Call Me Happy

So the results are in....and at the end of the Christmas gift giving I am one happy girl.Here is a public shout out to those who wowed me and have made me smile for the last few days.

To Nan and Pop Lyons: Thanks so much for the rockin' new laptop. I am loving the rusty tangerine color, the fact that it is half the size of my old one, and that when I am hard at work...it keeps running and doesn't shut down. Oh what fun I am having. Thanks so much!




To Mom and Dad: Okay, so your gift doesn't necessarily keep me smilng...but it is certainly challenging and I love every tear jerking page. Seriously...it is awesome..watchout world..RED LETTERS are dangerously good.



To My Boys: No photos will do it justice, but I am so appreciative of the new ring that you gifted me with. Thanks so much. It is just my style and I love that it is from you.

A very Merry Christmas

Ahhh..days have past and yet we are still flying high off of all the festivities of Christmas Eve and Christmas. Grab a glass of egg nog or coffee and settle in..This post is a long one.

Christmas Eve
We awoke to more snow falling and shared a spontanous breakfast of Mrs. Johnson's great tea cake with Mormor and Morfar. (jon missed the party..he was sleeping...turns out the poor guy had an ear infection- more on that later) Jack was thrilled that Christmas Eve had finally come. He would randomly shout through out the day "tomorrow is CHRISTMAS!!!!". We spent the day playing and then during Daddy and Max's afternoon nap time Jack and mom watched Miracle on 34th Street. Sleeping people awoke and we put on our handsome/fancy clothes and headed off to church. Jack got to sing "Away in the Manger" upfront with his friends Mia and Jonathan. He took his job very seriously. After church we headed to Nan and Pops for the traditional Christmas Eve meal: Oyster Stew, Pizza, Tamales and Mozerrella sticks. The tamales and sticks were our family contribuetion. * In Guatemala they serve Tamales for Christmas Eve, before midnight mass*. The sticks, well, when I told Jack that we were bringing tamales he asked: "what food from my birth country can I bring"....he chose mozerrella sticks. After much food and family fun it was time to put the boys and husband to bed. Mommy stayed up to put presents under the tree and watch for santa...oh, and to watch A Christmas Story...with a glass of wine. Good times.

Christmas Day
We awoke to even more falling snow and shortly after 6am Jack awoke. Anxious to open gifts he and mommy settled in for some apple struddle bread and a show before Daddy and Max awoke. Gift mayhem began at 7:30. Jack was thrilled to recieve football and baseball cards and the much hoped for Woody Doll. Santa did well. Max got a Thomas the Train backpack (taken down from brothers closet and regifted)and a winnie the pooh bear. After a little family time it was off to mormor and morfars for big breakfast and presents. Great breakfast was feasted upon and then we rolled our selves into the living room. The big scores there: Jack recieved a seahawks jersey (he LOVES IT) and Max got a box of stickers (also RIGHT ON). Later we headed over to Jon's parents house for more gifts and Fantastic dinner. It is always so fun to do stockings there and Jack walked away with a huge stack of WHERES WALDO books that have kept him busy for days. Max was to come home with a ride on rocking horse that makes galloping noises and whinnies..conviently we didn't have room in the car...so that will come later. Oh Joy!The day drew to a close and we headed home (in the falling snow). Both boys were asleep by the time we hit the driveway.

The Aftermath
In the days that have followed we have all enjoyed playing with the new loot and being home as a family. Jon has had a double ear infection and a cold, so he is not having much fun, but we love having him home. The snow is just now beginning to melt, an indicator that it is back to the normal daily grind come monday. This Christmas Season has been such great reminder to our family of the joy and blessing of life and family. We hope that you and yours have felt the love and peace of the season and embark on the new year with much fun and happiness.

Keeping Mama Busy

This face cause trouble??!?!

We have been "snowed-in" here in the northwest for the last week. While Jack, Jon and I have a bit of cabin fever...Max is literally CLIMBING THE WALLS, bookshelves, tables..whatever he can reach. As if I don't have my hands full enough this week of Christmas, now I am checking to see if Max has his feet on the ground every two seconds. I have mentioned previously that Max is fast...that is true too when it comes to climbing. This little boy is keeping Mama busy.




**Please don't pass this on to the social worker please**

Snow Slumber Party

On Friday the local weather man warned that we were in for more snow, very strong winds, freezing rain and possible power outages. While some might find this exciting, I do not. I don’t mind snow, I don’t mind the occasional wind storm, but I do mind power outages and being cold. With that in mind our family packed up at the first sign of snow on Saturday and headed over to Jon’s parents house (where they sport a generator). While the move was extreme on our part we knew that by going to all that work……the storm would never actually come and thus we would have just had a fun, pre Christmas sleepover at the grandparents. That is exactly what happened. We played, we ate, jack enjoyed a bath in Nan’s big tub and watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas. The snow came, but the wind did not and Sunday morning we awoke to power, lots of snow and a fun morning ahead of us. We enjoyed Pops great eggs and then hit the backyard with the saucers. Jack, Dad and Pop loved it. Max took a run or two and called it quits. After the outdoor fun it was back inside for hot chocolate and games. Around lunch we loaded up and headed home. Thanks Jeff and Robin! What a fun Snow Slumber Party.

Snot, Snow, Monopoly and More

This last weekend at the Lyons house was a unexpected but we made the best of it.It all started on Thursday. After two days of unusually fussiness and lack of sleep I took Max to urgent care. There it was determined that he had a double ear infection. Poor Guy. He has been been dripping SNOT, coughing like a 95 year old smoker, and has not been sleeping well. More than that he has been in a funk. We can't blame the little guy, but the change of normal temperament is beginning to take a toll on all the family members. We are excited for Max to return to his happy and healthy self soon.
Saturday we awoke to SNOW which is not that frequent of a visitor here in the Northwest. Jack was excited to go play with dad in all 1/2 inch of it. They were even able to scrap together a snowman. While falling snow was short lived, the crazy cold is here to stay. Yesterday's high only 22*. Brrr.






Despite catching a cold himself, Jack has been in great spirits and full of festive feelings. On that note we busted out hot chocolate and board games. Jack has a new fascination with the game of MONOPOLY. He certainly has caught the finance, investment, real estate bug from daddy and thus thinks Monopoly is fun. We have actually played two, full scale games with him this last weekend. Surprising fun.



Finally, to draw the weekend to a festive end Jon and Jack got crafty and spent Sunday night making a GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Jack loved placing the candy all over the house and working along side dad. Max also found the gingerbread house fun....he placed a few candies on the house and then would applaud for himself. However...his time was short lived. He had to say good bye when he began eating the candy off the house.

O Christmas Tree

We set out this afternoon in search of this years tree. Jack's most favorite part of tree hunting is that we get to borrow pop's truck and he and dad get to ride together. So even before we set foot on the tree farm Jack had declared it a good day. We decided to venture once again to the tree farm where we found last years winning tree. (mommy's favorite of all the years). In stark contrast to last year when we tree hunted in the snow, this year it was a balmy 55 degrees as we walked up and down every row. Jack loved running in and out of trees and selecting HUGE trees that were in no way an option. He thought he was hysterical. Max was chill in the backpack which Jon and I took turns carrying. The pickins were slim (as we were late by lyons family standards for trees) and Jon was very nervous that I would ask to load everyone back up and to head to a different local. But alas, in the very last row, of the very last section, nestled back, I found 'THE' tree. It looked good at the farm, it looks good currenty sitting on the porch...we shall see once it is brought inside, fingers crossed. All in all it was a great day.

For Grandma Shirley

It has been brought to our attention on more than a few occasions that one of our most faithful blog readers is Jon's grandma Shirley who resides in Arizona. Thanks Grandma Shirley for keeping up to date on all our happenings. We love being able to share life at the Lyons with you (who cares about technicalities like miles and distance). In the spirit of sharing life with Grandma S,and since she has not been able to venture up here for Christmas here are some photos of the house in some of it's Christmas clothes. We love you Shirley! * Please ignore the crazy bad photography.

Our entry way : No we don't have three kids, Just matching stocking for Jack and Max and then the stocking in the middle is one that we picked up in Guatemala.


This is our advent tree corner in the family room. Instead of an advent calendar, each day we take an ornament from the mantle and hang it on the tree. Jack loves that this is his job.



Finally, if we have the big, huge, crazy t.v as right smack in the middle of the living room why not decorate it, right?

While the Husbands are away

THE MOMMY WILL PLAY. Monday night my good friend Becca and I were craving a little "lady time". We dreamed of pedicures, a glass of wine and grown up conversation. But alas our husbands both had to work late. Have no fear...we lived our daydreams anyway. She brought over all the goodies for pedicures, I supplied the wine and buckets of hot water and VIOLA! Ladies night in (with the kiddos). Jack and Annabell joined in the fun while Max sat trapped in the high chair with fruit snacks. Now this is the life!




Annabell had had a hard day and felt the need to soak here whole body.