Christmas Recap

Our Christmas celebration kicked off Friday Dec 19 with class parties where Brielle was wrapped as a reindeer mummy and Blake performed the Christmas songs he has so diligently practiced while Brady was a "bystander" to the events. After a festive weekend the new week started with a surprise visit from an elf who came while we were sleeping and left the kids gift certificates to the Brewery (they are fascinated by factories), a visit to the Magic House (per Brielle "mom, this isn't really magical!"), a visit to the Science Center accompianed by our favorite Ms Rachel and Ms Andi!, dinner on the landing at the Spaghetti Factory and a night stay in a hotel which ended up having an indoor/ outdoor pool that the kids were able to swim outdoors while never leaving the indoor pool. Everyone was in the best of spirits and it was really a great couple of days away. I need to write the elf a thank you so maybe he will make this a tradition!!! We got back home Tuesday afternoon just in time for another of Blake's indoor games- I must say that he is quite the athlete!! We came home and made Christmas cookies for Santa and read our Christmas books before snuggling in for a long winters nap before Santa arrived Christmas Eve morning. Their list was answered by Santa with new bikes, football clets, a doll certificate and trucks. I was surprised to see a card from Santa to Brielle that told her with his own voice to go to the doll store to adopt her baby- Thanks Darren-it was a hit!! At the doll store Nurse Nancy weighed and measured the doll and Brielle was excited to hear that she was 19 inches long with her response of "MOM SHE IS 19 INCHES LONG!!" with much enthusiasm. She filled out the required paperwork, had her picture taken for the wall and picked out an outfit before leaving the store with our new addition Elizabeth Gracie! We ended Christmas Eve with church and dinner at Schulte Nannys. Christmas Day was spent at Black Nanny's with Aunt Kim and Uncle John and family. The weather was awesome and we were able to let the kids ride their bikes and take a walk before driving around to look at Christmas lights and carol at the Fishers- quite a show ah!! Today is a day of relaxation after an awesome 5:30 am workout and a shopping spree- hope to get the house cleaned and read a couple more pages of my book!! Hope you all are enjoying yourself!!

Saturday was a soccer game where Blake was a star with a goal, a playdate with Aidan and a visit with Santa at Fitness Plus.

So lets chat about this visit with Santa. When we arrived there was only 1 other child that was about 1 year old. Therefore Brielle and Blake had Santas ear for all of their questions that ranged from where were they reindeer while Santa was visiting with them to what were the elves doing and if he brought any with him. Poor Santa- I really hope he got paid well for his visit with the kids this morning- he earned it. When the kids were not quizzing Santa they were decorating cookies, making a list for Santa, making ornaments and placemats. Finally more children arrived and Heather and her crew arrived about 1 hour late- but we won't talk about that slacker!!

Afterwards I was one of the smart people in the post office waiting for stamps- i really wish someone would have given me the heads up that Christmas is next week and everyone is as the post office this time of year!!!

We came home and had a nutrious lunch of leftover dominos pizza and popcorn!! And then the crew went to playing and I cleaned up after them until a SHRILL came from the basement and hear them screaming that it is raining in the basement and then i hear brielle say that it is raining on my scrapbooks- agh!!! Thankfully we were able to get everything out of the way, contact a handyman and have the garbage disposal replaced all today- AMEN! But get this- you are not suppossed to put lots of food down the drain nor should you put spaghetti, rice, potato skins, macaroni or grease residue down the drain!!- what is it good for then????

A week at a glance

The snow began Monday at 2pm- it was so pretty- big white snowflakes. Unfortunately it was short lived and was followed by sleet which made the day not so pretty. I decided to stay at work until Brad could come and get the boys so that I would not have to drive so far in the ice only to come back to Cape to watch Brielle in the Nutcracker. Brielle was out of school on Tuesday and was able to be my teacher assistant for the day- I really wish I could pull her from her school and just teach her the trade of teaching preschool- she would be a scholar- she is pretty much the boss of my colleg girls already :) Anyways- she enjoyed the day and at nap Brad came by- since he was out of school also- and picked up Brielle and Blake to take them for ice cream and then home for a playdate. Tuesday night Brad, Gram and I went to watch the Nutcracker production again- what an experience to see your child on the stage with professionals!! I told Brad this is equivalent to watching Blake or Brady play with the NFL! When we left the show it was icing again- it took us 3 tries to make it up the driveway- I am surprised that a friend of mine did not have the video camera set to record the event!! Needless to say Brad and Brielle was out of school again on Wednesday. Brad drove us to school and he went into the office for a short time before going home to fold all of my clothes- what an awesome husband! Heather's son Parker was able to hang with Brielle and Blake for a bit at school before Heather collected the three of them to go to her work for a while- thanks Heather- they had fun!! Thursday came and went and Friday was a whirlwind between Christmas parties at school and a flat tire that leaded to needing a new tire (on the tire without a warranty- go figure!!) 4 wheels realigned and balanced, tire rotation, and a new battery- Merry Christmas to ME!! (thank goodness I had bought my awesome new camera the day before or someone may have tried to pull that one over on me!!!) Friday night I babysat my aunts foster children and played with the kiddos!! and

Where does the time go?

I can't believe that today is Dec 16 and the last time I posted was November- oh my gosh where has the time gone? I keep saying that I will post "tomorrow" and then something else comes up. The next excuse is for my camera to cooperate- well I am no longer waiting for time or cameras so here goes:
1. Brady had tubes and adenoids on Dec 4- he recovered quickly and has not smiled so much in the past 2 years!!
2. "The Girls" participated in LFCS Home Tour and had a blast and enjoyed lunch at the Gordonville Grill- mark it on the calendar for next year girls!
3. Blake played his first indoor soccer game for the year!
4. Brielle has practiced, practiced, practiced and then performed in the Russian Moscow Nutcracker Ballet- what a princess she was!
5. Heather and her crew shared in some Snowman Soup and cookies
6. I ran a 5K in the Jingle Bell Run for Arhritis at Fitness Plus and my awesome husband ran right next to me!!!! And I finished while still running- yeah me!!

All this fun along with day to day happenings has made for great memories. Thanks for checking in and don't forget to post!! (The more you post the more I will share :)

Thankful!!

On this last day of November and before we get into Christmas I want to list a few of the things I have to be thankful for this year:
1. An awesome husband who is the best dad!!
2. My awesome children!!
3. My awesome friends!!(both near and far- even though they don't know how to use a phone!!)
4. The opportunity to move back to Jackson!!
5. An awesome group of girls to work with everyday!!
6. My house!!
7. And all the small things that makes my life a happy place to be!!
8. Our good health
9. ??
10.And an awesome home day today!!
I had the opportunity to clean and reorganize the playroom to my children's likeing. We went back and forth deciding what and where we should put things and what we need to donate to charity. I offered up my 8 foot scrapbooking table for them to do their crafts on and Brielle said that she did not agree with that idea- I asked her why and she said because it would take longer to clean up- agh. She was absolutely against it. I gave it some thought and then made an executive decision and made the 8ft table their craft table. Uhm at 8:00 I was dragging both of them off the table away from their paintings to get them to go to bed for the night! Sometimes moms do know best!!
While I was creating their space my awesome husband was rearranging furniture to make me a scrapbook haven- the only thing I am missing is a shelving unit to house some of my stuff on (oh wait- my parents are out of town and I think they have the perfect shelving unit in their basement- thanks mom and dad!!)! So girls- just tell when is good for you and lets plan a scrapbook night!!

Home Tour

The decorating was in full force today and we have everything except the snowbabies tree done. This time a year Brad's anticipation of Better Homes and Gardens coming to the house to take pictures rubs off on me. I always try to re-enact one of the homes that the magazines showcases. I even have professionals such as the Barb Collins Decorators Inc come to put the finishing touches on my tree. This year I tried to practice what I am typically preaching and let my children have full reign of the tree decorations. They had a blast and really did do a good job- it just doesn't look like the ones on the cover of the magazines this year (not sure it ever really has- just like to think that is where some of my talents lay :) But I got to thinking that there will come a time when I will wish they were still adding their imperfections to the tree so while they are little and want to personalize my tree I will let them and will enjoy it.

Black Friday

While many crazy people fought crowds at the stores not realizing that most of them are open every day out of the year we began our Christmas traditions with a trip to the Tree Farm where we picked out the perfect tree. While we were there we were able to see Santa and give him our wish list!! While we were out and about we went ahead and raided my parents Christmas decor (sorry mom- that is what you get for being away for the holidays) and began decorating as soon as we got home. The tree found a home in the kitchen where a table is yet to go- perfect I guess since you now can see the tree from the family room or the kitchen- make sure we get the money and joy out of the tree while it is up :) The village was next to find a home. After decorating the big kids went out to ride their bikes and Brady helped rake the leaves. Later Brielle and I headed to Sikeston for Shelby's beauty party where they had a chance to have big girls fix their hair, paint their nails and have a pedicure- oh my is she only 7 :) While driving to Sikeston I asked Brielle if she missed the drive back and forth to Cape- she said yes- I was surprised. She also expressed missing her house in Sikeston. Well it wasn't 5 minutes later and Brielle asked if we were almost to Sikeston and how much longer would it be- hmmm?? Brielle do you really miss this drive- instant response- NO! (lol)

Thanksgiving Feast

We spent the day with Brad's family at our house. We had a beautiful day to spend together while we ate and ate and ate and everyone enjoyed visiting indoors and out. The highlight of the day though was the food- as you can see from the pictures!!! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and had some time to reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for!!

Fun in the kitchen

Brielle, Blake and Brady enjoyed creating pilgrims hats with cookies, marshmallows and chocolate although I am not certain if more were eaten during the process of creating than were able to make it to the final product. But as many of us know- it is the process not the product- I hope I am able to explain this to everyone who is counting on the kids bringing snacks to their feast day tomorrow :) Maybe Brielle and Blake can expand their vocabulary while explaining to their peers what they tasted like :)
Tonight they created Pumpkin Mousse- Brady and Brielle thought it was a hit while Blake came up with 100 reasons why not to finish his snack!

New found talent...

I was invited to go scrapbook Friday night but ended up making picture frames instead. I am so excited. I think everyone I know will be receiving these fancy picture frames for the holidays!!!

Family

F- Friends forever
A- Amazing
M- Memories
I- Incredibles
L- Love forever
Y- You all are all mine!!!

We spent the weekend staying busy as usual. Friday was swim team, Saturday Brad and Blake and friends went to the Jackson playoffs and watched a winning game and then everyone came back to the house for dinner and the Mizzou Tiger game. I took Brielle and Brady to CapeArt Mart to see the baby dolls and the trains- they each fell in love with their respective interests. Brielle is now insisting on another Lee Middleton Doll from Santa... time will tell. Later on Saturday Brielle's friend Emma L. stopped by to visit and ended up spending the night- what fun it is to have small children around- if only I could put all the giggles in a jar to save!!! Sunday brought church and a Daisy dinner at church for all of the girls and their families. We had a special visit from Fr Xavier. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping with Brielle and Brady while Brad and Blake mowed the lawn. Brielle wrapped up her day with another Nutcracker practice- the day for the performance will be here before you know it.
The weekend ended with an early morning call from Gram that baby Presley Kate had safely arrived at 10:08 Sunday night. She is 8lb 2oz and 22" long. Janna and Travis seemed overly joyed with their new arrival- congrats!!!

GIANT OVERSIGHT

I totally forgot to mention what an awesome husband I have and an awesome daddy he is to our kids!!! Brad defiantly earned super dad points while I was away for 4 days and 3 nights. Wednesday he took the kids to swim team and stepped in as tooth fairy for Brielle's second front tooth in a week that is lost; Thursday he jumped on the trampoline with them and played outside and Friday he offered to take them bowling and ended up taking all three by himself and feeding them at the bowling alley and then they picked out The Cat in the Hat at the movie store and came home for a quite night. He started to take them to the park Saturday morning and ended up at the Estes for playtime before a nap and my arrival- Thanks Brad- you made being away very stressfree for everyone- i love you!!!

What a beautiful day!!

We slept in today and then enjoyed the outdoors with Anna and Gabe Estes. We took a hike, they played on the trampoline and came in for some WikiStik fun! We topped the night off with dinner with the Estes family- What a blessed day we had!!!

NAEYC Conference/ Dinner Auction

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I left home Wednesday morning to meet Julie Ray, and Colie Humphrey - (a previous student worker) to head to St Louis to catch our plane to Dallas. 9 of us ended up being from SEMO in our group one not mentioned thus far is Hayley Bucheit who was a previous student worker of mine. We arrived in Dallas at dinner time and enjoyed a meal at a rooftop dinner- wouln't recommend besides the awesome atmosphere the food was not cold and took forever to get to our table.

Our sessions started first thing Thursday morning and lasted until 5- we stayed busy learning new stuff and topped our evening off with all of us enjoying a great Mexican dinner and then some band entertainment!

Friday was about the same although I was able to get more free goodies from the vendors in the exhibit hall today. The college girls enjoyed some time on the town without us old ladies- (haha who am i kidding- old- never!!!). So Sharon and I waited in our room for Julie to come back from her late meeting that was suppossed to be done by 5- we waited and waited and finally hear from her at 6:30- she was seeing the sights on the shuttle bus- just a little confusion but we all met up and went out for an awesome steak dinner!!

I left early Saturday to catch the plane home so I could go to the St Vincent dinner auction. Thankfully I was home by 2:30- had a couple hours with my kiddos before the babysitter came over and we headed out for a couples night on the town. We met up with Julie Kelly and her husband and watched everyone spend their money :)

Happy Awesome Halloween

Some of the Party Animals

Diva's

The Boys!

Girlfriends

Gram

What an awesome Halloween had by all! We have been blessed with awesome friends, awesome food and best of all awesome weather!!! We were all able to visit outside while the children played and it was fabulous! The evening started with trick or treating and ended with playing in the yard with the trampoline, soccer/football, the air jumper and the awesome haunted trail that Brad made up for the kids- how much fun!! Thanks Brad!! I think everyone will sleep good tonight!! Enjoy the pictures and I will try to get a slide show up soon!!

My beautiful little girl with her natural color glasses- PINK!!

Brielle got her glasses on Sunday. She could not wait to get them and now on day 3 of having them dreads putting them on- go figure!!

It seems like there is magic in the glasses though- she has become an avid reader over night- Thank God!!! She finds anyone who will listen and reads them a book. Tonight Brady was her pupil as she read him "Swing, Swing, Swing". Hope this love for books continues!!

A blessed day with Friends

Charles R. Swindoll: Quotes: Friendship-I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

The day began with taking 5 little people to the Homcoming Parade. We gathered on Broadway in front of the Marquette Building to take part in an ADPi sorority reunion. It was awesome to see old friends. The kids loved the parade and gathered enough candy to feed the needy!

We went home for a fun filled day of playdates. They enjoyed playing the woods (thanks brad for making the trail), riding the gator and the infamous game of kickball.

As I was leaving the driveway to run to the store for spooky halloween snacks I see my friend Chandler (or rather Amy now that her son's name is Chandler!) and her husband and visited with them for a bit before my other friend Amy and her children Taylor, Ty and Tori stopped to say hi!

We ended the day with an awesome Halloween party at the Fisher's. Just a little intimidating now to have mine. Thank goodness Heather can't come- I won't feel as much pressure to match her entertainment!