Snow Day

The last couple of weeks has had it's share of ups and downs. We were so excited to have our dear friend, Cindy (Ninny) came to stay with us. We had grand plans for her visit. Alas, a big snow storm arrived the day after she did, dumping 9 inches of snow followed by several days of dreary, gray, bitter cold weather. When finally the sun came out, we were hit with a terrible stomach bug that kept us confined to the house through the weekend.
Needless to say, we were all suffering from a major bout of cabin fever.

So when the sun came out and warmed the air, we took full advantage of some play time in the snow.


Even the dogs seemed to have lifted spirits...

And Mia, always studying, stopped to examine a pile of poop...
It was great fun. We played until the sun went down. Even then, a certain little girl didn't want to give up. And who could blame her? And, we were thrilled when Ninny decided to extend her stay by a couple of days to make up for the time she lost.

A heat wave as since melted the snow into an ugly, muddy mess, we said goodbye to Ninny, and poor miss Mia has come down with the terrible stomach bug.

I think we have had enough of Winter. Hurry up Spring!

Pic(s) of the Week: Mia Meets the Treadmill

This week's picture is actually video of Mia when she discovered the treadmill at Uncle Michael's house.

If Money Grew On Trees

Oh, if only money grew on trees. Imagine what I could do! I could drive a slick new car, remodel the kitchen, or...build our dream home! But, since those things are pretty unrealistic, I choose to dream about more attainable things. Sort of..

I am a girl, I love to shop. But not the usual girlie things. I am not into clothes or shoes. But I am a sucker for electronics. DSW? Not for me. Best Buy? Now we are talkin'! Nothing excites me more than shopping for sleek new toys. And lately, I have been coveting the iPad. I never understood what the big deal was with the iPad. If it isn't a phone, than why would you want to lug around a mini computer? Seemed a little pointless to me. But, since Christmas, a couple of friends have showed me theirs and I am totally in love. This thing is SO cool!

Just think of all the things I can do on it!
I can read books!
I can get textbooks!
Even Mia can read books!
Interactive books!
Movies!
Games!
Cartoons!
Color!
Draw!
Write!
At home, in the car, out to dinner, on a plane!
Being a student and a Mom, the possibilities are endless.
I dream of one.

But, at 600 bucks a pop, I will continue to dream :)

And speaking of dreaming, this baby has been on my mind for quite a while now...

The NordickTrack Incline Trainer. Perfection. A machine you can run, walk, hike..etc. One of my favorite things to do in Colorado was hike. And since we live in flat lands (compared to Colorado), hiking isn't an option. So why not hike at home? Not as pretty I know, but better than nothing.

But again, 1300 bucks I will continue to salivate from the couch.

If only money grew on trees...

Post Christmas Randomness

The week between Christmas and New Years was busy with friends, family, fun general business. Gabe and I had the week off which we took advantage of to get some work done on the house and revel in the vacation time that didn't require any traveling.

We did take some time out for good ole' fun too.

Here is a pictorial play-by-play:

We ventured downtown to Crown Center to take Mia to the Crayola Factory. No surprise here. It was a hit:



























































And if that wasn't enough, afterwords we took her to Fritz's for lunch to see the trains. For those of you who don't know what Fritz's is, it is an old burger joint at Crown Center in Kansas City that has trains deliver your food via a big track that goes around the whole place. It is pretty cool. I think it was an even bigger hit than Crayola.

The reaction was priceless...
































Also that week we welcomed special visitors. Gabe's great friends, The Morgan Family, were in town for the holidays and we were very happy to have them as overnight guests on their way back home. Their three adorable children were great fun for Mia. And though we had to have a couple of conversations with her about sharing, they got along famously. Fun had by all.






















Things have certainly calmed down since the holidays. Post holiday blues were rearing their ugly head as we took said goodbye to the Christmas Tree and all the holiday decorations. But we have settled into a daily routine and have begun the New Year with renewed spirit.

Christmas Round 3: New Traditions

I am still trying to catch up on all our Christmas activity. And there was a lot. In fact, this Christmas is going in the record books as one of the most fun, enjoyable, fantastic Christmas season ever!

This year we embarked on the new Christmas tradition in our household. With Mia old enough to experience the magic of Christmas, we will spend each Christmas at home so that Mia can wake up at on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. And this year, Santa was very good to us.

We were very happy to host my Dad, Step-mom, and Mom-in-law for Christmas this year. It is the first time we have hosted Christmas. We hope the first of many.

With the crazy weather threatening our plans, we were so very thankful that all arrived safe and sound before the weather hit.

Christmas Eve was jam packed. My Step-mom Linda and I got the wild idea to start painting the basement that day. While Wal-Mart had all the crowds, she and I were the only ones at the home improvement store. That evening we headed over to the neighbor's house to see Santa and drove around town looking at the Christmas lights. Then, of course, there was also The Great Ham Incident but we enjoyed our annual Christmas Eve Appetizer Delight anyway.















Christmas Day was so exciting! It was a day just as we had imagined. Mia's first true experience was priceless.

This is her first look at what Santa brought. It was so early, I didn't plan ahead with the camera to get a good shot of her face...so this is it. Sorry.















This shot doesn't show her face which had the look of "Wow!"















And then the opening started...oh boy!


"BUZZ!"

















Everything was a hit. She loved her kid size table that Santa brought as well as all the other toys she got.





















It actually took Mia two days to open all her gifts since each of them kept her attention for quite a while.

I enjoyed cooking Christmas breakfast and our inaugural Christmas feast of Sauerbraten, Spatzle, and red cabbage. With full bellies we reveled in the day's blessings, enjoying each others company.

It all was over in the blink of an eye. This year was so fun, we can't imagine what next year will bring!

Toasties!

12:01am 1/1/2011

Here's to a grand year full of health, happiness and prosperity for all!

And the start of new decade...

Love,
Us