Ahhhhh... How do I know I'm 'back home'? I can hear both my husband and my daughter snoring... ha ha ha! He's already apologized that she inherited his 'bad sinuses'. Well, I don't suppose there is much we can do about that. I'm anxious for the house to sell but I realize that once it does, if we're still living in our 2 bedroom apartment, I'm not sure where I'll sleep! I'm such a light sleeper, that I think I may be sleeping in the living room at that point. Not that I'm not used to it but I was just starting to enjoy sleeping in our wonderful Verlo bed again. I don't care what the Denver Mattress commercials say -- it isn't the best night's sleep I ever had! The first bed, with a layer of "memory foam" (which didn't work because apparently I keep my apartment too cool at night to 'activate it') was so horrible that I woke up in PAIN. The new mattress that I exchanged it for is definitely better -- but still not like our Verlo. I'll survive until the house sells. I just keep telling myself that. :)
I am looking forward to meeting our 'new' realtor. She is actually the 'team leader' of our former realtor. Not sure why but apparently she asked our realtor to step down from her job and she has taken over all the listings for their 'team'. She has 10 years' experience and we have a long list of reasons we weren't happy with our realtor, so I'm hoping she can turn things around in the next 30 days or I think we'll seriously consider going with someone else.
All the snoring is making me tired, even though my body still thinks it's 9:30 instead of 10:30, so I better get some sleep. :)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
K's favorite things!
Favorite thing #1 -- reading books
F
avorite thing #2 - Puppet showsFavorite thing #3 - Goofing around
Grandparents & granddaughters 2008
Grandpa Tom with baby Sophie, grandma Barb with toddler tornado Katie
Cousins 2008
Kate was NOT about to "hold" Sophie on her lap... so this was the best we could do... Bless Sophie's heart, she was so patient with her stubborn older cousin!!
Cousin pictures - Christmas 2008
Todd & Kathleen; his sister Sara and her daughter Sophia. I found these matching outfits at Oshkosh outlet store in Seaside, Oregon while at my teachers' conference in November. Not really "Christmas-y", I realize, but seriously -- how cute are they?! 
Kathleen has decided she wouldn't like to have a picture taken in front of the tree, thank you...
Family pictures - outtakes
Ummmm, yeah
. Either daddy's not looking or K's goofing around. And my mom made sure the Christmas star is coming DIRECTLY out of the top of my head. Brutal. 
Christmas 2008, part one
Here she is, playing the piano at grandma Kathy's house and singing some hymns with grandma too!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Running around
In mid-October, my doctor asked if I would participate in an eating/exercise program (otherwise known as a 'diet' to the rest of the world) because all of the workers in his office (himself included) had already done the program and he was encouraging every one of his patients to give it a try. Not just to lose weight, but to make exercise an important part of life and to learn healthier eating habits. Geez, who couldn't use that, right?
I had switched to a low sodium diet just before that and was doing T-Tapp workout (www.t-tapp.com) just before this. I was really seeing good results but I knew it would be hard to continue the workout part with my hectic schedule. And while it builds strength and flexibility, I never found T-Tapp to build cardio endurance, so I decided that I would give this new program a try. I was supposed to start with 15 minutes of walking (5 mins slow, 5 mins faster, 5 mins slow) on the treadmill, then do some 'weight' training with soup cans (boring!) at home and follow the eating program. The workout room in our apartment's clubhouse has a treadmill with an interval program, so I followed some online advice -- start at 20 mins, then the next week do 22 mins, then 24, then 26, then 28 and then 30 mins. Once you've done the same speed/incline program for 6 weeks, 30 mins will feel comfortable so you can challenge your body with a higher speed/incline but reduce the time to just 20 mins (3 times/week) and then repeat the pattern of adding 2 mins each week... That was working well for me. I detest weight machines and working out with weights/soup cans, etc at home. So I came up with an ingenuis idea. Our clubhouse has an outdoor (covered with a roof though) hottub that is open year round. I could do my walking/jogging routine on the treadmill and then head out to the hot tub afterwards. The warm water feels GREAT on tired muscles and I can do three really good arm/upper body exercises out there. I use the bench in the hottub to do 'arm dips'. The water gives resistance but also makes it much easier than just trying to do them using a chair. Then I stand up and do 'push-ups' against the side edge of the hot tub. Again, good resistance from the water but much more fun than a regular push up or even a modified push-up against the wall! Finally, I kneel & pull my body in towards the wall, gripping the brick edging. I feel that in my lats. At my first check-in with the doctor (AFTER Thanksgiving! Doh!) I had actually gained 3 lbs (doh!) but I'd gained 4 lbs of muscle so he wasn't too concerned. He said, "At some point more muscle is going to burn off fat, so your weight will be going down." My biggest struggle is with the eating program. You're supposed to eat a balance of protein and carbs in the morning (biggest meal), then moderate carbs and more protein at lunch and a high protein/low carb meal for supper. Oh, with snacks throughout the day too. Ummm, 1) who has time to COOK all this specific stuff and 2) who has time to EAT all through the day?! Not me! So that has been a struggle! My dr said, "It doesn't have to be fancy. Find which recipes you like and have that every single day -- or every other day -- if you don't like to cook..." Yeah, easier said than done! I have found a modified plan that requires almost NO cooking that I can do every other day. Breakfast is a high protein bar like Balance Bar. Mid-morning snack is a FiberOne bar. Lunch is 1/2 footlong (turkey, lettuce, cheese -- easy to pick up at Subway) & some fruit like an apple or grapes. Afternoon snack (if I have time) is a piece of string cheese. Supper is 1 can of broth and 2 cups of frozen veggies. That doesn't sound like much of a supper but on a cold winter's night, it really tastes good. And it's minimal cooking. I've also been reading that hot cocoa can lower blood pressure, so I try to have some of that in the morning to start my day. Olive oil can counteract simple carbs and so I'm trying to add that to most meals. Grapes & soy have antioxidents that work well together so I have switched to soy milk (I can't drink/use Skim milk that fast anyway -- it often spoils or gets close to it in my fridge) and will try to eat more grapes. Small steps...
I needed new running shoes. I had some great ones right after K was born and I literally wore them out. The next pair (which I've been using for a year or so) weren't as great. I read about the Nike+ system online. A sensor goes into a small place under the shoe liner and another sensor attachs to the bottom of your iPod Nano. It tracks how many miles, time, calories, etc for runs. I don't consider myself a runner, but I do know that graphs motivate me if I can visually see my progress. You don't have to buy the special Nike shoes for the sensor to work (you can tape or velcro them to the tongue of any tennis shoe) but I found a pair I liked that were 40% off, so why not? I splurged for the Nike+ sensor kit since I already have a Nano. It is awesome. I loved it. I set out for a 3K walk/run and it was fun to hear someone say, "You've completed 1 K. You've completed 2 Ks...." etc. Cool! It's been hard to find a new routine when I'd been doing so well on the treadmill in Idaho. I never did get to the Bloomington high schools' gyms to work out with my mom when we first got into town. I did have fun playing the Wii with my in-laws but that's not the same. I experimented with our treadmill here yesterday but found it frustrating to continually be changing speeds and inclines. I finally tried out a pre-programmed option on our treadmill and I really enjoyed it. Now it's off to iTunes to download some new workout music. I used to walk/jog to audio books. BORING... then I switched to Johnny Cash (which is what I walked to this past summer for HOURS), which was much better but is definitely getting OLD... so I think some new music will help make it even more fun. :)
Oh, and we got a call at 9 p.m. tonight. Our real estate agent has been asked to leave her agency. Shocking. Not. She hasn't done MUCH for us at all. Her former partner, who has been an agent for 10 years, called to tell us. And to tell us that someone wants to look at our house tomorrow. So, we'll see. We won't finally meet the new agent until Sunday but I think it's important that I get to meet her because we're really ready to either pull the house from the market for the rest of winter or look for another agent! She seemed to understand and I'm hoping she'll do a much better job because I'm not willing to waste another 6 months with no results. Keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers tonight! :)
- Tanya
I had switched to a low sodium diet just before that and was doing T-Tapp workout (www.t-tapp.com) just before this. I was really seeing good results but I knew it would be hard to continue the workout part with my hectic schedule. And while it builds strength and flexibility, I never found T-Tapp to build cardio endurance, so I decided that I would give this new program a try. I was supposed to start with 15 minutes of walking (5 mins slow, 5 mins faster, 5 mins slow) on the treadmill, then do some 'weight' training with soup cans (boring!) at home and follow the eating program. The workout room in our apartment's clubhouse has a treadmill with an interval program, so I followed some online advice -- start at 20 mins, then the next week do 22 mins, then 24, then 26, then 28 and then 30 mins. Once you've done the same speed/incline program for 6 weeks, 30 mins will feel comfortable so you can challenge your body with a higher speed/incline but reduce the time to just 20 mins (3 times/week) and then repeat the pattern of adding 2 mins each week... That was working well for me. I detest weight machines and working out with weights/soup cans, etc at home. So I came up with an ingenuis idea. Our clubhouse has an outdoor (covered with a roof though) hottub that is open year round. I could do my walking/jogging routine on the treadmill and then head out to the hot tub afterwards. The warm water feels GREAT on tired muscles and I can do three really good arm/upper body exercises out there. I use the bench in the hottub to do 'arm dips'. The water gives resistance but also makes it much easier than just trying to do them using a chair. Then I stand up and do 'push-ups' against the side edge of the hot tub. Again, good resistance from the water but much more fun than a regular push up or even a modified push-up against the wall! Finally, I kneel & pull my body in towards the wall, gripping the brick edging. I feel that in my lats. At my first check-in with the doctor (AFTER Thanksgiving! Doh!) I had actually gained 3 lbs (doh!) but I'd gained 4 lbs of muscle so he wasn't too concerned. He said, "At some point more muscle is going to burn off fat, so your weight will be going down." My biggest struggle is with the eating program. You're supposed to eat a balance of protein and carbs in the morning (biggest meal), then moderate carbs and more protein at lunch and a high protein/low carb meal for supper. Oh, with snacks throughout the day too. Ummm, 1) who has time to COOK all this specific stuff and 2) who has time to EAT all through the day?! Not me! So that has been a struggle! My dr said, "It doesn't have to be fancy. Find which recipes you like and have that every single day -- or every other day -- if you don't like to cook..." Yeah, easier said than done! I have found a modified plan that requires almost NO cooking that I can do every other day. Breakfast is a high protein bar like Balance Bar. Mid-morning snack is a FiberOne bar. Lunch is 1/2 footlong (turkey, lettuce, cheese -- easy to pick up at Subway) & some fruit like an apple or grapes. Afternoon snack (if I have time) is a piece of string cheese. Supper is 1 can of broth and 2 cups of frozen veggies. That doesn't sound like much of a supper but on a cold winter's night, it really tastes good. And it's minimal cooking. I've also been reading that hot cocoa can lower blood pressure, so I try to have some of that in the morning to start my day. Olive oil can counteract simple carbs and so I'm trying to add that to most meals. Grapes & soy have antioxidents that work well together so I have switched to soy milk (I can't drink/use Skim milk that fast anyway -- it often spoils or gets close to it in my fridge) and will try to eat more grapes. Small steps...
I needed new running shoes. I had some great ones right after K was born and I literally wore them out. The next pair (which I've been using for a year or so) weren't as great. I read about the Nike+ system online. A sensor goes into a small place under the shoe liner and another sensor attachs to the bottom of your iPod Nano. It tracks how many miles, time, calories, etc for runs. I don't consider myself a runner, but I do know that graphs motivate me if I can visually see my progress. You don't have to buy the special Nike shoes for the sensor to work (you can tape or velcro them to the tongue of any tennis shoe) but I found a pair I liked that were 40% off, so why not? I splurged for the Nike+ sensor kit since I already have a Nano. It is awesome. I loved it. I set out for a 3K walk/run and it was fun to hear someone say, "You've completed 1 K. You've completed 2 Ks...." etc. Cool! It's been hard to find a new routine when I'd been doing so well on the treadmill in Idaho. I never did get to the Bloomington high schools' gyms to work out with my mom when we first got into town. I did have fun playing the Wii with my in-laws but that's not the same. I experimented with our treadmill here yesterday but found it frustrating to continually be changing speeds and inclines. I finally tried out a pre-programmed option on our treadmill and I really enjoyed it. Now it's off to iTunes to download some new workout music. I used to walk/jog to audio books. BORING... then I switched to Johnny Cash (which is what I walked to this past summer for HOURS), which was much better but is definitely getting OLD... so I think some new music will help make it even more fun. :)
Oh, and we got a call at 9 p.m. tonight. Our real estate agent has been asked to leave her agency. Shocking. Not. She hasn't done MUCH for us at all. Her former partner, who has been an agent for 10 years, called to tell us. And to tell us that someone wants to look at our house tomorrow. So, we'll see. We won't finally meet the new agent until Sunday but I think it's important that I get to meet her because we're really ready to either pull the house from the market for the rest of winter or look for another agent! She seemed to understand and I'm hoping she'll do a much better job because I'm not willing to waste another 6 months with no results. Keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers tonight! :)
- Tanya
Home for the Holidays
Being on vacation, it's easy to lose track of what day of the week it is today. Kathleen & I flew out of Idaho Falls last Saturday morning. There was a 40 minute delay and once we finally got on the plane, we were told that the Minneapolis airport was closed to incoming flights and it would be another 20 minutes, at least, before they could find out when/if we would be taking off. Truth be told, it had been such a busy, rushing week, that if they had canceled our flight that day, I would've been just fine calling Connie to come and pick us up again so we could have some more time at home in our apartment to relax. The pilot came right back, however, and informed us that we had been cleared for take-off in the next 7 minutes! Alright!
The man sitting next to me graciously moved up to the one empty seat in the front so that I could at least spread out with K on the plane. She never really sat in the seat but it did give us a chance to let her move more. She enjoyed her books and someone across the aisle lent us a ballpoint pen so she could 'write'. It was still a long flight though -- and it was only 2 - 2.5 hours. No crying, screaming or melt downs this time though. (Last time, the end of September, she had hand-foot-and-mouth disease and it was a NIGHTMARE flying with her!)
We spent Saturday and early Sunday at my mom & stepfather's house in Bloomington. To our absolute SHOCK, they actually subscribed to cable and bought flat-screen LCD tv's! Will wonders never cease! K slept on a blanket in the living room (on the floor), which she seemed to enjoy. Her highlights were running/skipping around the house, looking for 'grandma' (whom she calls 'grandpa'??) and playing the piano while sitting on grandma's lap. Too cute. Actually, she would sing and play piano. Adorable. :)
We had brunch with my dad & stepmom at Perkin's on Sunday. Took K a while to warm up because she was so tired and out of her routine. Our car (ie my Honda Civic EX that Todd has been driving) died on our way to Perkins. ARGH. Of course, it was -33 windchill outside, so we're hoping THAT was the main reason for the problem. We went to Q.Cumbers for supper with mom & Dewey on Sunday evening. Always really good food & tons of fresh veggies & fruit for Todd to pick from. Yea!
We spent Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday at my in-laws' house. We finally got to meet Todd's niece, Sophia, who is now 2 months old. She is adorable. I can't decide -- sometimes she looks like mommy, sometimes like her daddy. She is a very sweet baby. K didn't find her so adorable, especially when mommy was paying attention to her. Yikes! But she didn't seem too bothered to be sharing grandma and grandpa with Sophie. She was very entertaining and kept saying, "grandpa...grandpa..." and, of course, if grandpa didn't respond, she'd say "grandpa!" louder! Toooooo cute! We played many different games on the "Wii", with me finally able to win one or two games of bowling and my mother-in-law winning one too. The final verdict -- bowling is fun, tennis is too confusing (but fun), lawn darts/horseshoes/darts were just TOO different from real life to be easy to play. I also did some of the Wii Fit & that was a fun change of pace. Maybe I'll stick to my treadmill work out though...
We met my brother at Joe Senser's in Bloomington on the 23rd. Some people from my graduating class were supposed to meet there but I think it was almost all guys -- and no offense, but I didn't recognize ANY of them! Even from their pictures on Facebook! So we just decided to have supper with Ken and have a good time while my in-law's had quality time with K at their home. Ahhhh, relaxing! I highly recommend the black & blue tenderloin (Ken had that) and a Purple People Drinker (aka "Purple Rain" at Garcia's for all my Idaho friends) -- yum!
We drove back home to Appleton on Christmas Eve. The roads were bad and the snow was light but consistent. Ugh. We still made pretty decent time though. There was a mountain of snow in our driveway when we got back. We're SO thankful to have a new snowblower! Todd would STILL be out there shoveling if we didn't!! K & I ran to get groceries while Todd got rid of the snow on the driveway. Once we had everything we needed, we got dressed & drove an hour up to St. Paul's in Luxemburg for the Christmas eve service. It was neat to see the progress on the new school and to see my former students, some of the parents and my former co-workers. How fun! Those types of 'mini-reunions' always make me think it is a preview of heaven -- so happy to see each other again. The service was missing about half the school; perhaps they will finally see that holding the service on Christmas Eve just isn't a good option anymore when more & more of the school kids aren't members at that church. You never know.
Being home again has been bittersweet. It has felt really great to be 'home'. It has made me realize just how much Kathleen has grown to see her walking, talking and getting into everything around the house. It's a little surreal. She seems like such a 'big girl' now!
We slept in on Christmas morning and then Todd & I worked hard to make a homemade meal while K napped on Christmas day. It was WONDERFUL and very delicious. I also ran out to the storage unit to look for my old winter jacket and boots. I found the coffee maker (Todd wanted that), found the small saute pan -- the handle had cracked on it! It's an expensive one from Pampered Chef...so glad they have a "Lifetime Guarantee" on that! I'll be sending that back for a new one! And, sadly, our beautiful Longaberger Pasta bowl was broken as well! I don't know what happened -- if something heavy was set on that box or if it was broken on the trip out to storage. ARGH. I have learned, though, that's life and there's no use being upset or angry about it. It happens. We'll just have to save up for a replacement someday. I'm sad that it was the Eggplant (purple) color that's discontinued...but it happens. After spending an hour or so going through almost EVERY box in storage, I finally came home (with some items that I planned to mail to myself in Idaho). There was a big box in the garage. I started digging through it and TA-DA! THERE were my boots and jacket! I knew I had put them in a box in the garage so they'd be easy for Todd to find if I needed them! Doh! I guess he didn't really dig through that box. Oh well. The lost has been found! And it's on the way to Idaho as we speak! :)
As nice as it's been to be 'home' again -- I am still anxious for the house to sell. It would be a huge burden off of us. It would be strange not to be able to come "home" to Appleton because I really have missed it... but at the same time, I'm really missing Idaho Falls as well. My brother said, "If I win the lottery, you can quit your jobs and move back home to Minnesota." Todd was fully in favor of that. I was more hesitant because I really love my job and like being in Idaho. Yes, not that convenient to have no family out there -- but new friends have gone above and beyond and it's feeling like home there too. I'm anxious for Todd to get out there, find a job and really start feeling like it's 'home' for him too. One day at a time though. :)
- Tanya
The man sitting next to me graciously moved up to the one empty seat in the front so that I could at least spread out with K on the plane. She never really sat in the seat but it did give us a chance to let her move more. She enjoyed her books and someone across the aisle lent us a ballpoint pen so she could 'write'. It was still a long flight though -- and it was only 2 - 2.5 hours. No crying, screaming or melt downs this time though. (Last time, the end of September, she had hand-foot-and-mouth disease and it was a NIGHTMARE flying with her!)
We spent Saturday and early Sunday at my mom & stepfather's house in Bloomington. To our absolute SHOCK, they actually subscribed to cable and bought flat-screen LCD tv's! Will wonders never cease! K slept on a blanket in the living room (on the floor), which she seemed to enjoy. Her highlights were running/skipping around the house, looking for 'grandma' (whom she calls 'grandpa'??) and playing the piano while sitting on grandma's lap. Too cute. Actually, she would sing and play piano. Adorable. :)
We had brunch with my dad & stepmom at Perkin's on Sunday. Took K a while to warm up because she was so tired and out of her routine. Our car (ie my Honda Civic EX that Todd has been driving) died on our way to Perkins. ARGH. Of course, it was -33 windchill outside, so we're hoping THAT was the main reason for the problem. We went to Q.Cumbers for supper with mom & Dewey on Sunday evening. Always really good food & tons of fresh veggies & fruit for Todd to pick from. Yea!
We spent Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday at my in-laws' house. We finally got to meet Todd's niece, Sophia, who is now 2 months old. She is adorable. I can't decide -- sometimes she looks like mommy, sometimes like her daddy. She is a very sweet baby. K didn't find her so adorable, especially when mommy was paying attention to her. Yikes! But she didn't seem too bothered to be sharing grandma and grandpa with Sophie. She was very entertaining and kept saying, "grandpa...grandpa..." and, of course, if grandpa didn't respond, she'd say "grandpa!" louder! Toooooo cute! We played many different games on the "Wii", with me finally able to win one or two games of bowling and my mother-in-law winning one too. The final verdict -- bowling is fun, tennis is too confusing (but fun), lawn darts/horseshoes/darts were just TOO different from real life to be easy to play. I also did some of the Wii Fit & that was a fun change of pace. Maybe I'll stick to my treadmill work out though...
We met my brother at Joe Senser's in Bloomington on the 23rd. Some people from my graduating class were supposed to meet there but I think it was almost all guys -- and no offense, but I didn't recognize ANY of them! Even from their pictures on Facebook! So we just decided to have supper with Ken and have a good time while my in-law's had quality time with K at their home. Ahhhh, relaxing! I highly recommend the black & blue tenderloin (Ken had that) and a Purple People Drinker (aka "Purple Rain" at Garcia's for all my Idaho friends) -- yum!
We drove back home to Appleton on Christmas Eve. The roads were bad and the snow was light but consistent. Ugh. We still made pretty decent time though. There was a mountain of snow in our driveway when we got back. We're SO thankful to have a new snowblower! Todd would STILL be out there shoveling if we didn't!! K & I ran to get groceries while Todd got rid of the snow on the driveway. Once we had everything we needed, we got dressed & drove an hour up to St. Paul's in Luxemburg for the Christmas eve service. It was neat to see the progress on the new school and to see my former students, some of the parents and my former co-workers. How fun! Those types of 'mini-reunions' always make me think it is a preview of heaven -- so happy to see each other again. The service was missing about half the school; perhaps they will finally see that holding the service on Christmas Eve just isn't a good option anymore when more & more of the school kids aren't members at that church. You never know.
Being home again has been bittersweet. It has felt really great to be 'home'. It has made me realize just how much Kathleen has grown to see her walking, talking and getting into everything around the house. It's a little surreal. She seems like such a 'big girl' now!
We slept in on Christmas morning and then Todd & I worked hard to make a homemade meal while K napped on Christmas day. It was WONDERFUL and very delicious. I also ran out to the storage unit to look for my old winter jacket and boots. I found the coffee maker (Todd wanted that), found the small saute pan -- the handle had cracked on it! It's an expensive one from Pampered Chef...so glad they have a "Lifetime Guarantee" on that! I'll be sending that back for a new one! And, sadly, our beautiful Longaberger Pasta bowl was broken as well! I don't know what happened -- if something heavy was set on that box or if it was broken on the trip out to storage. ARGH. I have learned, though, that's life and there's no use being upset or angry about it. It happens. We'll just have to save up for a replacement someday. I'm sad that it was the Eggplant (purple) color that's discontinued...but it happens. After spending an hour or so going through almost EVERY box in storage, I finally came home (with some items that I planned to mail to myself in Idaho). There was a big box in the garage. I started digging through it and TA-DA! THERE were my boots and jacket! I knew I had put them in a box in the garage so they'd be easy for Todd to find if I needed them! Doh! I guess he didn't really dig through that box. Oh well. The lost has been found! And it's on the way to Idaho as we speak! :)
As nice as it's been to be 'home' again -- I am still anxious for the house to sell. It would be a huge burden off of us. It would be strange not to be able to come "home" to Appleton because I really have missed it... but at the same time, I'm really missing Idaho Falls as well. My brother said, "If I win the lottery, you can quit your jobs and move back home to Minnesota." Todd was fully in favor of that. I was more hesitant because I really love my job and like being in Idaho. Yes, not that convenient to have no family out there -- but new friends have gone above and beyond and it's feeling like home there too. I'm anxious for Todd to get out there, find a job and really start feeling like it's 'home' for him too. One day at a time though. :)
- Tanya
Thursday, December 4, 2008
11 days and counting...
There are 11 days left of school before Christmas break. But who is counting, right? Just when I didn't think life could get any busier or crazier, it is Christmas program time. Yes, already! Since EVERYONE leaves for Christmas to visit extended family, gone are the days of Christmas program on Christmas Eve. But don't worry - I plan to go to the Christmas program on Christmas Eve at St. Paul's (in Luxemburg); despite Todd's protests, it's a fun tradition if you get to CHOOSE to be there (ie I'm not on staff this year...)!
Tonight is the Christmas program for 3, 4 & 5 year olds. Since we have no pastor to read the narration part of the service, I am stepping in. Which meant that I had to get a new dress. The dark blue bridesmaid dress from Heidi's wedding a few years ago (which was the only dress in my closet here!) wasn't going to cut it. I did find a great dress on sale last night. Yes, last night. Talk about cutting it close. I needed a haircut to so I decided to delay until today so it can be cut/styled in time for the program. Yea!
My favorite part of the program isn't part of the program. Our 2nd grade teacher has twin daughters who are a year older than Kathleen. They love to come in my office in the morning this week (their babysitter is the pianist for the Christmas program) because, well, this is where all of K's toys are...so it's fun! They've also been sitting in on all the rehearsals. Their mom said that one of them loves to recite as much as she can remember. One of the Kinders says the line, "Clip-clop, clip-clop... I'm a little donkey... I carried Mary..." and she has been repeating it at home. Even better, she was walking up and down the hall this morning during our devotions saying, "Flip-flop, flip-flop..." Too cute!!
Tonight is the Christmas program for 3, 4 & 5 year olds. Since we have no pastor to read the narration part of the service, I am stepping in. Which meant that I had to get a new dress. The dark blue bridesmaid dress from Heidi's wedding a few years ago (which was the only dress in my closet here!) wasn't going to cut it. I did find a great dress on sale last night. Yes, last night. Talk about cutting it close. I needed a haircut to so I decided to delay until today so it can be cut/styled in time for the program. Yea!
My favorite part of the program isn't part of the program. Our 2nd grade teacher has twin daughters who are a year older than Kathleen. They love to come in my office in the morning this week (their babysitter is the pianist for the Christmas program) because, well, this is where all of K's toys are...so it's fun! They've also been sitting in on all the rehearsals. Their mom said that one of them loves to recite as much as she can remember. One of the Kinders says the line, "Clip-clop, clip-clop... I'm a little donkey... I carried Mary..." and she has been repeating it at home. Even better, she was walking up and down the hall this morning during our devotions saying, "Flip-flop, flip-flop..." Too cute!!
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