Winter Music Program

This past Thursday Tyler and Zoe had their Winter Music program. Let me start by saying, it was packed!  They have all grades perform on the same night, which included 50+ preschoolers.  After the preschool kids sang The Snowy Pokey and a snowflake song (can't remember the name of it) the gym cleared significantly and we were able to sit in the front row. Zoe's class and the other first grade class sang Shalom and March to the Nutcracker (according to Zoe) was performed on Kazoo's! It was very cute and Zoe was really into it.  I can't remember all of the other songs, but I did record the second graders singing O Kwanzaa.  There were a variety of other winter songs, but not a single "Christmas" song!  

So let me vent a second about that... I was so excited because I can remember as a little girl in elementary school always have a school performance at Christmas time.  And I can even remember singing Chanukah songs.  But this is the first time my kids have ever had "Winter performance." And I expected more of a variety than We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  And we did!  We had a Chanukah song, we had a snowman song, a snowflake song, a candle song, a Kwanzaa song, Winter in America song, December in our town song, but not a single song about Christmas!  That is rather frustrating to someone that actually celebrated Christmas!  Ok, so now I am over it.  The 4th and 5th graders combined and sang 4 songs total.  Tyler was a featured soloist for the Candle song.    

After the performance, they had cookies and juice and then I took the kids pictures.  

They looked so cute all dressed up!

Cake decorating

I am sure you have all seen the Betty Crocker cake decorating commercial on the tv.  Well, let me start by saying advertising REALLY works on my kids!  They want everything they see on tv.  So, Zoe asks me if she can PLEASE get this cake decorating kit.  I would never have actually call the 800 number to buy it, but we were at Wal-mart with Mike and Lynette and Zoe found it.  Not thinking just how much work it would create for me, and it was such a bargain at $10, I bought it.  That night, and everyday after that for exactly three days, she asked if she could make a cake.  I finally gave in and help her make a cake.  You're probably thinking, what's the problem?  Betty Crocker cake mixes are so easy!  Yeah, well Brett doesn't eat cake mixes from a box if he has a choice.  So being the good wife and mother that I am, I made a chocolate cake from scratch!  I forgot to mention, I also was trying to put in a water filter under my sink, so my water to my kitchen sink was off!  My list of woes goes on, Zoe wanted a round cake, just like the one on the box, problem is, I only have one round cake pan, so it took me twice as long to get just the cake baked!  The icing was another fiasco but when it was all said and done, Zoe had a great time decorating her cake and she can't wait until I make another cake!  I told her Grandpa Roger is going to be here for Christmas and his birthday is the 26th so she can make his birthday cake!! Oh and did I mention Grandma Judy will be here to be helper next time?  

A bit of advice...don't buy the Betty Crocker cake decorating kit for your kids, you can borrow mind if you are feeling like torturing yourself!

A good friend of mine reminded me of the messy kitchen, please don't think my kitchen wasn't a total disaster!  It was!!  And without a working sink!  

Christmas Tree Farm

We enjoyed going to Whispering Pines Christmas Tree Farm last year with the Yonkers so much that everyone wanted to go back this year.  Even though we have an artificial tree, and Mike and Lynette can't have a real tree in their apartment, I thought we could go and get a wreath for our front door.  We were still able to enjoy the drive, and the free hot dogs, s'mores and hot chocolate.  

There was no snow on the ground but it was plenty cold for all of us.  

Dru too this picture of me with our wreath.  I was so excited, it smelled so good.  I put it up on our front door and 4 short days later discovered that it was completely dead!  Last year it lasted until well after Christmas, but that was before we had a storm door to act as an oven door for our poor wreath.  Oh well, lesson learned, now we have a fake wreath too! 

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is...

my two front teeth!  Love, Zoe

A lot to blog about...

Ok, so it is official, I am not very good at updating this thing.  I am sorry to those who are faithful readers and checked nightly only to be disappointed.  Rest assured, over the past week I have taken lots of pictures with lots of things to blog about.  So get ready to be overloaded.

Uncle Mike and Lynette joined us for Thanksgiving dinner.  This is me trying to get the only picture taken on Thanksgiving as they were heading out the door.  Don't look too close, you will see the kids eating powdered doughnuts.

One a recent trip to Costco, Dru not only kept entertained with the samples, but danced and played the drums.  On the way home we took pictures of each other.  Don't worry, I wasn't driving and taking pictures!

While Frank and Vicki were visiting, we were able to get through many home projects.  The two major projects were a much needed new kitchen sink.  And our leaky toilet repaired.  Look for a blog to come about that fiasco! 

  

Thought I would throw in a picture of Roxy, she thinks she is human!  Although in this picture we think she looks like an elephant, you know how they climb up on a little stool, she loves to sit on the step stool. 

Zoe and I went to Hockey game last weekend.  Zoe loves to sport her Stanley Cup Champions Anaheim Ducks jersey!  She tried so hard all night to get the camera man to put her on the jumbo-tron.  And she finally succeeded!  The second picture is her showing off her wild moves on the scoreboard!

      

My friend, Amanda, and I have a serious addiction....flower clips!! Over the past couple of months we have spent a lot of time and money on making hundreds of flower clips.  You might ask, well how many flower clips do your girls need?  Yeah, we ask the same thing.  We have finally decided we need to do something about this habit/addiction.  Yesterday we set up a display (and a really cute one at that!) at Curves to help support this habit!  We didn't sell a ton, but our crowd was less than desirable.  We hope to find a local craft show to take them to. This is our display (I told you it was cute) and our even cuter model!

      

Lastly, the girls room is really lacking in the art department.  And artwork for the walls is just so expensive.  So I bought some blank canvases and let my kids create their own artwork for the walls.  The kids enjoyed painting the pictures to hang on the wall.  Look for a future post about the finished product!

Thanksgiving

This thanksgiving morning I have much to be thankful for.  I am thankful for Brett.  I am thankful he chose me as his wife.  I am grateful for his determination and dedication to our family.  I am thankful that he is such a hard worker and a great provider for our family which allows me to stay home with our beautiful children.  I am grateful for my three beautiful children.  I am grateful for their innocent sweet minds and their individual personalities.  I am thankful for their unconditional love, even when I make mistakes as a mom.  I am thankful for my mom.  I am so grateful for my daily calls from her, on her way to work, on her lunch and again on her way home from work.  It makes me know that I am loved and thought of daily, still at 31 years of age.  I am thankful for my in-laws.  They do so much for our family, I will never be able to repay them.  I am grateful for my mother-in-law's ability to be my personal handyman. I am grateful for brothers and the fond memories I have from when we were kids.  I am grateful for my friends, especially Liz and Amanda for the endless hours that they listen to me talk (and I can talk a lot!)  I am grateful for my healthy body and mind.  I am thankful for my home and all the blessings in it.  I am thankful for my life, thanks to all of you who are a part of it!  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Busy Saturday

Today was an exceptionally busy Saturday.  It all started with cleaning up a bit around the house. Which led to a little yard work, or maybe a lot depending on who you ask.  Then I took Zoe and her friend Molly to JoAnn's for a spool knitting class.  They had fun, but their poor fingers just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.  They made a little gecko thing, look at the pictures and use your imagination.  What they did took them an hour and 20 minutes!  Then Zoe went to a skating party for her friend, Faizah's birthday.  She has never been skating before but was really excited!  I then took Molly and Dru to Mc Donald's for lunch.  They insisted we sit up at the counter with the spinning stools and I sat in the middle.  We made several trips to the bathroom during our visit because they had this weird toilet seat cover thing.  You would push the red button and the toilet seat would turn to give you a clean place for your tush, they thought that was really cool and had to go back several times!  We ended with a trip to Wal-mart for me to look at prescription sunglasses.  This turned into a fun side trip for the girls, they loved trying on all of the kids glasses. When I dropped of Molly,  Amanda offered to keep Dru for me, Zoe is going to be brought home from the party and Tyler is over at Mike and Lynette's playing with Mike's new toy, Play Station 3.  Oops, I mean, I am sure he is helping Lynette pack and move into their new apartment.  Brett is still reading, but what's new?  We are excited about grandma and grandpa's visit this week.  They get here tomorrow.  Enjoy our pictures from todays adventures.

  

Zoe and Molly hard at work!

Molly's finished project!

Faizah and Zoe are ready to skate!

Lunch at Mc Donald's

What do you think about our new look?

It is officially cold!

I have had to turn on the heat full-time. The flip flops have been put away and the fuzzy socks have been taken out.  The contents of the closets have been changed from summer clothes to winter. The winter jackets have been brought down from the attic.  The hats and gloves are back in the drawers in the hall closet.  But I am okay with all of this.  Really I am, because it means I get more of my favorite time of the day.  You know what I am talking about...that time when you wake up and you're all warm and snugly and there is someone else in your bed that's all warm and snugly too, so you just lay there all warm and snugly together!  It's quiet, it's warm, you're with the one you love.  And then it is over...kids are up and needing adult attention...until tomorrow that is!  Bring on the cold weather Cleveland!

                                

Seasons

Here's to our family that doesn't experience the changing seasons, we will keep you informed as to what it is like to live in a climate that does have seasons.  And no I don't mean hot season, windy season, fire season and smoggy season.  I mean actual winter, spring, summer and fall. Above is our home during the fall months, some leaves already have changed colors and fallen, other are still changing.  Below is a picture taken at a nearby apple orchard.  Remember to check back in a couple of months for updated pictures of the next season...our winter wonderland!

I promise, last post of the day.

I just wanted to share one more picture of the absolute cutest 4 year old girl EVER!  We just got her preschool pictures today.

                           

Shave and a haircut...

Ok, so no shave but definitely two haircuts.  I was so tired of struggling every morning with my two beautiful cherubs to comb their hair.  But I had a hard time with cutting it, I just always imagined my little girls with perfect long hair.  Always braided with a cute little clip or something.  Well, anyone that has seen my girls lately knows that was not the case!  It was always a rats nest.  So last Friday, I decided I had fought for the last time with my 4 and 6 year old about hair.  When I picked Dru up from school I asked if she wanted to go get a haircut, she was excited!  When I heard her excitement I rushed to the salon.  She got a little bob and it is the cutest thing.  She tells everyone, " I have a bob!"  When Zoe got home from school, she insisted she also needed  short hair.  The next morning, she too was at the salon getting her "A -line." Both of them are way too cute with their new 'do's.  Zoe was eager to have her picture taken, Dru not so eager so I had to sneak this picture.  I should have recorded the tantrum that followed the picture but I figured I would save you all from that.        

Eagle's Nest...greatest thing ever!!

So, for those of you that don't live in Cleveland and have kids, you are really missing out!  Before moving to Cleveland I would do my grocery shopping in the middle of the night.  This would allow me to leave the kids at home in bed with Brett and give me to shop without little unwanted items ending up in my cart.  The problem with this was that I was always tired.  Well, in Cleveland there is a grocery store called Giant Eagle, and inside there is a little daycare area that is FREE!!  You can leave all your little munchkins  for up to 2 hours while you shop (and did I mention it is free?)  They have toys, video games, movies and craft projects.  So you can shop while your brain is still functioning AND do it without kids!  Isn't that just the greatest thing ever? Today I was able to take Dru and her "best friend" Dillon to the Eagle's Nest and I was able to get all of my shopping done!  What a concept.

About the Lamborns...

Our beautiful family!

This is Tyler Adam, he is 9 years old and in the 4th grade.  Tyler enjoys playing video games, playing on the computer, playing with his friends and occasionally playing with his sisters.  He likes to take advantage of the outdoors while he still can.  He was recently cast in our local youth theater's presentation of The Wizard of Oz.  Tyler is also learning to play the violin at school.  Tyler is a great boy and is liked by many!  Tyler does not like practicing violin, putting away his clean clothes or eating vegetables.  Although he has learned how to start the washer and dryer!

This is Zoe Rose, she is 6 years old and in the 1st grade.  Zoe enjoys playing online girl games, going to her friends house, watching tv, and fixing moms hair.  She loves school and is enjoying learning how to read.  Zoe has a lot of friends and loves to make people happy!  Zoe does not like to be told no, clean up her messes in the basement or get her hair brushed (see a later blog about hair cuts.)

This is Dru Whitney, she is 4 years old and is in preschool.  Dru attends the Cleveland Music School Settlement.  Her favorite part of preschool is going to the science room.  She has learned how to write her name and is great with scissors.  Dru likes to play with baby dolls, play with friends and dress-up.  She is still a little bit of a mommy's girl, but is getting better. She hates pants and jackets, but loves flip-flops.  These likes and dislikes are not favorable to Cleveland winters.  So we are hoping for a change of heart!