Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Yes, Maddy was responsible

Christmas 2009

Matt's side of the family welcomed a new addition on the night before Christmas Eve so much of the time for his family celebration was spent sending shifts to the hospital to see our new nephew. Unfortunately I forgot my camera when I went so sadly, I have no pictures to upload of the almost 10 pound cutie.

The snowstorm we had for Christmas this year made things very memorable. We postponed our Christmas Day plans w/my family due to weather but I have to say it was a rather enjoyable day. We had a leisurely family breakfast after opening gifts and then went outside for sledding, snowman building & a snow fort 'competition' between Matt & I (with Maddy's help of course).

We tried to do fairly minimal gifts & placed a greater focus on the meaning of Christmas. One thing that we did in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day was an advent calendar. In addition to the nightly door opening, we chose one character from the Christmas Nativity & told Maddy the story about who they were & what part they played. She really looked forward to both the treasure she found in the door (candy, stickers or money) and the evening story time. I would be remiss if I didn't say that Mom & Dad enjoyed it too :).

Loot from her stocking

Coloring w/Mom in her new Kai Lan book

' That is the biggest candy stick I have ever seen in my life' says Dad

Dad made an igloo for his fort (show off : )

Helping Mom w/the the 'Princess Castle' Fort

Photo opp w/Grandma & Cousin River

Cookies!

Maddy & I made gingerbread cookies again this year. I cheated this year & bought a kit that came with everything you needed (except water, honey & butter). We made gingerbread men last year but it was a lot of work so I was grateful to find a cheater kit.

We've been reading the Gingerbread Man story a lot lately & it's amazing to see what details she notices in the book now that she didn't before. I thought it would be fun to see this years & last year's photos of her making the cookies:






And last year:

34 months old today

Well, we only have 2 more months of a 2 year old on our hands. Maddy is officially 34 months (going on 17 some days :).

Here she is ready to put the star on the top of the Christmas tree. She even said: 'Mommy, take my picture.'

Thankful Thursday

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I am so thankful today for so many things. For health, as so many struggle with sickness & worry about what might be next. For family, as disfunctional as mine can be at times I am glad to have one living parent and many others in my life that mean so much to me. For shelter, as so many are losing homes due to various circumstances I am thankful to have a roof over my head today. For a job, with unemployment high I am blessed to be working at the same company for over 10 years.

Take time this week to consider all of the things you are thankful for, list them out if you have to and pause to ponder this- if you have at least $20 to your name you are doing better than at least 80% of the world's population.

Bye, Bye Crib...Hello Big Girl Bed

Maddy officially moved from her crib to a 'big girl bed' last weekend. She has loved it! There are still times when she isn't sure if she should get out on her own, but she's slowly learning that it's ok. It's a little sad seeing our girl grow up, but we know part of the process. She has been potty trained for a couple of months now & this was her big incentive while we were potty training.

Fall Leaf Fun

It's was a cold & rainy October here so we we're able to get the leaves up until this past weekend which means everything was dried out & not much of the beautiful colors were left. Fall is usually my favorite time of year in our neighborhood because of the mature trees & the gorgeous colors we tend to get. I have fond memories of raking leaves at my mom's house & jumping in the big pile so that's something I love to let Maddy do too. Here are a few fun photos from this weekend.

Trying her hand raking

Enjoying the fruits of her labor

Even Samson loves helping with the leaves