Cecelia's 7th Birthday

Wow. 7 years.

I took Cecelia to the Mall of America on her birthday so she could get her FREE Nick. Universe ride wristband and we made a whole day out of it.
First she wanted to eat - out of all the restaurants in the entire MOA - at McDonald's
After that, we went on some rides. Then we shopped - Cecelia picked out an outfit for her "American Girl" doll (that I know Santa actually picked up at Target for 20 bucks) at the American Girl store.
We did some other shopping and then....she got her ears pierced!!!
I feel like it's a bigger deal for me than her. Every time I look at her I can't believe she's so grown up.
The next day was her big friend party. The kids had a great time and I think she felt really special.

I love my Cecelia down to the deepest core of my heart. What a gift.

Christmas Season 2010

Laila's Voice

My girlfriends, family and I have been talking a lot about how cute Laila's voice is. Seriously, it's so cute!

I love when I, on the rare occasion, get to talk to the girls on the phone because all of their voices sound so small when I can't see them.

I did a little recording of Laila today - mostly for me. Of course, Chatty Kathy won't say a thing once I put a mic in her face. This'll have to do for now.

Holy 50 million things at once, Batman.

Bill likes to give me a hard time about my multi-tasking. Of course, to him, sitting on the couch watching sports is a task - so what does he know? :-)

This week was particularly awesome.
Bill was in Kansas for the first part of the week so I had painters come and paint the entryway (a sandstone, orange, kind of color) - instead of what common sense recommended, which is not cleaning until the hour before he gets home.
It looks beautiful, but it left for a pretty hefty clean-up from all the sanding.
But, by the time he got home on Wednesday it was done and the house was sparkling. (haha, good one).

One task I really hate during the winter is hauling the kids around and putting them in and out of their carseats.
Like on Tuesday:
Load 4 kids in the car for school.
Unload 2 kids for school.
Unload 2 kids at friend's house.
Load 4 kids from school.
Unload 4 kids at friend's.
Load 4 kids from friend's (yes, children magically appear throughout the day)
Unload 4 kids.

That's 24 times of in and out in a 4 hour period.
And I wonder why my back hurts.

One task I actually enjoy doing is cooking. Today I am preparing food for tomorrow's "mostly Feske" Christmas party. I am SO excited to have everyone over to eat, drink and laugh hysterically over the White Elephant gift exchange. It is way better than exhanging actual gifts - if you have a good sense of humor.

I hope you all enjoy these days leading up to Christmas and New Years.
We will also be celebrating Cecelia's birthday. More on that to follow.

Yay Friday!!!!!!!!!!!

Shameless

Do your kids ever spaz out and it's so annoying and crazy and you wonder where in the heck they get it from?
And then you take a long hard look at yourself and realize that you already know the answer?

Toys

So, I have come to a conclusion today.
I have been wondering what to do with all of our toys.
Should I still keep them ALL out, or should I rotate them?
I have never rotated the kids' toys. What a pain in the butt that would be.
However, I am constantly cleaning up and re-organizing everything which is also a pain.

So, here's the conclusion:
Kids just love to re-empty out the toy bins everyday.
They don't need them rotated, just put back away so that they can come and open the bin, and dig through it, and make a huge mess.
If I leave the toys out they don't play with them as well.
It's all about the DIG.

They have done a very good job of conditioning me over the years.
They spread the toys from one end of the house to another - I put them where they belong.
Next day, same thing.

It doesn't matter if the toys are put away for a month or just for the night.

Also, they love it if I just move something from one end of the house to another.
It confuses and excites them.

I can't wait to see all the new toys that they will be getting for Christmas for me to put away and them take out day after day after day.....

My 35th Birthday

I realize that my birthday was a month ago, but I realized that I never posted on it - since it was during our vacation.
I wanted to just say thank you to my family for making it so special for me this year.
A surprise segway tour, a fun filled day at Epcot and then gifts and cards in Japan that made me cry.
You guys rule!

35 years old now.
Yeah, baby!!!!