Nine Years

Today is our ninth wedding anniversary. Wow, nine years really! We have certainly accomplished a lot in these nine years. A beautiful house, a successful business, three very special children, and the opportunities to travel and experience great memories together and with family and friends. I am very grateful and blessed to have found someone who has helped make my life complete and happy. Someone who has helped make all my dreams come true. Someone who loves me despite all my flaws and craziness. Thanks Chad, I love you, Happy Anniversary.

Success

The past 12 days is basically a blur. It started with our family ski trip to Taos, NM and after being home for one day Chad was off to California for five days. So the girls and I settled into a quite few days at home or so I thought.

First, Campbell still uses her "bubby" aka pacifier during nap and sleep time. During our trip to Taos she had it more often due to long car rides and altitude changes. She thought this was great until she decided to eat Cheetos with her bubby. On the way home she put the Cheetos in her bubby and was chewing on it. Needless to say this created lots of holes in the bubby. Good for me and bad for her. So I cut the tip of that bubby off. She knew it was broken but she was still mad. The sneaky little girl just happened to find the one and only other emergency bubby in the house, so she was happy again. Well that bubby already had a hole it in, so after a day of chewing on it, that bubby also had lots of holes in it and when I put her down for nap she called out to me "mommy bubby broken." She bit the end off. (Thankfully not swallowing it.) So again good for me but bad for her. She was mad! For two hours she cried and fought taking a nap and won out in the end. This was Thursday. Thankfully with much persistence on my part she still does NOT have any bubby. So I think I can successfully say we are done with the bubby. Yeah! Now she is still fighting going to sleep, so we need to teach her how to calm herself down and fall asleep quicker on her own. Good luck I know.

Second, both girls are daddy's girls and five days without dad makes them very grumpy. Thankfully we were able to hang out with Michelle & her girls one night for dinner. Also in our favor tennis was canceled. Oma did come over and watch the girls while I went to the dentist. And to end the weekend we went to my sister's house so the kids could play and I helped her get some organizing done.

Third, Chad's flight out of LA on Sunday was delayed over an hour. Which meant he went from getting home at midnight to getting home at 1:30am. Monday was a very long day for him and I'm not quite sure he is back to normal yet.

Fourth, I feel happy that I was able to manage things without Chad being here. I can say it was very hard and I have no idea how those single parents manage things. I was so exhausted on Sunday night I just wanted to go to bed. We are very glad to have Chad back home and ready to get things back to normal.


Campbell playing dentist with Cooper's gear.

Taos Ski Trip

Our 2nd family ski trip was to Taos, NM. My dad & stepmom, Marie met us there and we caravanned out with the Watson's x 2. The weather cooperated for the drive both ways. The girls did very well and the mountains were very pretty.

The city of Taos was full of artwork, pottery, and jewelry. A very southwestern style city with lots of adobe houses. We had an apartment right in Taos Plaza and the Watson's had a house just a few streets away. The drive up to the mountain was about 20 minutes.

The mountain itself is very STEEP. The people out there say Taos is a four letter word for steep and they aren't lying. We went up to the mountain on Friday afternoon to get everything checked in and tried on. Saturday was the first day to ski and the weather was cold and very windy. Campbell went to daycare and Cooper did ski school. Dad, Marie, and I all took lessons. We thought it was the only day for tubing and had planned on going, but at 4:00 when we picked up the girls we were all too tired to tube. Chad had caught a very bad cold and was miserable. Dad shared my dislike for skiing and we opted out of our 2nd day of lessons and agreed we'd rather be at the beach. Both girls did very well, although neither of them went back for the 2nd day. Cooper enjoyed her lessons and her instructor and we were told she did a great job learning the techniques.

Sunday was the 2nd day to ski. A very sunny & warm day. Chad & Marie ventured up to the mountain early and dad, the girls and I took our time getting there. We took some photos and bought some souvenirs. We went back to the apt and had lunch and took a long 2 hour glorious nap. It was great! Afterwords, dad, the girls and I all strolled along Taos Plaza taking photos and buying souvenirs. Cooper collects smashed pennies and snow globes, luckily we found both. Chad and Marie arrived home after a great day of skiing. Marie did another day of lessons and did manage to make it down the big mountain run "Whitefeather." We ate dinner and ventured over to visit the Watson's. Darrin of Watson's #2 had come down with the flu and wasn't able to ski all weekend. But the kids and I enjoyed the hot tub and few minutes of conversation amongst the adults.

Monday was a LONG drive home. 12 hours with many stops along the way. Despite Darby's travel plan of 105 mph, it still seemed long. All in all, the trip was great. We were all together doing our own things but making memories and sharing experiences. I can say now that I've tried skiing twice and I don't like it! No surprise there, but I do like taking the family vacation and seeing new places. I just wish I could find something all my family members enjoyed doing.


Taos Ski Valley


Kayre and I


Chad, Taylor, and Darby


Papa Mike and the girls


Family Picture


Daddy and Campbell


Papa Mike and his girls


Mommy and the girls by the giraffes (do you see them?)


Family Dinner


Enjoying the hot tub

Valentine's Day

We were in Taos, NM for Valentine's Day this year, but that didn't stop us from celebrating. The girls were excited for new dvds & books. Chad was very excited for a KSU hoodie. And I'm very glad to come home to a mani & pedi appt on Friday.


Cooper loves the new American Doll movie "Chrissa."
And I thought I'd start her reading the Junie B Jones books too.


Campbell loves Elmo.
She also loves the If you give a ... books, so the newest one is If You Give A Cat A Cupcake.


Chad wanted to show his purple pride Saturday on the mountain.

Eight Things Tag

Here is an "Eight Things Tag" that Kris passed along...I enjoyed reading her lists.

Eight
8 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1. Oprah
2. Biggest Loser
3. Jon & Kate plus Eight
4. Nip Tuck
5. Entourage
6. Today Show
7. Lipstick Jungle
8. Days of Our Lives (sadly when I get a chance)

8 Favorite Dishes:
1. Shrimp Fried Rice (PF Changs)
2. Lettuce Wraps (PF Changs)
3. Lemon Scallops (PF Changs)
4. Mongolian Beef (PF Changs)
5. Filet Steak w/ Chad's famous marinade
6. Chicken & Noodles (grandmas)
7. Lasagna
8. Shrimp Scampi (Red Lobster)

8 things that happened Yesterday:
1. Went to work
2. Painted Cooper's fingernails
3. Charged all electronics for the trip
4. Had Cooper's PT Conferences (went well)
5. Went to grocery store
6. Went to Target
7. Watched Nip Tuck w/ Chad
8. Packed girls travel toy bags

8 things I look forward to:
1. Ski Trip in Taos w/ my dad & friends
2. Bottling the next 2 Lohman Family Estate wines
3. Coco Key's Resort trip
4. Colgin's Golf Tournament
5. St. Louis Cardinal's Baseball game
6. Table Rock Lake trip w/ my dad & sister
7. Vegas Trip ???
8. Trip to Michigan to see my Granny

8 things I love about Winter:
1. Hot Chocolate
2. Watching the snow
3. Warm pj's & slippers
4. Christmas
5. Watching movies
6. Christmas lights
7. Hot Tea

8 things on My Wish List:
1. Finish Cooper's scrapbooks
2. Make Campbell's scrapbooks
3. Sort/organize all keepsakes & papers
4. Get all finances & paperwork in line, thanks to our new found "life coach"
5. A girls trip with Jura and/or Kayre
6. A fabulous warm trip to celebrate our 10 yr wedding anniversary
7. A family trip to Disney
8. A birthday bash for my 35th birthday

I tag these eight people:
1. Jura
2. Crystal
3. Tina
4. Emma
5. Heidi
6. Tisha
7. Kayre
8. ???

I wanted to just say, "I tag everyone and anyone," but then I notice not as many people do it without being tagged! So we will see if being tagged and "it"....increases the game participation.

Random Picture Tag

Random Picture Tag:

The Rules:
1. Go to your documents/pictures.
2. Go to your 6th file.
3. Go to your 6th picture
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.
6. So here we go.......

(I had so many pics & files on my computer, this was kind of scary to see what came up) Very random indeed.



This was taken in March 2008 at a K-State Basketball game. Cooper's favorite player was Blake Young and we waited after the game for autographs. It was about 10:30 at night and of course all the adults were pushing their way through & hollering to get the players' attention, so Chad sent Cooper down there. Bravely she walked up to Blake and asked for his autograph. She was so happy and excited. It was a great moment.

I tag:
1. Jura
2. Emma
3. Tisha
4. Tina
5. Stacy
6. Nicole

A Post for Technology

Ok, not the greatest post, but one that must be done. Today I have overcome technology. This post shows it. I took these pictures using my cell phone and now I've actually mastered how to email them and now put them on the blog. Today I also put the songs on the Ipod and put songs on Cooper's MP3 player.

Just a few pictures of all of us enjoying K-State basketball.



Cooper & Campbell at the game.


Campbell sitting on Darby's lap during the Watson's visit.


Chad enjoying the game.

Crazy Campbell

Campbell is our wild child and today was no exception. She came back from grandma's house with a bit of a cold. So this morning while watching Elmo (her usual routine) she fell asleep in her chair. It was the cutest thing ever.




Later after I returned home from work. I found Campbell wearing these on her feet! Now it comes as no shock to me because this child changes her clothes ALL the time and she loves PJ's. I can't seem to keep her out of the dresser full of clothes. She changes her diaper, puts on panties, changes outfits, you name it! The babysitter and I had a good laugh at this latest fashion statement. Mittens for socks!

While the 2 year old is away...

Campbell went to stay the weekend at my mom's house and so while she was away we all took advantage of the fact that the two year old was away.

I was able to change the bedding, do all the laundry, file away piles of paperwork, and we even watched 2 movies.

Cooper was sad at first, but then soon realized she could do a lot of activities she isn't always able to do because of little fingers. So we made sure to use our time wisely.

1. We made bracelets.
2. We did Spin Art.
3. We did Science Experiments (growing crystals).
4. We did Pixos.
5. We watched Mamma Mia.

It was a great weekend. Campbell had a blast and even went to a movie, The Velveteen Rabbit, for the first time. She is turning into a big girl.

Thanks mom for the much appreciated toddler free weekend.