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!

Forever Friends

A couple of weeks ago my BFFs got together in celebration of the upcoming arrival of twins! These gals are AWESOME! We've been together since preschool, or maybe even before, and we've seen each other through everything, crushes, heartache, graduation, weddings, babies, loss of loved ones, and lots more through the years. Sometimes we don't talk much, but we can always pick up where we left off. Our personalities are all so drastically different that sometimes there is friction but we love each other no matter what.

Here we are - left to right - me, Dee, Amy, Jenny, Sara, and Angela. Does Ang. look like she's carrying twins?

Pretty Girls! Amy is the level-headed gal with an emotional heart that is good to the core. Dee is the work-a-holic of the group and although she is small, you better believe she is mighty!


Sara, my fellow teacher, is the laid back one of our group. And Little Brandon joined us, isn't he sweet!

Jen, testing out the backscratcher at the hostess' house, she is the funny one of us all, and by the way, she's full of useless info from years of reading Cosmo magazine.

Ang and hubby, Tyler, are expecting a boy and a girl. I am thrilled for them. Ang is the typical blonde, a little ditsy, but kind and nurturing.

Love ya sisters! Can't wait to meet the new additions to the group!!

It's Beginning To Look...

...Alot Like Christmas! We decorated the house before we left for Thanksgiving break but I made a few changes this year. I put all the obnoxious decorations in Madelyn's room. They are appreciated more there. You know, the ones that sing and dance so loud and so long you tell yourself that next year they won't make it out of the box. But she's in heaven, her own little crowd of Christmas toys to enjoy!

How long is Forever?

This was the discussion after we got our flu shots yesterday and sported matching metallic silver band aids.

Madelyn: "I'm gonna leave this band aid on foreber, and foreber, and foreber. (she pronounces the v with a b). How long will you leave your's on Mommy?"

Me: "For a little bit longer."

Madelyn: "Well, I'll leave it on foreber. I'll take it off before bedtime."

Me: "Me too!"

So how long is forever? Aparrently to a toddler, forever only lasts til bedtime.

"Awesomeness"

I know "AWESOMENESS" isn't a word, but it describes perfectly how I feel today. Today was like playing Santa for my kiddos at school and it was so incredibly fun. My co-worker and I attended several conferences last year about the positive effects of providing movement in classrooms. Duh, you might be saying! Well we already are trained in Cooperative Learning which gets kids moving and we already have planned and spontaneaous brain breaks. Why do we do all this? Well you try spending from 8:15-3:40 in one room with no windows or doors and see how much you are bouncing off the walls at the end.

So, we were wanting to make a change, a BIG change. That left us with these wonderful little jewels:

We spent quite a bit of our free time writing this grant to replace our regular, hard chairs with fitness balls. We got input from our occupational therapist, principal, and a person on the grant selection committee. All of this for devestation, we didn't receive it. But I wasn't going to stop there. I began researching cheaper options and was prepared to go begging. So I gathered all my info and went to my principal to see which companies he thought I should begin begging at first. And what he told me was, "the price I found was right, and if I let him comb through our school budget for a few weeks, he might find a few extra dollars to purchase these for us." PAUSE - my principal is wonderfully amazing not just because of this but because of things he does for our students and staff each and every day. YEAH!! So, we spent last night airing up our fit balls for our kids and getting rid of most of our old chairs. The when I told them what they were getting, they were over the moon excited. I love that they are excited to have some fun in our classrooms and I hope that they help us get the active learning that we need!!