Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Strep

I am not a fan. Neve has had it three times since the beginning of the year, while Ellie has had it once. The Dr. said it could be that one of the kids at day-care could be the carrier (which means they have it but don't get sick like others do). Ugh.


On the bright side, it could be far worse and Neve usually feels much better after a little medicine. But who likes to have their kid on medicine all the time.


Good thing we didn't take a fun vacation somewhere warm and get sick there, right? (Looking on the bright side.)

Monday, March 7, 2016

5 randoms (because it is not Friday)

1. I took a short work trip to beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona last week. Flew there on Monday, flew back on Wednesday. Overall I had a great time, presentation went well, dinner went well, got a little shopping in and best of all I was able to spend a few hours with a college roommate and her little girl. Very fun trip.


2. Ellie was a social butterfly this weekend with a birthday party one day and roller skating play-date the next day. She had a blast, but was very tired by the end of the weekend.


3. We had Ellie's spring conference on Saturday morning. She is going great and we are so proud of all she has accomplished thus far this year. We celebrated with ice cream after dinner.


4. Neve had found Barbie dolls. And she loves them. I had to reminder her that I asked her to go change her clothes for school and not play with her Barbie dolls this morning. On our way to school she told me she was going to play with them when she got home that night. Ellie never got excited about Barbie so this is a whole new adventure for us.


5. I cannot believe the weather we have been having. I love it! It has us in the mood to talk/plan for spring. A new grill is on the list of things we need before summer begins and it is odd grill shopping in Iowa in February. But we did and when we are ready to buy we know the exact one we want.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Marketing & Little Kid Ears

Wednesday is girls' night, as Nick bikes every Wednesday night and us girls are on our own for fun and dinner. Yesterday I told the girls that we were going to run a couple errands and if they were really good during those errands we could go to the mall to pick out Easter dresses and eat dinner.


On the way into work yesterday an ad came on the radio and here was the conversation Ellie and I had:


E: Are they being truthful?
M: What do you mean?
E: What they are saying (on the radio), it is the truth?
M: Um, yes? (Thinking that the last thing on the radio was a commercial and I assumed they were telling the truth- or as much as a commercial does.)


Fast forward to after work on our way to our first errand:


E: Mommy, can we go to Walgreens?
M: Why do we need to go to Walgreens?
E: Because you can get in and out fast, at the corner of happy and healthy... And then we can get to the mall faster.


Well played Walgreens, well played. Too bad we were looking for clothes and not household items. Amazing what little ears hear and what their little brains remember.

Friday, February 5, 2016

5 on Friday

1. Can you believe it is February?! Where did the first month of 2016 go?  I am excited, because that means we are one month closer to our November Disney World trip and I cannot wait! I am sad, because we are one month closer to Neve turning 4 and I really like having a 3-year old.


2, We have our valentine's ready to go! The girls picked out Play Foam as what they wanted to use for their valentines and I printed out some labels that said, "Foam Your Friend" They turned out pretty cute. We still need to make our box for Ellie's class (family project!), but that should get done this weekend. Then I just have to finish a few things up for the class party and we are ready for the day of love.


3. Speaking of class parties... I have been the homeroom parent for Ellie's class this year and I have loved it! I get to help plan the three class parties (with the help of some awesome other mom's from the class) and had a little extra fun with a "baby shower" day for the teacher. Anyone that knows me knows I love to plan parties!


4. What is with the weather? I am not complaining, just wondering. Ellie had her first snow day this week and she enjoyed staying home with Daddy. Neve and I ventured into work. It took us a whole 15 minutes since there were not very many cars on the road. And to think that just a few days before we were outside playing in the 40 degree weather!


5. I went out with the neighbor ladies to celebrate one of the ladies birthday Saturday night. I was pretty proud being the oldest in the group and lasting as long as I did (considering I was asleep on the couch at 9 pm the prior evening the fact that I was out until after 1 am was a big accomplishment). We had a blast and I am very lucky to have the neighbors I do. We are really going to miss one of them when they move away this summer.



Friday, January 22, 2016

Happy 2016!

My posts are becoming more and more less frequent. Unfortunately, I don't think that will change in the near term. Maybe I will do better in the second half of the year. Here is what I have for you know:


1. We traveled to Ames for Christmas the 25th and then 26th-27th. We had a great time, but were glad to be back home and get back to normal. I love the holidays- but I do not always love the craziness that goes with them.


2. We hosted our neighbors for New Year's Eve. Ended up adding a few others to the mix and by the time it was said and done we had 21 people (kids and adults) over. I think everyone had a great time.


3. Then it was back to school and the start of the new year. The last one went by so fast, I hope this one slows down a little. Thus far it is not slowing down.


4. The girls and I were able to go to Ames and watch my niece's play basketball the other week. We had a great time and loved seeing everyone.


5. Neve came down with strep this week- but is feeling much better now that the medicine has kicked in.


6. This weekend we celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday. Neve helped pick out her gift- I hope it is girlie enough for her.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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.


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

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!