Christmakah. - a family blog tradition.. i mean competition

What an amazing 2011. Soooooo much to be thankful for. We thought we'd highlight a few of the many reasons we're thankful.. as well as take you on a journey of some familiar family traditions.

Too avoid a Christmakah like this...

We had to mix things up a bit.. We started with a Trueblood family tradition of X-mas light "judging".. in the great white north. Very rarely does a house get the highest marks.. and here's a highlight of what we found in the Twin Cities.

Twin Cities Worst:

I mean... really???

Twin Cities Best:

Since we landed in Columbus for the holidays.. we decided we should continue the tradition.. here's what we found.

Worst......!

Home of the Rules Committee

Best: TBD

With the fun family traditions out of the way.. let's move on to what we are thankful for.

A healthy, happy family.

What a family!!!

A wonderful dog..

Riley does ice cream



Challenging yet fun jobs..

Big red.



and.. the best for last..

Grandparents that can't wait to welcome our new addition into the their home.. and cars.

Ready in the womb. vroom vroom baby

Baby on board!! Can't wait to show your friends!!

So thoughtful of the rules committee!! Thanks!!

Your generosity is over the top.. what a great welcome into the family.. and for a future member of the rules committee.

Merry Christmas to all.. and to all a good night.

Get ready to rev your engine!!

Let the fun begin..



Game on. (Continued)

P.S. - I hope Champion Chores http://championchores.blogspot.com/ steps up their game...

the only game they have now is E$'s referee uniform.. boom.

Game on.

Hey http://thetrobaughtribune.blogspot.com/, we're down.

"Get ya popcorn ready"

I would like a cameo from E$.. want to compare it to Corey's. Weeeeeee!

Chimney Sweep

Finally, a house with a real wood-burning fireplace! We love the smell and were really looking forward to lighting fires. Last week, we had a chimney sweep come over to clean it and make sure everything looked ok. Unfortunately I wasn't home so I didn't get to see if he wore kickers, suspenders and a chimney sweep hat.

We needed a screen and some fireplace tools, too. So we got these supplies from Target, and voila! Our new living room decor.

And an evening by the fire.



Fall Leaves

Being a homeowner really is a lot of work. Look at our front yard -- it's covered with leaves!

We found out some of our friends raked all of theirs before the snow starts so the leaves wouldn't be trapped all winter. The idea made sense to us, so I started to rake one day last week.

After 45 minutes and 3 bags full, I needed a rest. This is as far as I got.

It's a start! We're hoping the snow holds off a few more days so we can get some of these leaves cleaned up over the weekend.

Mikey's turn..

Guess who's back.. back again..

Since the all inspiring post by Corey on "The Trobaugh Tribune" Future NY Times Columnist, I've been itching to get back in the saddle.

I have to add some color to a very fun day we had with Ethan on a nice fall afternoon. You can find all the fun toddler activities here - The Playdate.

I'd like to highlight - the "slide ride" in particular.

From the top: note the excitement in E$'s face and the anxious excitement in Aunt Ali's.

From the bottom: Conveniently, this picture missed the cut in the original post... but note Aunt Ali's expression as she "protects" Ethan on way down.

Someone check her pants....

Kids Commons

Over Thanksgiving, we got to spend lots of time with Ethan. While Mike and Jim went to Bloomington for an IU basketball game, Carolyn, Anne, Ethan, Corey and I went to the new Scotty's Burger Joint downtown Columbus. It is one of a few new restaurants at the Kids Commons (and Puccini's is opening there soon too... yay!!!). Columbus is just getting huge!

They have a great playground at the Commons too. After dinner we played there for a few minutes. There was a larger female child that was following Ethan around for awhile but I think she got the hint that he wasn't interested in cougars (she was about 5 -- way too old for him). He was so independent and had a great time playing!

Trip to Danville

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we made a short roadtrip to Danville, IL to visit Grandma Trueblood. She was happy to have visitors and it had been too long since we had seen her. We brought in Pizza Hut and enjoyed lunch together, and were entertained by her roommate, Cora, who is quite a character.

Grandma Trueblood wore us out (or maybe just me -- I slept the whole way home)! That reminds me, I told her I would send copies of the pictures we took. She requested a copy of each one... we'll get those in the mail soon!

A Wedding Story

We left off just before Emily and Jesse's big day in the other Columbus. It was great to be back together with college friends again, and the weekend was perfect, including beautiful fall weather. Saturday was a long day of bridesmaid preparation with hair and makeup (it takes a lot to make me look like this).

Here I am with my baby daddy. Just a disclaimer -- we were getting drinks for other people, only the juice is mine.

The bridesmaids from the left: Bari and Brittany, Emmo's high school friends, and then her college roommates, Kristen, Jesse, me and Kate.

The happy Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong!

All Things Baby

So many exciting things come with pregnancy. This is a post about all the gifts we have received from family and friends! (I don't think anyone reads this blog -- at least I hope -- that doesn't already know we are expecting... actually, does anyone read this blog at all??) Can't wait until next week when we tell the rest of the world!

A Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag from my parents (limited edition "It's A Small World" 45th anniversary print)... yes, this is unisex:

Look, it can be worn as a backpack too!

Baby's first outfit, ducky pajamas that Carolyn bought when they visited Minneapolis:

A hooded blanket from (girl) Jesse -- I had to spill the beans to my college roommates before Emily's bachelorette party:

A hat and book from Sarah Dahms (the hat will come in handy no doubt, and Mike and I will be able to learn a few things from the book I'm sure):

The bible buying guide for everything from Anne and Corey:

A pregnancy journal and cocoa butter (yaaayyy stretch marks!) from Kate:

Last but not least... the first (and only) thing Mike has bought for the baby... Hoosier booties! These will accompany some kind of IU sports outfit if its a boy, or a cheerleading uniform if it's a girl:



Last Dance

This weekend marks our last wedding of the season -- our last dance, so to speak. Actually, we don't even know anyone else who is engaged, so it will be our last wedding for quite some time. We are going to Columbus, OH to celebrate Emily and Jesse... blog post to come!

Besties

One more video from Columbus. I went over to the Burts... we miss our besties. Addie wanted to make a video for Mike since he wasn't there. She can't wait to see him at Thanksgiving. Originally she was going to sing and dance, but then it just turned into her playing with Hayden (who has great hair). They had just returned from their Halloween night at church, hence Hayden's costume. Addie had already changed out of her Dorothy outfit. What a great big sister!

Boy Genius

One more video of Ethan. He is so smart and loves to play with an iPad. He even says "iPad" though I couldn't get him to say it on this video. Kids are getting so smart these days.

Bobblehead

This is one of Mike's favorite video of Ethan, so we wanted to include it as part of our blog. He just loves how Ethan bobbles his head and plops into the chair. If anyone is looking for a Christmas gift idea for Mike, he would love a chair that matches Ethan's.

Help, I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

Our blog hiatus included a work trip to Columbus. I was lucky to spend some time with Ethan. After a bath one night, we played before bedtime. Sometimes when you fall down, it's just easier to stay down instead of putting in all the energy it takes to get up. I feel the same way.

Champion Chores Comes to Minneapolis

When the Champion Chores team visited Minneapolis, we did... some chores. On our to-do list was remove the ivy from the chimney and the house since it may be doing damage. Too bad, because it looked nice.

Here is the before (gosh, our lawn was so green and pretty this summer!):

During:

And after:

White Men Can't Jump

Well it has been awhile since a blog post... haven't been feeling great for the past couple of weeks, but it's past time for an update.

We had lots of fun with Jim and Carolyn the weekend of October 14. It was fun for them to see where we live and show them some of Minneapolis. One of the places we went was Browndale Park, which is just a few blocks from our house. Mike and Jim played one-on-one, and Jim won twice. Mike is going to work on his game.

While the boys played basketball, the girls gave Riley some exercise. He loves chasing the tennis ball around Browndale.

It was an exhausting afternoon for everyone... even those of us who really just watched others exercise.