Addicted

Let me introduce you to our new ADDICTION:

(drum roll please)

OUR KEURIG COFFEE BREWER!!

I had seen these little jewels on tv before Thanksgiving and honestly I thought, that is super pricey and I bet the little coffee cups are pricey too and since Matt makes several cups of coffee every evening it wouldn't be able to keep up with us. But now I am totally ADDICTED to this brewer. I love, love it! Matt's folks got it for us for Christmas along with several of the accessories.Yes, the little K cups add up in price but they are delicious and ours came with a 4 free boxes, a voucher for 2 more free boxes, and when you register you brewer you get 2 more free! We love Newmans' special blend, Mudslide and Butter Toffee by Gloria Jean, Breakfast Blend by Green Mountain, The Donut Shop Extra Bold, and several others. We also use the little insert where you can make coffee using regular coffee grounds and love it. This machine makes HOT coffee and it makes it fast - in under 40 seconds!! So if your looking for a new coffee brewer, look no farther!

Not Ready For This!!!

We had spaghetti early this week for dinner and here is the conversation that happened before dinner all because I asked a little three year old girl to take her shirt off to eat dinner. (I hate trying to get out red sauce stains!)

Me: "Before dinner please take your shirt off so that you don't spill spaghetti sauce on it."

Madelyn: "But Mom, Daddy will see me with my shirt off then."

Me: "It's okay if Daddy sees you, he gets you dressed and gives you a bath."

Madelyn: "Alright"

FIVE MINUTES LATER

Madelyn: "Mom, when will my boo boos grow?

Me: "What"

Madelyn: "When will my boo boos grow big like yours?

Me: (scrambling for the correct answer to tell a three year old) "Not today"


Oh my how I wasn't ready for this question, or any other in it's nature!! This girl loves all things girlie! She loves my make up, pretty sweaters, jewelry, and yes, even my underwear. She comments on which are the prettiest and why. So I shouldn't be suprised by this conversation and I know it is just the first of many! I will strive to be honest and open with her. And I was.

Snow Day!

In honor of our recent snow days and maybe, possibly another snow day tomorrow here are some snapshots of us out playing around in the snow last week! YEAH!

Oh how this dog loves cold weather! She romps and roots around then blazes across the yard full speed ahead. It is quite a sight.

We decided to clear off the the playset and go for it. We swang and went down the slide. At one point Madelyn went down head first and face planted into the snow. She loved every minute of it.

Snowball fight!

I'm gonna get you!

The entire purpose of going outside was really to sweep off the deck so the dog could go out. Mommy did most of the sweeping and this is how Madelyn helped in the snow removal. Isn't she helpful in her own way.

I love this picture because both girl and dog are enjoying the fresh, powdery, white stuff.

And then there was an added day off for us because Madelyn spiked a high fever one evening. She had no symptoms of anything, no running nose or cough. She went down for nap normal and woke up miserable. Mommy to the rescue. We hunkered (yes, I said hunkered) down in her dark room with a flashlight illuminating different shapes and numbers to practice. Then we spelled out family names on the ceiling. And when we were finished we put the flashlights under our chins and made silly faces at each other. With our girl growing up so fast, it's these moments that I cherish. A time to cuddle and use our imaginations. It's was priceless, even if she wasn't feeling well!

What's in that little blue Tiffany's Box??!!!

Oh, just my little ponies, and I don't mean My, my little ponies. Matt got me a Tiffany's bracelet a year ago and you know who latched onto the little blue box immediately, you know, for all her worldly treasures.

Geez, what kids don't find fun in boxes, especially pretty ones.

A Girl With Goals

Scrapbooking is important to me and I always have the best intentions of getting caught up but usually something trumps my scapbooking time. Things that have to get done, like laundry, cleaning, and family time. So here it is - I'm behind, years behind actually. I am fairly diligent about printing photos and putting keepsakes all in sequential order. It's just finding the time to scrapbook it all. I've finished Madelyn's first year scrapbook, actually, it became two scrapbooks because I had so much stuff, but I don't care, I love it. I've started on the next year but haven't finished.

My Goals:

1. Finish family scrapbook up til Madelyn turns two before the end of January.


2. Finish famliy scrapbook up til Madelyn turns three before spring break.


3. Finish family scrapbook up til Madelyn turns four before summer break.


4. STAY CAUGHT UP

Here's my workspace which is housed in our spare bedroom thus creating a limiting space and means I have to find a way to cram everything into the closet when people come to stay which is frequent around our house.

The closet, every drawer stuffed with supplies and pictures.

Finish this stuff!!

Everything is in order, even if it doesn't look like it, now I just need to get busy!

New Year's Resolutions

Another year has gone by allowing me to reflect on all things good and those needing improvement. Each year, upon reflection, has it's ups and downs and the past year has been no different. We are thankful to have found new daycare we love last winter, she loves Madelyn in that special Grandmotherly way, my job is stable and very rewarding, we took our first family vacation, our families are all in good health, and much more. We are still dealing with the stress of Matt's work and infertility, but we are hoping those situations change with the new year. I love New Year's Resolutions, it's like a fresh start, a cool breeze bringing with it all things new. Some of mine stay the same from year to year because they are a work in progress, some I accomplish right away, and some change or get forgotten. Some here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2011.

1. Continue to exercise (5 times each week) and eat healthy.

2. Find a church that fits us and get involved.

3. Grow better relationships with family and friends. Talk to my sister and my dad more often. Reconnect with a friend who I feel very distant from since she left my school.

4. Practice patience with my family and realize the world still goes on if the house isn't clean or the laundry isn't done.

5. Catch up on scrapbooking. (more to come on this subject)

6. Do date night with my hubby at least once a month. This is a goal from last year that we did okay on, but it is important for our sanity to do this EVERY month.

This list seems doable to me and will benefit myself, my family, and my friends throughout the new year!!

Holiday 2010 Part II

At 8 a.m. on Christmas morning Matt and I were awake waiting for "sleepy girl" Madelyn to get up see if Santa had came. In the previous years she has seemed overwhelmed and shy when opening gifts but this year was a totally different story and so much fun!!!! She was thrilled to see that Santa had left her a rockin' keyboard and other goodies!

One of Madelyn's most wanted presents was a white puppy with a collar that could bark and walk on a leash. (she had seem them on tv and it was love at first sight). I saved it for the last gift and since it is motion activated I stood beside it so that it would bark and whine. At first she thought it was our real dog but then she caught on and was super excited!

Meet Snowflake

Matt met a famous artist through his work and had asked him if he would paint a picture of Madelyn for me. It is from one of her two year old portraits and is beautiful. Our house is definately a shrine to this little one!

Watching the parade

Christmas afternoon we packed up and headed to do Christmas with my family hosted by my sister. They fixed loads of great food and then it was time for more presents.

Attitude

Courtney with a sassy new apron.
Barbies, Barbies

Mom's new necklace

My dad made Madelyn a baby highchair and a cradle. They are beautiful and she especially loves using the cradle as a cage for Snowball.

The day after Christmas we piled in the cars to go shopping!! Then it was back to the house for games. Bart and I latched onto the Light Bright before Madelyn even knew what it was. I used to love that toy as a kid and it's pretty fun as an adult too!

This holiday season was a blessing for us and our family! It is often a time for us to relax, reconnect, and truly enjoy each other. Seeing the spirit of the season from a three year old's eyes has been uplifting. We hope each of you had a wonderful holiday and wish you the best in 2011!

Holiday 2010 Part I

Whew, I'm a little, okay maybe a lot behind on posts right now. Our computer recently decided to stop connecting to the internet and it took several hours on the phone with AT&T tech support (who were by the way not helpful), a new modem, and a new ethernet port in our computer to get us up and running again. So I've tried to combined some of the Christmas posts. Starting us off on a wonderful winter vacation was our good friend Cameo. She had invited us over to decorate gingerbread houses. What fun it was!!

Cami showing Ella and Madelyn how it's done, look at all the sugar on that table, it's a toddler's heaven!

Becky with her sweet girl, Hannah

Ella with her gingerbread house


Miss Kyndall, right by her Mommy's side

Getting it all decorated up

The girls loved decorating and sampling all the candy goodies. We look forward to many more get togethers!



Next up was Christmas with Matt's family. They spent several days at our house this year which was a nice change. We relaxed, played games, and had tons of good food.

Say Cheese!

And a silly one, for good measure!

Grammy opened the canvas piece that Madelyn had painted for them and Grammy is giving her loves

New camera

Great-Grandpa's new artwork from Madelyn

The super cute hat Grammy found for our girl

We spent Christmas Eve relaxing and waiting for Santa's arrival just the three of us and it was wonderful! It was so much fun to see Madelyn's excitement for Christmas this year. She asked so many questions about Santa and his reindeer, we listened to Christmas music in the car, and she was a great helper baking all the cookies and candies.

Sprinkling the reindeer food with Daddy, it's was super cold outside

Our shy girl has really came out of her shell over the last year. I'm so proud of her! However, one person she still won't warm up to is...Santa. Matt took her to see Santa at his YMCA and she sat on his lap only when Matt sat beside her and she wouldn't talk to him. Oh well, I'm over the whole adorable picture with Santa thing. Not to mention, I was out of town when they went to see Santa and I asked Matt to dress her in something cute that matched and brush her hair. Apparently, he didn't hear me and he let her pick out what to wear. So, she showed up in pink plaid capri pants with socks and black tennis shoes and a heavy purple sweater. Yikes, that's why you see the letter to Santa below.

She ate cookies for desert and then at about 7:15 put herself to bed. She shut of the Christmas lights, kissed us goodnight, and climbed in bed. We were a little shocked so we let her sit in bed for about ten minutes and then thankfully she came out of her room to see if we were going to bed soon. Then she decided she could stay up a little longer!

We did a "Christmas Light Express" this year. The idea roughly goes along with The Polar Express which is a favorite of mine. So after getting out the reindeer food and Santa's cookies it was time for bed. When Madelyn folded back her comforter she found a "golden ticket." We hopped in the car and drove around Basehor to see the lights. I was really impressed with how many houses did have lights and watching Madelyn's face was priceless. It the start of a great family tradition.

Our Driver

Hot cocoa completed our tour!

One of our favorite houses

Then we headed to church for the evening service with little ones in their pj's. By the time we got home and to bed it was after 11:00. Madelyn had told me she was nervous to go home because she didn't want Santa to bring her coal, she wanted real presents. This kid has a soft heart and always wants to please us. She deserves a great Christmas! Stay tuned for more!