Christmas Dinner

We were able to head up to Tim's parents for Christmas Day dinner. Xavier loves visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house! We were also able to see some of Tim's younger siblings that we don't get to see as often. It was yet another great get together with the family.


Tim and his parents.



Xavier opening his presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They got him a cool tent and tunnel. He'll definitely get a lot of use out of that. He also got some fun dinosaur magnets and a subscription to Animal Baby magazine. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa- you definitely know our boy too well.



This is my absolute favorite moment of the day. Xavier pretty much ran around the house the entire day and didn't stop until Mary's boyfriend Jake flipped on Guitar Hero. He instantly wanted to join the fun. Jake was teaching Xavier how to play. What a sweet guy! Good pick Mary!



Cory, Jeff, Dave, Katie, and Aunt Bev. Jeff got a yo-yo for Christmas, so him and Tim spent at least a couple hours trying to do all sorts of tricks. It made me think of those professional yo-yo competitions. Well, it probably looked more like professional yo-yoers when they were amateurs.



Aunt Bev and me. Aunt Bev is a total sweetie. She is a sports fanatic and an MSU sports fanatic, so we really get along great! We don't get to see her much because she lives in Detroit, but we loved seeing her today.



Xavier is eating mushrooms in Grandma and Grandpa's bed. I think he ate all the mushrooms by himself. Well he pretty much didn't stop eating the entire time we were at Tim's parents. Every time he went through the kitchen, which was a lot, he had to grab something. It alternated between cookies and vegetables or something else. I lost track of how many cookies he ate. I am surprised he didn't end up with a stomachache.



Jake (Mary's BF), Mary, me, Suzy, Cory (Suzy's BF), and Kameron. If you notice Kameron, you'll see he has some type of earphones on his head. These were hilarious because him and Xavier kept putting them on and it would squish there faces so they looked really chubby.
Yet another holiday season filled with fun times and memorable moments at the Richardson home.

Merry Christmas

Since my parents couldn't be here for Christmas I told them I'd post this video of Christmas morning for them to see a glimpse of our Christmas morning. Xavier sure enjoyed playing with all the gifts Santa brought. Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Schiffman! We love you!

Christmas Eve 2009

This year we joined Tim's older brother John and his family for some Christmas Eve fun. Xavier loves playing with his cousins Zach, Eli, and Abbi. Even though the boys are a little older they act like he's just one of the gang. They let him play their drum set and guitars, which he absolutely loves. And last time we were over there Xavier learned how to run suicides. I had to laugh when Xavier told me this because you don't normally hear a 2 year old saying "I ran suicides with Zach and Eli". They sure give him a run for his money....

John's families first tradition is to open a present, which is always pajamas. They were so sweet and got Xavier a pair of Thomas pajamas. He immediately had to put them on so he could be Thomas.


This is the best pic we had of him in his pajamas.



They also got him a few books, which he insisted on daddy reading to him.



We got Zach and Eli Under Armor Michigan State wrist bands, which they sported around in all night.



For our cute little girlie girl niece we got a hat and scarf. She's such a cutie patootie!

After we opened presents we read the Christmas story out of the Bible and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. I wish I had snapped a picture of the cake and the kids surrounding it singing. It was so cute! I think this really helped Xavier to know the true reason for Christmas.

We had a great time and felt the love of family and the true Christmas spirit! We are so glad we could share it with John's family this year!

2009 Gingerbread House

Last year we started our gingerbread house making tradition. This year I saw a picture of a really cute and "healthier" gingerbread house in Parents magazine so I thought I'd try it out. You know me, I'm always looking for ways to cut a little sugar and add a few healthier options. It turned out pretty good, but it lacked color so we went ahead and added some candy for an extra splash of color. I guess healthy isn't always as fun! We had a blast making it together as a family and Xavier loved eating all the candy. We couldn't get the icing on as fast as he was eating the treats. (Wow, kinda of sounds like a flashback from last year.)



Xavier is shouting "Tuh-duh!!" in this shot. He was so proud of his gingerbread house.



I dyed pumpkin seeds green so we could make some trees out of them. We used pineapple for the windows and framed them with pretzels.


The roof was frosted with peanut butter and topped with frosted mini wheats. We used unsweetened coconut for the snowy affect.



The blue things on the edge of the roof are dried blueberries and Tim did the icing to look like dripping snow. He did a good job don't you think?



Of course, we added some gumdrops and little round candies for a little more color. Voila our completed 2009 Richardson Gingerbread House.

Baby Gorilla

Listen to the video first and then read further....................






So there you have it! We are having a baby gorilla. I guess it's not too far fetched considering who I'm married too. He is quite the harry man. But if you haven't heard yet, we are expecting baby number 2. I am now 13 weeks along. We are so excited and feel that we have been blessed in so many ways this year. We can't wait for this little angel to join our family.

Gingerbread Cookies

Xavier has loved reading the Gingerbread Man over the holidays so I decided we should make some gingerbread cookies. Xavier was ecstatic. I think he thought that when I took them out of the oven they'd coming running out just like the gingerbread man in the book.



What a big cheese! We've only made cookies one other time together and he wasn't too interested. But this time he had so much fun rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters to make the cookies. Notice he has more flour on himself than on the table. He liked playing with the flour the most. Every time we'd go to roll out more dough he'd grab a huge handful of flour and say, "mama it's raining!" as he'd sprinkle the flour on the table.



My little sous chef was a great helper!



As we rolled out the cookie dough and made little gingerbread cookies he insisted on making a mommy gingerbread person, a daddy gingerbread person, and a baby gingerbread person. I tried adding raisins for eyes, but Xavier ate them all before I could even put them on the cookies.



This is what the table looked like afterwards. I can always tell how much fun Xavier had by how big the mess is at the end. I'd say he had a good time. Happy baking!

The Princess and the Frog

To celebrate Tim being done with finals, he surprised Xavier with a movie date with mom and dad. After taking Xavier to see Up and leaving because the dogs scared him we haven't ventured to the theaters. Although we now own Up! and Xavier loves it. I guess the dogs aren't as intimidating on a 27 inch screen as say a movie theater screen. Oh and Xavier refers to himself as Russell, not Xavier. If you don't know Russell is the little boy in Up.

When we told Xavier we were going to see a movie in the theater he said "what's the movie called?" Then he answered his own questions saying "Up!" He was so excited. We explained we were going to see a new movie and he said "okay! Let's go!" He ran to the stairs to get his shoes on.

Our second try at the theater turned out to be a success. Xavier sat through the entire movie and really liked it. We had to remind him several times to just watch the movie without talking, but all in all he did great. His favorite things were being able to eat popcorn for the entire movie and the frogs. The Shadowman also made an impression on him, but he didn't get scared (which I was a little worried about at first). Tim and I give the movie a two thumbs up. It was, of course, a cute princess movie and it was very funny. The characters were really cute and it gave a new sort of twist on your typical fairytale. Good job Disney.

Christmas Advent

I didn't have time to make a cute advent this year. Instead, I got a bunch of socks from Target's dollar bins and a few other places and put together a sock advent this year. I put a number on each sock, a scripture and treat or toy in each sock, and tadah- our Christmas advent. Xavier loves looking in the socks each day to see what's inside. And I'm happy it was so easy to put together.

I also got a bunch of Christmas books and wrapped each one. Every morning Xavier finds one under the tree. So we read our scripture and our Christmas story each day. Xavier's two favorites so far are the Grinch that Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. It's been so fun to introduce him to all these classics and we'll have our Christmas library for every year to come.

Mars Present

Xavier received a nice present from Mars the other day. It's an airplane m&m dispenser. If you look close enough at X's smile, you'll realize his teeth are covered in chocolate. He pretty much just flies this around the house constantly. Mars sure knows how to persuade Tim and I that Mars is the best choice for work. I think Xavier is already sold.

Interview with Intel

Last week Tim flew to Chandler, Arizona for a second round interview with Intel. He had a great time visiting the area and interviewing with Intel. The best part was he got to visit the house he was born in, literally. His mom delivered Tim on a bean bag in this very house.



After visiting this house, he got to see one of his best friends, Aaron Adams and his family. So sad I couldn't be there too. Thanks Aaron and Sarah for feeding him and showing him around town!



Tim, Aaron, Sarah, Claire, and Noel

We are waiting to hear back from Intel as far as a job offer goes. Hopefully later this week we will have a final word.

The Golden Ticket

As some of you know Tim flew to Hackettstown, New Jersey for a second round interview with Mars. Tim had promised Xavier that he'd bring him back some mini m&m's which are Xavier's favorite treat! When we went to pick him up from the airport Xavier was sooo excited to see daddy, but more excited that it meant he'd get his treat. Well, Mars outdid themselves. Tim came home with an entire box filled with all kinds of candy and snacks that Mars makes. (regular m&m's, peanut m&m's, mini m&m's, almond m&m's, snickers, almond snickers, snickers energy, dove chocolate bar, combos, and much much more.) So, if you have a hankering for some chocolate, just come to our house.

Last week Tim received a job offer from Mars. So not only did he visit the real life version of Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but he came home with the Golden Ticket. Yippee!

Congratulations babe!

What we've been up to lately

So I haven't posted in a while. It's not that our lives have been boring, time feels like it's been in fast forward lately and I feel like I'm in slow motion trying to keep up. My sister-in-law was in the hospital for the second time in six weeks with a collapsed lung. Mind you she is pregnant, so things were quite complicated for her. She had 2 surgeries all of which were successful and her baby is okay. We watched her son Kameron for a week while she was being monitored at the hospital. We are so glad she is home and doing well.

Thanksgiving was awesome as always. We spent the day at Tim's parents with the entire family. We had our usual yummy spread, clay pigeon shooting, family football game, and good company. A few of Tim's classmates joined us. We were so glad Carlos and Kappo came along to enjoy an American Thanksgiving. I forgot to take pictures because I was having so much fun chatting with the girls. But one momentous occasion happened this year- Tim hit 3 clay pigeons. Since Tim and I met the running joke is that I always hit more clay pigeons than him. It's usually me hitting 1 and Tim hitting none. Well he outdid himself this year. Mind you I didn't shoot this year. But I guess I'll let him have his shining moment for once.

Tim has been traveling quite a bit lately to California for more interviews with Apple, New Jersey to interview with Mars, and next week he's off to Arizona to interview with Intel. Poor guy has to catch a red eye back here so he can make it back in time to give a final group presentation in one class and take a final exam in another. He'll definitely deserve a break after this semester.

I just finished putting together a program for our ward's christmas party. Our activities committee chose the theme "twas the night before christmas" and everyone wore their pajamas. We ate breakfast for dinner. And I put together a program of musical numbers and a Christmas story. It all went well and was a lot of fun!

Tonight my group, Spartan Spouses and Significant Others (S3) hosted an MBA Wonderland of Lights event at Potter Park Zoo. We had about 102 people come and enjoy the lights that surround the zoo. Plus we had our own private room to mix, mingle and eat. It was a lot of fun. Xavier loved running around the zoo looking at all the nights and spotting all the lights shaped as animals. He was even happier when all his friends came along- Yohann, Asher, Aiden, and Kylie.

Now that these events are over I can breathe a little easier and sleep more sound. Hopefully with the semester coming to an end we can have some much needed family time and R and R.

New Moon Girls Night

So last night I felt like a giddy little school girl again. Yes, I am a twilight series reader and I admit I have been waiting weeks to see New Moon. (or should I say a year since I saw the last movie) Me and some girlfriends ordered tickets several weeks in advance for last night's show.

We were all supposed to go to dinner, but I ended up going to dinner with Tim and Xavier instead. We had an occasion to celebrate that surprisingly trumped eating dinner with the girls before New Moon. After a ton of hard work on Tim's part and a lot of patience and moral support on mine, Tim finally has a job offer! Bosch has offered Tim a full time position. This happened just moments before I was supposed to meet my friends for dinner. Bosch's North American headquarters is located in Farmington Hills, MI not too far from where we lived when we worked in the Detroit area. During his first 18 or so months he would be in a rotational program. We would do 3 six month rotations, two in the U.S. and one most likely outside the U.S. I really like this part because we could live a few cool places, have some great travel experiences, but then we would end up back in MIchigan close to family again. We feel very blessed and I am so proud of Tim. His hard work is starting to pay off. We should also be hearing from Apple before Thanksgiving and he is flying out to Jersey for some more interviews with Mars. So, we will be waiting to see what else happens and then hopefully we can finally know where we will be in May. This will truly be a Thanksgiving to be grateful for our abundant blessings.

Anyway, back to New Moon. We got to the theater an hour early and the line was wrapped around the entire inside of the theater. It even blocked the ticket booths and people were constantly confusing our line with the ticket line. I must say that New Moon was soooooo much better than Twilight. Jacob was one hot tamale. I'm still not too fond of the guy that plays Edward. He's not quite right for me. So I must say that I was on Team Jacob during the movie a little more than Team Edward. Can't wait for the 3rd movie to come out!! June doesn't seem so far away.

Goal Accomplished

I have finally finished reading Gone with the Wind! I started the book in September and it's taken me this long to finish it, not because I didn't like it, but because it was 1035 pages long. It was officially the longest book I have ever read and I'm so glad I did. The only way I was even able to read a book this long was because I tend to have at least once a week where I cannot sleep. So thanks for my semi-insomniac self for making it possible.
I can now see why its such a classic. The story was a great depiction about love, life, war, coming of age, enduring through trials, and how to fight for what you believe in. Has anyone else read this book? What are your thoughts about it?
I've never seen the movie either, so now I will be curling up with a blanket, maybe cuddling with my hubby (that's if he's up for a chic flick), and watching the movie one night this week.

Thanksgiving Countdown

Last year during the month of November I posted something on my blog that I was grateful for each day. This year I decided to do something different. The first week in November Tim, Xavier, and I made a grateful box. Each day we write something we are grateful for on a leaf and place it in the box. I found a fun countdown list that names something we are grateful for and an activity to do that day to show our gratitude. This is what we are doing this month:

1. We are thankful for our teeth.
Give mom and dad some of your Halloween candy in exchange for a gift.

2. We are thankful for our legs.
Go outside and run and jump!

3. We are thankful for our cousins.
Call or write a letter to one of your cousins.

4. We are thankful for our kitchen.
Cook or bake something fun together in the kitchen. (We made banana bread)

5. We are thankful for good food.
Go to the grocery store and pick out a food that you haven't tried yet. (We picked out pomegranates)

6. We are thankful for Turkeys!
Art project: Make turkeys by tracing your hand and coloring the feathers.

7.We are kind to others.
Think of something fun to give someone in the neighborhood.

8. We are thankful for Daddy.
Do something nice for daddy and be extra nice to him all day!

9. We are thankful for Mommy.
Do something nice for mommy and be extra nice to her all day!

10. We are thankful for the seasons.
Go out and rake leaves together.

11. We are thankful for our car.
Go for a drive and visit a friend.

12. We are thankful for our house.
Play a cleaning game.

13. We are thankful for fun.
Play a game together.

14. We are thankful for our hands.
Art project: Finger painting.

15. We are thankful for our eyes.
Watch a special Thanksgiving show together.

16. We are thankful for our ears.
Play some fun music.

17. We are thankful for books.
Go to the library and pick out some Thanksgiving books.

18. We are thankful for pies.
Go to Grand Traverse Pie Company for some pie.

19. We are thankful for our grandparents.
Call grandma and grandpa and tell them you love them.

20. We are thankful for Heavenly Father.
Go on a nature walk and notice all of Heavenly Father's Creations.

21. We are thankful for our friends.
Make a special visit to some friends.

22. We are thankful for the computer.
Send an email to someone you love- Uncle James. Send him pictures too.

23. We are thankful for all of our toys.
Take some of the toys we haven't been playing with to Goodwill to give to other kids.

24. We are thankful for rest.
Take a nap.

Happy Turkey Day!

Fall Photo Shoot

Fall is my favorite time of year, especially MSU's campus. There are so many trees and the colors are so beautiful and vibrant. So Xavier and I visited daddy at school and took some pictures for fun! Xavier was either chasing squirrels or running around and throwing the leaves in the air, so getting a good shot was a challenge. Here are a couple of my favorites.



Where's the squirrel?



Daddy's #1. These trees are so amazing and alive!



Xavier throwing leaves into the air.



Xavier has such a love for life and teaches me how to live in the moment.



MSU's natural beauty.

Homecoming Parade

This was our first time going to MSU's Homecoming Parade. Kind of sad when I realize that we never went when we went to school at MSU. The theme was "Green" and recycled things. All the floats were made out of recycled products.



Addison, Olivia, Braelyn, and Xavier all bundled up and enjoying the action. Xavier is one lucky lad to be with such cute girls.



Xavier really enjoyed being so close to everything and watching the bands go by. This was about the only time he was actually sitting. The rest of the time we raced behind the crowd. He pretended to be Lightning McQueen and I was Sally. He definitely wore me out by the end.



This was my favorite car. Where can I get my car painted like this? Isn't it cool?



Go Sparty!

S3 trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill

My camera is finally working again. So, now I can catch up on all our October happenings. Our Spartan Spouses group took a trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill. The best part about this trip was that we didn't have to leave with a screaming child who had hot cider spilled on his chest like last year.



We picked out a pumpkin. Left to right: Annie, Adam, Joel, Michela, Yohann, Ewen, Me, Xavier, Brent, and Maria. We had a small group for this activity, but it was a lot of fun. Brent even entertained the kids while we were waiting to weigh our pumpkins by juggling apples.



Xavier and Yohann have become good buds since his family started the program this year. They thought it was so neat to sit in the wheelbarrow as they ate their kettle corn. (Xavier calls kettle corn, kekkle corn)



The boys burned off some energy at the good old Kids Coral. Xavier's favorite spot...any guesses? The train.



And of course, we ate some yummy donuts and drank cider.



Xavier spotted the scarecrows and had to jump on in the cart. He gave them high fives and kisses. What a silly boy.

Job update

Tim has been working like a madman this semester to find a job. Along with his normal school work and his part time job as a graduate assistant, he's interviewed a ton. There have been a couple disappointments, but for the most part he is just waiting to hear back for second round interviews. After waiting for a couple weeks we got some good news. Tim has a second round interview with Apple. YIPPEE! He will be flying out to Cupertino November 12-14th to interview at their headquarters. So things are once again moving along. Cross your fingers!

Dragon lady

First of all, I have a ton of pictures to post, but for some reason our camera base is broken. Of course this happens when I'm all caught up. Now I'm behind on my posts once again. Many pictures to come.

For now, I have a story. It starts out something like this....Once upon a time there was a little boy. And when he was good he was very very good. When he was bad he was very very bad. Mornings have been a little rocky for this boy lately and his mommy has become quite upset with him. Instead of listening to his mommy or helping his mommy clean up his messes he just says, "Mommy quit being a dragon."
His mommy seemed quite surprised to hear that she was being compared to a dragon. She's never breathed fire out of her mouth, she's never stolen a prince and kept him locked up in a tower, and she's never scared anyone before. But apparently to this boy his mommy resembled these characteristics. This mommy is definitely far from perfect and this is a perfect example that sometimes mommy's have to be dragons. Mommy can't always be the good guy.

Xavier's Unique Food Preferences

Xavier is eating flour. Forget pancakes or eggs, he decided that the flour was much more delectable.



Many of you may know that Xavier pretty much eats anything, even if it's not supposed to be eaten. Here are some of the things he has consumed, some on a regular basis. No matter what I do or say he is still constantly putting things in his mouth. Aaaarrrrgh! I wish he'd grow out of this phase already.

crayons
anything he finds on the floor
bark at the park
small tire pieces at the park
a light bulb (don't ask, long story)
flour
batting
cotton
mud
sand
paper
rubber bands
toilet paper
soap
eye shadow
finger paint
playdough
plastic
I even caught him nibbling on a battery he had taken out of one of our controllers.


On a more positive note he is an excellent eater of real food too. If I put normal kid favorites on his plate like hot dogs, macaroni, or the like, along with a side of veggies he will most likely eat the veggies first. There are many mornings when I don't get breakfast ready quick enough and he'll pull out a handful of carrots from the fridge to nibble on while he's waiting. He loves all fruit, peas, corn, peppers, broccoli, edamame, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans. He'll even eat a salad here and there. I'm definitely grateful for his healthy food preferences.

I guess all I have to look forward to is that one day in the far distant future he will most likely give up the non-edible items and continue to have good eating habits.

Big Boy Bed

Xavier has moved into a big boy bed! It's official- he's no longer my little baby anymore. I'm not ready to accept this. I knew that as long he was in a crib I could continue believing he'd stay my baby forever. But now reality has hit.

We didn't plan on doing this for a while, but it just kind of happened. Xavier has always been great about going to bed until a couple weeks ago when he would kick and scream and cry anytime we mentioned it was time for bed. Then he would beg to "fall asleep in mommy and daddy's bed." We'd lay him in our bed, turn his music on, and he would be completely content. He wouldn't even attempt to get out of our bed. After a week of this night time routine we decided something had to change. It entered my mind that maybe he was telling us he was ready for a toddler bed. Tim took his crib down and voila! Xavier was like a totally different kid. He was jumping up and down and giggling like crazy. He immediately gathered every single stuffed animal he owned and had to play on his bed for the next several days. Problem solved. Xavier is now a happy sleeper again. ( and so are his parents.)

We are so proud of him for hitting this big milestone!

Michigan vs. Michigan State

Any time rivals Michigan and Michigan State play each other I look forward to it! For many fans, it's because it's a huge rivalry. For me it means more than that. Mine and Tim's first date was back in 2001 when Michigan State beat Michigan. At the time I was still living in Ann Arbor and I was a Michigan fan. (you can't hate me too much for this because I had just moved to Michigan and I was planning to go to school there. I didn't realize the mistake I was making yet. Now that I know which school is superior my blood will forever run green.) So I look forward to this game every year because it is football that helped bring Tim and I together.

I was planning on going to the game this past weekend and had been looking forward to it all week. Unfortunately my sister-in-law ended up in the hospital over the weekend so I offered to stay home and watch Xavier and her son, Kameron. Even though I wasn't at the game we created our own fun at home!



I made pumpkin oranges with fruit inside as a fun side to Kameron and Xavier's lunch.



I also made State peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kiddos.




The two videos are of Xavier and Kameron going to a "football party".

Since Tim and I's first date in 2001 Michigan State has not won against Michigan at home. At least until now! My Spartans are back! Go green! Go white!

S3 Apple Picking

I've organized a mom's playgroup for the S3 Association that I co-direct. I planned an apple picking day at Clearview Orchard in Haslett. We went here last year and had so much fun that I've decided to make it a yearly fall tradition. It just happened to be amazingly cold and windy the day that I planned it. Our group was a little scarce due to the bitter cold. I was a little sad that I had to pull out the winter gloves and hats. Xavier, Kylie, and Tyler didn't seem to notice the cold. They were engrossed in filling their bags of apples. I think Xavier ate almost as many as he picked. But hey, that's part of the fun!




Xavier exploring the rows and rows of apple trees. He had to make sure he got the best apples!



Kylie demonstrates how to pick the perfect apple. Hold with your hand, pull, and twist.



Crunch! Now that's the sound of a darn good apple.



The fruits of their labor. A job well done, Kylie and Xavier!