DARN IT!

I hate when I let weeks pass without updating. I got my blog book for 2014 put together last week and I was so happy to be able to look back and see what we'd been up to....if I don't get my act in gear I won't have much to look back on for 2015. I have to keep up!

Anyway, pretty normal around here. Maggie is wearing a splint now instead of a cast....unfortunately they couldn't come up with a small enough splint for her, so they made one....out of a cast...so it still looks about the same. This one has a slit up the back so we can take it on and off for showers, bed, etc. She's enjoyed the freedom and I've enjoyed not having to bathe her :) Hopefully next Tuesday we will get the official ALL CLEAR and be done with it.

A couple of weeks ago Maggie had her first official Snow Day! Arnie shut her alarm clock off, so it caused a little panic for her in the morning when she woke up late....but then we did what everyone does on snow days, went out of ice cream and got hair cuts :)

I'm sure tons of funny things have happened that I missed sharing them....that's why I have to make time to write them down! Today when I picked Gracie up at school she said, "Me, Lillian and Miya tried to sit together today, that didn't go so good. The teacher separated us.......twice." Then she laughed. If Maggie has to tell me she got scolded at school, just telling me is usually punishment enough, Gracie apparently thinks it's hilarious.

When it was 30 below, I tried to be nice and let the cat in....didn't last long, but Gracie was
taking full advantage! She's potential going to be a crazy cat lady some day :)

who knows??

Calli, who cuts Gracie's hair, put these "super high" pig tails in when she was done....and
Gracie has asked for them every day since!

Silly girls trying to pass the time at a basketball game!

Maggie is still loving Girl Scouts.

She was waiting for her cast to dry, so they could cut it off and make a splint.

Gracie's school had a couple of "snow days" last week. She was soaked and exhausted when
I picked her up. I can't imagine much worse then wrestling 50 kids into snow pants and mittens!

The day before the last cast got cut off Maggie had a few more friends sign it, they figured out
that gold and silver sharpie looked pretty cool. We'll note that for next time :)

brrrrrrrrrr!! There were some pretty cold days in the barn. Maggie is looking forward
to having her hand back for riding, but she's done really great without it.

Gracie new favorite thing to do is take selfies....if she has my phone in the car there are always several dozen to check out.

We went to Omaha last weekend to check on Aunt Bobbie and to celebrate Deem and Mark's Birthdays. Saturday we made a trip to the play place at Mahoney. We all made several trips through the maze!

 

Deem actually asked for that ridiculous hat for his Birthday....Gracie took a liking to it and has been missing it this week.

Gracie's super high pigtails have graduated to Minnie Ears :) She also wanted me to be sure I pointed out the sparkly purse and shoes....such a girly girl!

Back to reality...

The last week of Christmas break was so nice. The girls and I slept late, we hung out in our pj's, we played games and put together Christmas toys....and then MONDAY came! Back to getting up early, making lunches and rushing everyone around and out the door on time! UUUGHHHH! and it's no help that it's FREEZING around here.

We spent New Years Eve playing cards with friends....I think it was likely my first and last Pitch experience....I'm terrible! Thursday we made a last minute New Years Day trip to Lincoln to visit Grandma Lea and Papa. It's always great to see them and they love having he girls visit.

Friday we hung out in Omaha. Maggie and I went to the hospital to check up on Aunt Bobbie, she was doing great. I'm not sure Maggie had ever been in a hospital, except when Gracie was born. I think all the machines and the big long hallways made her a little uneasy. She did great, but you could tell she was doing lots of thinking.



Did I mention it's been cold? Someone snuck Peanut in the house to warm up. (I wonder who it was???)


Lots of projects going on around here!



HAPPY 2015!!! They were all still going strong at midnight!





You never know what you might find when you visit Grandma Lea and Papa's. Maybe some puppets and an M&M man.....





Yesterday when I picked Gracie up after school, she wanted to show me how she does her drawers. She picked an easy one, so I could "practice". I can't believe how much she's learned this year!

Christmas is in the books!

Christmas is in the books...but I'm not quiet ready to take down the decorations yet, so they'll stay a little longer. We had a great Christmas week. We were in Omaha for Christmas Eve and Christmas day, then we headed home to get ready for the Westerfield Christmas sleepover.  

Maggie commented yesterday that she can't believe Santa knew she wanted a bike for her doll, even though she didn't tell him. Gracie quickly replied "that's because Santa knows everything, just like me and Lillian." So apparently Santa has been welcomed to the 'know it all' club.

This morning Maggie had to visit the hand doctor. Her thumb is still pretty different looking, but he decided it's healing and there is no reason to put her through surgery and pins. The hope is that as she grows it will look less crooked and he thinks she will have all the mobility and use back in it either way. She was thrilled to get a new (purple again) cast, and this time her thumb nail sticks out, so she's pretty sure we should paint it.

Annual Christmas Eve lunch at Danny's. It just wouldn't be Christmas without greasy burgers!

Pretty girls are ready for Christmas Eve.

Waiting to see if Santa came. When I went into the girls room to see if they were awake, Gracie asked me if
Santa come, I told her yes. She was visibly relieved and said she was going to rest a little more before she got up. I guess
as long as he came, she didn't think she needed to rush out of bed.

Santa brought Gracie a school desk and a scooter for her doll.

Santa brought Maggie a new bike (with HAND BREAKS), a bike for her doll and Oakley sunglasses.

Listening to Great-Grandma read the Christmas story at Aunt Joyce's.

Uncle Mike made Maggie her very own button box. She started sorting the big bag of buttons right away. There have
been lots of hard decisions about how to sort them...by size, by color....decisions, decisions :)

Uncle Deem helped Gracie with some new legos.

Saturday morning we woke up to a few new inches of snow, so when the Westerfield's arrived for Christmas we did some extreme sledding :)

 

Yesterday the girls went to the office to judge the annual Christmas ornament contest. Maggie takes great pride in her judging and delivering of the prizes....as you can see, Gracie is a little less committed :)

The girls had a swimming Birthday party to go to last night. We found this waterproof cast cover on Amazon, and since we knew she was getting a new cast today, we decided to give it a go. The cast cover worked great....until we took it off so she could use the restroom and she forgot all about it and jumped right in the pool! ooooppps! She caught it quickly and once she was reassured that it wasn't going to hurt her thumb, it was just going to be a little uncomfortable, she covered it and headed back in the water. Between the hairdryer and the vacuum it was pretty dry by the time she went to bed (but it sure did stink!)

This morning she got a new cast. It had to be purple again so it could match Jude's halter. We had to wait a little longer in the doctors building for it to dry all the way. It's so COLD out today it would have frozen if it was still damp.

We've are blessed to get to spend the holidays with so much great family and friends. I can't believe how fast it all goes. We have another week of Christmas break, so there will be lots of time to play with all our new toys! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Catch up to Christmas...

Christmas Eve is here! I thought I'd better share a few pictures and catch up to this point, so I can wrap up the year next week.

Maggie is still being a super trooper about her thumb. Almost no complaints. We go back to the Doctor on Tuesday morning and they will cut the cast off, get some new xrays and make a decision about next steps. We are all praying those steps are just putting the cast back on and giving it a few more weeks.

Last weekend we took the girls to the Breakfast with Santa at the Country Club. Gracie talked a big game....until we got there, then she mostly hid behind her sister. She didn't cry, but she wasn't going to talk to Santa. She asked me to tell him what she wanted and mumbled something about telling him we'd write a letter :)  Maggie told Santa she wanted a new bike and that he could take her old one if someone else needed it. Gracie wanted to tell Santa that she wanted a 4-wheeler (we've made it clear Santa doesn't bring dangerous presents if Mommy & Daddy say no), a desk and a doll suitcase.

She seemed to be less scared of the big guy at school later in the week, but she still wasn't going to sit on his lap.

Lillian, one of Gracie's school best friends is the little girl just to the left of Gracie. The other day Gracie told me "Lillian thinks she knows everything!" I said, "that's funny, so do you." She quickly responded with, "I know, that's why we are BFF's."

Sunday night before Dick and Betti headed for Arizona, we had a Hanukkah dinner and the girls got to open a few presents. One of Maggie's friends at school went home and told his mom (who happens to be a good friend of mine), that he felt bad for Maggie because she didn't get to celebrate Christmas...Sarah asked him if Maggie said she didn't celebrate Christmas, Josh said, no but she said they celebrated Hanukkah this weekend. Sarah explained that Maggie gets to have both...by the end of the conversation Josh was in total awwwww and asked his Mom how he could get his dad to be "a Hanukkah" :)

Gracie was wrapping a Christmas gift for Maggie. I told her I'd help her with the tag. She took the tags and informed me that she did not need my help. This is what she brought back! I was stunned! I knew she could write her name, but I had no idea she could write and spell Maggie's.

Maggie's been hard at work finishing up some Christmas gifts. It's hard to stain with one hand (in a cast) behind your back!

Gracie's been fighting the gunk for 5 or 6 days now. I think she is finally mostly over it, but it's been rough. She had to miss the last day of school before Christmas and has been mostly home bound...she's getting a bit of cabin fever!

Last Thursday Arnie took Maggie to drop off her donation to the Northeast Nebraska Animal Shelter. The Shelter just purchased a building and it is being remodeled, so Maggie got a tour of the progress and gave the Director cash (because the check I tried to have her take wasn't HER money, try explaining that to a 6 year old). Her final donation was $691 and 4 collars. She took the extra collars incase any dogs got homes before Christmas, she thought they should go with a collar :) She was very proud of all of her hard work.

Still smiling even though she was sick!

Some Hanukkah fun, even when we're sick!

One other member of our family has been a bit under the weather! Jude had a lump on her belly, likely from being kicked by one of her friends, but just to be safe the vet had her on stall rest for a week. She was SO tired of being locked in. She got the all clear just in time for a little snow on Tuesday.....and boy was she HAPPY!

Maggie's been having a few Grandma and Grandpa days by herself this week, so it's been all about Gracie around here :)

 Happy Christmas Eve everyone!!!!