Bye bye 2009

You were truly a bittersweet year. We spent the first 4 months of the year with Hunter spending 3-5 days a week in the field. Sunshine turned 5 (which was HUGE!), we said good bye to her beloved Pierce Chapel Preschool. (which was hard!) .

Summer was hands down, the hardest ever. Hunter's PTSD came to a head. He was transferred from his unit to the Warrior Transition Brigade & started getting therapy for PTSD, TBI & various physical issues. During that same time, Sunshine & I were going to VT to see my parents as Daddy wasn't doing well. At all. We had a fun couple days in Boston on our first Mommy/Sunshine trip. Then Daddy went into the hospital the day after we left VT & would die there 3 days later.

While we were working through our grief & issues we began house hunting, partly because it was the right time financially, but also b/c it gave us something to focus on. Two weeks fter we started looking & a week after starting to look at houses, we bought one!

We're still working on the kitchen (counters & floors are coming up), but it feels like home. And that's what counts. We chose wisely which makes me feel good.

We had a wonderful holiday season, complete with family & friends. We decided to stay home this year & enjoy our first Christmas in our new house. Decorating was fun, we established new traditions (using the Spode Christmas dishes as daily dishes between Thanksgiving & New Year's Day) & enjoyed some older ones (Sunshine waking up Christmas morning to discover Santa left a chocolate kiss on her pillow, going to see Santa, Fantasy in Lights, etc).

The knitting front suffered this year. 18 FOs. Wow. A new low! I guess with all the challenges this year brought, it was to be expected. And I blame Facebook. And Farmville.

So as I say good bye to you, 2009, it's with both sadness & joy. You weren't a bad year, all things considered.

In case I don't see you

Have a wonderful Christmas!

You know you have a problem when. . .

you get a text message from a friend at 6pm on a Sunday night that says "TJ Maxx has all Christmas 25% off" , you think "Spode highball glasses!!" and run to 2 TJ Maxx stores looking for them.

Sadly both stores were out of them so it was off to Barnes & Noble for a gift card for my brother.

Almost end-of-the-week Update

Scarf for Sunshine's teacher---Done!

Cookies for Cookie Exchange--Done!

New school toured/Sunshine Enrolled--Done!

Sunshine's bathroom painted--Done!

Christmas tree up & decorated--Done!

Christmas ornament boxes put in attic--Done!

Sunshine coming down with a cold--Done! She's got a good case of the sniffles so she & I will only go up to Atlanta for the day on Saturday. Hunter goes up on Friday afternoon. While I'm insanely jealous I don't get to spend a lot of time w/ his family (besides MIL/FIL being super wonderful, his aunt is also great. We've spent many a night talking & drinking wine into the wee (and I do mean wee! Like see the sun come up) hours of the morning. It's probably for the best ---this way I'll get a good night's sleep! I'm having 2 friends over to watch Love, Actually. One of my all-time favorite movies. I haven't seen my friend Kathryn since I went to visit her in the hospital 2 months ago when her darling baby girl was born. Cannot wait to get my bebe fix!!

Tomorrow is Sunshine's class party & her last day at her soon-to-be-old school. While I'm very excited about her going to the school near us, I'm sad she's leaving her old one. Her teacher (and the staff in general) was super. After the party I need to pick up some things for munchies for the girls & I to munch on while watching our movie. And more baking supplies for next week when Sunshine & I make cookies for some of our neighbors.

Let the insanity begin

It's not the week before Christmas that's hectic, it's the week before that! I'm still not finished with the scarf for Sunshine's teacher, although I am in the homestretch. Hopefully 2 hrs of uninterrupted knitting tonight @ Panera will help. It's long enough to BO now, but I'd like it a little longer.

We have a cookie exchange w/ her class on Friday after which we'll leave for ATL for the weekend.

This week I'm finally painting the kitchen & Sunshine's bathroom. Hunter helped me yesterday by washing the walls w/ the Trisodium Phosphate solution until he decided that the rubber gloves were too small for his hands.

Our guest room is finally set up, thanks to Hunter & my friend's hubby putting the bed together. I'm on a quest for the perfect chair for the corner near the dresser. A Queen Anne style would be perfect.

Today Sunshine & I will be touring the elementary school near our house & enrolling her. We were very torn about withdrawing her from her current school as it's been a great experience. There are only 10 kids in her class, something I know won't be the case at the new school. The local elem. school has a great reputation, super great really, several of our friends have their kids there (friends of Sunshine) & well, the librarian is a friend of mine! We're less than 1/2 a mile away & will be able to walk to school, which is very rare nowadays.

We're also getting our tree today. We had decided to do a real tree & then buy an artificial one after the holidays when they're on sale. The last few days of rain convinced us to go ahead & buy an artificial one now rather than a real one that would need to dry out before coming into the house.

And last but not least, we're watching Sunshine's health. A cold or anything contagious throws a major monkey wrench into our Christmas plans as well as our plans to go to ATL this weekend to celebrate Hunter's cousin's college graduation. Both FIL & Hunter's aunt are recovering from cancer & a sick child is a recipe for disaster. I'm praying she's okay & we get to see everyone.

Dear Disney

Dear Disney~

This evening Sunshine & I went to see The Princess & The Frog with 3 of her friends (and their mommies).

We've anticipated the release of this movie for what seems like forever. Once Sunshine found out we were going tonight, she's literally screamed every time a commercial would come on. We've watched trailers online. We've seen sneak peeks on tv. We were ready.

Or so we thought.

Granted, Disney Princesses are pretty big in our house. I mean, BIG. There are Disney Princess dolls both big & small, DP dresses for Sunshine, DP cups/plates/flatware, toothbrushes, lip balm, hair accessories, night gowns, books, fruit snacks, framed prints in Sunshine's room, and one Snow White pillowcase.

I've got to tell you Disney, you hit the ball out of the park with this movie. We weren't prepared for how absolutely charming it was. The artistry is gorgeous. The music was dance-worthy according to Sunshine & her friends. The characters were cute (come on, a Cajun firefly?! LOVE.IT!) And best of all, Tiana? An American princess with a work ethic who values family? Please stop, I can't take anymore! And lest we forget, an African-American princess. About time!

I'm patting myself on the back for picking up the Polly Pocket size Tiana play set earlier this fall. I think they're going to be a big hit on Christmas morning!

BTW, when will the dvd be out? Because well, I'd like to watch it over & over!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

We promised Sunshine a tree for her room. I don't know when the trend of putting trees in kids rooms, but we've jumped on the band wagon. Sunshine's tree is a 3' artificial & has Barbie & Disney Princess ornaments. We decorated it on Sunday & she's loving it.





I caved & bought "The Elf On The Shelf" last week. Some friends got theirs last year & raved about the behavior changes in their children. Our elf is named Go-go & if Sunshine's had a good day, she brings back a small chocolate or some sort of treat from Santa. Here's Go-go enjoying some quality time with the snowmen at the fireplace. I know. Snowmen? Fireplace? Yeah.

Lastly, the red & gold snowflakes that adorn the window to the left of the fireplace. Hunter's aunt has a very large bay window in her kitchen that she decorates with different snowflakes so I can't take the credit for this idea. I'm kicking myself for only buying 1 box of each color.

We're getting our tree for the living room this weekend & I think we'll hang our stockings then as well. We're also going to Callaway Gardens on Sunday with friends to see their Fantasy in Lights. We're unsure whether we'll go see The Polar Express at the Imax theater @ the Infantry Museum on Saturday or next Sunday when MIL/FIL are here. December is a very busy month!

Sunshine's very excited & honestly, I am too. While I'm a little sad that we won't be with my family in VT for the holidays, I am happy that we're having our first Christmas in our new home. MIL & FIL will be with us for a week & we're looking forward to having them here with us.

7 year itch?

I think not! 7 years ago Hunter & I were married. In true Army fashion, it was in between deployments and in true Ft. Benning fashion, it was done across the river in Alabama at the Justice of the Peace.

Last night when I talked to MIL she asked about the 7 year itch. I told her that while we've been married 7 years, we've spent 4 anniversaries together & have only lived together for probably 3 1/2 yrs if you count deployments, field time, etc.

My Mom sent us a beautiful card & the present of dinner out at the restaurant of our choice. We'll be dining in "The Room" @ Meritage tonight. Sans Sunshine! She'll be playing with a friend's 2 girls. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to wear!

When I look at this picture, I remember the excitement of that day & how much in love we were. I'm happy to say that I still feel that excitement & am possibly more in love w/ Hunter than I was then.