Christmas on the Farm

We packed up and made a trip up to Newcastle to celebrate Christmas with Jason's family last Saturday.  We got into town around 2:30pm and drove right to the Fire Hall to see Santa!  Santa was there with lots of little goodies for the kids, and even some for the adults!  They had a drawing and each of the girls got a present and Jason won $25 in Newcastle dollars!  It was fun for all!

We got back to the house and unpacked and just relaxed.  Matt, Sabina and cousin Miles got into town a few hours after we did so the girls played with their cousin on Saturday night.  Grandma Romaine made a yummy casserole for dinner and then the girls had baths, got jammies on and headed to bed!  I had been sick for about 5 days at this point so I went to bed with the girls. 

 

Avery decided that she didn't want to sleep much on Saturday night and woke up, and I mean WIDE AWAKE, at 1:30am and was up until about 2:00pm on Sunday.  This made for one tired and crabby little girl and some tired parents.  I went for a freezing cold run on the country hills Sunday morning and then came home and got ready for the day's festivities.  We had a noon meal with all of Jason's siblings and their families.  There were lots of yummy things to eat!  The kids opened presents after lunch and then the guys took the little ones out for a ride on the toboggan...minus Avery who crashed even before she opened up presents.  Sunday evening we played Pitch and Bingo and just enjoyed being with family.  It isn't very often when you can get everyone together at the same time.  We did miss Gary and Becky and family who weren't able to be there from California, but we were able to see them on SKYPE that afternoon.  We also missed Uncle John who was at home battling the stomach flu...no fun at all!

 

Thank you to Romaine and Eddie for hosting another wonderful Christmas celebration!

 Miles and Avery

 Avery and Lily with cousin Rachel

 Grandma trying to get Avery to sleep

 Aunt Trina and a crabby Lily

 One HAPPY little girl!

 Lily and her Dream Lite

 Miles and his sword

 Stocking time!

 Little one woke up to open her presents

 Wanting to play ball with Toby the cat

 Uncle Randy and Jensen

 Playing Bingo with Jarrett and Mitchell

 Bingo with Sara and Rachel

 She won Clifford slippers in Bingo!

 Cudding with Pa Pa on the couch

 Christmas Eve morning

 She loves sitting under the tree

 Reading the Elf book with Grandma

A Toboggan ride!



Winter Running

Just because winter has come does not mean it is time to stop running outdoors.  The day after our little blizzard I headed over to Lake Zorinsky for a few miles.  I don't mind running on the treadmill, but running outside is much better!  The bike path was pretty well paved, but there was icy patches all along the way and some areas that were still completely snow covered.  It made for a slow run, but as you can see from the photos below it was also a very pretty run!

 

The key to winter running is LAYERS and gloves!  I like to run in tights, long socks, head warmer, Nike Dri Fit gloves, and up to 3 layers on top.  Unless you have snow shoes or tracks for ice it isn't always safe to run outside...I have neither so the treadmill is a fine option for me!

Winter Wonderland

Last Wednesday night we got the Christmas blizzard we had been hoping for!  Omaha got around 6-8 inches of snow on Wednesday night and then we were in a blizzard warning for most of Thursday due to high winds and blowing snow.  It was a whirlwind of a morning trying to get to my test and figure out where the girls were going for daycare, but it all worked out like it usually does.  Jason started his vacation on Friday and is off until January 2nd...YAY!  He took the girls out in the snow on Friday to play away while mommy took off to run!  They got all bundled up and went sledding in the street, threw some snowballs and built a snow fort!  No snowman yet this year...we will have to work on that!  Avery wasn't a fan of the cold snow when it hit her face, but Jason said she lasted outside longer than Lily did.  They had plenty of energy to burn off after being stuck inside the 2 days before!

 

 

Church Christmas Program

On Sunday December 16th, the girls had their Christmas program at Church.  They have been practicing long and hard since November.  I was excited that Avery was going to be old enough to sing this year!  They spent Sunday mornings at Sunday school and Wednesday evenings at Wednesday night Church practicing.  They sang about 5 songs and they both did great!  Lily is so animated and really got into this year.  Avery was hard to see, but I know she knew the words and actions because she wouldn't stop singing with her sister all month long!  I do have a video on my phone if I can ever figure out how to get it on here! 

 

If any of you blogger readers were at our wedding you would remember the GREEN church that we were married in!  This is the SAME church in this picture!  It is BEAUTIFUL!  We have been holding worship in the gathering space for about the last 3 months while this remodel was in progress.  The Christmas program was the first time we were back in our worship space and they did an AMAZING job!

ACI Christmas Party

Jason's company, ACI Worldwide, held their annual Christmas party on Friday December 14th.  It was held at the Embassy Suites in LaVista.  I think that this is the first company Christmas party that we have been able to attend together since we have been married! Jason's cousin babysat the girls and we were able to enjoy a nice meal, nice music and a few drinks at the party.  We didn't know a whole lot of people so we left around 9:30pm.  We had our babysitter until midnight so we took advantage of that and got some Christmas shopping done!

 

Sorry for the scanned image!  This photo was  taken at the party.

 

OCN Exam

I PASSED!

 

OCN stands for Oncology Certified Nurse.  I registered to take this exam back in April and I have been studying for the past 3 months off and on.  I have had this as a professional goal for the past 5 years on my yearly performance appraisal...guess it was finally time to buckle down and do it!  I purposefully registered for the exam the week before Christmas so I could...hopefully pass...and then sit back and relax and enjoy the holidays with my family.  We, of course, got hit with the big snow storm on Wednesday into Thursday.  I called the testing office on Wednesday to verify that the exam would still take place and they assured me that yes it would unless a very rare situation occurred, and they don't count a blizzard a rare situation.  I was relieved to hear this because I was more than ready to take it and have it over with!  I woke up at 5:00 Thursday morning and called the testing office.  There was a message saying that as of 5:30pm Wednesday night all exams were still on as scheduled, but to call again at 6:30am to check again.  I called again at 6:00, 6:15 and at 6:30 a lady answered and told me to call back at 7:00 and they would know.  I was like "WHAT...I'm supposed to be there at 7:30...there is no way I'll make it in time in this snow!"  She calmed me down assured me they understood.  I called back at 6:50 and all exams were GAME ON!  Thank God! 

 

Now...the trick was how in the heck was I going to get out of the neighborhood?  Our street was drifted shut.  Jason, bless his heart, shoveled the driveway and let me take his truck.  He had to stay home with the girls because daycare wasn't sure if they were opening at all due to power outages...that's a whole other story!  Jason told me to get in the passenger side (he knows I would never have made it past the driveway) and he barreled through the snow and got me to Q street where the roads had been cleared and then he walked back to the house...God love him.  I made it to the testing office just after 7:35!  I had 3 hours to take the test and I was done in 1.5 hours.  It was almost worse than taking my nursing boards nearly 8 years ago.  I hit the last button and it instantly tells you if you PASS of FAIL...PASS!  I don't know why, but my heart sank and I filled up with tears.  I was so happy and relieved to have this behind me. 

 

I know that I will be a better professional for having done this.  Certification exams are voluntary...except for the hospital just mandated that anyone in a Leadership position maintain a professional certification by May 2013.  As a lead nurse that included myself...thankfully I had already begun the process many months ago!

 

Now that I have my certification in Oncology Nursing I must maintain it.  This means that over the next 4 years I must earn 100 hours of continuting education in adult oncology hours.  You are up for renewal after a 4 year period.  If you don't get enough hours to maintain the certification you have to re-test...NO THANK YOU!  The test alone was a pretty penny to take and it is also a pretty penny to maintain....but of course it is worth it!

 

A big thank you to my husband and daughters for putting up with a more than stressed out mommy for the past few months!

Some Christmas Cheer

The girls have been lucky enough to see Santa THREE times already this year, and even TWICE in one day!  A friend/co-worker of mine asked if the girls and I wanted to join her and her boys at Old Chicago in Shadow Lake on Monday because Santa was going to be there for lunch.  Another friend/co-worker of ours joined us too and we had a nice little lunch with Santa!  He is probably the best Santa I have ever seen.  He spent about 5 minutes with each child sitting on his lap.  Avery wouldn't tell him what she wanted, and Lily was so sweet and she listened so intently to what Santa had to tell her.  Santa gave them Reindeer food and told the girls not to eat it because it was enhanced with Reindeer vitamins and minerals.  He said that one little girl ate some a few years ago and she grew a bright red nose, antlers, flew around the house for 3 days and wasn't house broken!  Lily told this story to Jason and it was so cute!  Thanks for the invite Lindsay, Cy and Jax!

Later that same night the girls had their daycare Christmas party at Sam and Louie's Pizza.  Stephanie and Becci's parents dress up like Santa and Mrs. Claus every year and give the kids presents.  I had to work so I didn't get to go this year.  It is quite the party with kids from years past and present!  We are so blessed to have found these two women to watch our kids.  They are more than wonderful!

Last Friday at work we had an Ugly Sweater night.  Here is a picture of me in my ugliness at 5:00am...

Each Saturday until Christmas there are free carriage rides at Village Point.  We took the girls a few weeks ago and waited in line for about 30-40 minutes.  We were down to 2 families in front of us and the lady said, "No more rides today".  I can't blame her because they were done at 5:00pm, but she could have given a warning a little before that so everyone didn't stand out in the cold for so long!  The girls were pretty bummed.

 

 Standing in line with the Village Point Christmas tree in the back.

Standing in line with Daddy.

 

And a final picture just because I love it and I love her...