poor dasher...

sometimes the pics pile up so high... that i get overwhelmed at which ones to post.  probably a symptom of me taking so many pictures, really!  oh well.

here are a handful of interesting pics from Christmas Eve / Christmas Day with family in pennsylvania. 

overall we were pretty excited that santa showed up this year... since it looks like pap was waiting in the tree stand for the reindeer team last year!  looks like ole dasher wasn't as fast as they say!  :)



  

   

had a blast seeing family and friends over the holidays!  only problem is that we never make it around to everyone's house, you know!  regardless... a good time was had by all!

Merry Christmas...

journey to bethlehem...

yesterday was december 12th.  my 34th birthday.  it's been crazy at work for the last few weeks... so it was nice to be able to take some time to get away and have lunch with amy and the girls.  we met at max & erma's and got to hang out over onion soup and french fries.  kids were a little crazy... but it was fun to spend the time together, especially on my birthday!

back to the office for a few hours, a quick happy birthday song, along with 5 o'clock beers moved up an hour to 4pm.  very nice!  the CBC winter warmer has probably been my favorite holiday beer this year.  if you're reading this, and you have the means... i highly recommend it!

for the past few years... east pointe church puts on big production called "journey to bethlehem."  we wanted to go last year but weren't in town that weekend.  so i cruised out of work a bit early so that we could bundle up the girls and be at east pointe by 6pm.  layers upon layers of pants and long-sleeved shirts were in store.  funny because once we had them all bundled up... livi looked like the kid from a "Christmas Story!"  i knew if she fell over there was NO way she was getting up on her own.  i really wish i would have the camera for this one!

journey was very cool!  met up with greg, laura johnson, piper and jake plus kevin & krista smith... and were in line a little after 6pm with the girls.  while we were waiting... we heard some people getting excited and turned around to look... and they had brought a live camel into the church to walk around so people could pet him.  he was crazy soft... with prickly whiskers around his mouth that would tickle and scratch you lightly when he nibbled your hand.  piper and jake loved it.  avery and olivia... not so much.  they were more scared than anything.

after waiting 30 minutes or so, luckily in the warm building, they took us and another group of about 7 people outside to start the "trip."  6:30 - 6:45pm ish... and it was pretty dark outside.  very cold... but as soon as we walked outside... you could smell the burning camp fires.  the smell was amazing!  almost like they had been throwing in some incense here and there.  they gathered our group together and told us that our "family" was to travel to bethlehem because of the census.  and that the trip would be long and cold.. but we'd see some of our family along the way.

they had about six different "camps" set up along the way.  each one had different people and different animals that were there during that time.  the costumes were pretty well done... but i can't imagine being one of the volunteers standing out in the cold all night!  temps must have been in the teens.

there were roman soldiers riding around on horses, shepherds tending to sheep, stables with donkeys and camels... even a llama or two.  our guide walked us through a makeshift market with people selling spices, fabrics and other wares.  the final stop of the journey was coming into an inn at bethlehem.  they didn't have room for us, so we had to head out to the back stable.  out back we found a couple huddled inside in the hay with a new born baby.  they told us a story about their travel and the meaning behind it all.  it was really great because during the last two camps leading up to this.. livi kept asking me where "baby jesus" was.  it was very cute!

overall the kids loved the animals!  and i think it helped drive home the real meaning behind Christmas.  plus they especially loved the cookies and hot chocolate afterwards.

so it was a fun birthday spending time with amy and the girls!  funny how life has changed over the years from the days of bars and eating out... to now, when all it takes is finding some good quality time together, watching their eyes light up!  it was a VERY cool birthday!

brothers...

so over one of the last holidays, my brother doug and i had a chance to get out and spend some quality "bro-han" time together. as we were sitting around watching a ball game... i wondered how similar we actually looked to each other. so i borrowed his hat and glasses... and this is what i got.

sweet huh?






also had a chance to get the girls together with maddy their cousin who lives in butler. it's hard to take a bad picture when the three of them are together!

call screening...

we've been screening so many political calls lately that i've been behind on posting up here. in fact i think our blog has called to see if we were posting to "another" blog... just because we hadn't been around in so long!

i feel so guilty.

soon my friend.... soon.

as for now... we're getting ready to go help celebrate the addition of a third candle to our friend maddy's birthday cake!

labor day weekend... pt. ii

so saturday morning we were up bright and early, gathered our stuff, and headed off to our favorite vacation breakfast location... IHOP! yeah... big fans! didn't get any pictures of amy, the girls... or myself chowing down on fresh and fluffy blueberry pancakes, potatoes and some super omelet with steak inside. mmmmmm.

and have you ever noticed that IHOP has the best orange juice on the face of the planet? crazy.

post-breakfast... somewhere in the middle of our food-coma we arrived at king's island and met up with rebecca, sarah, wendy and ken who drove down from columbus to meet us. we made it in the gate pretty early.. and were off to the nickelodeon kids zone!

i'd have to say that king's island has an aaaaah-mazing kids park! pretty much rides adults would normally ride... just scaled down to their size. first we hit the swings. avery, rebecca and sarah were in line instantly. livi... not so much. she decided she just wanted to watch.

after the swings, rebecca and sarah wanted to go ride a roller coaster. i was a little unsure on how either avery or liv would feel about a roller coaster. but peer-pressure is a beautiful thing. avery decided she was up for the challenge. livi... again... not so much.




avery took it like a champ grabbing the front seat with rebecca. she even had her arms up on the first hill! the pix are hilarious! the dazed look on her face afterward said it all!



next up was the merry-go-round. great pictures of the girls!




then off to the whip. i used to love the whip! we used to go to kennywood park near pittsburgh each year in school... and the whip was one of those old rides that would just sling the crap out of you. but in a good way. needless to say all of the girls loved it! in fact we ended up going back a couple of times throughout the day to ride again and again.




after a trip over to the water park to cool off... we made it back to the kids zone for a ride on the kiddie off-road cars and the test-drive track.




we finished up the day with one of the only real "line-waiting" rides that we encountered. scooby doo's mystery machine riding... laser tag shooting... something or other was pretty fun for all of us! and... it provided one of the best photo-opps of the day. a perfect cap to an amazing day!

the ride back to columbus was filled with a nice sunset... sleeping kids... and even a stealth dairy queen drive through for amy and i. :) sweet!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY LIV~~!!!!!

preparations are underway for a party of epic proportions! the date has been set. the family has been put on alert. we'll be gathering with family in pennsylvania on saturday to throw a party that harkens back to our true western-pa heritage....

we're gonna light a big friggin fire!

much fun to go around!

labor day weekend... pt. i

amy and i decided that this year for labor day we were going to go somewhere. you know... sort of like a real vacation! sort of. for weeks we checked out websites... airline prices... hotel prices... areas of the country... cripe... even areas just in ohio! we talked about taking a trip back to chicago to spend some time tooling around the city.

back when amy was very early on in our pregnancy with avery, we took a trip to chicago. like August/September 2002 bc. [now it's referred to in the Bible as BC. and my good friend, and pastor, aaron would try and tell me differently... but i think it means before kids. sure the "c" and the "k" don't really match up, but i have a feeling that just has something to do with the translation from like, ancient hebrew to english.] this trip was so long ago that we had one of those crazy 'old fashion' cameras, that still used film. (gasp!) which means no pix unless i do some serious scanning!

so we thought about chicago... then decided against the two of us, a 3 and a 4 year old urban hiking around the windy city. we looked into the lake-towns of michigan, which were REALLY nice! almost did that. in fact... might be our next trip. but ultimately we decided on something a little closer to home... and planned a two-part trip around the cincinnati area.

we took off friday morning and drove through cincy into kentucky... headed for a GAP distribution center outlet that we had heard about from friends for the past few years. the place turned out to be a goldmine! especially since it also meant old navy and banana republic stuff too!

after the obligatory run through the store to the restroom with two... count them... two kids in various stages of potty-training... i was able to wrangle avery off in a cart to look at some "guys stuff" while livi, as usual, attached herself to amy's side. avery and i bounced aroud the store for a while, found a few things... and made our way back over the section where the other half was looking. and this is what i saw...

liv doesn't normally have the patience to hang out and shop... but let me tell you... there was something special going on at the gap outlet that day!

so needless to say, we took advantage of the girls interest in trying sweaters and backpacks on and were able to get some actual shopping done. and since the outlet had mostly ridiculous deals on everything... we hardly spent!

ok... so we spent a little... but we got a TON OF STUFF!

after looking around for the better part of 90 minutes... and waiting out a monsoon that was blowing rain sideways outside, we were able to pile into the car and grab some dinner. not sure if it was a bad night... or just us... but Carrabba's Italian Grille wasnt' all that it had been cracked up to be the only other time amy and i had eaten there. oh well.

headed back to the hotel earlier than we would have if it would just have been the two of us. but we wanted to take advantage of the free pool! and since we had been promising it to the girls for much of the week... they were ready for some serious pool time! wish i would have had the camera for this! avery and olivia jumping off the side of the pool into our arms. swimming (doggy paddling) all over the place... they had a blast! and good for us... tired out. so the first ever hotel slumber party commenced with the two double beds we had so luxuriously reserved.

ended up getting a pretty good night's sleep. good thing too... cause and we were really in for it with the saturday we had planned!

more to come in part ii...

blog envy...

so i've been tooling around with design elements for the blog. in case you haven't checked this thing out... there are like 600,000 different little whistles and bells that you can add to a blog! and i'm like light years behind the "mom's group!" i'm having some issues with the width of the columns (too thin) and i've of course got an obsessive-compulsive issue with the colors. (i've gone through a few different color schemes thus far)

in case you haven't checked them out... or are interested in who amy and the girls spend most thursday mornings with... you can see a list of blogs to the right from a & o's neighborhood gang. and yes... i officially have "blog envy."

working on new posts and pictures now.

a weekend w/ friends...

each year, usually the first or second weekend in august, we plan on setting aside a few days to get together with old friends. our group has gotten slightly smaller over the years, in a "natural selection" sort of way. as each of us gets further away from our college days, some of us find new mouths to feed, others the pull of a new job or the lure of moving into a new home. but overall we're pretty lucky, because for the past 7, 8 or 9 years (the exact number varies depending on who you ask) the majority of us have made the time to pull our families together.

this year we opened up the house for 8 adults and 7 kids... most of which were under the age of 4. it was exciting!

nate, ben, lilliann, julianna, landon, livi and avery spent much of the time bouncing off the walls and inflatable mattress. but we did manage to get them outside and enjoy the weather! afternoons were filled with bubbles, water balloons, and the seemingly endless track that went from pool, to ramp, clubhouse, slide, pool... ramp... clubhouse, slide, pool... clubhouseslidepool, etc. needless to say the kids slept pretty well each night.

the busy days of garage-saling for the girls... and madden '09 tournaments for the guys... with a little baby-sitting in between.. opened up the post-bath-book-reading evenings to nights on the deck with a cold beverage and some seriously serious rounds of ladder golf. each year the conversation gets better and better! blogspot may kick me off if i start adding quotations. :)

it's hard to beat times like these with friends!

in the beginning...

i always loved skipping stones across a still lake when i was growing up. the really good ones would start out strong... then seem to go on forever with a flurry of small skips that looked like they were sliding along the surface before they fall underwater and join the rest of the stones on the sand below...

i started composing that thought as the description of theHallway... but naturally got too long (as many of my thoughts do) and exceeded the 500 characters allowed. so instead, it will act as the proverbial champagne bottle christening the edge of my dell monitor. i think i'll expand on this one later.

this blog has been a long time coming! i've wanted to start a random thoughts blog for a while but didn't know where to start. so why not begin with something closer to my heart than anything else in the world?

this is going to be fun...