Our last snow for 2009!

It started about 1:30 pm, just little tiny white flakes and then the whole sky opened up to the biggest flakes ever!  Lacey braved the roads and came up to the house so she stepped out with Tristan and Addie and I snapped her picture.  It was rather late in the day, but they managed to get a few rides on the sled while Tristan and I stayed indoors where it was warm and cozy!  I love this winter wonderland, wish it would stay, but I fear it will warm up and be gone sometime tomorrow!

The Living Room

This is it people!  We borrowed a couch from Lacey as it fits in better with the decor of this house, but I wanted you to see our family room.  I did not put up a tree as we had only just finished the flooring and aren't really suppose to put a lot of things on the floor until it 'cures'.  Also, do you see the dark brown painted sections on either side of the fireplace?  Well, the one on the left will be built in shelving eventually and the one on the right (with the big picture hanging there) will hold a big screen TV.  Since we think it may be several months before those pieces are completed, we thought it would look better to just put up a piece of sheet rock and paint it (which, by the way, my girls did for us!) and we bought some cheap molding and the girls painted that and it all went up and it helps the house look so much better than looking at exposed 2 x 4's!  There are actually two posts on either side of the entry into this living room and the wood is Juniper!  A local business makes furniture out of this wood, he had to go to Nevada to find the ones this size for us!  We love them!  Our flooring is mesquite wood, one of the hardest woods there is, and it came from South America.  My kitchen is not done yet, I don't have drawers, so I will wait to send a picture of that room!

And I must tell you, it only takes a push of a button for me to have a fire going!  It is so cozy and warm to sit by the fire, or on the couch and do a little reading, which finally I am able to do now that Christmas is past!  thanks for stopping by and checking in with my blog!

December 29th a BIG BIRTHDAY for Lacey!

Lacey celebrated 8 years clean and sober!  We are so proud of her!  Of course this is a very big day for her and our family because it is the day that indicates a new birth for her.  A new life, for sure started on that day!  It was a long journey, but with God by her side, a wonderful husband and now three children, she is the young women that I imagine God always wanted her to be.  I am sure her journey is only just beginning, but we are so happy to have our "Lacey" back with us!

So congratulations, Lace, way to go!!

Chirstmas Day

Merry Christmas!  We began our day going going to Mass to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  Scott offered to watch Jalen (he does not do so well in a quiet environment, hah!) so the rest of us went and had a peaceful service!  Scott was lucky enough to help Jalen build things with his new Handy Manny tool bench!  Wow, they spent about 1 1/2 hour building, destroying and rebuilding!  And on the way home I get a phone call from Scott, "are you coming home now? an hour and a half is a looooong time!"  LOL!!!!!  Can you tell Papa hasn't had much experience with babysitting by himself?

In the late afternoon, the Iacolucci clan all gathered over at Dina's new house for our Christmas day celebration.  We do an Italian feast with meatballs, baked spaghetti, chicken/broccoli fettuccine, salad and bread, of course!  After the gifts are opened and the pasta has settled, we take slices of the pie that Lacey, Marty and Dad made!  What a great eating day!

The children spend about 5 minutes unwrapping the gifts!  It sure does go fast!  Marty gave the girls big jugs of cat litter to take to their favorite kitty shelter, PAWS.  They were so happy about that, he is going to take them there to drop off the litter and to play a bit with the kitties.  No new kitties to come home with them, as they adopted a one year old puppy from a shelter.  Happy is his name and he sure is a cutie and so good.  Being a one year old, he is already potty trained for being in the house, that is a big plus!  Happy is a mixture of several breeds.  He has the softest black hair, not too short like a lab, (although he has lab in him), but not too long like a retriever, (he has that in him also) and he is SUPER fast at running!  OMG watch out, he could knock you down just from the wind as he blows by you!!  He is really a sweet dog, was perhaps a bit mistreated or at least very neglected at his first home.  He is showered with all sorts of love and affection from the Snook kids!  And he soaks it up!

My dad played a little Italian hand game with Tristan and he just kept giggling and loving it!  I wonder if any one of you know that little game:  you take the hand of the other person and you speak in Italian, and unfortunately I don't know how to spell the words, but I could do it phonetically and see if anyone can tell me what it means.  My dad doesn't know, he just knows how to do it.  I so clearly remember my Uncle John playing that hand game with me from a very young age.  So this is it phonetically spelled:  taking the wrists of the other person you rub their cheeks and say:  moo sha moo sheel (remember it is phonetically spelled!! tee hee), then taking their hands and rubbing your own cheeks, say:  gosh a goo sheel! Back to the other's cheeks:  poca te (which actually means:  little you! so I think it is:  a little for you); going back to your own cheeks:  poca me (little for me!) and then this is the fun part, back to the other person you kind of slap their cheeks many times and say:  poca to ta kwan!( a little for everyone...maybe?)  The last part is where Tristan just cracks up laughing and starts flapping his arms and legs.  I can't tell you how many times my dad had to stand there and play that with Tristan, he got such a big kick out if him!  So hopefully one of you reading this can help me out with the spelling and the words!

Christmas Eve 2009

It's all about the children, isn't it?  We had a great meal at Lacey and Aaron's house.  The children were very excited to open the gifts and see what they had been given!  Jalen wanted to open every gift!  He and Caleb had a little power struggle over one of Caleb's wrapped gifts!  But the 'bigger' man won!  lol!!  The children ripped into their decoratively wrapped gifts in no time at all and hugs and thank you's were spread around the room with gratefulness.  Our little Tristan was absent from this chaos as the day turned into night so he was tucked into his bed (his mother was very thankful for that and was in no way willing to wake him for the family picture).

A 65th Wedding Anniversary Dinner

December 16, 1944 Bill and Elsa Foelker were married, so on this day  2009, they asked for all the adults in the family to go out to dinner with them!  We went to Clarke's in Lake Oswego and had a wonderful time visiting with each other;  laughing and sharing a really wonderful meal together!  We feel so blessed to have them both here to celebrate this great day and we look forward to many more years of celebration!

The Ass Jet 3000

I know, you are wondering what the heck is the Ass Jet 3000.....well this is the name my son-in-law named our new toilet in the master bathroom!  You are maybe getting an idea and a picture in your mind of what this toilet does. 

Well, I was the first to use it tonight and it had me in stitches, LOL all by myself in the room!!!  First, when you walk in the room, the seat rises!!  Then you sit on it and it is WARM!!!  I mean really warm, feels soooo good, you would NOT believe how good it feels!  Okay, now picture this....a panel is mounted on the wall next to the toilet and it has pictures and words that say:  Rear, Soft Rear, Front!  So, after doing your business it 'washes' you, depending on whether you need the front or the back or BOTH cleaned!  And, was it normal or if you are having some 'soft' issues (which for your information, I WAS NOT!) you can select the button to take care of your needs!  And you can select a 'jet spray' or a gentle over all mist spray!!  LOL, there I go again, just laughing myself silly!!

But wait, that is NOT all...no way.  It dries you!  YES I kid you NOT!!!

OMG!!  Is this more information than you ever wanted to hear from me?  Well, let me just tell you, I think this toilet is a must in every house hold that has young children!!  Just think of all that it does for you and as a mom or dad, you don't have to do for your little one!!  Especially if they are having some "soft" issues!!!  LOL  And for little girls...OMG it is a life saver for sure!!

NO I will NOT be posting any pictures with this post!  BTW, when you get up it flushes and closes the lid all by itself.  I am surprised that it didn't greet me:  "Welcome Colleen!"  Wait, maybe I can program it to do that!