Merry Christmas!!!

Shutterfly Here I Come!!!

This morning I was greeted with a disk full of adorable pictures that Auntie Karen took yesterday! So you KNOW the next place I went was to the kitchen to get coffee and get the kids breakfast, then straight to the couch with my laptop!! I have spent the better part of the day looking at Christmas card designs! I ventured out and tried some different sites, but ended up right back where I usually go...SHUTTERFLY!!!! I love their designs and have NEVER been disappointed in the quality of anything I have ordered. On the off chance something has been wrong, they fix it and usually do a little extra something for my troubles!!! Here is one of my favorite pics of the day!!
More to come...stay tuned!!!!

A Little Late.

Here is a little video I put together for my Coco. We love you buddy...more than you could ever imagine!

Cohen's 4th Birthday Video from Chrissy George on Vimeo.

Photos by Claire

I am going through my memory card and blogging what I find. I HAD to include some of Claire's best shots. I LOVE when I find these little treasures. They crack me up and offer a little glimpse into the world of a child. Enjoy!

Special Visitors!

This summer we had some special visitors at Nanny and Papa's house! My name sake Christine, her husband Doug and their beautiful girls Grace and Hope came for a few days. We had so much fun catching up and the kids had a blast together!

Unblogged.

A LOT of things have gone unblogged over the past few months. I'm going to play catch up. Not because I think anyone REALLY wants to know...but because I refuse for there to be a giant hole in our story when my kids look back on the summer of 2010. Life has gone on, sad as it may be, and I want my kids to know that we didn't just give up on it. So the next few posts will be recaps with pictures that have been stuck on my memory card for months!

Happy Halloween!

This year was our first to trick-or-treat without Steph. I wasn't sure I was up for it. Scot made the decision that he would dress up with the boys so the rest of us decided to play along. I was glad we did. It was a great distraction. Here are some pics from our Super Day of Halloween Fun!

From Steph Won.

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

From A Little Bit of Life

Are you serious?

Last night, Big Daddy and I found ourselves child free for the evening thanks to Grandma Connie! We decided to catch a movie. We got our popcorn, giant sodas and Mike & Ikes and headed into the theater. We settled into the very back row, just in case we got the urge to make out. After a few minutes we decided that the back row isn't as comfortable as the other seats because they don't lean back. Brian asked me if I wanted to move to the row in front of us. I hesitated because there was only 4 seats and there was two people already sitting there. I am a fan of the "buffer seat" if possible. He said I could sit on the end so I obliged. So we decided to switch before the movie started. He leaned down and politely said to the lady who had her purse in one of the empty seats, "Excuse me ma'am, we are going to move down here because the seats in the back aren't very comfortable." She gave him a dirty look and said, "Jesus Christ!" I thought maybe she was having a spiritual experience....apparently not. Brian was stunned and asked, "are you serious?" She responded, "YES I'm serious!!! There are 50 empty seats in this theater I don't know WHY you have to sit RIGHT next to me!" Without missing a beat, Big Daddy responded (very loudly), "Oh I'm sorry do you OWN these two?" She continued to yell at him, he suggested some therapy of some sort and we moved down a few rows. All the while, you KNOW her husband was about to have a heart attack thinking about the fact that his wife picked a fight with the ONLY dude in the building who is almost 7 foot tall! We took our seats and were blown away that someone could be SO rude! I feel bad for her. I can't imagine being that unhappy. I kinda wish we would have stayed and cuddled up with her.

A little getaway.

On labor day weekend, we took a little weekend trip to Kansas City. Grandma Connie had been talking about taking us to Great Wolf Lodge for a while but this was the first chance we had to run away! We had a wonderful time! It was so nice to get away and just play with the kids. We also did a little shopping and A LOT of eating!

The kids got these wands and used them to find treasure throughout the hotel.....



We listened to a story by the giant clock....
We made crafts....

We met this wolf...I forgot her name....
We had snacks at this place....
We had a GREAT time!!!

Swirling.

I haven't had much bloggyness in me lately. Yes bloggyness is a word. I have a lot swirling around in my head right now but my main focus has been on my kids, my husband and my home. You see, my home has been tossed to the wayside. When you are watching someone you love so dearly live out the last days of her life...clean windows don't matter. So as the dust settled (literally) I looked around at what all had accumulated and became overwhelmed. My floors were terrible, there were piles everywhere, bills were going unpaid simply because I had not even opened them, I had not cooked a meal in months and our routine was shot. And guess what. I didn't care. The piles weren't going anywhere. The dust would just move around until I got to it. The bills...even the people calling about those, knew our story and were quick to offer a prayer and tell me to take my time. That's right...I said the person calling about my unpaid medical bills said she would be praying for us!!!!! My family didn't starve thanks to Godfather's pizza, McAllister's, the clubhouse, meals brought to my parent's house and Scot with his mile high stack of gift cards!! We survived. She didn't. I will NEVER regret the days I spent by her side. I will NEVER remember the messy house that sat empty all summer. I would not trade my days with her for the world. I also recognized that it was time, for my children and husband's sake, to pull in the reigns. So I've been doing my best, which some days isn't really very good, to get this house running in the right direction. Not because I feel pressure from the world or other people....but because my family is happier when the house is running smoothly...because I'm happier.

I also have been thinking a lot about and researching the topic of "Publishing Your Own Book." You know...just because I find it interesting. I also missed a phone call from someone that works in a place where they publish books.....so there's that.

I also began talking with a sweet mother of a girl in Claire's class. I knew her last year but she approached me at the beginning of the year about our situation. She said she had heard about our summer and said she understood completely how I felt. Her best friend passed away 10 years ago of a brain tumor leaving behind a nine year old little girl. A few days later, I asked her a little more about it. I worked up the nerve to ask, "Does it ever get any easier?" Her tears told me all I needed to know. I just miss her so much. Halloween will be hard. She has always been a part of our Fall Fun Day. We used to carve pumpkins (before we had kids) but now we do crafts, make cookies and our famous brownie that we decorate like a pumpkin. We have dinner and take the kids begging for candy. This will be the first year we have trick-or-treated without her. I will never forget this moment. 2 years ago. She was sick from chemo, but was carrying my child through the neighborhood. She was so amazing. Little did we know,two years later, we would be carrying her...in our hearts.

Butterfly Catcher

The night before Steph's funeral, my mom was in the pool and she was starting to get stressed about a detail that was not working out like we had thought. She said, "OK, I'm starting to stress." As SOON as the words left her mouth, a butterfly landed on her head then flew away. (a brown and gold butterfly to be exact!) That butterfly just flew around all evening. The next day, as the limo was pulling up to the graveside service, a butterfly flew right up to the window and then fluttered away. Mom and I were looking at a catalogue talking about decor, and a butterfly landed on the corner of the page and just sat for the longest time. Since Steph passed, we have been visited at LEAST once a day by butterflies. Just last week, mom was in the pool with Drew and Levi when they got their daily visit. This butterfly landed on Levi, Drew then my mom. They decided then and there, that Mommy must be sending these butterflies to let us all know that she is watching over us. With all that said, I wanted to share this video that Greta took yesterday. It speaks for itself.

First Grade

Yesterday our sweet girl started FIRST grade! I still can't believe I have a first grader! She did great and LOVES her new teacher! Nanny came to pick up Cohen and keep him for the day so I could stay and volunteer at the school all day. Drew insisted on walking Claire to her class and it was absolutely precious! Here are a few pics we snapped!

Claire's Six Pix

Photos by the one and only Auntie Karen @ ByGeorge Photography! What a blessing she is to our family!!