Beauty Sleep

First off, I know- horrible picture.

It's hard to sneak in and take a picture when your child was put to bed and should be sleeping.

I bought Hannah a new pair of PJs that came with a free gift, this eye mask.

She knew exactly what it was and couldn't wait to give it a try.

I was actually surprised that she wanted to wear it.

She put it on when I tucked her in and said goodnight.  She was still wearing it when I checked on her when I came in to shut her door and she was self-reportingly still wearing it when she woke up.

AND....she is convinced that it helped her sleep better. Ha-ha, that one made me giggle.

Tell Kari

Hailey:  "Mom, take a picture and show Kari how pretty I look with her hat on."

She pulled this hat out today, put it on and insisted on wearing it to daycare.

It was adorable and she LOVED it- I loved that she remembered that Kari made it for her.

Get that baby!

My old coworker and friend, Patience, was in town this week from Alaska.
Right before she moved she had her first daughter, Violet.  That was almost three years ago.  Since then her and her husband, Mike, have had a son, Oscar.
She emailed us a few weeks ago letting us know she would be in town and hoping that we could all get together- an old EHR team BBQ.
Lori, Joanne and I were available and unfortunately Jessica was busy so she couldn't join us.
The forecast called for rain but all day the weather was amazing so it was hard to believe that any rain would actually fall.  Hannah and I went to the store to get our food for grilling and a snack or two to share.
On our way to the park we got a text from Brian reading 'Rain will be there in 50 minutes'.
Shoot!

For anyone that was there you would know that it did start to rain on us, only after the first park we went to had torn down the playground equipment and 'community grills' no longer exist.  You'd know that Joanne made a special trip home to get her grill only to find that the second park had grills but no shelter to keep us dry.  You'd know that the wait at Snuffy's looked about an hour long.  You'd also know that we finally ended up at the perfect location.  Central Park- but you would also know that  Patience and Mike had already spent their day there.  I won't bore you with anymore details- doesn't matter how we got here.
We were here and we were hungry.

We started the grill, settled in and then spent some time catching up.
The kids took to each other like they had known each other for years.
By the end of the night they were all chasing Addy chanting "Get that baby!"
She loved it and had no trouble being the leader of that train.

The next few days was all talk about our new friend Violet, Baby Addy, and 'Violet's brother- that cute baby'.

I really appreciate that Patience reached out- it was nice to see her and although we can keep in touch over the computer, it's not the same.  It was nice to reconnect in person. Thanks for coming out guys!

Move Your Body

Today was Hannah's 3rd and final dance rectial for the year.

It was located at Fred Moore middle school by our house.  We were on time and I remembered all of her costume :-)

The girls all did such a great job!

This show they danced two new numbers- Strawberry Jammin' and Move Your Body- adorbs!

Hailey has confirmed that she wants to try dancing next year and I hope that she can crack her shyness a little bit to actually go through with it. 

Thanks to all who came out- Grandma Chris, Grandma Judy, Grandpa Denny, Jennifer, Courtney, Bobby, Kristin, Jennie, Loriann, Marlee, and Talon.

Hailey was thrilled to be able to sit on Jennie's lap for the first half and then Bobby's lap for the second half.  After the show Jennifer, Courtney, Grandma and Grandpa came over for a BBQ.  We ran to Costco and while in the car Hailey said "Hannah smell me!  I smell like Bobby!"

Oh man- Kristin better watch out!

Girls Day

Last fall Loriann and I purchased a Groupon for a one-hour Hot Stone Massage.

We tried to schedule these appts a few times and always had trouble getting in touch with them to schedule the appts so we would give up for a while and then a month or so later try again, still with no luck.  Well, we FINALLY got a hold of them and got our appts scheduled earlier this week (actual final confirmation didn't happen until Thursday evening- not sure about this place).

The day could not have been any better.

Loriann has a few redecorating projects on her mind lately and I have had a few reorganizing projects on my mind so both of us had the itch to go shopping.  We started our day around 8am and spent our morning shopping-  Kohls, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Joann Fabrics, Ikea, Michaels.  Had lunch at Brueggers and then massages- perfect timing for these with things slowing down a little bit at work at the moment.  The weather was amazing!  BEST day of the year so far!

We both agreed that we need to do stuff like this more often.

OMG I'm outside!

Do you see that?!  Blue sky!

April 25th and we are finally seeing the last of the snow....hopefully! Rumors that there is more coming next week- Ugh- when will this winter be over?!

We were at St Joe's today for an all day meeting so at lunch the team decided to take in the nice day and walk over to Cosetta's for lunch- YUMMY!

Can't wait until this sky is out to play for good!

Pencils, Crayola and Glue Sticks- Oh My!

We missed the official Kindergarten registration day because I was in Madison for work so tonight after I picked the girls up from Jackie's head ran up to the school to drop off Hannah's stuff.

They gave us a folder with some information in it.  One of the things it had in it was the school supply list.  Already?!

I guess I would rather have it now so we can be prepared but it's crazy to think that in April we are already planning for the September school year.

Hannah also received a placemat thing to start practicing her letters.  On one side are the letters with spaces for her to practice writing them and on the other were pictures with the letters and then the word spelled out.  While we were driving home I asked her to try to read the words by sounding them out and then spelling them for me.  She was doing ok until she got to the word- igloo.

"J, G, J, O, O"

So, brings me to a quick little rant......WHY in the WORLD would you hand this out to kids to learn their letters.  Do you see that letter k?!  When is the last time you have written a letter i or l like that?!

And fine, whatever, we can get over it- she can learn that sometimes people write their letters that way- but for the next 3 minutes I was peppered with questions of 'Why?"  "Why do they write their letters like that?" "Do I have to start writing my letter i like a backwards j?"  "Why do they want letters to look fancy?"

Now the green one is ok too

There is something about car washes that my girls, especially Hailey, don't appreciate.

Hannah is fine with them now but when she was little she would scream her head off if we took her through one- thank goodness she has outgrown that but Hailey is still not so sure.  She will often cry and when she is informed "I am going to get a car wash quick" she starts to freak out a little bit, especially if it's at a place that she hasn't been to before.

'The Blue One':   Brian took her to Blue Velvet once, this is a car wash that you drive into but then leave your car while the employees take your car through the wash and towel-dry sections.  She has never minded this one but for over $20 per wash and across the river in Anoka, it's not too convenient.

'The Brown One':  There is a self-wash car wash behind the McDonalds that also has a touch-free drive thru wash.  Prices range from $3-$6.  I love this car wash because it's so close and so cheap.  You get a decent wash on the outside and when you aren't looking for a like-new wash it meets the need.   

'The Window One' or 'Bubblegum One':  At the Holiday gas station by us there is a drive thru car wash that an employee works.  He/She will hand you wipes for your interior windows, spray your car down and then you pass through the rest of the wash.  Hailey does better in this one lately because Hannah has her convinced that the soap and bubbles smell like bubblegum.  They sit patiently and wait until the car is covered and then sniff like crazy to see who can smell the bubblegum first.

'The Green One':  BP station on our way home.  Touchfree drive thru wash that looks like every other drive thru touchfree wash.  As I mention that we are going to get a wash Hailey starts kicking her legs and yelling that she's too scared and wants to go home.  I reassure her that this will be just like the other ones and she will be fine.  She didn't calm down but then the wash started and it was too late.  She was trapped (that sounds so bad....).  Less than a minute in and she stopped whining- see buddy, I told you!  Hmmm....looks like something else was keeping her calm. 

I have another picture of these two almost exactly like this when Hailey was younger

Hailey the translator

Dinner time can often be the worst part of the day.

Getting these girls to stop talking, put food in their mouth and actually chew it in under 30 minutes is nearly impossible.  I have said it before and I will say it again, they are great eaters- they are not picky, they will eat but it takes them  
F   O   R   E   V   E   R !

This evening Hailey got in trouble for not eating and just wasting time messing around and pushing food around her plate.  Daddy had to yell at her a few times to get her movin.

When she was done eating she went straight downstairs and as we were cleaning up she came back carrying this note she made for dad.

Hailey:  "Daddy, this is a card for you.  It says to stop yelling!"

If she could only figure out the yelling stops when the food is consumed......

Proud Grandma

Can you tell someone spent the afternoon with Grandma Chris yesterday?!

Tonight she begged me to download her a casino game that she was playing with Grandma- she also needed Candy Crush cause Grandma plays that too!

She would get sooooo excited when she would win credits yelling out "Grandma would be so proud if she saw that!"

Cute story- as I picked the girls up from Kristin and Bobby today, Bobby helped get Hailey into her seat.  After he closed the door and started to walk to his car the girls yelled "Bye uncle!"

We all sure hope that happens someday :-)

Aunties RULE!

The text came in earlier this week from Kristin- she was asking if the girls could come over for a sleepover.  It was such a nice surprise and it worked out great since we didn't have anything going on this weekend.   The girls freaked out when I told them and Hailey could NOT stop talking about how excited she was to go to Bobby's.

We met at Grandma's for lunch, switched the seats and they were off!

When I got home I saw that Brian had gotten steaks and potatoes for dinner.  YUMMY!

He made me some strawberry margaritas and we spent the evening hanging out.

Hey Jack!

There is currently a show on A & E called Duck Dynasty.

It is a reality show about a group of guys that work at a place that makes duck calls.

These guys are always decked out in camouflage, they all drive pick up trucks, have beards longer than most people's hair and are total rednecks.

One of the characters on the show is Si.  He is the 'old crazy' uncle and he is hilarious!  He carries a jug of iced tea and a tea cup around with him everywhere he goes.

He says 'Hey', 'Jack', and 'Nah' a lot- in almost every sentence.  

This morning I was rubbing Hailey's back and legs to help her wake up.

I kept rubbing her thighs and the back of her bottom and noticed that she went to bed without undies on.  Not uncommon, the girls like to do this for some reason after they have had a bath.

Mom:  "Hey you, what happened here?"

Hailey (still tired):  "Hey Jack!  Where's my undies?!"

LOL!  She caught me completely off guard and we got a good giggle off that this morning.

Here are a few Si quotes:

"I may not use any of this stuff but, hey look,  I can sell it on Greg's list."

"Hey Jack, where's my tea cup?"

"I'm down like a rodeo clown- Jack"

"This snocone is giving me a brain sneeze.  It's when your brain needs to sneeze but it can't cause it's a brain so it just hurts."

"That man has everything- trucks, jeeps, chairs, pool tables, mattresses, RVs, tater salad, cold watermelon...he's got everything, Jack! Hey- a sack a' oranges."

"I am the MacGyver of cooking. If you bring me a piece of bread, pigs feet, pine cones & a woodpecker, I'll make you a good chicken pot pie"

Most of these are not so funny if you haven't heard the show and know who he is.

Spring = Fail

This was my drive home tonight.  90 minutes.

It was actually pretty good time considering what others had to deal with.  It took Loriann close to three hours to get home today.  ICK!  Unfortunately, she got to see why when she got close to the Wisconsin border.  A 16 year old kid was killed in an accident.

Sure makes you realize just how lucky you are to make it home safely and how it horrible it feels once you realize that you were actually upset while driving home that it was taking so long- others weren't so lucky today.

It really isn't that uncommon for it to snow in April but for some reason this year it feels like it is the first time it ever has.  EVERYONE is over this winter and the gray skies that come with it.

The snow is pretty, sure- especially when it first falls and is stuck to the tress but in APRIL?!  In April it's not pretty.  In April it makes you want to puke.

We are running out of time to open our windows.

We are running out of time to be outside without coats on.

I am over the boots and the gloves.  

I am ready to spend the weekends at the cabin.

I am ready for a sunburn.

I am ready to spend the evenings in the driveway.

So far looking ahead at the next week there isn't a warm day in sight.  Actually more snow in the forecast this weekend or early next week.  Great.

Hopefully that will be the last of it.  

It better be the last of it or I think I will lose my mind!

"It's lovely, I wrote it."

Hailey and daddy were playing in the living room.  Hailey spun around and bonked her head on the corner of the table.  She went running into the bedroom and Hannah went running downstairs.

When we were sure that the bleeding (small amount) had stopped we were still snuggling in there when Hannah came in carrying a card that she had made for her sister.

Hannah climbed up onto the bed and I decided to take advantage and leave to go and clean up a bit.

Hannah: "Wait mom. You are going to want to hear this card I wrote for Hailey. 

 It's lovely, I wrote it."

She started to read  "Hailey, I love you more than bologna and cheese.  I hope you feel better really really soon."

Going to miss you......really.

A few weeks ago I bought us new dishes.

The green dishes that we had were the dishes that we got from our wedding.

I love these dishes, they are heavy but still after 10 years, I still love them.

Problem is they are starting to crack and chip.  Because they are so heavy it is hard for the kids to carry them and if they get dropped they shatter into hundreds of pieces.

There were probably only 5 plates left that weren't scarred in some way.

I decided that it was time to get new dishes so I have been on the hunt for quite some time.

I have found plenty of sets that I like but they would always come in sets.  A dinner plate, salad plate, bowl and mug.  I like to have enough dinner plates for a large group but really could care less about having that many salad plates or bowls and honestly could get by if I never saw a mug again.

The dinnerware that you can buy by the piece was going to be the way to go.

Most of the plates I found were stoneware.  They are heavy and fragile.

I was looking for something a little different and finally came across a set at Target that I liked.

There was a pattern that I was drawn to that also had solid plates to match- SOLD!

It was time to pack up the old dishes and head to Goodwill.

It was easy enough to get them into a box but for some reason it made me sad and once again I found myself feeling attached to this 'stuff'.  *sigh*  Dare I say I might even miss these things?!

Someday we will go back to the stoneware dishes but for now with the kids still small this seemed to make more sense.

Drive By

The girls wanted me to drive by Debbie's again today.

It snowed last week and they wanted to show me what the snowman was up to (daddy brought them by last week).  It was quite the event today- two playing catch, a momma pushing a baby, one riding a scooter, someone was hula-hooping and of course a dog with a stick.

 

Good Morning!

This morning Hannah and Kiley woke up and I could hear them whispering in the bedroom.

Then Hannah came in very nervous-like saying "Mom! Hailey is gone!"

I explained how last night when we were going to bed we checked on them all and Hailey was still awake and wanted to go back to her own bed so we brought her downstairs.

Immediately their panicked faces turned to sighs of relief.

The girls brought Don't Wake Daddy into the bedroom and for about an hour they played games while I got to lay in bed and relax.

I think Kiley should sleepover every weekend!

Don't Wake Daddy

 The girls had their first sleepover this weekend with Kiley.
It worked out perfect.  Lindsay was having a sleepover birthday party with her friends and so Kiley came to our house to sleepover.
The girls were super excited!

We took the girls out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and then came back to the house where the girls played for an hour or so before they were looking for a snack.
We made chocolate malts and popcorn and sat down to play some games.
We played Uno, Don't Wake Daddy, and Super Why.
They ended the night watching a movie in bed and within a little bit Hannah and Kiley were both snoring away!

The many tastes of Epic

This evening we dined at Eno Vino.

Eno Vino is a tapas restaurant.

I had never heard of this term before until tonight.

The focus of this style is the small portions of food are served, appetizer style, that encourages sharing and conversation.  Most items do not come as a 'meal' with side items, etc so the thought it is that the table would all pick and share from the same plates.  There were varieties of cheese and bread plates, flatbreads, and lots and lots of scary seafood choices.

They had a few 'land' food items but the descriptions with those usually included other ingredients I had never heard of.

Mary got the halibut, Ann ordered mussels, Lori got a sausage flatbread and I ordered chicken skewers.  All of the food that I tried (and I did try everything- even the mussels) was good- although this isn't a place I would ever feel the need to visit again.

Round 4

This is my fourth trip out to Madison for Epic Training.

My Ambulatory classes are done but I am also getting certification in HOD (Hospital Outpatient Departments) and My Chart (online patient portal)- this week I am here for the HOD training.

To keep with 'tradition' I decided I should take a picture of the training room that I was in.

This was a "History of the Future' room called Time Machine.

I'm Baaaack

Back to Verona, WI.

This time I am here with a team member from the Orders Inpatient Team so I am the only one from the Ambulatory team taking this class.  It's for HOD (Hospital Outpatient Department) setup and workflows.

We are here until Friday- I have my last test on Tuesday (that will complete my certification with a pass) so I am hoping to get some studying done while we are here this week.

'Did I just say that out loud?'

I love this picture of my little sassy pants!

Reminded me of this moment that happened yesterday....

Hannah:  "Mom, do you think these undies will still fit Hailey?"

Me:  "Hmmm, not sure.  What size are they?"

(we were sorting out the clothes)

Hannah: "2/3.  Nope! They won't fit her chubby butt."

Then she gave me that smerky smile and covered her mouth

Hannah:  "Oh my gosh.  Did I just say that out loud?"

Just for the record- Hailey does not have a chubby butt and Hannah wasn't saying it to be mean.  She was saying it in a this-is-my-adorable-toddler type of way.  

Mini-helper

I MUST get something done around here.

Poor Hailey goes into her closet to get dressed each day and constantly pulls out clothes that do not fit her but she gets really excited about choosing her own clothes that she wants to wear them anyways.

I need to remove the temptation!

I decided that today I needed to get both of the girls closets cleaned out.

5 garbage bags (all dropped off to the Goodwill),  2 bags of stuff to sell and 3 bags packaged up for Melanie later I had successfully made it through both girls closets and dressers!  Whoop whoop!

Mini-me insisted on 'helping me'.

She was actually a TON of help.  I would throw things to her that she would fold and then put into the appropriate bag: donate, sell, Mel, or trash.

It feels so good to have gotten through all of that even if it took all day....

Still have a few boxes of shoes to go through but that should be easy enough.

Ladies Day Out

Last year Tammy invited me to a Ladies Day Out Benefit.  It's basically a day where a bunch of ladies get together to do whatever it is that we do :-)

Some people scrapbook, some make cards, some sew, some work on digital books or blogs, some knit or crochet, some quilt, some make jewelry and some even do their taxes.

There are always a ton of vendors there: Pampered Chef, Tastefully Simple, Thirty-One, Creative Memories, Scentsy, Tupperware, etc, etc.  The vendors will have point of sale items, specials and some of them run demos or projects during the day.  

There is always a person there giving massages and there is a lot of food.

Karri and Loriann joined us this year and we had a great day!

When I had told Loriann that I wanted to make at least 10-12 pages she looked at me like I was crazy (in a 'is that it?!' kinda way).  Once we were there and she started working on her scrapbook she started to appreciate just how long putting together one page can take.

I completed the following pages- not as many as I would have liked but it sure feels good to have gotten something done.  I always forget just how refreshing it is to release some creative energy.

Menu love

We took the girls to Acapulco tonight for dinner.

Hannah and I were using her menu/placemat to play Tic-Tac-Toe.

It's sooo fun to watch her play and actually understand what she needs to do and how to block someone, etc.  There were actually times where I was trying to set something up and in the process I lost to her.

I was talking to Brian as she was suppose to be drawing our next board and when I looked down she was pointing at the note she made me- how sweet!

We split an order of Fajitas and once again in awe of the way this kid eats- she piled her tortilla up with steak, chicken, peppers, onions, beans, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole.

SOOOO thankful that my girls are not picky eaters!

Time for him to go....no offense

The girls wanted to drive by the huge snowman again today.

Knowing that soon he will be melted I decided a few more trips won't hurt anyone.

Today they exploded in giggles when they saw him.

Gotta admit.....I love this.

Lightening things up

I bought some new yellow curtains.

I hung one of them up so that I could 'test it out'.

It only took a few hours before I knew that I was going to LOVE them!

Brian is not too crazy about them....he thinks they look 'old fashioned'- I get it but I still love them.

We needed something to brighten up the room- those dark curtains with the dark couches were a little too dreary.  These new curtains gave the room some life!

(I hope they start to grow on Brian)

Granny's Apartment

Every once in a while I have meetings at our Cottage Grove office.

Each time I drive there I think about the time we have spent in Newport.

My dad had a concession stand in the Bingo Hall there at one time and my grandma and grandpa owned an apartment building a few blocks from there for as long as I can remember.

Kari and Andy had even lived there for a while.

Grandma sold the apartment after grandpa had passed.

For some reason I decided to take a little detour today and drive by the old place.  In a way I think I wanted to be sure to get a picture of it just in case it is torn down or remodeled in the future.

I never spent that much time here but I remember loving Kari and Andy's place when they lived here.