Weise's World

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

We had a great time over the holidays and we hope you did too! Spending time with family and friends is always great!

We spent Christmas Eve here together, very low-key and nice. First present Christian opened up was at 4:30 in the afternoon, something he can play with for a while - some more Hex Bugs and tracks. I made dinner, nothing special since Christian doesn't appreciate the finer foods yet and it didn't make sense to make a stink just for me. After dinner we continued to open presents and while he liked all of his presents, the big hit of the night (of course) was his Nintendo 3DS - I earned a great big hug and thank you for that one!

Christmas morning we woke up to a visit for Mr. Claus... Lots of nice stuff for us, but the big deal in the morning was the Elf on the Shelf that made an apperance. He stayed around until New Years, changing locations almost every night, but is now gone. I'm guessing he'll be back next year making an appearance before Christmas to find out what Christian wants! Afterwards we went to grandmas with the rest of the family, opened up a bunch more presents and had a great dinner.

We stayed up past midnight on New Years Eve celebrating at the Estelitas, a good time visiting with everyone with yummy fondue for dinner!

We hope everyone has a great 2012!!
 

Steven Weise

02 January 2012

This past weekend was a busy one... Grandma and Grandpa made it up and one tradition we have is to go on a Christmas Lights tour. We start here in Folsom, then head over to Dovewood Court where we park and walk the court --- much better than driving if the weather permits it!! Next up was Pebble Dr in the Stanford Ranch area and we always finish the night at Leatherby's!! Yum!!

Saturday was the return of my Christmas Party after a couple years of not having it. This year I've been organized and ahead of the eight ball with everything and I felt good about having the party and everything worked out fantastic! Had about 30 here, did the kids gift exchange and adult gift exchange and everyone had a blast! Christian received a bathtub Crayola set, something he's been wanting to get again as he had one a long time ago but I haven't bought anything new since. I picked up a birdhouse --- okay, okay, I stole it! Pauline received it, but I wanted it 

Sunday we got together with friends and the kids exchanged gifts.

The other noteworthy part of the season. When I became a landlord it was obviously to make money, afterall it is an investment. But I also had decided that I didn't want to be a money grubbing landlord. I decided many months ago that come the Christmas season that I would give both houses a $100 rent credit in January 2012. This would allow them to pososibly spend more on gifts or other holiday related items... Today I heard back from the property manager with a comment from one of the tenants --- makes me feel good - "That is so cool... Would please send our sincere appreciation to the owner. We prayed to God so that He would help us financially and this came right on time."

Steven Weise

22 December 2011

Wow, has it really been a couple of weeks since I've updated anything! Well, it is the season... Busy, busy, busy!!

I'm well-prepared though. Interior, exterior and tree decorated... 98% of gifts purchased, 75% are even wrapped. Cards are in the mail. Party invite is out. We're ready to have fun!!

And the fun has started. Several years ago we went on the Polar Express Train Ride and it was a fun trip. The past couple of years I've been trying to get tickets, but they sell out --- well, instantly. The California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) pre-sells tickets to members first (in limited quantities) so when it comes to selling tickets to the public they are almost always gone. I'm guessing there isn't a lot of time before Christian stops hearing that bell ring so I REALLY wanted to go this year --- so I became a member of the CSRM Foundation earlier in the year just so I can get some tickets and it worked!! I bought my allotment of 10 tickets, invited friends and we had a great time! Definitely worth it!


  


 

Steven Weise

14 December 2011

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and gave thanks where due. We had a great time with everyone coming over to our house for dinner. The menu consisted of:
 
For Thanksgiving Breakfast mom made Swedish Pancakes and for the first time Christian ate them the traditional way, with apple sauce and lingonberries (cranberries)!!
  
Then for dinner -  
Soup - Italian Sausage and Spinach
Salad - Butter lettuce with Creamy Garlic and fresh herb dressing
Bread - Pillsbury Rolls

Turkey - nothing special, just convection roasted
Garlic-Basil Mashed Potato Bake 
Italian Sausage and Spinach Rice Stuffing
Roasted Carrots and Aspargus with garlic and onions served in a puffed pastry
Cranberries
Gravy

And the next morning we had
Lingonberry Jam Cake
Omlettes (Spinach/Onion and Cheese)
Sausage
Fruit
Toast
OJ

Everything turned out fantastic!! We also took a family picture near the pond (Jedi did not cooperate)...

  

Steven Weise

25 November 2011

Sometimes it feels like we're pregnant, but that is not it... Christian has completed his first trimester of second grade and WOW what a trimester it has been!

I was telling Christian all along that I've been excited to sit down with his teacher (Mrs. Gateley) and talk to her about how things are going! His attitude at home has been great, he's doing his homework, his reading has improved so much, all signs pointed to a great progress report!

And I was right... He's always been good with his math and continues to be. Reading, great improvements! His AR score is now sitting at 4.4 (4th month of 4th grade). Awesome! He managed to get at grade level by the time he ended first grade (2.0) so for him to be at 4.4 now is amazing! Spelling he's been doing great on (his teacher said the whole class has been doing good and she is now giving them 3rd grade words to spell).

The biggest surprise, though, came in Citizenship!! Outstanding and good across the board! His teacher tries to focus on Citizenship in the beginning and it really pays dividends. I'm so proud of the work he is doing, a night and day difference this year!

Steven Weise

21 November 2011