Centers

It has been a long winter around here.  The kids (and I) are yearning to get outside!  Lainey didn't have school on Monday (15th), and we HAD to do something different!  :)  Lainey loves doing centers at school, so we set some up here at home.  It worked like a charm!  We had 8 centers, and the kids spent 10-12 minutes in each center.  The kids did SO well...even Sawyer.  They had to stay in their center and work independently...and clean up their center when the timer beeped to switch.  I was so proud of them!  The best part is that they were so excited about it!  We will definitely do it again on our next day off or snow day (hope we don't have one of those again...but I'm not going to count it out quite yet).  :) 

Lainey in the Reading Center

Sawyer making his candy necklace...next time around was stringing beads center

Sophie in Coloring Center

This was originally supposed to be the Wii Center but after not being able to get the Wii to work we switched it to the Lego Center...and I'm glad we did!

The Puzzle Center

Dress-Up/House Center...we also had Baby Center as another one the kids liked too

Playdough Center

What a FUN day...with very little fighting and lots of creativity!  Ahhhh....

Projects

Lainey has been studying penguins at school and needed to do a penguin project for class. It could be anything she wanted. I remembered when I was little making a paper mache penguin out of a lightbulb. So, I googled it and showed it to Lainey, and she was quite excited about the idea. Plus, it was really something that she could completely do herself...with just some guidance. And, what a fantastic job she did! Her penguin looks amazing!


Starting the paper mache on the lightbulb. She had to do 2 layers...letting the first dry overnight. It was a little hard to be patient. :) 


Next Lainey painted the paper mached lightbulb all white. 

Then she painted it black, leaving the white belly showing.  She glued on googly eyes and cut orange craft foam and glued that on for the feet and beak.  She was proud of her project...and so were we!

Sophie wanted to work on her project too...decorating her Valentine's Day box for her party at preschool.

Not to be left out, Sawyer needed a project too...so he played with playdough. :)

Giving it a Go

Sawyer has been really good about going on the potty for quite some time now, so I thought I would try introducing some potty training with real big boy undies. He picked Elmo at the store..and LOVES them! He's doing pretty well. We'll see how it continues. (Cross your fingers.) But...aren't these teeny undies just about the cutest on him? :)

Wonderful Gift

On Wednesday afternoon one of my best friends, Tracey, flew in from Denver. It was a gift to us from our husbands for Christmas. But, just getting to spend quality time together wasn't the only gift. Thursday night, we did a little shopping then went to the Tim McGraw concert! He was fantastic!! And, Lady Antebellum opened...not bad either! :) We followed the concert with a very late night dinner. Of course, we managed to fit in LOTS of talking and laughing while she was here too. Dropping her off at the airport Friday afternoon was tough as it went VERY quickly, but I am just so thankful for the time we had together. It was a most precious gift! Thank you, Matt and Nino!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy ♥ Day from our precious 3 Lovebugs!

haircuts

FINALLY all of the kids have had much-needed haircuts.

But, my little guy, more than anyone just LOVES getting his haircut...by Mr. Jimmy. When I told Sawyer he was getting shaggy, he immediately started talking about his buddy, "Jimmy"....daily, actually multiple times a day...often as soon as he would wake up. I'm not sure if it's because he loves getting his haircut or because he loves the fact that he gets to eat as many dum-dum suckers as he wants while he's there. :) So, following "Jimmy" is "lots of suckers" :) He sits so well, and his haircut immediately changes him from my toddler to my little man. And, he continues to talk about Mr. Jimmy, his haircut, and lots of suckers for days following. :)

All of my kiddos look so clean-cut and fresh. I almost love getting their haircut as much as I love getting mine. Almost. :)






(Sawyer: 2 years, 4 months)

Star of the Week

Lainey was Star of the Week last week...so special for her! She got to bring several special pictures for the teacher to put up on her bulletin board and colored that cute little representation of herself. She also got to bring her favorite toy, favorite book, and favorite stuffed animal to sit with all day (Mr. Bear, of course). On the last day she shared a sheet she wrote of some of her favorites and the kids in her class all made a book for her.

As a special surprise, the kids and I showed up Friday to have lunch with Lainey. (You'll notice Lainey & lots of kids wearing hats. It was "Hats for Haiti" day. The students had the option to pay $2 to wear a hat for the day, to help out the victims of the Haiti earthquake.)

In Kindergarten being Star of the Week is a great big deal, and Lainey has been looking forward to this since school started. But, Lainey is our STAR every week!

Fun Family Night!

We had a very fun family night at Lainey's school last Friday. The school showed 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' and invited all families to come in their Pj's and slippers and bring blankets and pillows to get nice and comfy on the gym floor.

Our kiddos could hardly wait to get into their Pj's and slippers, grab their PillowPets from Santa and their loveys and GET.TO.THE.SCHOOL!!! :) It was such fun for Lainey to see some of her friends too (in their Pj's!).

I appreciate that her school does family events once a month. It gives us a chance to meet other parents/families at the school and to do something extra-special (for free!) together.

New Blessing!

Welcome to our precious niece (daughter of Matt's sister, Wendi, and her husband, Mike...and little sister to Aldyn)

Emerson 'Emme' Elle Hadley

Feb. 1

9 lbs. 15 oz. (wow!)

23"

She has the most adorable chubby cheeks and thighs...and beautiful downy black hair!


The kids and I made a quick up and back trip to the hospital in Kearney on Tuesday. It was a fun time!

Lainey is such a proud big cousin...she has such a tender heart towards little ones!

Sophie was SO excited to learn the news of Baby Emme's arrival!

Sophie and Sawyer with Aunt Wendi. Sawyer was just getting over a cold, so we kept him away as much as we could from little Emme.

Congratulations, Hadley's!

Tooth Fairy!

The Tooth Fairy visited Lainey last night! She was SO excited to lose her first tooth! She had wiggled until it was twisted sideways. With a little coaxing, I convinced her to take a napkin and gently try and twist it back until it was upright...and out it came! :) The Tooth Fairy left 5 shiny quarters and glitter dust where she landed on the pillow, bed, night stand and had fluttered along the carpet. We wish we could have seen her! How fun! :)

Christmas Travels

Well...due to a blizzard that decided to blow through the midwest smack dab in the middle of Christmas, plans were mixed around just a bit this year. We hadn't planned to travel until Wednesday morning. But, with reports of possibly not being able to go anywhere if one waited until then, at 5PM Tuesday night, we made the decision to leave for our Christmas Trek. I had not one thing packed, as I had been focused on Lainey's Christmas party that afternoon and our Christmas that we had had that week, etc. So, needless to say, the next couple hours were a flurry of activity. But, we managed to get things thrown together and had a safe drive Tuesday night. The worst part was wondering if the next mile was going to be the black ice they were reporting. But, God was with us, throughout all our travels and we made it to Kearney safely that night.

We started out Christmas with my family in Kearney.

Lainey, Sophie & Sawyer at the Christmas Eve Children's Mass. It was fun to see some classmates of mine after mass and catch up a little and see their beautiful families.

My sister-in-law, Mandy, and niece, Kinley, after mass.

Lainey and Sophie with their cousin, Aubrey. They had the most fun holding the babies, Aubrey and Kinley, this year whenever they could!


Sawyer and his cousin, Keaton, posing in their matching PJ's and rainboots.

Keaton, Sophie and Sawyer decorating the gingerbread house. Lainey was too busy playing the Wii. :)

The wonderful creation!

Due to the weather this year, we had Matt's family Christmas in Holdrege at Mike and Wendi's beautiful home on the 26th.

Sophie and Lainey with their cousin, Aldyn. They had the most fun together. What a little sweetheart she is!

Sawyer sportin' his new PJ's and slippers from Grammy and Grandpa Monte. He LOVES them!

Although the Sheffield-side Christmas was cancelled due to people being unable to travel, we were still able to spend some nice time with Great-Grandpa Hersh singing Christmas carols and visiting.

We had the Turnquist-side Christmas the evening of the 26th in Holdrege at Matt's Aunt Beth's and Uncle Brad's home.

Great-Grandma Elaine made Sawyer this cute little bag with his name on it.

Great-Grandma Elaine made the little girls these adorable doll quilts! The girls love theirs. By the time we tried to gather for the picture...it was getting a little late. :)

We were very lucky to have our good friends, The Maggio's, from Colorado, stay with us for a night on their way home from visiting their families in Indiana!!!

Sawyer and I went to Elmo Live on Saturday, January 3, with some friends. The girls were originally supposed to go, but their new little friend had a movie theater 'Princess and The Frog' birthday party which they chose instead. We also had my Keller-side Family Christmas that day...rescheduled from the previous weekend when they had 20" of snow up in Humphrey and treacherous roads. So, I took Sawyer to the concert, then drove up with just him to the Christmas...a little late. It was different not having everyone there...but then, what wasn't different about Christmas this year? :)

Sawyer was in AWE of the show. He waved and giggled the whole time. "Hi, Elmo!" "Big Bird!" He talked to all the characters and even today talks several times a day about Elmo Live. I'm SO glad we went!

Sawyer had no less than 15 suckers at the Keller Christmas this year. He just kept running to the table and grabbing them out of the candy can. :) I would find little sticks all over the place. :)

One of my favorite parts of Keller Christmas is the $10 gift exchange. I don't know how many are in the exchange now, but it grows every year. FUN!

I'm just so thankful for all the time we were able to have with family this year despite the weather. Had we not left Tuesday night, I'm not sure we would have had any time at all. Omaha got much more snow than central Nebraska where we were at. I just took the tree down last night and put the last bit of the Christmas decorations away. The time went way too fast as it always does. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm blogging 2010 Christmas, but I won't wish this year away...there are too many precious moments yet to happen.

"Our" Christmas

Santa came early to our house. We had a nice day together on December 20th. The kids woke up so excited that Santa came to our house. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and orange juice and played games and just enjoyed each other throughout the day. Lainey had a soccer game in the afternoon. We finished the night with supper and a movie together before Lainey had school the next day. Despite the cold temperatures outside, we had a wonderfully warm day together.


Dad opening up his new airport approved work bag.


Sophie in her new beanbag from Santa.


Lainey sporting her new fashion scarf and playing her Leapster 2.


Princess Yahtzee!

Dad and Sawyer playing the Wii...Santa was good to us this year. What a fun family game for all ages!!!

Lainey playing her heart out in her soccer game (indoor!) :)

Fast, Furious & Fabulous Weekend

The weekend before Christmas was quick and busy...and filled with accomplishments, celebrations, gatherings of families and friends (and even a family picture)!

Thursday night Sophie had her preschool Christmas program. The kids had just come off many snow days, but even on very little practice, they did wonderfully!

Sophie and Sawyer after her performance.


Notice Sophie's little friend to her right...already at this young age she is influencing her classmates. This little boy used his dad's razor to shave his head just days before. :)


Friday my youngest brother, Scott, graduated from college. He knows in this market he is very fortunate to already have full-time employment...and especially that in which his talents and interests are utilized. Congrats, Scottie!


My entire family and Scott's godmother, Aunt Barb.

Since Kim, Brian and Aubrey were back from Seattle, a family friend took some pictures for us while we were all together. Since our last one, my brother-in-law, Brian, has been added to the family...and 4 grandkids as well!

Not too bad for 6 kids under 6! :)

Saturday evening my nieces, Kinley and Aubrey, were baptized!

What a wonderful service!

Aubrey Lynne

Kinley Jo

Following the baptism, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with all the families present. Then, we let the kids open their Christmas PJ's and ornaments from us (as we traditionally do on "our" Christmas Eve)...and jumped into the car to head home. We had asked Santa to come to our house early...and this was the only night it was going to work (as Lainey still had school the next week).

Lainey, Sawyer & Sophie in their 2009 Christmas PJ's. Don't you just want to snuggle them? :)