Maggie's week....

Today Maggie finished her first semester of Kindergarten! Time sure is flying. There were lots of Christmas activities at school this week, by the time I picked her up today it seemed all the kids were bouncing off the walls.

Maggie has been acting out the Christmas story a lot this week....in this picture she is being the angel....she couldn't find a halo so she went with a tutu :)

On Monday night, Gracie was gone and Arnie was out of town, so Maggie and I went on a dinner date. She asked
me if that's what it was like before Gracie was born.

 Tuesday Maggie went to ride Chevy. He got spooked by a drip of water and really bounced her around, BUT she stayed on and she told us after he calmed down that she knew she couldn't scream because it would scare him more. She had a pretty good red spot on her belly from the saddle horn, but she kept on going. She did great.
Here is a little video, post scare....they were back to being best pals!
http://youtu.be/fwszXklR--Q

 Wednesday night she sang at a retirement home. There were only 2 kids there who knew the sign language from the church program, and no teacher to help them, she did great!

 Then we played some bingo. Maggie, Carly and JJ played with Amy's Grandma....they all enjoyed it!

Today was ugly sweater day at NIM and Maggie was dressed for the Christmas party at school. Maggie LOVES Arnie's sweater....I'm not sure he's sold yet!

Gracie's week....

Last Sunday when we headed home from Omaha, Gracie got to stay. She was pretty excited to get to stay all by herself. She stayed until Tuesday night, when we met in Westpoint to retrieve her. She told us she had a great time.

She told Grandma she wanted to wear her pants like Papa :)

She is a little chocoholic....she even wanted her sugar cookies frosted with chocolate frosting...and they are the only
ones she's eaten.

She told us that Uncle Jeff came and used a scary machine and that Grandma let her eat lots of candy :)

On Thursday, Santa came to Gracie's school. She told him she wanted a tunnel and a tractor.

Gracie made this picture frame at school, her face in the picture is perfect and so very her...

On Wednesday night Maggie and some kids from church sang at a retirement home. Gracie went and stood with them for a song, but wasn't really interested in singing.  BUT she really liked playing bingo after the singing was over :)

SANTA!

One of our tasks while we were in Omaha was to visit the Jolly Ol' Elf :) The girls both did great. Maggie told him she wanted an American girl horse stable and horses and a doll wheelchair. Gracie told him she wanted a tunnel.

Where's Gracie???

Friday night Arnie & Maggie went to the basketball game and Gracie and I stayed home. She was exhausted and just needed a good nights rest. I put her to bed shortly after 8 and then took the baby monitor and went down to my office. A little while later I heard some footsteps upstairs, I ran up to see what was going on....Reagan was pacing the hall and everything else seemed normal. I decided I was just hearing Reagan and went back downstairs. About 9:15 I decided to check on Gracie, I pulled back the top of her covers and she wasn't there! I freaked. I ran around the house yelling her name and looking for her. I rounded the corner to my bedroom and found this.....

....all the lights were on, the bed was made and there was Gracie. She brought bubbie, her baby and her puppy and made herself comfy. Saturday morning I asked her if she came downstairs because she was scared, she said "Nope, I be sneaky. Wanted to sleep in your bed." Little stinker!
Saturday morning we headed for Omaha. Aunt Trisha and Uncle Jeff were planning a Christmas party for the kids and we had some Christmas running to finish up.

The girls loved their time at Jeff & Trisha's....

Uncle Jeff cut out Reindeer parts and stained them and the kids got to put them together, they
are SO cute!

Look out below!! Gracie didn't want to sled the first time they went out, but the
second time she tried it and loved it. She told us all about it.

We had to wake Grace up for dinner, I think someone probably had to wake Uncle Jeff up too :)

Clarence & the school christmas program....

Yesterday was a crazy day at our house. I had a board meeting ALL day, so Grandma stepped in and picked the girls up from school. By the time I picked them up we all had to hurry around and get ready for Maggie's Christmas program.....BUT when we pulled in the driveway, there was a HUGE surprise waiting for the girls. Clarence the Elf had made his annual appearance! Maggie has been telling Gracie that sometime when they are gone, the elf will "come decorate and leave life savers!"...and she was right :)

We had to go checkout the decorations (and look for reindeer poop). Clarence added a penguin to the line up this year, Gracie really likes him. I think it's a good thing we have a big yard! Clarence and his assistant elf sure put a lot of work into this each year and it's one of my girls favorite things to look forward to.

 

After we surveyed the decorations and played outside for a minute, it was time to get ready for the program. Maggie was determined that she needed to be there at 5:45, we knew that wasn't right, but we weren't sure what time she did have to be there and it wasn't worth the fight. We got to the auditorium at 6, and were the first people through the doors....oh well, she loves to prepared and she was happy to welcome all of her classmates and teachers as they arrived :) The kindergartener's sang 4 songs at the beginning of the show, then the older kids took over. She did awesome and was so happy to have Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, Pops and Aunt Joyce in the audience. It was a long drive for 4 songs, but she was so thrilled to have the cheering section!!

Her air horn :)

Maggie and her classmates did great. They were so fun to watch. I'm glad I get to spend some time in her room each week. I've really gotten to know the kids and it's fun to watch them all grow into great friends. Maggie's school only has one class for each grade and they don't let anyone in after kindergarten, so for the next 5 years, these kids will get to be together. I'm so glad it's such a good bunch!

what was I thinking???

Everyday for 5 and a half years, I've had running water in my kitchen....but TODAY the one day it had to be shut off (we got new counters this morning and the sink has to cure), I let my girls talk me into making gingerbread barns. It seemed like fun, until I realized everything (and everyone was sticky) and we didn't have a kitchen sink. Oh well, we got it mostly cleaned up in the laundry room, I guess the rest of the mess can wait until we have running water again tomorrow.

No gingerbread barn would be complete without a gummy horse :)

I've been sewing in all my spare moments, trying to finish up some Christmas projects....that makes my girls want to "help"....so earlier this week I gave in and everybody did a little project. Maggie thinks she should start a business....I told her maybe when she's 6 (and allowed to use the rotary cutter).

Tomorrow the tile starts going up on the backsplash in the kitchen, and I should have running water again before lunch. It's really starting to look good in there! I'm so glad I don't have pink countertops anymore!! Since they were working on the counters today, Gracie and I had a picnic in the playroom, she thought that was pretty fun....

 

I made quilts for the girls for Christmas, I picked them up from the quilter earlier this week! I LOVE them. I'm glad the kids don't read the blog, so I can show them to someone. I have to get them wrapped so I stop staring at them. I don't think they will think they are so great now, but I think someday they will appreciate them. Maggie watched me sew all the states, and she didn't really pay any attention, it'll be funny to hear her response when she figures out what they were for....

Maggie's

Gracie's

Maggie will like the horses best!