Stress Free Christmas

Kim and Jennie came over today to help me with the girls so that I could get some stuff done around the house.  I need to pack, I need to figure out just how much stuff I need to do in the next 26 days and it's tricky with the girls.  They are pretty good at playing by themselves but you can guarantee that they will need something which would result in at least 15-30 minutes of swirling.

We spent some time packing and even got a chance to head over to the house and give them a tour of the place.  We got a ton of stuff packed up in the kitchen and although I still have a TON of stuff to do, it felt good to make a dent.

I even got a chance to put up the Christmas tree and as I was just about ready to pull out the ornaments they talked some sense into me.....Stress Free Christmas.  No ornaments needed, no extra lights.  The tree is a little crooked?  Oh well, it's stress free :-)

Kim brought Schmidty over today too and I have to say, he fit in pretty good over here!

They really exist!

It snowed today and as I looked down at my jacket and spotted a snowflake that was absolutely perfect!

I can't ever in my life remember seeing a snowflake that had so much detail that looked so much like a 'commercially man-made' snowflake- like the kind that you would buy at the store and hang on your wall or window to celebrate winter/Christmas.  It was the coolest thing that I have seen in a long time. 

I wish I would have paid more attention to this picture after I had taken it and then attempted to get a better one but I was carrying boxes out to my car and it was hard to juggle those in the cold and also get a good picture. Although this picture didn't turn out too good, it will forever remind me of that snowflake that hitched a ride.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

Even though this year has been HARD, I have to say it's been one to be thankful for.

I am thankful to be able to be spending Thanksgiving with both of our families.  With the exception of Kari, our family is close by and we are lucky to be able to split our day to spend time with both sides.  

We always spend the first part of the day with a potluck style lunch at Grandma's followed by a Thanksgiving dinner at Jennifer and Tom's.

Turkey Veggie Tray that Grandma Chris made

Hailey and Hannah were super excited to be able to wear their wedding dresses to Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

There's my kid!

Hannah had another meltdown last night.  She almost didn't make it to dance due to her horrible behavior.  I had a feeling that there was something else going on so we cut her some slack and on the way to dance she broke down and told me what has been happening.

Long story short:  a boy at school has been kissing her, she keeps asking him to stop but he won't, today she had to talk with her teacher and him and he got in trouble, she feels guilty.

After she told me last night I could see a change in her behavior almost immediately.  It was almost as though she was carrying around this huge burden and once she let it out she felt so much better.

This morning the girls climbed into the car and I heard her say "Hey Hailey, wanna race to see who can buckle first?"  I rolled my eyes because I knew what was coming next.  She was going to win (because Hailey is still learning how to buckle herself, it takes her longer) and then throw it in her face all morning and call her a baby, etc.

But then I heard what came next "Oh no, you little stinker.  You are almost going to beat me.  I better hurry.  Oh no, you are so close.  Oops, I keep dropping my buckle." Then click.

"Oh Hailey!  You little.....you beat me!"  Click

I turned to smile at her and she gave me a wink and a thumbs up.

Whew!  I hope this girl sticks around for a bit!

We have windows!

We have windows!

 Won't be long now and locks will be placed on the doors (once the doors are in) and the inside work will start!  Rumor has it the roof and sheetrocking will start next week.

Hey Kimmy- Look at this!

Hannah was eating tonight and after a bite yelled out "Ouch!  My tooth hurts!"

After a few questions we realized that she has a loose tooth!

It is loose enough that you can actually see it wiggle when you touch it with your fingers.

It's all she wanted to talk about tonight and even needed to call Kimmy and Schmidty to tell them all about it!

Shot out to all my Allscripts peeps!

Today I had one thing on the agenda- catch up on my TV shows.  

I have 2 seasons of Glee and a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy that I need to watch.  

I snuggled up on the couch today and started in on Grey's.

 About halfway through the show I noticed something.

That screen is the Allscripts Daily Schedule screen!  

PP!

Tonight Loriann and I went to the Phillip Phillips and John Mayer concert.  

We have been wanting to see him again since we saw him at the American Idol concert a while back when he had won.  Since then we have been waiting and waiting for him to have a show somewhere.  We frequently check the surrounding areas but for a while now have had no luck.

Loriann had found some shoes that were happening around Thanksgiving in Wisconsin at the Universities and we contemplated a road trip (wouldn't have been the first (or last)) but then I heard it.  I heard the announcement on the radio  Phillip Phillips and John Mayer!! 

Loriann made a paper chain countdown at work, although it wasn't hard to remember that this day was coming!

We got 17th row floor seats- or standing spots!

Phillip Phillips was great!  He sounded wonderful and was full of energy.  He ended with his song 'Home' and everyone in the whole place was singing.  It was pretty cool!

John Mayer was up next.  He too sounded great!  He is an amazing guitar player- a-mah-zing!

Out of his whole set I probably only recognized 6 songs but it was enjoyable to watch him and listen to him live.  At one point he had two guitars on and was playing one behind his back.  Seriously incredible!

 

What does this spell?

 

"What does t-f-y-r spell?"

"What does P-h-a-r-m-a-c-y spell?  Hey if you took away the h and then pushed the a-r-m closer and then took away the a-c and added a l-e it would spell Parmley!"

"What does that sign say?"

"How do you spell Schmidty?"

Tonight I was in the bathroom and a note flew in from under the door.  "Mom, what does that spell?"

At the top she wrote: Learn Chinease  and at the bottom it said: Autumn

 She really wanted to know what her fortune said but had written down the wrong side.   She eventually figured that out and when I left the bathroom I nearly tripped over her sitting in the hallway transcribing the other side of her fortune so she could pass me another note.

*Gulp*

Today Hannah got this bracelet from her 'friend' Nathan at school.

Starting to look like a home!

Our house is sure starting to look like a home!

The girls are starting to get more and more excited.  It's been fun for them to watch the house be built in front of their eyes.  Soon they will be able to go upstairs and check out their bedrooms.

Movin' on Up

The stairs are in!  Now we can get a first glimpse of what our upstairs level looks like!

Although it just looks like a lot of wood- it means so much to us.  Seeing our plans in 3D is amazing!

 View from stairs into the loft area.

Window in master bedroom.

 

Looking into the bathrooom, walk in closet and into Hannah's room

 

Hailey's room

 

  

View into the loft - love that big window

 

Hannah's room

 

The Basement Files

I was looking through my phone today and came across these basement pictures that I had forgotten to post.  Brian took these on November 8th.

 

Groceries by Hannah

Hannah has been a spelling machine lately!

She is recognizing more and more words and the other night she actually read me a book!  Missing only a few words.  It helps that it was a recognizable story so she knew how it should go but it was clear that she was reading the words. 

She is super interested in spelling words and is constantly spelling things out for us to tell her what things say.

Today we ran to the store and she asked if she could make the list.

Chocolate

Chips

Carrots

Roast

Potato

Dill

Corn

Salad

Donuts

It reminded me of when I was younger and would take my sisters shopping with me.  To keep them busy and included I would have them make the list for me as we were driving.  They seemed to enjoy it and I remember not only spending time with them but also having a little secretary to record the trips we needed to make and the items we needed.

Daily Visit

Living only a few miles from our new house, it's impossible to be in the area and not drive by.  Since it's been getting so dark so early, it's hard to get up close and personal to the progress.  It's clear when major things are done but so far we have been watching from the street.

Today we stopped by to check out the inside progress.

Standing in the living room and looking into the dining room and kitchen area.

 

 

 

The girls and I also went with Kristin to look at wedding dresses tonight!  So much fun!  I love weddings!  Afterwards we were able to go to Kimmy's to play with Schmidty for a little bit. 

First Load

Brian started his off-every-Friday schedule that will last through the end of the year.

He made our first drop off to the storage unit!

Only about 600 more to go....

The Grass is Always Greener

This quote came across my Facebook feed today.  What a great reminder!

I have not been putting the energy into the things that matter most lately.  I am not dealing with my stress or anxiety very well and I need to make some changes.  

I want to do better.  I want to be better.

Well, Good Morning!

It was early.  Real early.  5:40 am probably.

I was getting ready for work when I heard a little tap on the door.

I opened the door and was greeted by the cutest little thing!

Cute right?!

Although, what you don't see here is that those are NOT the jammies that she had on when I put her to bed last night and she did not wear those shoes to bed.....well at least I didn't think she did.

Me:  "You are adorable!  However, those are not the jammies that I put on you last night.  What happened?"

Hailey:  "I got hot and I wanted to wear my shoes."

Me:  "You wore those shoes to bed?"

Hailey:  "Just for most of the night cause them look cute like this."

Progress

This was early in the day.  The crew is working and starting to put up the walls!

Later that night I took the girls by to drop off some cookies for the workers.  

It's so fun to see how much they can accomplish in a day!