Merry Christmas!

 

"Christmas means so much because of one special child, but Christmas also reminds us that ALL children are special, that they are gifts from God, gifts beyond price, that mean more than any presents money can buy"   

Ronald Reagan

It's the day before the night before Christmas!

It's a Very busy time of the year! Cookies to bake, presents to wrap, things to do and lots of Christmas TV specials!  I think we've squeezed in more than ever before. Tonight was dinner at the spaghetti factory and the Zoo and it was totally PACKED. I am thankful it was above freezing, but the crowd made it just too difficult to get through things easily.  A trip to Starbucks made the crowds a little easier on the way home.

Tomorrow is....MATCHING PAJAMAS!!!! and listen to Twas the Night Before Christmas as read by Papaw! I can't begin to express my excitement for the first year of all of us in matching pajamas. I can assure you that Troy is not quite as excited about this, but that's OK because I'm excited enough for both of us! I am looking forward to getting up at 4:00 am and sneaking down the stairs to be the first to see if Santa has arrived, putting in the French Toast Casserole and Bacon and starting the coffee. I always promise to touch nothing, but make sure the tree lights are on and everything looks magical! I then tiptoe back up and poke Troy until he wakes up. Troy just does not seem to share the total excitement about Christmas morning, but I am sure the matching pajamas are going to change that this year!

Holiday Happenings Part 2

What a whirlwind week! Thursday was the Yuletide Symphony Celebration. Shelby and Cole got to dress up in their finest and go downtown to see the lights and hear wonderful music.
Friday we were lucky enough to score free tickets to the Indiana Ice Hockey game. This was Shelby's first hockey game. She was pretty impressed!
Mommy and Daddy got a special night out with our wonderful friends at an amazing restaurant on Saturday night.
Sunday the snow came, but that didn't stop us girls from going to Christmas Tea with Mrs. Claus. It's a good thing we got so much snow because the kids were really tired and Cole needed the SNOW DAY today!!! It was a good day to snuggle in and bake cookies and fudge.
I am looking forward to more fun this week, more snow, and getting everything wrapped up!

This would be the look of shock when the fight broke out watching the hockey game.

The Ice mascot actually fell over a wall to come see Shelby.

Happy Girls after Tea.

Love the look of wonder in Shelby's eyes.

Hoffman Holiday Happenings

December is here and we are in full holiday swing at the Hoffman house! It was nice to get a dusting of snow to put us all in the holiday spirit. This past Friday, Cole and Shelby helped with Rotary at the Annual Christmas Parade. We passed out hot chocolate and had a bake sale with the proceeds going to help eradicate polio. Cole worked REALLY hard. It was good to start off the season with a volunteer activity. We will also be taking Christmas Dinner and toys to our local homeless shelter. Cole did this last year and it has truly had a lasting impact on how truly blessed we are as a family. Sunday, we made our way downtown to the Eiteljorg Museum for the new Jingle Rails exhibit. My kids have a love of trains, which I am sure they got from their papaw. Home time is spent cooking, sewing and decorating. Troy is making rum cakes and pondering whiskey and bourbon cakes. I really think he just wants alcohol cakes.

They were passing out Minion hats for free at the parade. Shelby LOVES minions. She was thrilled!

She was so thrilled, she wore it to breakfast.

Please note, this is the first time in a year she has allowed me to put a bow in her hair. I am not sure if the stars will align again for another 364 days.

It only took 30 tries for 2 children to look the same direction with their eyes open.

Monument Circle at Jingle Rails. Such amazing detail.



This is the replica of the Eiteljorg. Very cool Native American Museum in Indianapolis.



He says he wasn't choking her. hmmmmm

Thankful

This year is different.
Lots of change, lots of things that just aren't like previous years.  There is a small part of me that still clings to the traditional large family Thanksgiving where all the relatives show up and the house is filled with enough food to feed an entire small country. The rest of me just isn't up for it this year. So thankful we will be going out to eat this year with family!  I find that in the midst of all the turmoil this year that I am thankful for things that I have traditionally overlooked in previous years.
     I am thankful I have an amazingly supportive and loving family. They have truly surrounded and protected us this year, offered support, time, money and so much unconditional love.
     I am thankful for my wonderful friends. I have been overwhelmed this year and truly shown the character of those that I thought were my friends vs. those that ignore everything else to protect and love. I have a such a feeling of warmth inside and a peace that I am never alone in my life.
     I am thankful for my husband that supports, defends and protects every decision I have ever made and has never doubted. He loves me to my core and is my strength when I am weak. 
     I am thankful for my incredibly bright, loving, beautiful, caring and healthy children. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not in awe of something that they do.
     I am thankful for the lessons learned. I've learned a LOT!!! 
     I am thankful for my husband's job. Even though it stresses him out sometimes, I have been so thankful for the support all of his coworkers have shown our family. 
     I am thankful for faith. The faith that next year will be more settled, be much less eventful and bring resolve. 
      Last, I am thankful for the gift of time. I am thankful I have been blessed with this time with my children and family to do the things we didn't have time to do before. Thankful for the extra cuddle time at night and in the morning that I am not running around stressed out about getting it all done. Thankful for the daily time that I have never had with my children. I know I would have never taken this time on my own. Sometimes God has answers to questions you never thought you had.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Football Championship

To be very honest, I am one of those mom's who sit on the sidelines reads a book or magazine, texts everyone I know for an hour and tries to sneak in a little wine in a sippycup during football practice and games. I try to stay in the background as much as possible. I am aware that my child will not be playing pro ball. I wouldn't even want him to play college football. I am just happy that he likes to hang out with the boys and he learns team work and sportsmanship.

This year's team got beat a few times, so I never imagined they would actually make it ALL THE WAY to the CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! But their team had something that the other teams didn't. They had heart and drive. Those boys went out there and gave it their all and even though they got beat in the final game, it was a wonderful year for them and a great learning experience that even though you may be down.... you can always recover and get stronger and better. Lots of adults could learn from that. WAY TO GO COLE!!!

Precious Time

Those of you that know our family well, know that this has been one of the most difficult times of our life. The transition from me working to me being at home, I wish I could say has been a smooth one, but unfortunately, it seems to have been a time of change and stress for everyone.  We are hoping for an end to the turmoil by the first of next year, but until then, we are trying daily to keep things as normal as possible and focus on the fun times and blessings in our life.

We had been planning our Disney Trip (Thanks mom and dad) for well over a year, and even through the worst crisis yet, we decided, we needed to go. We needed time as a family to regain strength, have fun and take some precious family time just for us!

We loaded up, nana and papaw took Shelby, Troy and I took Cole and 15+ hrs later we landed at Shades of Green on Disney Resort! It was wonderful and I know these are memories of our family being together that all of us will carry forever. 

After Disney, Nana and Papaw took both kiddos back with them, while Troy and I stayed for his conference and had some good husband/wife time for our 16th Anniversary.  Thanks again Nana and Papaw for this wonderful gift of time, love and support. I couldn't ask for better and more supportive and loving parents. 

All in all, it's good to be home! After Nana and Papaw drove off with our kiddos, Troy and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and eventually left a day early to get back home to our precious loves. 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip! 



Mickey at Shades of Green





Stitch is soooo my favorite!



Daddy and his Princess



How cute is he!!!!



She could hardly control her excitement!

My handsome man!



Happy Anniversary - 16 years and still completely in love.



The impromptu trip to Chicago

Troy had to do one of his quick trips up and back to the Chicago area, so in a whirlwind decision, Shelbster and I decided we would go hang out in the Windy City for two days. Since Cole man had school, we left him and Joy with Nana and Papaw and promised him something wonderful from the trip. I think he was pretty happy just to get away from his sister for two days and be totally spoiled by Nana! So we loaded up Wednesday afternoon and after placing our faith in Priceline (it worked!) we got a 4 star hotel for over half off! We stayed at the Sheraton downtown, within walking distance to American Doll Store and Navy Pier. Shelby was totally excited to hang with mama and go do fun things. OK - mama was pretty excited too!

Day One: Navy Pier, Ferris Wheel, Merry Go Round Children's Museum, then off on a Water Taxi to the Magnificent Mile to the American Girl Store, Hershey's Ghiradelli Chocolate and Filene's Basement and dinner at the Billy Goat Tavern then to the hotel to swim.



Day Two: We took a bus! Considering our town doesn't even have a taxi, a bus is pretty exciting. Off to Lincoln Park Zoo, which is completely FREE and very awesome! Then back to downtown to the Hershey Store again and Portillos Hotdogs before returning home.