James' First Oreo

I think he likes them!

Simple Thanks

Today, on this chilly Winter day, I am thankful for Pigs in a Blanket, Peas and Peanuts.
(and so is James and Peter!)

He's Home!

Dad gets to finally come home!

Home Coming for Dad

So, my dad came home last night, from his LONG 5-month deployment to the Middle East. He was a little 'too close for comfort' to some big time 'enemy' territory, but our Great God kept him safe every minute along the way. We were SO grateful and excited to see him come home!
Here is the sign that my family made for him. (The hand prints are of Peter's & James' hands!)



After all of the hugs and excitement settled down a bit, dad took a tour of his home and kept commenting on how 'large' it was. His face said "I can't believe I live in a MANSION!!" He had been living in a closet that was turned into an office, so you can imagine his glee of coming home, to a REAL home! Tim and I had gone to Bills Donuts, to pick up two of his favorite donuts just before going over to their house. So, I presented him with a large cream-filled/powered sugar donut as he was sitting in his favorite recliner and he said it was like Heaven on earth!!!! We celebrated his Christmas before dinner. He got all kinds of neat things. His 3 biggest gifts were, New Rocking Chairs (from David and Caralee), A Metal Detector (from Tim and Stephany) and a wii (from mom). During and after dinner dad got to share some of his interesting stories about his trip to Quatar.

Video's to COME!

Welcome Home

Tonight, my Dad (Steve) is coming home from his 5-Month deployment to the Middle East.
The one thing that he has mentioned missing the most is donuts! But then again, what man wouldn't?
Peter and I made a 'Welcome Home' sign, Caralee is bringing balloons and we have all of his favorites (meatballs, cheeseball, donuts, cake, etc) ready for his homecoming tonight!
We will also be celebrating Christmas tonight with him! He missed many big momentous occasions while gone (i.e. His Birthday, His Anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) So, we have a couple of great surprises for him tonight!


Check up for more pictures and stories of his Homecoming, tomorrow!!!

Christmas Day!

After Tim and I and our boys had 'our Christmas' together, we headed over to my Mom's house for Christmas with her, my sister (Caralee) and her hubby (David).
. . . .and, as usual, My Mother said "I don't have any presents for anybody, I'm so sorry!" - which I think she has said every year of my life, and then we wake up to something that looks similar to this. . .







'THE MOUNTAIN' as Caralee and I call it.
And, you can't see it in this picture, but the gifts wrap around the back of the tree, from the left chair all the way under the right chair until it is touching the entryway.




Can you find Peter?

James' new fire-truck!

James, NOT helping Peter open his gifts

Peter's new books!

James' new Bug Book! Oooo, it's soft!!

Dee-Dee helping Pete find more gifts under the pike o' presents

If you look close at James' face, he is grinning from ear to ear! He knew what THIS gift was. . .sippy cups!!!

This was the best way to make sure that James didn't open Peter's gifts and Peter didn't open up James' gifts. Poor kid had to sit in confinement for about an hour. He didn't mind, though. Caralee kept bringing him presents to open!

Christmas Eve

This morning, I made homemade sticky buns, with pecans. This was a hit last year with the family, so I saved it for Christmas Eve. Peter even ate them! (He's not one for 'new' foods, so the fact that he ate them WITH the nuts too, was a huge deal!)
Today, we are going to be going over to Grandma and Grandpa Weldon's house to celebrate Christmas with them and Pat and Catherine too! Peter was very excited, because he knew that TODAY was the day that he would get to open gifts! It was also good incentive for Tim and I, to make sure that he remained on his best behavior!
Since my dad is still over seas, we decided to spend Christmas DAY with my mom at her home and Christmas Eve with Tim's parents. We also invited my Mom to our Christmas Eve Dinner and to our church's Christmas Eve Service. Every year, we have a beautiful service, filled with singing, Scripture reading and then we always end the service with an a cappella version of Silent Night, while we all light a small candle we each received before the service. It brings tears to my eyes every year (and of course Tim's eyes too. . .he's a big softy!) What a beautiful way to express our praise and worship to our Newborn King!
The Weldon's had a catered meal ready for us, for an early dinner and we ate WELL!! My mom sat with us and we talked the night away. . . almost forgetting to get everyone ready to go to church!
After our church service we said our good-bye's to Grandma Shaeffer and headed back to the Weldon's for the Weldon-Christmas.
James: Walking always with one hand straight up in the air!

Peter and Grandma Weldon

Peter and James, playing together!!

The boys, opening their gifts. . . .




Pat: opening his duck!

Mommy watching James drool all over his new doggy!

Grandma Weldon, Great-Aunt Eleanor & Grandpa Weldon watching the boys open their gifts

James it a bit overwhelmed with his gifts!

Uncle Pat and Peter making funny faces

December 23rd

Today was another eventful day, and became even more eventful, due to the harsh weather.

Everyone came over for breakfast again this morning. Peter, was so excited to see Pat and Catherine again, he woke up extra early just incase they would be there early.
After breakfast, we all sat around while Pat and Peter went outside to do a test drive of his new big-wheel! It was cold outside, but that didn't stop the boys from having fun!


After Grandma and Grandpa went home, Tim and I put the boys to bed, for a good nap, I made some coffee and we enjoyed some catching up with Pat and Catherine. It was so nice! We told funny Christmas stories and shared some of our own family traditions. We really enjoyed that down time with them!
I received a call from my mom (who was in Columbus, dropping my Aunt off at the airport), saying that the ice on the roads was horrific and she wasn't even going to bother driving home. She had seen enough crashes on the roads to last her a lifetime and she didn't feel safe driving back to Dayton, so she stayed in a hotel room at a local hotel. I emailed my dad, who is still in the Middle East, to let him know where she was, and then Tim and I watched the news to see when we were going to get this storm.
Well, we ended up getting an Ice-Storm, which I didn't even think existed until today, that within the hour. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING had ice on it. The term 'Black Ice' was an understatement. Tim insisted on getting some 'last minute' stocking stuffers and I had the boys to get ready for our car ride to a restaurant. I was very nervous about Tim being out in this weather, but he was safe and sound and met us at the restaraunt. It was very tricky holding James while holding Peter's hands, trying to cross a street covered in ice. The Lord was looking over all of us that evening and keep us safe!
We headed home to let let Pat and Catherine get their doggy, to bring back to their hotel room, but I couldn't get my car up our driveway, so I parked on the street and had to walk through the yard to make it to the front door. I made it to the door, but on my way back out, I slipped on the ice and fell down on our sidewalk. It was weird, because it felt like it was in slow motion. . I remember thinking 'Oh, no, I'm going to hit my head!', so in the seconds it took to fall, I lifted my head so that when I fell I wouldn't hit in on the concrete. It worked and I was fine! I hurt my hands pretty bad, and kept ice on them for the remainder of the evening, but the concern of my sweet hubby for me, made it better!
We went home, and Tim walked the kids into the house and we tucked them in bed. We were all very excited about tomorrow, Christmas Eve!

December 22nd

Patrick and Catherine came in to town the night before, but it was late, so we waited to see them for breakfast at our house this morning.
It was a cold, brisk morning. Peter was up and looking out the window, waiting to watch them pull up in our driveway. Sure enough, right on the dot, Pat and Catherine knocked on the door with a huge present in hand. . ."Oh, boy", I thought, "And it begins. . ."
Peter was so excited to see them! Pat, right away, showed him the wrapped gift and told Peter that it was for HIM. . . ."Open it, bud!" he said.
Peter's eyes were so big as he tore through the wrapping.

Sure enough, a big present means a big gift!

He got a BIKE!!!!! Well, better than a bike . . A BIG WHEEL!!!

Peter wasn't really sure what it was but he was super excited about it! Right away, Pat, Catherine and Tim started putting the bike together. Since it was cold outside, we let Peter ride it in the house.


Which. . . .also lead to his first 'big boy' boo-boo. He threw himself backwards, trying to pull a 'wheelie', and put a small gash in his head, which did bleed a little, had a little bit of a bloody nose and a bleeding tooth. He didn't care for it at first, but Patrick talked it up to being 'a man', so Peter felt really tough and proud of his injuries!
We enjoyed a full breakfast with the Weldon Grandparents, Great-Aunt Eleanor, Pat and Catherine and our family of four. So, pretty much, after breakfast, we all just sat around, while our bellies went into shock. lol
Grandma and Grandpa Weldon, Aunt Eleanor and the rest of the Weldon-gang played with the boys all morning into nap time while Tim and I cleaned up a bit. I made some peppermint hot chocolate and soft pretzels and we all just relaxed. For hours!! It was the perfect beginning to our Christmas week!
We had big plans for dinner tonight. Grandma and Grandpa Weldon took us all to a very nice (and fancy!) French restaurant where we enjoyed very fine dining! Grandma really thought ahead on this one, because she booked us to have our own private room (with doors and everything!) for the kids to 'run around' and play in.


They didn't have a kids menu. . . .shocker!. . . so they mixed some fancy noodles with some fancy cheeses. . .and whallaaa! French-Mac & Cheese!!! And, of course, James ate anything and everything that anyone gave him. He ate two breakfast bars and a bag of cheerios JUST on the way to the restaurant and THEN ate MORE at the restaurant. What a bottomless PIT!!!
Tim had a large steak with 'french fries' and a apple tart for dessert. I shared a shrimp and scallop appetizer followed by a baked flounder dish and then a berry tart and coffee for dessert. We had a really lovely time!

December 21st

Tonight I had my last Christmas Concert, with my band Glorious Ruins.
The concert went beautifully and the audience seemed to really enjoy it. We had a love offering at the conclusion of the concert and we were able to make enough to begin our next project, a full Christmas C.D. We will being recording this Spring and will have it ready to sell by this Fall.
Peter sat during the entire program and tried to sign with the signer, sang the songs he knew and even 'air-drummed' with our drummer. After the concert, Peter came up on stage and gave me a kiss on m cheek and said "Wow, Mommy, you did a good job singing!" Then, our drummer let Peter play on his drum set as loud as he wanted. Peter thought he had landed on a cloud!