Winter Update... with a lot of random venting...beware

So it's still winter outside, at least I think it is. It's certainly been cold if you count the crazy windchill but still I think we've maybe had a grand total of a foot of snow this year... maybe... and it certainly hasn't seemed like that much because it's mostly been what would be considered a mild drizzle if it was rain. Oh yeah and then there was the week in January where it felt like Spring for sure and it actually got warm enough where we couldn't go out on the pond. Alicia was both excited and devastated by this.

I've been really bad about posting lately. College began taking it's toll on me last semester. All the "free time" I thought I would enjoy with only watching one kid was soon replaced with the need to be a playmate to a two-year old who is perhaps the most stead-fast and sure kid I have ever met - not one deviation from what he wants is accepted right now I'm not so sure this is a good thing - the poor kid can't accept variation of his plans easily for example last night(the extremely condensed version)...
"I want Indi Joe"
"I don't know where he is hunny. "
"I want Indi Joe!"
"I think you just had him, why don't you go look for him."
"WANT INDI JOE!!!!"
"Maybe Indiana Jones is sleeping, why don't you go to sleep and we'll find him in the morning?" "NO, INDI JOE!!!"
"I know hunny, I'm sorry" at last Ryan falls asleep... not to be outdone though wakes up at 4 A.M. and comes and looks for me (not an unusual thing ::sigh:: sleep oh glorious sleep why do you evade me!)
"Mommy, where Indi Joe! Need Indi Joe"
"I know hunny. ::rolls back over::"
"Indi Joe?!"
"::trying not to growl at him:: It's still sleepy time hunny"
"::sobbing:: Indi Joe!!!"
"Ry, it's either cuddling with Mommy or going back to bed, no Indi Joe, so quiet please."
"::whimpering softly:: Indi Joe?"

I'm trying to convince myself that in the long run is self-assuredness will be a good thing... although strangely the one thing that does seem to have an effect on him when he gets like this is Alicia acting like a puppy or kitty.

So anyways, between trying to not feel neglectful towards Ryan and running Alicia back and forth from school life has definitely kept me busy. This term promises quite a bit of writing as well as stretching my academic skills and brain in ways that I'm not sure I'm all too comfortable with. My mentor (personal adviser) e-mailed me back at the beginning of December if I had thought about grad school yet or moving forward with the teaching certificates and stuff I'll need. I still haven't replied because that was just about the time I reached my breaking point where I was wondering if graduation was possible at all. Actually I'm still not sure it's possible.

Okay so that's not true, at least not this week, beginning of last week however I came close to trying to find a hole somewhere and play ostrich but this week has been better. Slow but fairly steady improvement. I know if I can make it through these next two terms it'll be worthwhile and then I get to take a long break and take care of some of the other stuff I've been dying to do like work on my writing, sewing, and scrapbooking, gardening, and knitting, and cooking and all that creative stuff that makes me happy. Who knows I might even take time to read a book just for fun or actually get my house clean for once! Hopefully my kids will forgive me when they're older. Anyways, not so sure how much blogging I'll get done over the next few months. But I'll do my best. The kids are still growing like crazy and despite their craziness they can overwhelm my best defenses with their hugs and kisses.

On a side note Alicia was just cast as young Belle in the school production of Beauty and the Beast. I had to laugh, she's always been my little Bella - my beauty inside and out as it goes. Thankfully I'm not sure yet that she realizes that she's playing the princess even if it is a younger version of the princess. She's already umm... not lacking in self-confidence, we'll have to see how it goes though, rehearsals are going to make for long days after school. I'd kinda been looking forward to using that extra time. I should have known better. As soon as the letter was sent home asking what help parents can be all my theatre days came back to me and I said of course I'll help.

Ostrom Adventures 2009

10. Deb starting and maintaining a blog for a whole year.
9. Ryan delving into the world of terrible 2's.
8. Alicia completely out of diapers.
7. Starting the new year with Kathy, Walt, Kortney, Kayla, and Robert in VA.
6. Deb completing another 5 courses at ESC leaving only 3 more till graduation.
5. Driving down to TN and back this summer to see Grandma and Grandpa Burlington.
4. Mark doing the animation for a local t.v. commercial.
3. Mark graduating from ESC.
2. Alicia beginning Kindergarten.
1. Surviving another year full of ups and downs and craziness - mostly thanks to our loving friends and family. Thanks to everyone who has done so much for us. It was truly a year of great growth for our family and we have been greatly blessed.

Starting off the New Year on the Right Foot

Okay so after sleeping in quite a bit on New Year's Day we decided to take advantage of the cold of winter and headed out to the pond. This was no ordinary trip to the pond however... with some diligence we got a section cleaned off of the snow that had fallen on New Year's Eve Day and Alicia proceeded with her very first ice-skating lesson.

Daddy (of course) was the one to teach her.

After a little while though she felt pretty confident scooting around on her own.

After we got some more ice cleared Mark and I put on skates as well. Mark showed us all up... naturally... while I made Alicia feel much better about herself but proving that falling is okay. After all... the idea of walking on water is still just a bit scary for this Florida girl.


Ryan announced loudly the injustice of Sissy having skates while he didn't. In a classic Ryan move I all the sudden noticed he had disappeared so I went looking around for him. When I got close to the house I heard a cry for help coming from the garage. My instant worry was that he had gone inside and gotten hurt. I should have known better. He had gone on a very specific mission - find Daddy's rollerblades. He did and he had them on his feet and the cry for help was simply that he couldn't figure out how to get up on them and make it out to the pond so he could skate too. He was absolutely furious that I took them off and wanted to put his boots back on him. He actually kicked so much that I couldn't so I took him and left him in the green house next to the pond where we could keep an eye on him and he could play with all of his toys in there. No go... in his socks he came crashing to us through the snow. ::sigh:: he survived but you'll also notice in the picture he refused to wear his hat or gloves... something fairly common for him even when we're outside for a while. I think he believes we should be living somewhere much warmer than VT. (on a side note as he's watching me put the picture of him up here he looks at it and says "Ryan so sad". )

Holiday Joys

So in all the usual craziness of the holiday season with the added benefits of school not ending until the 23rd of December for all of us... Christmas ended up being a very small, quiet affair without any pictures. Christmas Eve morning we drove over to Saratoga to Grandma and Grandpa Ostrom's (and of course Uncle Matt's). Mostly we just enjoyed getting a chance to relax and enjoy the time with family. We watched some movies, made a movie, and of course had a nice Christmas morning opening presents. Thankfully the kids haven't gotten too grabby and crabby about the "I wants" yet and were content to eat breakfast first - a tradition from Christmas with my grandmother Burlington. They both got lots of stuff to enjoy including a remote control car for Ryan, movies for both of them, a new My Little Pony for Alicia's collection, lego sets for both of them, and flashlights - these guys are obsessed with all of the above anyways so it was great!

The holiday fun doesn't stop with Christmas around here though. Every year some friends of ours have a combined Christmas/New Year's Eve Day celebration that allows for the rest of the holidays to be spent not feeling conflicting obligations. We've kind of become extended family so New Year's Eve day we went and had another round of presents and excitement there.

Kind of fuzzy but Ryan was enjoying playing with one of his new planes

Alicia playing with her light up ball... she was quite thrilled at having a second Christmas and more stuff!

Presents were followed by a great game of dodgeball that everyone enjoyed (even me although I was the party crasher hanging out on my computer trying desparately to finish up my final paper for one of my classes... a week late...)

I love that both Ryan and Mark are in the air in this one.

Alicia was right in there playing hard.

Go for it Zed!

When we got back home we took the kids outside and shot of some fire works and let them play with sparklers.


Ryan gave out at about 10:30. Alicia made it to midnight. I think the best comment of the evening was from the newly 9 year old as we were all toasting the new year with our sparkling cider... "Global warming was so last year." He always cracks me up!

Choo Choo!!!

Sadly on Saturday morning following Thanksgiving we all drove Kathy down to the Saratoga Train Station so she could head back home to her own family. About a year ago the kids had their first experiences with the metro when we went to see Kathy's family in Virginia. This was their first real train station though. We weren't sure if we would be able to pry Ryan away without a multitude of tears.

The kids had a great time looking around enjoying their last few minutes with Aunt Kathy while we were waiting.

The big moment of arrival!

"Bye bye train..." says Ryan reluctantly. I'm still not sure what made him the saddest - seeing the train go, seeing Aunt Kathy go, or seeing Aunt Kathy go on the train without him. My guess is that it was probably a little of all of it. As a surprise the tears that came were actually from Alicia who was only consoled by the promise of somehow seeing Aunt Kathy again soon.

Hunting for Horses

The day after Thanksgiving we bid a sad farewell to Uncle Dan and Aunt Jan as they drove west trying to beat a storm out of town. Thankfully Aunt Kathy had a great idea for the day. Saratoga, made famous for its race-track has horse statues scattered throughout the town. We decided to play tourist and see how many horses (and other excitements we could find).

"Babel Horse"

This was the first horse we stopped to see. I think it was my favorite. Meets all of my basic requirements simplicity of design and makes you think a bit.

"Giddyup"

Alicia's favorite horse, I think she liked all of the sparking mirror tiles used in the mosaic.

"Saratoga Horse"

Horse in front of "The Olde Bryan Inn"

Somehow I missed getting this one's name. I think we were just enjoying the aroma from the restaurant a little too much - definitely going to have to stop there sometime and try it out.

"Magic"

Horse in front of Starbucks

This was Mark's favorite horse. I don't think had a name however and as you can see it's a little different than the others with the platform as well as just being a more traditional statue. Still wondering what it's story is. Once again however, I got Matt picking it's nose - it was a joke from the first horse when we found cobwebs in a nostril - after that they all received similar treatment.

"Comic Relief" - dedicated to Robin Williams honoring his work for the homeless

This one was definitely Ryan's favorite. He immediately decided that it was going to get a shower of kisses. Alicia liked this one second best according to the report.

Obviously this wasn't one of "the" horses but despite Alicia's expression she really liked it and enjoyed getting to see some of the Christmas decorations that were going up.

Okay, so I'm a little biased but how can you resist snuggly cuteness! You may notice a conspicuous absence of Ryan in the following pictures - it's because soon after this he'd had enough (okay we'd had enough of him) and he got to ride out the rest of the trek in his stroller.


There's a store there - I think it's called something like Gee Wilikers. Anyways, if I've ever seen a store that I thought would come close to Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium this is it - at least from what I've seen in the the displays, I haven't dared take the kids inside! When we first drove in Wednesday night we were blinded by the lights from these displays. There are actually four winder wonderlands in all that they had put up - The Sweets, The Nutcracker, Winter Forest, and Santa's Shop - they were all just too cute.

"The Realtor" - M.I.A. or MagicallyInvisible?

"Where's the horse?" Alicia wonders. Possibly moved inside for the winter but we certainly couldn't find it so perhaps this horse knows a special trick.

This horse also wasn't one of the "real" horses but still oh so cute with it's scarf wrap. Amazingly I was able to walk by the store without going in to drool.

"Aslan, is that you?"

The last horse we found. Sadly it was inside for the winter and we couldn't get in to see it better. That still didn't stop us from getting our pictures or Matt from once again attempting to pick its nose.

Thanks again to Kathy for the great idea. It was so much fun. Hopefully we'll get to go back this summer and see if we can find any more.

A Time for Thanks

So unfortunately school work seems to considerably cutting into my creative time this year and we didn't really get to do much ourselves for Thanksgiving - I had some great ideas that at most ended up half way completed and set aside for next year. Still, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

Thanksgiving here began about a week before when Alicia's school hosted parents to come and eat lunch with their children. I've got to say it was an interesting experience once again walking through a lunch line and sitting down at the long bench tables. The school had really worked hard to make it a special day with special clothes on the table and the principle even taking his turn as "chef". The kids were all so sweet. In Alicia's class they had learned two songs that they sang for us and they had all made the cutest pilgrim collars and hats for the occasion as well as special placemats that were laminated so they could be brought home. Oh and they had made cute turkey centerpieces with pine cones and feathers but Ryan threw such a fit when we had to leave the school without sissy that the turkey didn't survive.
The next week was spent in the turmoil of papers, cleaning, and packing. After almost having a nervous breakdown on Tuesday about all there was that I needed to do I decided to just relax and enjoy the many blessings in my life. Wednesday Mark got off of work a little early and we drove over to NY to spend time with Mark's family. In addition to Grandma and Grandpa Ostrom and Uncle Matt, Uncle Dan and Aunt Jan were in from Colorado and Aunt Kathy was up from Virginia. Alicia was a little upset when she found out that none of her cousins would be there but had a blast with the attention from all of the grown ups while Ryan attempted to hide lego men in all corners of the house so as to make sure that his presence there would not soon be forgotten.

That night, I made my addition to the meal by making my first pumpkin pies. After much consideration I decided just to try Libby's Original Recipe and I think it wound up really pretty yummy (best of all I actually could eat it without having any bad reactions to the sugar!)

The following day was a perfect Thanksgiving (excepting of course the family and friends who weren't with us) the whole day the kitchen was full of the most delicious smells from Kathy and Jan. While we waited with mounting anticipation we decide to enjoy the nice weather and go for a walk in the woods.
When we got back inside the four siblings began a game of Cranium while I tried to at least convince myself that I was being productive in my school work and Jan patiently kept tending to the turkey. After much torturing patience we were definitely appreciative of the end result...


The turkey, oyster stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauces, gravy, and pumpkin pies left us all with delightfully full stomachs (except perhaps for Ryan who gave up about 20 minutes before it was ready and decided to sleep through it all). I've got to say here how impressed I was by my two wonderful sisters-in-law who pulled off this incredible feast.

All in all, I've got to say that I can't imagine being more blessed than we are.