Life is Good

Yesterday morning Lorie's neighbor arrived with a tractor with a big plow attached along with a bunch of sheers/chainsaws...He worked all morning with CJ and at 12:30 he talked me through what to do. He demonstrated to me how he was taller then my car and he was able to walk under the hanging live wires with about a foot of clearance. I then put my truck in 4 wheel drive and "drove" over a thick sheet of ice under said live wires. I kept on driving until I reached the road (since I would have slid back down if I stopped). CJ, fully dressed in snow attire brought each of my girls to me in the fully packed truck one at a time and I yelled my good byes to Lorie from the road (we forgot to say good bye before I risked my life escaping the snow trap). Kendall and Kate, who had been confined to about 50 square feet in front of the fireplace for about 24 hours were so excited to go 'bye bye'. I worried that 6 hours of bye bye trapped in 1 square foot of car seat was going to be disastrous but they were SO incredibly good the whole drive. Within 20 minutes of leaving Lorie's they were both asleep and stayed asleep for about 2 hours. The other 4 hours they watched movies, played and sang songs. Kate cried for about 10 minutes when we were about 20 miles from home. They were so excited to be home, Kendall ran up to her "big room" immediately and then proceeded to test out every single bathroom in the house. She also remarked that our house wasn't broken like Aunt Lorie's (hee hee!).

Kendall's school was closed today because of the road conditions. We had a rough (but necessary) trip to the grocery store this morning. Today has been so good for me. I am reminded why I love my life. My 'job' is so fulfilling for me. The girls and I have cuddled and played, I have all the clothes unpacked, washing, folded. All the toys put away, the pantry fully stocked, Super Bowl dips and munchies ready for tomorrow and a big bowl of cucumber salad (his favorite) marinating in the fridge just waiting for Brian's return tomorrow night. I love traveling, experiencing, learning...but I really love home and our day to day life.

Paris blog post and pictures to come when I can get them downloaded. We had a blast, it was a fantastic trip.

I'm Sending Out an S.O.S.

Not really, we're fine. BUT....I packed up everything last night with the intent of leaving today. Last night at 3am we heard a loud noise. The ice on the trees was just too much and it pulled the power line to the house down. That wouldn't keep me here except that it pulled it down across the driveway. We're trapped here without electricity and John is even out of town. But don't feel bad for us because we are super women (plus we have CJ who is a big help)! The generator is going, we've hauled massive amounts of fire up to the house and the fire is roaring. Lorie's pantry is usually overflowing so we're getting creative with the meals. We're doing okay. Evidently it's pretty bad between here and home so I'm nervous about going home at any point! We'll just stick here until we feel safe.

I'll try to keep you all posted, be safe!

Happy Birthday Mommy From Your Girls!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

We love you this much!!

(Can you tell Uncle John just woke up?)

Paris

Today is our last full day here, I tried to do a post earlier detailing everything we had done but then I lost the entire post. Basically we have walked a ton and Brian and I both feel very old because everything hurts! We've done everything in the last two days! Eiffel, Louvre, Musee D'orsay, Champs, outdoor market, Arc de Triomphe, various gardens...today we will take a boat tour of the Seine and possibly head out to a little area that we think would be a good area to live in when we move here.

I'm loving all the wine, bread, and cheese :) Everyone has been very friendly so far. I'm no less excited about moving here maybe slightly more nervous? Mostly just ready to start learning the language. We're having a lot of fun. I miss the girls and will be so excited to see them tomorrow!

Update On The Kids

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

We miss you, but are having fun while we wait for you to return.

Alex took us to Chuck E. Cheese today. We had lots of fun!!

Kendall hugged ChuckE once....... and then she was done and this is what she did if he came near her!! You can't tell, but Kate is hanging on even tighter!!

We got new cups and they are some of our favorite things.

We were so tired on the way home. Kate didn't make it, but Kendall talked to Alex and was able to stay awake until we made it home.

We took good naps, but kind of short ones. When Lorie got home, she said we needed to be outside because it was warmer than it has been for a long time. We played for a while, and then it got chillier and she had to put sweaters over our clothes. It wasn't cold enough for our big coats.

Lorie didn't notice that Kate was stepping on the ground that was a little wetter than the other spots. Kate did not like what it did to her shoes, but it didn't stop her going in the grass. Kendall didn't go in the grass after she saw Kate's shoes.

After Kate went to bed, Kendall played Wii with CJ. He said she broke her Mommy's score in bowling. He thinks she is good.

We both went to sleep really good and are sleeping soundly. We love you and hope you are having fun.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

At the urging of Lorie I'm doing a quick blog post. We've been having a blast. John took Dani, Alex and me out for sushi, Lorie brought a ton of toys home from preschool for the girls. Kendall has been so sweet with Ollie. I love to hear her talk to him: "What's wrong Ollie? Aunt Lorie will be home in a little while."
On the drive here a gas station attendant gave Kendall these "ear muscles"

We got to visit with little best friends and last night Karin brought over a birthday cake and we got to have a little visit.

Both girls are napping and I'll be leaving for the airport in a few minutes. They're going to have a blast, Alex is taking them to Chuck-E-Cheese tomorrow. I'm not really worried about them but I still occasionally get a nervous pit in my stomach thinking about leaving. Ah, mommy-hood.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's crazy here. I finally have everything packed and loaded into the car. I have a bag by the back door that I keep dropping things into that I remember. I worry about what I am forgetting. It's not easy to pack your kids up for a two week trip and then pack my self for two different destinations. I'm not going to check any luggage to Paris so I'm trying to be conservative in my choices.

We've been mostly snowed in. Not so much bad roads but cringe worthy temperatures (-25 windchill). The kids were great all week but Friday they hit their limit. We had to get out of the house to get my passport out of the safe deposit box and we stopped at the Dollar Store to pick up some 'prizes' for the drive down. I've divided them all up in paper lunch sacks and will hand them out hourly to each of the girls. We're leaving at lunch time some I'm planning on some driving time while they sleep, say some prayers for me!!

This week this little activity has provided HOURS of entertainment for Kendall. These are little dry erase markers and a piece of paper in a page protector. She sat at the bar multiple times this week for long periods of time just writing and wiping it all off.

Amazing Restraint

We're getting things situated for the trip here. We're dropping off library books, picking up snacks and entertainment for the drive to Aunt Lorie's...Yesterday, while at Target, I exercised some amazing restraint. I found a very cute bag for $30 that would have been a perfect carry on for the long flight. I carried it around in my cart the whole time we were there but I ended up putting it back. I'm trying to save up all the spending money I can to have in Paris. I'm sure $30 wont buy me a purse there though, ha.

It's so slushy and freezing here. I wouldn't mind staying holed up in the house for the week but I feel too guilty, Kendall keeps asking me to go for a walk, ha. Never mind that the snow is to her knees or that it is 7 degrees outside. I took the girls to the play area at the mall yesterday. They had fun and like they do at every playground they never left the slide. I think we're going to break down and buy a slide to have in the basement. They will spend 60 straight minutes going up the ladder and down the slide (in various positions...backwards, upside down, on their knees).

600th Post

This is my 600th post!! It's an important one too, Warnings for Aunt Lorie:

If both girls have a snack bowl Kate's will suspiciously empty at the speed of light and Kendall's will overflow.

Kate is pretty resourceful...beware of silence when it comes to her. For instance today I found her in my bathroom with the stool from Kendall's room pushed against my bathroom counter. She was sitting on the floor surrounded by the contents of my make-up bag.

Beware gaping pants. If your pants gap at all in the back Kate will laugh at you. Then she will proceed to put her hand down the back of your pants and say, "BOO-TEEE"

It's best to just keep bathroom doors closed at all times. Kate will play in the toilet and today I found both girls in their bathroom surrounded by an entire roll (and another half roll) of unwound toilet paper.

Weekend

Snowed In

Snuggled In

CheerIn

Giggle-In

and Love-In Life

(and a little planning and packing going on too).

Summing It Up

This pretty much sums up what we are doing today and what we are looking forward to.

I'm expecting a package today, Kendall calls him the "Eww-E-S Man" (instead of UPS). Sometimes she says, "But he doesn't stink Mommy, he isn't yucky"

The comment about visiting Lorie's house comes from two different possibilities. 1) She has good snacks, even I raid her pantry when I visit. 2) Today I made a list for Lorie of possible food ideas for the girls (sometimes I get stumped on what to feed them). Kendall saw it and asked what it was and I told her snacks that we could eat at Aunt Lorie's house.

The Story

Some of you know about this already since I've been chatting about it on Facebook but here is the scoop.

Two days ago I received a short email from Brian (from work) saying he would have to go to France on the 26th. Shortly after that I called him and said, "SO, we're going to France?" He chuckled and then to my surprise said, "We'll see what we can do." I didn't really get excited because it was just two short weeks away and there was no way I could arrange childcare.

The girls and I remained excited about our upcoming visit with Lorie and Alex. Yesterday Brian sent me another email that said he had received the particulars of his trip and asked if Lorie and Alex could delay their trip a week and stay a couple days longer. That was a lot to ask of Lorie but you bet I jumped on it and immediately started emailing and talking with her. Just a short one hour later Lorie called me and said, "Book that trip."

Next Sunday the girls and I will drive down to our old stomping grounds to visit with everyone and then on Thursday I will fly out to Paris while the girls stay with the Lorie family. Alex will still be off of school and I think Dani plans on coming home for the weekend too. Kendall and Kate will have so many distractions and have so much fun with the whole family--CJ always plays with them so sweetly and of course lots of snuggles from Uncle John and Aunt Lorie (completely spoiled they'll be) . It's a comfort to me because yesterday Lorie called no less then 4 times to tell me how she couldn't stop thinking about it that she was so excited.

I get to visit with the best friends a girl could ask for and I'll be in Paris for my Birthday, the big 2-9!!

On a side note we think we FINALLY found a church we like. We filled out a little card this week and just now a gentleman just stopped by with a loaf of some kind of cinnamon cakey bread and a welcome packet. So nice!

Super Super Awesome

My sister that is. Why you ask? Here is a little hint. I'm making one of these.

Do you know who else is Incredibly Awesome!? My husband, I'm going to have the best birthday, ever.

More to come.

Giggle

Good thing we have so many toys.

I take no responsibility at all for the outfit that Kendall coordinated here.

P.S. My sister is awesome...more to come

Ugh

Rough day. Exhausted. I went to a gym class today that was inappropriately called 20/20/20 (supposedly 20 minutes cardio, 20 abs, and 20 something else). It should have been called 60 Minutes Very High Intensity with Extreme Combinations of Dance Moves with Silly Little Names that New People Can Not Figure Out. I either have to go back next week to prove to myself that it can be done or I will hide in shame and embarrassment, I haven't decided which.

We did have a great mail day though. A fun little package arrived from the Sprout Spot bunch. A book, some letter magnets, a cutie pin cushion, and some chocolate covered cranberries (hello, yummy).

Over the last couple days I have been scrappy. A couple of these are heavily influenced by some Ali Edwards layouts I have seen. I still need to add journaling on a couple but I need a new "Archival Pen". Oh I did one other one that I really like of Kendall and Anna but I can't include it because of a last name and city on it.

Busted

So we made it to Barnes and Nobel to pick up Brian's book then we stayed to play a little. Kendall has started to add things to her Christmas list for next year. She wants this book ($25) that has princesses and an MP3 player. She just stared at it for a very long time. Okay, that is a little bit of a lie, she stared at it for a long time and asked for it many many times.

Kate tried to get her sucker around her big coat. Then she found a stage to perform on.

On the way out the guys were sprinkling salt on the sidewalk and I took the opportunity to explain to Kendall how we needed to be careful...at about that moment I went down... hard. Kate was in my arms so she came too, not wanting to leave anyone else out, we took Kendall on the way down. I was laughing, but I had tears in my eyes too. Kendall cried but I know neither of them were hurt because they both landed on top of me. I'm sure the people in the Starbucks window had a good show though. My poor bottom and elbow are hurting though!

Getcha Head In the Game

Sunday Kendall and I went to see High School Musical on ice. Kendall has never seen the movie but we knew that she would love the experience and she did. Most of all it was just a great Mommy/Kendall time.

This morning I took the girls to story time at the library. Kate wanted to run around on the stage so I had to distract her with something...insert green ear muffs (ear 'muscles' still). She entertained a few parents as well.

This afternoon we're just cozying up inside and will probably make a quick run out to pick up a book for Brian.