Everyday I'm hustling

Well, kinda hustling! Busy times, but overall good times.
We have had beautiful February weatherwise. It is helpful not to have to worry about shoveling and bundling up. The snow and cold might return, but heck, it's almost March.
At work, I am facilitating a continuing education class on Conscious Discipline. It's a ton of time and energy, but worth the effort. It's topic I feel strongly about.
We also have had some fun social things going on.
The highlight was last weekend. Julie had a baby shower in Bay Village, a suburb of Cleveland. Julie's mother Marie, her sister Sarah and two friends, Gay and Jean hosted the shower in Gay's home. It was lovely! Julie and Wayne and their baby are blessed to have supportive friends and family. This baby is so loved already.

opening gifts

Marie, Sarah, Julie, Wayne, Gay and Jean

see ya later, January

Wow, we made it through another January. We were blessed with some great weather and it made life so much easier.
We had a nice balance of social activity and hunkering down. Last weekend was full of time with people we love.
Jack and I had dinner with Chuck and Teri on Friday to celebrate Chuck's birthday. We met at the Club after long days of work and it was the most relaxing evening. The conversation never lagged and the Chateaubriand for two dinners were an amazingly delicious bargain.

We had dinner at Matt's folks house on Saturday. Ellie was busy trying to figure out why both sets of grandparents and her parents were all there at one time. We always have a great time with these folks.
We had a delicious stuffed pork tenderloin roast and incredible Polish noodles, homemade by Bob. Yum


On Sunday, we helped celebrate Nina's eighth birthday. It was Abbie's idea to have a surprise family party and it was adorable! Nina was definitely surprised and we all enjoyed family time. It was the best!

 

Ellie

I am so thankful for this sweet girl and love her so much.

Time that Counts

It was such a joy to have Bucky home for the month of December. We love spending time with him. We had lots of great meals together this past month. It was always fun going out to eat, but I also enjoyed our time around the table in the breakfast room as well as the larger family gatherings in the dining room. Jack's dad is observant and wise and I always enjoy his insights. 

Grandma's famous Corn and Meat Casserole

Wayne's PRE ..it's what's for dinner

Happy birthday, Bucky!

It was difficult to see Bucky leave for Florida last week. However, given our Chicago weather, I can't blame him one bit.

"chese"as Ellie would say

Ellie loves Baby Jesus!

Ellie enjoyed her Fisher-Price nativity set this Christmas season. She was particularly enamored with Baby Jesus. How sweet is this video?!?

New Year's Eve

We have a new NYE tradition. It started last year. Spur of the moment, Jack, Bucky and I dined at the Union League Club. It was a festive experience, fun to get all dressed up and be in the city for an early dinner then home in bed way before midnight. The best of both worlds! We did a repeat this year and Downtown Sue was able to join us. The evening was another great success! 

 

 

Christmas Eve Re-do

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our kids 8 days late this year because of illness/exposure to germs. We had the redo on New Years Day in the evening. It's always good to be together as a family and not easy to get even just the 7.6 of us together, given everyone's busy lives.

Here's our attempt at a family picture using the selfie stick. 

 

Jack made his famous snowman cheese ball (I am proud to say that I did not have a meltdown this time-a famous family story that I will share sometime) 

 

 

Ellie loving on Baby Jesus from our nativity scene. 

Fun family Christmas, as always.