Happy New Year!

2010 has been an amazing year. We have been so blessed- personally and as a family. We have good health, we live in a great city, neighborhood and home. We have incredible family and friends. Time has flown by and it is hard to believe we start a new year tomorrow. We will all be another year older (I turn 40 this year), we will experience new things, meet new people and prayerfully we will grow wiser and love more!
Tonight we ended the year by gathering with dear friends for a wonderful Chinese feast, laughter and games. We also celebrated the countdown in Times Square at 9pm (New York's midnight). The kids had noise makers and sparkling cider- they thought it was so cool! We didn't get to bed till 10:30pm, but what an incredible day- first a nice walk with my buddy, a great Nerf War and then a fun party!! See you in 2011~

Nerf War- Part Deux

Nerf Bullet Aftermath

After the success of last week's Nerf war, we HAD to have another one. We invited more people and everyone showed up (and then some). We had about 30 people in our house- too many, but such great fun. What a great way to end the year!!

The girls are ready!

The boys are ready too!

The Krusiewicz family are set!

Lunch time- the dad are taking a break!

kids too~

Christina and me (with yummy salads)

Puzzle Fun

My sweet mother in love gave me a 500 piece puzzle for Christmas- I love puzzles. I actually get a little obsessed. Once I start, I cannot stop. This one was of Washington DC- showing all the monuments and different political factions through out history. I started it late on Sunday night and finished it this morning. Although I did most of it myself- Dan couldn't resist helping me at the very end.

Family Christmas- Part 3

The Crout Family 2010

This afternoon we went to Dan's mom's home for a fabulous dinner and lots of gift giving and receiving. We were a small group this year- Dan, Me, Ryan, Jason, Nathan, Mary and Uncle Steve. Mary makes her tasty Enchiladas and we have beans and rice, salad and apple pie and cookies for dessert. You had to role us out of there afterward.

Sweet Brothers!

As is tradition, the boys spent the night and got to play with their toys there longer, enjoy some time alone with grandma Mary and Uncle Steve. Dan, Ryan and I headed home and crashed- we were exhausted after a full day (heck, a full week). Nighty Night and Merry Christmas again.

Mary and Nathan

Jason loves his pillow pet from Grandma!!

Family Christmas- Part 2

Merry Christmas!! I feel like I have been preparing for this day for so long. I am so glad it is here. What was even better was that the boys all slept in while I got breakfast ready and even when they came down, they didn't run to the tree looking for presents. We had prepared them that we were giving more than receiving. There were plenty of special little things for them under the tree, but they weren't desperate to get there- we just hung out, had a nice breakfast and played. My dad and brother also joined us for breakfast, gift opening and Wii playing!A feast fit for the King!

Uncle Mike got the boys Mouse Trap- fun!!

Grandpa and Nathan

Grandpa, Jason and Melissa

Mike and Dan- Wii fun!!

Say Cheese Boys!

I have taken some random pictures of the boys in the last week that I want to share. Their smiles warm my heart!

Nathan (7), Ryan (18), Jason (5)

Finally- The Crouts have a Wii !!!

Okay, so we are a few years behind, but let's just say that we REALLY appreciate this gift and have already enjoyed it thoroughly. Ryan was home one day from school and came up to me telling me he really wanted to get the Wii for the family. I was so touched by his generous thought and I jumped on board to help him get it for everyone. Now, he couldn't get it all on his own and he wanted me to go in on it- it turned out that my sweet Uncle had given each boy a $50 gift card to Target and Dan and I had both received smaller gift cards from people at work. So, with all the gift cards put together, a great sale on the Wii system and Ryan's great contribution- we purchased a Wii for the family.

The boys playing together!

We opened it today so that Ryan could enjoy it with us before he headed to his mom's for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It was really nice getting to focus on one present that everyone could enjoy together. We spent way too many hours playing yesterday and are all tuckered out from it.

Even after Dan, the boys and I went to church and to a friend's house for dinner and put the kids to bed (at 10pm-too late)- Dan and I started playing again. Right now we have Wii Sport and Wii Resort. There are so many fun games to do on it and all of our little "Mii's" are running around doing cool sports!!

Names of Jesus

In lieu of an Advent Calendar, this year the boys and I studied the different names of Jesus. Each day we would write a different name on a star and hang it around our special "palm" tree.
Again, this tree represents that this is a year of giving. Honestly, it is the first of many years of giving. We, The Crout Family, are embracing a new way to celebrate Christmas. We are trying to take out the consumerism of the holiday and get back to celebrating Christ's birth by worshiping Him fully, spending less and giving more. Now, this being our first year- I would say we did pretty good, but I personally aspire to more next year.

Here are some names that refer to Jesus in the Bible: Alpha & Omega, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Jehovah, Creator, Light of the World, Unspeakable Gift, Christ, Good Shepard, Star, The Word, Servant, King, The Rock, Son of David, Saviour, Shiloh, Brother, Friend, Jesus, God!

Blast from the Past

Nathan and Jason received the 100th Anniversary Erector Set from Grammy- we're talking 610 pieces (YIKES)! Although it seems overwhelming, Nathan has successfully built two things (with the help of mom and dad). The Erector set is the next in line of things Nathan has gotten to build with- he has used Legos, Knex and now we have this classic building set- hey, it is 100 years old!!

The first structure was a tram (complete with skis)


The second was a spinning robot whose arms rise up as it twirls!

Nerf Gun Fun

Really? 30 Nerf guns! Who does that craziness??

Now that Ryan is home we had a Nerf Gun War. We had a pretty good turn out too. Although I was present to feed people and make sure everyone was happy and taking breaks- I didn't participate much. From 1 to 5pm- our house was a battle zone of fun, chaos and plastic darts flying through the air. so much fun!!

Dan prepping the guns and house for war

The boys hiding out

Team one getting ready for battle

Liam and Nathan ready to fight

Aiden, Laurel and Jason-

taking a break in the "safe zone" room

LASIK- Modern Day Miracle

Seconds after procedure- Me & Dr. Tooma

Yesterday I had Custom Lasik surgery on both of my eyes. I CAN SEE!! I have wanted to do this for over 11 years and I finally got to do it. I got glasses when I was 5 years old and contacts when I was 9. For 34 years I have been blind without corrective lenses and I can now see. It isn't perfect and will take a week to a few months to finalize, but the doctor said I am seeing 20/20 (I was 20/1,000 before the procedure).

I had to wear my glasses for 2 weeks prior to the procedure and had 2 pre-op appointments. I checked in at 3pm on Monday and waited for my turn (what a business this clinic does- maybe 20 to 30 patients a day). I got tested one last time, got my post-op instructions, took some Zanax to relax and then went in for the procedure. After the procedure Dan took me home while I kept my eyes closed as much as possible. I ate some dinner and went to sleep for the night- Done and done!!

Pre-Op waiting for the Zanax to kick in!

Post-Op, have to keep my eyes shut till the next day-
I got to wear these cute eye shields so my eyes don't get rubbed wrong- so cute!!

All done- 20/20 baby!!

Family Christmas- Part 1

Aunt Desi, Jason and Gidget

Today we gathered at my mom's for our family Christmas. My side of the family is so big and everyone has their spouses family's to attend on Christmas Eve and Day that we gather a few days ahead of time.
Although my family all lives in Orange County, I am sad to say that we don't get together as often as I would like. As the kids have gotten older- they have grown closer and that is my favorite thing to watch- the cousins bonding, playing, laughing and growing up together~ PRICELESS!!

Jason and Gidget- say "cheese"

Ryan, Kalika and Gracie- so grown up!!

Nathan and Gidget- love those cookies!