Happy Safe Holidays!

Wow, what an unexpected year of plans changing, being canceled, or being postponed. We were going to go to Gillette on Christmas Day to see Josh's brothers and their families. Of course, the weather put a stop to that right along with so many others' plans. Then we were going to go to Sidney today to my family's Christmas and delayed them until later in the week.

Josh has been out A LOT these past few days helping keep the roads cleared. -We all know that it's nearly impossible with 50 mph winds and snow falling. We were blessed though to have him home all day on Christmas Eve and his boss didn't call him into work until 2pm Christmas Day because he wanted Josh to be home for the kids to open their gifts from Santa and be able to be here for that. We were very thankful when we found out his boss had waited to call so we could finish our family time together.

I took tomorrow off from daycare in thoughts that I would get home from Sidney and get the house cleaned and the decorations and tree taken down. Well since I have had three full days of being stuck at home....(many of you can relate) I have tackled all projects to get done early. So tomorrow I am taking the kids to Walmart to use some of their Christmas money and then we are meeting up with Grandma Dana for some Chinese lunch. Yum!!! My plan today was to eat at the China House but Josh got called into work right as we showed up at my brother's house for his birthday. So we had to head straight home without our Chinese food...=(

When I was in Chadron today I bought some paint to freshen up the living room and hallway. I know a lot of people think I paint way too much but when you have a daycare, things get ruined, dirty, or broken quite often, SO I wanted to tidy things up a bit. I bought a brown that is close to a chocolate ice cream color and a tan with more of a yellow tint called Candle Wax to paint over my tan Frosted Toffee color. It really brightened things up a lot! Josh's mom helped me paint some today and I am planning on finishing the hallway tomorrow. It looks nice! It's just what I needed to get back on track for getting the basement family room painted soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all safe travels this week if you are heading anywhere for the New Year, and of course HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER CRAIG!!! ♥

Complaining

I just had to get on here and voice my complaints about the weather due to hit just in time for Christmas....ggggrrrrrrr! I am very upset with Mother Nature's choice of snow and high winds for Christmas Eve. I have seen numerous posts on Facebook about people being worried if they will be able to make their travels as they had planned. We are wanting to go to Gillette on Christmas Day and then to Sidney on December 27th, both for Christmases with our families. With the 40mph gusts we are supposed to be getting, I am sure Josh will be out in the snowplow. =(
I guess I will just keep my fingers crossed and keep many people in my prayers that they have safe travels this holiday season.

Merry Christmas! ♥

Date Night

Josh and I managed to have a date night on Friday evening. My brother Craig and his wife, Tara watched Kylah and Carter while we went to the movie. (Kait stayed in Crawford to play in the band for basketball and then went to a friend's house until we got home.) Kylah and Carter had a great time. They went with Uncle Craig, Aunt Tara and their cousins Brooklynn and Jayce to the Chadron Fire Hall for supper and to visit Santa. Carter's favorite part was when two grown big guys (his words) sat on Santa's lap and almost squished Santa!

Josh and I went to see the movie The Blindside and it was excellent! I highly recommend this movie. I had heard fabulous reviews on it so it was a "must see" for us. The kids are going to see The Princess and the Frog today with their Grandma Dana so I may just see if there is another movie of my interest to watch.

This Week

I haven't posted in awhile, probably because I have been getting ready for the holidays. I don't really have much news to share. But, I do have a list of some events coming up.

Tomorrow night is the the school Christmas program. Grades Pre-12 at 7pm in the highschool auditorium.

The kids' last day of school before vacation is this Friday. They get out at 1pm and don't go back until January 4th!!

Saturday is Kaitlin's basketball game in Chadron. It's at the PAC Center this time instead of the Middle School. I don't know what time for sure....maybe...11am? I will know for sure tonight after Kait's practice.

I think that is about it. I have only one gift left to buy for Carter and we will be finished!

Hope you are all having a great week and keeping warm. Our extremely cold temperatures these past few days have been enough for me to break out the plastic and cover the windows. It's never a fun job but Josh and I can both tell there is a huge amount of heat to escaping the house now.

Basketball

Tomorrow Kaitlin has her first basketball game in Chadron at 11am. She is very excited about it and so are we to watch her. This is her first year and most of her friends' third year. Unfortunately she struggled with A LOT of homework the past couple of years and couldn't make it to the practices. So, with a fresh new start, she is ready to hit the court and have some fun!!

I have an eye appt. tomorrow before the game at 10:30am. It's my 3 month checkup for my eye surgery. I just have to go to Chadron for the follow-up appt. to see if things are still healed correctly. My eyes are so dry when I wake up in the mornings and I use eye drops quite frequently to help keep the cornea attached...I pray it stays that way!! I do notice my left eye now has perfect vision (I think) so my glasses no longer have the same prescription. So I need to get that changed too.

It has been super cold here this week! We had a couple inches of snow and it's still on the streets from Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Josh started his new job with the State on November 23, and has been called out twice at 3am to plow roads. He seems to enjoy it.

Sally

This is a picture of my niece Brooklynn with her brother Jayce on their new pony they got a couple months ago. The pony's name used to be Ghost but Brooklynn changed her name to Sally. Every time I see this picture I smile, so I thought I would share it with you all.

Hope you have a great THANKSGIVING! Praying all of you travelers have safe trips and everyone has some family or friend time together. We are celebrating this year at our home with my side of the family. I am very excited to see everyone!!

Monday's News

This weekend I went shopping in Rapid with my sister-in-law Tara and her baby Jayce. We had a great time! Our plan was to be home before dark... However, I pulled into my driveway at 10:30p.m. on Saturday night. I got a lot of Christmas shopping done and even splurged and bought some decor for my living room. I have been looking at a couple of pictures at Kohl's every time I am there and I finally broke down and bought them. :-)

On Sunday we headed to Chadron and bought groceries. Then I spent the afternoon cleaning and getting some stuff put up for Thanksgiving. We hit some awesome deals at Hobby Lobby on Saturday so I played "Martha Stewart" for a couple hours and gave it my best shot to decorate. I don't know how many times I was tempted to call neighbor Deb and ask for her help....I probably would have if she wasn't visiting her new grandbaby. (Congrats Deb!!) I had this great idea in my mind when I was buying stuff but when I got home and tried to put it all together, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Anyways, I had fun with it and am now ready for Thanksgiving to be held at my house this year.

My parents, all my siblings and their families will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year. I cannot wait to see everyone!! It's not very often all five of us kids can be together. I will have to take a lot of pictures!

This morning was a little different in our house. Josh started his first day as an employee for the State of Nebraska. We have been hoping and praying since June that the railroad would call everyone back but we all know how that has gone. So Josh has put in applications since then and we finally lucked out when he got the call for this job with a start date. After six months of him being home or around to help out at the drop of a hat, it will take some getting used to him being gone during the days. He was excited to start this new job and I am happy for him. :-)

Hope you all have a great week and don't have to work a lot. I have three days and then four off. I will enjoy it immensely! I wonder what kind of good deals are out there for Black Friday...

*Hunting*

Josh has been out hunting for the perfect deer the past few days. Kaitlin has went with him in the past and was a little bummed when he was going out without her with friends to hunt. Yesterday Josh went out with a friend in the morning and then came home at lunchtime. He waited to go back out after Kaitlin got out of school. Luck was on their side. Josh shot a 5x5 and Kaitlin thought it was the best thing ever! In her eyes as an eleven-year-old, she thought it was the "perfect" deer. :) Josh's mom and her friend came over last night and helped Josh and Kaitlin cut up deer meat. It went late into the night before they were finished. It was nice to see Kaitlin that excited!

We got some good news this past week as well. Josh has accepted a position with the State of Nebraska Dept. of Roads. He will begin his new job next Monday, November 23rd. The hours are great (until it snows) and we are looking forward to the employment. Unfortunately the railroad still has hundreds or people laid off so Josh was fortunate to receive this job with such few job opportunities out there.

WORDLESS WeDnEsDaY

Nursing Home Halloween

Kylah thought Jim Stolldorf was quite funny...the other trick-or-treaters didn't. Four generations: Susie, Nick, Josh and Rudy, Carter.
The kids with Great Grandma Susie.

Hula Girl, Optimus Prime, Devil

Maggie Mae...aka Devil Pup.

I took the kids to the nursing home during Halloween this year to see their great Grandma Susie. We stopped in a few other rooms on the way down the hall and had a fun time seeing some familiar faces and also meeting new ones too. The kids really liked this one lady in particular. She talked for a long time with them and then gave them each a hug when we left her room. It is kind of a magical feeling to see how loving my kids were with people who probably don't have a lot of family around. I know it was worth the smiles we received to have stopped in to visit everyone. After visiting them, we went to Grandma Susie's room for a treat and to visit her for a bit. Of course we got some pictures taken and we all enjoyed talking to her.

Our Newest Family Member

Goofy sleeping upside down. In his hammock.
Close-up

Alayna holding Goofy.

Carter and Kylah enjoying their new pet.

We have a new family member, or pet I guess I should say. His name is Goofy. He is a 3 year-old little boy ferret. He moved into our home on Halloween this year. The kids' papa got him and asked if we would like to have him. I went to PetSmart on Saturday and bought him a new cage to be in during daycare hours. Here is a few pictures.

Our Week...

Carter wearing his Optimus Prime costume at home since he didn't get to wear it to school on Thursday due to school being cancelled. I love this picture! Kylah on our sledding trip Thursday morning.
Kylah is a 'Hula Girl' this year for Halloween.
Carter and I made spider Halloween cupcakes for the kids at daycare.

Kaitlin isn't sure what to be for Halloween. She was going to be a foreign exchange student but we weren't too sure how to go about a costume for that. Since it is so snowy and cold this year for trick-or-treating, I think she may just end up wearing a mask since a coat will cover the costume anyways.

Stay warm this weekend and have a great time!!

Carter's School and Carving Pumpkins!

CARVING PUMPKINS WITH UNCLE RUDY AND DAD. CARVING AWAY...
MAKING THE PERFECT DESIGN.

OUR FINISHED PRODUCT!

CARVING THE FIRST OF HER TWO PUMPKINS.

Last night was Carter's open house at the school for his preschool class. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES going to school and takes pride in every single painting he brings home. (There are lots!!:) We did a few activities with him and he even got to see a few of his friends who were there with their parents. It's hard to believe my youngest is in preschool and the only gripe he has with school is that he doesn't get to go on Fridays since it's only a Monday-Thursday program.

CARTER LINING UP HIS TOYS.

HAMMERING INTO A BOX WITH GOLF TEES.

HIS GREAT FRIEND KYLER!

HELPING DAD POUND IN "NAILS."

PLAYING THE RING TOSS GAME.

Six Word Saturday

ENJOYED FAMILY TIME IN CHADRON TODAY!

Reading

This is the new book I ordered this week to read. Patrick Swayze was my 'crush' when I was younger and I always respected him as an actor who lead a very enduring, decent life, even in the eyes of the camera. I watched his documentary on tv after his death and it really got to me...so I ordered his book to read. If anyone would like to read it, let me know. :)(photo courtesy: amazon)

Halloween Games, Crafts, and Fun

Halloween Games

Here is a favorite website of mine for halloween ideas. Just click on the purple link above. Thought I would pass it along. =-)

More Fevers

Carter is back to having a fever again. He had it gone for 30 hours and then it returned... it is 101.6 so he took some tylenol and has fallen asleep on the couch with his dad. He still acts like a busy four-year-old boy. He needs to get better he said because his Uncle Rudy will be here late tomorrow afternoon or evening sometime!

Hope you all are feeling okay. Sickness is EVERYWHERE right now. I am thankful I have a very low daycare kid count this week to hopefully keep some of the kids healthy. I had thought of closing for the rest of the week but then decided not to since they had already been exposed to each other the past three days.

I am off to fold some clothes, read my book, and head to bed early for a change. Have a great night!

School Is Canceled

(taken off www.chadrad.com)

School has been canceled here for the rest of the week. There are so many students out sick with different types of illnesses so they decided to give the kids a five day break from school to hopefully get better.

Carter had a 103.1 fever last night. He has now been fever-free since noon. Yeah! What a big difference. He was burning up last night and just exhausted. We were really worried it would get higher in the night but it didn't. Carter took a two hour nap this afternoon and I am glad he did. His little body needed that rest to get him better. He hasn't taken naps for a year now, but yesterday and today he has just crashed. Now he is in the living room trying to convince his dad that he isn't tired, even though it is after 10pm...(His dad is winning this conversation.)

For all of you out there with sick kids....I hope they feel better soon! And for all of you who haven't gotten sick...I hope that luck stays with you!

Outdoors

It has been a very nice weekend here! We have taken full advantage of getting yardwork done in the nice warm sun. Yesterday we got our yard and our neighbor's mowed. Today Josh is currently tilling the garden and then we are off to winterize the grass. This will probably be our last really warm day this year. So off the computer I go to soak up more sun.

(I had to post these two pictures of our nephew Jayce. He is already 4 months old!) Thanks for letting me 'steal' them Tara!

The Flu..............h1n1

The flu has hit Crawford....hlnl has been confirmed here and a few Influenza A cases. h1n1 is a strain of Influenza A is what our pharmacist told me today. I am not looking forward to this outbreak of sick children and maybe even adults. I have always been consistent with my daycare kids and own children on keeping their hands washed often. Well now, it's even more of a need. I have three happy, healthy children at home who I have to send to school everyday with a chance they may come down with something. Kylah is my big concern for the fact she has had Influenza A twice in her life. Neither time was fun. She was burning up and totally lethargic. It was so sad to see her that way. Anyways...I talked to our pharmacist and she said to watch for any stuffy/runny noses, coughing, fevers, and body aches. If anyone has these symptoms, you have to get to the doctor and be diagnosed and have the first dose of medicine in your system with the first 72 hours of the symptoms occurring for the medicine to be effective.

My sisters three kids have h1n1 and it hit their house hard. Their oldest daughter Abbi has it the worst the way it sounds. Please keep their family in your prayers.

I am hoping and praying you all stay healthy. Good luck!!!