Snow Days - Dance Central

We got a Kinect for our XBOX for Christmas. There is a game called Dance Central and the kids LOVE it! It's a hoot to watch them (& their Daddy) in action!

Weekend Fun and the Circus

Grandma & Grandpa arrived late Friday night after the kids were sleeping. Saturday morning they were so excited to see who was here! We had a fun weekend planned.

We have furniture, but they prefer the kitchen floor. :)

Emma feeding Grandpa!

We had tickets Saturday night to go to the circus. We decided that Emma probably wouldn't like sitting there for 2+ hours, so it worked out that my Mom & Dad were coming and they got to enjoy an evening with Emma. Tim & I were glad to have the opportunity for undivided time with our little man. We started the evening at Pie in the Sky Pizza and then headed to the circus. I don't think he realized how special it was to be an "only child" for the night. His remark was "when Emma's bigger she can come to the circus." He always misses her when they aren't together.

Connell had a blast at the circus. We emptied his piggy bank before we went and he had $20 to spend. Well, let me tell you, that doesn't get you very far. Cotton Candy - $12! YES, you read that right. Light-Up Blinky Necklace - $12. Good thing we had his back on the "overage" amount! Funny thing is, whenever Connell has been offered cotton candy, he always turns it down. He says "it's hairy!" :) Well he finally tried it, and this time "that's good!"

There was a sweet family sitting next to us with a three year old little girl. They also have a baby that was left at home with the grandparents for the evening. By the end of the circus, Connell and Sydney were sharing a seat. :) It was the sweetest thing! They were both wearing their over-priced blinky necklaces. And, no, I didn't get a picture. Wish i had. :)

Sleepy boy "riding" back to the car after the show was over. Me - "Connell, what was your favorite part?" C - "the ladies on the stage." Oh goodness.
Emma looking all sweet and pretty ready for church. She is happy because she had so much fun having Grandma and Grandpa all to herself lastnight. My Mom said that Emma kept looking for Connell. Guess she missed him, not us!

Ready to cheer the Packers in the Championship game...will they be superbowl bound???!!!!

YES THEY ARE!!!! Her smile says it all!

Connell and Grandpa catching up on the news.

Since I knew my Mom was going to be here, I made a little trip to Joann's to get fabric, etc so we could break open my new sewing machine. I had seen a sweet Valentine's dress at a children's shop and thought, HEY I can make that! Right??!! With a LOT of help from my Mom, this is how it turned out. Adorable. Can't wait for February to get here so she can wear it. Now, guess who keeps asking for me to "sew sumpin" for him???!!! And it's not Tim...ha!

Week of 1/16

This was kind of a quiet week for us, hoping to get back into our routine after a week of snowdays. Poor Emma started not feeling well over the weekend and by Sunday night, had a fever of 102. I took her to the doctor first thing Monday morning. They tested her for flu (although I didn't really think she had it - she did get the flu shot) and it was negative. She had some yuckiness in one of her lungs and a croupy cough. We got some meds from the doctor and by Wednesday, she was much better. But she missed mother's day out tuesday, so she has probably forgotten that she ever even went since it's only been 1 time. MAYBE snow and sickness will stay away and she can go back. Bless her little heart. She has never really been sick like that and she was just pitiful. It is amazing that she is almost 17 months old and I think this was her first "sick" visit to the doctor. We are so blessed with healthy children and that is something I strive to never take for granted & to always be mindful to thank God for their health. Poor Baby.

In my arms at the doctor. Smiling despite feeling bad.
We started the week with a PACKERS victory! Connell was pumped for gametime!

We wear shades for breakfast! Dreaming of warm, sunny weather!

So much for warm and sunny...more SNOW came Thursday evening. Seriously. By bedtime we had 2 inches. Tim's office is only open until noon Friday, so they closed for the day and he got to sleep in and have a snow day at home with us!

I have been clearing out/organizing LOTS this week (while I could). I found a bag of soothie pacis that my children enjoyed for a short time before they both found their thumbs. They were being silly!

SCHNOW!

It's not a typo - that's how Emma says "snow!" It's so cute!

Well, the snow came early Monday morning, and now it's Wednesday night, and it's still here. the "big" school kids are looking at snowday #4 tomorrow and at the O'Leary house, that means a whole week with no Mother's Day Out. Currently, I am contemplating what is more appealing: a cup of yummy hot chocolate, or a glass of red wine? :) Or maybe both!

On Monday Taylor and Reagan came to play with us. Connell & Taylor took turns pulling each other on the sled. snow=smiles! Reagan making a snow angel
Our snowman had a rather short life...Connell took his upper body for a ride on the sled! Tuesday we took Emma out. This was definitely not her first snow, but it was her first time to play in the snow. She had a fun time, and cried when I told her it was time to go inside.

Even though I am a bit frazzled that we are missing MDO all week (and we missed MOPS on Monday), I do admit that a quiet/slow week has been a nice way to recover from such a busy December. We have stayed in our jammies A LOT, and one day Connell even asked if we were going to get dressed.

Randoms

A few days after Christmas, I took the kids to the do some post-Christmas shopping. They were really sweet and good the whole day.
Here are my little shopping buddies.
That night we went to Pie in the Sky Pizza to celebrate Shannon's birthday. Connell later referred to it as the "up high" pizza place. :)

This is what Connell did one day last week instead of taking a nap. Super.

Breakfast in bed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Before church on 1/9/11. They were being cute and cooperative.

Who's a big girl now?

This day came around a lot faster than I thought it would. Connell started going to MDO once a week when he was 16 months old so we decided Emma would do the same. She seems to really like the classrooms there and always wants to stay and play when are dropping off or picking up Connell.
As with everything with these babies, it's a little bittersweet. She really shouldn't be old enough to be going, but she is. And she seemed like an even bigger girl when I picked her up. Is that possible? I love that Emma and I have had our Tues/Thurs while Connell is at school to just be "us." Connell and I had over 2 years of "us" time and I wish Emma and I had more of that time together. So I am missing one of those days now, but I know it's good for her and good for me too...afterall, when am I going to work on my big list of 2011!
Emma did great this morning when I dropped her off. I saw no tears and she was actually quite excited. Connell has been asking for a long time when his sister was going to come to school with him so he was happy too. She is right across the hall from him. I dropped them both off, cried for a minute in my truck and then went running at a park nearby. I came home alone for the first time in 16 months. Weird.
When I went to pick them up, Emma's teachers (who I love, they have both had Connell too) said she had a good day. She cried for just a bit in the early part of the day but was just fine. Connell was thrilled to be back at school. He told me he missed his friends during Christmas break. Emma is not the only one getting big.

1/4/11

New Year's Festivities

I guess I should also add to my list for 2011, I would like to not ALWAYS been in "catch up" mode on this blog. But I am for now, so that's that.
On New Years Eve, we went to celebrate our friend Kate Ryne's 3rd birthday! Sweet girl! We loved her bumble-bee birthday party.

Silly Connell!this pretty girl is 16 months old TODAY!There is the birthday girl, excitedly opening gifts!
Kristy asked me a week or so ago to do a 5k on New Year's morning. Then she recruited Marci. I don't think any of us expected the weather that was coming. But check out these race shirts. Nice bowtie, right?! :) Emma on New Year's EveHappy COLD WET 2011! I can handle running in the cold, but freezing rain and wind and LOTS of hills...not so fun. Especially when a certain someone didn't run a single step during the entire holiday season. It was a looooooong 3 miles. But I am glad I did it, and it has certainly inspired me to get back into running. Kristy looks like she is having fun despite the elements. What a trooper! :)
Right after the race, and a very warm shower, we headed over to the Earls. They are always kind to invite us for New Years lunch. Emma was checking out Jackson's new toy!

2011: Resolutions/Goals/Projects - whatever you wanna call it - I have a LOT to do!

Happy New Year everyone! (ALL 8 of my readers!)

I never (ever) stick with resolutions. Heck, I usually don't even complete a daily to-do list. But this year, I am really going to strive to make some changes. If I am even a tiny bit successful, then GREAT! I will benefit, my family will benefit, and maybe I will even have an impact on others.

So here goes. In no particular order. My 11 for 2011!

1) Complete HALF Marathon this year.
(decided to go ahead and get right at this one...registered on January 3rd to participate in the
Music City Marathon (half) this spring). More on that later.

2) BE more "present" with my kids. Relax (ha!) and enjoy and try to be more patient with them (and myself) as we live these toddler/preschool years. And now that I have typed that, why is it that EMMA is already a TODDLER???!!!! Anyhoo, try to have more purposeful learning time as well as just get in the floor and play, while they still want to play with their Mommy. :)

3) Wash my face before bed. I know it's pitiful that I don't have this habit already in place. I used to. When I was younger. It probably matters more now, so I really need to work on this.

4) Cook more meals at home (try to make them somewhat healthy) and waste less food.

5) Get ORGANIZED. There are about 89 things on this list, but I won't bore with details. I truly think that a more organized home will afford me more time to do ENJOYABLE things, like play with my kids and not always be thinking about all the "stuff" I need to do. Or run. to prepare for 13.1 miles.

6) Become more involved at our church. Started this already this month - "room at the inn" ministry. Participate in a bible study. PRAY more about parenting difficulties. God chose Connell & Emma to be ours, so we should turn to Him more for guidance.

7) Go on a trip with my man. ALONE. My sweet babies will be missed most definitely, but it's been since fall 2008 and it's time.

8) Perform more random acts of kindness. This is one I did last year too and actually DID it. Love it!

9) Take sewing class. Sew something. A dress for Emma!

10) I love blogging to keep a "journal" of our family. But I am bad because I haven't completed baby books for either of my children. My goal is to have a baby book for their first year of life and then make a blog book for each year after that. Poor Emma, I haven't even bought her book yet. :( I really want to work on all of this while my memory still serves me!

11) Achieve my weight loss goals. really. this is directly related to item 1.