Day 189: Christmas!

We slept on the couches at Mom and Alan's house and left for breakfast at Paul & Deb's house in the morning.  Deb made her famous french toast and homemade syrup for us, followed by the traditional stockings and "I don't want this/I want more of this, want to trade?".  We gave Shannon a water filtering pitcher, Brian a mini waterproof keychain lighter, and Jen a frog statue and frog charm.  Eric got a thermal shirt, we got the SNL Board Game, Lego Harry Potter for Wii, a giant skillet and lid, and Fallout New Vegas.  Woo!

Then we left to take Frisco on a walk and go to my family's Christmas.  Ashley traded me some Wenberg (Pilsbury) cinnamon rolls for some of Deb's french toast.  Then Alison came over and we gave her and Rob the makings for Mexican Chicken Casserole, and a pack of markers for Zach.  Alan woke up from his post-24-hour-shift-nap and Sarah arrived, then the Wenberg festivities began!  We also did stockings, with new embroidered stockings that Ashley found and Mom bought.  There we got a light up PS3 controller, KU shirt, some liquor, and a "First Christmas Together" ornament.  Eric's favorite gift of all was a stocking stuffer... orange silly putty.

This was all followed by our fourth Christmas in the past 24 hours - dinner at Victor and Jennifer's.  We had a really good time talking to some family that we don't get to see often.  Overall, we successfully went to 4 Christmases without any fighting over where we were going, and had a good time with family at all of them!  The best part was Christmas #5, going home and cuddling with our kitties.

Merry Christmas again! 

Brian & Jen (Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Shannon and Cody or Paul and Deb, oops!) 

Getting comfy on the couch. 

Oh look!  I did get one with Shannon & Cody!   

Sarah & Andrew at the Wenberg Christmas. 

Zach and his markers. 

Andrew with Uncle Eric's mini bottle of booze, still sealed of course! 

Andrew really loved all of the Nerf darts flying around! 

The Wenberg Family - 2010 

The Wenberg-Green Nerf War 

Look!  Mom and Alan were at Christmas too! 

Andrew fed himself lunch in his new booster seat.  He really loved the fork and spoon, but this picture was just too funny!

Day 188: Christmas Eve

Eric still had work today, so I stayed home and did some chores...some of which may or may not have included the Wii...  I actually made sure that all of our gifts were wrapped and sorted by which Christmas party they were going to, and made our Captain Crunch/Marshmallow/Peanut/Almond Bark treats.

After Eric got home, we loaded up the car with food, gifts, clothes, and Frisco.  Frisco got dropped off at Papa's house so he would be close enough for us to let him out frequently while we were visiting family over the next day and a half.  Then we headed out to the Van Booven family Christmas.  Attendees included Ken & Karen, Granny & Tony, Paul & Deb, Brian & Jen, Shannon & Cody, Scott & Diann, Alex, Rebecca, and Stephanie.  We had a really good dinner and got some cool gifts - including scrapbook paper, a poker set, frames, a shirt, a Christmas decoration, wine, and a gift card.  Thanks everyone!

We gave all of the family there a print of the photo that includes all of the Van Booven family, which was taken at our wedding.  We also gave Deb the wedding scrapbook that we've been working on for since Mother's Day last year.  Eric managed to NOT share the cold that's been tormenting him for the past day or two.  Success!

Then we left for the St. Thomas 10 pm "Midnight" Mass.  It started off with a lot of carols played and sang by some talented individuals.  Mom, Kris, and Ashley were there with us, and they brought Andrew.  He wasn't as impressed with the music and Mom, Kris, and Andrew ended up leaving early.

Merry Christmas from The Green's!

Grandma & Grampa Van Booven opening their gifts.

Day 187: Happy Birthday to Andrew!

Today is our nephew's  first birthday!  The "What? I have a nephew?!" anniversary is January 31st, and the anniversary of first meeting him is February 20th, but we are happy to have known him for these past 10 months!  For anyone unsure of what I'm talking about, here is a good story for you.

On January 31st last year, I checked my Facebook page while Eric and I were helping Eric's parents move some furniture.  I received a friend request from Carrie-Ann Scannapieco and found that the only friend we had in common was my brother.  I only add people on my page who I am actually friends with, but some people like to "collect" as many Facebook friends as they can.  I sent her a message saying something along the lines of "Just because you know my brother doesn't mean I'll add you to my list, I only add people I actually know".  I received a pretty immediate reply saying "I'm really sorry, I just thought you would like to see some pictures of your nephew".
 
I immediately felt bad for being rude about it, and had a nice long conversation with this really sweet woman.  I had to sit down and thought I just might be sick, because I had just been informed that my brother had a son.  A son who was 5 weeks old.  This is when we first found out about Andrew Michael Scannapieco!  I called Ashley, who didn't answer; then I called Molly and talked to her about it for awhile.  I informed some close family members by phone and Ashley and I both posted about this adventure on Facebook.  Meanwhile...Mom and Alan are in Mexico...and find out about their grandson via our Facebook status updates!

Eric and I got him a birthday card with a $2 bill - we're taking on Great Grampa John's tradition of giving the same number of $2 bills as your age for each birthday.  Don't get too excited though, this is just for nieces, nephews, and kids of ours! 

Mom got him a panda bear Pillow Pet. 

And we paid bills tonight and got to color more in on our debt thermometer!  We're still on track for getting my car paid off in February! 

How many couples do you know who love paying bills this much?!

Day 186: Happy Birthday to Me!

Last night, Eric said he was going to give me my birthday present at midnight and we both forgot until 12:40.  He went out to his car and brought me my first present - a Jayhawk $1,000,000,000 bill!  ...made of chocolate!  Then I got... a Jayhawks Snuggie!  I played some Dr. Mario while wearing it and realized that my back was cold, haha.

In the morning I made red and blue birthday pancakes before Eric had to leave for work.  Then I spent to afternoon with Mom, Alan, and Ashley.  I got an awesome Jayhawk baby blanket from Ashley - blue satin on one side and red fleece on the other side.  We all went out for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, where I lost my right hand puzzle ring for the second time this week.  When it gets cold out, my fingers get smaller and it just falls off without me noticing.  Luckily, I found it in my pocket.

So now I'm 25 - a quarter of a century old!  But I'm proud of what I've done in this time and know I will have accomplished so much more by the time I've doubled this age!

We're rich! 

Yea!  Pancake birthday cake! 

 It's hard to see - but the two pink and blue pancakes say "Jessica" and "25"

Out to lunch with the family!

Day 185: Couch Potatoes

Today we spent most of the day on the couch!  Steven and Leslie got Lego Harry Potter for us.  We started playing it on Sunday, but didn't get far because I wanted to go to bed.  Today we learned the Wingardium Leviosa and Lumos spells and learned how to fly on brooms.

When Eric went to work I played New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Dr. Mario.  I have made it through Level 8-3 and have over half of the star coins and movies collected.

After Eric got home we watched Semi-Pro before getting on with our gaming.  It wasn't a terrible movie, but we've definitely seen better.

Also, updating on the animals.  We've got the pair of birds living in our bedroom, our cats and Papa's dog get the main part of the house, and our step-kitty, Moonshine, is in the office.  Moonshine has actually started to spend some time out from under the bed, so it looks like she is settling in alright.

Moonshine hanging out.

Day 184: Six Months Later

I can't believe we've been married for six months already!  But I must say, we're both glad to be through with the wedding planning!  We were even blessed with a whole day together - which is rare because I work week days and Eric works and goes to school nearly every day of the week.  The day started off by waking up at 6:45 am to drive out to Olathe to babysit my cousins, Emma and Zayne.  I had fun playing Just Dance 2 and Sing It with Emma while Eric played Lego Harry Potter.  Zayne got home from a sleepover later in the morning and we all went out for lunch at Wendy's and to see "Mastermind" at the Palazzo 16 Theater.  When we got back home, I played New Super Mario Bros. Wii with Zayne while Emma watched Eric play some more Lego Harry Potter.

We almost took a nap when we got home, but ended up hanging around the house playing Wii & PS3 until we left to go to Lawrence for the date portion of the night.  We finished up our last Christmas shopping and went to dinner at Peking Taste.  Mmm, Chinese food!  Then we toured the Christmas light displays of Lawrence.  Zachary Stoltenberg set up a display that is timed to 20 minutes of Christmas music, and the KU Rock Chalk Chant.  It was really fun driving through the neighborhoods of Lawrence and listening to Christmas music!

This neighborhood has lights strewn in geometric patterns and the lights go over the street too.

Zachary Stoltenberg's Christmas light display.  So very cool - check out his videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/zstoltenberg

This is the other house in Lawrence that times their light show to music.  

Mass. St. lights up beautifully at Christmas!

Day 183: Our Menagarie

We have been serious about earning some extra money this holiday season.  I've been working on getting some more of our storage items up for sale on Craigslist, and I've really been utilizing Craigslist to promote ads for babysitting and pet sitting over the holiday break.  I have picked up 3 babysitting jobs and pet sitting for a guy's 2 parakeets, a woman's cat, and my grandpa's dog, Frisco.  All of these add up to nearly $500 of extra money to throw at our debt snowball!

Also, my mom and I went to Shannon's Premier Jewelery party, along with Deb, Grandma Karen, Mary, and one of Shannon's friends.  Andrew tagged along and got to take a nap among Shannon's stuffed animal collection.

This is "Blue" and "Green"

Moonshine likes to stay under the bed.

Frisco got caught on the couch!  He loves his stuffed bear.

Addy keeping an eye on things from above.

Mystic checking out Moonshine's water.

Can you find the baby?

He loved the snowglobe, the music, and the train going around the base of it!