Whew, what a week!

This past week sure was busy, but loads of fun. It's great to have such wonderful friends and family that keep us busy while Jason is away. It makes the days go much faster that's for sure. Here is a brief recap (and to explain why I haven't had any time to blog) of our week:
Monday - Jojo had practice til 4:30, then we rushed home to eat dinner. We were meeting some friends at their house to celebrate their daughters birthday. Jojo missed her party when she had the sickies. It's comforting to get together with this family because the husband is an apprentice lineman so we understand each other very well. The kids all get along really well and it was nice to hear the giggles from all of them.
Tuesday - these are my late days to babysit and then we have to rush to tumbling. We will get the week off between Christmas and New Years, so I'm really looking forward to that break.
Wednesday - Since Jason's sister is doing Christmas Eve festivities this year, I decided to get in touch with Jason's cousins to see if we could all meet up before the holidays. Jen suggested Pizza Hut and I was able to see everyone all at one time. Since my family is so small, it's so nice that Jason's family has accepted me from the get go and we always have such a great time together. The kids really enjoyed the buffet and being able to go get as much pizza as they wanted.
Thursday - we met my Mom at the mall so that we could go see Disney's Christmas Carol in 3D. She got the kids their own Christmas Carol books and we really had a nice time. Jakey wasn't too sure about the movie and spent most of it on my lap without his 3D glasses on. Although on the way home he did say "I think I kinda liked that movie." The best quote from my Mom about the movie was "I felt like I was in the middle of the snowstorm, the snowflakes were all around me!" The 3D effects were truly amazing!
Friday - A few years back my brothers and I decided we didn't need to exchange gifts with each other, we'd just meet up for dinner and games around the holidays. This year my youngest brother agreed to host the party so that we could enjoy a movie on his big screen down in his man-cave. The menu was Mexican, complete with chicken salsa black bean tacos/burritos, corn cake and margaritas. The movie of the night was Star Trek. Now I'm not a big Sci-fi person at all and I never really got into the Star Trek movies or tv shows, but this movie was really good. It didn't help that Captain James T. Kirk was verrrrrrrrrrrrry nice to look at. My brother did a great job setting up the basement, we were all comfy and cozy. Even my SIL was a trooper and sat through the whole movie.
Saturday - A few of the cheerleaders on Jojo's squad decided to do a little gift exchange so I asked them all to come to our house for pizza, games, and to exchange the gifts. Let me just say that the squealing and giggling could have shattered glass! lol One of the girls has an older brother so him and Jakey exchanged their gifts and hung out together. We had pizza and then the girls took turns playing a High School Musical game on the Wii. It was nice to sit with the other Moms and form a good friendship. We'll all be together year round, so it's important to me to form these friendships and let Jojo see that I have just as much fun as she does.
We also had bowling that night and I'm happy to report that I was tied with my youngest brother for one whole frame (and no it wasn't the first frame. lol). I had a pretty good night bowling, so I hope that trend continues. It's much more fun to bowl well.
Sunday - we went to visit our neighbor who moved to Waterville. It was so nice to see her new condo and meet her sister from Texas. We miss her very much, but I'm so happy that she's close to all her girls now and she seems very happy. She spoiled the kids and even gave Jakey a toy that Roger had gotten him before he passed away. It brought a tear to my eye and I hope it's something that Jakey cherishes as he gets older. I did manage to stop at the cemetery to see Roger, I still cannot believe that he's gone :( Both kids got gift cards, so we are going to save those til after Christmas so that they can get something that they may have wanted, but didn't get, for Christmas.
We were able to squeeze in some quick phone calls to Jason during these busy days, he's doing well - getting super excited to be coming home. He found out that they'll start working 7 days a week after their break, so we have lots of plans to do a whole bunch of nothing while he's home! lol He'd rather work 7 days if he has to be so far from home...his philosophy is to make as much money and work as much as he can while he's gone. It probably helps the days go faster and keep his mind focused on something other than missing home. We only have a few more rings on our chain left til he gets home!!! I hope these next couple of days go quickly.
Jojo will be done with school on Tuesday, so we are planning on doing some baking on her first day off. I only have one batch of cookies done, I've really got to get more done. I'm running out of days.
I hope everyone else is getting things accomplished so that you will have lots of time to spend with family during the holidays.