The A-Team wishes you and your family a Merry Christmas! Enjoy this cool video of an amazing, random performance of Handel’s “Messiah: Hallelujah”:

I would like all to know that Anna and I just passed up fifteen years since our first date on the 22nd. We’ve been married since 8/98 for those that may wonder.

We met in September 1995 at McDonald’s, I was a 16y.o. crew trainer-in-training and Anna transferred into my location from elsewhere. As my memory is fading, Anna was a manager-trainee and selected (or did she work it out this way?) to sort of mentor me into passing my exams for the promotion. As we worked together we could both tell that there could be something more to our relationship besides work. We had nearly everything in common that I now consider requisite for a couple to work out in the long term: intelligence, wit/humor, work ethic, taste in the arts. The only thing missing would be a shared faith in Jesus Christ. Me being shy around women my entire life, I would still be single today had Anna not made the first move and through the rumor mill indicated that I should call her at home some time. The night before Thanksgiving I did call, we talked for about 7hrs until 4am as I recall before Anna’s mom Jean picked up and said we needed to hang it up. Fortunately her mom worked with me as well and at least knew of me. Not sure of her opinion of me at the time, but I was a good employee the few hours a week that I did work.

Anyway, on Black Friday we had a “date” of sorts and it only grew from there. I won’t bore you with the details. However, I will say that in the next 3 months we knew we wanted to get married as soon as possible.

I am so fortunate to have such a woman for a wife, best friend, and mother of my children. Little did I know fifteen years ago that God was laying the foundation of a wonderful life together; that we would become parents of sweet little children; that we could turn a house into a home; and ultimately that we both would come to accept the Gift of Salvation. Every day that we’re together is a blessing from the Lord.  Thanks for a great 15, and I can’t wait for the next fifteen.

For you readers, how long until you “knew” you wanted to marry your spouse?

Yes, this is late too but oh well!

Our weekend started out with a visit to my Grandmother’s house because EVERYONE was in town! My aunt and uncle from Mass were here along with my aunt and uncle from Ohio and my aunt and uncle from Columbus! Of course my other uncle who lives here, my grandmother and mom all were there too. It was so great because everyone got to see Abraham and meet Abel.

After that exhausting visit, we went home for some fun in the AC! Abel passed out on the couch.

Abraham wanted some fun in the pool which he got to do after his nap.

On Independence Day, we went to church first thing and then Aaron headed off to set up his fireworks show. I had planned to go with the kids and watch the show but after thinking about having 2 kids in the extreme heat and having to keep them up way past bedtime…I am thankful we just decided to wake Abraham up on the night of the 3rd to watch a local show from his bedroom window! It was great:) For about a week after he would point to the sky and say “wow” – that meant fireworks. It was adorable!

Mommy's Little Firecracker

Doggone Independent dude showing off his breakfast bar

Playtime after church

Mommy and Daddy

Play time for Abel

My cutie

So I was enjoying some time with Abel and Abraham was being good playing by himself and I kept hearing sounds coming from his room but didn’t think much of it until…

Aha!

WOW

He STUFFED this tunnel end to end with EVERY SINGLE TOY he owns! He is so freakin’ cute!!!

That was how we spent our Independence Day – with each other having a wonderful time.

Yep. This is late too. But better late than never! As I look back at these pictures, I can’t believe he was ever that small! He sure has grown!

I have notes written that say he measured 23.5 inches and his head was 15.5 inches but I cannot find the weight! I haven’t a clue what he weighed. Probably somewhere around 12 pounds but I really don’t recall. This is what happens when you have 2 kids and have NO time to blog!

We were very blessed to have celebrated Abel’s 1-month birthday and Father’s Day on the same day! Abel and Abraham got to spend time with their grandparents and that was great!

My Snugglebug

Abel with Grandpa

Abel with Grandma

From this year forward, I am making a point to not refer to Independence Day as merely the “Fourth of July” as that takes away the special occasion of the day. I could call it the Third of June, or Tenth of April and that implies nothing more than a simple date. The act of referring to the day as “Independence Day” is a conscious one that remembers the day for what it is, as it is much more than just a day on a calendar!

So, on this Independence Day, have fun, be safe, and in the Spirit of ‘76, celebrate tomorrow as per John Adams:

“John Adams’ famous letter of July 3, 1776, in which he wrote to his wife Abigail what his thoughts were about celebrating the Fourth of July is found on various web sites but is usually incorrectly quoted. Following is the exact text from his letter with his original spellings:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142).

Writing that letter was an act of celebration.”

Amen. THAT is how Independence Day is meant to be celebrated and remembered.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Having a blast at the playground!

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day and hope that you did too (for those of you that are mommies). My husband did a great job of making me feel very special today. I am off to finish off my night with a movie of MY choice! Yippee!!!

Sorry these are late but with everything that is happening in my world…posting has been a bit on the back burner. But alas here are the Easter pictures!

We had an Easter Party with the Moms’ Group here in the neighborhood. We all got to go and had a great time!

Very Happy with his balloon!

This was Abraham's apprehensive look at the Easter Bunny

Hunting for eggs!

Cutie with his prize egg

We all had such a good time at this Easter Party. We had great weather and Abraham really did a good job hunting for his eggs!

Happy Easter

The picture above was the one of the few ACTUAL Easter pics that I took. Somehow, as it always works, I was not in any of the photos. But this was too cute of Abraham and Daddy. So enjoy!

We did manage to get one picture of ALL of us with the Easter Bunny. Our dentist’s office had the bunny once again but this year, Abraham WOULD NOT go near him without us! We at least dressed for the occasion!

Family Easter Bunny Picture

Abraham got to experience his first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. It was a bit chilly but we did just fine and I made sure that HE collected each egg. I wasn’t about to help him with that. I really wanted him to understand the concept. He did great! I even let him enjoy some of the candy he collected:) The best part for Abraham was putting the eggs (empty of course) into the collection boxes! After we put ours in, he went about trying to help others! It was so sweet:) Abraham did not much care for the Easter Bunny. He would NOT let me put him down to get a picture…we are planning on seeing the Easter Bunny at our dentist’s office this coming Saturday…we shall see how that goes. Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Can you see the apprehension in his face?

Overall, we had a great time and it so amazing to watch this little person become more interactive with the world surrounding him. He really had a good time!

Sorry this is VERY late in getting posted…but life has just gotten in the way of blogging!

We had a wonderful St. Patty’s day with great food and Aaron took the day completely off from work! We were out for WAY TOO LONG without naps for any of us but we all managed to deal with it pretty well!

We were all decked out in our green and had LOTS of errands to run that day. It started with a shot for Abraham (never fun) but he did really well. Then we stopped back home to pick up all the stuff I have collected to take to Half Price Books. We then headed off to EAT! Claddaugh Irish Pub was waiting for us:) I was very excited! We try to save this place as a special outing especially on St. Patty’s Day. It was GREAT! Abraham wasn’t in the greatest mood but our server brought him a balloon and life was grand. We enjoyed far too much food but I brought part of mine home.

We then started the shopping extravaganza. We do not shop very often and these were things that NEEDED to get done. I needed maternity clothes; Aaron needed running shoes and running shorts; Abraham needed to be fitted with his shoes. Turns out Abraham grew an ENTIRE SHOE SIZE in less than 6 weeks! Yikes! That was financially painful but like we have said before, we would rather put money into good shoes and NOT have to pay for a doctor visit or worse in the long run. So Abraham got 2 new pairs of shoes (we bought an extra pair a half size bigger for this summer). After shoe shopping for him, we went shoe andshort shopping for Daddy. I knew Kohl’s was having a sale later in the week and if he liked anything, I would just pick it up later. Turns out nothing worked out for him. I, on the other hand, found a cute Easter shirt! I was so excited:) We then made off for Avon to drop off all the stuff at Half Price Books. While we waited for them to go through everything, I found several great books on clearance for Abraham. Aaron also had a fantastic score of finding our Camry’s super duper manual for only $4! Totally awesome. HPB ended up giving us $99 for all the stuff we brought in! I was SO excited!!! Since we were right there in Avon, we stopped at Bed Bath and Beyond and I got a hamper for Abraham’s new room (absolutely perfect color match). I happened to be right next door to Michael’s and ran in to find letters to put on the dresser (I already have Abraham’s letters). No luck. Looks like I will be painting Abel’s letters. We left Avon and headed back for Plainfield because with that wonderful score of cash from HPB, I would be able to get some maternity clothes. It was getting late and we ALL needed a nap, but we made it work. I tried on a few items at Motherhood Maternity and ended up getting a couple pairs of shorts (longer ones to last all season even post pregnancy) and 2 T-shirts. I was very happy to get this stuff because I really needed it! I was running out of options of things to wear and it really doesn’t have much to do with being pregnant, I just have no summer wear! I lost so much weight last summer that I got rid of quite a bit of clothing and needed to replace it. Well, I guess maternity styles will work for now!

Anyway, we had been out so late that we ended up grabbing dinner for Abraham at Chick-fil-A (Aaron and I were still full from lunch) and we hurried home to get the dogs fed as well. It was near 7 pm! Like I said, LONG DAY but we all had fun together as a family:)

We had a wonderful weekend doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! We were VERY lazy on Saturday and then had dinner with my Dad while Abraham got to hang out with Grandma Jean. Thank you for the Baby Cookie Monster Grandma Jean! Abraham LOVES that little guy:)

On Sunday, we went to church and then had lunch at O’Charley’s with a squirly toddler, but we made it and we took at VERY long nap once we got home! It was great!!!!

So like I said, we had a very LAZY and RELAXING weekend:) Hope you did too!