Where's the teenager?!

Hannah likes to take showers. 

She especially likes to take showers by herself and then 'get ready'.

Getting ready consists of getting dressed, drying and then styling her hair.

She came out and presented herself "How do I look?", then she was off to play.

This is how she left the bathroom.

What was that I said about the apple not falling far from the tree?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Yep- that's my kid.

She is a ball of constant motion.  She is jittery and bouncy.

She can't just sit still and watch her iPad, she needs to be picking something, biting something or fiddling with something.  It's annoying to watch but it's hard to get mad- cause I get it.

I hate watching her bite her nails.  That was a nasty nasty habit that I had for soooo many years and it was very hard to stop.  I hope she shakes this.  I wish I knew what to do to make/help her stop.

Clean Flashback

Grandma Judy bought the girls roll-on soaps from Avon for Christmas.

I remember having these when we were little and having so much fun with them.

The girls wanted to play with them tonight so we got them out and they colored themselves rainbow.
I was expecting them to have fun with them.  I wasn't expecting the red one to stain their face :-/
Thankgoodness it had worn off by morning....

Mrs. Parmley's Class

 The girls and I decided to play school tonight.

They packed their backpacks full of activity books and sat at their desks waiting for class to begin.

We started by making name tags.

Each girl was given an assignment in their book.

Circle the emotion that you would feel.

Me:  "Ummm, Hannah- Why would you be happy if your kite was in a tree?"

Hannah:  "Because I know that you would come and help me get it out."

Me: "Why would you be happy if you dropped your cake?"

Hannah:  "Because I like to help and if I dropped my cake I would get to pick it up and be helpful."

OK....can't really argue with those explanations and I guess I love the fact that she wants to be happy in all of the pictures.

Up next:  Circle what you hear

Me: "Ummm, Hannah- a flower?"

Hannah:  "Yes!  It's a magical flower.  She can sing and dance just like the magical flowers in Dora's show."

Me:  "Ok, well, then how about this book?  Can you hear a book?"

Hannah:  "Oh yeah.  Of course.  The pages make noise when you turn them."

Well, I guess she told me!

A+

The most spoiled snowbaby ever

Ally has got to be the luckiest snowbaby on the planet!

Her mom and dad (a.k.a Hannah and Hailey) have been taking very good care of her.

She has her own chair and they even made her a crib.

They feed her bottles and sing her songs.

 

They insisted on a family picture.

After the photo shoot the girls wanted to have a popsicle.  

I thought they were crazy but it was either give in or fight with them about eating icicles.

 

Turn my back to head back to my chair and when I get there I see that my two girls are getting along just fine :-)

Enjoying the snow before it's gone

Daddy made a few paths with the snowblower for the girls this morning.

One of the paths lead to the top of the hill in the backyard which was perfect- we could get to the top of the hill without losing our boots in the deep snow.  I had to keep reminding the girls to steer clear of the gutters.

Hannah:  "Gutter?!  What's a gutter?"

I pointed it out to her.

Hannah: "Oh you mean the water tray!"

Hannah made a snowbaby and named her Ally.  She'll find anyway she can to have a baby in her arms.  They carried her around all day.  Daddy made another snow path in the side yard and the girls used it as their house. Hopefully within a month the snow will be gone.  I will miss watching the kids having fun out in the snow but I am ready for this stuff to melt.  I miss the green grass.

FUNdamentals Day 3

Today is the last day of class.  The week has gone by pretty fast but I am happy to be boarding the bus this afternoon and ready to see the family.  We were suppose to leave around 5:30 pm but the word on the street is that we should be ready to go closer to 3:30 so I should make it in time to see the girls before bed. YAY!

I got home around 8:45 pm and the girls were super excited to see me.

Hannah just sat there and stared at me and every once in a while she would get a HUGE smile on her face and say "I missed you so much!  I am so happy you are home."

I went to the bathroom and came out to find this had been sent to me during that minute.

FUndamentals Day 2

The other night the HealthEast Bus dropped two different groups off at resturants.

One group went to Quivey's and my group went to Lilliana's.

The first group got done first so the bus driver went to get them and when they got back we hadn't finished yet so they had to sit on the bus and wait for us.

Dave texted me and told me that someone on the bus was sick and we needed to leave immediately.  Of course he was kidding so Loriann and I took this picture to rub it in and texted him back.  It was about 15-20 minutes before we were finally on the bus and ready to head back to the hotel.  I think that was the last time anyone would be interested in taking the bus to dinner.

The Observation Deck- this is where we would have lunch everyday

Each bank of 4 training rooms had their own 'breakroom' complete with it's own fireplace

Epic's campus is very 'green'.  You couldn't find a bottle of water anywhere but there were TONS of water coolers and water bottle filling stations.

This is looking over the main 'lobby' area.  More fireplaces and couches.

Here we go....Epic Ambulatory Fundamentals

I knew the Epic campus was going to impressive.  That's all anyone talks about when they find out that you are going there.  The hotel shuttle turned a corner and it looked like we were entering onto a college campus.  The buildings are beautiful and even though they all look different they coordinate well together.   The training occurs in Voyager Hall.  When you first walk through the doors there is an electronic 'arrival board' (looks like the arrival and departure boards at the airport) where you find your name and classroom.  Amy Parmley- Purple- Justice League.

I had heard that the training rooms each had a theme so I was anxious to see what that meant.

When we approached our room, we were greeted by Spidey.

It was actually a pretty sweet idea thinking about how large this place is.  It's easy to spot your room and you can pretty much assure you are walking into the right room each day and after breaks, etc.

Inside the room it looked like a training room (but on steroids).  One wall was made up of windows and the front of the room was projecting two computers.  One that ran the application and one that ran a powerpoint slide that followed along with our workbook/training.

A lot of the rooms had very impressive themes.  This guy however, he spooked me out a little....

Settling in

Yesterday over 40 people boarded a bus outside of work and 4.5 hours later we were in Verona, WI.

This is where we will be for the next 4 days while we attend Epic Training.

Yesterday we had dinner and then a few of us took a shuttle to a movie with some of our new teammates.  Today we decided to check out the local mall.

Here is my home for the next four days.

I was in a corner room.  I expected the room to be a little bigger than a regular room but wasn't expecting to find what I did when I opened the door.

Our rooms had mini-fridges and microwaves which was nice to know for the next time we are back.

My room also had a whirlpool tub- there was still a regular shower and tub in the bathroom and so I am not sure why this corner 'in the room' hottub would be very appealing to anyone but since it was there I had to take it for a spin :-)

We each got our own rooms and even though it was nice to wake up and get ready without the need to be considerate of anyone else or sharing the bathroom, it was sort of lonely.  Definitely makes you miss home more when you don't have anyone to talk to pass the time.

I got my computer tonight with the intent to work and catch up on my blog.
This is what I found when I opened it....

What a sweetie!

 

I can't text

I needed to leave early for work the other day which meant Brian was helping by dropping the girls off to Jackie's.  After I had gotten the girls dressed I was ready to leave.

Brian was in the shower so I leaned over and gave Hannah an extra hug and kiss. 

Me:  "Bud, will you make sure dad gets those and tell him this message 'I love you, have a good day."

Hannah:  'Ok, mom."

Bent down, hug and kiss to Hailey with same instructions.

Me:  "Hailey honey, can you make sure dad gets these and tell him this message for me 'I love you, have a good day."

Hailey: "But mom I can't text."

I wasn't kidding

This little one is addicted to these tutu skirts.

I wasn't kidding.

We are in this situation a lot- she needs to wear one, we really don't care and she assures that we know all of the reasons why.  I have had to go and buy more skirts since this fad hasn't worn off and the washing machine can't keep up.

Cupcakes by Pinterest

This weekend we had three Birthdays to celebrate.

Grandma Chris: Feb 10th

Grandma Judy: Feb 17th

Grandma Bauer: Feb 17th

I was instructed to bring dessert to each party and I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

I saw these cupcakes on Pinterest and thought they were so cute.  They did turn out pretty cute and the girls had fun decorating them with me and tricking everyone with the mini-cupcake on top (really a peanut butter cup).

It was wonderful being able to spend Grandma B's 87th Birthday!
She sure is excited about it and she should be- 87 looks great on her!

Mom. Mom. Mom.

The first time your child calls you mom your heart melts.
By the 10,000th time it starts to get a little old less heart melting.

I would love to have another baby.  I see a newborn and immediately get the fever.
Last month when I was in Iowa, Rochelle, Diana and I were talking about babies.  Rochelle is pregnant with her 3rd boy (!) and so Diana and I were talking about ways we like to cure our fever.
I started poking her in the shoulder saying "Mom. Mom. Mommy. Mom.  Mommy."  She's a mom so she got it.  So for two days we used this technique until finally we were on our way home and Rochelle's adorable baby belly was no longer in arms reach.  Doesn't help me much now that Lori has POPPED at work :-(

I was in the bathroom and Hannah was trying to call for me.  When I didn't answer she resorted to texting me.

Better than flowers or chocolates

When I got home from work tonight I was greeted by the stylists that had prepared a special spa just for me.  It started with a hair wash and style.  While my head was under the dryer the makeup girl (a.k.a Hailey) came to treat me to a facial and makeup application.

So.Much.Lip.Gloss.

After I was prepped to see my boyfriend I was lead to the couch where I was treated to a full body massage.  Ahhhh, it's great to be mommy!

The girls and Brian also gave me a gift card to Archivers- better than any box of chocolates!

Direct Order

Out in the mailbox today we were greeted by three envelopes sent from Grandma B.

One was addressed to Hannah, one for Hailey and one for Amy and Brian.

In the envelope marked for Amy and Brian there were two valentines, $4, 4 dimes ($0.40) and a note.

The note read:

Dear Amy, Brian, Hannah, and Hailey

Amy and Brian pretend your Hannah and Hailey's age.

Have them take you to the Dollar Tree and remind you what it's like to be a kid again.  Buy a bag of candy.

She even included enough to cover the tax.  What a sweetie!

The girls also received cards from Grandma Joyce and Grandma Judy.
The Justin Bieber Valentine's from Grandma Joyce were a HIT!

The girls opened them and screamed!
Hannah declared this the "Best Valentine's Day of her whole life!"

Post it on Facebook

This picture was taken at 6:30 am.

 

Hannah:  "Mom.  Take a picture of me like this and post it on Facebook."

She was obviously pretty happy about the way she looked this morning.

Out of this little adorable face....

Hailey got mad at me tonight.

Usually when she gets mad she will yell something and then storm away with her arms crossed

"I'm so mad at you!"

"You not me best friend!"

"You mean!"

"No fair!"

"Don't worry about me."

"Weave me awone"

You know, the usual stuff that kids say.

Tonight she went to a whole other level and yelled to me "I need a good mom that listen to me!"

Ouch!

SnowNash

There was some perfect snow out there so Hannah and I decided to make the most of it and make a snowman.  Hannah did most of it herself and thanks to Jackie she knew just what to do.  

After we lifted the body and head and then packed them with snow to keep them in place, we searched for eyes, a nose, a mouth and arms.

Once our snowman was done Hannah had an idea.  "I know mom!  Let's make a snowNash!"

She even got him a bone.

FINALLY!

For Hannah's Book

Gretchen and I talk all the time about needing to get together to scrapbook.

I am happy to announce that tonight we finally followed through and got together.

We didn't get as much done as we had hoped.  

It is a little tricky with the girls needing something every 28 seconds but we did ok.

I think Gretchen made close to 10 pages and I finished these four.

I certainly can't complain, it's four pages more than I got done yesterday or the day before.

Since I started this blog I have been struggling with deciding on a 'theme' for the girls books.  I am trying not to think that I need to scrapbook about all of the moments and keep telling myself that the scrapbooks should be about their personalities.  My favorite pictures secured in a book that will replace the 'old time' photo albums. Because of that, I find it very hard to 'get started' each time we sit down to scrap (if that's what we call it these days).  I have tons of pictures printed but always feel 'not ready' when I sift through them.  I need to start spending some time in my photos; printing, sorting, grouping, filing, deleting, organizing.....although, it's easier to talk about it then to actually sit down and make something happen.  Sounds like the rest of my life right now- *sigh*

Hannah's Book

Hannah's Book

Hailey's Book

Makes you think

I couldn't stop looking at the horizon this morning.

It was breathtaking.

The clouds were so low that they almost looked like a mountain range and I found myself in awe.

Now, living in Minnesota you don't get much experience with mountains but I've been to Ecuador twice so I'm sort of a mountain expert (hee hee).

It was actually pretty difficult to get a good picture from my iPhone of just how amazing the skyline looked this morning but considering how bad some of the other pictures turned out, I shouldn't be too disappointed.

My whole drive into work I thought about my sister and her family.  I remembered my trips to Ecuador and recalled how beautiful the scenery there is.  I then started to think about my sister's life there and then it hit me.  Like a sack of bricks.

She lives in Ecuador.

That is her home.

I have come to accept this over the years and frankly am still ok with it.  It makes them happy and that is what is most important.  But today I couldn't help but think of what life will be like when our kids are old and start to move out of our houses.  Those 'golden years' when we are all suppose to go out for coffee, have sister lunches and grow old together...we won't be together.  She will be there and we will be here.  I then started thinking about where she will be buried (seriously not trying to be morbid) and realized that we haven't really experienced the 'hard times' of her being away yet.

One could argue that missing a wedding or birth of a child is hard, and they would be right, it is- it sucks but it's just what we know with this situation.

I guess deep down you talk yourself into thinking that this has all just been temporary and eventually we would all be together again but today it sunk in.

This may be how we know things forever.

Sad :-(

Counter Surfing

I faintly heard the cries for mom coming from the kitchen.

The cries continued and kept getting louder.

In the kitchen I found this....

Hailey had put two step stools on the floor- one on top of the other.

She had then climbed up on the counter to get an orange and couldn't get herself down.

What is happening to me?!

Needed to run to the mall for something.  I used to LOVE the mall.

Walking around, window shopping, searching racks for good deals.  I could spend a whole day there and growing up, we were so close to the mall that we would spend many evenings there just hanging out.

As I get older I dread this place.

Looking around at all of the people, the TONS of items in the stores, the cost of items, etc.  It just all seems like too much sometimes.  It's been a long time since I have been to a mall to just leisurely walk around and even though I didn't have much time this day I wasn't rushed.  I was shopping for a purse and honestly, after about 20 minutes was ready to leave.   Instead of getting excited and energized at all of the different places I could check out I felt exhausted and defeated- and all before I had even started!

Prettier

I asked Hannah to put the Coke away today.

She wanted to make it 'prettier' so she mixed them instead of doing them the 'boring' way that we always do.