Smiles All Around

Geoff is always doing something to lighten the load around the house.  Anytime I come home and see the dishes done, the bed made, the garbage taken out or the floor vacuumed I can't help but smile.  The other day, Geoff's sweet little gesture didn't just make me smile, but laugh out loud:

 I sure hope our kid has his sense of humor, then I'm guaranteed to never ever have a dull moment.

Valentine's Day Bliss

I honestly don't know how Geoff does it.  He is CONSTANTLY, and when I say constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY pulling surprises out of his sleeve left and right.  We really didn't make any formal plans for Valentine's Day...life has us pretty swamped with our jobs and teaching Institute.  So I grabbed a few fun breakfast and lunch treats for Geoff and left him some notes to let him know I was thinking about him.  Well, I was at work on the 14th, eating lunch and minding my own business when the teacher's lounge door swings open and in walks this tall, dark, and handsome man all suited up carrying a beautiful bouquet of roses!  Geoff came and personally delivered flowers again--just like he did last year.  He even printed off a cheesy Valentine's Day card to go with it.

I worked late that night and was finally driving home a little after 7:00 when I got a text from Geoff telling me "The gym is a hopping place, I'll run and lift weights and come home after that".  I was a little bummed, even though we didn't make plans I at least wanted to spend some time with him.  So as I was driving home I was thinking of how I could 'gently' encourage him to come home sooner than later.  I pulled up to our place, opened the garage door and there was his car...Geoff REALLY had come straight home from work prepared with

a chicken to roast in the rotisserie 

and had yummy salad in my favorite set of dishes. 

How amazing!  So we enjoyed a DELICIOUS Valentine's day dinner together thanks to my wonderfully thoughtful husband.  Geoff, thanks so much for making everyday extra special and for constantly being extremely thoughtful.  I love you tons and tons.

Baby Woodhouse

That's right, as my previous post mentioned, Geoff and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy.  There aren't many followers on this blog, and if you do read it, this should be old news.  :)  We are due August 18th and look forward to the adventures a little family will bring.

It was fun sharing this news at school this week.  Another co-worker let me know recently that she was pregnant, too, and that we are only a week apart!  We were excited to find out we would be sharing this fun adventure and decided to tell the staff (students and family don't know yet) together.  We wore matching outfits on Monday and at the end of the school day spilled the beans that we were Mom's-to-be--only to find out that ANOTHER teacher is expecting as well and is due a month after us!  So let it be known, if you visit Walnut Hills Elementary, you might think twice before drinking the water.

Marcia and I with our matching outfits...and bumps :)

Tag-A-Long Ice Cream making a comeback

For years I deemed this limited edition ice cream as my very favorite flavor.  For years my mouth would water as February approached and I knew Girl Scout Cookies would be back on the market.  Last year I cannot express the disappointment I felt as I fruitlessly searched store after store after store for Dreyer's incredible "Tag-A-Long" Ice Cream only to find (through Dreyer's very own "Flavor Finder") that it was not being sold within a 100-mile radius of Denver!  I emailed my disappointment, hoping to encourage an overnight shipment to this area, not only did that NOT happen, they didn't even respond to explain their awful decision to not carry it here.  But this year, the disappointment ran even deeper.  They have completely discontinued this precious flavor!  Ah!  Geoff was very in-tune to my despair and came to the rescue.  We took a box of "Tag-A-Long" cookies to Cold Stones and they mixed in the essential ingredients of peanut butter and fudge with these delightful delicacies and brought a huge smile to both of our faces.  (Yes, I truly did share with Geoff!)

But of course, I couldn't let this go by without Dreyer's hearing from me.  So I sent them the following email:

Every year I would wait as patiently as possible for Girl Scout Cookie Season...not necessarily for the cookies, but for Dreyer's amazing "Tag-A-Long" Ice Cream--my all time favorite ice cream.  Yes, the ice cream I had to hide from roommates and stock up on each year.  Last year I wrote (and received no response) with such disappointment that the Denver area was not carrying this amazing flavor...but this year, I was not prepared for the devastating news: DISCONTINUED?  How could this be?  Especially as I'm experiencing my first pregnancy...how can my ice cream taste buds go on?  Please reconsider this decision...preferably within the next nine months.

Sincerely,

Dianne

We'll see if I get a response (and apology) this time...

Catching up with Christmas

I know, this post is almost a month late but here's all the happenings with the first Woodhouse Christmas!  Christmas morning was on a Sunday this year.  We got up early so we could exchange gifts, headed to our 9:00 Church service, and then rushed to the airport to catch our flight to Pittsburgh PA.

Our first Christmas Morning!

We had a great time in Pennsylvania, what a treat it was to be with the ENTIRE Nelson gang!  Mom and Dad were amazing hosts--feeding 21 people every evening and afterwards we would all gather for family devotionals.

Dinner Time!

Geoff only had one request of what he would like to do in the Steel City and that was to experience the 'almost famous' Primanti Brothers coleslaw and french fry sandwich.  Eric, Dean and Andrea, and Janna all piled in the car to join us.  Janna ordered some Cajun fries which appeared pretty spicy, but when we checked in with Janna to make sure she wasn't burning away, she claimed (through her runny nose) that they were just wonderful.

After the restaurant, we headed downtown to experience "The Incline" on Mount Washington.  The sun was shining and gave us a beautiful view of the three rivers.

Panorama of Pittsburgh

A trip home wouldn't be complete without the boys getting their hands dirty.  Dad had some trees that needed to be chopped and Geoff jumped in on the action with everyone else.  (Although, Geoff did not volunteer to lumber jack up any of the trees like the rest of the crazy Nelson brothers did.)  Dad seemed pretty grateful to have all the wood that came from that project.

Janna and I had fun playing games every day.  Scrabble, Kerplunk, Upwords, Connect Four, and Balderdash were all on her list and we enjoyed every one!

Leah watching the exciting action of Connect Four

We were also excited to give Janna a beanbag chair for Christmas this year.  She seemed pretty excited to plop down in once it was all fluffed up!

Janna beached out in her chair

A Family Photo was of course in order.  It truly was a delight to be with the entire clan!

For New Year's Mom made her yummy pizza and fabulous chicken wings and we enjoyed snacking on all the food throughout the night.  I'm very happy to report that Geoff kept his New Year's Resolution to stay up until midnight to bring in 2012.  Last year when I found out Geoff had called it a night at 10:00 on New Year's Eve, I set that resolution for him.  Little did I know then that I would actually be with him when that goal was fulfilled.  Needless to say I was thrilled to be by his side through these wonderful holidays,

and that I finally experienced a New Year's Kiss which was well worth the 32-year wait.

Geoff and I are so excited to see what wonderful experiences 2012 brings.