What a Day!!

Well, I was going to get up this morning and blog about our fun Christmas in Texas but it only seems fitting to just let you all know about our travel adventures.....

First of all we had delays just getting to Houston last week but we though once the third snow storm blew through Buffalo when we were in the hot Texas air we would be fine on the way home. It wasn't meant to be.

We were delayed an hour getting out of Houston yesterday - just to finally get on the packed plane and taxi around and around the airport and the pilot announce that he was shutting off his engines because he could not take off and we were going to just sit out on the runway. Apparently there were severe storms between Houston and Chicago - right in our path!!!

Thankfully there was a quick break in the weather and we were told to sit quickly, turn off everything, get those seat belts on and we were off. We were sure by that point we would miss our connector in Chicago to Buffalo but NO--that flight was delayed another four hours. We had a nice dinner in the airport- got the boys in their pajamas and turned on the DVD ( LOVE THOSE!). Here are a few pictures of airport time!

Daddy and Joshua eating dinner and the boys playing in the cool airport tunnel with lots of lights and 'people movers".

Then they got very tired....

Finally - we were off on the bumpiest plane ride of my life to Buffalo - all our stomachs dropped quite a few times. We arrived in Buffalo after 1:00am and finally pulled into our home at 2:15am.

BUT...it does not stop there.

We were greeted with the strong smell of Natural Gas as soon as we opened our door and noticed our security system was off and the phones were dead - we put the sleeping boys in their bed- opened all the windows - turned on all the fans and set off to see what was wrong.

We were greeted with a totally flooded basement- YUCK!

Brett realized that the sump pump had gotten stuck so he set to work getting that restarted and I called the fire department. They showed up - full lights and all at 2:45am-

They insisted that we get the boys out of the house and they went in will full gear - re-breathers and all to investigate. Both boys were transported to the rescue squad and placed on the cots and had their oxygen level evaluated. Apparently the furnace pilot was tripped or something and caused the gas problem.

The house was finally aired out and kids put back to bed again - now about 4:00am - still no sleep at all for mom and dad just lots of cleaning. Brett said it that this was a great way to have the floors cleaned -come on, I could have mopped or something!

It is now 10:00am - we are so very tired but life goes on. The basement has lots of fans blowing in it - Grandpa is on his way over with a big industrial fan and I am going to call the insurance company.

I think it will be an early to bed night!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Here is a picture of Christmas Eve - Everyone Loved their Jammies and we celebrated Christmas down in the deep south - Texas. It sure wasn't a "White Christmas" down here - we are heading back to the snowy north today. Daddy is promising a huge snow fort so the boys are gearing up for outdoor adventures.

The Boys Venture Out

After lunch the boys begged to go out - they look cute BUT this only lasted about 10 minutes before they were crying at the door that they were too cold and Joshua had to "climb up a few trees so he didn't blow away".

Daddy is out snowblowing now but I am not convinced it is working - the wind is just blowing it all back onto the driveway anyway.

The Big Snow Storm Has Arrived

So ... I had fun reading everybody's blogs about their snow - like in Houston and Seattle but really --- did you pictures look like this one????
I will try to get some more pictures when the boys go out later - right now they would probably blow away - it's mighty windy out there!

New York Christmas

Well - we have allready had our first of two Christmas' this year.

Nanna and Grandpa had us over this past weekend for a wonderful dinner and fun "present opening time" before we head to the deep south (Texas) for Christmas number 2.

We were thankful that they had a HUGE tree that totally impressed the boys so much that we got out of having to put up one of our own this year!! We weren't totally avoiding the decorating though and have all the lighted garland up and the snow village so we still look festive.

The boys were thankful for all their new Lego's and Tinker Toys and "honkie-tonkies" which translates to Walkie-Talkies.

Uncle Keith and Aunt Tara were also able to stop by and the cousins exchanged gifts! Matthew now has his very own little Thomas Computer and Josh is all set with his Leapster and new Carrying case for the airplane trip.



Thank you All and We Love You!!!

You are never too old....

This came from Joshua the other day as I was getting him ready for bed.

"Mom......I guess I will never be too old to not have to wear underwear I guess, will I?"

" No Joshua, you will never be to old to not have to wear underwear."

Newest Family Picture

I just wanted to post our our most recent family picture.

I will welcome any visitors who would like to tour my new home I will be moving into. It should be lovely - I am very excited for all my new clothing that I will need in the weeks to come.

I welcome any suggestions for how to host a stately party. And should we get a dog or a cat?

The First Snow

I am betting I am posting the first snow picture that you have seen this year so far!

Yep - the first snow was yesterday and at 5:45am I had 2 little guys who were begging to go out and play...I managed to hold them off untill 7am when Dad declared that there was now enough light to see.

They had a blast of course and I am sure you will be seeing lots more snow pictures in the months to come.

Some Catching Up To Do...

I once again need to update some pictures so I can be a bit more current.

Joshua had his 5th Birthday at the end of October...Here are a few pictures of that evening with our family party! He has been requesting a "skunk" cake for the past year so I made his wish come true....I definetely did not do it myself though.

Here are Tristan and Joshua - playing his new Leapster...what a fun gift that was for a 5 year old!

A few days later it was Trick-or-Treat Night...

Matthew was not sure if he wanted to be Woody or a Fireman...in the end the Fireman won out but he was pretty excited that he looked just like Joshua's Woody Doll.

Joshua on the other hand, has wanted to be "Moses" for about the whole year. I think he was really interested in having a "staff" as he walked around the block.

He actually spent quite a bit of time throwing his stick on the patio and when I became annoyed I asked him what he was doing --silly mom I should have thought a bit harder because he was trying to "Turn his staff into a serpent of course!"

Daddy was a good sport and took the boys out to collect candy...I think he likes it better than staying home and passing it all out!

P.S. I should mention that Matthew has thought of a way to outdo Joshua next year.

He wantes to be "GOD" - what am I going to make for that one?????

Such a Lazy Blogger

Did You Miss Us???

We are back here in New York . I have been a terrible blogger--so sorry. I will try to be a bit better.

I was tagged by Renee like weeks ago, to post a picture - I kinda forget how - I think like my 3rd picture in my 6th folder under "my pictures" or something like that. If I am wrong sorry but this is what I am randomly picking. Let me see what that picture is.....

It is Joshua when Daddy took him and Matthew Pumpkin Picking.

Here are two more photo's from that day...

Yummy Dinner..

I really don't have anything interesting to say but I am smelling wonderful smells in my kitchen. I dug out mom's Hot German Potato Salad Recipe and am making that with Bratwurst (the Turkey variety because they are supposedly more healthy). It is a chilly fall day - sunny and 50 degrees with leaves on the ground so this sounded like a good fall meal.

Time to Blog Again...

Hello Friends and Family,

We have been so busy up here in New York as we became a home for Hurricane Ike Refugees this past week.

My brother Brian and Lauren called last Thurs night with the question "How busy are you this next week???"

That turned into them barely escaping Houston before the airport closed and coming up to NY.

We have had a very fun and very busy week taking advantage of a beautiful time of year here. See below a list of our weeks of adventure.

1. Niagara Falls...what is a visit to us without another trip to Niagara Falls. We even went to see the Niagara Falls movie in the visitor's center - the kids loved it.

2. Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester..This is one of our favorite places to go - the children love to play...can you tell? Yep - the adults love it too. Check out Brian giving us the weather update on Hurricane Ike. He also helped make some pretty cool pirate hats with the boys.

3. Trip to Youngstown..Brian and Lauren took Emily and Lizzy to see the sail boats in a little town just down the river from us...

4. Backyard Play Time...Joshua and Matthew entertained Lizzy for the afternoon while Bri and Lauren took Emily to Canada for some fun.

5. Maid of the Mist...yes another favorite thing to do here. Good thing the weather was nice because you sure get wet!

6. Butterfly Museum...this is a great place to watch many varieties of butterflies fly around...look at how close you can get to them.

7. Back to the Market...Yes, this is the same market I have posted about before. Can you tell I love it. The kids had fun playing with the kittens and picking out produce for our dinner.

8. Apple/Peach Picking....This was a great outing..there were so many apples and peaches on these beautiful trees. Josh thought they were just the perfect climbing size and everyone enjoyed chomping down a few as we picked. We then came home and made homemade applesauce and apple crisp. My house smelled wonderful!!

9. Carmel Apple Making...the evening of picking day we lined up the kids and melted down the carmel and went to town...it was a sticky gooey mess...funny thing is that the kids didn't like to eat the "fancy" apples that they made with all the candy on them...all they wanted was the plain carmel ones!

10. Fishing....Brett and Brian took all 4 children out to our Uncle's Pond..the kids caught frogs and fish..how cute is Emily with her fish.

11. Fort Niagara...yes another scenic view of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. We love the history of the fort and the kids loved the cannons I think!!

12. Corn Maze...Brian and Lauren met up with Brian's friend from high school and conquered the giant corn maze.

13. Yes, Fishing Again...this time Brett and Brian got up really early and ventured out to one of Brett's favorite fishing streams. The fishing was slow but they sure look like they know what they were doing.

So that was our week...what I never got a picture of was me making dinners and emptying the dishwasher and garbage can over and over again!!!! They are leaving tomorrow to go home (with power now, YEAH!) but they do have to get a tree off of their roof. We will miss all the fun -- Joshua and Matthew will miss their cousins to play with but great memories were made.