"Dan Says"

Here's a photo from Danny Wanny's Farewell BBQ last weekend. The shirts say it all!

On the Move and Keeping it Normal. Well, Trying Anyways.

Even though Dan is on the move in just a couple of days, we have been trying hard to keep the kids schedules as normal as possible. That's not been the easiest of tasks considering that Caitlin was sick and out of school for four days. She's been back in action since last Friday and has been making the most of it. Cameron has gotten a mild case of it but, so far, it's not stopping him in the least. He just coughs his way through it all like a real trooper.

The move is coming along with all the major and minor details. From purging and donating all those unworn clothes, sorting through hundreds of photos and details of potential homes, scheduling movers, selecting temporary housing; the wheels are in motion. We will be spending a week in Phoenix looking at homes and hoping that we are able to fall in love with one and make an offer.

Along with all the prep comes all the goodbyes. Dan has one final day in the building here which is full of mixed emotions. Just this past Saturday, they held a Farewell BBQ for "Danny Wanny" which brought with it some inside jokes and custom made shirts for the occasion. If one goodbye in a weekend wasn't enough, we shared a final BBQ with the Loves - a wonderful family that we've become friends with in the short time that we've been here. Goodbyes are never easy but we are grateful to have met incredible people here in Nevada during our short stay here.

In the midst of all the move prep, we've been trying to keep up with the day-to-day schedules of the kids. This week, Caitlin's Girl Scout Troop had a Teddy Bear Tea where they went to Isabel's Bakery for finger sandwiches and pastries. They learned about proper dining etiquette and general manners. To add to the excitement, Cameron had his first T-Ball game. The weather turned on a dime and was BRUTAL (windy and very, very cold). After one inning (40 minutes), they called it a game. During the game, I attempted to take photos of Cam but he kept giving me the evil eye and whispering, "NO MOM, NO!!!". Note to self:  It's embarrassing for a 5-year-old boy to have their photo taken while trying to keep his head in the game. Oh well! Even if it's not appropriately captured on film, I can report that he is enjoying the sport and making new friends.

In our spare time, I squeezed in a moment to sit at my scrap space. I was asked to create a page for the school's upcoming Baskets & Bingo Night. Our theme was Family Fun. The pressure to create for other people was a new challenge but hopefully someone will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it. Colleen, I know you wanted to see the finished product so here it is... 

That's all for now but stay tuned since we hope to share some exciting updates on Dan's move and our house-hunting trip in the next blog.

What a bad blogger!

I can't believe it's been a couple of months since I last blogged.  I knew I had let some time lapse but didn't realize just how long it had been.  I guess since I haven't heard any complaints or requests for more information, it is safe to assume that everyone is really patient or nobody is reading it anyways.  ;-)  I'll report on our latest happenings just in case there are a few of you who still check it out.

We have had a good couple of months.  We have really been trying to make Family Time a focus so we have scheduled activities every month.  Each month, we have a Game Night, a Wii Night, and a One-on-One where Dan takes one child and I take the other child for some quality individual time together.  It's been a lot of fun to see what the kids want to do with us.  They've done everything from scrapbook and toy shopping to wrestling matches and pedicures.  No matter what they choose, it's been great to spend some individualized time with each child.

Both kids are doing well.  Caitlin is still involved with Brownies and loving it.  I even got in on the action and was "Cookie Mom" this year.  What a big undertaking that was.  This is the final week and I can say with certainty that I'm glad cookie season is winding down.  I've had my fair share of cookie booths, spreadsheets, and a dining room that looked like a cookie warehouse.  :-)  The troop did great and I was so proud of all the girls.  Cameron has just started T-Ball and is glad to be back in an organized sport.  Considering that he has never played T-Ball before, he is doing really well and is having a great time learning about the game.

Both kids were off from school during the month of February so we took a much needed trip to San Diego.  I would say it was a vacation but we were exhausted by the time we got home.  We had a great time at the Wild Animal Park, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, beaches, and more.  It had been a long time wish of mine to take the kids to my old stomping grounds so I think I had as much fun as they did.

Happily, the kids have been back in school this month and are two months away from completing the school year.  They have been participating in all sorts of fun activities ... from building Leprechaun traps (those little buggers really tore up the classrooms) to field trips.

Just this last weekend, we made a final trip down to see my Mom and Dad.  It was a quick visit but a really good one.  My Mom was pretty aware for most of the visit and the kids did GREAT with her.  My Mom is a real trooper with 9+ lives and I am always amazed at the dedication my father has when it comes to being her primary caretaker.  It's a big job and I am so proud of him.

If you noticed in my last paragraph I said, "final trip down".  This is because we found out that we will be moving to Phoenix.  Dan will be heading down in April to begin his new position as an Outbound Senior Operations Manager in one of the Amazon warehouses.  The kids will finish out their school year here at the end of May and then we will join him in Phoenix.  We hear that the area is beautiful with lots to see and do.  We invite you all to come on out for a visit.  It would give us a great excuse to go to the Grand Canyon or Sedona or we can stay put and hang out in the pool that we are hoping to find in our new house.

We'll keep you posted as we embark on our new adventure and hope to see you all real soon.  In the meantime, here's a few photos from our trip to California.

La Jolla Cove, CA

La Jolla Cove, CA

Huntington Beach, CA

Happenings over the last month

As if you couldn't guess from the lack of postings, things around here have been busy. I'll do my best to get you up to date without writing a full-length novel.

Christmas was a magical time and we had a wonderful holiday. We celebrated with all of our usual traditions - baking and decorating cookies for Santa; leaving cookies, milk, carrots, and water on the coffee table for Santa and his reindeer; sprinkling potions on the lawn to attract the reindeer to our house; tracking Santa's progress on Norad; the list went on and on ... and on. It's such a great time of year to celebrate together after Dan has worked so hard for months on end helping Santa get presents to all the good boys and girls.

The kids had an incredible Christmas morning and got everything that they hoped for ... and then some. It brings such joy to their faces ... and our hearts. All the new gifts kept the kids busy and playing happily ... for a few weeks anyways.

Even Motor got in on the action.  Dan couldn't get the tags off of his toys fast enough!

This New Year's Eve, we ventured out with the kids to a family friendly party. This was the second straight year in a row that the kids stayed up until midnight to ring in the new year. The hosts provided confetti and encouraged everyone to throw it at the stroke of midnight. You can imagine how much the kids loved it! Dan kept laughing at me and reminding me how I would never allow such a thing in our house. He is right! Jackie truly is the hostest with the mostest ... FUN!!!

Just this past week, Dan gave me the best gift ever - the gift of "me time". He took a few days off from work to watch the kids while I travelled back to Lexington to see the girls. The weekend was a comedy of errors right from the start but I was reminded that it doesn't matter what you do with true friends, you always enjoy their company.

We are confident that you all had incredible holidays and are getting back into the swing of things as well. Here's to an awesome 2009!

December Happenings

Not much to report but I had a few minutes while Dan is out running errands with the kids. I always forget how busy and hectic the holidays can be. The time gets away so fast!

Last blog, I reported that Caitlin would be walking in our Holiday Parade. Unfortunately, that didn't happen since she wound up getting sick (first out of two times this month) right before the parade. Poor thing! She did get to help decorate the banner with her troop so at least she was able to be involved. The upside (or downside) was that we were able to watch the Army-Navy game sooner than later. It was such a TOUGH game to watch! We'll keep rooting on Brave Ol' Army and hoping that things turn around for them VERY soon.

Caitlin had her first away-from-home sleepover this month. Her friend, Keeli, invited Caitlin and their other good friend, Emma over while Keeli's brother was having his birthday sleepover party. Keeli's mother had 7 boys and 3 girls. What a saint!!! In typical form, there was some 1st grade drama but all in all the girls had a good time and said they would like to do it again.

The kids last week of school was filled with activity. Book Exchanges, Ornament Exchanges, Secret Santas, Toys for Tots, Gingerbread House Making, Holiday Music Program, Peanut Cracker, Christmas Parties, Pajama Day, on and on and on. But as of Friday, the kids are out of school until January. It's up to me to keep them engaged. They have written a list (and keep adding to it) of all the things that they would like to do while they are on break. Make a snowman, go sledding, have a snowball fight (please cooperate weather), bake cookies, the list goes on and on and on. It should be a lot of family fun once Amazon starts slowing down. (We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.)

Well, our lights are up, the house is festive (and short two stocking holders - thank you Cameron), the tree is decorated, the presents are purchased, the cards are sent (today for that matter), so now it's off to wrap, wrap, wrap! We wish you an amazing holiday week!!!

Holidays and Friends

I haven't blogged in a while mostly because I've been tormented by the fact that I lost all of our digital photos. Fortunately, I had printed out a copy of everything up until about the middle of 2007. For those of you that have sent me links and e-mails of photos that I have sent you over the last several months, THANK YOU! It'll be great to piece together a portion of the year for the kids scrapbooks!!!

We are definitely starting to feel at "home" in Nevada. It's been 8 months and we feel settled - a much smoother transition than some of our previous moves. In November, we had several of our "new" friends over to watch some football. The guys had fun drinking beer while the girls chatted and the kids put on play after play for us. The kids also made some cute turkey hats.

It's hard to believe but Christmas is just around the corner. This year, we have a new addition to our family - our Elf on the Shelf named Jon. What a great tradition!!! They should have a Cupid, Leprechaun, Easter Bunny, Uncle Sam, Ghost, Turkey ... "on a Shelf". Dan said, "We need one of these things year round!" To see more about our new friend, visit elfontheshelf.com. And no, we do not own stock in the company. :-)

Aside from the excitement of the holidays, we have childhood stepping stones to be proud of. Cameron is learning to read!!! Tonight as he was reading us his book, he would read each page and then turn the book around proudly to display the pictures (all the time making sure that Jon, The Elf, could see. Santa is watching after all.) What a big boy he is becoming!!! Does anyone know how to make it stop? :-)

Off to relax with Dan as he is home only for brief periods of time these days. (Thank you everyone for keeping Amazon busy during these economic times!) Caitlin is walking with her Brownie Troop this Saturday in our "Hometown Parade" so there's sure to be another blog with photos very soon.

Don't forget to root on Army this Saturday.  BEAT NAVY!!!

Much love,

DDCC

Back 2 School & Gettin' Chilly

Now that the kids are back in school (sometimes anyways ... we are having a lot of days off due to Election/Veteran's/Thanksgiving and even more half days due to conferences), we are getting back into our routine. Yeah!!! The teachers seem to be taking it easy on the kids (or maybe themselves) this first week with the level of homework. One of Caitlin's homework assignments was to decorate a turkey. We had a lot of fun playing with scrapbook supplies - ribbon, chalk, paint, stickles, brads, etc. to create her turkey. It was SOOO much more fun than math!!!  :-)

Along with the celebrations of Autumn come cooler temperatures and it certainly has been getting chillier here in Nevada these days.  All this means the fireplace has been seeing it's fair share of use. With the switch of a finger (ahhh, convenience) comes our cat, Motor. He loves to come and sit in front of the "fire" and take a little rest. What a life!

Enjoy the photos!  (There are two stragglers of craft pumpkins that the kids decorated for Halloween. Cam with Chicken Little and Caitlin with a mummy.)