Ok, it's been awhile....so sorry! Seems like I have so little free time and the free time I have is spent doing something else, so it's not really free anymore!! Most of the snow that I posted last time is now gone, thanks to the warm temps the last few days. It was back down in the 30's today. I guess Mother Nature wanted to remind us that it's not spring YET. I enjoyed the 60+ temps yesterday by walking around downtown over my lunch and hose out the garage. I couldn't stand all that sand and salt in the house and it was perfect day to clean it out. Sounds like we are supposed to get a few more inches of snow this weekend so I doubt it will stay clean for very long.

Rachel is doing a great job with her Jolly Phonics program at school and I'm amazed at the words she can sound out and read now. We are looking forward to conferences at the end of the month so we talk to her teacher and track her progress. She is anxiously waiting for the snow to melt and the ground to dry out so she can go the park again.

Annie is still on the move and shows no sign of slowing down. She's eats like horse and yet we are all amazed at how tiny she stays. The minute we get home from daycare she goes right to her booster seat and waits for a snack. She'll eat again at dinner time and then she'll snack on whatever Scott and I eat while watching TV. We realized that if WE are eating, Annie IS eating. We also have her back to sleeping 9-10 hours a night. She was in a habit if waking up and getting into bed with us and we had to put an end to that. After about 7 nights of screaming and crying, she finally realized that she can fall back asleep on her own. Wheew. Of course now we have to work on slowly weaning her off her beloved Binkie .....not an easy battle!

I spent the weekend in Galena with my girlfriends two weeks ago. We enoyed shopping, eating and drinking...and maybe a little bit too much of each. But we had a great time and it was nice to get away for a few days. I also starting working out after that trip, as in EXERCISE. I've been saying for months that I need to get off my behind and do something. My friend Shelly convinced me that if we joined a gym together we would be more successful. And she was right. I can honestly say I really enjoy it and I actually look forward to it! I feel guilty being away from the girls three nights a week but I know it's good for me and in the long run, good for them too. My goal is to run a 5K this summer. It doesn't sound like much but for someone who hasn't ran a mile since high school, it's huge.

Looking foward to Valentines dinner on Saturday at the Ced-Rel with all of our friends on Hamer Drive. My parents are coming down on Sunday to work on our "to-do" list!

Happy Birthday Phil & Sarah!


Ruby, in her most favorite place to sleep at night.


No comment.


Mary, Amy and I at the Irish Cottage.

Happy 2009

So, it's almost the end of January and I'm just getting around to wishing everyone a Happy New Year. We've been busy and my blog is suffering. It's hard for me to sum up the past few weeks so I'll just post some recent pics of the girls instead. Again, Happy New Year!!!


Just an idea of HOW much snow we have
here. Ugh. I'm so done with it.


I leave Annie alone at the drawing desk for like
5 seconds and this is what I come back to.
I still don't know how she managed to do this
without falling on her face. Pure talent and no
fear is my guess.


Trying on mom's slippers


Sam & Rachel's first official sleepover.



Just wanted to remind myself of what IS
coming in a few months.

Christmas - Part 1

Ahh, back to work, back to regular nap schedules, back to chaos in the morning...great. We REALLY enjoyed our time off over the holidays. We slept in (when Annie cooperated), spent a large number of days in our PJ's and spent some much needed time together as a family.

We enjoyed Christmas three times this year w/ the Strangs, Lesters and ourselves. We spent the weekend after Christmas in Cascade with my family. My cousin and her boyfriend were home from San Diego so we were anxious to get back and spend time with them.

We spent Saturday opening gifts, eating LOTS of food and playing Wii. My neice and nephew got a Wii for Christmas and they brought it out to the farm so we could all play. Even Grandpa learned to bowl. I don't like to brag, but I did bowl a 267 and mangaged to beat my brother, husband and brother-in-law in that game. I totally rule.

Thanks to mom and dad for letting us stay a few extra days and especially for feeding us, not an easy job considering how much Annie eats in a day!

Grandpa doing what he does best.

Annie doing what she does best....sometimes.

Rachel playing Wii bowling

Scott's festive, and scary, holiday sweater.

Rachel's favorite...puzzles. Thankfully Grandma was

around to help.

Chritmas - Part 2

Our 2nd Christmas was our time at home. We woke up early Christmas morning and watched the girls open gifts. While Rachel was busy opening presents, Annie was busy eating a cookie that Santa left behind. She sat, by herself, for about 10 min eating that cookie. Nothing comes between her and food, especially food with chocolate chips in it!

Annie and her cookie

Reading the letter from Santa.

Santa even remembered Ruby, a new cat bed.

Christmas - Part 3

Our first Christmas was with the Lester family, the weekend before Christmas. We had it at our house and everyone arrived early so we could eat some breakfast and open presents. Unfortunatly the weather didn't cooperate with our plans so everyone had to go back home by mid-afternoon.

After we opended presents and attempted to clean-up the basement, Grammy and Papa put on an Christmas concert for us. Lori asked that they please bring their guitar and flute and sing songs for the kids, a tradition when Scott and Lori were younger. The grandkids LOVED it so it looks like we can carry on the tradition with our kids.


Encore Encore





Annie was fascinated

Rachel's gift, wrapped just for her by Papa

Papa w/ Ella & Annie

Annie and the bows she stole, I see a hint of guilt in those eyes.

Scott & Rachel took advantage of the snow and went sledding.

Merry Christmas Eve

The hours are counting down and my to-do list is still a mile long. Thankfully we have our Santa cookies baked but I haven't started wrapping Santa gifts yet. I'm waiting for the girls to go to bed and I'm guessing that won't be very early, especially tonight. I have a ton of pictures to post from the Lester Christmas last weekend but I don't have the energy to get up and grab my camera...this couch is just to comfy right now. Once the girls get up and open their gifts from Santa in the morning, time to pack our bags and head back to Cascade for a few days. My cousin Sarah is back from San Diego and we can't get home fast enough so we can see her!

Almost 8pm. Time to put my PJ's on, lay Annie down for bed and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' to Rachel and finish wrapping presents. Hopefully I can stay awake for all of this.

Let's not forget, after all the shopping is done and the gifts are unwrapped (...and sometimes returned) the holidays are about spending time with the people we love. Which is what I'm looking forward to the most. Wishing all of your a wonderful AND safe Christmas!

Visit with Santa

Rachel ran right up to Santa and told him EVERYTHING she wanted from Christmas. Annie stood there, looked at him, got up on his lap and wouldn't take her eyes off his beard. All in all, the visit went very well and only lasted a few minutes. Plus, no one cried.

One more thing I can cross off my list this month!

Just 8 more WORK days until Christmas break!!!! We can't wait. I'm looking forward to sleeping in, hanging out in our PJ's and eating lots and lots of food. Last week Annie and I went back to Cascade and baked cookies with my mom and sisters. We ended up bringing home a ton of cookies and candy but I'm not sure if we'll have any left by the holidays. Looks like I'll be making more this week.

Yesterday morning I got a an hour massage (thanks to VIPs) and spent a few hours Christmas shopping by myself...heaven. I can handle the crowds if I'm not trying to shop with two little girls. We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house and wrapping presents. Today we took the girls to get haircuts, both of which needed them badly. This was Annie's first official haircut and we weren't sure what to expect. The guy who cut her hair obviously had a lot of experience cutting hair on a moving target. We ended up cutting a large amount of hair off the back and evening it out...it looks great! Rachel got a few inches off her hair too and what a difference.

Next weekend is the Lester Christmas to we'll spend this week finishing up some last minute shopping and baking. I'll be so thankful when everything is bought, wrapped and under the tree!


Annie on her fourth or fifth sugar cookie.


The cookie was so good that she put some in her
hair for later.


Oh yeh, ready to go!


Ahhh...less hair, we love it.




How I wish I had the time to make her hair
look like this everyday.


Annie has decided she no longer wants
to eat in her highchair, she wants to eat
AT the table with us. May need to
purchase a new booster seat soon.


New haircut, her purse & necklace,
she's ready to go out.

Four days off....it was nice while it lasted. I'm starting to think I like Thanksgiving break better then Christmas. Not as much to do, just more food to eat. We really enjoyed the time off from work and school and catching up on some extra sleep was nice too.

Rachel had been complaining of a sore throat the night before Thanksgiving we didn't think too much of it. By Thursday it was obvious that it was more than just a sore throat. She didn't want to get out of bed, she had no appetite and she didn't want to play with her cousins....not like Rachel. I took her to the doc on Friday morning and found out she had strep throat. Poor kid! We spent the rest of Friday just bumming around and putting up Christmas decorations. Annie, to our surprise, has done very well with the tree. We put it up while she was napping and when she came downstairs and saw it, she ran for it. She spent at least 5 minutes just looking at it. I think the newness has worn off and now she doesn't even realize that it's in the room...wheew!

We spent Saturday in Manchester with Scott's family and enjoyed some much needed time with them. We really enjoyed watching Rachel and Annie play with their cousins, Trey & Ella. We also enjoyed Aunt Lori's dance party and her funky fresh moves on the floor. Thanks Lou!

My sister and I spent most of Sunday shopping. We may have spent a little more time eating and screwing around but we did at least enter a few stores. It wasn't about bringing home bags and bags of gifts, it was about leaving the house without our kids for a few hours!


Aunt Amy took Annie out for what will most
likely be her last time in her swing until Spring.


Annie, Rachel, Trey & Ella


The Grandkids with Grammy & Papa


Please, no more photos.


Annie can sense when another baby loves the
bottle as much as her.


Rachel "feeling the burn" with Trey


Ahhh.....amazing tree with lights on it.


Rachel was a huge help, even sick.

Annie is in bed, Rachel is watching a movie, Scott is helping our friends with their computer and I'm enjoying some peace and quiet...well, the dryer is running but that's enough quiet for me. I'm looking foward to four days off and I'm hoping to find a little time to put up our Christmas tree and decorations. Not sure if Annie can REALLY climb yet but I guess we'll find out what she's capable of once that tree goes up. I debated not putting the tree up this year but the look of total disbelief from Rachel convinced me that the show must go on...even with a 15 month old in the house.

We are having my entire family (all 18 us of) over on Thursday for Thanksgiving. As much work as it is to get ready for it I'm so thankful to finally have house that will fit all of us. Friday we'll spend in CR and we'll head to Manchester on Saturday to celebrate with Scott's family. Sunday we'll spend in our PJ's, doing a whole lot of nothing.

Happy Thanksgiving!!


The lovely turkey picture Rachel
made for us.



Annie loves to wear Rachel's old backpack



Riding Jo Jo, and one handed. Impressive.


Rachel doing a great job as the big sister.



Rachel modeling her pilgram hat from school.

Only Monday?

I'm ready for Friday and the week just begun. Not much new around our house. We have Rachel's kindergarten conference tomorrow night and I'm anxious to see how she's doing in school. I'm amazed at how quickly she's picked up sounding out words and reading.

Annie has been busy, as usual. We finally took down the baby gate on the stairs and Scott worked on her going up and down by herself. She's done really well but I still have to watch her and make sure she goes down SLOWLY, which she doesn't like.


Rachel & her lego lady


The Easter Bunny is early this year


Annie wanted to get into the bathroom so
she scooted Rachel's logo container so she could
reach it. Nothing gets in her way!!!