Beados and New Years Eve - 365/365

Today Jim had to work pretty much a full day, which stunk. They weren't busy at all, but he used it as a chance to get caught up on some other stuff. 

Reagan and I spent the entire day doing BEADOS! The entire day! She absolutely fell in love creating all kinds of animals and mermaids! She had an absolute blast. She barely needed my help either. She was a Beado expert in about 10 minutes. It was so cute watching her do her little creations. We had a fun day. 

This evening, the three of us were meeting Nana and Papa for an early New Year's Eve dinner at Tippy. They had the tables decked out with beads, blowers, hats and crowns for people to wear. Reagan made all of us wear our beads and hats. LOL! Reagan's "boyfriend" at Tippy wanted to make her place setting extra special for her, so he placed a sign that said " Reserved for Ragan." Reagan was so excited to have her own special sign, but immediately noticed that he spelled her name wrong. We tried to explain to her that someone tried to do something nice for her and she should be grateful. Hopefully, that lesson stuck. It was too funny though, she noticed it right away. 

Reagan was also pumped because she had one of the best cheese bowls she's ever had at Tippy. Whom ever was the cheese bowl chef that night, needed a raise! LOL! The food was awesome and the company, too! We had a great time. 

We were home and in pj's by eight and settled in to watch the coverage. Reagan passed right out and Jim and I actually made it to see the ball drop. I think we were in bed and sleeping by 12:05 though. 

We flipped around and watched all the different stations coverage. One of the funniest moments was when Kathy Griffen dyed Anderson Coopers hair red, white and blue. She had him close his eyes and she rubbed two sticks on his head. When he opened his eyes, he was quite shocked. She told him that if he was mad, that he hated America. It was too funny! He was a pretty good sport about it. 

LOL! We're so old! 

It was another great day! 

Reagan and her first Beado creation!

 Working hard on her mermaid!

 A few of her creations. 

Reagan's place setting. 

 Us after dinner at Tippy

 Reagan, Nana and Papa. 

Anderson Cooper's hair! LOL! 

Nana Play Day - 364/365

Today, was a catch up on chores day for me while Jim was at work. 

Reagan went to spend some time with Nana today. 

They played princesses, and everything in between. They had a great time!

This afternoon, Nana had to take Rascal to the vet for a check-up. He had been wheezing a bit in the last couple weeks, so she wanted to get him checked out. Reagan helped Nana get his carrier all cleaned up for his ride. She loved helping out!

Turns out, he had a little upper respiratory infection. He got an antibiotic shot and some pills and should be good as new in a couple days! YAY!

Reagan and her princess parade!

Cleaning the cat carrier!

Game Exchange, YSU Game - 363/365

Today, Reagan, Nana and I were going to take back one of her LeapTV games. She ended up with two Bubble Guppies games, so Nana was going to exchange her's for Reagan for a different one. 

We went to the Walmart in Boardman and the line was crazy! They guy was super nice though and hooked us up with an exchange. 

We went back to the games and she jumped on the Dora game. We hadn't seen that one at all during our Christmas shopping, so she was pretty excited. She wanted to go right home and play it!

This evening when Jim got home, he and Reagan were going to go meet Grandma and Papa Greg at the YSU woman's basketball game. Jim said Reagan was really good and was pretty into it most of the time. They got to sit in the second row behind the bench, so that was fun. Sean and Barb were there, so it was nice for them to get to visit, too!

The girls team ended up beating the Akron Zips 75-62!

Reagan enjoying her new game!

 Jim, Reagan, Grandma and Papa Greg at the YSU game. 

Gift Exchange Day - 362/365

Today we were able to finally do our gift exchange with Nana and Papa. We like to keep that one separate, so this was the first chance we could do it. They came over around 11, so we could do the gift exchange and then everyone would be able to watch the Browns' final game. 

We had a great time opening all our presents! I got a Disney Pandora necklace and a Mickey Mouse Cruise necklace!! YAY! I was so excited! I got a few other things for taking pictures and a cool little printer for my iPhone!

Jim got a new Browns shirt, Disney gift cards, a gift card for a suit, and some more pairs of his FAVORITE pants! 

Reagan got tons of fun stuff. She got an adorable pair of Uggs, lots of new Legos, art stuff, dolls and one of her favorite things was a Beado Machine. She couldn't wait to try that out! She made out like a bandit. She was so excited!

We had a great morning with Nana and Papa. 

After they left, we settled in to watch the game. The game was awful and a typical way for the Browns to end the season. Manziel started and did awful, Hoyer came in and wasn't great but we caught up a little bit. He then got hurt, so Conner Shaw came into finish the game. He actually didn't do too bad for being a rookie. He looked better than Johnny Football. They ended up losing 20-10. There is always next year....

While we watched the game, Reagan did lots of artwork with her new dot markers. She had a blast with them. 

This evening, we were playing with my selfie remote for the iPhone. It is so fun! You can stand your phone up and click a picture while you stand way back with a remote. That will be so handy! Love it!

Great day!

Reagan and her Anna and Elsa Animators dolls!

 Reagan, Papa, and his special "Papa Pop" ornament! 

 Playing with the selfie remote! 

 Reagan doing some dot art!

Friends, Family and a Christmas Party - 361/365

We had another busy day today!

Jim went and met some of his college friends at the Lanai Lounge in Boardman for lunch. A lot of them were home for the holidays, so they always try to get together. They had a great time chatting and reminiscing! He always likes to see his buddies. 

While he was doing that, Reagan and I had lunch with Nana, Pam, Zach and Gina. Zach and Gina came home for the evening to see some family up here. They were going to hang out at Nana's tonight, but we had plans to go up to Matt and Nikki's so they came up a little early to have lunch and to see us. It was so nice! We had a fun lunch at Inner Circle. 

This evening, we were off to Amherst for our annual cousin's Christmas Party. We rotate between our house, Nikki's and Adrienne's. This year it was Nikki's turn. 

She had an awesome spread of Chicken Parmesan, Salad and Wedding Soup. The rest of us brought other things. We brought a pepperoni roll and wings from Inner Circle and Adrienne brought the dessert. Sarah and Brian were there, too, so it was great to see them!

The kids had a blast running around. They girls were loving playing dress up. It was too cute! 

We buy gifts for the kids and then we do a funny $10.00 gift exchange for the adults. Jim and I ended up with wine and a lottery ticket. We really wanted to steal Nikki's Spaceship Earth mug that Adrienne bought, since we allow stealing in our exchange, but we were nice and let her keep it! 

Reagan got an Elsa singing doll that she just loves. It sings Let it Go in English and in other languages. It's so funny, but she absolutely loves when it sings in the other languages! She also got another one of Matt's hand drawn masterpieces. He did a special Anna and Elsa one for her. She just loves it and wants to bring it to her party!

Matt was so sweet and got Jim a special present just for him. He picked him up some Bernie Beer. It's Bernie Kosar's own beer he came out with. Jim loved his special present!

When we got home, some of Jim's friends had reconvened downtown for a little bit, with some of the ones that couldn't make it to lunch. We got home and he was still feeling awake, so he met them for a little bit. He had a great night!

We had a great day!

Jim and all his college friends.

 The princesses hugging!

 Jim and Matt having a Bernie Beer.

Niki and her Spaceship Earth mug. 

 Reagan opening her Elsa doll. 

Lunch with Pam, Raymond's Party - 360/365

Today, we were all sleepy and recovering from the Christmas craziness! We all slept in! It was nice. Jim did have to go off to work for a little bit today. They weren't going to be busy at all, but since the market was open, they needed to be there. 
Nana, Pam and I decided to go to lunch at LaRocca's, just to get out a little bit. It was nice and we had a fun time.
This evening, Reagan was going to have a slumber party at Grandma and Papa Greg's house. She was so excited. Reagan and Papa Greg got to spend a little bit of special time together while, Grandma went to visit Great Grandma Roupe. They had a nice evening together.
While she was over there, we went to Raymond and Jennifer's annual Christmas party. They always have it decorated so nice, with TONS of food! We always have a great time! My favorite part is always Jenny's yummy punch. Jim's favorite part is the video games! LOL!
Good times!
Reagan ready for lunch!

Reagan coloring at lunch. 

The Zabel crew at the party!

Funny faces...at least for some of us!

Christmas Day - 359/365

Christmas Day! 

Finally, the day for all the work and craziness. is here! 

We had a great morning opening presents with Reagan. Every year it gets even more fun!

For our main presents....Jim finally got his own iPad Air! He was stoked! I got my much anticipated Disney Parks Pandora Bracelet with a couple charms! I love it!

Reagan got a huge amount of stuff! Disney dolls, Lalaloopsies, games, all kinds of fun stuff. Right now, her favorite thing is probably her LeapTV. It's like a Wii for the little ones. Grandma got her a few games, as did we, so she was set this morning! She jumped right in and started playing! It actually puts her on the screen for certain things, so she LOVED that!

We had a great morning!

This afternoon, we went over to Nana and Papa's! The crowd was much smaller this year. The Downard side couldn't come up this year. It's sad that they are all getting so old. We missed them! 

But, Ed, Pam, Ray, Jenny and the rest of us were there. We had a yummy dinner of filet with all the yummy sides! 

After dinner, we started our marathon gift exchange! It takes forever, but is SO FUN! We each open a present one at a time and listen to the story and show it off. It's the best! This year it took four hours and 15 minutes! We do take breaks to get food and snacks. We actually did a shot of fireball this year! CHEERS! LOL! 

Reagan did great during the four hours and was a great little Santa! She did knock over my red wine on Nana's beige carpet, but we were able to get it up! Thank goodness!

I got a present from Brian Hoyer this year, which was really cool. Except when I opened it, it had two wrapped presents inside. One for Nana and one for Pam. Even though I was his intended receiver, Pam and Nana intercepted my present. BOOO! I got nothing in the end! LOL! What a hoot!

Aunt Pam knits these really cool ponchos. At the end of the night, she let Jenny, Nana and I pick one out! They are too cute!

Even the guys got in on the poncho wearing action!

What a fun Christmas day!

Brinkley and his Christmas bone!

                                                  

Me and my kiddos!

Jim and Reagan opening a present!

Reagan and her haul of presents that she got so far from us, Santa, Grandma and Aunt Adrienne!

Playing her new LeapTV!

Our little family at Nana's!

 Reagan atop of Mount Zabel Gift Exchange!

 The Zabel clan!

 Fireball!

 My present from Brian Hoyer. 

Ponchos!

Christmas Eve! - 358/365

Christmas Eve! Time sure flies!

Today, Reagan and I spent the day cleaning and getting everything ready for Christmas Morning. 

Jim only had to work a half day, which was nice!

This evening, we were heading over to Jim's mom and dad's for our dinner and gift exchange with them. 

We started with a yummy dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, yams, and veggies. So good! We were all stuffed!!! 

After that, we headed into the living room for our gift exchange. The kids were SO excited!!! Everyone got some wonderful presents! The girls both got a Frozen Karaoke Machine. Even got a Planes Bike. The adults got lots of fun gift cards. 

Grandma and Papa loves the personalized gifts. We made Papa Greg a YSU Penguin plate. The penguins were Reagan's feet prints. It was adorable! We made Jim's mom a photo blanket of our trip to the Outer Banks! She loved it! 

Everyone had a great time!

When we got home, we put out our cookies and milk for Santa. She even counted out carrots for each reindeer. Too funny! On Eppie's last night, we let Reagan hug and kiss him. She actually started crying that he was leaving us. It was so precious and sad, all at the same time.  

She can't wait for him to come back next year!

It was a fabulous Christmas Eve!

 Jim getting in some cuddles with the kiddos.

Three little sweeties!

 Reagan showing Papa Greg how she made his plate.

 Counting carrots for the reindeer!

Ready! Someone already nibbled some...LOL!

 Eppie the Elf kisses!

Brinkley's Holiday Hair, Reagan and Papa - 357/365

Reagan was going to spend the day with Nana, so I could run a few last minute Christmas errands. 

They played all day and Reagan just loved it. This evening, they went to dinner at Tippy and did some dancing, which Reagan just loves!

I dropped Brinkley off at his holiday beauty appointment, hit a few stores, then picked him up! He looks beautiful and smells so good! We just love when he's all fluffed up! 

Today, he also got his first Bark Box from Nana and Papa. Jim and I got Dexter a three month subscription last year for Christmas, and they just loved it. I asked Nana to get it for Brinkley this year, so we could give it a go. The first one came and it was so cute. It had Christmas coal dog treats, apple treats, three toys and a bandanna. It was ADORABLE! We can't wait for the next one!

Jim had a good but very slow day at work. 

Good day for everyone!

Brinkley's holiday hair!

Bark Box!

Papa and Reagan heading out to Tippy!