12/15/12

Well, the events of yesterday consumed by mind pretty much all day. I'm sure that's no different than most people around the country. It's so painful to think about, to imagine. Yet, it seems so silly to say that - knowing there are people that were actually, physically affected by it. My heart just breaks for them, it's hard to imagine moving past it...

In our own way of trying to cope and adjust, we spent the day together - family time. We had some breakfast, hung out for a while, and got ready for the day. Then, we were off to the Mall of America. First up, Santa visit. Luckily, there really wasn't much of a line, so we were in and out and got a few cute pics. The girls just LOVE Santa Claus...no need to pressure them into sitting and chatting with him! After our visits, we took the girls on a couple of rides, grabbed some lunch and hung out for a while. They had a blast, and it felt refreshing to spend the day out and about together.

After the mall, we made our way home. Christian hasn't been feeling well, and Olivia refused to take a nap, so they went over to his mom's for some Chicken Noodle Soup. I did some cleaning and relaxed for a bit while Amelia napped. The arrived shortly after Amelia woke up, and it was on to tonight's entertainment...Buddy surprised the girls with a "Polar Express" night. He brought them some Polar Express trail mix, some hot chocolate, the movie, and, of course, tickets on the Polar Express. The girls actually sat and watched the entire movie...we sat on the couch, cuddled up, enjoying the night together. Just what we needed... 

12/14/12

Well, today is one of those days I don't think I'll ever forget. I'm still numb, and in shock...

I'll start with the "good" though. Christian was off to work, but only made it about half the day. Still wasn't feeling well at all. The girls played for a while this morning while I did some dishes and cleaning up in the kitchen. We had breakfast, and then did a little project for the day. Buddy brought us supplies to make some Christmas art...the girls LOVE it, and they turned out super cute :)

The girls took a nap, I balanced the checkbooks, paid some bills and relaxed for a while. Of course, I had a list of things to do...but, I really wasn't in the mood for any of it. After naps, we spent the evening together, cuddling, watching some Christmas movies, and counting our blessings after the tragic events of this morning. Christian went to bed when the girls did, still not feeling well, so I watched a couple episodes of Dexter before I tucked myself in. Just another Friday night!

So, the bad (putting it VERY lightly). Today there was a school shooting in Connecticut. But, not just any school shooting...it was at an elementary school. And, as if it could get much worse than that....the main targeted are was a kindergarten class. As the news broke, and the story unfolded throughout the day, it just seems so surreal to me. No part of my being could accept what was happening, what was being reported.

I am not naive in any sense of the word. I know that horrible things happen, I know that unexplainable events occur. I now that evil exists in this world. I know that sick people are out there, that do unconscionable things, that can never be understood. But, this is not something I could ever imagine somebody doing. These are babies, innocent, perfect babies with their entire lives in front of them. 20 of them, gone. No chance to grow, no opportunity to come into their own personality. 20 amazing little beings that could have done amazing things for the world. Taken way too early.

The story is still unfolding, and not a ton is known right now. Apparently, this 20 year old "man" killed his mother, who worked at this elementary school. He then went to the school and proceeded to kill 27 people, these 20 kids and 7 adults, including the school principal, before killing himself. That makes it that much worse to me - he obviously intended on killing himself all along - so why not just do that? Why attack these innocent people first? It is so beyond my comprehension, I can't even begin to understand or make any sense of it. I haven't heard anything about his dad (if there is one in the picture), and at one point they were holding his older, 24 year old, brother for questioning.

Of course, a story like this makes you look at your own life. I have these two amazing little girls, with their entire lives ahead of them.The thought of sending them out into the real world gets scarier and scarier every day. This shouldn't be something you have to worry about - yet, it is. I saw a couple people on facebook claim that events like this make them want to homeschool their kids and protect them at all times. Sad thing is, that really isn't going to do anything. I mean - just in recent history, there have been shootings in a shopping mall, a movie theater, on college campuses, schools of all levels. I mean, things can happen in your own home. It's just a scary world - everywhere you go. It seems like all you can do is teach your own children right, hold them tight and love them with all your might.

So, needless to say, there were many (more than usual) hugs, kisses and "I Love You's" in our house tonight. When I put the girls to bed, I held them a little longer, a little tighter and shed a tear or two. Thinking of all those poor parents that can no longer do that...just broke my heart. It's not fair - this world can just be too cruel and unfair.

12/13/12

Well, today was my Friday at work, and it couldn't have come sooner! This has been a long, stressful week at work - ready for some weekend fun and relaxation! Our power did go out for a little while, which was kind of exciting. Didn't make for a very productive period of time, but whatever. Christian ended up going home from work early, not feeling well. His words exactly "My heat hurts, my body aches and my tummy is upset". Ummmmm. Sounds delightful. He napped for a while, but wasn't feeling much better when he woke up. I picked up the girls from school, which ended another good week for them. Olivia spent most of the day in Pre-K again. I think she really likes it, but I think she misses her pre-school teacher, Miss Jenny. I like Miss Jenny too, and I haven't met the Pre-K teacher yet, so we'll see how that goes.

The girls and I ate some dinner and hung out for a while, until Christian was up and moving. While he got them settled in and down for bed, I ran to Target to get some stuff for the weekend. Christian was off to bed right away as well - work tomorrow and still not feeling great. I watched a few shows and enjoyed some alone time. WEEKEND COMMENCE!

Here is a picture from Buddy Day 13: Rocking Out, Elton John Style!

12/12/12

12/12/12 - SO COOL!

Well, today was a stressful day at work. The teleconference I had yesterday resulted in a big issue that I spent nearly the entire day dealing with. Ick, ick, ick! But, we did get to have a little party this morning to welcome our new "big boss" to the office. AND, I found out I'm receiving an Achievement Award (it's a monetary reward for doing an exemplary job!) on my paycheck this week. I'm SO excited - I've worked SO hard this year..taken on a few new roles and expending my experience. It feels so great to get rewarded for going above and beyond and giving it your all. That feels so great!

Traffic was a tad better this morning, but still pretty crappy. Ugh - winter driving, definitely the down side to winter. After the still-longer-than-usual drive home, I picked up the girls. Turns out, Olivia spent most of the day in the Pre-Kindergarten class. WHAT?!? She can't possibly be old enough for that already! I refuse to accept it. She was pretty excited about it though. Apparently Amelia spent the day fighting with her little BFF Niko - they are like an old married couple already! And, their most recently school picture came in. OMG, I love them!

Once home, the girls got right to destroying the basement and driving each other crazy. Just another day in paradise! They did take a break from fighting to eat some dinner and watch some Christmas movies on TV. Then, finally bedtime! Tomorrow is my Friday, and man am I exhausted! So ready for the weekend!

Here is a picture of Buddy Day 12: Candy Binge...of course, the girls insisted he brought all this candy for them. Ay!

12/11/12

Well, back to normal today. Olivia was up, bright and early, ready to go. She asked for something to eat right away when she got up, so that was a great sign. She was exited to head to school and back to her normal, crazy self. YAY! And, my headache was definitely gone. I was feeling good again. What a relief!

Work was pretty crazy. I spent the morning plowing through e-mails and my inbox, and spent the afternoon on a teleconference (ick). Before I knew it, it was time to go. Really, I was leaving a tad early.

Today, dentist appointment. I've always been so great at going every 6 months, pretty much on the dot. Well, it's just completely slipped my mind over the last year, and it's now been OVER a year since I've been. Oops. But, everything was great. I've only had 3 or 4 cavities my whole life, and nothing more than that. I've never drank coffee, or been a big candy eater. I haven't smoked in over 3 years, so, other than my Diet Dew addiction, there's really nothing I do that can affect my teeth too negatively. And, even though I do drink Diet Dew, I don't sip it - I drink it pretty quick, so that's a plus. Like usual, I was pretty much in and out, little cleaning needed. YAY!

I battled the horrible traffic, picked up the girls and we made our way home. They played downstairs while I made dinner. Then, it was pretty much the usual...Christian got home, we ate some dinner, and it was time for baths and bed. Another day down! Hoping for much better traffic conditions tomorrow! I'm sure things will get better just in time for the next snow storm they're predicting for this weekend. Yippie!

Here is a picture of Buddy Day 11:  Snow Angels for All!

12/10/12

Today didn’t go so great. I woke up with a pounding headache…went about my morning, hoping it would get better as I got ready and got up and going. Really, it just got worse thoughout the day. I was nauseous and just miserable…the horrible drive into work didn’t bother me, the 10° weather actually felt kind of nice and my pancake breakfast didn’t cheer me up…so, I definitely knew something was up. I have so much to do though, so I tried to tough it out. UNTIL, I got a call from my mother in law. Olivia wasn’t feeling well again. I guess she wouldn’t eat anything, just laid around on the couch all morning, wouldn’t play or even fight with Amelia (no matter how much Amelia egged her on). So, I decided to call it a day around lunch time. I stopped to pick up some soup and medicine, picked Olivia up and headed home. She still wouldn’t eat, so I gave her some ibuprofen, put a cooling patch on her forehead and sent her off for a nap. I finally ate some lunch, took some medicine and laid down myself. What a LONG morning!

Olivia woke up feeling much better. She was talkative and had some color back in her face. She even asked to eat, so she finally had her soup and lot of water. I still wasn’t feeling too hot…I scrounged up some leftovers for dinner and we hung out until Christian and Amelia got home. Then, Olivia was raring to go…they were playing and running around and fighting like nothing had happened. I folded some laundry from this past weekend and just relaxed most of the night. I gave Olivia another dose of ibuprofen and sent the girls off to bed…I ended up keeping Olivia in bed with me just in case something spiked during the night, but she slept through the night, no problem. So, it looks like another freak 24-hour thing. Poor girl. I guess that’s better than an endless illness like she had last winter, so I guess I’ll take it.

Before bed, the girls discovered Buddy had shown up in their room, curled around their Christmas tree, showing off their new 2012 ornaments! YAY. So, here are some pictures of Buddy Day 10: Year 2012:

12/9/12

Today was a pretty busy, hectic day. But, it was a good one.

The snow continued all throughout the day. It ended around 7:00 or 8:00, and then started getting really cold and the temperature started to drop – it’s supposed to be really cold now for a few days. I think by the end of the storm, we got around 10” of snow in our neighborhood. Not bad for the first REAL snow of the season. That’s probably as much snow as we got the whole winter last year! LOL. I’m guessing we’ll definitely be having a white Christmas this year! YES!!

So, we started off the morning with a little play time and some breakfast. I had Amelia sleep in our bed last night, hoping maybe that would be the trick to getting them to sleep a little later (since we were up so late last night). No luck though. I started some laundry, we all got dressed and bundled up, and then the girls discovered that Buddy had shown up…hanging outside on the deck enjoying the winter wonderland! He had dug out one of our snowman kits, so we took his hint and made our way out to the backyard for some snowman building fun. The girls played on their swing set for a while – let me tell you, those snow pants really get them going down the slide, that’s for sure! After some playtime, we built our awesome snowman and did a little playing. We were all SOAKING wet by the time we got inside, but it was a lot of fun.

I hopped in the shower, got myself ready, then got Olivia all pricessified for our next event. Disney on Ice! She was so excited and couldn’t wait to see the princesses. I was nervous about the drive, but we just left extra early and it went OK. Amelia still did not join us…she’s still so ADD and has no interest in “watching stuff”, so it’s just best not to put her through it. Next year she may be more into it. We got some gas, picked up my mom, and made it to the show just as it was about to start. Perfect timing! We met the Arneson’s there and our little princesses loved the show. This show was “Celebrating 100 Years of Disney”, so there were a TON of characters in it with just small snipits of a few shows. I love how each show is so different. They are always so fun! Olivia just loved it. She picked out a little plastic Bullseye toy, so we got Amelia the Jessie doll to go with it (from Toy Story). Good times!

On our way home, I stopped along the way to take some winter wonderland shots - SO PRETTY!

While we were gone, Christian did his first round of snowblowing and Amelia took a nice LONG nap (another reason she wouldn’t do well – that girl LOVES her naps). She woke up just as we got home, and they played with their new toys for a while. I did some catching up on my photos/editing and relaxed for a while and Christian did one last round of snow clearing for the night. I was really craving some Chinese food tonight, but didn’t want to pay delivery (or, wait for it), so I ordered some food and was off to pick it up. We ate some dinner, I did a little more laundry and we watched a couple Christmas movies on TV. Before we knew it, it was bedtime. Another busy weekend has come to an end, and it should be an interesting few days of commuting. Time to get used to winter driving again!

Here are the before and after pictures for Buddy Day 9: Frosty the Snowman: