Piles of wrapping paper

This year, my mom had a brilliant idea to cut down on some of the Christmas gluttony in our household.  We'd draw names of the adults and each purchase a bag full of presents for them.  Santa would still come for the kids, but that should be less right?  Well, it was less, but not by much.  We just had two days of present opening.  Santa presents on Christmas morning and giant bags full of presents on the 27th, with Nick, Kelly and baby Lucas.  Each of the kids got a giant bag full from my parents, and now I am a bit worried about fitting it all on the plane.  We brought a couple of extra suitcases with us so we should be okay.  There is one item that will not be traveling back with us.

I'd seen this line of toys online at Target.  The Mighty World sets are listed as being for ages 3+ and look like they'd be what Sam really likes.  Sam loves bits and pieces for trucks and for the people who drive the trucks.  Sam loved it!  However, it is a complete piece of crap!  Within 5 minutes, two pieces had broke.  Sam was slightly rough so we explained that he had to be ever so gentle.  Now, two days later, so many pieces are broken.  The trailer won't go on the truck anymore, one of the doors is off the truck, the rack on the back is gone, multiple parts of the boat are broken and one wheel always falls off.  And it wasn't even Sam's fault!  Ever since the breakage, he's been ever so gentle with the truck, but the slightest little thing cause pieces to fall off.   By the time we leave, they will be nothing left of the truck!  Never again will we purchase one of these sets!
Tom got a Lionel train set from my parents and he is in love!  He walks around saying that he wants to be a collector.  We visited the local train garden last night after dinner and there in the display is his train!  He was so excited that he told everyone about it. 
Joe got a DSi from Santa and can't stop talking about it.  I think he's a bit obsessed.  Everything he talks about relates back to his DSi.  That will wear off a bit after awhile.  It is keeping him entertained though. 
Jay got me a pair of diamond earrings and had them in a koala's ears.  Very pretty earrings and a cute koala.  I gave Jay a life jacket and a kayak.  The kayak will be delivered to our house in Australia after he gets back there.  He is excited and looking forward to using it. 
All in all, a nice Christmas.

Montana is snow fun!

So we left our 90 degree weather and traveled for 30 hours to arrive where temperatures were well below freezing and the snow was packed hard on the ground.  Montana had gotten about 10 inches of snow, then a day of rain, then a week of sub-zero temps. This had all happened before we arrived.  When we got there, it was a 6 inch snow pack that was easy to walk on but pretty much impossible to do anything else.  The boys were still very eager to go out and play.  And since I'd pre-ordered and shipped snow gear to Grandma's, they were able to go out the first morning after we arrived. 

Boy, did they have fun...

Jay even managed to get the 1967 Johnson SkiHorse snowmobile running.  The kids loved it!



In addition to playing in the snow, we also went bowling one day.  I did not fall nor did I ruin any pants.  It was a fun, successful trip to the bowling lanes. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable trip to Montana.  It was nice to see my grandparents as it had been about 18 months since the last visit.  The kids were fairly well behaved and no issues to report.  It was a great start to Christmas for us.

First date and the day after

So last night Jay and I had our first date since we moved to Australia.  My friend Aimee and I are doing a babysitter exchange so it was her turn to watch the boys.  They were already in bed when she showed up so it wasn't too much work for her.  We went to dinner first.  We bought a bottle of wine and only drank about half of it.  Dinner was nice, but a bit pricy.  Both of the movies that started later were of limited interest to us, so I suggested bowling.  We went tenpin bowling and it was good times.  We used to bowl all the time in college.  We'd go for two hours a night, two times a week.  We had gotten to the point that we were both pretty decent.  Of course, once we moved to Maryland, it was too expensive to bowl and had kids, etc.  In the last 9+ years, we've only gone twice.  Our first game last night was pretty sad.  I only bowled a 76 and Jay didn't break 100 either.  By game 2, our bodies remembered a bit about what to do and we did much better.  After 4 games each, we were tired, but still had the babysitter for another hour and a half.  We decided to drive out to Shoal Bay beach.  We parked the car and sat on the beach in the dark.  The night was really clear and beautiful.  So many stars!  We got back 1/2 an hour before we were due and called it a night.  It was really lovely to be out with just us.
The boys have been begging to go bowling for quite a while and I figured I would take them today after school.  I was the first one up.  On my first bowl, I slipped, fell, skinned my knee, bowled a gutter ball, and SPLIT MY PANTS!  These were some nice linen capri pants, not a all tight, but they just didn't like me falling like I did.  So, now my entire bottom is showing, but I have three very very excited boys who can't wait to play.  I did what any good mom would do.  I just bowled.  I didn't give a darn that the groups around me would sorta laugh and giggle whenever I bowled because they could see every bit of my undies.  Yea, I was embarrassed, but my boys were so happy, it didn't matter.  Even with my ass hanging out, I bowled a 130.  Oh well, it's not the end of the world and at least no one there knew me. 

Birthday snow in summer

So, Jay has always maintained that he makes it snow on my birthday.  You can see last year's story for a little more info here.  I told him that he was going to have to work super hard this year in order to get snow.  Seeing that it is about 80 degrees on a regular basis right now.  He did it, with the help of some great little boys.
I had run across a Heritage Craft Fair online that was taking place on my birthday.  I really wanted to attend it as it would be a great place for Christmas presents for my family.  I asked my friends to go with me, but none of them could go.  It was just too far away for them.  It was about 2 1/2 hours away, down near Sydney.  I decided to go on my own.  I woke up at 6, went for a quick jog, showered and left.  I was down there at about 9:15.  The Fair was great, loads of vendors selling only handmade items.  There was wooden bowls, painting, purses, clothes, blankets, jewelry, pottery, food, and more.  I started walking through and mentally marking what I wanted.  By 10:30, it started to rain.  I hadn't made it all the way through, but based on the sky, the rain wasn't going anywhere.  So, I went back and got the things I had decided I wanted.  It was pouring rain by the time I left.  I had an umbrella, but it didn't help much when I was loaded down with all my purchases.  I was done and gone by 11.  I started driving home.  I stopped at a service station for a quick break and called my friend Selena.  She's had a rough week with a sick kid and I knew she'd want a little girl time.  We decided to meet for a cool drink at a cafe near her house.  I met her at about 1:30 and we chatted and drank peach mango iced tea until 3.  She also gave me some beautiful pink and white roses.  I figured I better go home so I did...only to be turned away at the garage door.  They weren't ready for me yet.  I really had to go to the toilet, but I wasn't allowed into the house.  So I scooted down to the shops for a potty and a couple of vases since Jay had mentioned I would need more than one.
I was allowed to come back home at 4.  There was a sign on the door leading up from the garage that asked me to annouce myself and then wait.  So I did.  The boys then screamed for me to come in.  I opened the door to find the stairway covered in streamers and balloons.  Jay and the boys then made it "snow" down on me with shredded cotton balls.  The boys were laughing and jumping up and down and having a great time. 

  They had also picked out a bunch of pink party hats, which we wore while singing and opening presents.  They made me dinner and a carrot cake.  I got an ipod Nano and a book.  It was great! 
 

Birthday sign, made by all the boys.



Do it again, Ohio

Right before my freshman year of high school, we moved from a small town in Ohio to a small city in Indiana.  In Ohio, I had played on the girls' basketball team and was one of the best on the team.  Of course, our team barely won any games so I was one of the best of the worst.  A few weeks into my freshman year, we started training for basketball.  The basketball coach prefered to call everyone by their last names, except for two of us.  I think we were the two people she liked least.  The other girl had been playing basketball since she was 4 and was a talented post player, but was full of attitude.  I was much less talented and fairly quiet.  Since the coach had met my mom and knew I was from Ohio, she took to calling me Ohio. 
Part of our training involved lots of running.  Players were allowed to touch a ball in practice until a certain date in the calendar year (in order to prevent teams from practicing year long).  So the first three weeks of training were just conditioning our bodies to be faster and better.  Lots of weight lifting and running.  One of the coach's favorite things was the seven minute mile.  Run a mile on the track in seven  minutes and you were done.  Do it in more than seven minutes and we had to try again.  If we failed to do it in three tries at the beginning of practice, we'd get one more try at the end of our two hour practice.  I was quick and athletic, but I couldn't do a seven minute mile.  On the first try, I was always at about 7:10.  Second try would be slower, more like 7:25.  The third try would be really slow as I would be so tired...I would be lucky to break 8 minutes.  At the end of practice, there would be no way to even run the mile.  It was much more of a slow jog. 
Now, as I am trying to get into a shape other than round, I can just hear coach's voice in my head "do it again, Ohio."  Though now, instead of the dread that those words used to inspire, now they motivate me out of bed in the morning. 
In other news, December 1st (yesterday) was the first day of summer for us.  Summer came in with buckets of rain and cool temps.  Today already looks better as there are only a few wispy clouds in the sky. 

Joe's birthday party last weekend went off without any problems, though somehow, I managed not to take a single picture.  Not one.  The camera was out but it was just never picked up.  I got too busy playing games to snap photos. 
Christmas season as also arrived here.  It feels incredibly wrong to be shopping for new sandals and listening to Bing Crosby dream of a white Christmas.  Shorts and jingle bells just seems weird.  That being said, we bought an inexpensive tree and decked it out.  We love it!

Jay's facial hair is finally gone.  I paid $50 to the Movember campaign in support of him, but I hated that thing on his lip.  I am glad for it to be gone.
The alarm has rung to remind me that it's time to go get the boys to school.  Cheers!

Happy Birthday to Joe!

Happy 8th Birthday, Joseph Mark Switzer!

Christmas 2004

Easter 2005, at Mom's house in Evansville

Bladensburg, Christmas 2005

Montana March 2006

Bladensburg, Spring 2006

Bladensburg 2006

Meeting Sam for the first time, January 2007

Cambridge March 2007

Maryland Zoo, June 2007

Montana July 2007

Evansville, Nick and Kelly's wedding 2007

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

Reading to Little Bit, Febuary 2009

August 2009

October 2009

October 2009

Easter 2010

September 2010

Goodbye house, maybe...

When we moved out of our house, my mom asked if I was sad at all about it.  No, I wasn't.  After all, we were getting ready to start this great new adventure in Australia. I said my goodbyes to the house and haven't looked back...until now.  We got an offer on our house two days ago.  It is the first action on our house in a while.  We counteroffered the initial offer, and they countered back.  We accepted their amount, but changed a couple of things on the contract.  They haven't accepted yet, but there is no real reason for them not to do it.  As a result, I did get just a little sentimental about the house.  After all, this is the house that we lived in when all three kids of ours were born.  This is the house that we spent 8 years working to make it better.  Laughs have been laughed, tears have been cried and memories have been made in this house.  Will I miss the house?  Yes.  Will I miss the yard and the strange terra cotta head in the woods? Yes.  If it goes, am I happy to see it go?  Yes.  Let's face it.  We had long since outgrown the house and it would be hard to go back to that small house after living in the one we do now.