Catching up

Oh my it's been awhile! SO much has happened since December 10th, let me catch up on it all:

Dec 13th - Eric goes to Syracuse to take the last of his teaching tests (neccesary for tenure) and due to a clerical error one of his tests are not there! He was so angry! Now he has to take another one later...hhhhh

Dec 15th - my husbands excellent concert - except that the percussionists missed the whipcrack in Sleigh Ride...on purpose

Dec 16th - 3 lessons and 2 1/2 hours of musical rehearsal, followed by snow...boy was I worried. If we had a snow day the day of the concert it would have messed up the whole week.

Dec 17th - only a 2 hour delay, dress rehearsals all day and then my concert, it was a good time, the kids did well (my Sleigh Ride whip crack wasn't all that much better - though it wasn't on purpose!!)

Dec 18th - choir practice, and I got to go to the basketball game for a little while and see the pep band. It was nice to see my husband for once:).

Dec 19th - SNOW DAY EARLY START ON VACATION!!! We got SOOO much done on the house, cleaning and such and started on the bathroom downstairs so we can paint. So nice to have 17 days in a row to spend with my family.

Dec 20th - Choir practice, getting ready to sing the Hallelujah chorus at the Christmas Eve service, we had pizza and lots of fun:)

Dec 21 - church, Eric painted the bathroom!! So nice to have time to work on our house!

Dec 22 - Eric and Mike went shopping, and Genni and I went shopping. That night I started to wrap presents. We must have been really broke last year because I don't remember wrapping that many presents!!!

Dec 23 - The last of the Christmas shopping is done. Eric's mom came over in the morning so Eric and I got to go shopping by ourselves, had lunch with Gary and Cathy and Debbie, and we got so much done! More wrapping tonight!

Dec 24 - Happy Birthday Eric! My husband is 30 now, I'll be the last one to get out of my 20's, not till September. I cooked and cleaned all morning while Eric went to get my brother from the airport in Rochester, than Christmas Eve service and dinner party for Eric's Birthday. Didn't really expect that to be as stressful as it was, but it was also a good time. The choir did a great job, and we used every single robe! My parents where at my house when we got home, so it was Eric and I, my parents and brother, his parents and our friends Mike and Laurelyn with Graham and Dean. Genni fell asleep on the way back from church and slept through the whole party. I feel guilty that she missed the party, but it was nice to not have to worry about her for a little bit.

Dec 25 - Christmas! It was soooo much fun to watch Genni open presents this year. She was really into Christmas and Santa Claus. She was excited that the milk and cookies where gone and that she got what she asked for. She loves all the pretend food and dishes she got and is constantly making us tea, coffee, and sandwiches and soup (she's actually drinking out of the teapot as I type!). After we got ready it was to Eric's parents house for more presents and dinner. She especially loved her new baby doll and the shopping cart, and I had to reorganize the living room so everything would fit!

Dec 26 - my parents leave for home and we go to Syracuse to see Eric's grandmother and Aunt Joan and Uncle Rick. Lunch was nice, and the Birthday cake for his grandmother (93) - she's been in and out of the hospital lately though so keep her in your prayers.

Dec 27 - another dinner party - Eric's dad, Ken and Marcy, Brett and Chelsea, and Gary and Marie and Ethan - we did a turkey with the fixings and pumkin mousse parfaits. We love cooking and having friends over to visit. Genni and Ethan had a great time, I believe there is a picture of them rolling all over Ken.

Dec 28th - today! Eric went to a Bills vs Patriots game with Mike, Genni and I went to church and then hung out all day. Except for naptime (took and hour and a half to get her to sleep again) everything has been great. She'll go to sleep for Sarah and Grandma fine, it's just for me she has issues.

Well tomorrow we go to CT, then back on Tuesday and I guess that Tim and Sandi and Emily are coming on Thursday now, so hopefully we'll still have some time to relax and work on the house before we go back to school.

Genni has been so much fun, I mean we still have temper tantrums and moments of purposeful disobediance while smirking, but her language skills are great and she comes out with the most interesting thoughts. When we were Christmas shopping she wanted to know how the got stuff down that was on the really tall shelves, so I told her they would need a ladder, then the other night she told Eric she needed a ladder to get somewhere up high in our house. She woke up yesterday and said to Eric, "Daddy, it's so good to see you!" Seriously, we weren't dreaming. I have gotten some of her "I want...." to be May I have....please - and it's so nice to hear her being so polite. We did find out this week just how much TV she used to watch at the babysitters - all these shows we've never heard of that she wants to watch. I'm happy she is going to Larelyn now and we don't have to worry about her watching TV all the time.

Well, I'll write again soon - I promise not to let it go for so long again!!

The Christmas Season

The house is decorated,the shopping is at least started, and there are only 7 more days of school left till our two week vacation! The only thing we have planned is going to CT, but that is up one day and back the next. Still plenty of time for stuff around the house!
Genni is getting better - We had a talk in the car yesterday about her "attitude" and I've been sending her to her room when she starts, so that has taken the tantrums down a bit. She is still always asking for chocolate and cookies (at like 6AM!) and getting mad when I won't give them to her, but maybe sometime she'll realize she never gets them when she whines and stop doing it. (yeah right, I know)
Musical rehearsals have begun and we had almost 60 people at rehearsal Monday night. I'm looking forward to tonights rehearsal! I've been practicing and my pian skills are improving. Maybe by January I'll be able to play everything.
Well rehearsal tonight, choir tomorrow but from Friday night till Sunday morning I'm free! I also plan on sleeping downstairs Saturday night in an effort to sleep more than 3 hours in a row. Excited!

Getting Better!

Well - I feel better health-wise, though eating is still an issue. I am now so far behind in everything though that I shouldn't even be writing this post. Eric is in Rochester for the rest of the week for NYSSMA, and so it's just Genni and I at home. Of course as usual she woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning (1:21AM) and didn't want to go back to sleep, then she woke up again at 5:45 and the dog started barking in his crate two floors down because somehow he heard me cough. Then my two year old daughter refused to get dressed, didn't want to have her hair done, would not put her coat on, the dog would not come to go into his crate and then she lost it when I didn't have any granola bars for her (how on earth am I supposed to have granola bars for her if we don't have any!). My goodness what a morning. Yesterday she literally laid down on the floor in the hallway at West and was kicking and screaming when my mother-in-law was trying to watch her so we could cast the play. Luckily all of the other people in my life have much more patience than I do - Cathy had her in a wonderful mood before we left choir. Unfortunately the fact that she had to go to bed (though I prepared her many times in the car) when we got home made bedtime sound like I was severly harming my child. So I held her blankets down while she screamed at the top of her lungs, and when I couldn't take it anymore and left the room without a word she was silent and 10 seconds later I look in and she is asleep! I do NOT understand two year olds!!!
Before I get back to the wonderful things in my life, I want to complain for a second about my lack of sleep. Yes I know I shouldn't, other moms out there are laughing at me for thinking it should be any different, but I still can't stand it. My daughter used to sleep through the night just fine. Now it's been MONTHS since I've had more than two or three hours of sleep in a row. I think basically it's been since we moved her out of her crib. What am I supposed to do now? I can't move her back into the crib and this phase does not seem to be ending. How can she survive with such broken sleep? It's driving me crazy!
Deep breath, I'm better now:)
Well, I'm looking forward to Christmas and Christmas vacation, these next two weeks are always stressful as we prepare for concerts and stuff. My first musical rehearsal is Monday night, so here's hoping it goes well and everyone can sing. Since these aren't kids I know very well it's going to be kind of like the first day of school for me, so I'll probably be really nervous till I get there, and then I'll be in my element.
This weekend is pretty light, Genni and I are going over to the Simon's new house to help move things (well I'll move things, Genni will probably play with Graham and maybe be in a good mood for the rest of the day! *side note, it's been awhile since she's seen Graham but the first person she says good night to every night is Graham) and then Sunday we have church and Eric should be home in the afternoon. My big goal for the weekend is laundry. I'm actually tempted to put it all in the car and spend two hours at a laundrymat just so it'll all be DONE.

Back to completing all the things I should have been doing!

New Hampshire for Thanksgiving and the Flu

Well - lots of things have happened since last post, I just haven't had time or energy to get on the computer. Last Tuesday we left for New Hampshire, got there about 1AM I think, and had a nice time with Eric's brother and sister-in-law and family. Got a head start on our Christmas shopping. We got back Sunday early evening and School was fine on Monday. Then Monday night the flu descended on me (that's really what it felt like) at about 9PM and I've been trying to function since then. I'll write more about it later...don't have much energy now.

Baby it's COLD outside!

Every winter I remember that I hate the cold - I hate being cold - and the only reason I no longer want to move down south is because I like fall and spring too much and appreciate their contrast with the freezing cold of winter. That and snow days, 2-hour delays and early dismissals. But seriously, it went from a bunch of peasant days to - COLD!!

So we are getting the house ready for our trip to NH this week - still lots to do. One of my students is house/dog sitting for us so I feel like it really has to be clean since she may stay there some nights. Not much time for cleaning though - Friday Eric was at the football game (we got beat bad!) and I was just so exhausted when I got home I couldn't do a thing. We resited turning the TV on for most of the evening, but Genni started to ask for Elmo, and I thought that would be a great time for some shuteye. So I layed down on the couch with Genni next to me in my arms and Wallace curled up on my stomach (he thinks he's a cat sometimes I think). It was great till Elmo was over, then I had to get up. Saturday we went wine tasting, Genni was with us so they kept giving her grape juice everywhere, and she loved the food they gave us at each winery. (don't worry she din't get any alcohol!). It was quite a late night though after we went out to dinner. Of course Genni didn't fall asleep in the car so I still had to get her to sleep when we got home. She has been quite difficult at bedtime lately, she asks for all the typical things to get out of sleeping - apple juice, another story, the bathroom. Then once I leave the room she gets out of bed to get book and toys and she has recently begun taking her pants and diaper off too. On Sunday afternoon, after an hour and a half of this, she didn't take a nap at all. Then on the way to the church dinner she fell asleep in the car. We laid her on the couch in when we got there and she woke up 45 minutes later in a not so great mood. She has also started to freak out if we close her bedroom door. Luckily she is a pretty heavy sleeper so we can make a god deal of noise without waking her up. She didn't get up till 4 today, which meant 4-5 hours of sleep in a row for me, something I haven't had in quite a while!

Well back to class, I'll finish later:)

Winter is here!

Let's see - what has happened since my last post? Well this past weekend I played with the Williamsport Symphony. Great fun, I was almost accurate with all of my playing. If the conductor hadn't taken Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien faster than anyone on the planet I would have been fine. You should have heard the wind players griping in the back - none of us where happy. Bolero went fine, and the bandalino tune was very nice as well. I got a lot of work done when I wasn't playing as well. Then Sunday I went to see East's show - Fantasticks - kudoes to all for a well done performance! Last night we had a nice family evening at home - I even got to nap on the couch:). Despite my nap this morning was very difficult to face and so I called in for a half day and enjoyed a relaxing morning with my ever bright and cheery daughter (really she was I'm not being sarcastic). My dining room table arrived before we left for school and it looks SOO good in my dining room. I've never had new furniture like that before so it's very exciting. Eric's football team won on Friday 28-26 and are playing again this weekend in Rochester. Go West! So Eric is off to Rochester on Friday for the game, and then we are going wine tasting on Saturday.
So Genni gets more vocal every day. "Don't even think about it Wallace!, Wallace give that back right now! No Wallace!" Having a puppy has certainly brought on more full sentences. Wallace is being pretty good, still a chewer of all things moving or standing still, but he can generally control his bladder, which makes me happy. If there is a single tooth mark on my new table I'm going to take him to the shelter though!
Well - hopefully we are in for a relaxing week...cheers!

And Life rolls on....

Well - although the day off was wonderful - I'm all messed up now as to what day of the week it is. Today is Thursday, but tomorrow is conferences so no students. So really it's like Friday, but it's the second day of school in a row and the third one this week...argh. I have managed to cram all of my lessons into 3 days, 4-12, and so I have absolutely no time to do all of the other millions of things on my desk. Including practicing for the gig this weekend (some seriously fast parts that I need to be able to do!). Today is choir, tomorrow is rehearsal in Williamsport and the game in Syracuse, Saturday I will be in Williamsport the majority of the day for rehearsal and concert, and Sunday I have church and then go to see dad's show at East - but Eric has a concert at CMOG. Whew! Then we still have a whole week of school again! Here I go complaining again -I'll have to stop that.

Anyway - Genni is so much fun now, we were sitting at dinner last night (pizza, I totally didn't feel like cooking or eating leftovers!) and Genni started to say the same thing over and over - mom and I looked at each other confused trying to figure out what she was saying. She was reciting one of her books! "The moon is up, it's getting late, let's get ready to celebrate it's pajama time!" Of course there were a few words missing "The moon is up it's getting late, let's celebrate" so I said it with her to help her. Then she was in charge of whose turn it was. "Ok mommy's turn. Genni's turn, mommy say it with me" Sooo cute. Then we went in the living room and watched her video that I put together and I put the microphone close to her and recorded all of her comments. I'm going to extract them and put them in the video, some day she'll love it. Actually she is very fond of listening to her own voice even now:). Of course she is becoming more independant every day and wants to do everything "myself mommy myself". It's really a lesson in patience to let her do all of the thing I usually just do. I know she needs to learn, but does it have to be when I'm running late for school? She can now say music (not mookey) and balloon (boodan). Fun times:)

In other news - Wallace can now climb over the baby gates, so the good news is I can take out my kitchen rugs, the bad news is that I have to discipline him constantly to keep him from chewing up Genni's toys. He is now in his crate at night as well as when we are gone. In fact he went in it a bit early this morning since he peed on our bed when upstairs with Eric. What do dogs think? Genni is doing better at potty training then he is sometimes!!! She got to wear her "dora's (pull ups)" because she went in the potty all by herself - I had left her to get the dog away from something or other and she comes out with no diaper on saying - "mommy I did it!" "really hunny? (disbelieving)" "wow you really did, good job!!"

Life's small joys - till next time!