Life with the Rusch's: December 2013

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas ( at least the first 3...)

I had to work night shift on Christmas eve and Christmas day so it worked best for us for Santa to come one day early. We asked him and he agreed. the kids actually both slept in til almost 8 that day! that never happens. Eleanor was first to wake up and she organized the presents in to piles until Ben woke up and then it was on! The kids favorite gifts from santa were Thomas ramps and a few trains for each. Mommy is pretty thrilled with her new snow shoes and some new duds.

on Christmas day, while mommy slept, Seth took the kids to his grandparents place for the traditional celebration with his mom's side of the family. then they came home in time to spend a few hours with me before I had to go back to work.

Then, on Saturday, we had a wonderful day to celebrate with Seth's parents and his sister's family! we had brunch and then presents and then we all got outside for sledding and snow forts and snow shoeing. it was a gorgeous day for it and everyone had a blast! then eating lunch and game time and make your own pizzas for the kids and then wii and then exhaustion and meltdowns and time to go home.

today was supposed to be celebrations with my mom's side of the family but it got postponed due to the weather and chance of winds and whiteouts so we stayed home and put away the Christmas tree and cleaned and organized toys and did laundry and so forth.

Next weekend will be one day with my dad and one day with my mom's family and that should finish it up.

another thing that happened in the middle of it is not quite as happy news... we had gotten an email from our bank saying we had used our cards at target during the time when credit card info was compromised so they would be sending us new cards but we could still use ours, then on the 26th we decided to book the vacation we have been planning ( a trip for seth and I to key west, florida for a few days, hoping to go at the end of the month) a notice popped up and said there was a problem with our card and we couldn't book it. we just assumed it was because it was a large purchase and the new cards were on the way and so forth. but the next day I checked the banks website and there was a pending transaction to Delta for flights to Chicago for $1500. so I called the bank and sure enough, someone else had accessed our account! we should get all of our money back but it will be tied up for a little while while we dispute it. so we are holding off on booking our vacation for a few days and hopefully we will still be able to get decent flights and hotels for the days we are hoping to go.

and now for the pictures...

the aftermath

chillin in the new sled

building sponge bob legos

hagin out in a box, watching a new movie

playin trains. (my sense of humor shows with the shirt. not everyone was as amused by it as I was)

Grammy and the girls

Eleanor and her new care bear

Ben, finally smiling and not being a grumpapotomus

cousin love

eating pizza

lounging

Friday, December 20, 2013

Slacker

wow! I've really fallen behind! sorry it's been a busy month. I am still working 2 out of every 3 weekends. hopefully that will wrap up after January. Also I have been doing more with my transitional care team lead position at work that has required some going in extra for meetings and working on projects, education, etc... can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! We got all the shopping done, now we just need to find time to do the wrapping!

Ben had his 2 year appointment and everything went well, though I was kind of surprised by where he landed on the charts. only 40 % for height and 30% for weight. He is really talking a lot more now, putting sentences together. He loves cars, trains, and being loud! napping has become a challenge lately and the other night he decided to wake up at midnight and be up until 430 and then up again at 630.... made for a long day at work the next day for mommy! Both kids had the stomach bug last weekend but it seems to be gone now and by some miracle, it did not really affect Seth or I.

Eleanor and I had a cookie making day with Grammy at the beginning of the month and Grammy and Grampy also took her to the Macy's santaland last week. She told Santa she wants a Thomas the Train ramp and a robot, but she has since told me she changed her mind and doesnt want a robot anymore. She is still loving school and has become quite independent and creative with her craft projects.