M
Helen
Missy B

Check out the rest of the 12 days of Christmas below...it took me long enough to post them, I know...

On the 1st Day of Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Brenna, you were so excited to see all of the presents Santa left for you! You opened each present scrap by little scrap of ripped wrapping paper. We thought you might never finish. You loved your guitar and Wiggles microphone, books, and most of all your pink and purple tricycle. You can't quite reach the pedals enough to push them yet, but don't worry, your little legs will get there eventually. Our Christmas was magic through your 2 year old eyes.

On the 2nd Day (Before) Christmas

Dear Brenna...
You were insistent that we leave 5 cookies for Santa on the "Cookies for Santa" plate. Not more, not less, just 5. You weren't too sure whether you really wanted Santa to come to our house but finally just before falling asleep you decided "yes Santa, Mommy, Santa bring presents." I love that you were so excited! I can't wait to see your face and watch you open your presents on Christmas morning...
It's hard for me to decide which picture to use for the 12 days scrapbook. The cookies or this ready for bed picture:

On the 3rd Day (Before) Christmas

We're almost done...well, done enough that we can host Christmas Eve. Thanks honey, for all your hard work and effort...thanks too to everyone who helped to make this project go as quickly as it did. We appreciate all of you!


Little Girl got to spend some time with Uncle Freddy. He came home for Christmas. While we don't get to see him often, I love that he loves her so much and wants to spend as much time with her as he can while he visits.

On the 4th Day (Before) Christmas

It's cookie baking time! Brenna got to help this year, she poured ingredients into the mixer and supervised as it went round and round. Somehow I didn't get a picture of her while this was going on but I did get this photo...
~Note - this is the 3,000th, yes there are 3 zeroes there, image taken on our current camera since we got it for Christmas last year. How is it that I can take 3,000 pictures in a year and not a have a photo from every day of the year...I am working on that this year. This is also not the photo going into my 12 days scrapbook. This one is...

On the 5th Day (Before) Christmas

"Jack Frost nippin' at your nose"

The view from our kitchen window...it was so cold the storm window frosted over on the inside.

On the 6th Day (Before) Christmas

To My Princess...Love Uncle George.

Brenna received a beautiful floral arrangement today. He loves her so much...

On the 7th Day (Before) Christmas

I love when our home is decorated for Christmas. It is so full (aka cluttered) with Christmas that it makes it feel cozy and full of the spirit of Christmas. We got this cool mirrored star from one of our "white elephant" Christmas Eve exchanges a few years ago. The reflections from the candles is so pretty.

On the 8th Day (Before) Christmas...

When we arrived home this evening I took Brenna out of the car and put her down so I could carry things in from the car. She is certainly big enough to walk on her own and the driveway had a clear path to the house that wasn't covered in snow or ice. I'm getting things out of the back of the Jeep when this happens:

B: "my walka the no {snow} mom" (oh yeah...mom, not mommy, mom).

S: "please stay out of the snow Brenna, you don't have your boots on and I don't want your feet to get all wet"

B: giggling - walks immediately into the snow - "my walka the no!"

She then proceeds to take her little fingers and run them through the snow, grabbing as much as she can in her unmittened hands. She didn't have her mittens or gloves because she threw them in the car, it's not a far walk to the house, and it wasn't too terribly cold. I thought for sure she would start complaining immediately but she got this huge grin on her face and said "cooollldd"! She continued to play for another minute until I told her it was time to go in. Of course I didn't have the camera handy while this was going on...it's another one of those mental memories. I did manage to get a few shots of little fingerprints and shoe prints in the snow!

On the 9th Day (Before) Christmas...

So many of our ornaments tell a story, like this shamrock tree from last year. My mom is the giver of ornaments in our family. Every year for as long as I can remember we have gotten an ornament in our stocking, and every year when we're decorating the tree I remember that specific Christmas. Last year the three of us received our Irish ornaments...appropriate for us Sullivans.

I don't remember the year that I got this ornament, but it reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas. In read aloud time with my 5th graders we read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Imogene Herdman - the most unholy young lady - plays Mary in the pageant. She comes to a realization in the middle of performing about the true meaning of Christmas and that really got me thinking about Mary and all that she must have gone through. She was so young and unsure of herself and her role. Joseph did his best for her with the full knowledge that this child was not of him. I can only imagine.

On the 10th Day (Before) Christmas...

A call to the doctor for me.

Better this week than next....

2009 Calendar - Check it out!

It's official! The 2009 Calendar is up and ready for purchase! The proceeds are going to one of the causes in the calendar...to be chosen soon!

Check it out here http://www.cafepress.com/marietaylor

I created February!

On the 11th Day (Before) Christmas

Hopefully this will work....I know I can't scrap a video but I may capture an image and journal about it!

The Sunday Six aka The 12th Day (Before) Christmas

1. We're on the countdown to Christmas! The tree is up ~ with 5 decorations carefully placed by Brenna. The dog's crate is in the middle of the living room - she is currently sleeping in there all curled up, it's rather cute! Brenna is napping - although I am not sure how as her daddy, pa, and uncle are downstairs sawing and nailing up paneling so that we can have a relatively finished basement by Christmas Eve...it's our turn to host the party ~ we hope we can do it!



2. I have entered all of my grades for my students' interims...yea - something else I can check off the list.



3. I currently am not remotely close to having our shopping done but if we would like to have clean clothes, clean bathrooms, and a finished basement, then shopping is on the shelf until next weekend.



5. A story to top all previous crazy mom stories - Friday Brenna had a doctor's appt. so I had to take the morning off to take her. We decided she would spend the remainder of the day with Grandma instead of going to day care. We finished up at the doctor fairly early so I decided we would do a quick Target run before we went to Grandma's. Shopped quick, loaded B into the car, not remembering that I had bumped the lock button on my keys, threw the keys in the front seat with my phone, closed her door. Went to open up the back of the Jeep to put our purchases in and OMG!!! it won't open. Yes, I did the thing all mothers are terrified of doing...locked my daughter in the car with not only my keys, but my cell phone. Luckily a woman in the parking lot took pity on me - thank you whoever you were - and let me use her cell phone. I called the police because who else would I call? The longest 5 minutes of my entire life. Standing on the outside looking in at B...who's looking at me like I am absolutely crazy. I'm crying and playing games with her through the window to keep her occupied. She was oblivious to what was really going on thankfully. I know this because she said to me "no mommy, you no do that (tap on the window and make faces at her). Thank you Officer Young for saving the day. I do solemnly promise to never throw my keys in the front seat while placing my child or my packages in other locations of my car. The only true damage was to my motherly soul...may I never lock her in the car, in the cold, with no phone, or keys again. Thanks mom for making me feel better by sharing a similar story of woe when I was about B's age!



6. Here is my first photo for my 2008 - 12 Days of Christmas Scrapbook


Have a wonderful week everyone!

Tuesday 10 Spot

Ok so really it's Monday but it is close enough for me!

1. The basement is well on it's way to being a great place for playing and having family and friends over. Many of you know we had to un-finish our finished basement because we found mold and water damage. We think we have solved the water part and are now in the process of re-finishing...insulation is in and paneling is going up next...the ultimate goal is to have it ready so that we can host Christmas Eve. Sean is working so hard trying to get it done.

2. Still having a hard time trying to decide what to get the little girl for Christmas. She's at that age where she's to smart for the baby toys, but not really ready for big girl stuff. Her attention span is about a minute - ok maybe longer but she's 2 & 1/2 - it isn't very long! We want to find something that will keep her interested for more than the first 10 minutes she has it.

3. Speaking of Christmas, we started decorating but now we have to get the tree up. Unfortunately it is more than just pull it out and put it up. It is cleaning out whatever we need from the front closet - coats, vacuum cleaner, and any games we may want to play during our vacation, so we can move Bailey's crate. She doesn't ever get locked in the crate, but it is her safe place/house and she just doesn't do well when we take it down, especially when Sean is out of town. Then we move the crate into the area between the front door and closet door. Then we move the footstool into the crate spot, put a piece of wood on it, and then the tree goes up (up a little higher to keep dogs and little hands from touching things that they shouldn't causing said tree to become up-ended (my husband has rigged it so that we string the tree to the window and the magazine rack to keep it from coming down). Then we can think about decorating.

4. Sometimes I love when Thanksgiving is late because it means Christmas will be here sooner, but sometimes I just need more time!

5. We have started our shopping, but just for the little girl. I don't really know when that is going to happen either. Between work and school, the little girl, family time - as much as we can get, activities, and working on the basement there just isn't enough time in the day to do the normal house stuff, let alone extra stuff.

6. I have joined the world of facebook, not that I will ever do anything with it. Fun to think that I can find old friends if I put in a little effort.

7. It has been very, very cold...to cold to wash my car which is absolutely disgusting. I am embarrassed that it is so dirty - both inside and out. I need to make that a priority when the weather gets a little warmer, even if it is only clean for a few minutes!

8. I can't wait for a warmer snow day to take the little girl out and play in the snow! We went to the grocery store yesterday and all she wanted to do was walk in her boots in the snow. Who knew that 3 steps in a tiny patch of snow could make a little girl so happy!

9. Little girl is working on her potty training...she's getting the idea but just not interested in doing everything in the potty yet. We've tried panties but after an accident yesterday I think it is just time to let her be and get back to it during break.

10. Only 16 more days my friends...I can't wait, can you? Merry Christmas!

PS ~ pictures coming soon!