Catching Up

I'm not sure where to start since it's been so long since I've posted something. I'm still struggling with my health a bit and am getting behind on a few things. I get to have a neck ultra sound tomorrow and then I get to collect my pee for 24 hours. Fun Fun! I'm eager to figure out what's going on so I can get busy with my 3rd Triathlon training! Let me catch you up on the girls now.

ELYANA

This blows our mind...she's reading somehow. We made flash cards of the list of words Mikayla needs to learn this year in Kindergarten. Ellie picked them up a few days ago and began to read words such as: yellow, blue, green, go, see, the, two. The ones she didn't know she'd ask. After I told her, she would repeat them quietly to herself as if she was making a mental note of them. We watched an old home video of Ellie just learning to sit up by herself and was pretending to read a book to herself. She has always had her nose in a book. What I'd like to know is how she figured out how to read on her own. I was wondering if it would bug Mikayla, but she seems to think it's fun doing flash cards with Ellie and playing teacher. The funny thing is, it's motivated me to get her potty trained because it's in my head that the natural order of things is: wean from the bottle, learn to walk, potty train . . . go to school and learn to read. It seems unnatural that the milestones should be out of order.

The other thing is nap time is slowing being fazzed out which is really difficult for me. After battling with her for an hour yesterday, I went in to see what she needed again and she says, "My little feet are hot." Too cute. At least that's one I haven't heard before!

Here's a picture of her first braid in her hair. Doesn't she look so grown up?!

MIKAYLA

She's still loving school but it's hard to get her going in the morning. She's also making good strides in Awana on Wed. nights. She's trying to learn the books of the New Testament. This is something I'm trying to learn along with her. On Thurs. nights she's been taking gymnastics. We tried having Ellie take a gymnastics class that started about the same time, but I think she has a little more growing up to do. It was way more of a battle than I desire right now. Mikayla had another Mikaylaism the other night. We were admiring how cool the crescent moon looked. She said to me, "It looks like a big toenail clipping." I'll never look at a crescent moon the same way.

The girls have started to dress up together (Ellie is trying to understand the concept and calls it "Halloween time") and put on "shows" for us. Mikayla of course is the main star and calls Ellie her assistant. After about 15 seconds, the assistant runs away and Mikayla is yelling, "come back, come back, we're not done with the show." Here's some pictures of their show costumes. (By the way, Aunt Cyndi, if you're reading this, Kayla's show name is Cyndi.)

She's Officially Growing Up

Mikayla has her first loose tooth. It's interesting that Elyana is getting in her last tooth at the same time. Man, I'm not ready for this. She's growing up too fast and I'm not ready to let go at all! I'm sure there will be a post soon with a picture of our toothless daughter.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Next month is Mikayla's half birthday. I only know it's her half birthday because they celebrate it in school. Mikayla is starting to plan it as if it's another real birthday. I had this thought last night of, "What should I get her?" Then I realized the kid is starting to get me worked up about it too. Very sneaky!

Ellie is feeling a bit better today. I'm thankful for the antibiotics. I'm very thankful for awesome insurance. I didn't hesitate to take her in yesterday. I didn't have to wonder how much the visit will cost. When they needed to do x-rays, I didn't have to wonder how much that bill would be. We are very lucky and I'm constantly thankful for Nate's job at Mayo. I'm a bit nervous though of how health insurance will change with our new president taking over today. Yikes.

Martin Luther King Jr.

One of Mikayla's homework assignments is to tell her about Martin Luther King and then ask her what her dream would be if she could change something in this world. Big question for a little kid...Her response? "My dream would be that if someone wanted to stay at their friends house longer, they should be able to." Nice. Oh yeah, another thing she asked me yesterday when we were doing our Denise Austin Boot Camp DVD together was, "I think God is more powerful than her. She's tough though!" Denise Austin can kick my butt, however, God knows when my butt could use a little kicking also to get me back on the right track. My nasty sinus infection was a good reminder that I need to slow down a bit and take better care of myself. I bet Denise Austin never thought she had something in common with God!

I took Ellie to the doctor today since she's had a fever and cough all weekend. Thankfully they ruled out pneumonia, but she does have bronchitis. Poor thing. I'm taking my last dose of antibiotics today. Nice start to the new year. Blah!

Minnesota

I'm sure you fellow northerners would agree with me, I'm sick of this cold. Wind chill is reading -48 below today. We still haven't shoveled from the last snowfall due to this cold. What's the point of snow if you can't even take the kids out to play in it. The deck groans and creeks and I sympathize with it. I wouldn't want to be out there either.

School was cancelled today. I haven't checked the weather today, just assumed it was as stinking cold as it has been the rest of this week. So, I bundled up Kayla, Ellie, and I'm watching Hannah today and drove her to school. The principal came out before I got her out of the van to tell me about the cancellation. Funny thing is, he was only wearing a sweater. No coat, no gloves. True Minnesotan. I didn't think it felt any colder than any other day this week. Oh well. I get home, call Nate to tell him I feel like a bad mom for not knowing about the cancellation. His reply, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. I could have told you." Thanks my dear husband for being so informative!

So, for my friends who are lucky to live in places right now who don't even have the snow OR the cold, here are some interesting pictures.

Here is what happens to our front door jam in winter. You can even feel the cold draft when you walk in our entryway.


We have brand new windows this year, but check out the ice that forms on the inside of each of them.

Gingerbread House

Last Friday I went to Mikayla's school to help with Gingerbread day. Each child had one parent come in and help them build a gingerbread house. It was tough since I was still feeling miserable then, but we created a cute little house together. It was on the kitchen counter while I was cooking. We couldn't wait for Nate to come home and see it. I turned around and found Ellie on the counter with her mouth over the roof about to devour it! I was more shocked to see the gingerbread house in the form of frosting on her face than I was curious as to how she got onto the counter. I have since discovered her secret. She carries a stool with her around the house at all times now. If something is as high as the counter, she uses the stool to then get up on a chair. Lovely! Anyhow, here is the gingerbread house.

Blog to a Book?

By the way, my goal with starting this blog was I heard about a great website where you can print your blog into a book. I was tired of scrap booking and keeping up with photo albums and couldn't wait till 2009 arrived so I could print out 2008. 2009 arrived and the website I was going to use had some glitch. I've searched for others and keep coming up with ones that have gone out of business or when I try it, says I've encountered some error. So, if anyone out there knows of any software I can purchase somewhere or a free website download that will work with blogger. I'm so bummed about this!

Reality-I'm not as young as I used to be!

I had been staying up too late (midnight or later!) for too long. It started in December trying to get everything done from Christmas cards to shopping, to the wrapping, in addition to normal life activities. Then I was staying up late after Christmas partially in habit by then, and partially I wanted to get some projects done before 2009. I recall at some point thinking, "This is great! I can really get stuff done and it doesn't seem to be catching up with me." Well, it seems to have caught up with me. I have the worst sinus infection I've ever had EVER! I can't even bend over slightly without horrible pain and pressure. I've been on antibiotics since Monday and I don't feel any better. Blah! I'm thankful Nate could take off today, but am a bit nervous about tomorrow if I still feel the same.

We ended up rearranging Mikayla's room. It started because we had a humidifier malfunction. I set up her humidifier the other night and did not notice that it was missing a plug on the bottom. After awhile, I heard Nate shouting for me. Yikes! There was water everywhere! We had to shove furniture out of the way to soak up some of it. Then, I got inspired after it all dried to rearrange. It's something I love doing. Also, since I made more space in her room, I splurged and bought a cool bean bag for the girls. I've always wanted one myself growing up. I've already found myself lounging on it watching television or just to rest while I'm feeling bad lately. So, here are some pictures we took of the new shuffled around room.