2009 was quite a roller coaster ride for us....

Okay.......I really NEED this!

Isn't that the cutest Christmas Card Holder?? I have been looking for one all season, and finally gave in a decided to go to the quilt store & buy the pattern. Bad news is the store is sold out of the books, and fabrics to make it. Apparently quilters buy their fabrics for Christmas in July, boy did I feel like an idiot!! My plan was to spend a year making the thing......considering my sewing skills it will likely take me 12 months and many alcoholic beverages to complete the project. I'm still thinking of ordering the book online, and just trying to find fabrics next year. Who knows.....this could end up being my thing!!

Christmas Day at our house

I guess you can tell that Christmas is a multi-day event for us! Believe it or not, Christmas Day is very relaxing and quiet at our house. We've been known to sleep in until 10:30 or so, depending on how late we stay at the Christmas Eve party. My kids were never those "wake before the sun is up" sorta kids. Mostly because I'm mean when I don't get my sleep, and they know it!!! So here are some photos from us just hanging around the house enjoying the day. It was a good day..........

In case anyone noticed.........their is an empty plate in a photo of Ethan. That would be because I made breakfast for the first time on Christmas Day!!! WooHoo, what fun that was. I made this really yummy egg, sausage, & potato casserole with biscuits on the side. It was fun to nibble on something besides cereal on Christmas morning! Here's the recipe, just in case anyone wants to make it on New Year's Day:

Brunch For A Bunch

from Southern Living Our Best One-Dish Meals

1 pound ground hot pork sausage

3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

3 cups (12oz)shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

12 large eggs, lightly beaten(I used eggbeaters)

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp salt

Brown sausage in a skillet, drain off grease. Place hash browns in a 9X13 glass pyrex sprayed with Pam. Layer cooked sausage, cheese, and chopped green peppers evenly over hash browns. Combine eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a wire whisk until blended; pour egg mixture over chopped green pepper layer. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Of course, I had to alter this recipe to "work" for me.......first I used the hash browns with the pepper & onions already in them and omitted the 1/2 cup chopped peppers. I'm sure that I didn't use 3 cups of cheese either!!! Then I used eggbeaters and cut way back on the milk......I used about one cup in my casserole. I hate soggy eggs!!! Hope you enjoy it!!! There is also a crockpot version of this recipe, but I usually don't wake up early enough to have it ready serve for breakfast!!!

Catching up....

We celebrated Christmas with Dad & Mom the weekend before Christmas. It was a special Christmas for me because I had just dealt with all the stress of Colin's surgery, and we were getting ready for Dad's surgery. Not to mention that Popo had surgery the week before. Speaking of Popo he celebrated his 92 birthday on Saturday Dec. 19th, the same day as Dad & Mom's gathering. Stuff like that really puts the holidays into perspective. So, let the photos begin!!

Colin spent the day chilling with his CPM machine & munched on some of his favorite bugles!

Santa with Rose
Aunt Theresa & Rose taking it all in from the dining room
Me & Ron with Santa
Val, Mel, Colin, & Ethan just hanging out.......It was just a week ago, but boy does it seems longer than that!! I can't believe that 2010 is just around the corner.........I guess I need to plan our Chick-fil- A bowl party!!! Virginia Tech will be playing, and Ron will love having me cook up a ton of goodies for him & the boys!!!

Christmas Eve 2009

Santa made his traditional visit last night as all of the Kaminski family gathered to celebrate Christmas. Ronnie & Linda hosted the event, and all of us had a blast hanging out and exchanging gifts. Here are some of my favorite photos from last night:

Ethan sitting on Santa's lap

The 3 Amigos eating snacks and up to no good from the looks on their faces.....
Kevin, Letitia, & Melissa
Santa(Kenny) with Shirley, Kevin, Carie, & PoPo
Letitia & Melissa
Santa made a trip to the couch to sit with Colin............ I love Colin's smile!!!
Me & Ron
Ron & the boys checking out each other's gifts
The biggest hit of all.........The Office Clue game!!! Who killed Toby & what weapon did they use????
Val tickled about something Santa said.........you never know what he might say!
The Krotofils........Ronnie, James, Linda, & Kristin with Popo and Santa
The Albert Clan......Lann, Melissa, Aunt Linda, Uncle Alvin, Letitia, & Joel with Popo and Santa
Rose, Val, & Mellie with Popo and Santa
and then there is us with Popo and Santa
So there you have it............Christmas with all of the Kaminskis. I only missed Christmas Eve twice in my lifetime.......when I was little and had the chicken pox and when we spent one Christmas in Ohio. It is one of my most cherished family traditions!!!

Tomorrow I plan to post some photos from our Christmas with Papaw & Granny last Saturday, and our Christmas morning opening gifts. I have to say blogging is fun again!!!

We got a MAC!

Santa was good to us this year! I think this photo says it all............

We got a MAC!!!!!! I'm back to blogging...........more photos to come of the last two weeks around here, and boy have those weeks been full of action packed adventures~Merry Christmas!!!

Feeling Like a Zombie

Wow has it been crazy around here. I've tried to post a few times, but our wonderful computer would crash everytime I tried to post photos. So there will be no photos until after Santa delivers our presents..............I've heard that we "might" be getting a nice piece of fruit!!!

Colin survived his surgery, but not without quite a few days of nausea & vomiting. We switched him to a different pain medicine & he is feeling tons better today. Yesterday was quite exciting with him getting sick at his post-op visit. Then Mom & Dad stopped by the house for a surprise visit and got to see Act 2. That's something that you really don't want to stumble in on. But they were both quite helpful, and I'm glad they dropped off some food because it ended up being dinner. Since Colin's surgery, I have been getting up during the night to medicate him or switch him on & off his machines. I slept on the floor by his bed for two nights......boy was that uncomfortable. I don't do well without my sleep........just ask Ron:-) I've been quite the wench around here. I think Ron forgot how mean I was when the boys were babies and I was sleep deprived for weeks on end. I have to say I'm happy that Colin is doing better, because nothing is better than sleeping on your own bed.

Well, I'm not gonna push my luck with the computer and type too much. I think it knows it's about to be replaced. Whenever I go to the "fruit" site to look at all their goodies, it always seems to shutdown. Poor thing.......speaking of fruit, the UPS guy delivered some pears tonight!! I shall be in Harry & David pear heaven for quite awhile.........I have received 2 boxes of them this week:-)

it happens in 3's

i didn't want to blog today. there is alot going on right now that is not happy normal Christmas stuff. but life isn't just about the fun easy going times, it's the good times & the bad times. the easy stuff & the hard stuff. so here it goes:

Popo had emergency hernia surgery this week at the age of 91 (he'll be 92 on dec. 19). i didn't know about the surgery until the next day........but that's okay. i would have liked to sit with him in the hospital, but i had a cold and probably would have stayed home anyway. he is at home and doing well or so i've been told. he has been resting everytime i call.

Colin will have his surgery on thursday. lots of butterflies about this one.....mostly because all our bedrooms are upstairs, along with the full baths. i'm sure we'll figure everything out, but i'm a planner & i'm stumped by those obstacles. also, the rehab period with be rough, but getting Colin back up and running with be worth everyday I have to drive him to physical therapy.

Dad will be having surgery, too. yep everything happens in 3's. this is the one that puts a lump in my throat. he has to have his thyroid removed, but it is very large and won't be the typical thyroidectomy. i will be very busy the next few weeks. i probably won't blog much.....

not quite the normal blog post? but life really is like a roller coaster and i'm up on one of those big hills.....you know all queasy and ready to vomit, but at the end of the ride i hope to be smiling~ please keep all of us in your prayers~

humpday update

Today was a different sort of day. Did lots of little things that took lots of time. Some of them not so fun things, others were quite fun! I had to take care of some not so fun recertification paperwork. I hate that I have to sit for my recertification exam every 6 years.........that just stinks!! This will be my third time to take it, and I still stress myself out as if I was just out of PA school~crazy I know! Onto the fun things....... I was able to start wrapping some of the Christmas presents, while listening to Christmas music. I have no idea if I'm finished or not. I guess I'll figure that another day.

Colin had an appointment at the Orthopedist today to decide if he would have to have surgery over the Christmas break. It was sorta good news, he is gonna have the surgery next week and she is gonna be able to do both his meniscus & ACL. I am just praying that all goes well and Colin will be able to swallow his pain pills. The rehab is another story! It will be a long road, but it has been a long year for all of us.

Now for all of you Glee fans out there.........I'm part of your club!!!! I finally listened to the Vol.1 soundtrack and LOVE it!!! I watched the season finale tonight and it was so good. Why didn't we have a Glee club when I was in High School???? Of course, after Glee I quickly watched one of my other favorite shows Modern Family..........favorite line of the episode: "we aren't putting Lily in that! It looks like something the Astronauts train it" Too funny:-)

The dog turd snowball

The funniest snow story from yesterday........

It began with me attempting to drive the boys to school. When the ice & snow started coming down I declared a "snow day." I did make sure that the boys didn't have any test before I made the u-turn:-) The boys were out in the snow the minute we got home.........later after the snow began to stick, they decided to make a snowman. Colin began rolling his ball on the ground to make it larger......then I hear, "oh man, I rolled a dog turd into my snowball." I look up to see Colin looking at the ball with the turd on it. He decided to just leave it and roll on. Later when he was hauling his huge dog turd snowball down the driveway, the turd fell off. I know this because I almost stepped on the turd. After they worked for about an hour, they created the best dog turd snowman I've ever seen!!!! Last night Colin announced that he was gonna kick the snowman, not his best idea. My response......go ahead, then you'll have a broken foot to go with your knee!! I checked tonight and the snowmanstill isn't completely melted.............WOW!!! I think it's the turds that are holding it together:-)


Well I have to go chaperone. Colin is having a little party out in the garage. It really reminds me of the days when "the gang" would get together in Chris' barn loft to play pictionary, outburst, & cards(among other things I won't mention). We had so much fun in that loft with it's stolen street signs & christmas lights.........oh, the good old days:-)

A Winter Wonderland....

The pictures tell it all.............. Caden came over to help the boys make a snowman. He was having a blast playing in the snow & throwing snowballs at everyone!

Ethan, Colin, And Caden with their snowman..............too bad we didn't get him some clothes & make him a face. But he was sorta slushy and I don't exactly keep snowman making supplies on hand!! I'm really happy with my decision to make today a snow day...........I think the boys were happy, too!

Colin's Birthday & Turkey Day

Time has really been flying around here! We had a very small get together on Thanksgiving with Dad, Mom, Rose, and the girls.... We also had cupcakes to celebrate Colin's 14th birthday...We also celebrated Val's birthday since she's gonna be in Huntsville on her birthday.

The kids ended the day in the hot tub.....and the weather was perfect! I'm off to decorate the tree with the boys. This is the earliest we have ever put up the Christmas decorations. I really need to get all the decorations out since Colin is having a party here next weekend......it should be fun having a houseful of teenagers!!!

fun stuff

Check out my Anniversary gift from Ron:Isn't it lovely??? It took me forever to decide on the colors, but I think the scarlet and sunflower will match quite well with the colors in my kitchen. I plan to have multiple colors and mix & match them. Now the fun part comes when I have to clean out my cupboards to make room for the new stuff. Plus, Ron still has to install all the new hardware on the kitchen cabinets.......I'm hoping he gets that done this weekend between football games!! Speaking of football, check out this snugglie:

I so want a Snugglie, and this one is way too cute!! It's on backorder, which means I'm not the only person out there that whats one!!!

Let the shopping begin.......

The Nutcracker Market opened on Thursday, and I was there with Andrea!!!Before I get too far, let me just say that I have more fun each time I go! This trip was especially fun because I was with Andrea. We left at the end of the day with too many bags to carry.....yes, I had to check my bags. The funniest part of the day was when I "accidently" cut in the pizza sauce line. Yep, if Ken Hoffman has an article about folks getting upset about a woman cutting to the front of the pizza sauce line, think of me!! Of course, Andrea left me when she realized what I had done..............then we laughed about it! Here are some pics of some of the cute & yummy stuff:

Gaidos Pecan Pie............the crust is made from crushed pecans!

I had to make a visit the The Cherry Republic booth. They had samples of all there yummy cherry stuff. I loved talking to the staff about my visit to their store in Glen Arbor.......I think it got me extra samples:-) I grabbed some dark chocolate covered cherries, Pepper jelly, & Cherry sours for gifts. They have an online store and free shipping right now, if you need any really good gourmet food gifts.

I didn't buy anything at this booth, but Andrea bought the cutest kid's apron for Meagan. I loved the vintage aprons they had, and they were all handmade in the USA. It inspired me to try to make an apron of my own......I just have to find a pattern & some cute vintage fabric, and time to sew it!

I had to take a photo of this Christmas tree for Mom & Aunt Theresa.........you two could make these!!! They had old keys twisted on wire as garland. You don't want to know how much they were selling them for............

So now I'm in the Christmas mood and can't wait to put out all the new stuff that I bought!!!