Another year bites the dust

It's New Years Eve which means that you have one of three things planned.

1.  You are making plans have been coordinating the evening for weeks.  What will you wear, who will be there, which bar/restaurant will you attend?

2.  Family night.  Typically with a few other families.  What games will you play, what food will you bring, which house will you all gather at?

3.  It's just another night.  You will stay in and if you make it until midnight- cool.  If not- no big deal.

For us New Year's Eve is a family night.  We get together with the Bustas, Sumners, and Boerbooms.

I am still getting over this sickness and for the past few days Tammy has not been feeling well either.

We both decide to rest all day until it's time to go.

When we got to the Busta's Shane was in bed.  He wasn't feeling good either.
He came down to say hi but then ended up spending the evening in bed. 
It was different without our DJ :-(

The kids had fun playing Hide and Seek and dancing along to the NYE performers on TV.
The Gangnam Style performance was a hit!  Stacey and Shane have a larger than life projector with screen in their basement.  When PSY was performing the kids were dancing in front of the screen and the TV kept showing the NYE crowd on the streets of NY- they were partying with us and the kids would wave as the crowd waved.  Not sure if they thought this was like Skype or if they were just caught in the moment.  Hannah said 'Did you see me mom?!  I was dancing for the whole neighborhood!"

The kids played Hide and Seek and one of the girls favorite places to hide was in this deck bench.   They all moved so quickly that I couldn't get a good picture to show you just how many of them were in there.

Top then clockwise: Hailey, Aubrey, Chloe, Hannah, Maddie

Although I wasn't feeling so good so overall the night was pretty uneventful, I was with the people that matter most.

Happy New Year!

When will this be over?!

 We have been sick at our house.  Although watch the news or check out Facebook and you will see that everyone has been sick lately- the stuff is just going around.   Chills, fevers, cough, headache, body aches, runny nose, stuffy nose, low energy.....you get the picture.

It's been hard to think about doing much of anything.  The Christmas stuff is still up, the house is still a mess, the dishes need to be washed and put away, the laundry needs to be done, the kids need a bath, it's been hard to do a thing.  Poor kids....they aren't feeling too bad but they are stuck in the house like two little caged animals.  You can tell when the winter hits because the kids don't get out as much as they are full of energy and have no way to use it. 

It's been over a week since this sickness hit....hope it's on it's way outta here!  We got things to do!

I think it's time to say goodbye

The girls had gotten a pop-up box from Grandpa Dan a while ago and they loved it so much that we read it at least once everyday.  While I was going through Hannah's room today I cam across this book and as I was paging through the book noticed that most of the animals have been destroyed.  The spider is missing his legs, the hamster was pulled from his wheel and the dog is missing his ears.

Thankfully the girls favorite two pages were still intact so I could get a picture of them.

The girls would sit on my lap and as soon as we would turn to one of these pages they would jump back and hide their faces in my side.  They were never really scared...just 'silly surprised'.  Hailey on the other hand might have been a little bit scared and as Hannah would want to put her hand in their mouths, Hailey would back up and get as far away as possible each time these pages would open.

I'm trying to get better at letting go of things but when they have sentimental meaning I always have trouble.  So, here's me throwing something away but also taking a minute to preserve the memory.

How DARE they!

Can you believe that someone had the nerve to mail me a letter to tell me that Hannah is going to Kindergarten next fall?!

sniff sniff

Girl by Hailey

Hailey is turning more and more girly every time I turn around.

For the past few days she has been painting her own nails.  Did I say paint?  I should say 'coloring' her own nails.  She has used crayons, pencils and markers (this blue is a shade courtesy of Sharpie :-/ )

It's actually pretty adorable but I had to let her think that she was in trouble.  I don't want her getting into the habit of coloring her nails with markers.  If she wants her nails painted she just needs to ask but not today- feel like I need her to learn a lesson.

On another note- my little girl is turning into a little girl.

Hailey LOVES skirts.  She likes dresses too but she prefers skirts (scarves as she calls them).

We have a few skirts in the house that she likes best- a pink tutu style and a black tutu style.  She will wear them over leggings, over jeans or just with her bare legs.

Try to get her dressed in the morning without a skirt these days and she will throw a fit! 

Yelling at me "But I can't twirl!"

Today when I got her out of her bed I noticed something peeking out from the bottom of her jammies.

This is a blue skirt that Jennie got her for Christmas- she wasn't wearing it when she went to bed. She must have been busy last night...

If you ask her about it she just flashes her eyelashes at you and tells you she loves you.  Lil' Cutie!

I should set the monitor up some night- she'd probably put on a pretty good show :-)

My Girls

While I was looking on the camera at the few pictures that I took at Christmas Eve I came across this picture from Hannah's dance recital.  I can't get over my obsession with these two!

Merry Christmas and LOTS of Hugs!

 

SANTA CAME!

 

The girls didn't notice until close to 9:00 when they finally got out of bed though.

Lula left the girls a little memory and even wrote a little note on each picture that says "I will miss you"

 

The family started to arrive around 9:15 and there was a steady stream of new attendees until 10:30 when everyone was here.

 

Would you believe this is the ONLY picture I took on Christmas?!  I am serious.

It's so hard to try to enjoy this day with them and then snapping pictures every few minutes.  It also gets to be too much sometimes with my mom and each of my sisters with their cameras- not that I mind but it gets to be too much sometimes so I typically choose to stay out of the way during those moments.

 

We didn't start opening presents until close to 11:00 am. 

We started with the girls and had them open all of theirs first.  It worked well because then they could go and play with their new things while the adults enjoyed watching each other open their gifts- hopefully this will be the last year of these adult gifts :-)

 

Hannah and Hailey had gotten each other gifts that they picked out.

In the picture above Hannah had just opened her scarf from Hailey.

Hailey got so excited watching her open it "Me went to Target and bought it for you!"

Hannah's response "I love it! Thank you!"

 

How sweet....makes a momma cry

Although I wonder these days what doesn't :-)

 

We were all showered with hugs.  I love how sincere these girls are and how they show real excitement when they get something that they love.  They also get very excited to give presents to other people and I love to watch their emotions as they watch others reactions.

These hugs are the best!

 

So, I mentioned that I made a ton of homemade gifts this year.

I didn't get pictures of everything but here is a sampling of some of the things I made.

 

 

This is a headband holder for Kristin.

 

This was my dad's Bday present.  He needed Best Buy gift cards and cash so he can get a radio for his car.  Each of these balloons either contains a $1 or a $5.

 

Gift card Snoglobes- these were way cool in person!

 

Some of the gifts we received:

Me:  A new Wi-Fi enabled camera (love it!), a new chain for my necklace, pillows for the couch that I have had my eye on since this summer, scrapbook punch, gift cards.

Brian:  TIVO 4XL, lots of gift cards, tools, a framed peice of history- turf and peice of roof from Metrodome (which will be torn down soon)

Hannah:  Furby, Scrapbook kit, Jewelry Box, Barbie tablet, iPad casegumball machine

Hailey:  Furby, skirt and hair things, Barbie laptop, iPad case, new stroller and swing for her babies

 

Brian made homemade meatballs and sauce for lunch- delish!

We had pumpkin cake and peppermint better-than-Christmas cake for dessert.

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

Today is Lula's last day with us.  Santa will pick her up tonight when he comes and take her back to the North Pole.  Sure will miss having her around but certainly won't miss having to pick up after her :-)

 

 

We spent Christmas Eve like we always do- at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Bob and Paige joined us too.

The kids had so much fun playing together and it was pretty fun this year to get to grandma's house and then not see the kids until it was time to eat and then again when we were ready to open presents.

They got themselves jammied up- they entertained themselves and played together all night.

I think there was a time in there when grandma had disappeared that she was with them doing a craft but it was nice to sit and visit.

 

Some of the gifts included:

Hannah:  Unicorn Dreamlite- by far her favorite! Barbie toys, a color-your-own messenger bag, and a baby bed

Hailey:  Ladybug Dreamlite- again, she is a huge fan!, Barbie toys, a game, and a baby bed

Brian got gift cards, tools and a shirt

I got a really neat food display stand thing, a Scentsy warmer, new cake pan and holiday quilt squares (you will see these on display soon!)

 

We got home a little after midnight.  Hannah was nervous that Santa was going to see that we were awake and skip our house so we made sure we all went to bed right away!

 

Always take time

 

You will see in a few days why this Lula post was a HIT this morning :-)

 

One piece of advice I would like to offer to all parents- ALWAYS take time away from what you are doing to attend the dance show that was made especially for you.  Soak it all in.

 

We are hosting Christmas.  That means there are tons of things to do.  I took the past few days off of work so that I could get things done but with 17+ homemade gifts being made I needed most of that time to craft and didn't spend much of it cleaning the house and cooking.

So, today was my day- tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have two cakes to bake so I didn't want to also have to worry about scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets.

It never fails- you get busy doing something you have had your mind on all week and the kids call for you. "Mommy!  Come here!"  Not gonna lie, I ignored it.

Lucky for me they didn't give up.

"Mommy!  Come here!"  when I didn't come again they came out to get me.

Hannah:  "Wanna come to my dance show I made for you?"

Me:  "Sure."

I walked into her room and she had set up a chair for me.  She helped me to sit down and then covered my lap with a blanket.  She then proceeded to the 'stage' and started the music. 

The show lasted for three songs.  As I sat there watching I couldn't help but wipe the tears that were streaming down my face.

We did this.  These little girls are ours.

A few years ago Hannah was crawling and learning to talk and now she is organizing her own dance show and the best part she put this show together for me!  She was in her room planning this out and excited for me to come and see what she has been up to.

Hailey was there too- she didn't want to dance but she sat next to me the whole time telling me "Watch this mom!" and pointing to Hannah's next move.

They were so happy that I was in there and were truly 'into' these dances Hannah was doing.

It was a wonderful little break.

Thanks buddies!

I C U P and other winter adventures

 

Lula was hanging out in the bathroom today.

The girls sure thought it was silly but were concerned that she would get wet if we turned the shower on so before daddy showered they made sure that he moved her into the living room.

 

At Thanksgiving I had mentioned that I wanted to take the girls to Macy's 8th floor to see the Christmas display and then go to the Holidazzle parade.  My sisters and mom were interested too so we planned it for December 22nd.  Back then it felt like forever away and now that it is here it gives me a little anxiety- what if it's too cold and we miss it?!  What if plans change and we miss our chance this year?! 

As you can see, it all worked out!

We met around 4:30 pm and we joined by about 4,000 other people.  Ok, really there were probably only 400 but it felt like thousands.  We waited through the line for about 30-40 minutes and then we were in. 

 

 

The girls actually did pretty good waiting.  It helped to have so many different people there that they could talk to (each other, aunts, mom, grandma).  They got a little antsy towards the end of the line but once they could see the room we were going to go into they calmed right down.

 

 

Hailey particularly liked the singing trees.  Not enough to sit by them and take a picture but she stopped to watch them for a few minutes.

 

When we were at the end of Santaland there was a walkway to Santa.  I wasn't expecting to be able to see him because there were so many people I figured there would be another wait.  I asked the lady how long of a wait it would be and she said- 'He's right behind this door waiting for you!'

 

 

We walked in and were pretty much in a private room with Santa.  We were allowed to take our own pictures (we could also buy them but as you can see Hailey wouldn't even get close enough to photoshop her in and Hannah was leaning back onto me as Santa was leaning into her.

Later she told me that she was nervous about those bells he was wearing.....Ummm....ok :-)

 

We made a stop at the bathrooms and then got a bag of popcorn from Candyland.

We made our way to the street and ended up standing behind a large group that had chairs and were sitting so we could see right over them.

Hailey was the only one who would have had a little trouble so Kimmy put her on her shoulders.  Didn't take long before Hannah thought she should get up there too- these are the times when it is really awesome to have sisters!  We all took turns holding the kids so nobody's back went out however, Kim did the most of the heavy lifting- THANKS KIMMY!

 

The girls LOVED the parade.

Hailey could see the best down the street so she would yell out to us what she saw coming.

Hannah's favorite was Santa at the end- she got a kick out of him yelling "HO! HO! HO!"

Hailey's favorite was the Wizard of Oz witch on the bike.

My favorite was probably the bus- covered in lights!

There wasn't a single part of the parade that wasn't worth waiting for- it was awesome.  The kids reactions were AWESOME!

 

We then made our way to La Casita where Jennie asked Hannah and Hailey to be flower girls in her wedding.  Hannah is really excited for this!  The jury is still out on Hailey :-)  (my words not hers- she isn't quite sure what it all means yet)

 

 

End of the world marks a new beginning

Brrr....it's cold in here!

 

There was a little hype about today being the last day of the world.

Something about the Mayan calendar.  I didn't pay much attention to it since it was all nonsense however I guess there were people around that were pretty convinced.

 

This evening the girls and I were on the couch snuggling when I got a call from Jennie.

When I picked up the phone I knew that something good had gone down.

There was something in her voice, an excitement, that she couldn't hold back.

"Guess who's getting married!"

 

 

SO happy for her!  Congratulations you two!

 

I went to put my phone away tonight before going to bed and I nearly tripped over this pink stool.  What in the world is this stool doing here?

Oh I see....notice how Hailey's gingerbread house is missing it's decorations?

No wonder she kept sneaking away last night.

 

"Hurry up Mommy!"

Today was the Christmas party at Jackie's for the kids.

They do a secret Santa every year, exchange gifts, do some sort of craft and bake.  This year they made gingerbread houses.

Hannah had Cora's name and Brody had her.

Hailey had Kaydence's name and Kaydence had her.

 

Maissa, Josh, Morgan and our family bought Jackie a brick that will be displayed as part of the new Andrews Park memorial.  I covered a box with 'brick-colored' paper and wrote the message on it that we submitted.  Jackie has always been very involved with the park and when the weather is nice you can almost guarantee that they are there.  They have a park clean up every year and it is by far one of Hannah and Hailey's favorite places to go. 

 

 

When I got to Jackie's to pick the girls up, Hailey came down the stairs and then jumped in place while clapping her hands. "Mommy!  I got a chicken game! I want to play it when I get home.  When we get home can I play my chicken thing?"  The little girl was talking so fast....she was so excited about this chicken game.

Jackie brought the presents down and I could see that this chicken game was actually a McDonald's playset.  A cash register, play money and play food.

"Mommy, can I hold my game in the car?"- said while jumping up and down and clapping.

 

All the way home Hailey just said "Hurry up mommy!"

 

When we finally made it home both girls tore into their presents. 

Hailey immediately started taking orders and Hannah was already crafting away.

She got a decorate-your-own-headband kit and little jewelry kit.

All of a sudden the door opened and as Hailey glanced over expecting to see dad, she was surprised when she saw Kim!  Both girls went running over and for the next few hours it was all about Kim.

Kim started a new job a few miles away from us and she wanted to stop by and say hi.

Hope there are more visits like this!

 

I guess Lula and Justin wanted to spend a few more days together before it is time for her to go.

Tracing the bear

 

Hannah set this bear by Lula last night to give her a friend and someone to snuggle with during the day while we are away.

I was planning on taking Hailey shopping tonight to get a present for Hannah but since daddy did that last night (THANK YOU) I get to start in on my Martha Stewart Christmas!

I am off from tonight until the Thursday after Christmas....ahhh :-)

I have around 17 homemade gifts (maybe more) to get done by Monday. 

Wish me luck ;-)

Here I am!

 

Didn't take long to find her this morning.

The girls were really curious as to how she had gotten up there and kept asking if Brian and I could reach her. 

 

I took Hannah shopping for Christmas presents for Dad and Hailey last night so this evening while I took Hannah to dance, Brian took Hailey shopping to get a present for Hannah.

When we got home from dance, Hannah walked over to the tree to spot her present.

Hailey was really excited, jumping up and down, "This one is yours.  It's a pig game!"

 

Hannah didn't actually even hear her because she was too busy talking and trying to guess what it is.

Spreading the love

 

Since Lula was hanging out in Hailey's room last night it was only fitting that we found her in Hannah's room today.

Somebody is sleeping in my bed

The girls stayed over and Grandma and Grandpa's last night so Brian and I could go to Kristin and Bobby's for a Christmas Party.

We picked them up this morning and headed straight to the Busta's for a day of football and baking.

 

When we got home it was time for jammies.

Brian and Hailey went down to her room and she found Lula.

 

 

 

Hannah's First Dance Recital

The girls wandered around the house this morning calling out for Lula.  Hailey worked her way through the kitchen opening cabinets and yelling out "Gotcha!" with each cabinet she opened in hopes that Lula would be behind one of those doors.  No luck.

 

I tried a few times to get them to go downstairs.  They would walk over to the top of the stairs and get so close to making their way down when one of them would get an idea and off they'd go.

 

Finally they accepted defeat and started on their way downstairs.

There she is!

 

Hannah:  "What is she doing with that wrapping paper mom?!"

Me:  "Hmmm....looks like she is pointing at something."

 

 

Hannah: "Mom! Look at what Lula did! Come quick!"

Hailey: "What the heck?!"

 

This afternoon was Hannah's dance recital.

It was held at Blaine High School.

 

Getting her ready for the recital today brought back so many memories.  Doing hair, checking the bag over and over to assure we have all of the costume, packing bobby pins, putting on makeup.....

 

 Caylie (3), Hannah (5), Olivia (5), Ivy (5)

 

I was actually a little nervous for Hannah today.  There were a lot of people there and I wasn't quite sure how she would handle that.  When they called their class name, the teacher walked them out to the floor.  There was a bounce in all of their steps and they walked right out and got into their positions.  The music started and they didn't miss a beat!  Too bad this picture is a little blurry but then again, that is how I watched the whole number since those tears got in the way....

 

They did so good!

Honestly, they did great!  There were other little kids there that did ok but their classes were so big that it was hard for everyone to be doing the same thing at the same time.

The bigger girls did pretty good but there were classes of middle aged girls where for parts of the dance you could see that they forgot what to do or ended up totally freezing- which I don't really get since the teacher was in front of them reminding them of their moves.

 

Half way through the show there was an intermission.

As soon as it started, I put my things down and was getting ready to go over and see Hannah when I see that Brian had already made his way over.  He had already made it over to give her a hug and tell her how good she did.  Yep, more tears...

 

The show ended with a finale number.  All of the dancers came back out and moved to a song.  It was a little much and hard to see everyone but fun to see Hannah and her friends having a good time.

 

Looking forward to the Spring Recital!

 

 

 

The undies were hung by the TV with care....

Lula sure out did herself today!

We woke to find the stockings on the ground and the girls undies in their place.

Looks like she sure thought she was funny!

Today I filled my tank for only $2.84 per gallon- gasoline prices have been well over three dollars per gallon for months- maybe even years.  The price was really $2.99 per gallon but thanks to $0.15 in Cub Rewards my total was brought down to $2.84!  SCORE!

Just Hanging Around

It took the girls all morning to find Lula today.

Once they did Hailey was really happy to see that she had picked her coat to call home for the night.

 

Today is my Friday.  I have tomorrow off of work to do some Christmas shopping.  I can not wait!
Here's hoping that the weather is nice and that I can get a lot done.
When I look at my lists, I don't really have that much more left to do although, I have a lot of stores to visit so it will take most of the day just to get in and out of the multiple stores.
It's been a while since I have had a day like this- long list of things to buy plus a few things to 'just shop' for.  Brian is off too but I won't torture him so maybe instead I can just talk him into meeting me for lunch :-)