Holidays with Friends

I hate to tell you how long it's been since I've been to an "all grown ups" party. It may have been back BK (before kids) and then, I don't think we were really grown ups! (I don't count work parties!) We had a blast at a party for band volunteers last night! The K's hosted, and their home was beautiful for the holidays. We visited and laughed and ate. I could go for more "grown up" parties like this one!

An Extra Day of Break!

God blessed us with 8-10 inches of snow, and a snow day that means an extra day of break for the kids! We spent the whole day baking cookies and making chocolates! We had a few friends who were able to trudge through the snow to join us for the fun... but we decided not to try to venture out on the roads.... There's a LOT of snow out there!

Merry Tuba Christmas

My sister is a star....

This morning she and Phil (I don't know Phil - but he's a fellow tubist) were on WHMI promoting an event that is taking place in Howell this weekend. My sister is an avid tubist, and a member of the Michigan 5th, a Civil War re-enactment band.

Here's the link to listen to their bit this morning:

http://whmi.com/files/mp3soundfiles/MerryTubaXmas121708.mp3

And I lifted the photo from their site of Jen and Phil in the studio!

Here's the promo bit from their website:

MERRY TUBA CHRISTMAS

Howell's 3rd annual "Merry Tuba Christmas" is coming up this Saturday at 1:30pm in the downtown amphitheater. Approximately 100 tubists from across the region will join together to carol passersby with holiday tunes "tuba-style". Phil Bertolini and Jennie Ross will be two of them and they joined us in the studio on Wednesday. Click Here to hear the Merry Tuba duet!

Skate with Santa

The girls skated in the annual Holiday Exhibition at our arena, and then we all did open skate with Santa! E's friend N came, and she taught him the basics of ice dancing - he caught on pretty quickly!

Skate Fest 2008

The girls had a great showing at our home club's annual competition this weekend! The great on-ice shots were taken by our friend, and figure skating judge - Don Korte! The girls medalled in all of their events, which was very exciting! E was especially surprised by her Gold in her Short Program. Surprisingly, between them, although they earned lots of medals -not a single bronze! We thought that an odd bit of trivia!

Me - November 30th

In all the madness, I did remember to snap a photo of just myself at the Gingerbread Building - since it was ALSO November 30th, and the day to take my Once A Month Me photo.... I am almost done here with my year of photos. Just one more to take on December 31st, and then I guess I'll be scrapbooking all these photos - Cara? You started me on this crazy project - you gonna help me finish?

Gingerbread Houses

A semi-annual tradition - on our way home from visiting in Ohio in the holiday season, we stop at Dobo's Delights to build Gingerbread Houses! It's loads of fun, and is really great for entertaining kids who range in age from 5-15... not to mention the grown-ups! I'm not sure what they like more, building the houses, or snacking on the building materials!!

Self Portraits over Turkey Weekend

I got a little crazy with the camera at Gingerbread House building and snapped several self-portraits of me, J, E, A and my longtime friend S....

So, there you have it!