Hodge Podge

Well...this post is one that has been written several times...in my head over the past 2 weeks. If I could just sync what I write in my head to the computer...I would have a new blog written at least every other day. :-) Hmmm...too bad I'm not super-techi and a neurosurgeon, I could score big-time with that one! Come to think of it, I'll probably see that in my lifetime. My reality is that blogging seems to get pushed further and further down my priority list, and although I enjoy doing it...come the end of the day...collapse into bed...or sit at the computer to do one more thing? Well...here it is 2 weeks later. :-) So, this post is one of several posts combined. And...it's going to be done as quickly as I can do it while the kiddos are napping...because I have LOTS on my to-do list yet. :-)

BOWLING

A couple weeks ago Lainey and Sophie met a little friend for an afternoon of bowling. It was both girls first time at the sport. We chose the mystic side, so the lights (or lack of them actually) made it even more exciting. They had fun, but if a game was just 5 frames that would have been perfect! :-) Oh, and I'm wondering how I can get those floors put in my house. The girls were hurling the balls down the lanes...no delicate form here...and those floors are indestructible! Watching them, brought back memories of my first time bowling. My family went together to Hill-Top lanes in Kearney...I think I might have been around 7??? Of course, there were no bumpers at that time (genius whoever thought of those!). And...it was manual scoring. Let's just say, at the very end of my game, my mom was putting creative happy faces in my zeros! :-)

Lainey struttin' her stuff after bowling her frame.

Dancin' in the mystic lights!

Sophie has great form even after throwing the ball down the lane.

Sophie loved the little air blower.

Sawyer was just hangin' out watching all the craziness as always.

SLEDDING...FINALLY!

The girls were finally able to go sledding on January 25th. Matt was home and there was snow on the ground. It was cold, but it was a good afternoon to bundle up and head down the hill. They were SO excited! They were equally as excited for the hot chocolate and marshmallows that awaited them when they came inside. As I write this today, it's beautiful outside (YEAH!) and the snow on the hill in our backyard is gone. I'm sure we'll see more snow yet this year, but for now the nice temps can stay as long as they like! :-)

Bundled Up!

Lainey

Sophie and Dad on their first run down.

Sophie wanted to go solo & loved it.

QUOTES

Here are a two quotes from the girls (I have so many more but off the top of my head...):

After getting Sophie dressed the other morning, she darted in front of my mirror, placed her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "OK! Yep, I look good!" Just that quick she was off again. On one hand, I'm so glad she has confidence. On the other hand...oh my!

Matt and I are taking a Dave Ramsey class on Sunday nights so have been getting a weekly babysitter. While making dinner, Lainey exclaimed to me..."Mommy, you know, you are going out with daddy tonight. You really had better go and get ready." Wow...either I looked pretty in need of some sprucing up, or our date-nights need to be re-defined!!

WE NEED SPRING!!!

We need spring so badly to come to our house! I need to open the windows and Lysol everything! My poor little guy had to go to the doctor Wednesday morning. He's not feeling well..again. He had a horrible double ear infection, an infection in both eyes, a fever and basically just a nasty, nasty (NASTY) cold in general. The girls are both coughing some with a little runny nose but nothing too bad (knock on wood). So, can I say again, we need spring! Through it all, Sawyer is still a happy little boy though. Here are a few pics that I took...mostly for Matt because he wasn't here to see what he looked like when I was trying to tell him just how sad I was for him when he woke up with both eyes stuck together. :-( After antibiotics and Vigamox drops for his eyes he is starting to look and feel better. Anyway...hope you're all healthy as you read this!

Sawyer smiling through the pain. What a good boy!

Calling daddy to tell him he didn't feel good.

When talking to Sawyer you get a lot of number punching beeps and frequently get hung up on.


I told Sawyer to tell Daddy "Bye-Bye"....this is what daddy got.

Dance and Cheer

Last weekend we went to Holdrege, NE. Matt's cousin, Bronwyn, is a Senior and is on the Dance team. They were doing a Cheer and Dance camp for the kids. You can imagine how excited Lainey and Sophie were. They practice for 2 hours in the afternoon (what a BRAVE bunch of highschoolers!) and performed at half-time of the Girls' Varsity game. As an added bonus his cousin, Rob, is a Sophomore and plays JV and Varsity ball for Holdrege, so we were able to watch him as well. We also got to see Grammy & Grandpa Monte, Uncle Mike, Aunt Wendi & Aldyn, Aunt Mollie & Adam, Great-Aunt Trish Sheffield, Great-Aunt Beth & Annie Allmand at the game as well! WOW! AND...my college friend, Kristin's husband coaches the Holdrege girls, so we got to watch him, and I got to visit and catch-up with her. She has a little girl, Skylar, a little younger than Sophie and the girls enjoyed playing at their house a bit in the afternoon and hanging out during the games. [We dropped Sawyer off with my parents in Kearney (Thanks, Mom & Dad!) as he was battling a little cold and cutting several teeth. It would have been too long and too much sitting for him.] The girls were able to have a sleep-over with Grammy and Grandpa Monte at Great-Grandma Elaine's house in Axtell to end the night which they thought was extra-special. It was a REALLY fun day!!!!

Holdrege Dusters Cheer and Dance Camp 2009

The purple pom-poms haven't stopped shakin' at our house!

Lainey & Sophie with Bronwyn (Matt's cousin) and

their dance teacher. :-) They LOVED her!

Thanks, Bronwyn, for thinking of the girls!

The girls in the bleachers with Skylar. They had fun

coloring and playing and dancing with the band. Once

in awhile they would watch the game. :-)

Pinkalicious!

A very favorite book at our house is 'Pinkalicious' (second only to 'Fancy Nancy'). Awhile back I bought strawberry cake mix and pink frosting at the store for just such a day as today. With temps so bitterly cold as they have been we are all feeling a bit cooped up. So, after naps today, we made pink cupcakes and read 'Pinkalicious' while they baked. The girls frosted and sprinkled 'til their hearts were content. And, their favorite part was eating the cupcake right before supper to test their success...then having another for dessert (and sharing the treat with daddy!). All in all, it sure did help our afternoon...and if you haven't read the book and have any bit of pink in your house...we recommend it. :-)

Sawyer just liked the cupcakes the girls kept feeding him as he walked by!

Kiss-Up

So...awhile back, my little Sophie was very naughty in her room during nap-time. Most of you know that she quit napping around 15-months. And, she rarely naps...rarely. One day it was so quiet in her room, and I knew Sophie must have just given up. I even stood by her door and listened...silence.

Well, after Lainey and Sawyer were up, I did hear the faint knocking on her door and sent Lainey up to get her while I was getting a snack ready in the kitchen. I heard Sophie crying telling Lainey, "I don't want to tell Mommy." At first, I just thought...no biggie...must have had an accident. But, what met me at the door was unmistakable. As I turned the knob, the smell of cheap cherry chapstick from third grade greeted me immediately. I didn't even have to look in the room to know it was not going to be good. At first, I just saw her bedspread...markings all over it...long lines, short lines.

"Sophie, what did you do? Is this the chapstick that Santa brought you at the Christmas party?" I had no idea she even had it in her room. AUGH!

"Yes." (a tentative smile)

"Sophie, this is NOT funny."

(smile disappears)

"What else did you do?"

As I rounded the corner of her bed I see two basketball sized circles colored-in with cherry red chapstick on her carpet. Ah-Ha! So, that's why it was so quiet during nap-time! I found the cherry chapstick tube (completely gone) and another half gone tube of another kind in the room. Needless to say, she knew she was in trouble. She was going to have to tell Daddy when he got home what she had done. And, she obviously knew what she had done was wrong. Plus, I told her she was not allowed to wear or have any lipstick for a VERY long, long, long time!

Later that day after I got out of the shower (yes...some days it is 4PM when I finally get to shower) and was getting dressed..Sophie was sitting in my room and out of the blue says.in her cutest, sweetest voice..

"Mommy, I sure do like that boobie cover you have on."

Little kiss-up. I had to take several extra seconds pulling the turtleneck over my head to stifle my laughter. How does a 3-year old know this stuff? :-)

*Just an FYI...Matt worked on scrubbing the carpet with the carpet spray and the steam cleaner. I'm happy to say that yes...cherry chapstick (and whatever other dark-colored culprit partook in the artwork) did come out of both the carpet and the bedspread.

New Pupil

So, we had Kindermusik yesterday morning, and as soon as we arrived home the girls stripped off their clothes and changed into dress-up outfits. After several outfit changes (ohhh...the indecisiveness is happening already!), they both decided on leotards and just changed whether they would put a tu-tu on top or flowing skirt, etc. Anyway...that's really beside the point...I just knew that's what they were up to because I was buttoning and unbuttoning, zipping and tying as I was trying to warm the tator-tot casserole and get things ready for lunch.

I heard Lainey take charge of teaching their Kindermusik class (it's so cute to listen to them re-enact whatever has happened to us during the day or week). Then, I had to put on music for dance class. And, pretty soon I saw her parade through with a book of animals above her head as she was leading Sophie for Children's Liturgy of the Word. Sophie was following behind though with her own gospel above her head, and an argument quickly followed. (There's just never a dull moment.)

Pretty soon the girls were back to playing dance class, and this time I could hear mention of a new pupil. Yep...it's inevitable for little Sawyer with two older sisters. There he was with a blue sparkle tu-tu around his middle and matching sparkle belt. His sisters were picking out jewelry for him. Pretty soon the girls had him in full dance class mode. I'm absolutely sure this won't be the last class he's in with them...or the last time they place sparkles of some type on his body. If they can sit him still long enough to get barrettes and ponytails in his hair someday, no doubt we'll be seeing those as well. At least he'll be a well-rounded young man when he grows up. :-)

Christmas

So, Christmas for us was memorable this year...to say the least.

We had planned to head back Thursday night after Matt got off work, December 18, because Matt's sister, Mollie, graduated for UNK this year at 10AM Friday morning. Well...Mother Nature had other plans when she blew in freezing rain and even claps of thunder (the weirdest thing in December). So, we missed our Thursday night departure but had the car loaded and made it (on safe roads) in time to celebrate with Mollie for lunch on Friday in Kearney.

From there we headed to Wallace to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family until Monday. We had a great time. We did get a family picture but with 4 little ones under the age of 5 only Grammy's camera captured that picture, so I don't have it to post here. Here is Grammy Ruth and Grandpa Monte with the 4 grandkids: Lainey (4 1/2), Sophie (3) , Sawyer (1), and Aldyn (9 months).



Santa also came to visit. I was surprised when even Sawyer ran right up to him. I think he was getting used to the jolly old fellow! (Either that or my little guy has figured out that Santa comes with a reward system.) :-)



Monday brought our trip to Kearney and minutes after walking in the door to my parents' house, it also brought chills, fever and horrible stomach flu for Matt. That night Sophie and Sawyer came down with the stomach flu as well. Merry Christmas from Matt, Wendy and the kids to my parents! :-)

Thus...our Christmas. The stomach flu ran rampant through the house. Sophie had a trip the the ER for fluids finally on Thursday and turned the corner on Friday. Sawyer (I am THRILLED to report) is FINALLY healthy as of today (JANUARY 4th). (thus the delay on my blogging) Matt was sick for about 2 days, and I...thank heavens...had just a 24 hour touch of it. Lainey...somehow...escaped it all. My mom and dad both got it as well. My sister and her husband from Seattle camped out at my brother and sister-in-law's house to try and escape it...and finally came around on Friday (26th) (as we were leaving on Saturday) to celebrate Christmas. We Cloroxed and Lysoled everything we could see. :-)

So, my usual Christmas Eve picture in front of the nativity at church did not happen this year as I was home with a sick baby (and not feeling too well myself)...and Matt went with my parents to mass with the girls (we thought Sophie was over this at the time). I later went to midnight mass by myself. So, my effort...again, to match outfits for the kids, etc...was not all lost since I put the effort into the Christmas picture (because nobody saw them together at church)! :-)

Matt and the girls went to the Sheffield side Christmas in Wilcox without me and Sawyer on Christmas Eve. (I sent the camera, but it came back without pictures.) :-) Matt also went to the Turnquist Christmas solo this year due to Sophie and Sawyer still being sick. I really missed getting to see everyone and visit. Hopefully, next year we'll all be able to celebrate together!

Anyway..we're all healthy now...and thankful for that....and happy we can start out 2009 with the stomach flu behind us now. :-) We hope this is the last we see of it this year! So, Christmas 2008 was memorable...we'll leave it at that. :-)



Since I wasn't there, I'm not sure if Matt was trying to use the reverse psychology approach by telling the girls to close there eyes in hopes they would actually keep them open in the picture here. Who knows!?! :-)


The picture below was taken Sunday, December 28, in Humphrey, NE, at the Keller Family Christmas (my mom's side). It's my Grandma and 10 of her 11 kids (the 11th is in Texas and wasn't here for Christmas). My family on that side is so big that we have to rent a hall or the school cafeteria/gym each year to hold us all. Rather than telling you how many 1st cousins I have, etc...(because I get confused as to what to call everybody once I start talking kids' kids, etc...I'll tell you how many grandkids my grandma has.) I really should call my Grandma and get the correct numbers, but if my counting is correct,

My Grandma has:
11 children
49 grandchildren living (66 including spouses)
31 great-grandchildren living (and 3 on the way!)

It is SO much fun when we get together! We love it!




This is my family...I'm the oldest. My brother, Russ and his wife, Mandy, have Keaton. My sister, Kim and her husband, Brian, got married in May of this year. Scott and his girlfriend, Maggie, somehow didn't get to sit by each other...we were just trying to get the picture taken. :-)


This was the best shot I could get of Grandpa Marv and Grandma Ellen and the 4 grandkids, Lainey, Sophie, Sawyer and Keaton (18 months). There are kids running everywhere to play with and trying to get any of them to sit still for any of the pictures (and this was the last) was a challenge!



I guess this will have to do for our family picture this year since we didn't get one Christmas Eve. Oh well. Next year has to be better, right?!? :-)




Happy New Year to all! Many, Many blessings in 2009!

Neighborhood Party, Our Christmas, & Say Cheese!

Alas...I return. Oh, I so wanted to post these pictures before we left for our Christmas trek, but it kept getting pushed further and further down the priority list until it just was suffocated with other to-do's. Oh well...needs before wants.

So, before I get into our holidays (save that for my next blog)...I'll post pre-Christmas pictures.

You might want to grab something warm to drink (add a little something special in there...if you know what I mean) because there are a lot of pictures about to come your way!

Annual Neighborhood Christmas Party

We are fortunate to have great neighbors. Every year our street gets together to celebrate the holidays. One of our neighbors is gracious enough to host. The kids have a great time, and we adults enjoy catching up as well (the cold weather puts a halt to our weekend firepit gatherings).

Sophie telling her wishes to Santa (Matt) for a mermaid tail (a real one that would change her legs into a mermaid and make her swim like a fish) and goggles. (Seriously?!?) That's all she wanted this year...finally she followed her big sister and asked for a teddy bear as well. I tried telling her that the elves probably didn't make mermaid tails to which she replied, "Mommy, Santa's elves can make anything in this WHOLE wide world." (complete with large circling hand gestures) Santa had to leave a scroll hidden in the tree for Sophie explaining the elves just couldn't make a mermaid tail, and he left money for mommy and daddy to get her goggles as soon as it was warm enough to go swimming. She was satisfied with that. (Whew!)


Lainey receiving her hug from Santa. Her wants this year included a teddy bear and new crayons and markers.

Sawyer wasn't too sure about Santa at first until he started getting tossed around.

Good thing I sat on Santa's lap. I got almost everything I asked for this year!

OUR CHRISTMAS

We made reindeer cookies for Lainey's preschool program and to leave for Santa.

Lainey was excited to get her digital camera for Christmas.

Sophie showing off her new boots from Santa.

Sawyer was not quite sure what to think of it all.

Lainey got her teddy bear from Santa which she named "Cupcake."

Sophie fell fast asleep on the couch right before dinner after playing and playing in her room during nap time.

**Lainey's comment that night at dinner**

"Mom, it sure is a good thing Santa came last night, so you guys didn't have to buy us all this stuff!"

WHY? OH WHY?

I have yet to understand why in the world I spent 45 minutes getting the kids dressed in their Christmas outfits and then another hour+ trying to get a Christmas picture...BY MYSELF...while Matt was in New Orleans. I think it's just one of those things that you envision in your head as going so smoothly...your adorable children with angelic smiles posed perfectly in front of the tree on the count of three as you say "Cheese" and click the camera...done, change clothes, no sweat...HA..HA..HA Here are a SMALL fraction of the pictures that lead to the Sheffield children 2008 Christmas picture. I stopped with the first one that looked decent. I won't tell you how long it took.

ALLELUIA!!! (I'll take it!)

Is there anything cuter?

Is there anything cuter than a little girl in her leotard and tutu? Lainey had her little holiday dance program tonight (Tuesday). It was really her regular dance class with fancy tutu's. You can see she loves dance. She is so animated and loves singing. If you know her well enough, I'm sure you can pick out her voice. Hopefully, everything is synchronized now where the video and sound are matching up...I'm having some problems, so you may need to check back after I work on that a bit (when I find some spare time...ha!)



You'll have to excuse the taping. Matt is in New Orleans for work, so I was video taping with one hand...taping with my camera here in the other hand...and keeping my eye on Sophie and Sawyer across the room all at the same time. So, you get what you get. :-)





This clip is part of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

**There is just the cutest teddy bear dance, and I tried and tried to get that uploaded. However, the file is too big. So, I am working on it. Check back to see if I can get on here for you to see.