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January 7, 2004
January 7, 2004
Once again – time has gotten away!
My last entry was the beginning of November! Since then, my little man has turned five; I hosted my first ever Thanksgiving dinner and we made it through the holidays (relatively) unscathed!
Jake’s Birthday
I still can’t believe he’s five! We had our whole extended family (about 70 people when all is said and done) over on November 22 (Jake’s actual birthday is the 19th). My mother in law brought a ton of Italian beef for sandwiches; we made a bunch of mashed potatoes, a lettuce salad and ordered in pasta from a local place. I also put out snacks; cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, veggies and dip etc. Jake had a blast seeing everyone and playing with all of his cousins (actually second cousins – my mother in law is one of seven kids and they all have no fewer than 4 kids each, Jake is actually the first of the ‘next generation’, but there are ‘cousins’ very close to his age).
Mac and I gave Jake a foosball table and an air hockey table for his Birthday/Christmas (don’t worry; he still had presents to open from ‘Santa’ on Christmas morning). So the foosball table fits perfectly in Jake’s playroom and we have a nice full-size air hockey table in our dining room (insert sarcasm and smile!) We figure that we don’t need a dining room table right now as our kitchen table will comfortably seat 10-12 people. Truth be told, we’ve all had a lot of fun with the air hockey table – and it was definitely a hit with all of the kids (adults too) at Jake’s party.
Thanksgiving
The Thursday following Jake’s birthday party was Thanksgiving. We’ve always had to make a choice to spend Thanksgiving with my family or with Mac’s – and every year since we’ve been married, we’ve spent it with Mac’s family (how does that work?). This year we invited my parents (I’m an only child) and Mac’s parents and siblings to our house. Outside of a bit of coaching from my mom on prepping the turkey, I made my first Thanksgiving dinner! For some reason, still unknown to me, I even managed to have everything finished and on the table at once! After cleaning up we settled in and watched some videos and just had a generally great evening.
The day after Thanksgiving, we did the unthinkable; we went shopping. Best of all, we actually had fun doing it! We managed to complete almost all that was left of our shopping. Then we picked up take-out Maggiano’s and had dinner in Glen Ellyn with our good friends Rich and Steph and their son Wyatt.
The Holiday Season
Work related holiday parties started early in December. Thankfully, they were wrapped up by the middle of the month! I love getting those ‘must-show’ events out of the way early.
We also spent a weekend in St. Louis early in December. Mac had to go to an event hosted by one of his clients and Jake and I tagged along. What made the long drive worthwhile was the fact that the client event was at the St. Louis Ritz-Carlton – and we got to stay there! What a blast! We would not spend that kind of money for a hotel – but it was a really wonderful time! Saturday afternoon, while Mac worked, Jake and I ordered hot dogs and French fries from room service while we watched cartoons in our pajamas! Ahhh…the life!
I also took Jake to a great kid’s museum in St. Louis – it is called City Center and it has so many amazing hands on activities for kids. I highly recommend it if anyone is ever in the area!
Sunday, Mac didn’t have to work, so we took Jake to the top of the Arch. He had a great time and didn’t want to come down. He was also enthralled by the Lewis and Clark expedition museum at the base of the Arch. He listened intently for an hour while a state park ranger gave a presentation about the museum. Mac and were absolutely amazed at how taken he was with it!
Christmas
We were a little lax in our holiday decorations this year. We put our Christmas tree up the Saturday before Christmas and didn’t manage to put up many other decorations – just our stockings on the mantle and a few other things here and there. We weren’t being scrooges – time just got away from us and we also seem to have ‘misplaced’ a bin of holiday decorations during our move. I’m sure they’ll turn up (?)
Before we knew it, Christmas Eve arrived and we were scrambling to find ‘just a few more things’ for Jake’s stocking. Mac and Jake hit the grocery store while I hit Wal-Mart (I THINK I got the raw end of that deal). What was I thinking going to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve? Oh well…all you can do at that point is smile at the crabby people and continue waiting in line! We all got home and had a yummy dinner and then made cookies for Santa. Jake wanted to leave a beer out for Santa (where did THAT come from?) and orange juice for Rudolph. We didn’t argue, I figured that after putting together some of Jake’s presents, Mac would happily have that beer! We finally made it to bed around 3:00am – Jake had been asleep since probably 11:00 at that point.
Jake likes to sleep in and he didn’t break from that on Christmas morning. He came into our room around 10:30am and just hung out watching cartoons for a bit. Finally he said “Mommy, do you think I should go downstairs to see if the Big Guy showed up last night?” I said sure – and a few seconds later he yelled up “HE SHOWED UP!!!” Pretty cute! We all headed down to open gifts. ‘Santa’ was pretty good to Jake. He got the Rescue Heroes Mountain Action Command Center – which was (in his words) ‘the one thing he really, really wanted’. He also got some Lego Bionicles, some Rescue Heroes action figures, a new sled and a few board games. Mac got me the Ugg boots that I desperately wanted (thanks Mac!) and I managed to get my hands on a Red Monkey watch for Mac that he had been drooling over.
We had a big, late breakfast and then just lounged around the house watching TV, reading the paper and playing with Jake’s new toys. Around 3:00 we showered and headed to Mac’s aunt’s house for the traditional family get-together. It was fun, but crowded as usual! Afterwards we drove a few blocks to my in-laws and exchanged gifts with Mac’s parents and brothers and sister. It was a nice evening.
I actually had to work for a few hours the day after Christmas (I’m the only one in my group who wasn’t going out of town – and it was a totally casual and short day, so I didn’t mind too much). I went in late and left early to hit the stores for after-Christmas sales with Mac and Jake. Just as Mac and Jake picked me up at work, Mac’s brother Sean called to see if he could take Jake to the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier…uh, of course! So while they played at the museum, Mac and I hit Michigan Avenue in a big way! Later, we picked Jake and Sean up and headed to Wildfire for a yummy dinner. Sean’s girlfriend and my sister in law both met us there – so we had a great time!
New Year’s Eve
Jake has spent every NYE of his (young) life with my mom and dad – so at this point, it is basically a tradition. Mac drove Jake to my parent’s house NYE morning and then picked me up from work when I got off at noon. Mac had surprised me months ago with tickets to see Sister Hazel at the House of Blues, Chicago on NYE. I really like Sister Hazel, so I was excited. We used Mac’s Hilton points and got a room in the city so that we wouldn’t have to drive home. Our friends Eric and Colleen met us at the hotel and we all had pizza in our room then headed to HOB. The Thorns opened – they were good – then Sister Hazel came on – they’re GREAT! We had a great time at the show. After midnight, we headed to White Star Lounge for a bit and then grabbed McDonald’s before heading back to the hotel. We finally got to bed around 4:30am (can’t remember the last time I was up this late). A good NYE – but we decided that next year we’re having a low key dinner party at our house!
2004
That brings me to 2004. Chicago was hit by a snowstorm and we’re now in a major ‘deep freeze’ to start off the year. Not fun to leave for work in the dark when the temperature is -5, but we live in Chicago – what do we expect? It won’t last long and the days are already starting to get longer. Jake is back to his schedule and he’s happy to be back with his ‘buddies’ (school friends) on a regular basis and I have to say that I’m glad to be back into somewhat of a routine. 2004 promises to be as crazy, if not more so than 2003 was – but that’s OK – its what keeps life fun! We’re headed to Vegas at the end of January to cheer friend on in the Las Vegas Marathon – this will be Jake’s first trip to Vegas – I think he’ll love all of the lights and attractions. We’re going for a long weekend, which I think is perfect for a trip with a five year old!
Well…I think that about wraps everything up. Take care everyone!
Kristi
Mom to Jake
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