Monday- Dec. 21: Trip to the Children's museum with the Fillingers. :)

The girls were home with me, Katie being on Christmas break now, so Anne Marie called and asked if we'd want to go to the Children's Museum with the girls. I said sure, so Katie and the girls could have some fun together, so we packed up for an afternoon of fun. :)

We really didn't do a whole lot at the museum, but that is the beauty of having a membership, you know you can come and go and not have to get your money's worth out of it for the day! :) We started out in Dinosphere, which Meaghan was afraid of the thundestorm that they have in the exhibit, so we went to the side since there was starting to happen as we got there.


The girls all looking inside of a cave with dino bones.


Meaghan sitting on the floor with Rei, who is "protecting her from the thunderstorm". :)

After the storm was over, we went over to the Dino Dig, where the kids and "dig for bones".


A good handful of kids, with goggles on, diggning in sand for dinosaur bones.


Meaghan working on the wall that has a bone in it.


The older girls working on another spot on the wall.


All five girls working on the T-Rex skeleton puzzle. :)


Meaghan doing a computer program about dinos.


The older girls doing a different program.


Anne Marie with her younger girls doing another program.


The younger ones and Katie all playing at the dino table.

From the dinosphere, we moved on to the train station. Meaghan absolutely LOVES the train station every time we go there. She doesnt care about the big train engine itself, but she loves to play in the station office itself. :) However, the lighting is very dim in here, so the pictures are all really dark.


Meaghan on the old style phone.

It was so cute to watch them, as the rest of the girls came in, they all began playing together, the older ones making phone calls, the younger ones taking turns selling tickets to each other through the ticket window.


Making phone calls.


Ticket sales.


The girls watching the model trains going around.

After leaving the train station exhibit, we went up to the Winter Wonderland exhibit, where they had "ice fishing", a snow castle play ground, a cookie kitchen, and Santa for the kids to visit. We basically just turned the kids loose as it was one big room with only one way in or out, so Rei and I stationed ourselves to the right of the door and could pretty much see the whole room from there and could alow the kids freedom, but could make sure they or no one took them out. :)


Anne Marie watching over her younger girls ice fishing.


Meaghan in the center of the picture ice fishing.


Meaghan at the scale and about to weigh her "catch" which are stuffed fish. :)


Kids on the snow castle.


Meaghan peeking through a window on the snow castle.


The Fillinger girls with Santa. :)


A picture of Rei laying on the floor in front of me. :)


Rei- one REALLY tired puppy at home that night, since it was VERY crowded through the whole museum and there were lots of people since it was over school break. She did such an awesome job and I didn't have to worry about anything, which really made it nice since the younger girls were being a little wired by the time we left, from going without naps all afternoon. Rei is such a blessing and relief to have and I know I dont have to worry about bumping into anything when she is at my side!

Saturday & Sunday - Dec. 20th- our 11th Wedding Anniversary

Well, it was our anniversary on Saturday, but since Mike was on call for the weekend, we were able to set up Grandma and Grandpa watching the kids for us to go out to dinner on the 27th, the Saturday after Christmas, instead.

However, this day was quite a productive and busy one, as Mike finished up the sanding/mudding of the closet and I worked on finishing up the last of sewing the stockings.

Rei saw a squirrel out the front picture window and was quite interested:


Rei standing on her hind legs, front paws on the window sill and looking out the picture window.


A close up profile shot of her watching the squirrel scamper across the street.

Then we went to church that night and it was a good sermon. We didnt feel like going, but we enjoyed it once we got there. :)

Sunday, we continued to work on things around the house did our last minute preparations, wrapping of gifts for Christmas. :)

Wed through Fri, Dec. 17-19th. The remains of a busy week.

Wednesday:
We all had dentist appointments, as in the kids and I. All of us had clean bills of health, no cavities!!! Yay!!!! The dentist did say though that Alex's teeth are very tight and crowded, so to be expecting to be looking at braces as he gets older and when his permanent teeth come in though. :( Hopefully it won't be that bad!

That night, Mike worked on the girls closet some more and demo'd out the separation wall in there. Tore it out and got all the stuff out to start getting it ready for the new organizer unit he'll be building soon to make it much more useable as well as gain the 6 inches of space lost by the partition wall being there. ;)

Thursday:

I started off the morning with an IM meeting with Laura Thomas of the Helen Keller National Center, going over different things for InDBA and some stuff for myself as well. We are working on some meeting things, a collaboration between HKNC and InDBA, and a Deaf Blind workshop coming up in July, hosted by InDBA.

I continued to finish up the stockings that I'd been working on for gifts most of the afternoon. Since it was Alex's turn to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the evening, Mike went after work up to the Big Boy's Toy Store: Fry's. Where he picked up an internal hard drive, an external hard drive, and a few other things we needed. Katie and Meaghan and I hung out here at home for the evening. :)



Friday:
Friday evening, Mike continued working on the girls closet, mudding, sanding, letting it dry and so forth. I kept the kids entertained and out of his hair with that.

Tuesday Decemeber 16th: Silly Girl, Katie's Living Pioneer Museum, & ICE everywhere!

okie dokie, bathrooms are done. ;) whoo hoo we are getting there! :) Need to fold laundry next and work on something for dinner after that.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16th- Meaghan showed me a new use for the cubbies we have in the playroom- What a stinker! :)



Meaghan with her head only out of the toy cubbie and a big cheesy grin on her face!



Another shot of Meaghan with her head out of the cubbie, head sideways and grinning from ear to ear of her accomplishment.


A farther off shot, showing that she is 3 1/2 ft off the floor and has her entire body inside this cubbie bin cabinet.

Don't ask me how she got in there, as I didn't see, but I definately pulled her out. LOL!

Then in the afternoon, Katie had her Pioneer Living Museum Day at school and the parents were invited to come. So Meaghan and I walked over to the school and Rei did beautifully. She was VERY good and I didnt have any problems with bumping into anything or what not and she was very good around all the kids too. The kids were also very good about asking first if they could pet and most didn't even ask, as I do know that the third grade classes have been learning about service animals, so they knew they shouldn't. The couple that did ask, I was quite impressed with the one little boy, he actually came up and said "Maam, may I please pet your dog?" I was shocked first off that he said Maam and secondly that he said please and waited until I answered. I thanked him heartily for asking first and being polite and he said "your welcome" and walked away with a big smile on his face. :)

So here is a few pictures of Katie, who had dressed up in the same outfit she did to go to the one room school house:


Katie with her buzz saw toy she made.


Giving the toy to a classmate to try out.


Katie with the Conastoga wagon that she made.


Katie trying out one of the other kids pioneer toys.


Meaghan trying out one of the other kid's pioneer toy.

After the hour was over for the parents to be there, since I walked to the school, Mrs. Orr invited Meaghan and I back to the class room with the class to hang out until school dismissed about 45 minutes later.

The kids then went over to the cabinet and listened to the featured kid of the week- the "Sea Star" of the week, as the room is in an ocean theme.


Then Mrs. Orr called everyone over to the reading rug and she sat in her rocking chair and read to all of the kids a story.


The kids sitting on the floor listening to Mrs. Orr read.


Katie and Meaghan sitting together.

The whole time, Rei was being a perfect angel, laying quietly at my feet as I watched the kids do thier thing. :)


Rei in harness, looking across the room, laying still at my feet.


Rei in harness, looking at me as if to say, "Are you taking my picture, AGAIN???"

Then it was time for the kids to gather their things and line up at the door by where we were sitting. Several of the kids asked if they could pet Rei and I went ahead and gave them permission. Very quickly, Rei was on her back for belly rubs and the kids were on thier knees, more than happy to give them. LOL!


Rei in a circle of kids, licking a little girls hand.


So then we walked home and the girls asked if they could play outside on the ice, as there was ice EVERYWHERE! I had Meaghan hold Rei first though to get a couple of pictures of her in harness for her puppy raiser. :)

Here's my pretty girl in front of the tree. It is so hard to get a good picture of a black dog!





So after I got pictures of Rei, the girls went in and changed into warmer clothes and we all came back out. The girls played on thier sled, sliding down the driveway and I turned Rei loose out in the back yard to play as well.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

The girls sliding down the drivway.


Goofy dog with her Kong toy. :)


Katie and Meaghan on their sled


One of my favorite pictures of Rei, even with it being a little blurry.

Monday December 15th- Happy Birthday Mom!, Katie's school program, and kids pictures with Santa!

ok so it wound up being lunch instead of the bathroom, now I'm off to clean the bathrom, ;)

First off, I want to say Happy Birthday to Mom for December 15th.

It was a hard day that day. It was also the day of my SSDI appt and I found out I had a lot more hearing loss. You can read that post here:

http://hearnoevil-seenoevil.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-does-hearing-have-to-go-too.html

I did get up later on after a lot of tears and a nap to feel better and Katie had her school Christmas program that night, which was really cute. :)

Katie smiling, has glasses, the black jacket and ruffly white cuffs:


Katie was thrilled since Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Grandma Roberts was there with Mike, Meaghan, Alex and I, so she had quite the audience. :)

The one thing that did make my day though, was we received the pictures from the photographer of the kids with Santa.

Kim is one of the moms of the kids that's been on Mike's soccer teams for the last several years and she is the only one that has really been able to take good pictures of Meaghan. :) So these are all to her credit and if you live on the west side of Indianapolis, I definately recommend Kim and she can be reached here via her website:

www.actionphotosbykim.com

So here are the great pictures she took of the kids:

Black background, from left to right- Katie in a black jacket, white blouse, then Alex in the middle in a dark grey vest with red pinstripes, white dress shirt, and red tie. Lastly Meaghan is on the right with a black velvet topped dress with red bead flowers on the neckline and red skirt and bow at her waist. All three are smiling good and Santa has his arms around them all and is seated mostly between Katie and Alex.


Tan mottled background, from left to right- Katie in a black jacket, white blouse and Alex in the middle in a dark grey vest with red pinstripes, white dress shirt, and red tie, both sitting on Santa's lap. Rei is sitting next to Santa, looking at the camera and Meaghan is standing next to Rei, holding her leash wearing a black velvet topped dress with red bead flowers on the neckline and red skirt and bow at her waist. Meaghan is looking off the right and Alex is somewhat smiling. :)



Pretty much the same picture as above, having the tan mottled background, from left to right- Katie in a black jacket, white blouse and Alex in the middle in a dark grey vest with red pinstripes, white dress shirt, and red tie, both sitting on Santa's lap. Rei is sitting next to Santa, looking at the camera and Meaghan is standing next to Rei, holding her leash wearing a black velvet topped dress with red bead flowers on the neckline and red skirt and bow at her waist. In this picture though, all three kids are looking at the camera and smiling, but Rei is looking to the left.

So these were the Christmas we got of the kids this year! :)

Christmas gifts for people this year

Ok the bedrooms are all cleaned up and done so heres another post! :) The bathroom is up next!

Another reason that I was not around so much during the month of December, besides various events and things going on, was I was very busy making stockings for many of our friends kids, kids teachers, and for my secret santa gifts.

So here is what I was doing a LOT during the christmas season in December:


Two stockings, one with planets on it embroidered with the name Davin, the other with dogs playing poker on a green background and embroidered at the top with the name Dan.



Two stockings both florals, the one on the left with a blue background and different pinks and yellows for the flowers, embroidered on the pink to with the name Mikayla and the other has a red background with all kinds of smaller colored flowers in yellows, pinks, blues, and lavendars and the name Camryn embroidered on a blue top.



A single stocking of Christmas trees on a red background with white snowflakes between them and a white top embroidered with Katie's teacher's name, Mrs. Orr.



Two stockings, the one on the left with brightly colored lizards and frogs on an aqua background and the name Donovan embroidered on a light yellow top. The one on the right has a bluish background and glittery dragonflies in pinks, oranges, greens and blue hues and the name Cecilia embroidered on the top.



Two stockings, the left being a hot pink background with many different colored small siprals and squiggly lines all over and the name Emily embroidered on a yellow top. The right one is tiny green leaves all over a light yellow background and the name Sarah is embroidered on a light yellow top.



Several of the above stockings bundled and tied pretty with a curly red ribbon.



A single stocking for Katie's assistant teacher in a blue background and different pinks and yellows for the flowers, embroidered on the pink to with the name Miss Roembke




Two stocking's for Alex's teachers, the left being many little christmas trees on a green background and yellow stars amongst them, and the name Miss JoJo embroidered on a yellow top. The right stocking is a blue blackground with the saying "Peace on Earth" and doves, and two types of christmas trees, embroidered with the name Miss Leisa.



Several of the above stockings bundled and tied with a curly red ribbon.


Three stockings all with leopard print and black tops, embroidered with the names Leah, Nora, & Kara.


Three stockings, the left one in Spiderman print and black top, embroidered with the name Scott, the middle one a leopard print and black top embroidered with the name Julie, and the right one in a lavendar baby print, with rattles and baby carriages, with a silky white top embroidered with the name Lizzie.




Stockings for my kiddos! :) Three stockings, the one on the left with brightly colored lizards and frogs on an aqua background and the name Alex embroidered on a light yellow top. The middle one being princesses in pink gowns on a light green background and the name Meaghan embroidered on a deep purple top, and then the one on the right has a bluish background and glittery dragonflies in pinks, oranges, greens and blue hues and the name Katie embroidered on the top.



One last one for my hubby, Mike. :) It is dogs playing poker on a green background and embroidered at the top with the name Mike.


Yep, there's 22 of them there. :) I was one busy lady and my sewing machines got a LOT of use in the few weeks before Christmas! ;)

Catching up with you all!

Ok, as I work through the house today, Im going to try to accomplish updating through the month of December with you all. :)

We'll start with cookie baking day with Sue and her mom Margaret on Dec. 13th. We've done this the last several years and it has gone well as we have each made up our cookie doughs ahead of time and can just pull them out and start rolling balls, working with the girls on doing them.

We made:
buckeye candy/cherry buckeye candy
peanut butter chocolate chip drops
chocolate chip
chewy pecan drops
candy canes
sugar cookies

and I made 22lbs of fudge! yes you read that right. made chocolate, peanut butter, and cherry fudge. :) We had quite the full fridge, thats for sure! :)


Here's some shots from the fun:


Katie tying on an apron, with Sue looking on smiling and Meaghan looking at the camera with a VERY ornery grin on her face, like she's up to something!


Margaret getting the candy cane cookies out of the oven.


All of the yummy buckeye candies.


Katie being a good big sister and helping Meaghan tie on the apron.


Katie and Margaret working together and Sue and Meaghan working together at the island to decorate the sugar cookies with toppings before baking.


A long shot of the kitchen with all of the countertops covered with various cookies and candies. :)

After all was baked and tasted, we all split them up for what each wanted and put them all into containers to enjoy over the holidays! :)