Christmas y'all

Merry belated Christmas everyone!  We had a busy December and didn't get around to sending out a card and family update, so I'll attempt to do a little one here.  

Jackson -9-

Jackson has had a lot going on in his little life.  He has moved onto fourth grade at Basswood, and continues to excel at math and science.....and is still on the path to becoming the first man on Mars.  He also continues to excel at yelling and trying to parent his younger siblings!  He was swimming up to four nights a week with NHCP (swim club) up through November.  Once he finished his session, he decided to take a break and try his hand at rock climbing.  So far, so good!  The biggest change for Jackson is the braces he got on just 4 days before Christmas.  He's looking forward to a straight smile in the near future.  

Max -7-

Our little Maxers is not so little anymore.  He came home from the gym just a couple weeks ago happy to announce that he now weighs more than his older brother!  This year brought big changes for Max.  For kindergarten and first grade, Max was attending school at Fernbrook Elementary where they have a program for the deaf and hard of hearing.  He has done so well and caught up that we decided to send him to his home school at Basswood.  It has taken a while for him to adjust, but will be good for him in the end.  Some of Max's favorite things right now are beyblades and his new hamster Spark. Max is currently taking swimming lessons and getting better every week!

Sadie -2-

Our little Sadie lady brings joy, girl drama, giggles, sweetness, shrieking, messes, and rounds out our family perfectly.  She is the Cherry on our sundae. Just ask her to sing twinkle twinkle little star and you will see why.  Sadie turned 2 in May and continues to learn and grow every day.   She loves pouting, Dora, Diego, jewelry and baby dolls.   We love her, screams and all. 

John has had a big year himself.  After two long years of full time work and school, he earned his MBA from the UoM.  He's had the opportunity this year to travel to many notable places like Germany, Finland, and Costa Rica.  After graduating in May, he's had a lot more quality time to spend with us.  He even took the boys on a trip up to the boundary waters this fall.  As a graduation present, John and I spent a week in Costa Rica.  It was beautiful  !!THANKS LOIS!! for holding down the fort.   

 As for me, well I fell like I've done a lot of this. (see below picture!)  Sometimes it feels like all I do is discipline and give disapproving looks to my wild and crazy bunch all day, but I know that's not really the case.  Or is it?  Maybe you should ask them....  When I look back, the highlights of 2011 revolve around my family and their many accomplishments.  We have been so blessed this year.  Here's to wishing for a happy and healthy 2012! 

Merry Christmas! Love, 

The Parrish Family 

John, Jamie, Jackson, Maxwell and Sadie 

Christmas Eve 2011

Saturday we took our fourth annual tubing trip to Elm Creek Park.  What made this one special was a surprise visit from John's brother  David.  

We couldn't have asked for better weather.  It's been so nice, they actually only had artificial snow.  It was close to 50 degrees and sunny.  Last year it was below freezing with a ton of wind.  We'd go down a couple times and then go to the lodge to warm up.  Not this year!  Sadie even took part in the tubing fun.  

Here she is enjoying the slopes.

The boys were too fast for me to get any pictures.  They were off any running the entire time.  I think I only went down with Max once.  We did manage to pull all of us together at the end to snap a little family tubing photo.  

Sadie's Christmas/ thanks ana-white.com

The website I used to build Sadie's bed had the same plans for a doll bed.  I decided to make one for Sadie for Christmas, so I broke out my manly power tools and got to work.  

I wanted it to look like Sadie's, so after it was built, I stained it and then painted it white.

Once the paint dried, I sanded it down to give it a distressed look.  I also made a little quilt and some pillows from the scraps of Sadie's quilt.

Sadie loves to de-pants her dolls, so I had to pose her with the pillow covering up her unmentionables.  

I hope Sadie likes it as much as I do!  

Train Tracks

Without further ado, here are the before and afters of my boy with tinsel teeth:

You can't tell, but Jack decided on yellow and green bands.  If you don't know why, then you have no business reading this blog.  

He's pretty excited about this whole thing.  Here's to hoping he'll keep up the flossing for more than a week.  

Brace Face Party

My little Jack will be getting braces this coming Wednesday. He is over the moon excited and was looking for a chance to celebrate.  I'm always on the lookout for an excuse to throw a party, so I got right on it.  We decided that we should host a shindig and binge on all the yummy things he'll be missing out on for the next year or so.  Here are a few:

We also put together a few minute to win it games for the boys to get rid of their sugar high.  

I love this one.  Look at Jackson's crossed eyes. :0)

This one was the boys favorite.  The one handed tissue pulling contest got out of hand quick.  It started out like this:

And ended like this:

I'll post pics of brace face on Wednesday....I know y'all can't wait.   

Jack and the Pack

A couple months back John emailed me with the exciting news that he won two tickets to the Packer's Monday night football game!  I sent him back some sort of congratulatory email and asked about the details.........here was the fine print:  John won the option to buy Packer tickets, not the actual tickets.  

Blah blah blah is all I heard after that because I'm not trying to hear someone tell me they won something they have to pay for blah blah blah.   At that point I called B.S. on the whole thing, but who am I to stand in the way John and Packer tickets, so he claimed his so called prize and has been as giddy as a little school girl ever since.  

When John's Dad and Brother found out, they decided to join in the fun and get this, they bought tickets.......and they didn't even have to win them!  What a concept.  

Knowing how much these paid for prize tickets cost made me not want to go.  I don't mind spending big money on things I love, but unfortunately, this is not something that would fall under that category. I did know someone, however, that would appreciate a night full of cheesehead mayhem, and decided to let him go instead.  

That's right, Mr. Jack got lucky and got to go to his first Packer game!  We decided that because it was such a big deal, he would have to work hard to earn the chance to go.  Jackson and I made a work chart, and he had to do 100 jobs and get 10 100% on tests at school in order for him to go.  In true Jackson fashion, he finished his last job the day before the big event.  

When the boys got home and I looked through the camera and ran into this picture I asked who on earth put together this look.  John kindly explained to me that I just didn't understand, and that he fit in perfectly with all the other crazy packer fans out there trying to keep warm.   Really?  His Jersey over his coat, and his way too short pajama pants over his jeans and he fit in huh?  He does look happy, I'll give him that.

This is my favorite picture of the trip.  I can tell this is a night that Jackson won't forget.  Ah lifelong memories, I guess I'm happy to pay for those.  

This one goes out to all the Grandmas

I thought I'd quickly put up some pics for my Mom so she could see all of the Halloween Party Madness she missed out on.   I added it up, and I went to 5 Halloween parties this year.  I'm a little overloaded on all things that go Boo.  

Here are the boys at the annual General Mills Party.  This room was Mario themed.  I love how the boys came to party, and they just tuned out playing Mario cart for a while.  

After going through the rooms, we swung by John's office.  This is Jackson's impersonation of what John does all day.  

The Lady looking especially happy to be swigging a soda.

Another party Sadie was happy to attend was at preschool.  They got to practice trick or treating to get ready for the real deal.  I love that Sadie has so many sweet little friends to grow up with.

We also went to a Church and friends party, and I helped out at Max's shindig at school.  By the time Halloween rolled around I was ready to pass out the candy and move onto Thanksgiving. 

Not the kids though, they were super excited. 

This is the best pic I got of the kiddos.  Trust me, when I had Max take off his mask he started making this face like he was going to throw up, it was gross.

I think the best part of this whole spooky season was seeing Sadie waiting by the door for trick or treaters.  She would stand by the window by the door saying "come on kids, come to our house."  When they did come, she would hand out the candy and say "here you go kids, Happy Halloween!!" 

I couldn't leave out our awesome pumpkin creations.  Jackson's is bottom, Sadie in the middle, and Max's up top.

Happy Late Halloween Grandma!  

Now I need to figure out how to get rid of all this candy without eating it myself.....

Short Story Long/ Pinterest Challenge

So I have somewhat of a confession to make:  i love pinterest!  For those who know me, this should come as no surprise.  I have been long known for being a blog stalker.  I love to sift through diy blogs  for ideas and inspiration.  It's an addiction really.  So when my friends started talking about pinterest, I knew I had to jump on the ole' bandwagon.  

One of the first things I pinned was this headboard.  I was instantly smitten.  I knew that I wanted to make something like it for my spare bedroom.   

So why is this a long story when it could be short?  Well a few things fell into place for it to happen.  

First, while on the lookout for pallets, I met the cutest old man named Vernon who gave me one for free.  I was driving by his house as he was cutting pallets up for firewood and decided to stop by to see if I could buy one from him.  This guy was off the charts adorable.  He showed me a few of his wood projects, one of which included a toilet plunger he turned into a table/beer holder.  Serious, he's now my adopted Grandpa.  Think of the UP grandpa, but taller and happy and you've got Vernon.

So I had the wood, and the inspiration.  Now all I needed was a good kick in the behind to get me started.  Here is where Sherry from younghouselove.com  comes in.  Her and a few other diy bloggers are having a pinterest challenge.  The idea is to take something you've pinned and to put your spin on it.  

So this my friends is my spin.  I changed it up a bit by staining it walnut and stenciling a flower.  The best part?  The whole thing cost $34!!  As I mentioned before, Vernon gave me the wood, and I already had the stain and paint from previous project, so all I had to buy was the stencil.

So all because of Pinterest, I have a new BFF/Grandpa Friend, a new headboard, and new inspiration every day.  

i

heart

pinterest!

....and younghouselove, and bowerpower, and ana-white 

Quatro

Let's wrap things up shall we?  Our last few days were spent just outside the kicked back town of Peurto Viejo.   On our way there, we did a little white water rafting.  And when I say little, I mean the same river they did the world championships of rafting just the week prior - class three and fours!!  There was a split decision amongst John and I as to whether this was fun or not.  As adventuresome as I am, I was in the HELL NO, NEVER AGAIN CAMP.  John was in the when can I come back and take my boys down this river camp!!  

I was happy though, to get to kick back and enjoy my reading to the sweet sounds of the jungle after a life flash before my eyes kind of a day.

I love every minute of Arenal and all of the adventures we had, but this is what I was waiting for..... relaxing at the beach!  

We rented bikes from our hotel and headed to the beach, and then went into town and had a fabulously fresh red snapper dinner.

I didn't take pictures, but one of those boats to the left caught our snapper and the restaurant bought it from them that very afternoon.  It was probably the freshest fish I've ever had, and oh so yummy.

John and I are so grateful to his Mom Lois for flying out for the week to watch our crazy kiddos.  While she was doing laundry and driving carpool, changing diapers and walking the dog, we got to enjoy beautiful sunsets and enjoy ourselves for a full week.  Thanks Lois!!

Tres

So the fun did not stop at flaming dinners my friend.  One beautiful day we headed off to my favorite adventure on our trip - zip lining!

 

We went up a mountain on a tram and were greeted with an old man serving up a smoothie and offering to take pictures.  

  

We went on 8 zip lines, one of them being over 1/2 mile long.  You could get up to 50 mph on that baby!  

For me, the best part was right in the middle when I was zooming through the sky and feeling the breeze on my face as I took in the view.   If I looked to the right, you could see Lake Arenal, and to the left was the beautiful landscape, and below, well I didn't really do that! 

   

Another exciting part was at the end when you were at top speed and you had to go spread eagle to slow down.  Every time it felt like you just might not stop in time.  

Another day we took a gorgeous hike up to the Lava Fields of Arenal Volcano.  

We  lucked out and had an awesome tour guide who taught us all about the vegetation and landscape of the area.   Our luck stopped short at getting a view of the volcano on our hike.  It's right behind us, you'll just have to use your imagination!

Dos

After our Canyoneering excursion, we were dropped off at the beautiful Nayara Arenal Hotel.  It was ranked one on trip advisor, and it did not disappoint.  Check out the view from the bed.  Pretty amazing right?

I felt like we were on a cruise.  Every day we would come back to find a towel creation.  This one was my favorite.  

We stayed pretty busy, but we did make sure we got a little lounging time by the pool.  

It was crazy how much wildlife surrounded us.  If you look close, you'll see a little white rabbit and a parrot in this pic.  

Part of our hotel room.  What you don't see is a hammock and hot tub on the deck outside, and an enormous bathroom with both an inside and outside shower.  

One night we went into town and ate at a place that was recommended by the hotel.

We were kickin' back downing coca-cola classics when in walks this bad boy like he owned the joint.....   No one seemed to care but me.  The locals didn't bat an eye.  Not me though, I was on the floor taking pictures of a random cat.  Now that I think of it, I was probably making more of a scene than the stray cat.

Throughout the trip, John was an ordering genius.   This time was no exception.  We laughed so hard thinking about how his food came out in all of it's flaming glory, and mine looked like it came from Denny's.   

Denny's special of the day:  

Don't you waste time feeling sorry for me about the blue plate special......everything tastes better when you are on vacation.