Christmas Time

Growing up my parents would try and pick the snowiest day to pick out the Christmas tree. We have not had much snow this year so we were lucky to have some on the day we picked out the tree. Every year the tree just seems perfect and this year was no exception. We brought it home and started decorating while the snow fell outside. It was perfect. We had a fire in the fireplace and some Christmas music playing. Patrick is getting old enough now to help with the ornaments getting on the tree rather than just pulling them off.

We also made our first gingerbread house this year. Patrick had seen a pattern in one of his books and really wanted to make one. We had a really good time making a huge mess in the kitchen while creating our little house. Plus- we got to eat some of the ingredients!
Ahhh- pure sugar frosting! Nothing gets a 3-year-old more excited than that!
Patrick was quite pleased with the finished product and was a little miffed that we were not going to be eating it. However, a few days later he got to make a Nativity that was edible! A few mini marshmallows, some graham crackers, animal crackers, frosting and a few pieces of cereal and Voila! An edible Nativity!
A perfect snack for after lunch! Patrick says Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus tasted the best. Ahh, nothing like a Creche made of mini marshmallows.
The Christmas holiday was celebrated at our house and my parents house. Jason's parents made the trip out from New Hampshire so they were able to see Patrick open all his gifts Christmas morning. Patrick was very surprised to open presents and find things that were on his list. He kept saying "Hey, that was on my list!" As he opened each gift he wanted to open it up and play with it. Not quite the mad dash to open that I remember as a child but I am sure that will come.














Patrick and Meredith filling up their Pez dispensers. And- Paging Dr. Patrick! Not only did Patrick want a doctor kit but he kept telling us he needed the coat too.

A shaving kit- that was high on the list too. Everyone got a cut and shave Christmas morning. Patrick really gave us the once over with all his supplies. I must say- my face felt very smooth after getting a shave from Patrick!

In non-holiday news: We have carpet in the kids rooms upstairs! Woohoo! Now that the carpet is down we are ready for the trim which hopefully will start getting put up some time this week. Patrick loves to play upstairs now and has some toys set up in his future room. He likes to go up there and wrestle with J on the carpet. Progress!




























Getting the outlet covers on was a family affair!

What if we had never met....

My grandfather, Patrick J. McCarthy, was born in 1925 to Irish immigrants. He moved in down the street from my grandmother, Betty, while they were teenagers. When his parents moved again my grandfather would ride his bike over to see his friend Norman and would hope to see my gram too. When my grampa joined the Navy he and gram exchanged letters. When he was home on leave one time he asked her to marry him. She had to think about it. Grampa persisted and gram finally said yes. Grampa had a ring made with one new diamond and two smaller family diamonds from some earrings gram had received from her grandmother. They were married in 1946 at the rectory. My grandfather was raised Catholic but gram was Methodist. The priest was not happy about marrying them but gram said they would have just eloped if the priest wouldn't marry them. They moved to Virginia Beach, where grampa was stationed, and started their new married life together. Gram tells me that for about 3 Sundays grampa would walk her to the Methodist Church, drop her off and then head off to Mass. After 3 weeks of this he thought "This is silly! I'm going to church with my wife!" They attended together for the rest of their years together at the Methodist Church. He passed away on August 24, 1993 after a courageous battle with cancer. The doctors had only given him 6 months but he lived well beyond that...I believe another 2 years.

I remember my grampa as almost larger than life. Someone who was quick to laugh and joke and deeply loved his family. I think most of all he loved his wife though. It brings tears just thinking of him. I remember him giving my gram a big smooch whenever he left the house. Even if he was just running to the corner she got a kiss before he left. He called her The Boss. I see pictures of them from when they were younger and their smiles could not be bigger. One picture is my favorite though. Grampa is standing behind gram and he has his arms around her. His head is bent down so it can be closer to her face.

When my grampa was sick my grandmother cared for him at home. I remember my grampa being sick and wanting to lay down to rest. If family was around though he was there. He fought against the fatigue and any discomfort so he could be out with the family. When he finally succumbed he was surrounded by his children and his loving wife of almost 47 years. One of my aunts said after my grampa died that she would like to have just a pinky finger worth of strength that my gram had in dealing with the death. She was amazing throughout it all. I remember thinking that I wanted to marry a man that loved me they way my grampa loved my gram. If I could find that kind of love I knew I would be set no matter what life presented me with.

In 1996 I went to Colorado for a summer job. My mother told me not to go out there and meet some cowboy. Not wanting to be one to listen to my mother I met Jason...a New Hampshire cowboy! We were both out there working for the summer at a dude ranch. We were both at the same stable for awhile and then I was sent to another stable for about a month. Eventually we were both back at the same stable in Grand Lake, CO. What a beautiful place! For our first date together Jason paid off the stable manager so we could have a day off together. We drove to Steamboat Springs, did some shopping and went to a rodeo. The Hells Angels were actually having a convention of some sort that weekend. We had stopped for some ice cream and Jason and I both thought it was a little funny to see these guys get some ice cream and then hop in a mini van. It just wasn't the image we had imagined! Anyway- I headed back to OH to finish school and Jason came back to OH to be with me and see if there was anything to this new relationship we were in. We have been together ever since. After we got married in 1998 we started out far from any family developing our own traditions, starting out fresh. We relied on each other and developed a deep bond.

When I think about all the things that could have happened, what if we had never met? Where would we be? What would we be doing? Would Jason have followed the horse show circuit to Florida? Would he have stayed in NY where he went to college? Would we have still met but under different circumstances? Of course I can not really answer those questions but Jason and I have talked a little about it. Where would he be? Colorado is his first response. Colorado is a beautiful state that we both feel drawn to. Where would I be? Colorado maybe but I really don't know.

What I do know is that we did meet and Jason is a wonderful husband. He loves me in my pj's or all dressed up. He loves me even though I can not seem to cook despite reading from a recipe. He loves me and he loves my family. He is a wonderful father. His patience seems to carry on after mine is spent. He is slow to anger. He is a wonderful cook(thank goodness or I would be eating a lot of cereal!). He tells me he would do anything for me...except for letting me put my cold toes on his warm tummy! (I should have added that to our wedding vows!) Now that we have been in OH for over 7 years and have a wonderful son Jason says he would stay here if something were to happen to me. I know- not a nice thought but it does comfort me to know Patrick will be able to remain with the friends he has made here. It also comforts me to know Jason has developed roots in OH enough that he would want to stay even if I wasn't around anymore. That gives me a sense of peace- knowing he feels like this is home.

What if we had never met? Who knows. I do know that I am forever thankful that we did. I love him more and more every day. I can not imagine my life without him. I found a man who loves me the way I think my grampa loved my gram and that brings tears of joy to my eyes.

With Christmas just around the corner I am forever thankful for my family- Jason and Patrick. Our little trio...soon to be four. They are the best gifts I could have.

Surprise Thanksgiving

We were planning on spending Thanksgiving at home this year after finding our schedules very full. We celebrated with a meal on Wednesday with my family which was wonderful. Even though Jason thought it was not traditional we ate ham instead of turkey and had wonderful pie made by gram Mc. She makes the best pies! Madeline, Meredith and Patrick all played so well together all day long. They helped Papa set up the Christmas train and then played with all the people and houses that go along with the set up.

The surprise came today, Thanksgiving Day. Since we celebrated with family yesterday we were expecting to spend today at home watching the parade and the dog show. J had some work on the house he wanted to get done and my dad came up to help with some staining. Talk about something to be thankful for- all the help we have gotten from family and friends on getting the house done in time for the new baby! Late in the morning we called a friend that we knew was home for Thanksgiving to see if we could stop by with dessert. We have had one of her pie pans for way too long and we really wanted to return it. We couldn't return it empty, of course! Our intention was to go over, give the horses some treats and share a dessert. Being such short notice we didn't want to intrude or make her feel like she was hosting something. We called her up and made the dessert offer. She ended up having us over for prime rib(which she claims she always has left over of!), homemade applesauce, homemade coleslaw and salad. We offered to bring potatoes and cranberry salad. Spur of the moment this wonderful meal appeared before two families that were supposed to be home alone. Instead we shared a wonderful table with a great friend.

When we got to her house the prime rib was just about done so we decided to let it coast in the oven while we went for a horseback ride. We headed out to the barn and gave out the apples and carrots. Patrick isn't up to feeding the horses yet but he laughs when they bite into the apple. A little drool and smacking horse lips just does the trick for him! Once the treats were gone we saddled up and got ready to head out. Typically Patrick rides with me but with this belly getting bigger everyday he had to ride with Jason. It was a gorgeous evening, chilly but no wind and a beautiful sunset. We rode for about an hour and it was just perfect. Perfect does not even do it justice but perfect. Just perfect. We returned to the barn and got the horses cleaned up. Patrick was getting more and more comfortable as we were there and even helped brush them down. He worked on the legs and did a fabulous job. We all headed inside to the waiting prime rib and sat down for a delicious meal. Patrick had barely finished when he was asking to head back out to the barn. It was very dark by the time we left but Patrick wanted to say goodbye to the horses. We headed over to the fence and George, the horse Patrick and Jason rode, came walking right over. George put his head down low so Patrick could put his hand on his nose. It was very sweet. Then Nugget came over and put his head down low to check Patrick out. Patrick was really good with the horses and they were good with him. I was kicking myself that I didn't have the camera. Seeing him put his little arm through the fence to pet the horses and having them lower their heads so he could reach them was just too precious. The third horse Gypsy was a no-show for the fence visit so Patrick asked about her and wondered where she could be. She had already headed out to the pasture and it was just too dark for us to see her.

So a surprise Thanksgiving for us. Thankful for family, friends(with spur of the moment scheduling abilities!), a wonderful spur of the moment meal and this wonderful earth we are blessed with. What a perfect day.

Leaves and snow

These pictures were taken about a week apart. The leaves were thoroughly enjoyed on the last night day of fall. Patrick really enjoyed running through the leaves, throwing them up in the air and being buried underneath them. Now we have the snow to enjoy. Patrick loves to eat the snow. His daddy pointed out that the old Sedum flower heads made the snow look like ice cream cones. A thorough tasting followed and the snow was enjoyed very much!
Patrick is such a sweet little guy who really enjoys being outside. He likes to point to the airplanes in the sky and even points out the white trails they leave behind. He will stop what he is doing if he hears the helicopters coming or a plane is flying a little low. We live near the county airport so we see a lot of private planes go over. Patrick waves and waves! This summer we went to a biplane festival and Patrick got to climb into a restored WACO plane. He didn't want to get out! He asks lots and lots of questions which I admit grow tiresome after awhile but I love his curiosity and sense of adventure. I hear "Watch this" a lot! As we plan to add to our family I look forward to when Patrick can be a big brother. He will be the coolest!

Halloween Weekend

Friday was a long day for Patrick because trick or treating did not start until after nap time. That is an eternity for a 3-year-old! Once he woke up(not until almost 4!) we headed to the church to drop off the bread for Hot Meals. Several of the people that volunteer on Friday nights wanted to see Patrick in his costume so we parked in the alley behind the church and changed Patrick into his fabulous bat costume.
He was a big hit with everyone in the kitchen and even scored some candy! Next we headed over to the Diehl's for a night of trick-or-treating. Several other families that live in the "country" all met up for a group effort. Of the kids we had Patrick, Elizabeth, Alex, Charlotte, Spencer, Makenna, Ella, Andrew, Ben and Sam. The kids headed out in a large mass ready to fill their buckets with so much candy it was ridiculous. They were all so good about saying trick-or-treat and they worked really hard at saying thank you. A few times when they would all come trouping back to the sidewalk the parents would ask if they remembered to say "Thank you!" A few of the kids would say Oops! and run back to the house just to say it. Very cute. Patrick was very excited to get suckers and liked showing his candy to people that passed by and even to the people handing out the candy. We had wonderful weather and there were a lot of people handing out candy. One poor guy sitting at the end of his driveway is sure to wake up very soon with a cold. There were 4 kids gathered around his bowl and they were all coughing. Sorry about that! Patrick enjoyed chatting with people about his costume and the candy he had gathered. He would explain that he was not a scary bat and that he had bat wings under his arms. He also told people he could not really fly- just pretend.After the little kids had been out for about 45 minutes we headed back to the Diehl's and ate some yummy food. The kids got to sample a few items from their buckets and then they all played and played and played. They were in the basement. Then they were in the family room. Then they were up in Elizabeth's room(making a huge mess!) and then back to the basement. They were all having a ball! When it was time to leave there were many tears on Patrick's part. One of the little girls offered to let Patrick spend the night at her house. How sweet! Saturday night was the grownups turn for some Halloween fun. Jason and I went to a Halloween party at the Conway's dressed as a 50s housewife and the milkman. There were some great costumes- someone dressed up as the Financial bailout and his wife had pork around the bottom of her outfit. Sarah Palin as she is now and as a beauty queen, John McCain, Woody, Goose from Top Gun, 80's couple...even Todd Palin made an appearance. By the way- the Conway's garage floor was so clean we could have eaten off of it! It literally shined! Sunday evening we headed over to my parents house for dinner. My sister and her family came also. We all wanted to get together before mom has her back surgery Tuesday...kind of a last supper kind of thing. Once she has the surgery she will be in the hospital for 5 to 7 days so we wanted to all get together before her recovery begins. Tuesday we also have our ultrasound! Weee!

Adventures

Sunday afternoon Jason got the tractor running and headed out with Patrick to get some end of the season mowing done on the back 40. After a little while Patrick was done and Jason brought him back. He helped me sweep out some of the garage and Jason headed back out to mow before we needed to leave for youth fellowship at church. A short time later Jason came walking back- the tractor had gotten bogged down in some thick grass and stalled out. It would not restart. Bummer! So we all loaded into the truck and headed back to where the tractor was. Once we got the truck backed down into the little valley we hooked up the tractor. After a few attempts it started! Patrick and I drove the truck out and were getting ready to head back to the house when I looked back down to where the tractor was and things didn't look quite right. The front of the tractor was pointing up to the sky. In his attempts to get the tractor headed back up the hill it started to roll backwards and ended up rolling back into the dry creek bed!
After some discussion we headed back to the house to get the phone so we could call our neighbor with the nice 4-wheel drive tractor. Patrick and I rode in the truck but Jason wanted to walk. Fortunately, Rich was available and drove his tractor over. Patrick kept saying "It's stuck in the muck!" Chains were hooked up and the pulling began.
There was a lot of pulling, tires spinning, and more pulling. Our tractor would not start so Jason wasn't even able to spin his own tires to help with the process. I drove back down there with the hopes of starting the tractor. No luck. The tractor would turn over but nothing would catch. Rich and Jason decided to unhook the mower deck from our tractor to make the pulling a little easier. Once the mower deck was off, the tractor popped out with no trouble. Rich towed our tractor all the way back to the house which was great and now it sits in our garage hooked up to the trickle charger. If we can keep Jason from shooting it he might try and get it fixed so we can use it to plow this winter. I guess the rest of the mowing will have to wait.















The other adventure at our house today was our first snow! Patrick was very excited to put on his coat and go outside and catch his first snowflakes of the year.

Progress

Things are progressing upstairs which is just wonderful! My dad was up the other day and got the first coat of pain in what will be Patrick's room. After a few trips to the paint store and several horrid color choices I finally picked out a color that I like. I had even tried to fix the old paint and was hoping it would grow on me. Each time I went up to that room though I said "I hate this color." There was no learning to love the color. Jason's parents are here this weekend so this morning Jason and Ted got the subfloor down in Patrick's room. No more squishy floor. Now they are working on the bench seat that will cover the heating duct. I really have the itch to get carpet in there now! I also picked up the paint for the loft area and that paint is slowly getting on the walls. It is the same color that is in the family room but it looks a little darker upstairs. I still like the way it looks. Yeah, progress!

Lessons in fruit smooshies, potty training and blocks

Today has been a marathon day for parenting. We are in the midst of potty training with Patrick and he is doing really well so far. He is actually pooping in the potty which was a concern of ours since the site of his own poo caused him to gag. This morning started out well. Patrick used the potty, had a good breakfast and was getting ready to start his day playing. Then he asked for a "rolly smooshie" which is kind of like a fruit roll up but very long and thin. A small piece had torn off before he even unrolled it. It was the perfect nostril size so Patrick wadded it up and shoved it in. In an attempt to get it out he must have shoved it even further in. He came to me with a nervous look and one eye tearing up. I took a looksy and didn't see anything right off but he said it was up there. So- I armed myself with a flashlight and some tweezers and we both headed for the bathroom. The flashlight confirmed that, yes, there was something way, way up there. It was well beyond the reach of the tweezers and no amount of blowing on Patricks' part was going to make it come flying out. I called Heather, our personal nurse and savior in emergency nose stuffing situations, for some advice. After a little giggling on her part she offered some suggestions and we both were hoping that the smooshie would start to dissolve and come sliding out on its own. So I agreed to report back after we tried a few things. By this time Patrick's nose was beginning to run with a brown mucous which was the smooshie starting to dissolve. I got the nasal aspirator and started sucking away in there. Lots and lots of brown mucous, some more fussing, more brown mucous and finally a little flap of smooshie. I told Patrick "I think it's all out!" He sniffed a little and said "I think there is still some in there." More suction and more brown mucous and finally Patrick gave me the all clear. Lesson 1: Don't stick things in your nose. Whew- glad that was over with. All the excitement of the nasal suction must have distracted Patrick from our original goal of potty training and he had an accident...on the carpet. Oopsy! Lesson 2: Please tell mommy you have to use the potty(haven't we had this lesson already?). The last lesson of the day was a little harder for Patrick to deal with and not one that we could really fix for him. Jason was home and using the facilities when Patrick busted in and wanted to watch the toilet being flushed. With two blocks in hand, Patrick watched as Jason flushed and in all the flushing excitement a block hit the water just as the final wash was being pushed down the hole. The block disappeared into the hole never to be seen again. Great disappointment ensued and a little explanation on how we couldn't get the block back. We have more blocks but that block was special! Lesson 3: Don't put things in the toilet that you hope to see again. What can we expect for tomorrow after all this?

Well, I think I have things set up for now. Patrick is up from his nap and is helping pick out pics. This is a pic taken especially for this page. We planted a few pumpkin seeds this spring but none of the seeds grew. Then we had a volunteer pumpkin the middle of our tomatoes and this is where we got our one pumpkin. Jason and Patrick harvested the pumpkin the other day. We will all carve it up in a few weeks.

Ok- Here we go! This may be the start of something new...