Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I actually made it to the gym this morning. I didn't really want to go, but once I got there, it was all good. Afterwards, I went dress shopping to find something for a Christmas party we have coming up. Abby came home today with a Shining Star Certificate. Once a month, the school recognizes a handful of students that demonstrate the school motto and Abby was chosen this month. I am so proud of her! She really is such a sweet girl that wants to do well in everything she does. Abby and I had one on one time again as Mckenzie stayed in school for lunch and then a holiday class in the afternoon. It was fun to hang out. We laid in bed and watched Sponge Bob together. It was so sweet how she snuggled next to me and held my hand. Abby had dance this afternoon and Mckenzie was excited to get to play with her friend Ava while we were there. The girls were disappointed that Scott wasn't home from work when we got home from dance. He has been working 12+hour days recently and the girls are not happy. They don't get to see him before he leaves for work and then they only get to see him for a few minutes before heading to bed.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mckenzie and I got to hang out together this morning while Abby was at school. Abby and her friend had a little spat on the school bus this afternoon so I had Abby draw her friend a picture and write her a note. We dropped it off at her friend's house and everything seems to be OK. They were running around and hugging on one another as soon as we got to their house. The girls and I ran to the grocery store and they were both very well behaved. Abby was very helpful in choosing the fruits and veges. I just love how she carefully inspects each piece of food and then casually dumps it into the bag. We finally made it back to church tonight. Abby enjoys singing with the Children's choir and it has been several weeks since we have attended. We really need to get back into the habit of going. These are some Christmas trees I have been working on. I saw them on Pinterest and wanted to give them a shot. I still have one more tree to make and I think they will look great together.
 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Both girls had school this morning and I went to the gym. We spent the afternoon playing and making paper hats. Out of the blue, Abby asked me to make her a paper hat. It has been so long that I had to google how to make paper hats! The girls colored them and wore them for a long time.

Kayleb is having a difficult time with his lungs and is on a ventilator. I am hoping and praying that things turn around quickly for him. I can't imagine how worried his poor Momma must be.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

My niece, Ashley, had a baby boy this morning! Kayleb arrived a bit earlier than expected and is in the NICU so all prayers are welcome :) We didn't do much around here today. Buddy the Elf arrived sometime last night after we all went to bed. He decided to help himself to a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows. The girls couldn't believe that Buddy was able to make the hot chocolate and they were very surprised at the mess he left with the marshmallows!We had a late breakfast and then watched some football this afternoon. Scott took the girls outside to play and I ran to the store.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

We decorated the Christmas tree today. It was so fun to watch the girls place the ornaments on the tree. When they would find one of their own ornaments, they would get so excited and run to the tree to find the perfect spot for it. The perfect spot usually was somewhere on the lower third of the tree but every once in awhile, we would lift the girls up so they could put an ornament higher on the tree! I loved looking at the tree and knowing we all worked on it together. Scott took the girls outside to play so I could get the rest of the decorations up. We went out for dinner neither of us felt like cooking and Mckenzie has been asking to eat at Dadz.

Scott thought it would be fun for the girls to have a sleepover with each other. So we let them watch a movie in the playroom and sleep in there. They didn't settle down until almost 11pm! Abby discovered that her two front lower teeth are loose and she was so excited. I mean absolutely, over the moon, happy that she is finally going to lose a tooth. She kept repeating "I can't believe it is loose. I just felt it and it moved! I am so excited!" She has been wanting to lose a tooth for the longest time and every time one of her friends loses a tooth, she gets a little sad. So finally, she will be the one to lose a tooth.

Friday, November 25, 2011

We had a very lazy morning today, which is a nice break from our normal routine. We took the girls to a park to take some photos for our Christmas card. I think they turned out OK. The girls were very cooperative and didn't give me a hard time about taking too many pictures. We grabbed some lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant and then stopped by the mall. Abby and I ran in while Scott and Mckenzie stayed in the car. I was only going to get ear cleaner for Abby's ears, but just had to stop in and check out a sale in another store. Needless to say, Mckenzie had fallen asleep by the time we were done.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely day of football, playing with the kids, and a home cooked meal. The turkey turned out great, although we will have leftovers for days, everyone tried my cranberries and I am still the only one that likes them, and I tried green beans and thought they were pretty good.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Both girls had Thanksgiving parties at school today. I volunteered to help in Abby's classroom since I helped in Mckenzie's class for Halloween. In Abby's class, we helped the kids make Indian headdresses and vests. Abby colored all the feathers in a pretty rainbow pattern. The kids loved the feast and it was so fun to listen to what each child was thankful for. Abby said she was thankful for all the people that put the feast together. Much nicer than the kids who were thankful for their Wii's! Abby and I made it to Mckenzie's party a little late, but we made it. I felt bad for Mckenzie though, because when we got there, she was sitting at her seat with her head hung low, not eating her food. They said she was sad that I wasn't there :( She did perk right up when she saw us and started to enjoy her day. That didn't last for long though because she was staying at school for lunch and an afternoon holiday class and she was not happy about that at all. She was crying and begging to come home with Abby and I because she was going to miss me. I felt so bad leaving her, but I knew she would be OK.  Abby and I went to get our nails done and then grabbed some lunch while Mckenzie was at school. Abby loves getting her nails painted at the salon, although you would never know it by looking at her. The entire time she is getting her nails done, she has this super serious look on her face. It isn't until her nails are dry that the smile comes back and she tells me what a great time she had. When we picked up Mckenzie from her class, I asked her teacher how things went and she said they went well once lunch time was over. Hopefully things will be easier for Mckenzie next week :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Homemade apple pie. I have to say it was pretty tasty :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Scott woke both girls up this morning so they could see each other before he had to go into work. He has moved to a different job and the hours are a little different that his old job. He is now working at the Wing instead of the squadron so he will be doing a lot less flying and a whole lot more paperwork. (well, not exactly paperwork anymore since everything is done on the computer, but ya get my point.) Both girls had school this morning. Mckenzie didn't want to go, but that is understandable since she missed so much last week.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The girls and I ran a couple of errands this morning since we didn't get moving in time to go to church. I was wondering how I was going to get Scott home from the airport since he arrives tonight well after the girls' bedtime, but luckily, a friend was already headed to Philly and offered to take Scott's truck to the airport for us. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! We spent the rest of the day playing. The girls were so anxious to have Scott back home that it was difficult to get them to go to sleep!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Mckenzie had dance this morning. Afterwards, we went for lunch and then headed to the mall to do a little shopping. I found a great winter jacket for Abby and a few other cute clothes for the girls. Mckenzie is such a shoe girl. She picked out an outfit for herself and then she had to find shoes to match it. Abby had to have a new pair of shoes too, but she needed a head band to go along with hers!

Friday, November 18, 2011

So, I was going to be good and download all the photos from our vacation and start editing them, but for some reason I cannot find a single USB cord that fits my camera. I don't know why since there are normally a million and two stray USB cords hanging around the house, but not tonight. I am sure one will turn up when I least expect it. Mckenzie was feeling much better today. I am so glad. I feel so bad for her when she gets sick. Mckenzie had a friend over this morning and they played together nicely. Another mom and I worked it out so we could swap babysitting services so we could go to parent teacher conferences. Abby's teacher said she is doing well in class and the only thing she needs to work on is learning when to be quiet. Guess she gets her chattiness from her Dad! Oh. and she got a couple of shapes wrong. She called a rhombus a diamond. Guess that's my fault. Oops. At least when Mckenzie tests in kindergarten she stands a chance at getting it right! We met some friends for lunch. The kids had a nice time playing. On the way home, I forced asked the kids if they would like to take some fall photos in the leaves. We still have a few beautiful leaves around and I wanted to try to capture that. Needless to say, it wasn't very well received and Mckenzie was begging to go home before we even got out of the car. Nothing though that a little Halloween candy bribe couldn't fix!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

So I kept Mckenzie home from school again today. She broke her fever in the middle of the night so I think she is on the way to feeling better! Abby had school this morning and talked me into driving her again. It is so funny how how she begged to ride the school bus at the beginning of the year and now she is begging me to drive her. I don't mind, although, I may need auto start on my car once it gets really cold out there! Both girls were a bit disappointed that we had to spend the afternoon at home. But, we made the best of it :) Abby had Daisies tonight and it is unbelievable how wild and crazy she and her little friends get when they see each other! I am glad she enjoys it as I think it will really be beneficial for her.
 

Mckenzie drew a picture for Abby and this is the picture Abby drew in response for Mckenzie :) I love my girls :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I kept Mckenzie home from school this morning since she wasn't feeling the best yet. I did have to stop by her school to drop something off and felt terrible when she started begging me to stay. (We were already out to bring Abby to school) Mckenzie seemed like she was on the mend, but she spiked a fever again this evening. Abby had a good day at school and said she was glad to be back into her school routine. She had dance this afternoon and she told me she would like to quit dance and start gymnastics again. When I asked her why, she told me it was because she doesn't like doing the splits because it hurts. I guess she doesn't realize what gymnastics entails!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It has been one of those days. Mckenzie woke up in the middle of the night with a 103 fever. I took her to the walk in clinic (I didn't even bother with going to our pediatrician. I missed the 6:30 am sick call and they always send you to the walk in clinic anyway) and got some her some antibiotics. Hopefully she will be feeling better tomorrow. We picked Dakota up from the kennel this afternoon. She was so excited to see us and the girls screamed with joy when they saw Dakota. It was very sweet. Unfortunately, her sweetness lasted only until we got to the car. I closed the back of the car only to watch Dakota escape from Abby's open door! What a day!

Monday, November 14, 2011

We had a quiet morning as everyone at Jenny's house had to get to work and school. We packed our stuff and headed to the airport. Grandma and Grandpa Eisenberg met us there and we had lunch together before the girls and I got on the plane. It was nice to see them one more time before leaving. The girls were sad to leave, especially since Scott was staying behind. But, they can't miss that much school and Scott loves to hunt so it was the best option for us. The girls were fantastic on the plane. I have never flown alone with both of them before so I was a bit nervous, but it worked out well. On the first flight, Abby had to sit across the aisle from Mckenzie and I. She was so good. A little disappointed she didn't get a window seat, but she only threw a tiny fit about that. She talked to the older gentleman sitting next to her and tried to lean around him to see out the window. He was kind enough to point out different things outside to her :) Mckenzie fell asleep almost right away. I tried to keep her awake, but she was pretty feisty. On the second flight, Abby was excited to get the window seat, until she realized the engine was blocking her view. She asked me if the pilot could move that out of her way! Too funny! Both girls fell asleep on the flight, making for a very smooth trip.
 
Abby was having fun carrying the phone around on her jeans.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Grandma made us a nice breakfast before we headed to Sioux Falls. It was so nice to see my parents and the girls really enjoyed the time we spent here :) The drive back was a little better. The wind wasn't blowing as hard so we didn't have to listen to that silly whistling noise and we bought a couple more movies for the girls so they were better entertained. I am so thankful we live in a time with movies in the car to entertain the girls. I cannot imagine driving in a car for six hours and having to entertain them the entire way! How my parents ever did it is beyond me! We stopped for lunch along the way and normally, we love Taco Johns. But this time it was terrible :( The cheese sauce spilled inside the to go bag, covering all the wrappers in a gooey mess and the potato ole's were so salty we couldn't even eat them. If you know me at all, you have to realize they were beyond salty for me to not eat them because I do like my salt!  When we got to Sioux Falls, Jenny was gracious enough to host a dinner at her house so the family would have a chance to see us. It was a great night of visiting with the family and the girls were happy to play with their cousins again. Mckenzie had a tough time going to sleep and we ended up rocking her to sleep. She seems like she isn't feeling the greatest :(

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Today we celebrated an early Thanksgiving. Both my sisters and their families came to dinner at Mom and Dad's. It was so nice that we could all be together and share the holiday together. Dad didn't even go in to work today so the girls got to play with him all day! He even watched the girls for us so Scott and I could run a couple of errands. I can't imagine how nice it would be to live so close to family that you could rely on them to watch the kids for you on a regular basis. It would be fabulous to have that support system!

Friday, November 11, 2011

We spent the morning playing with Grandma Hietala. The girls were having so much fun with her. After lunch, Mom and I headed to Grand Forks to pick up Ashley, Casie, and Brylan. That drive isn't a long drive, but since we drove it on Wednesday, Thursday, and again today, I was a little tired of it. Scott took the girls on a drive to see how much the lake has risen. It is unbelievable how much land and roads have been lost to the rising water. It is truly sad. When we got home, Abby and Kenzie had a lot of fun playing with Brylan. They both tried to take care of him and keep him out of trouble. He was a little more than they could handle though, that boy has a lot of energy! Grandpa came home from work a little early and got to play with the girls. He always ends up giving horse rides over and over! Scott and I met some friends for drinks this evening. It was so great to see them and I am so happy Lisa made the drive from Fargo! We had a great evening with them.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Scott had to give a presentation at UND for the ROTC program this morning so the girls got to spend the day with Grandma Hietala. One thing I miss about ND is the gorgeous sunrises. They just feel expansive and the colors are so vibrant. If we hadn't been running behind, I would have made Scott stop so I could have taken some photographs. While Scott was doing his thing, I took the chance to take some photos of UND and then I got a Starbucks and started reading Heaven is for Real. What an amazing book! Scott and I did a little shopping before having lunch at our favorite restaurant, Paradiso. It was as tasty as always :) We headed back to DL to spend the rest of the day with my family.