Racer Skier Girl

Elise had a break-through skiing last weekend and she can get down the mountain without any help!
She had a special day skiing just with dad yesterday and Eric said, "I couldn't believe it, she didn't complain once." Not only did she figure out the snowplow (aka pizza) and how to follow dad's turns, but she has made up a whole world of ski racing on the blue team with Dora and all her friends. Eric is back up there now with Elise and Maddie so they can be ski buddies together.

Way to go Elise!

Breakfast in Bed

The girls made breakfast in bed for dad this morning just because...

Crazy Day

Maddie had Crazy Hat/Hair Day at school on Wednesday. We had fun getting her ready for school. Then, Elise decided to give Bucky a whole bunch of kisses "right on the lips" because "I want to marry him!"

I Can't Wait To See You! Really!

For the last 25 years, I have worn glasses or contacts. My vision progressively got worse as I got older and, for the last seven or more years, I have been wearing -7.00 and -6.50 contacts. This means my vision was 20/2000 -- otherwise known as really bad! If you cannot see the big E on the eye chart, you are 20/400 and they say you are "legally blind" if you are 20/200. For a long time, I had dreamed about having Lasik and seeing the alarm clock when I roll over in bed or my kids' faces in the middle of the night.

So after years of talking about it, I finally did it last Friday! And it is a MIRACLE!! I now have 20/20 vision!

The procedure was simple. I went to Dr. Coleman's office at 8:30am, they mapped my eye and did a bunch of tests, I took a Xanax to calm my nerves. Then it was surgery time! For 5-10 minutes, I looked at a red blinking light as they removed my cornea, reshaped my eye with a laser, and put the cornea back. About 30 minutes later, I was in my hotel room, wearing protective eye shields and taking an Ambien to sleep the day away. I awoke at 9:38pm that night, seeing the alarm clock for the first time in +15 years! I watched TV as I ate a pizza in bed and thought, "This is a miracle!"

I had been saving money that my mom gave me when she died for something life changing. I had many "mom moments" while I was there. For example, when I woke up in the office after the surgery, the first thing I saw with my new eyes was a spokesperson for the ALS Association on the TV talking about the new stem cell research and how it will help people with ALS! And when I got home I received a random card my friend Michelle that sang my mom's favorite song, "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang! I guess my mom approved!

Before
(with my hero Dr. Coleman)

The next day
(Dr. Coleman gave my eyes an A+!)

Just after surgery as the Ambien was doing its thing

What's Cooking!?

In an attempt to make dinnertime easier, two friends came over to cook meals for our families together. We made three different meals with meatballs as the main ingredient. After 3 hours of tearfully chopping onions and rolling 200+ meatballs, we had soup, meatball sandwiches, and pasta with meatballs to feed to our families.

This was maybe half the meatballs!

Swim Meet #2

Maddie had her second swim meet. So that means that we were at the pool from 9am to 1pm for about one and half minutes of swimming! ;) She had tons of fun hanging out with the teenage girls who were her big buddies. Gus and Eric made it through the first race but headed home while Elise and I stayed. She strapped on a life jacket and spend 45 minutes in the warm pool. Maddie was a speedy little swimmer but she DQed -- we learned that meant "disqualified" because she didn't touch the wall on her back. She didn't know, we didn't know, it was a fun, exciting event. We gave her a big hug and headed out for a special lunch from Sonic.

Jam Session

Beep-Beep

I was cooking dinner and Gus crawled into the oven drawer with the pans and said, "Beep-beep!" with a big smile. He is discovering so many things and becoming so imaginative. Don't worry...he didn't stay long since I reminded him that it is "Hot!"

Does the Sun Rotate?

Maddie's 1st grade class entered a project in the Science Fair. We live in such a science-y town that it seems like everyone is involved in the science fair --doing a project, viewing the projects, judging the projects... Maddie's class had a parent who studies the sun. She brought in her telescope every day for two weeks so the kids could view the sun spots and determine if they move. This is Maddie and her friend, Anke.

Breadmaker

Elise and I made homemade bread this week. She wore her apron and decided she needed a chef hat (the top of a Halloween pumpkin costume she wore as a baby). She LOVED kneading the dough -- punching it, throwing it, and stretching it. When we ate it for dinner, she said, "Uh, it's okay."

Push Here!

The girls got creative with Maddie's body crayons last weekend. They drew rings and necklaces and watches on their arms and hands and fingers. Then Elise revealed her belly and said, "Push here!" Maddie was the mastermind, Elise added the sound effects, and we all had a lot of laughs.

Sisterly Love

I love my brothers, but I always wanted a sister to share a room or whisper my secrets. It is great to have two daughters who get to have all those sisterly moments.
I found them watching Cinderella like this.

Santa Pierces Ears

As I mentioned earlier, Maddie asked Santa for pierced ears this Christmas. She told me that every time she wished on a star she asked for pierced ears and it never came true. And she said that the last two birthday wishes were for pierced ears. So this Christmas, she told us, "Santa is magic so I want him to come in the middle of the night and pierce them while I sleep so it wouldn't hurt."

Santa was not able to do that, but he gave her a gift card for Claire's and a note that said, "You have been a big help to your mom and dad. You deserve a special gift. Here is a gift card for the store so you can decide, on your own, when you would like to get them pierced."

Christmas day she said, "I think I'll wait until I'm 8 and a little bigger so it won't hurt." But by the end of the night, she had decided to do it after her cousins' visit.

So she started the new year off with a new look. She has been walking on air today, asking, "Hey, do you notice something different about me?"

Christmas Cousins

We were so lucky to have our family from Wisconsin here for a Christmas visit. We could barely keep up with Grandma as we hiked in the mountains. Elise and Aunt Julie were a tough team in our new favorite game, Quirkle. Maddie and Samantha looked like movie stars in their pink sunglasses as we shopped around the plaza in Santa Fe. Joseph cruised around the ice rink and took Elise on some good sledding runs. Jerry and Eric climbed on the roof and got our new TV ready for the next season of "LOST." Lots of talking, eating, and fun -- a fantastic visit with some of our favorite people. Thanks again for making the trip.

Crazy Christmas

We hope your Christmas was as crazy and fun as ours!

Merry Christmas Morning

So much to be thankful for...

Christmas Eve Barbershop

So...I know...Gus' hair was getting long...but I just couldn't do it. When you cut a baby's hair, they aren't a baby anymore. Eric kept saying, "Lynn, we need to cut his hair." and I would avoid the conversation. Then, while we were up at the ski lodge, a nice lady sitting by us said, "Oh, she is such a beautiful girl." Gus was wearing his red and navy blue boyish winter clothes. I thought, "It is time." So Christmas eve, I let go of my baby boy and trimmed his curls.

Look at how happy he was!

More Caroling

As Christmas approached, we had some good caroling.

Enjoy!