New Year...What will 2010 bring?

Considering 2008 and 2009 brought lots of change and lots of moving, I hope 2010 a bit calmer (at least as far as jobs/homes/etc. go)!  My resolution?  To enjoy my family and friends as much as possible!

Speaking of family...my baby boy is turning 11 on Saturday!  How did the time fly by so fast?  First he was this little red-faced baby and now he's a little man, half-way between kid and teenager - ugh!  Well - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!

Cleaning Frenzy

Tonight's Project:  THE BASEMENT!!!!

I must be completely nuts!  Oh wait...I am!  Barbies and board games and webkinz, oh my!  Wish me luck!

Home Sweet Home

Andy and the kids are now in Nashville - and I'm home...so far I've cleaned the kitchen and the family room, next up are the office and bedroom.  Then a movie tonight with my parents.  I haven't been to the movie in months!

We had a really nice Christmas day - first, we spent the morning at Grandma's hanging out with Jill playing Racko and Scrabble, then home for a little chill out time and then on to Gay and Hank's for chili and Grassi's salad!  YUMMY!

It snowed a bit yesterday, so Anna was dying to play in it.  Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough to make a snowman, but she still found a way to enjoy the VERY cold weather.

Then the Jake and Anna enjoyed beating up on Robin while playing in Gay and Hank's bedroom - the littler kids got into the action too...but in the end, Robin won out!

A Cleaning Saturday

One of my favorite (and rather demented) things to do is to organize the kids' rooms...today I got my way.  We put on dance music and cleaned and tried on clothes to see what we needed to give away.  Anyone need some girl clothes?  Anna's grown a bit this year.

Now Andy is picking up lunch and the kids are playing a game.  For the time-being, they are getting along...we'll see how long that lasts.  Uh oh...it's already started...arguing over who is right and who is wrong.  Where could they have possibly gotten that trait?

Tomorrow, Andy is going to the Rams' game, Jake decided he doesn't want to go because, "it's no fun to watch the Rams play anymore.  It's kinda sad!"  Very perceptive kid!  So, the kids are going to hang out with my parents and I'm going to work at Alexandra Ballet's The Nutcracker at the Purser Center at Logan College.  (Tickets are still available for the 6pm show...*shameless plug*)

Hope everyone who celebrated had a fabulous Chanukkah and that my Christmas friends are ready to a wonderful day!

It's Almost Holiday Break...

This past weekend was the Barron Invitational and Team Central kicked butt!  Anna did very well for her 2nd meet and was excited to win some medals and a 7th place All-Around trophy!  Jake enjoyed himself much more this time (there were other boys to hang out with) and actually helped me keep track of everyone's scores for the most part.

Here is my favorite picture of Anna from this meet - thanks to my dad who took "burst" pictures of each of her routines!

We also have a new tradition of dinner with Katie H and her mom - this time we went to IHOP, and it was COLDER inside than outside!  Anna and Katie did a good job of keeping each other warm.

Chanukkah Begins

Happy Chanukkah everyone!  We hope you had a good shabbat/first night of Chanukkah!  Jake and Anna were both excited by their gifts - Polly Pockets from Aunt Marci & Uncle David for Anna and "Mario & Sonic" for the Wii for Jake from mommy & daddy...

Tomorrow is Anna's second gymnastics meet.  She is excited and nervous - both very normal feelings.  We'll let you know how it goes!

Team Central 2009-2010

Back Row: Izzy, Olivia, Caroline, Emma, Margaret, Katie, Katarina
Middle Row: Maddie, Alyssa, Anna
Front Row: Mia, Rachel, Rebecca

Can you find Anna? It took me a couple tries...
3rd row from bottom, 2nd from the right

Hum Drum Tuesday

The weather outside isn't exactly frightful, but I do believe a fire would be extremely delightful! Anna and I have both just gotten over some strange stomach virusish sort of thing and are, thankfully, feeling much better!

This weekend brings Anna's second gymnastics meet. Luckily, it's here in St. Louis, so a much shorter drive! She's a bit nervous and a lot excited!

This weekend also starts Hanukkah! YEAH! Family time to eat, create and enjoy each other - oh, and of course, presents! Jake is hoping for Deluxe Webkinz club membership - anyone know anything about this?

I'll post some pix after the weekend.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

My first post

So - as the times have changed and we have moved to California and back, the website (jake-anna.com) has gone by the wayside. I am going to try this for a while...

We're doing well. The move back to St. Louis was much easier than I thought, and other than Andy running over a few things on the road, the ride and sight-seeing along the way were fabulous. The kids LOVED the Grand Canyon!

Now that we're back, the kids are both doing very well in school. Jake is doing math club and chess club and playing tennis 1 day a week. Anna is doing gymnastics 3 days a week and also playing tennis 1 day. Needless to say, I spend my life on my butt (either behind my desk at Chesterfield Arts or in my mini-van).

Happy December everyone!

This was Anna's class on Halloween!