Qwirkle!!

So, I've posted about my hubby bringing home unusual fruits before but I don't think I've posted about how he also picks up games every so often to try out at home. He's the BEST at finding new, imaginative, fun games for us to play. Tonight was no exception. Mathew picked up Qwirkle! It is this cool tile game and when you match 6 tiles you shout Qwirkle and get a whole bunch of bonus points! It was a lot of fun!

New Chairs!!!

So Mathew got me new la-z-boy chairs as part of my Christmas gift. We have a formal dining room that we have never used as such and I've always wanted to create a cozy reading area there. So, I special ordered some chairs and they came this weekend! I was a little worried they were too "tweedy" but I LOVE them and they are soooo comfortable! I now can't wait to get home to sit in my chair!

 Here we are hanging out in our chairs..Kate think it is funny that we hole up on this room now. It still needs some tweaking--hey, a new couch too!---but it works so much better than before--i Love it!

A week in review....

A week in review...

Here is Riggen all excited about his pancakes after making his first successful basketball shot!!! Yay, Riggen!

Here are Kate and Hannah while we went shopping last week! A fun time!~

 Riggen was STAR of the week this week so on Monday I went to have lunch with him at school since I had the day off! It was great to eat lunch with him---I even brought him Subway sandwiches!!!

Friends and Wine

Friday night was our monthly "what's for dinner club?" We decided to stay in at my house. We ordred bbq from a local place. Paula and Jennifer decided to come over...we also watched Magic Mike! A perfect girls' night in! And I can't believe I didn't get a photo of this occasion! How silly I am! So here are some pics of the ladies, stolen from their FB pages---next time I must remember!

Paula

and Jenn

and then tonight, Saturday, I got my hair done and picked up some fixings for tacos and some more Malbec wine! I discovered last weekend that I really like this red wine! I'm usually a white wine drinker, but this is fantastic! So, I'm going to cozy up with some tacos and wine--don't they go together?!?

Sunday Dinner and Tuesday Dinner

Sunday night I met up with Sue and Wendy at Chips in Ankeny. It was such a great way to end my weekend and begin my work week! We exchanged Christmas gifts--which is really EARLY for us--I think we opened gifts one time in March! We spent 3 hours sitting in our booth talking and catching up! The poor waitress probably got tired of us! Here are Sue and Wendy together. Wendy is holding up her gift for Sue and Sue is holding up her gift from me. I think Wendy and I both decided Sue needed some art work to decorate her new house!

Here I am opening a gift from Wendy--Sue took this picture and was laughing while she took it so it is a bit blurry but I think it just adds to the charm of our night! The item is a wine cover that says "Dinner is Poured!" hahahahah! I LOVE it!

This next picture is not of dinner on Sunday night, but tonight, Tuesday, Jan 8. As I've blogged before, Mathew likes to try out new fruits. This fruit isn't new to us, but is one of Kate's favorites and they are in season right now--a pomegranate. Mathew knows how to remove the seeds (I have no idea!) and so he's our resident expert. When the seeds are removed, you put a bunch in your mouth, suck on the juice and then spit out the seeds. They are labor intensive (if a fruit can be that) but they are yummy! So here's Mathew and the kids working on their seeds and spitting them out! A perfect compliment to our French dip sandwiches tonight! 

Les Mis

Today was a very nice Saturday! I went to see the movie Les Mis with Kate and my mom. I saw the musical with Mathew about 15 years ago and absolutely loved it so I thought the movie would not be as great, but it was. All of the actors were terrific and my hat off to Hugh Jackman especially for his role. Such an enjoyable afternoon, even if I could hear my daughter sniffling throughout!

Crafty, creative kids!

Wow! I guess I'm keeping up with this daily photo thing...we'll see how long that lasts! Anywho, Riggen got his new keyboard stand and foot pedal today. He loves playing it and is becoming a little Mozart--ok, not really, but a mom can dream about a pension plan, right? :)

 ..and Kate decided she needed storage for her jewelry so she's crafting a cute box and storage place! great idea, Kate!

New Year's Day

So, I updated my New Year's resolutions for 2013. I used to talk about these kinds of resolutions, but never wrote them down until 2012. Then I stuck them on a cork board in my closet so I could remind myself where I was headed. I found that actually writing down the resolutions ensures you will actually keep them! I was more creative in 2012: I finished the 2008 scrapbook and began the 2009 and Germany scrapbook in addition to making at least one new recipe a month and creating 3 tie blankets! I also kept exercising. I think there was only 3 weeks that I did not exercise at least 3 times and that was because of a vacation, my grandfather's funeral and Christmas holiday break; so I think I did rather well with that one! I also learned to slow down; I'm not perfect at this yet but I did try to stop and smell the roses more often! And well, I started this blog in 2012 and although I missed a few days of photos, I still achieved a photo nearly every day. I think I ended up with 355 days of photos; that's pretty close!

...and so to the new year. I still have exercising and creativity and slowing down as my resolutions, just tweaked a little. But I also have to be more charitable, or as my hubby said it, "paying it forward." and to also spend more time doing more things with my kids--even if it is as simple as teaching them how to cook mac 'n cheese or properly fold laundry. I want to have more fun with my kids but I also want them to be responsible without ever having to rely on someone else in life. And lastly, I added "to read more non fiction." I decided adding to just read more wouldn't work. I have a stack of non-fiction that I'm really interested in but I always read fiction because I think it's more fun and less work; but I'm anxious to delve into some of these. One is even Tina Fey's "Bossypants" while another is "American Colossus." Here's to a new year and new resolutions to be a better person!

 ...and well, in keeping with our usual Sunday night treat, Mathew made us popcorn. But wait, you say, it is not Sunday night?!? Yes, but it feels like it because we both have to go back to work tomorrow. And I think he is starting to like his new popcorn popper!

December 31, 2012-A blogging year in review.

So, tonight we mark an end to another year. I distinctly remember New Year's Eve in 2011 promising I would be a better person for the new year. I think I have. 2012 was a wonderful year for us. Mathew earned his MBA, toured Italy, got a new job at Pioneer and bought a .22 rifle; we went to Springfield on a mini trip to learn about Lincoln and the next week we left on a weeklong vacation to TN. My son accomplished his goals of learning to ride a bike and being in ELP for reading and math; Kate turned into a beautiful pre-teen, took her first plane ride and desperately waited for her fav book to be on the big screen: the midnight showing of the Hunger Games! 

We celebrated some very important lives too. My grandpa Charlie in April and our family friend, John Nicol in October. It was hard to leaf through the address book this holiday season to see their names. 

Did I become a better person? I think so. I spent more time being creative, more time loving my husband and more time being mom and friend. So, here's to a great year, 2012, and many thanks to all the great people who filled our house with warmth and sunshine! Here are just a few pics to celebrate the year-end review!

...and to help us celebrate this eve, Danielle, Dave, William and Thomas filled our house with laughter! and of course, Hannah Schurz.

..bring on 2013!!!!!