Memories of 2009 & Decade in Review

Twenty Ten is quickly approaching, like tomorrow kind of quickly :) 2009 has been a memorable year for many reasons, these are my top 3 (and honorable mentions)!

1) (Warning: Intentions are not to get all preachy and feel free to skip this if you are anti-Jesus/Christian!) I finished up a 3 semester long discipleship class and I feel like my entire life is completely different. Before that study I was a Christian, but more or less only on Sundays and around my Christian friends type of Christian. I was walking with one foot in the world and one foot in the Word - and would play which ever card was appropriate for who I was around. I had to make a choice. Now that I have made the choice and learned how to daily live out a life for Christ; my world is totally different. The bad day is a blimp on the radar of eternal life I have in Christ. My bad day could be someone's dream. I'm blessed beyond measure by a loving husband, 3 unique children, a house, and countless other blessings. I love Jacob more then ever and I have totally accepted my role as his wife and mother to my 3 kiddos. Honestly, I no longer hold any grudges or resentment for where I am and who I am. It's hard to live out a role that is given so little credit in a society focused on Fortune 500/CEO kind of lifestyle.
So what's the new life look like? Every day I begin reading in the Word, praying over my family and my day, and I make them my #1 priority through out the day. It continually blows my mind that when I turned from my selfish focus of what can everyone do for me to what can I give/do for other people, I've been blessed beyond measure. (repetitive I know, but really there's no way to measure what I've been given) I would hope and pray my family and friends see the difference in my life and know the credit goes all to God. I would have enjoyed living selfishly if it were up to me and on my own power. So like it or not, I'm a Jesus Freak, a Jesus Crispy, a Jesus Follower 100% of the time, no more 50/50 world/word lifestyle for me!

2) We bought our first house. Technically that was December 13, 2008 but close enough - our first complete year of living in and owning. Nothing major went bad - replaced the year old lemon of a refrigerator was our largest investment, I think (and knock on wood now that I posted this something is bound to go wrong). Jacob & his dad knocked out the old 'pantry; and replaced it with a functioning pantry. Jacob built a shoe box in the back entry, he cleaned out the garage that I can now park in, added an extra cupboard and put a counter top on it, and just today I unpacked our last bin o' crap that most likely was packed by the wonderful Marie Lackore, judging the amount of tape and the random contents (which in part was due to the random contents left in my room that needed to be packed).



3) We added Connor James to our family on May 26th. His pregnancy was the most physically taxing out of the 3, but that's probably in part due to the 3, and 1.5 year old I was chasing around. I will remember 'popping' really early and will never forget the look on peoples' faces when they asked how far along I was. Our little miracle only needed a few hours and he practically flew out, seriously no pushing at all on my part! He's our first blond baby and actually looked a little like my side of the family - the other two were definitely Graf babies! I do recall saying I would never do that again (birthing) about a billion times while I was in labor, but I'm praying for just 1 more opportunity to bring a child into this world. He's now 7 months old now and the happiest baby of the 3. His giggle is so contagious and unique. I love it! Check out this video. Even when the poor guy is so sad and crying just making eye contact and talking to him will bring a huge smile.



Honorable Mentions: Jacob took the IT Director position at our church, Appleton Alliance. As a result we've switched health care providers and have been super happy. I found my new love/passion for cake decorating, completing 4 basic Wilton courses every Saturday morning from September - December. I've been baking & decorating many cakes in the past few months. Jacob was also diagnosed with Celiacs Disease (same time I found my new hobby of cake decorating ... how ironic) which has totally changed the way we cook, eat, shop, dine out ... just about every aspect of our life. Brennan had his circumcision surgically redone. Ella started preschool. Steelers won the Super Bowl ... again :)

Crazy this is an end of probably the most memorable decade of my life. Here's a quick list of my life in the past 10 years, and a few picture links!

1999 - sometime between summer and fall met & started dating Jacob
2000 - graduated from Lincoln High School
2000 - moved away to go to Ripon College
2002 - got our first pet Mr. Foozer
2003 - July 12th - got married and honeymooned in Cancun
2003 - rented 1st apartment
2003 - became proud parents of Mr. Rascals in September
2003 - rented 2nd apartment
2004 - graduated from Ripon College in May with majors in Educational Studies & History
2004 - December - certified 1-8th grade elementary with history/social studies emphasis
2004 - taught 1-8th grade summer school (math, technology, and social studies) in Wautoma
2005 - moved to Appleton, rented first duplex
2005 - gave birth to Ella Ann on November 18th
2005 - almost died after giving birth, rushed to surgery where my doctor saved me and avoided a hysterectomy
2006 - had my gallbladder removed April 17th after 3 or 4 really bad gallbladder attacks
2006 - lost our 2nd baby at 12 weeks on September 18th
2006 - (not sure but I think) we moved to our 2nd duplex in Menasha in November-ish
2006 - my grandpa (Old Fart) passed away on December 1st
2007 - gave birth to Brennan Richard on September 19th
2008 - Pregnant with #3
2008 - October went on our first long (10 days) child-less vacation to Denver & California
2008 - December 13th, bought & moved into our first house
2009 - gave birth to Connor James on May 26th.
2009 - Ella starts preschool
2009 - during the fall found new cake decorating passion & took Wilton Courses

Honorable mentions/fun memories: our vacations to Denver, family & friends' weddings, trips to the cabin in Rhinelander, being at the delivery of my niece, various jobs Jacob has had - MBM, Cellcom, and now AAC, and all the exciting 'firsts' that come with having kiddos. There are just too many to even write, but at least I'll have this short little list and links to some of my favorite pictures to look back on :)

Christmas Memories

This is by far my most favorite time of the year. I was feeling so bah humbug about Christmas until this last weekend. I'm so thankful to have shook off the humbugs and am feeling festive. I have so many fun little arts and crafts I want to do with the kiddos I don't think I'll have enough time to get to them all.

Maybe my change in heart has something to do with finally feeling ready. Friday, my favorite mommy came and stayed with my munchkins so I could start and finish all my Christmas shopping in one day. I must be getting old because after just 4 or 5 stores I was exhausted and tempted to go to WalMart to finish my list, but I umphed it out and went to yet another store and avoided generic WalMart junk. Luckily, Friday morning and afternoon things weren't so crazy yet. Toys R Us was pushing the crazy factor, but Jacob & I shopped there two years the DAY before Christmas and never again will I join with the other 1/2 million people who wait til the last day!

Ella had her Christmas 'program' on Thursday and that's when my favorite mommy came :) It was cute. I'm so proud my shy little bean actually went and stood with her 8 classmates as 6 of them sang/screamed/yelled through 5 or 6 Christmas songs. She mouthed a few words, but heck it's huge that she actually just stood up there. She was excited to see Devin, Bethany, and her dad also came to watch! I look forward to a decade or so worth of these adorable little programs!

Jacob took the older two kiddos to Rapids for a party on Saturday and spent the night so me and my little Connor got to spend some quality time together. His eyes were huge as I spread out the wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and gifts. I made him promise not to tell what I was wrapping and so far he's done a good job at not spilling the beans. I had all the gifts displayed under our mini tree. Connor is pretty good at rolling where he wants to be and in one roll and swipe of his hand he opened 3 gifts! Stinker! I let him play with the wrapping paper and totally destroy the nice wrapping job since I had to rewrap them anyways. He had so much fun. Our other two kids are fall babies, so they were still in the blob stage around Christmas. I think Connor will have fun this year, as long as he doesn't eat his weight in wrapping paper.

Eying up the gifts! (After I rewrapped and moved them out of his reach)

Snuggling up together watching old school Christmas movies was a blast. We rented Julie & Julia Saturday night and it was a great movie. Something about the pda scenes with Julia and her husband were a little disturbing to me. Nothing more then kissing, but come on it's Julia Child - that would be like having to watch your parents make out or something. It was a great movie, one I don't regret paying to rent, but not one I'm making a dash to buy to watch repeatedly.

How about those Steelers! Man is it good to be a Steeler fan in Packer land today :) Nope, not gloating cuz the Steelers kinda sucked and didn't play as well as they should have. But hey, did you hear who won?! Yup, that's right the Steelers won :P Too darn bad I'm not pregnant or #4 would have just been predetermined a Steeler fan. So far Ella & Connor are Steeler fans, but unfortunately the Packers beat the Steelers while I was pregnant with Brennan. Poor poor boy. He'll come around to the right side eventually, though :)

Thinking back to growing up and some of my favorite memories are celebrating Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. Dressing up, piling into church, and going to my grandma's for a smorgasbord of a feast that always included black olives, baked corn, the infamous green bean casserole, German potato salad (I so wish my grandma still cooked, I've never found one that tasted quite as delicious as hers), and the sweet potatoes with roasted marshmallows on top. Just a second, I need to wipe the drool off my keyboard ... k we're good :)

Of course Christmas morning with my family was always fun & memorable. I've never been a fan of opening or receiving gifts, but I absolutely love to give gifts. As my kids are getting older, the excitement they have is contagious and makes it all the more fun to give gifts again.

Lately, Christmas has been bittersweet on my mom's side. I miss watching my Old Fart sitting by the fireplace, poking at us with his cane, and hearing that naughty little giggle when he opened up his annual girly calendar. That spot has been empty for 3 years and it hasn't gotten much easier. I miss buying a bird feeder or some bird thing and labeling the tag Old Fart. The hardest part of Christmas has been knowing that my grandparents will all soon pass, my parents are filling their role, and I'm now the parent. I guess hard isn't the right word, I enjoy my new role, but it's sad to see my traditions sorta passing and new ones coming with my kids.

So what are some of your favorite Christmas memories from when you were a child? What are some fun old and/or new traditions you and your family have? It's so cool that Christmas is practically a universal holiday, yet I'm sure there's not 2 families who celebrate it the same.

Here's our mini tree this year. It smells beautiful and is loaded with a bajillion First Christmas ornaments - I think that must have been a popular wedding gift. Nothing is better then snuggling up with the kids around the glowing Christmas tree.

Ben 10, Beach, & Christmas cakes

This chocolate Ben 10 cake is decorated with a layer of almond buttercream & then marshmallow fondant. (up until trying this recipe I was anti-elmers glue, errr I mean fondant, now I'm sold! Tastes great & pretty easy to make). I'd never heard of this cartoon til this week - it looks pretty neat, so here's some pictures of the Ben 10 watch cake.












Today was my friend & hair stylist's birthday. Nothing like a beach scene to make me ling for summer!
















This was dark chocolate cake, almond buttercream, fondant flip flops, glitter gel waves, & brown sugar sand.

The next Christmas cake is a hodge podge of various fondant techniques I learned in class today. Swag, daisy, handkerchief, garland, & a ruffle boarder.












Not sure if it reminds me of a nasty Christmas sweater or tie or a middle eastern flag :)


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