Let it Snow!

Snow time again ... here are my little worker bees, clearing the driveway ... and a few still pics too. Rosie, our 10 year old Husky-Collie dog, loves to "snowplow" with her nose as you can see!

And Even More Christmas!

We spent the weekend with Mitch's family celebrating Christmas the Scott Family style ... always an adventure when there are 16 of us at my in-laws house. Thank goodness they have room for us!

Here are a few shots ... the grandparents with their 8 grandchildren, the madness begins with stocking surprises, and TJ and Abby modeling a few of their new gifts ... a big lego boat and Nike warm-up suit for TJ, and a tea party table and dishes for Abby, along with a new Tinkerbell swim suit, sandals and beach bag! She's ready to go to Destin NOW and use it! HA

Where are the Christmas Pics?

Hmmm, I guess I forgot to post them! Santa was verrrrry good to the Scott kids. Drew got a new car stereo and speakers, TJ got the remote control boat he has been begging for all year, and Abby got her first big bicycle. And so much other loot it's a sin. Then we get to do Christmas all over again this Saturday with the extended Scott family. Where are we going to put this stuff?

Our 25th Anniversary!

25 years ago today, Mitch and I were married. We started dating in high school, and by our wedding day had been dating 7 years. We were engaged the summer after Mitch graduated from college and took his first job at the bank in Tremont, and before I started my senior year of college. We thought I would probably finish college before we got married, but then my student teaching assignment came in for Pekin, just six miles from Tremont ... and so we pushed up the date so that we could be married on semester break; after my finals and before my student teaching began.

My parents had divorced just a couple of years before and we just didn't have the chance for the big wedding that all of our friends had. So we paid for our own wedding and didn't have a lot to spend just fresh out of college ... we had a simple ceremony that cost about $500 total. A borrowed dress, Mitch in a suit and not a tux, church poinsettias for altar flowers, a friend's dad took pics, and a cake and punch reception. But most importantly we were married, and we drove to FL for a honeymoon ... the first of many beach vacations to come.

We lived in Tremont a few years and then Lisa's job relocated to St. Louis. After a decade in St. Louis, Tremont bank called Mitch to come back, and we made the move.

Meanwhile, other life milestones continued in a 7's pattern for us. Drew was born in 1989, the year we celebrated our 7th anniversary. We were married 14 years when we found out TJ would be coming along. And 7 days after our 21st anniversary ... we left for China on our journey to meet Abby. I'm looking forward to our 28th year, but I think Mitch is a little bit scared! :-)

Much change has occurred since we walked down the aisle in 1982, and there have been good times and even some not-so-good times in life and marriage. But our experiences have made us who we are as people, as a couple, and as a family. I'm glad we have had the chance to experience it all, and I look forward to many years to come.

Mama's 11 Days of Christmas!

Let the fun begin! Mama is off for the next 11 days to enjoy her time at home with the kids! Lots to fit into that time, including getting ready for Santa, hearing Drew sing on Christmas Eve, an always fun Christmas morning, our 25th wedding anniversary on the 26th, family Christmas with the Scott's in Canton on the 29th-30th, New Year's Eve and New Years Day. And I'm sure I forgot something! Here's my to do list that doesn't include a 40-hour work week on top of it!

Mama's 11 days of Christmas is full of fun you'll see ...
Eleven days to be home,
Ten gifts that need wrapped,
Nine loads of laundry,
Eight rooms to vacuum,
Seven people for Christmas Eve dinner,
Six sleds a sliding,
Five mouths to feed!
Four gallons of milk,
Three hungry pets,
Two wired kids,
And a teenager sleeping until 3!

Merry Christmas!!

Dashing through the snow ...

TJ and Abby had a great time sledding down a small hill on the side of our house today ... hard to recognize the princess all bundled in an old (but warm) coat of TJ's, but she's in there!

7-8 Inches of Frosty Fun!

I'm guessing on the snowfall piled up on the patio table from my nice warm kitchen, but it looks like about that to me.

Winter Wonderland!

We waited for the snowiest day to go to the Christmas Tree Farm ... and we picked a good one! Lots of fun tromping through the frosty stuff to find the perfect tree this morning! Enjoy the slide show!

The Tremont Trio -- Elfed!

Did this last year with Abby's pic and it was too funny to resist putting the whole gang in action this year!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1379866252

THS Madrigal Dinner

Last night was the final performance of the Madrigal Dinner, and it was very special to see the kids and also King Drew! They put in many hours of rehearsal and preparation for the event, and it was great to see a full house of about 200 people despite the freezing rain and ice!

The after-show cast party was held at our neighbors, so it was great that Drew was not on the road ... but we also didn't want the other kids on the road, so we invited all of the boys to stay at our house overnight and the girls stayed with our neighbors. It was a late night for them and they had lots of fun ... and there were bodies strewn everywhere in our house this morning, kids on couches and couch cushions on the floor for makeshift beds ... but a good time had by all. Their cars were pretty icy and several had to work at even getting their doors open, but Mitch helped them with the window scraping and all were on their way home safely by about 10am.

I can't believe this was Drew's last high school production ... it has been wonderful to watch him in various events over the years, and I will miss that part of having a high school student in the house!

We Loved Negril!

Our trip was so wonderful and so relaxing ... and so warm it was hard to come home to snow! HA

We stayed at the Riu Tropical Bay in Negril, and it is definitely on the list of our most-loved places to vacation. A very beautiful resort on a calm and turquoise crescent shaped beach. There was lots to do, but we chose to spend most of our time soaking up the sun in our lounge chairs. It was great to have a few days to relax and celebrate our upcoming 25th anniversary.

The Riu staff was incredible, and we really enjoyed getting to meet some of the people of Jamaica. They are hard working and kind, and made sure our stay was as comfortable and enjoyable as they could. There were several resorts on our beach area but the whole place was very laid back and relaxing. We wandered down the beach to another Riu property where we had exchange privileges for the all inclusive services, and we stopped at some tents/shops of locals selling their goods. Wandering down the other direction, we came upon a nude beach where people were really, ahem ... letting it *all* hang out. Back to our beach!

Each night we enjoyed a great dinner and then a show put on by the Riu staff. The last night's show was similar to a Lion King story, and really neat. Our room was very nice and the grounds of the Riu were beautiful.

Our trip home was a bit longer than we anticipated due to mechanical problems with our plane out of Negril ... so American Airlines had to put us up for an extra night in Chicago on the way home. We arrived home Friday morning instead of Thursday night, and came home to (yuck!) a couple of inches of snow on the ground. But for as nice as our time in Negril was, it's really hard to complain about the trip!

There is a photo show here of our trip, and lots of beautiful pictures. We will have lots of great memories from our anniversary trip, and we look forward to returning to Negril sometime soon.

http://www.photoshow.net/tremontscotts/2007_travel

Trip Time!

We leave early Sunday morning (Dec 2) for our trip to Negril, Jamaica to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary! So there will be a brief intermission here while I sun myself on a lounger and enjoy some fruity beverages with paper umbrellas!

We are staying at the Riu Tropical Bay. Negril is famous for its laid back attitude and gorgeous sunsets, and I am ready for it all!

We're back Thursday night with all the details to come!

Congrats, Drew!

We found out today that Drew was named to the Honors Chorus, which is selected by the Illinois Music Educators Association. This is the 2nd consecutive year he has earned that designation, and it means he will perform with the Honors Chorus during the IMEA Convention. Honors Chorus represents approximately the top 2% of voices in the state as determined from vocal scores at tryouts a few weeks ago. He received the highest vocal score in the District, and will be part of the IMEA All State Concert in Peoria in February ... on my birthday. I can't think of a better gift for mom than to see her guy sing with the best high school vocalists in Illinois!

Four Years Ago Today!

Four years ago today was one of the happiest days of my life ... equal to the day my two sons were known to me, and the day I was married ... it was the day we received Abby's referral and finally knew we had a daughter!

I waited for the call all morning. One of the families in our group got her call, and then it was over an hour before our phone rang. But it finally did.

My hand shook as I wrote down the information. Girl. Guo Kui Yan. Born January 24, 2003. She's 9 mos old! Zhuzhou Children's Social Welfare Institute, Zhuzhou City, Hunan.

Now today she's sitting on the family room floor in her cute little princess pj's and sorting through the Halloween candy that is still left but she's not allowed to eat at 9:30 in the morning.

Enjoy the slide show of the first 3 pics we saw of Abby, taken when she was about 5 months old ... compared with 3 recent pics. That little baldy has grown a beautiful mane!

Happy Halloween!

Our little goblins had a great time today and tonight ... Abby's pre-k class went trick-or-treating to a nearby nursing home, and as soon as I got home tonight, the kids were chomping at the bit to get in costume and get the candy hunt underway! It ended up being a nice evening and we stayed out for quite awhile. Enjoy our photo show of the pumpkins we carved last night ... Abby had a blast with that, and even Calvin (the cat) got into his costume for a picture. Can't really see it ... but the boys bought him a green polo shirt! :-)

Visit to Carthage College

The boys didn't have school on Friday so Mitch and I took the day off work and we drove up to Kenosha, WI for a campus visit at Carthage College. It was about a 4 hour drive, and it was a pretty day ... nice to visit on a day when classes were in session as we toured buildings and we had a chance to interact with some faculty from the Music Department.

It is a beautiful campus, and sits on the shore of Lake Michigan. Lots of nice facilities and dorm rooms that are lakefront views. We had an orientation, then a student took a small group of us around campus for about an hour-long tour of all the buildings. The music classes are held in a building adjacent to the chapel and it looks like a lot of opportunities exist in Music Education right now ... as we have been told at other college visits, Music Ed is a teacher shortage area, and the odds of getting a teaching job when completing a degree are good. The Music Dept at Carthage told us they place 100% of their students at graduation and have a few more job openings for students to interview for than they have students to interview.

We have an interesting family connection to the school ... Drew's great-grandparents both went to Carthage College in the mid-1920's when it was located in Carthage, IL. There are still some places where Carthage, IL is recognized on the new campus after it moved to WI in the 1960's ... including the name of the school, some memorial plaques, and the "kissing rock" which was moved from IL to WI when the school moved.

We spent the night in Kenosha and checked out a bit of the city, then when driving back today we stopped in Lake Geneva for lunch. We had a neat encounter with an Asian woman who ran a shop there ... she had some items from China that drew me in and while I was purchasing something, Abby took a liking to a fancy hair scrunchie and showed it to me, telling me how pretty it was. The lady asked if Abby was Chinese and if she was adopted, and we talked a bit. As we were leaving the store she ran after us and gave the scrunchie to Abby as a gift. It was a sweet gesture, and I think she enjoyed seeing Abby and talking a bit about her adoption and our trip to China.

Drew now has 2 great schools where he has been accepted (Carthage College and Eureka College) and will have some interesting things to think about as he prepares to enter the next phase of life after high school ...

Pumpkin Patch Time!

I took the kids to a local pumpkin farm today ... hard to believe we were out there on Oct 20 in short sleeves on a sunny, 82 degree day! It was very windy, though, as you can tell from Abby's hair in all the pics! We had lots of fun and picked out 4 big pumpkins for carving. Each kiddo picked out just the perfect one for their own, and mom picked out one too! After that we went to meet Mitch at the boat to help him finish winterizing and getting the boat ready to be put away for the winter. Seemed more like a day to go boating than to be putting it away ... but surely this nice weather has to give way to fall SOON!

New Pics of Abby

Jenny of Simply Charming Photography took these great shots of Abby yesterday at daycare ... it looks like Abby had as much fun as Jenny did!

Ready for the Dance!

THS Homecoming!

Drew has had a fun homecoming week, and it has been fun to tag along as the parent of a senior!

After working on the senior float all week and helping decorate the gym for tonight's dance ... it was time for Drew to have some fun. Thursday evening was the community pep rally, and all seniors participating in fall sports and activities were recognized. Drew was recognized for his particpation in marching band, madrigals and student council. We were called out onto the field during one of his introductions and the kids were given the mic to announce their parents, talk about how long they had been involved with the sport/activity, and what their future plans were. I actually got through it with no mama tears (ha) ... and then after he handed off the mic to the next person, he turned and gave me a flower and a hug. Mama was still doing good until he said "Aren't you going to cry?" and then mama didn't do so good. HA

After those recognitions, the homecoming court was introduced. It was so special to hear his introduction and see him join a small group of his peers for the court. He was not named king, but it was still a very special thing to see him involved with.

Friday afternoon was the homecoming parade, and Drew got to ride perched in the back of his car, chauffered by dad, for the court. Their senior float won first place in the parade and it was really neat. TJ and Abby loved the way it was "raining" candy. There is always a lot of candy thrown, but I have never seen as much as this year! The kids filled up the big bowl I use to serve Halloween candy, and then some.

Friday night was the game, and Drew's last time to be part of the THS marching band. I watched the halftime show and enjoyed it, instead of watching it through the camera lens as usual. But I did do a quick digital camera video of the very end of the halftime show, with the school song. It's so hard to believe that we won't see Drew out there anymore in the Turks uniform. It has been a great experience for him.

Drew was out the door at 8am this morning to finish dance preparations for student council. Tonight is the dance, and he is going with a group of friends. Their homecoming theme is a Hollywood type thing, so parents are invited to the school as the kids are arriving for the dance and our role is that of the paparazzi ... so I may have some pics of that later.

Overall, a fun week and one of very special memories for Drew!

(Drew's final time on the field as a THS band member!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtoUsmgRfWo

Happy 18th Birthday, Drew!

We had a fun day on the river celebrating Drew's 18th birthday with a couple of his friends on Saturday ... it was hot and good to be moving! TJ and Abby really enjoyed having the girls around. After the boat ride we had a nice Chinese dinner. Fun day with the kids and so hard to believe Drew is 18!

He has a big week now with homecoming activities, and he spent a lot of time helping TJ with a geography project for school ... more pics to come!