Sledding!

Where in the heck does the time go?  Once again I'm behind, and haven't done a post since December 17.  I've had VERY good intentions of getting our sledding afternoon onto the blog, BUT, in my defense, life gets a bit crazy for us being that we have to travel over the holidays!

We live about 2 blocks off the state trail and there is a very good 'ravine' area.  This is where we take the dogs to run and blow off steam... it's also filled with a couple big hills.  Dad has been taking Nece there pretty much every weekend and sledding with her.  One afternoon in December (probably the weekend before the holidays) we bundled up Franny, I grabbed my camera, grabbed the dogs and went on a family winter adventure.

WOW!  That kid has FUN.  I will say that I was very surprised to see her do as well as she did, and go as far up the hill as she did! She likes to go by herself and with her dad.  And then she wanted to go with me.  Okay, let's roll.

Go ahead, ask Nece if she has fun sledding with mom.  I'm pretty sure she'll tell you 'nope, mom doesn't know how to stop.'  AND it's true.  I probably haven't been on a sled since I was maybe an early teenager... I don't know how to stop.  Obviously, it's not by putting your feet to the side and getting the snow spray all over your face, or should I say getting it ALL over your childs face.  She can stick with dad, and I will just take pictures.  (okay maybe not, I'll do it again... we only have a bazillion inches of snow, we just need this zero degree temps to go and warm up some).

We had a great time, and I'm sure we'll do it again, just as soon as that weather warms up to the point that it's semi-tolerable.  Some pics from our little outing:

Snow and Cold!

 WINTER has arrived and it's here to stay!  Snow and Cold.  Do I love it, NO.  Do I tolerate it... I suppose I do live in an icebox.

Enjoying the holiday season!

I have to say that I LOVE the holidays!  The craziness of Black Friday shopping at 5AM (yes, I went one week after surgery... I have the BEST Black Friday shopping partner, Mona.  It's kind of become a tradition... Caribou starts the day out!)

I LOVE the Christmas music.  The only two radio stations I've been listening to for about 3 weeks now are the ones that play non-stop Christmas music.  And CD's... gotta love Martina's Christmas CD.  And Nece... she loves her Chipmunks Christmas CD.  Now, do I love that one... NO, but do I enjoy listening to it with the girls.  You Bet!

The Lights!  I certainly do NOT love the ridiculousness of some houses.  But I will say, I do enjoy driving through the neighborhoods with the kids and looking at the lights.  The more the better... according to a certain 3 year old.  I do kind of have to agree.  We've asked daddy to put lights up outside, and the exact wording of the response was "as soon as you decide we don't have to travel every single Christmas, I will put lights up outside for you ladies."  Point taken, and that day may come sooner rather than later.

The shopping!  Great deals.  You just have to know when to hit the malls and there are no problems!  I love to give people my lists and I love to receive lists.  It's not that its impersonal and that I don't want to have to think... it just takes the stress away and you know you are giving somebody something they really want.  If you give a big list, it's still a surprise!

Baking!  I love baking and I love baking with my girls!  This year I attempted a gingerbread house with the girls.  Nope, not going to do that again... kind of like cut out cookies.  My girls will never experience that with me.  I did it once, and I won't do it again.  We also had a marathon Saturday afternoon/evening of baking.  I made cranberry-orange nut bread (yum), Oreo Balls, GingerSnaps (see the 'hot dogs' below), Grandma I's brownies, and Hazelnut cookies with Nutella topping in one day.  This past weekend, I made peanut butter balls.  YUMMY to all of those. 

And you are wondering, what do we do with all those goodies?  It has become tradition to give them to our neighbors as their Christmas present.  They love the baked goods and I love to get them out of the house!

Santa- Toro hosts a Christmas party for kids most years, and this year was no exception.  The kids get a treat, arts and crafts, games and a visit with Santa.  This year, I was able to bring Mya along with Mona for assistance... I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The picture above is Nece informing Santa that she'd like a Barbie Camper...

Giving- I have the opportunity to give bacways throughout the holiday season and it truly makes me appreciate everything that I have.  Family, Friends, Health.  There are so many people out there that don't have the ability to put a little gift under the tree for their children, put food on their table or don't have families to share the holiday season with or don't have their health.  Something so simple, but in many  makes you feel so worthy... ringing the Salvation Army bell.  This is a tradition that I cannot wait to start with my girls.  We will do this as a family as they get older... and I jump at the opportunity to do it every year through work. Truly making a difference.  We also try to give every time we go in and come out of a store- teaching the true meaning of giving is better than (or just as important as receiving).  Adopt-A-Family... the need is so great this year.  This is another opportunity that I'm blessed to be a part of.  Once again, through work, we adopt a family and help them provide.  The gifts were dropped off today and words cannot even describe the gratitude of these families.  To know that I've helped give them presents under the tree for their kids, provided food for their table and to give a mom a little luxury she would never be able to afford.  My hope and wish one day is for our family to Adopt-A-Family... give back and bless others with a little bit of what we have.  It breaks my heart to see the statistics and I wish I was able to do more... but I know deep down that every little bit counts and just a tiny donation can make a world of difference to somebody out there.

And the season in general... It's so much fun to live out the experiences you remember as a child through the eyes of your child.  I look forward to many more holiday seasons with family and friends!

Auntie Cindy's Visit

The weekend before my surgery Auntie Cindy came for a visit and it could not have come at a better time. It was Marc's second straight weekend of working ridiculous hours, a week before my surgery with lots to do and it had been awhile since Cindy got some good quality time with the girls.

So, how did we start the weekend out?!!? Of course by picking her up and going straight to the Mall of America for some good ole rides. Auntie Cindy didn't realize it beforehand, but she 'can't do' the Swings anymore. She found herself white, clammy, ready to get sick and people staring at her. Nece couldn't stop telling us that Auntie Cindy was scared.

After a fun-filled night at the Mall, we headed to the van to go home. All doors closed, all seatbelts buckled and I put the van into reverse. DING, DING, DING in the most ridiculous high pitched sound you could imagine. Between Cindy and myself, we screwed around with slamming doors, buckling and unbuckling seatbelts, closing the hood, turning the van off and on numerous times and there was NOTHING to stop the DING, DING, DING. So what did we do... drove home listening to DING, DING, DING the ENTIRE time and after the 25 minute drive we were ready to be put in the loony bin. Thankfully the next morning, afer driving back to Bloomington (25 more minutes of DING, DING, DING, I was able to get it into a shop and have the computer on the van reset. THANK GOODNESS.

If you don't know this, here is your lesson for the day- do NOT EVER put your care in anything but Park if there is a door open. It can mess with the sensors and the computer, and it doesn't have to screw it up right away. (your welcome from sending you to the point of craziness)

And while I was a breakfast club and Daddy was working (another 24 hour/close to it) shift, Auntie Cindy, Nece and Franny kept themselves busy with breakfast, lunch, playing and baking cookies. When I got home it was oh so peaceful. But everybody knows that doesn't last long in our house, as our lovely Franny takes cat naps and she was up before we knew it.

Now, it was the weekend of November 12... and 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, but there was ONE goal of the weekend. We HAD to get our Christmas tree up. I know, early, but considering the Nov 20 surgery, recovery time and that we always have to travel for the holidays it was this weekend or a really short time to enjoy Christmas decorations. So, early this year it was!

And since early November, we've been enjoying our tree and constantly moving the ornaments around!

So behind, but not forgotten!

I have a couple posts sitting in the draft mode and I need to finalize them before I publish... adding pictures to these blog posts is not the easiest. So what's sitting there and waiting... leaves, Cindy's visit, and getting ready for the holidays with a visit to Santa, decorating a gingerbread house and a marathon day of baking. Soon, I promise... but the priority this week is getting Christmas cards designed and ordered so they get in the mail.

Two quick things without pictures, so very easy to capture.
Nece... let's just say that we're going through a testing stage. It's constant whining until somebody gets her way. God, that kid is strong-willed. Needless to say, it makes for VERY long days/evenings when she is in this mood. We (or should I say I) know we can't always give in because it'll make it worse. So, Sunday night at dinner she wanted a piece of bread. I had half left and gave it to her (knowing that she'd take one bite and tell me her tummy is full)... oh no, that isn't what she wanted. She wanted her OWN piece. Not wanting to deal with that battle, but not wanting her to waste it, I gave her a piece of bread and told her that she is going to sit at this table and eat the bread even if it's til the cows come home.

She takes a couple bites and looks at me, "Mommy, I don't want the cows to come home."
What Nece?
I don't want the cows to come home... they will scare Hazel and Reggie.
Oh honey, the cows aren't going to come home.
You said they will come home. I don't want the cows to come home, they will scare Hazel and Reggie.

I somehow got out of that one, and she ate 3/4 of the bread I was positive she wasn't going to eat. Whew, that kid surprises me sometimes. And the remainder of the night, I heard 'member, you said the cows will come home. I don't want them to come home... they will scare Hazel and Reggie.'

And Franny... my little climbing daredevil. This kid is going to end up in the emergency room at some point. Anything and everything she can climb on, she does... it's enough to make my heart stop on a daily basis.

But, she had her 15 month check-up last week. She looks great. That little peanut weighed in at 19 lbs 14 oz. Come on Franny, let's break 20 lbs soon! She continues to be in the 5th percentile. She is 30 inches tall, which is also around the 10th percentile and I think they said her head was 18 inches, which is in the 50th percentile. So, we continue to keep plugging away and watch her grow and develop.

Til, sooner rather than later with my updates that include pictures!

The BIG day!

This month has been extremely busy with planning for my big surgery on November 20, a visit from Auntie Cindy and daddy working weekend shifts of 24 plus hours. So where have we been and what have we been doing?

After many months of planning, squaring everything away with insurance, losing weight and getting excited November 20 was on the horizon. And that date was coming fast and furious. Knowing that I was having surgery, the list-maker and planner I am... I wanted to make sure that I had everything covered. So, this house got a major cleaning, I visited Let's Dish and made 10 meals, I stock-piled at the grocery store, Petsmart, made sure all Christmas decorations got up, got a jump start on Christmas shopping, got the girls packed and ready to go for a visit to grandma and grandpa M's and continued with the day to day duties of working, being a mom and being a wife. It seemed like it the day was never going to arrive and all of a sudden it was HERE! And how did I explain to Nece what was about to happen...

On Thursday night while eating pizza...
Nece, we have to have a talk.
Okay, mom.
You know grandma is coming tonight, right?
Yep.
When you get up in the morning, grandma is going to be here. Daddy has to take mommy to the doctor.
What hurts?
Well, the doctor is going to fix my boobs.
Okay.

End of conversation.

So, how did the surgery go?!?!

Good, if I must say so myself. Marc tells people that I look like Frankenstein with all the stiches and markings. Friday and Saturday I was completely out of it and didn't know very much. Marc was THE BEST. He made sure I had anything and everything I could ever need, he checked on me hourly to make sure I was okay, he even set my tray up with a bell and the 1st two nights set an alarm for every four hours to get me my medicine. Yes, a bell, if I needed him and he was outside, I had instructions to call his cell and if he was inside and in a different room, all I had to do was 'ring the bell'. Between he and Mona they started bandage changes on Saturday and Marc's been able to do it himself the last couple days. Still swollen, bruised, but looking better every day (so I'm told). On Sunday, I started to get more coherent, Monday I started stretching timeframes between the drugs, and by Tuesday I was essentially completely off the drugs and Wednesday I made my first trip out of the house by myself. Oh, how I enjoyed walking through the mall and pre-shopping for Friday morning!

There are definite limitations and I knew about those. No lifting greater than 10 lbs for 2-4 weeks... that's going to be interesting once Franny gets home. I can't really lift my arms more than parallel to the ground and if I go too far... my body reminds me very quickly, slow down. Showers take forever, but I'm getting better and better at it. We all know I am an independent person, and it is very hard for me to accept help, but I have NO choice. And I've been asking for help whenever I need it (which is alot).

The girls were going to come home this past Sunday (2 days post-surgery), but we decided to leave them at Grandma's for the week. According to grandma, they haven't asked for either of us once, they don't seem to act like they are missing us and when I called tonight, Nece didn't want to talk to me. Boy, I hope she's not angry at us... if she is we'll deal with it.

So, after a busy month of planning, I feel like it was all worth it. My 'work' around the house is pretty minimal, meals are planned and prepared for the next couple weeks, I have a husband that has been fantastic and my girls are coming home within 48 hours!

Swimming Lessons comes to an end...

So, last night was the last night of swimming lessons! Nece absolutely loves Tuesday nights with mom and going to swimming lessons. Every night as we'd hop out of the van and walk up to swimming lessons, she'd hold my hand, grin from ear to ear, hardly contain her excitement and tell me 'this is gonna be so fun, mom'!!!



She knew the entire process from hollaring at me while I drove "MOM... there it is".

We'd get out of the car, walk up to the doors and hit the handicapped buttons that were clearly marked "children should not play with these buttons".


Walk past the pool and I'd hear something like, "mom, there's the pool".


Down the stairs... as we held up others and she would typically tell everybody 'there are alot of stairs, or mom, we're going down the stairs'.


Into the locker room... that was always interesting. Very intrigued by all the old naked ladies, announced to everybody that 'my potty is coming out or I have to poop' to wanting her own cupboard (locker). Putting everything into the cupboard and off to the pool area we'd go.


Favorite games in the water were definitely motor boat, hokey pokey and running on the mat. They had a mat that helped the kids balance on the water and they could jump off it into our arms... LOVED that part of every evening.


After swimming lessons, we'd play in the water for awhile until she'd tell me that we're done, I have to go potty.

It only took me about five weeks to realize that I could've killed two birds with one stone and instead of 'rinsing off the pool water' and coming home to shower, we could just take a shower at the Community Center. Made life easier for me, and Nece liked taking showers there... it was something different.

Last night we received our "Certificate of Participation" and Nece was proud as a peach. It's hanging on her mirror in her bedroom. Better than the living room wall which was the first place she wanted to put it.

We talked a bit about do you want to go to swimming lessons without mommy, like the other big kids? And here is what I've been hearing for the past couple weeks, "Mom, one more time I go to swimming lessons with you, and then I go ALL by myself. I a big girl! You can drive me and I go all by myself."

So there you have it, Nece will move up to the next group and go to lessons on her own beginning in January! So, it's either 2 activites in the winter or just swimming lessons again, we haven't decided. The other option we're looking at is tumbling. We'll see...