two year anniversary tonight...

its been exactly two years since the boys and i arrived in austin...somedays it seems like just yesterday and at other times it seems like we have been here forever...we miss our families and friends but we are so blessed to have landed in this great city with wonderful new friends to go through the transition with...heres to change...heres to moving forward...heres to enjoying the simple little things in this crazy journey called life...heres to 2008 and all it holds for each of us...just peace...we celebrated new years eve with nikki and gregg at fridays for dinner...watched deck the halls...tuned into fox at 10:53 pm and celebrated the new year in the eastern time zone...the confetti will be with us for much of 2008...the boys loved tossing it everywhere...happy new 2008...

good bye 2007...

spent sunday enjoying the beautiful warm sunny day with the hensons exploring downtown...first we stopped at whole foods to pick up a picnic lunch, then we headed to zilker park, explored barton springs (yes, people were actually swimming), took a mini train ride around the park then hit 6th street downtown for cocktails and french fries...family fun field trip day on the path....this is the stuff the kids remember...

nikki and cooper boarding the train...

gregg and noah sharing a seat...

steve and colin making sounds at zilker...

steve and i smiling for the camera...

downtown austin from our train ride...

waiting for the train in the shade....

barton springs in the background...swimming year round...check a couple more things off the list of activities i wanted to do in 2007...looking forward to more family adventures in 2008...

holiday get-a-way...

spent the day after christmas in our pajamas, finished opening presents from us, building lots of legos and watched appollo 13 in preparation for our houston holiday get-a-way on thursday...
left thursday morning, checked into our hotel, shopped at the galleria, cocktails at the daily grill, swimming in the pool and room service for dinner while watching the longhorns play football...

drove to the houston space center on friday morning (note to self - watching appollo 13 pretrip - good idea), spent the entire day at the museum and only got through half of the attractions before closing time, upgraded our tickets into a family membership for the next year and drove on home...

i think steve and i enjoyed the space center as much as the boys did...totally rich in history...totally awesome in perspective..."failure is not an option" is our new motto around here...peace.

day twenty-five...merry christmas

merry christmas to all...thank you santa for my new digital camera...watch out blog - current daily pictures in 2008...we had a wonderful holiday season...spent christmas eve baking cookies, going to church and playing dirty santa at the hudsons...the blue bowl lives on and duplicates itself/man tools are the new thing/sarahs delicious fig bacon appetizers are the new party-in-your-mouth/nikkis champagne cocktails live-on/reindeer food for all...early to bed "because the earlier we go to bed, the quicker santa can come" per colin...christmas day was more fun for all...spent the morning opening gifts...the afternoon with hosting our dear friends and family on the path...the evening opening more gifts...we are so blessed on this wonderful day...

day twenty-four...merry eve

{ christmas eve 1984 - a visit from santa with ryan.mike.lauren.melanie.jesse & beth }

{christmas eve 1973...rose.tom.matt.paul & steve...edward asleep the photo states on back side}
a beautiful sunny cool day here today...the cookies are baked and HEAVILY frosted by my little elves...the presents are wrapped and under the tree...the fridge is stocked...the champagne is chilling...the stockings are hung...the advent calendars are almost gone...its christmas eve and its my favorite day of the holiday season...now its time to enjoy the day...go to church and celebrate with family and friends - near and far....happy birthday rachael - a special birthday for you on a special day...peace in your merry eve.

day twenty-two....

{christmas 2001...santa visits nursery school with justin and nathan}

today we have some new holiday magnet sentences...i love reading these...i love watching the boys create them...they are growing more excited each day...

santa loves the grinch

the grinch stole the toys and the christmas tree

mommy was kissing santa claus

frosty was drinking hot cocoa and melted

day twenty one...candy cane cookies

these are my new favorite holiday cookie...peppermint candy cane cookies...super easy...super quick...super delicious + now you know what to do with all those candy canes! for the recipe check out elsies blog here ...thanks elsie - i'm adding these to my favorites...mine look a little different but hopefully taste as great. peace.

day twenty...parties.parties and more parties

how many sugar plums are dancing around today?? heres rudolph colin at his party...steve and i stopped by nathans party earlier in the day...its so fun to watch how the boys act/respond in a different environment...we missed justins party but harassed him from the hallway window...schools out now until january 8th...i never remember christmas vacation being that long when i was a kid...peace in your party excitement, sugar high day.

day nineteen...candles and letters

happy bday brandon...lots of little errands today, getting ready for the big cday...colin came home from school today with the following letter:

Dear Santa,

I wot a toolbox

I wot a moove

I wot a gam

I wot a tv for me

I wot a axin figrs (action figures)

Your friend,

Colin

(hummmmmmmmmmmm....two options here - call santa or hit target tomorrow morning...gee, he's only five and i didn't even take him to see santa...not sure how this one will end...keep you posted)...still warm here today - 76 and cloudy...off for cake and ice cream...peace.

day eighteen...one week left

everyone is getting a little excited around here...the boys only have two days left of school...the cards are mailed...the last shipment of presents went out today...only a couple more gifts to wrap...it was a beautiful sunny 72 degree day here today...nikki and i just had to take the boys outside to play before dinner...since we are both from the north, we still are amazed with the weather and enjoy being outside at every opportunity possible...heres to all those last week errands - hopefully in flip-flops! since my list is finally growing smaller, check out this list if you want to check out what was hot in 2007...peace in your growing/shrinking list!

day seventeen...checking that list

nothing like a little starbucks peppermint mocha to help one review the list for today:

1. mail christmas cards on the busiest mail day of the year
2. make sure number one gets done
3. stop at starbucks to reward self after completing task number one.

ok, that list is done for another year....

day sixteen...address, lick & stamp

{photo from our christmas card photo day...december 2007}

today was christmas card day around here...note to self for next year...count the number of cards and envelopes before you start addressing them...i received 50 envelopes from target but only 40 cards...not a problem till you go to stuff those last 10 addressed and stamped envelopes...won't make that mistake again...heres to filling up all those mailboxes this week...peace.

day fifteen...snow, cookies & movies

today was family fun day on the path...we started out with the annual teravista snow day...it was a sunny day but the wind kept the temps in the 50's...perfect to keep the snow around for the afternoon...you can see the snow was quickly replaced with mud by the bottom of the hill but colin didn't seem to mind...

love those blue texas skies as steve gives colin a little push...

nathan showing off his athletic skills...

waiting in line for our turn...

nikki and cooper sharing a sled...

taggert wishing that hill was just a little longer...

after snow day, we all hosed off the mud then headed over to the jones for our second annual cookie decorating party...i believe we ate more cookies than we left with....heres rachael, nikki and sarah watching over the frosting and sprinkles....

here are all the decorators awaiting to frost....

after our kids cookie party, we all went home and hosed off again and changed into our pj's and gathered here for movie night (plus a little surprise birthday party for rachael) here are the kids anxiously awaiting the birthday mom while practicing their cheer....

after cake, games and movies playing in three different rooms, we finished the day with texas poker (and started the next day with some poker too!)...it was a holiday family fun filled day...can't imagine what we are going to do tomorrow to top this day...peace.

day fourteen...cards?

yikes...just received a card from buffalo and it took 6 days to get here!! no time for blogging...must get cards in the mail...ok, its midnight now and thats not going to happen today but we did go to fridays for dinner, played a family game of texas hold'em poker and watched its a wonderful life (i did fall asleep for the last/best half hour - darn) with 1 out of 4 boys...not a bad turnout for the movie...heres to a holiday family fun weekend ahead...peace in your little traditions!

its a wonderful life...

omg...i just went to tape friday night lights on tv tonight (part of friday morning routines...take out trash...figure out how to dvr friday night lights...vacuum...etc) and when i went to the correct time slot, there it was...my favorite holiday movie...its just not christmas without watching it...yes, we own it (on vcr tape) but somehow its not the same watching it standing up in the kitchen at the only working vcr left in our house and probably all of texas...so, what was going to be a regular family fun friday (hanging out in downtown round rock with santa and cocoa) has now turned into a wonderful family fun friday movie night...its beginning to feel a lot like christmas all of the sudden....i am hoping to talk ALL the boys into watching it with me...sometimes that black and white movie thing scares them, but hopefully not tonight...peace in your wonderful something today.

snowmen...

you can tell i found the huge box of pictures marked 'before 2002 - to be sorted'...i started scrapbooking in 2003 and started organizing my pictures at the same time BUT anything prior to that - yikes - its a scary mess...a project that will never get done...looking at this picture, i remember that it was a weekend day (because i came home to find this masterpiece awaiting my reaction), looks like it was before the colin days, looks early in the winter season (october, maybe november), looks like the curtains needed some attention, looks like a fun morning activity - if you enjoy all that white stuff... now, heres my favorite kind of snowmen...

• snowman cupcakes from martha
• snowman shaker from pottery barn
• snowman sweaters from max
• snowman note cards from paper source
• snowmen at night from barnes & noble
• snowman in a box from land of nod
• and this cute texas snowman craft (might have to make this)

peace.

day thirteen...invitations

mailed out our christmas day party invitations this morning...planned our family fun day for this upcoming saturday...planning on working on those christmas cards tonight...lots of writing today...received a cookie decorating party invite today and a christmas eve invite as well...invitations in & out everywhere...justin was home with a nasty cold today...the bus driver gave each of the children a roll of lifesavers today and nathan traded his candy on the bus for a pokemon card "mom, candy only lasts for a couple minutes but this card will last forever.." hard to argue with that...colin has been busy with markers, scissors and glue...another masterpiece in the making...eating chipotle chips all day (leftover from last nights dinner!)...a serious family game of blokus tonight (one of the best family games around - poppa & grandma bought it for justin last christmas and it is STILL a huge hit around here)...lots of projects to finish up tomorrow...lots of cards to finish writing tomorrow...lots of cleaning to catch up on...heres to tomorrow...peace.

day twelve...reflecting

{christmas 1994 - our first house - hoyt street in buffalo}

do you not just love this picture...the camera was balanced on the edge of the pool table in the parlor...yes, i had a pool table in the middle of our house...i moved into a true bachelor pad...love the picture on the wall & the basket of pine cones...not too many ornaments on the tree back then but it was a huge tree - very tall i remember...i bought steve a briefcase that year...do they even make them anymore?? we got a lenox holiday truck ornament from mom & dad that year - hence the start of our collection...i'm sure i could tell you all the details of the holiday season back then because i used to journal everyday/everything (obviously before children) and all those journals are packed away in a box that i refuse to open because i would probably lose two weeks just sitting and reading each and every page...but i know they exist...must be the reason i enjoy blogging all the silly little things of each day...heres to making memories daily...heres to remembering them too...peace.

day eleven....peppermint

{christmas 2001...justin 4 years old & nathan 3 years old...sweaters from ireland at ed and erins wedding in june of 2001}
its all about the peppermint today:

• a little bark here
• some homemade cookies here
• twisted peppermint here
• peppermint kisses here
• peppermint martini here
• warm peppermint hot fudge here
• stopping here for one of these

candy cane wishes to you today...peace.

day ten...checking the list

the to-do list is growing daily....

• christmas cards (write/address/mail)
• ship presents (wrap them/tag them/box them/address them/mail them)
• finish buying a couple presents
• order steves gift (free shipping)
• sent out christmas day invitations
• menu for christmas day
• bake cookies for kids party at the jones on saturday afternoon
• wash china/stock bar/try out cranberry cosmos (any one want to help taste?)
• organize holiday movie night party for this saturday night
• clean out chimney for santa
• see whos on santas naughty list/nice list (hence, classic line from nathan today when justin was doing something wrong.."justin you just got moved from nice to naughty"

heres to today lists growing everywhere...don't forget to breathe and enjoy the candy canes!

day nine...cookies & ribbons

{jamie, mandy, rachael, shannon, sarah, nikki and me - december 2007}
today was our second annual path cookie party hosted again this year by shannon...thanks shannon, another fun girls only event...lots of cookies and champagne punch - the perfect combo...got a big chunk of wrapping done tonight...love the feeling of putting a present under the tree...something magical about it...we had a busy weekend around here...the front door is all decorated with garland and lights (a new tradition for us)...a couple house projects completed (nothing like entertaining to motivate us to do those little things)...i noticed a present under the tree for me tonight (those boys must of been busy while i was at the cookie party)...church this morning...chilis for dinner saturday night then we drove around to look at everyones house all lit up...can't believe theres only 16 more days till christmas...peace in your countdown.

saturday review

holiday magnets are still alive and creating around here...today we have:

santa loves mrs. claus

the grinch was shopping at target

the grinch stole justins eggnog

day eight...birthday wishes

happy birthday rose - hope you enjoy your special day!! gotta love this picture of the sippel children on christmas 1966 (faith somehow found the time to date each picture and often wrote the exact age of each child on the back...sometimes jotting down little comments about the occasion)...note the stockings on the mantel...i not only have steves stocking but each year there was an addition to the sippel family, faith would create a stocking for them on that christmas...there where several years where she was very busy cutting and sewing (ie, 2002 there were 4 grandchildren born that year...colin/willa/daniel/bridget) our handmade stockings are all hung, waiting for santa...hopefully i'll remember to get a couple pictures of the boys under them...love traditions that span generation to generation...love new traditions...heres to yours in 2007...peace

day seven...thinking

just thinking about when i was a kid there was no such thing as a vcr or a dvd or a dvr...you got one chance to watch the grinch and that was it...if you missed it, you had to listen to all the other kids talk about it at school the next day and you had to wait a whole year to see it again...not these days though...we have the joy of watching the grinch over and over and over again...watching his heart grow over and over...watch the boys understand the movie on so many different levels...love the christmas specials as much as the boys do and yes, we watch them when they are on - thats half the fun - but we also dvr them to enjoy them again and again...can't wait to share george baileys movie with them over and over...it is a wonderful life...peace.

day five...decorating

woke up to this sentence on the fridge:

mommy loves daddy and visa

i think i know whos busy at night...today is filled with christmas errands(from mondays list that never got checked off)/regular errands(we still need to eat during this busy season!)/pulling all the christmas boxes out of the garage(the tree has been naked long enough & i can't use the olde letting the branches fall excuse anymore!)/working on the cards & presents that need to be shipped out of town/small little picture project for the bathroom (nothing like a little holiday entertaining to motivate me)/picking out a cookie recipe for our cookie exchange at shannons on sunday (brought santa surprises last year)/printing address labels for cards/thinking about my dirty santa gift so more/buy a new window cleaner thing (thinking about upgrading from the inexpensive one, maybe less streaks?!)...i think thats enough for today...its wednesday & i know my office work should be arriving shortly (probably should buy the ups guy a christmas gift..) so i want to get as much done before it arrives...lets hope i get to that decorating thing, otherwise i'll have to change todays title...peace in just a regular day

day four...holiday word magnet fun

the handmade personalized holiday magnets are a hit...today i woke up to this sentence:

justin was excited to be frosty the singing snowflake.

worth the time creating these, although the project got a lot easier when i mass produced them...the boys keep asking for more words, all very appropriate holiday words...nathans sentence was:

nathan stole the grinchs gingerman.

colin is still working on his...he just realized how this game works...have a feeling i'm going to be reading a lot of new words for him later on...just noticed this sentence also:

mommy loves daddy and drinking champagne

not sure who was that creative cat? haha...

day three...mondays & lists

i've got my holiday list all written, monday chores are completed around here, talked with mom for over an hour, showered and dressed and ready to go, car packed with gifts to be returned or exchanged (hello, my name is carol and i sometimes find a BETTER gift for someone on my list so i careful unwrap the first gift, find the receipt, drive to the store, stand in a long line and return the first gift - therapy after the holidays for sure) and i'm on my way to pottery barn/barnes and noble/target/best buy/hallmark/pier one...its a great day here for shopping - sunny and 65 - i've got the minivan cruising, colbie caillat singing, the holiday to-do list mentally checking off all the things i'm going to accomplish today then the cell phone rings...guess who? "mrs. sippel i have one of your sons in the nurses office with an earache - what would you like me to do?" "perhaps he could try out one of those cute little cots and a blanket for the next 5 hours? i've got just a couple things i'd really like to do..." haha - so shopping monday is now doctors appointment monday and we'll try this list again tomorrow or wednesday...gotta go, i have a better list to tend to...watch movies, play games, read books with a curly colin..happy monday no matter what your list looks like....peace

day two...christmas cards

ok, so every year i wait till 2 weeks before christmas, dress the boys up, shoot a roll of film, have it developed in an hour, decide to do another shoot, repeat all mentioned steps - well, not this year...on NOVEMBER 11th, we dress up, load the camera with film (no memory cards here) and attempt to take the boys pictures...they did not cooperate...they lost video games for a week...they were much more attentive today (hummmmm...can't imagine why?) and i'm sure that they will be telling their children the story someday during their own sippel story time..."i remember one year your grandfather sippel was so upset with us that we lost video games....." anyways, we finished a roll of film and got a couple cute pictures out of it, not to mention some laughs...not sure what steve was doing to make them laugh but i'm pretty sure he didn't want to have a third photo shoot either...heres to sending and receiving holiday cards...a little photo present in the mailbox...peace.

day one...christmas tree

{picture is from december 2006 - our first artifical tree}

december is finally here and i am as excited as the boys are...we had a busy day today, filled with old traditions & a couple new ones too!! steve put up the tree and the train today...we watched the grinch and made paper chains to count down till christmas day...the boys (yes, all three) had so much fun making their chains, hanging them up in their bedrooms & ripping off the very first link...why didn't we every do this before?...with all of this holiday excitement, i had to finish my little magnet project - more to follow when it dries...i love december...i love the holidays...i love the feel of the boys excitement worked into every conversation...peace in your december days...