Christmas Party

We were lucky to be invited to a Christmas party hosted by one of my friends from high school the other week. The party was amazing with balloon animals, Santa, yummy food, a storyteller and FACE PAINTING! Rudolf and the Snow Princess were beyond thrilled! It was a great night.

Long Overdue!

As I am designing our Christmas cards I added "to following our everyday adventures on this blog..." then I realized that I might need to update the blog for that to be true. So here I go!




1. Day-care- We found out in October that our current day-care's contract was not being renewed and a new day-care would be starting January 1st. No big deal, we had seen a decrease in enrollment numbers at the day-care and I am sure the people who decided on the change had their reasons for it. October 30th we were notified that the current day-care would be closing the next Friday (11/7). One week notice. We were lucky and the new day-care moved up their start date to 11/16, leaving us with just a week without child-care. Nick and I each took a couple vacation days and Grandma Greving came down for a day as well. Wouldn't be a huge issue, except that we were leaving for vacation the following week and it was a lot of time out of the office (and using the Grandparents for care) all at once. But... it worked out and we are loving the new day-care! It is amazing that you don't realize how bad things had gotten until you experience something better. Neve loves the new center, the teachers seem really nice and it is so much cleaner! Just a lot of drama and stress to get there.




2. Halloween- we had Doc McStuffins and an ENT Doctor in the house! My dream is that these professions stick in the long term (well, maybe more the ENT doctor vs. the Disney cartoon character). The girls had a blast trick-or-treating with the neighborhood kids. 20 of us and counting (2 more were in their mommy's tummy's at that time).




3. Vacation!!!!!!! Nick and I took an amazing trip to Jamaica the week before Thanksgiving. We stayed at an all-inclusive in Ocho Rios and had a great time. I read four books, Nick read one. Days were spent on the beach, by the pool and in the ocean. We went snorkeling, kayaking, and took a ride on a glass bottom boat. We also slept in as late as we wanted (and all night) and didn't wear a watch the entire time  (which was sometimes a struggle for me). Nick ate all the seafood he could get his hands on, including what must have been decent lobster because we went to the same restaurant twice and he ordered the same thing (typical for me, but not for Nick). We hit up a speakeasy bar and enjoyed some amazing live music. Had a couples massage on the pier with the waves of the ocean crashing against the rocks (very relaxing) and just plain enjoyed spending time with just the two of us (adult conversations!). An added bonus was that I am 99% sure they filmed the finale for the upcoming season of the Bachelor at our resort! 


4. The girls must have had a decent time with the Grandparents while we were away because they didn't seem to miss us much. They ended up with an extra morning with Grandma Greving since the snow storm kept her in Des Moines overnight. They enjoyed that.




5. Holiday time- I cannot believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. The house is decorated for Christmas and all the gifts have been purchased. The girls are excited and Neve thinks every day is Christmas- but doesn't understand why she cannot open the presents under the tree. Buddy the Elf is back and the girls are loving it. He has only not moved once thus far (which is pretty decent considering this Mommy tends to forget about him a lot).


6. Ellie lost her first tooth! We were downstairs watching the Nebraska/Iowa football game. I heard Nick tell her to get a Kleenex (I thought she had a runny nose). Next thing I hear is him telling her she is bleeding. She walked over with a nice little hole in her mouth and a very big smile on her face. She is officially growing up.


7. We went to Disney on Ice the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We were in the box that work has with a co-worker of mine who has a little girl in school with Ellie. I called Ellie "Ellie" and the little girl asked who that was... I guess she goes by Eleanor at school so people do not know who "Ellie" is. As we were talking later, she would now like us to call her Eleanor and not Ellie. Neve quickly joined the trend and would now like to go by Genevieve. I am not complaining, I love their full names! It is just hard to remember. Oh, the girls LOVED Disney on Ice. We have a trip to Disney World planned for next year and Neve is a little confused as to the difference between Disney on Ice and Disney World.


8. Once again I am not sure where the year has gone. We have had a lot of adventures and tons of memories--- but it seemed to fly by. Ellie is almost half way done with kindergarten. And Neve is that much closer to starting kindergarten. Time can start to slow down any day now. Until it does I will remind myself to enjoy every second!

5 on Friday

1. Saturday we got together with my sorority sisters from college and their families. 16 of us in total! It was fun to see everyone (even though we all live within 30 minutes of each other it is rare) and even more fun seeing the kids interact with each other.

2. Bumped Up Brussels  One of our favorite fall/winter meals. We made it on Sunday and it was amazing (even though the weather on Sunday was more summer than fall).

3. Ellie had a play-date on Sunday. She was so excited to have a friend from school over and I think the girls had a great time.

4. Nick left for a work trip in Orlando on Monday morning, so it was 'Girls Week!' While we survived and our world didn't fall apart too much, we missed Daddy. Although we did make it to school, day-care and work on time every since day this week.

5. Having Daddy gone over the weekend is a lot easier than having him gone during the week. At least on the weekend we can do fun things like go to the zoo or visit Grandma & Grandpa in Ames. During the week we are so busy and have little extra time it is not nearly as fun.

5 on Friday

1. Nick and I took off Friday afternoon to volunteer for the Miles for Maple Grove Fun Run at Ellie's school. The kids take donations from family and friends and then everyone at the school runs a mile in the afternoon (the kids get t-shirts too!). I would call it a successful event, as the school raised $23,000 that goes directly back to the school. Nick and I helped out with Ellie's class and ran the mile with them. Nick stayed with the front of the group and I tagged behind to make sure we didn't lose anyone in the process. Ellie is great (according to Nick) but running may not be her favorite thing. She was excited to leave school with 'parent pick-up' instead of going to her after school program.

2. I played my sister in Fantasy Football this week. I am still waiting for her telephone call to congratulate me on my win.

3. We celebrated my birthday with dinner with Nick's mom and husband on Sunday evening. The girls got a little extra time with Grandpa and Grandma and we always love Cheesecake Factory!

4. We had family pictures taken last night. I cannot wait to see the previews!

5. I am the homeroom parent for Ellie's class. Which means I get to coordinate the class parties (me organizing a party, I think I got this!). I met with three other mom's last night and we planned the Fall Party that happens at the end of the month. It was so much fun to plan the party, and what an amazing group of moms!

5 on Friday

1. We celebrated my cousin getting married this weekend up in Rochester, MN. I love that I don't worry about traveling with the girls anymore and they handle longer car rides like champs. We all had fun at the wedding and were very tired the next day. The girls loved dancing, and it was Ellie who asked to leave the dance to go to bed!

2. We celebrated my birthday on Tuesday. Nothing like spending the evening at the dance studio! Nick and the girls surprised me with flowers, a new bag (to take books to the beach/pool in come November) and an ice cream cake. We went all out for dinner with frozen pizza! It was perfect.

3. It is starting to get cooler out! Which means candles! I love scented candles. Nick is sensitive to spices in candles, so we are slightly limited- but we make the best of it.

4. I am co-chairing the United Way committee for work this year. It is fun, stressful and a lot of work. We had my department's kick-off meeting on Monday. A couple co-workers and myself presented. I think it went pretty well and based on the numbers we made an impact. Now let's just hope that the rest of the campaign comes together and we are successful in meeting (or exceeding) our goal.

5. Ellie went in for her follow-up appointment with the ENT on Thursday. The ear is healing well and everything looks good there, but she failed her hearing test so the doctor things she has fluid behind the eardrum. Antibiotics it is. Let's hope that fixed the problem.

5 on Friday

1. While Daddy was away, the girls will shop! For 5 hours to be exact. We hit up Valley West Mall, Target and Jordan Creek Town Center. We made progress. The girls were awesome. We all had fun, with sore feet after we were done.

2. This week is dress-up week for Ellie's school. Monday was dress-up as your favorite book character. We took the easy way out and did Fancy Nancy (because who wouldn't want to dress in heels for school!). She had a blast.

3. Ellie had surgery to remove her ear tube on Wednesday. They were not able to get the IV in her to get her pain medicine, so she woke up with more pain than normal. She is back to normal now- although she cannot get water in her ear for another week or so (which means no water park this weekend).

4. Neve misses her sister. She just wants to play with her. Although playing together usually results in someone screaming, yelling or crying. The love of sisters!

5. I am playing fantasy football this year. And I love it. I know very little about football, but I am quickly learning. The first week I learned NOT to play a kicker that isn't actually on a team anymore. The second week I learned that just because you play someone that SHOULD score points doesn't mean they will.  This week I am hoping for my first win. We will see. I would be happy if all of my players scored me points.

5 on Friday

1. We celebrated a family friend's 2nd birthday at Union Park and Heritage Carousel on Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful and the girls loved being able to ride the carousel as much as they wanted (and the cotton candy machine).

2. Go Hawks! We cheered the Hawks on during their game against the Cyclones on Saturday.

3. Ellie had a play-date at a friend from school's house on Sunday. It was the first play-date where I  dropped her off and left. Such a weird feeling. She had a blast and would now like the friend to come to her house.

4. On Wednesday one of my college roommates came over for dinner with her family. They live in Arizona, so it had been about a year and a half since Nick and I had seen them, and we had never meet their little girl. I love it when you get together with people and everything seems so nature and like you see them all the time. Their little girl was adorable and came over to meet the minute she walked in the door! I had a cold, so I tried to stay away as much as possible- but by the end of the night I gave up (with her parents permission of course) and had so much fun getting laughs out of the little 1-year old. When they had gone for the night Nick turned to me and said, "I wished they lived closer."

5. Nick is off on his annual fall bike trip. The girls and I are going to lay low for a few days and maybe get out on Saturday. I think Ellie needs a little home time with all the changes going on and how busy we have been lately.