A Jersey Christmas.......2008!

I am sure that many of you out there in blogging land have had a busy couple or few weeks, just as we have. Not only we were all a little under the weather, but we had many other activities to enjoy that kept us super busy. However, even though we were busy, Chris and I were actually able to have our Christmas shopping done a week before Christmas. That's unprecedented, people!! We are usually out on Christmas Eve with all the crazies!!!! So here's just a sampling of the wonderful holiday season we got to share with friends and family.

JORDAN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY
DUTCH NECK SCHOOL

I love going to Jordan's classroom. I loved it last year too. Her class this year is a walk in the park compared to last year's class. Boy, they were rowdy!!!! Miss Estremera changes their seats quite a bit. I think this is the third time they have all changed to a new place. Jordan likes sitting next to this little boy, Brian. I have to say, he seems to be quite a card! Notice in this picture he is using his hot chocolate cup as an arm rest :) He cracked us all up when Miss Estremera was opening her gift from the class. As she opened the card, a check for over $100 feel out onto the floor. He picked it up and waved it over his head like he wasn't going to give it back. Then when one of the room moms said this was Miss Estremera's gift for being such a good teacher, Brian said, "You're a teacher? I thought you were a student." And last but certainly not least, as she took out her jewelry set, he said, "You can wear that to the prom, like in that picture." He was referring to a picture on her desk, which really doesn't look like it was that long ago!! (She is a first year teacher.) Anyway, he gave us a good laugh!!!

Just a little scan of Jordan's classroom.........

GRANDAD AND DEE DEE'S PACKAGES

I just had to post this picture because it really made me laugh. Grandad and Dee Dee sent us 3 packages of cool stuff for Christmas. The kids and I opened them on the webcam so GD and DD could see. This was what was left!!!!!!!

And Jaron's little life wouldn't be complete without Emily. She invited him to her pre-school Christmas program. They are hilarious!!!!!

CHRISTMAS WITH ALL THE BOHANNONS!!!!!!!!!!!

The Brandon Bohannons and the Steve Bohannons (aka Uncle B and Aunt K, and Nana and Papa) all arrived semi-safely last Monday around 5:00. I say semi-safely because Nana and Papa had trouble finding the New Jersey Turnpike from the Newark airport.....only the most used and signed highway in New Jersey, maybe even the tri-state area!!!! It was soooo nice to see everyone, including our precious little nephews, Keats and Kemper. It had been a year since we had seen them! Way, way, way, way too long!!! We had a great time making up for lost time........

18 month old Kemper is finger painting with cheese at Cheeburger Cheeburger.
Look at all those silly little cousins!!!
Jordan was such a good helper with Kemper. In fact, he warmed up to her first. They played peek-a-boo for the longest time.
Jaron and his Papa all snuggled up. Jaron fell asleep like this. He still went to the hotel with Nana and Papa to spend the night with them.
I cannot begin to tell you how quirky these little boogers are! This was our Christmas Eve meal. Notice Jordan is wearing a Halloween shirt...it has a pumpkin on it! And Keats and Jaron were pretty inseparable the whole time. They had some serious superhero business to do. Tuesday night they spent the majority of the evening dressed up as Superman and Batman. Capes, masks and all. At one point Jaron (who was Batman) got reprimanded for something and Keats said, "Bad choice Batman." Oh my goodness!!! They were so funny!
Christmas morning began with more quirkiness. Jordan crawled in bed with us around 7:30, then around 9:00 Chris and I were surprised Jaron hadn't come in our room yet. Just then we heard a big rip from the living room. Jaron was tearing into his presents, whether we were there or not! Santa brought them each three gifts, just like when the wise men visted Baby Jesus and brought him three gifts. (We stole that idea from Uncle B and Aunt K.) Santa also left a note and wanted us to read that story from the Bible. I guess Jordan and Jaron felt like since they had heard the story before, they could just keep opening gifts!
Jordan fainted over her "Camp Rock" T-shirt with the picture of Joe Jonas on it :)
You just can't beat Christmas morning!
Then the rest of the crew arrived, bearing yet more gifts.
I told you Keats and Jaron had superhero business to attend to...check them out in the background!
And again, Spiderman and Venom!!!
Let's get ready to party!! We had a birthday party for Baby Jesus. Complete with construction paper decorations! What's not to love about construction paper? You can do just about anything with it.
Jordan and I made the Christmas tree centerpiece a few weeks ago. We actually made it into an advent calendar, adding a colored ornament for each day. Jordan also helped me cut out the stars for the placemats.
And she was chompin' at the bit to help with the cake. "We love you, Baby Jesus!"
Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!! Kemper is not in this picture because he and Uncle B had the longest parent-child stand-off I have ever witnessed........we were so glad when Kemper finally told Keats he was sorry for biting him!
Papa, Daddy and Uncle B
And the whole gang :)
Keats and Jaron did not want to cooperate during this picture. I think they were sending superhero vibes!
On Friday Uncle B, Aunt K, Keats and Kemper had to get on the road. We were not ready to see them go. But we did get to share breakfast with them at the hotel. It was really nice to have one more meal with them. Oh, we missed them the minute they walked away!!!!!!


One of the funniest thing Keats said during their visit took place on Tuesday evening. Papa, Nana, Uncle B and Aunt K had to get some last minute gifts, so I took all the kids to our apartment to play. Jordan desperately needed a bath, so I got the bright idea to bathe them all. Jaron was up for it, he likes his bath time. Keats, on the other hand, wasn't so crazy about it. I asked him if he wanted to take a bath after he ate supper. He said, "No, I am going to take a bath on Sunday at my home." I asked him several more times, with the answer remaining the same. When I told him he could take a bath with Jaron he proceeded to tell me that he had skunks in his hair. Skunks!!! I guess that was his way of telling me that his hair was stinky! Oh boy...he was so funny. Between he and Jaron we could have a brand new language for the planet!!!! I can't even begin to document all of the silly things that happened while our family was here to visit. From Keats and Jaron playing under the table at the Americana Diner to a rousing game of Taboo with all of the adults, we had a great time talking, laughing, cuddling and hugging. It was the highest quality time we could have had............We love you Nana, Papa, Uncle B, Aunt K, Keats and Kemper!!!!!!

Christmas in Rockefeller Center

We started a new tradition this year. We went to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center today! I wanted to go last year, but we just didn't make it due to all of the CRAZY crowds. (FYI, taking two kids into the city on a crowded train is NOT fun.) So several weeks ago I told Chris that the one thing I wanted us to be able to do this year was go to Rockefeller Center and see the tree. And here's an interesting bit of trivia...they got the tree from the township right next to ours, Hamilton Township. Cool, huh? It is amazing how big it is. I will give you a heads up, the pictures don't do it any justice. It is an experience that you have to witness in real life. Very, very beautiful...see for yourself :)


Our first view of the tree. The walkway is lined with beautiful angels holding trumpets.




I wonder if the people who put up these angels thought about the fact that they are heralding the birth of Jesus?


Jordan wanted to go ice skating so bad, I told her we would take lessons and come back next year since none of us have ever ice skated! She didn't like that idea!!
The golden statue of Prometheus...he was was a Greek god who brought new life to man by giving him fire...hmmmmm. I can think of another gift imparting new life, can you?
You can see one of the cables holding up the tree. While we were watching the ice rink, a couple had the rink to themselves. The man took his girlfriend over to the statue and was very obviously proposing to her! She gave him a big hug and kiss, so we figured she said yes. We all clapped for them! What was also very cool was Pachabel's Canon in D was playing while they were out on the ice. It made for a very blissful moment :)This in one of six figures surrounding the rink. They were all holding a different instrument.

It was a wonderful experience we had this afternoon. I am so thankful we were able to go and see the Christmas tree and all of the beauty surrounding it. They call New York City the concrete jungle, but it sure can be spectacular!!!!

Cry Me a River

I have been sick. It's a cold or something. I have a cough and a sore throat. I can't even walk through the apartment without having to sit down and rest. What a bummer. Plus, Chris went to rent "Prince Caspian" yesterday and they didn't have it. Everything tastes weird. Our lunch yesterday was disgusting. I don't know if I will ever be able to fix it again. It was shell pasta with marinara sauce. I also roasted some brussel sprouts in the oven. Gross. Even the thought of it turns my stomach. Today my lunch consisted of tater tots and Lipton Noodle Soup. It was alright. I got some Grasshopper cookies at the store (they are like Girl Scout Thin Mints), and they don't even taste good. Another bummer. And why do they make it so hard to find the medicine you need? I stood on the medicine isle for what seemed like an eternity trying to decide which medicine to get. Truth be told, none of them really sounded like what I needed, but I ended up getting some Tylenol stuff. It is the worst tasting medicine I have ever had. I took one swig of it and washed it down with water. Chris told me I shouldn't do that so I took another swig WITHOUT any water and wanted to cut my tongue off. Our apartment is a wreck, I haven't done any laundry or vacuumed or changed the sheets or cleaned the kitchen. Fortunately I have a good husband and daughter who have done the dishes for me. Chris cleaned the entire kitchen this afternoon, and he even cleaned the metal things that go around the burners on the stove. That is one of those things that I always notice needs to be done, I just never get around to it. Jordan just walked into the kitchen tonight and washed the dishes in the sink, dried them and put them away. Then she wanted to know if there were any more chores to do! I told her I would like for all the toys to be put away. I guess she didn't consider that a chore because she didn't do it. I am ready to feel better so I can take care of my family and play with my kids and work on Christmas shopping and cook half-way decent meals. Ugh.

I know I have probably already posted this picture, but here's my wonderful family. They take care of me when I am sick, they forgive me when I am cranky, they draw me pictures of Batman and butterflies, they don't worry about the messy apartment, they are wonderful. I am so thankful for them. And I am thankful for God's provision and His forgiveness as well.

Sorry for this gripe session...I do feel a little better now. I am going to bed.........

An Extra-Long Weekend

We had a nice long four day weekend to enjoy. Chris was a little under the weather for some of it, but it gave us some good time to just stay at home and chill because today, and this week we have hit the ground running. Here's some of what we did to stay busy:

#1 You saw the pictures of our Native American visitors.

#2 Friday the kids and I tackled the Christmas decorations. I had to take EVERYTHING out of our little-bitty storage closet on the porch. UGH!

#3 We watched one of my most favorite movies while we decorated the apartment, "Little Women". Jaron complained, of course. He felt it was a little too "girly".

#4 We played Go Fish and Snap about a million times. Jaron calls it Gold Fish and reminds me that I am saying it wrong every time I say it. Then Jordan tells him I can say it however I want to say it, then I tell Jordan to mind her own business. Then Jaron sticks out his tongue at Jordan, she screams at him and they both end up in their room, on their beds. After several minutes, a couple of apologies and some sweet little hugs, we are back to playing Gold Fish. Oh, by the way, Jaron added a player yesterday, his stuffed snowman. And he insisted on us addressing him as "Snowman". Nothing else was acceptable!

#5 The kids did some sand art. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!! It was actually OK. Just a tad messy. They got these sand art sticker sheets at a birthday party and you just peel off the paper and sprinkle sand on the sticky part. They turned out really cute!

#6 We watched Speed Racer on On Demand. Jaron spent much of the the evening running his Speed Racer cars from McDonald's all over the place, including the walls..........

#7 Chris and I watched "Get Smart" after the kids went to bed last night. It was pretty funny.

#8 I did not, I repeat, DID NOT go shopping on Black Friday. You could not have paid me to get out in that maddness, especially since a Walmart employee on Long Island got trampled by impatient customers. No thank you, no sale is worth that!!!

#9 Last but not least, here's a couple of videos of Jordan and Jaron playing school. This was actually today.........