CHRISTMAS LEFT OVERS!

Well, Santa made it through the ice and snow to deliver Ryan's gifts! Here is a before picture:

And here is the after photo! If you look closely you'll see many Transformers. Ryan is still a big Transformer fanatic. (This picture also has some gifts that belong to Bill and myself.) Over all Christmas was a complete success. Keep in mind, these are only the "Santa Gifts"!

We then headed over to my brother's house where Ryan received more gifts! The boys were extremely surprised by their final gift that suddenly appeared out of nowhere! A Wii Gaming system from Grandma.

The weather has been very "wintery" lately. Ryan has been making a small fortune this winter with his "new business" of shoveling!

Along with the snow it's been very icy. Everything has been covered in ice, making it difficult to get out and about. Thankfully we haven't had to travel too far!

Bill continues to be "off" work. This week he is painting my brother's house which gets him out of the house! We keep hoping that things will turn around very soon! Anyone looking for a good painter????

It's hard to believe winter break is 1/2 over.........one week from today were back to the old "school routine" again! UGH!

This Year's Christmas Ornaments

Each year, Ryan receives an ornament that represents something significant that happened in his life that year. This year he received two ornaments. I designed an ornament with his high school emblem on one side and the football mascot on the other side.

The other ornament is a Transformer ornament from Hallmark. This entire year Ryan has discovered the wonderful world of YouTube and has been creating "stop motion" videos and uploading them to YouTube. One evening, while on the computer, I located the ornament on sale at Kohls. So at 11:30pm Bill and I headed over to purchase THE LAST one! It was hidden and we nearly left without it - but I spotted it tucked away! Since the store closed at midnight, we didn't have time to search or try to locate it at another store. It was nice to avoid the crowds so late at night - we were in and out in 10 minutes!

Notice the shoveled driveway and sidewalks below??? Ryan has started a little "business" and has been shoveling neighbors driveways and sidewalks. He's been doing very well and has been putting most of his earnings into the bank for his "dream" car! (2010 Mustang) Yesterday, while driving past some million dollar homes - he says: I think I'll start putting 10.00 a month of my allowance in the bank because I was thinking I'd like a house like that someday! I guess he still doesn't realize how much big ticket items cost!

While at the mall this week, Build-A-Bear had elf crowns similiar to the Burger King crowns. I was able to get enough for the entire class and they were very excited to where them all day on Friday!

~Lisa~

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well.....at least it's beginning to look like Christmas OUTSIDE. We haven't put up the tree yet - however, we got the outside decorated just in time for our first snowfall!

The forecast is calling for several inches of snow to fall starting tomorrow. It is such a strange feeling not to have to worry about the commute to work! My 2 minute drive may take a whole 3 minutes!! I most definitely will not miss those hour long commutes sitting on the tollway going nowhere!

This past week was the football awards night ceremony. Ryan received his "numbers" and an award! The ceremony was nice - but since the auditorium isn't completed yet, it was held in the commons area - which made taking pictures a little difficult.

Ryan looked handsome in his leather jacket and Metea tie that I designed and had printed - it is the school crest and reads CLASS OF 2013 - Many people suggested I make a bunch and sell them at the games....hmmmm!

I was clearing off my camera and found pictures of Ryan washing my car and Bill's truck a couple weeks ago - although it was November, it was warm enough outside that you didn't need a jacket! I actually think he thought it was too hot and needed to cool off. Either that or he secretly wants to become an egyptian! I captured these pictures from my kitchen window without him knowing! What a goof ball!

Wednesday is my first holiday party of the season - We are headed to Luigi's House for a gathering and grab bag for the supported education staff. These next few weeks are going to be loaded with different events with school both for myself and Ryan. Ryan has semester final exams next week - so he'll only have 2 full days of school and 3 short days right before winter break! We both are looking forward to our 16 days off!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by - Lisa