Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Presents, Presents

Katie was pretty excited for Santa's arrival. We went to Church on Christmas Eve, and she was an angel!! Literally, she dressed up as an angel, and was in the Nativity play. It was adorable. Then we came home and she wrote out her note to Santa. See above.

Well, Santa wrote back. It was all very exciting! She got everything she wanted!!! But, Mommy and Daddy didn't get our spy-o-scopes. Maybe next year. Spy-o-scopes, for those who don't know, are how Diego does his rescue work.


As you can see Santa was very hungry, the only thing left was a bite of carrot. Like the Halloween place mats. Next year we might be unpacked enough to use Christmas mats!!

This is the scooter that Santa brought her. If you ask Katie though, Santa brought her everything. I would tell her who gave her the gift, and she would tell me, "Well...maybe Santa brought it. So thank you to all of you who gave her gifts, she loves them all, but she isn't buying the Grandma gave you this, or Aunt Dee gave you that. She knows the truth, Santa brings all the gifts.

Look at the excitement!!! She was pretty tired of opening gifts. She informed me that opening presents is hard work, and it makes her pretty tired!
Rick and I got two amazing presents. One, is our new house. It is almost unpacked, and I will be blogging with pictures later. Two, and even more exciting, we have a new niece. I am not going to use her real name, the Internet can be a scary place. But I will call her Kiki. She was born on Christmas Day. Her mommy had a very long, crummy labor, and eventually she came by
c-section. She was a whopping 11 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long. She was two weeks overdue, 4 if you ask her mommy. She is adorable, and in insatiable eater. I can't wait to meet her in person. Her Mommy and Daddy want me to wait to blog with pictures of her so that they can get the announcements out. So I will blog on her later, and from now on.
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas, and that Santa was good to you.
Love
Amy

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Merry Christmas

Well since we will be in the moving process for Christmas, I want to take the time now to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Katie had a Christmas show last week, and it was wonderful. Her entire school participated, and as one of her teachers, I was so stressed about how it would go, and was overjoyed when it went so well. She dressed up for the occasion, Grammie made her jumper. She got to wear her fancy boots with it, and I think she looked adorable.

Rick was super excited to have had the night off, so he could go to the performance. I just thought this picture was adorable, so I included it, blogger's privilege.

Katie did a great job singing during the program. She didn't get shy in front of all of the adults in the church. I am so proud of her. I am so proud of all the children.

Even this little girl. This is just like her, and it makes these programs totally worth the stress we teachers endure. The parents who saw this will remember it forever. There were a few children who did adorable things that make the show something only 3 and 4 year olds could conjure up. One little boy yelled out "Merry Christmas" during a quiet moment. Katie's friend "M" didn't sing at all, she just stood there looking adorable. It was priceless!!

Santa was there after the show. He was there to talk to the children about how they are doing, where their wish list stands, etc. Katie wouldn't even look at him during the reception. But when all of the children were gone Rick was able to hold her while she talked to Santa. He told her that her scooter was ready, and that he would deliver it to her new house on Christmas. Look at her face. She is scared bootless. After she talked to him I asked her if she wanted to give him five. She did if I went with her. So here she is.




Still scared bootless. You would think she was so scared she wouldn't remember anything Santa said to her. But ever since last Thursday Katie has been telling us everything Santa said to her. She told Rick yesterday; "Daddy, do you remember when we saw Santa yesternight? He said my scooter is ready. I think we should see him again." I bet she would have the same face she has on in the picture above, if she did get the chance to see him again. But we will have to wait and see next year.

The rest of this week involves lots of moving, gift wrapping, and getting settled in. So don't be surprised if it is a week or more until a new post arrives. Merry Christmas!
Love
Amy

Friday, December 19, 2008

Substitute Blogger

So, the other day I was out shoveling the driveway with my helper and Amy came out to check on our progress. While we worked, she took some pictures...




Katie thought the grass needed shoveling, so she worked in that area... then it happened...


Amy wanted to try her hand at shoveling. I guess she is practicing for the new place.


After one pass, she quit and let me do the rest. At least that way, it can really be said that "we" shoveled the driveway.




Unfortunately, my helper quit too...



Since I am on the subject of snow and ice, my girls are going to have to learn a few lessons about what type of footwear to use in snow country. Katie went with the sneakers and sweats, which probably explains why she quit the snow shoveling "game".



Amy, on the other hand, went with something much more daring...



Seriously, high heals in snow and ice can only spell one thing... butt bruises. Yes, she went down coming out of Starbucks before Katie's Christmas concert, but the only thing hurt was her pride. Oh well, I think they will both figure it out one of these days, or at least I hope they do.

Since I am on the subject, a funny thing happened with Molly's bed... a smaller lump appeared.




I wonder who could be in there...

That doesn't look like Molly's tail...

Well, why not? It sure looks like a cozy spot!

She must have felt a little guilty about stealing Molly's bed without her knowing.

Meanwhile, in the lower part of the house, Miss Molly was busy stealing our bed... she looks very comfy.




Wait a minute... something is not right in this house...

Hey! ...Who's been sleeping in my bed?



Molly has decided that she better guard her bed a little better. However, I think that it is poetic justice since Molly takes over our bed when we are not in it! A little taste of her own medicine.

Monday, December 15, 2008

3!! She's 3!!

Katie turned 3 this last week. I can't believe it. I swear she was just born last year. It doesn't seem like 3 years have gone by already. She was really excited about turning three, and for months whenever you asked her how old she would be on her birthday she concentrated hard to get those three fingers in the air to tell us she is 3.
She got a lot of great presents, and thank you to everyone! One was this great coffee pot. Now she can make her Daddy coffee all day while they play. It makes the real coffee gurgle sound, and she loves it!

Then there is this little penguin. When you wind it up, it hopped around. She didn't care about presents for awhile after. She just wanted to make the penguin work.

But then, she got one. She was in complete shock. She has been wanting a pair of these since we moved here, and she got to use some real ones. Just look at that face, it says it all. She got...

Binoculars! She got a complete set of spy gear; a spy-o-scope (just like Diego), a camera, a compass, a watch, a flashlight. It was great. She sleeps with the entire set. Saturday she had her party with all her friends. She had a Diego themed party, and she had a great time. Her friends from school came, and they played pin the tail on the donkey, and musical squares. It was a pretty great party, and we were exhausted for the entire rest of the weekend.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Snowflakes Keep Falling on my Head!

Well, winter has arrived, albeit a bit later than usual, here in Wyoming. Everyone has told me this has been a really warm fall, and early winter. It is here though. It didn't get above the low 20's today. I shopped at the Walmart and let me tell you loading groceries when it is 4 degrees outside is unpleasant.

I thought this was a pretty cool picture the night it first snowed. I am trying to not use my flash, I have heard you get better pictures, unfortunately I don't know what I'm doing. But I thought the picture turned out kinda neat.

Here is the snow with the flash on. Much more normal!

I was out taking pictures of the night snow, because Molly had to go potty. Molly doesn't like to get wet, or be cold. This is torture for her. She has become somewhat of a camel, and she will hold it for hours, just so she doesn't have to go outside.

But when she has no other choice she runs very fast, and then gets right back to the door. "Please someone let me in. I am FRRRRREEEZZZING, and Mommy just takes these pictures. Doesn't she know I don't have my shoes on?!?!?! I have a thin coat?!?!?! I have been on a diet, so I have no fat to insulate me from this cold? Hello, anyone??"
See the guy in the middle of the picture? He is using a snow blower. I am from a city that never snows, I am completely fascinated by this white powdery stuff. A snow blower? I have only seen it on tv.

But do you see a problem with this picture? Living in Wyoming also presents other problems. Now South City had wind, big wind. But when our lawn ornaments fell over it wasn't -3 outside. This poor tree has two problems, the wind, and the little cottontail bunnies that are everywhere keep chewing the strings, breaking the trees anchors. We have to go outside and fix them, which is tough when you can't feel your fingers.

Do you see Katie's hair? It is really windy outside, but she insisted she had to come with us to fix the tree. But then she was running around and...

...she fell. She cried, and cried, so we came in, changed clothes, thawed out, got under the covers and watched her show.
I am enjoying the weather. It is cold, we can't go outside each day like we're used to, but this is how most of the country lives, it is a pretty neat experience.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Home Sweet Home

Here is our new house. Rick went to the inspection today, and was able to take some pictures. It was perfect timing since earlier this week it was snowing, and you couldn't see the front very well. (Watch for a snow blog later this week!!!)

This is the living room when you walk into the front door. Rick didn't get a picture of the kitchen, but if you went into the room behind this false wall, there it would be. We are hoping to remodel this room, the kitchen, and eating area at some point. But depending on when you visit us, this may be what you see.

These are the stairs off the living room that either go to the upstairs, which holds both bathrooms and bedrooms, or downstairs which leads to the family room, basement, etc.

I am taking you upstairs first. This will be Katie's room. It is big enough for her to have her big girl bed, and a few toys, but the rest will go in the basement in our play/rumpus room. By the way, speaking of big girl, did you know Katie turned 3 yesterday?!?!?!?! I can't believe she is a child, where did the time go!!! I will post on her birthday after her party. She is having a kid party on Saturday.

This is the guest bathroom. We have one in our room too!!!

This is the family room from the top of the stairs, in the eating area. The doorway you see leads out to the mud room, then the garage. The mud room is great, it has hooks already for our snowy jackets!

This is our garage, and the pole in the middle of it is holding up our bedroom. We'll see how long it takes me until I back into it. You have to back into the garage, otherwise you will have an issue with opening the doors. Place your bets on how long it will take me.

This is the basement. The furnace and water heater will be gated off, and we will make this room into a play room for all, plus a guest room for when you all visit.

This is the backyard. It is a really great size, with a cool tree in it. The gate separating the backyard from the shed behind it, separates the backyard from our RV parking.

That's right, I said RV parking. The previous owners, I don't think did much with this area, but we are RV people, and so are most of you. So when you come visiting we have a place for you to park your RV when you visit. Unless we get one, then you'll have to park in the street. Sorry!

I hope you enjoyed my virtual tour, come see it for yourself soon!!!

Love
Amy

PS: Keep watch, I have been taking pictures all week and I have blogs galore to write about.

Monday, December 8, 2008

It has come to my attention...

That I have forgotten to mention that we bought a house. I don't have pictures yet, but will be taking some on friday. We don't close until the end of the month, but woo hoo we are almost home owners. We bought a cute 4 level house. It has a big backyard with swing holding trees in it. A large space for everyone who visits to park their RV's (if you have one) while they visit. And a basement big enough for Katie's playroom. It is a cute first home. We already have plans to remodel, so anyone (especially all our contractors Dave, Bill) who did want to visit while we do a complete kitchen overhaul, think South City house, can come visit while we do the remodel. We pay in beer, soda, and cooking, no cash sorry. We are planning on doing exactly what we did in South City, but with a slightly different look.
Anyway I will post pictures as soon as I get them. Ignore the snow, it is beautiful, but you should see the yard in the spring and summer. It is great. Very relaxing. Rick's hammock will be perfect for him under the big tree. And all the wind we get will rock him to sleep.
If you are sending us Christmas cards, I just sent mine out and our return address is on it. We love all of your cards. I will be sending out new address cards in January.
Love
Amy

Holiday Stress

I am sure you all are in the same situation. Three weeks until Christmas, shopping to finish, cards to mail out, goodies to bake, wrapping to finish, moving to do... Well I hope you don't have to move too. Here we are three weeks before Christmas, I am making, yes MAKING, gifts, I have one to go and it is the biggest one. Then I have to mail it all since I live in Wyoming now. We are hoping to close before Christmas, but definitely before December 30th. Katie's birthday is Wednesday and there is a party for her on Saturday. I have a Christmas performance to do with my class on the 18th, and we have to learn the songs. Stressed, nah. Ok that was a joke, but I am trying to take it as easy as possible, but it isn't easy. Rick says just to do my sewing while Katie is sleeping, (insert laugh here), Katie nap, HAH!!!
But I will get it all done, as will all of you, so keep your head on straight, and enjoy this Christmas season. Good luck with that one!
Love
Amy