Funny Stuff

Aidan is 7 now and still has a problem saying his R's.  It sounds more like a W.  However, he's very easy to understand, so it's more of a cute little quirk that anything else.  Sometimes it even provides good entertainment.  Like today, when we were all sitting around playing Connect 4 and he very excitedly told Alison,  "He beat her!", talking about Jeff beating me.  Of course, the "her" sounded more like "hawr".  So, I teased him, "Well, that wasn't very nice to rub it in like that!".  Straight-faced, he replied, "Well... At least I called you a hawr" (I don't think I have to tell you what word it sounded like...)

Jeff cracked up & had to leave the room.  ;)

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....

As usual, I procrastinated until the very last possible minute to finish my Christmas shopping.  I finally finished it up around noon on Christmas Eve.  Of course, I also hadn't so much as wrapped a single present, and the kids were with me all day so I had to wait until Jeff got home from work at 11:30 pm to even start.  I put the kids to bed around 10:00, hoping that they'd be really asleep by the time Jeff got home.  After reading them 3 different Christmas books, then reciting 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', they finally settled down enough to fall asleep.  So, at midnight, after pouring ourselves a glass of wine, we quietly brought all the presents into the living room & got to work.  We took our time & finished at about 2:00 am.  As we were getting ready for bed, we noticed that Santa had come while we weren't looking & set out 2 new Razor scooters!  I knew the kids would be VERY excited about them, since their scooters were stolen off of our driveway a few months ago.

For the first time since we've been married, we skipped church & slept in Christmas morning.  It was so nice, relaxing, calm & quiet.  I have to admit, Jeff & I both felt a little guilty for not going to Mass with Jerry, but we both agreed that it is always soooo incredibly hectic on Christmas morning: getting up early, getting everyone fed & dressed, Mass at 8:00, home at 9:30, quickly open presents, change clothes, off to Jerry's, open presents, eat lunch, off to Steve & Bev's, eat dinner, back home after dark, FINALLY play with our new toys, and then bedtime.  And the whole day, we hear nothing but, "We want to go home & play with our toys!"  Frankly, it just sucks.  I NEVER look forward to Christmas Day because it's just exhausting.  Well this year, we did what we wanted to do, and skipped the chaos.  We woke up around 9:30, opened presents, ate, then didn't leave for Steve & Bev's until around 3:00.  Stayed 'til 6:00 and came back home.  It was so great!  I also made this awesome breakfast casserole that I was so excited about (a layer of biscuits, then sausage, then "scrambled egg" layer.. eggs, milk, salt, pepper, cheese... and finally more cheese on top).  Jeff & I both really liked it; the kids hated it (why was I surprised?), so they ended up with Lucky Charms.  Go figure.

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!  Here are a few pics of the kids opening presents:

New scooters from Santa!

Aidan's favorite present: his DSi

Alison favorite: her iPod Nano

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy!

Yesterday, I got home from work & Aidan surprised me with his 1st lost tooth!  His two upper front teeth have been loose for about two weeks & he's been constantly wiggling them.  Well apparently, he was in class yesterday & they stood up to do some exercizes & it just fell right out of his mouth!  He was so incredibly excited!  The tooth fairy made her 1st stop for Aidan at our house around 11:00 pm last night and left $2.00 in change under his pillow.  This morning, he grabbed the change & yelled excitedly, "Now I have 714 cents in my piggy bank!"  LOL  It won't be too long before his other front tooth comes out.  It is VERY loose & crooked, too!

Here are a few pics of his missing tooth... (click the pics to make them bigger!)

Student of the Week!

Every week, Monroe Elementary chooses a Student of the Week and last week, Alison was chosen!  She was so excited, and I was so proud!!!!  The students are chosen based on grades, behavior, being helpful to others, politeness, etc.  This is the 1st time Alison has been chosen.  She was sent home with a "newspaper front page" to fill out about herself, which will be hung in the hallway with the other Students of the Week.

(Be sure to click on the pics to make them bigger so you can read the stories!)

Seven Years Ago Today...

...It was a Wednesday. December 4, 2002. There was a blizzard outside, the first snow of the season. The temperature was frigid- so cold outside that it literally hurt to breathe. Everyone was snowed in, roads were closed, highways were jammed, and power was out all over the city. In the midst of the chaos, I lay in a hospital bed. My son was about to be born.

Jeff & I had tried for the better part of a year to get pregnant. Finally, success! We were ecstatic! We both wanted a boy. We had a beautiful then-3-year-old little girl at home and wanted a son to complete our family.

I remember lying in that bed, listening to the steady beep-beep-beep of the monitors & thinking about all the joys to come, counting down the minutes until I would finally see my son's face. Jeff was snoozing in the recliner, catching what was sure to be his last good nap for a while. We had gotten to the hospital at midnight that night for an induction. I was a week overdue; he had been due on Thanksgiving Day.

After almost 10 hours of labor, Aidan Jeffrey Tesdall was finally born at 9:52 am. He was truly a gift from God and we were in love from the first moment we laid eyes on him. The last seven years, he has grown into the most loving, sweet, funny, smart, wonderful little boy a mother could possibly ask for. He truly completes our family and I love him so very much!

Happy 7th Birthday, darling baby boy!

(click on pic to make it bigger)