Birthday Girl!

Carly turned the big "5" on February 12. Happy Birthday to her!!! Yes, the cake was decorated by a local bakery to her exact specifications. LOL. Her request was for the two of us (per Carly - the mommy needs to have yellow hair and the little girl needs to have dark brown hair) to be on the beach, looking for sea shells, with the water in the distance. I think they did a pretty good job, huh? We celebrated the big day in style, with a family dinner at Noodles & Co (her choice), and then back to our house for cake and ice cream with the grandparents. Oh, and we can't forget the most exciting part of the day . . . PRESENTS! She raked in quite a haul, including various stuffed animal toys, a couple of Barbie things, Littlest Pet Shop figures, and . . . drum roll please . . . the Barbie Jammin' Jeep, which she has wanted "forever - all my life" as she says. :o) It was quite a festive day, and I must say we have quite a BIG GIRL on our hands now. She keeps reminding us that she is "5 now" and will be going to Kindergarten soon. Can someone please tell me where the last 4 years have gone??? Honestly, it seems like just yesterday that I held her in my arms for the first time. And then I blinked my eyes and here we are with a 5 year old. Sigh!

Here are a couple of photos of the very proud birthday girl:

Happy Birthday to our precious Carly! We love you with all our hearts!

Vacation Memories

Well, we returned from paradise today -- undoubtedly, the worst part of a vacation is the 're-entry' (to reality) process associated with coming home. We sooooo enjoyed our time away - and I'm pretty sure we, along with our dear friends Doug and Tina Mote, left a lasting impression on the Ruby Princess ship and the islands we visited in the western Caribbean. :o) We missed the kids dearly, so that was the sweet part about the ending of a wonderfully relaxing week. I have to admit that it does feel good to be back on land - we encountered some rough waters throughout the week . . . and it also feels good to eat food from my own kitchen - yes, cruise ships are known for their endless supply of amazing food, but I've determined that the human body can only stuff so much in over the course of 7 days before it all starts to taste the same. LOL.

Some of the highlights of our trip:

Day #1
Enjoyed our first (of the MANY we consumed throughout the week - LOL) cocktail during the 'sail away' bash

Explored the BEAUTIFUL ship

Day #2

At sea!

We had hoped for warm, sunny, balmy weather, but instead we got high winds, cool temps, and lots of clouds. We made the best of it, though, and stayed on the sun deck as long as we could stand it.

Day #3

1st port of call - Jamaica! Ya Mon!

We did the "zip line" shore excursion -- WOW, what an experience that was! Flying through the trees hanging from a rope and pulley -- well, it isn't something I can really adequately describe in words. If you've ever done it, you know what I mean. We went on a total of 9 different traverses, ranging from 15 feet to 600 feet in length, over and through the rainforest-like jungle in rural Ocho Rios. Incredible!

Day #4

2nd port of call - Grand Cayman!

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, we enjoyed another fabulous dinner, saw a great comedian/impressionist show, and ended the night by tearing up the dance floor at Skywalkers, the ship's night club. On this night, we were introduced to raspberry martinis (thank you, Doug! LOL). I think I remember my husband dancing on a table . . . Oh my . . .

Day #5

3rd port of call - Cozumel!

We snorkled at a coral reef in the middle of the ocean. I took underwater pics but don't have them developed yet. The highlight of the excursion was the huge sea turtle we saw swimming around at the bottom of the reef. Very cool! The water was absolutely gorgeous -- turquoise and clear. Just like a postcard!

Day #6

At sea! Once again, we had hoped for warm, sunny, balmy weather but instead we had high winds and cool temperatures. We eventually found a somewhat protected deck where we could lay in the sun, but I swear the windchill was around 50 degrees. :o) Still, we braved the elements for a few hours and managed to soak up at least a few good rays of sunshine.

Tina and I tore up the dance floor (once again) at Skywalkers night club - whew, what a night!

Day #7

4th port of call - Princess Cays (private island) in the Bahamas!

Having visited this island on a previous cruise, Mike and I decided to stay on the ship. It was a good thing we didn't go to shore, because as the day went on, I became ill with the stomach flu. Not fun, especially on a ship that is battling rough waters --- I ended the evening by visiting the ship doctor and getting a big shot in the butt (ouch) for the nausea. Not the best way to end the cruise, but thankfully it happened on the last day instead of in the middle of the trip.

We arrived back in Ft Lauderdale this morning, hopped on a 10am flight back to Bloomington, and were home by 2:30 this afternoon. The greeting we received at the airport from none other than Miss Carly was just too sweet for words.

What a wonderful vacation we had. And what great memories we made. Thank you to the Motes for putting up with us for the last 7 days!

We'll always remember . . . What happened on the ship STAYS on the ship! :o)

Tweet Tweet! Here "little" birdie!

Check out what decided to visit our front step this afternoon! He enjoyed a huge meal consisting of fresh bird . . . and I must say he made quite a mess of things in the process. Nothing like the sight of fresh fallen snow sprinkled with bird guts, feathers, and a little blood, huh? LOL. I have to say I was thankful the front door was between us . . . I don't think I'd want to experience the damage that beak could likely do. Carly watched "the meal" in its entirety, screaching the entire time in her high pitched little voice, "EWWWWW! SICK!!!! That's so GROSS!" with her hand covering her mouth. Crack me up - I told her not to watch, but she couldn't tear herself away. Ummmmm, I don't think doctor/surgeon is in her future. Ha. At any rate, we definitely added one more to Carly's (and mine and Alex's, for that matter) list of new experiences today. :o)

Holiday Memories - 2008

Braved the brutal central Illinois winter weather, just days before Christmas --- CHECK!







Baked and decorated 9 dozen cookies --- CHECK!

Had a wonderful and festive Christmas Eve --- CHECK!

Santa visited our house and granted everyone's wishes --- CHECK! . . . and if you're thinking that the left side of the tree looks a little more 'heavily loaded' than the right, you also must know that Alex & Nick DID get that drum set they were wishing for ..... so this photo isn't a true representation of their Christmas haul . . . :o)

And, last but not least, hosted the annual Christmas Day celebration with the Miller side of the family --- CHECK! (Sorry, but I was too busy in the kitchen to snap photos -- darn it!) We had a great time - ate way too much food, opened even more gifts, and then settled in for some good old fashioned game playing and catch up time with all the siblings/in-laws and cousins. The day is never quite long enough and we're always sad to see it come to an end.

And, before we know it, the Christmas season comes to a close. I do love this time of the year -- all the anticipation, hype, stress, and happiness -- but I also look forward to the start of another new year -- new beginnings, new resolutions, new adventures. Being the achievement-oriented person that I am, my immediate quest is to get all the Christmas decorations put away. And for those of you who've seen our house this time of the year, you know that putting everything away is no small task. :o) We'll see how long it takes me to meet that goal . . . I'm typically done before New Year's, so . . . I think I best get started soon.

Once again, Happy Holidays to everyone! Best wishes for a wonderful 2009!

Happy Holidays!

Ho Ho Ho! Tis the season!!! This time of year is always so festive ... so exciting ... so full of anticipation ... so busy ... so hectic ... so exhausting! LOL. We're slowly getting ready for the holidays around here -- the decorations are up, the kids are excited . . . but only a FEW presents have been bought so far! I do this to myself year after year --- and each time I ask myself WHY do I procrastinate with the Christmas shopping? Thankfully, I'm taking a day off later this week and will shop all day with a dear friend. Maybe she will inspire me to get going on those Christmas lists! Carly is starting to get worried -- she even cornered me this past weekend up in her room with a notebook and pen and asked me to PLEASE write her list down on paper. She then promptly gave it to our Elf on a Shelf in the hopes that he would deliver it to Santa on one of his nightly trips back to the North Pole. She was thrilled when she got up on Sunday morning and found that Mr. Elf had indeed moved to a new location in our house (if you're familiar with the Elf on a Shelf tradition, you'll know what I mean) and ... the list we made was GONE! She is convinced now that Santa has what he needs in order to fulfill at least some of her many wishes. The boys have one item on their lists this year --- a drum set. Yes, a REAL drum set. Seems as though all the time they've spent playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero in the last year has inspired some (until now) hidden musical interests in each of them. We shall see what Santa does about that wish . . .

As for our remaining holiday festivities, we'll be getting our live, flocked tree for the basement hopefully this weekend (which will bring our tree total to SIX - smile), we'll be decorating Christmas cookies and, if my patience holds out, we'll also be making a gingerbread house. :o) And, I have yet to make the first batch of homemade caramels, which is a BIG tradition in our family. I guess the fact that I haven't yet made any isn't all bad -- how good for you can a bunch of cream, milk, sugar, and corn syrup be, anyway? NOT! And, considering the fact that Mike and I are going on a cruise at the end of January (Merry Christmas to us!), well . . . I really need to stay away from some of the many Christmas goodies! And that is OH SO HARD for me because I dearly love sweets. All of them! LOL.

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful time of the year. As I remind myself daily . . . always remember the "reason for the season"! Happy Holidays to all!

Winter Wonderland

Oh my GOODNESS - winter has arrived!! We woke up on Sunday morning to 6 'lovely' (it is a matter of perspective -- if you ask me, 'lovely' is used sarcastically vs literally - LOL) inches of SNOW. The funniest part of it is that I didn't even realize we had snow in the forecast! Yep, I guess that is a sure sign of someone who is too busy for their own good. :o) I must start paying more attention to these small details. We were blessed with relatively mild temperatures throughout the day on Sunday, which allowed the kids to play in the new fallen snow, much to their delight. Here are a few pictures . . .

State Champs!

Woo Hoo!! They did it!! Central Catholic won the state 4A championship on Friday night! Final score was 37 - 28. It was a beautiful night for a football game and it was a battle of two very well matched teams. What a GREAT game. What an awesome end to an incredible season. GO SAINTS!!!