MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. 

This is the best photo I could get of Marcello on Santa's lap at our command Children's Christmas Party. Seb didn't want anything to do with Santa this year, so no photo of him. And baby Finn was fast asleep, so I didn't want to disturb him.

This year we wanted to keep Christmas small. We didn't buy much for the boys or for each other. I also didn't take very many photos on Christmas morning. I have found myself in a fog lately. I am blaming it on having 3 boys. Ralph promised to take me shopping in Rome when his parents arrive, so I am excited about that.

So here are the few photos I did take Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. ENJOY

Sebastian and I making gingerbread men for Santa. 

His cookies, I let him do it all this year. Time for them to bake now.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Grrr Finnegan is wondering what Santa brought him. He looks so cute in his Christmas PJ's.

Marcello got a new bike. It's a European one without peddles. it teaches Kids balance. We wanted to get the original one from Germany that are made of wood, but they were too pricey. We also saw these on Sesame Street, LOL

Marcello opening his gifts in his new chair.

Like I said Ralph and I didnt get each other much. He got me the entire Season Collection of Absolutely Fabulous. Some nutcracker Christmas Tree oroments, and a few other small items. Seb got me a new Coffee pot. (With the help of daddy).

I'm sure you noticed no photos of Seb Christmas morning, like I said I just wasn't organized this year. But I do feel Seb had a great Christmas this year. Ralph & I also broke down and bought a Wii. We needed a family game system. I am glad we did and now Seb, Ralph and I can play games together as a family. We all miss family game night. We used to pick one night a week to play a board game. But now with all the sports and homework Seb has, we haven't done it. We also got Seb a Digital camera, ( well we really won it at Ralph's command X-mas party). He had one, but it broke, and we were debating on getting him one for X-mas anyways.

Hope everyone Had a Very Merry Christmas

When is my life NOT CRaZy !!!!!!!!!

It's the week before Christmas and the Schmitz house goes CRaZy. This week has been busy with colds, stomach viruses, Singing Knights concerts, last minute shopping, and preparing for our Holiday Cocktail Party here at the house. My lay out for the week went out the window starting Monday and it snowballed as the week went on. 

All week I was fighting a cold and I missed my bible study Christmas party. And Marcello has been showing signs of being sick or teething. I have been trying to get the house cleaned and ready for the Holiday Party we were hosting here. And Ralph ended up with a bad Virus and got Marcello and Seb sick. Poor Seb missed his singing Knight Concert because of it. I was heart broken because he has been going to practices for months now. I was Thankful he only got sick the one time and was well enough to go the next day to sing for the entire school. I was still under the weather, so I sent Ralph to the school to video it. 

The weekend finally comes and the house is all decorated for Christmas. Ralph works hard on making treats for our guests, and I made my grandmothers punch and homemade Eggnog. Our guests show and I believe everyone had a good Holiday Cheer. I only wish I took photos from the party, but I found myself managing the kids upstairs instead of enjoying good conversation with friends. 

Now it's off to prepare for the Jolly Ole guy himself to visit. 

THE SCHMITZ FAMILY WISHES EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!

Here are some random Photos of the boys. ENJOY.

Here is a photo of Marcello with the pasta strainer over his face, he loves to run around the house with random cook ware.

Here is a photo of Finn at a Month old. He is wearing the outfit that marcello wore when he was 3 months old. That shows the size difference between the two boys.

Here is a photo of Ralph holding Marcello when he was 3 months old, same outfit. This photo was taken right before Ralph left for Iraq.

PHOTOS OF BABY FINN..

My friend Lindsay Powell came over last Friday and took some photos of baby Finn for me. We have been trying to get together since the day he was born. She had strep when I had him, then her kids got sick and her husband was on travel. And well you know how life goes, we both have busy schedules with the kids etc.. And its the Holidays with all its activities. Finally she sends me a message saying she can come over, and has to bring her girls. Which I have no problem with except, our power went out at 2 Am and its still not up. Ugggg.

So we brainstorm and say lets give it a shot anyways. I get good natural light through my back glass doors. And here are a few sample shots she emailed me.

This is a photo of Finn with a Hugh Blue bow I found in my house. We had some issues with it, the kids got a hold of it and it fell apart and I tried to fix it, then it kept falling over. lol. But look how cute he is with all that hair. Ralph got a little upset when he saw it. He just thought it was wrong to do this to a boy. Sorry Babe.

This is a cute photo, look at those eyes. Right now they are deep gray. We are still wondering what color they are going to be.

Here is a photo of Finnegan in Ralph's chair. It was his mothers, so it is special to him. Finnegan is wrapped in the blanket I bought in Ireland for him while I was pregnant. Isn't this cute.

Well these are the only sneak peeks of the photos she took for me. Soon I will have the rest. I can't wait to see them.

COMING SOON.....

Sorry I have not been posting anything, just been swamped. I am still waiting on the photos we had done when I was prego and with the boys. I have not heard back from the photographer. I also just had some photos done of baby Finn, and I should have those soon. I just had a sneak peek at them. They are sooo cute. 

I just have been busy trying to get the house ready for the Holidays and a Party we are having here at the house. We didn't have power or HEAT for 2 days, so I am behind on the house. We also attended Ralphs command Christmas party Friday night. Plus Seb has his Singing concert this week. So we have been running around crazy. This week is not much better. 

Here is the photo of Ralph and I at the party Friday. Hope everyone had a Great weekend.

SUPER BUSY

I'm sorry for not posting updates lately. We have been super busy around here. 

This week I am soo busy I don't know if I can get everything done. On top of that Ralph is gone for 3 days, so I am home with the boys on my own. HELP.....

Tuesday I went to bible study and finally made a hair appt.. We have a command Christmas party Friday and this is the first one Ralph and I will attend together. 

Wednesday Lindsay is coming over to take photos of Baby Finn for me, and Seb has singing knights until 4. I might try and get my eyebrows done today also. 

Thursday I get my hair done, Seb has a half day at school, and Housing is coming over to look at our water damage.

On Top of all this I am trying to organize, plan a Holiday party here at the house, finish my X-Mas shopping and putting up my Decor. ( It's just sitting in boxes downstairs) Ralph finally put up the tree. And get the house ready for Ralph's parents to come in Jan. So much to do. 

I just don't have time to sit and post right now. And I know all of you want to see new photos of us. I promise soon I will post some.

Hope everyone is having a better week than I am. 

Day 2 & 3 Boy I need to get organized....

TUESDAY

The second day of Ralph back to work. Seb is better now so we sent him to school. And I am home with Marcello and Finn. Normally I go to Bible Study today, But I can't seem to get the boys settled so I can shower and get ready. So I feel its best I stay home and take care of the house since I was on base all day yesterday. 

The day ends up going by pretty fast, and I don't feel I got enough done. I never do. But at least I am energetic and feeling like my old self again. As I am running around trying to find something to make for dinner, it dawns on me that Ralph told me he has duty tonight. Well that's good news and bad news for me. Good news, I can just make chicken fingers and mac N cheese for dinner for the boys. Bad news, means I have to get up @ 6 AM and get Seb ready for school, while wrangling the other 2 boys.

The boys are cracking me up tonight. I love how they get along. And yes I know it will change, but we are enjoying it while it last. I love how they run around chasing each other giggling and wrestling. After I let the boys burn some energy, I sent them to bed. First Seb, then I tell Marcello and he crawls up the stairs and runs into his room and jumps into bed. OK I would like to know how long that will last. We are so blessed with Marcello. But we also see the TWO's are coming. 

After the boys are in bed I just curl up on the couch with my latest addition. DEXTER.  Sorry Ralph I started watching the next episodes without you. 

GOODNIGHT EVERYONE

I HAVE A BUSY DAY TOMORROW.

WEDNESDAY

Wow my first day alone with the boys wasn't that bad. I woke up feeling energetic and got Seb up, dressed, made his breakfast, lunch and organize everything downstairs for Marcello. This is the first time I have had to do this in months. Ralph has been taking care of it for me. I am so thankful he has been home helping me. Now I am taking over everything slowly. 

Today I am also having lunch with a girlfriend. So it's going to be nice to get out of the house. Also I am going to take both boys shopping by myself for the first time. I don't know how mothers do it with 2 little ones.

Well I got to go and get ready.

First Day alone with the boys.........

Today Ralph had to go back to work. And of course Seb is sick and I have to take him to the Dr. He has had a cough, runny nose, and fever since he woke up Thursday. So I kept him home from school today and tried to get all 3 of my monkeys dressed and out the door. Boy is that a challenge. I tried to call the Hospital to get an Appt., but they said they had no openings today and to take him to the ER. UGGGG, I don't want to drop him off to school if he is contagious. But at least now I can show up when I get ready instead of rushing. 

Seb is upset about not being able to go to school today. You see he had to make an Mohawk longhouse this weekend, and they are sharing with the classroom today. Man now I feel like a bad parent, I kept telling Ralph I wanted to take photos of it in stages of them building it and a final one when it was all dry. And of course I forgot. With all the nursing and keeping an eye on Marcello I didn't do it. I wanted to post it on here for you to see it. It turned out really cool. And they had fun doing it together. 

Boy, today was a long day. We didn't get home until almost 3 after going to the Dr, getting med.'s, dropping off Seb's house at school, and picking up a few things at the store.  I am beat. And I still have to take care of the house and cook dinner.

After I got the boys settled, I pulled out my cook book to find something to make. I haven't made a good meal for my family in months. Ralph has been doing most of the cooking. And when I did cook it was a basic meal. I was planning on making a soup out of the turkey, but now I don't have enough time. I will try tomorrow to make it. After looking around the house, all I found was Chicken, so I tried to find a good recipe to make tonight. 

It feels so good to be back to my old self. I haven't been able to take care of my family for months, and it was hard on me. Now I have energy to take care of everything. Slowly I am taking over the household duties here. Over the Holiday weekend, the Nurse told me I was over doing it and to hold off another week. So I had to take it easy another few more days. But now I am feeling better again and ready to get this house back into shape. 

SO LETS GET COOKING. 

The recipe I found was Curry Chicken Thighs. And here it is:

• 8 ck thighs
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil ( I used garlic olive oil I got here on the island)
• 1 cup sliced mushroom ( which we were out of )
• 1 Med onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 - 4  tsp curry powder ( I only used 2 because of the kids )
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 med. apple, cored and chopped ( we used a pear, out of apples)
• 1 cup half-and-half, light cream, milk ( I used half-and-half )
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  

1. Rinse chicken, pat dry. In 10 inch skillet cook ck in hot oil over med. heat about 10 min. until golden brown. Remove ck and place to the side.
2. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to hot oil in skillet. Cook until Veg. are tender. Add curry, salt, and cinnamon. Cook & stir for about 1 min. Add Ck broth and apple. Mix together. Then add Chicken back to the skillet. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 min. or until chicken is cooked all the way through.
3. Transfer Chicken to platter and set aside again. Stir half-and-half into the flour. Stir into pan juices. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 min. 
   

SERVE OVER RICE (I USED COUSCOUS) Place Rice first, then chicken and cover with the sauce.

I cooked Roasted Garlic & olive oil Couscous instead of Rice. Next time I will make 2 boxes, because I felt one was not enough for all of us. We all enjoyed it, and I am not a curry fan at all. I took a risk and cooked it anyways knowing Ralph would like it. And Marcello eats just about everything we put in front of him. He ate it up. Seb wasn't sure about it, but Ralph and I loved it.

HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING WELL, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S DECEMBER ALREADY.

Let me know if you try this out.

REMEMBER DAD YOU CAN PRINT THIS OUT SO YOU CAN COOK IT FOR YOU AND MARY ANN ONE NIGHT.