Make-up Fun

Not that kind of make-up…although Sage has had her share of that lately, too.  Why are cover-up & mascara SOO appealing?  Anyway, I’m getting a little sidetracked!  As the girls missed their last day of daycare at Moss Street on Wednesday due to the previously mentioned snow day, we decided to make-up the party so they could say their final goodbyes. (Not to mention, we had WAY too many cookies, cupcakes and popsicles to get rid of!)  I called both of the girls’ teachers and they set aside some time in their classes for us to come in today.  When we got there, both classes were ready and waiting for us!  The girls handed out treats to all of their classmates and got to tell everyone about where they were moving to.  Sage of course ate up the attention & at the end gave every single kid in the class a big hug while saying goodbye.  Kenna on the other hand, was super shy.  She’s so funny how she’ll talk to any random person at the store, but doesn’t want to say a word in front of a group of friends.  That’s our sweet Kenna & we love her for it…I just don’t know what to do about it, I was never shy!  Of course afterward she talked about it like it was the most fun thing she had ever done. :)  Both girls had a ball and I’m glad it was a special experience for them.  I think they’re going to miss school terribly.  

I am so grateful for such a wonderful program for my girls.  I’ve always been one that’s kind of against working & sending your children to daycare, but we had such a great experience with Moss Street that I can understand while people do it.  Of course, I wouldn’t want to work and send them there full-time, but the 10 hours a week on average that they were there for the past 9 months was perfect.  They got to get out and have a “preschool” experience socializing with other kids and I was able to work to help support our family.  Each of their classes always had fun things going on and the girls looked forward to school days with enthusiasm.  We rarely had a day that either of them were sad to be dropped off.  Nate was also such a trooper through the whole experience. Because I had to be to work every day by 7am and Moss Street didn’t open till 7:30, he had to get them off to school any time they went.  That meant waking up with them, getting them both dressed AND doing their hair!  How many fathers do you know that do their daughters’ hair twice a week?  It was pretty impressive. :) Overall, I’m very thankful for the experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.  Moss Street, you will be missed!

Sage with her lead teacher, Lori

 Makenna with her lead teacher, Jen

Snow Day!

Today Eugene gave us a little taste of home…a snow day!  In the few years we’ve been here, we’ve experienced Oregon “snow” (which truly was nothing more than a dusting), but today we got the real thing!  I woke up and got all ready for work and just as I was heading out the door, Nate said, “What does the weather look like outside?  I just got an email from the school saying the University has a delayed start by 2 hours”.  I opened the blinds and was amazed to see no less than 6 inches of snow piled everywhere!  (We don’t watch the weather much!)  I figured I had still better go to work, so Nate trekked out with me in his PJ’s and helped clear off my car.  Of course every radio station was reporting which schools were closed for the day (every single one for miles), what accidents were on the road (literally hundreds) and encouraging everyone who did not HAVE to go anywhere to stay home.  This is what happens when snow hits a city that does not own snow plows. :)  Thankfully I did make it in safe to work (lots of practice with snow driving!), but on the way I saw many on the roads less fortunate than I.   The funny thing was that all the nurses and every patient made it in, but only one doctor and none of the office staff.  Shows who cares most about the appointments. :)  It was an interesting day!

Makenna and Sage were scheduled to go to their LAST day at Moss Street today.  They even went shopping with Nate last night & picked out treats to share with all the friends in their classes, as well as colored pictures for their teachers.  Both teachers also had plans for “farewell parties” for the girls.  But of course, school got cancelled.  Bummer!  Luckily Nate’s classes were also cancelled so he was able to stay home with them while I was at work.  How could the girls be disappointed about not going to school when they get a day home with dad instead?  He did not disappoint!  They started out the morning building a snowman, followed by hot chocolate (yes…before breakfast!) and then warming up by the fire while watching a movie.  It just doesn’t get better than that for a 2 & 3 year old!  One funny story: Nate was out talking to our neighbors Melinda & Virginia just after I left for work when the girls woke up.  They came running out the garage door yelling “SNOW!”  (You’d think it was Christmas or something!)  Nate told them before they could come outside they needed to run up & grab their coats and boots.  A few minutes later, Sage came waltzing outside…in ONLY her coat and boots.  Pajamas and underwear had been removed and she was ready for some snowman action in her birthday suit.  :)  Guess he couldn’t argue, she HAD done what he asked!  The neighbors got a pretty good kick out of that one!  Unfortunately the camera was in my purse so Nate’s phone had to capture the excitement of the morning.  They sure had a great time.  I got home just after noon & Nate headed off to school so the girls and I got to enjoy a little more of the snow day together.  I’m sure it’ll all be melted in a day or two, but we sure had fun while it lasted! 

On a side note, today was also my last day of work (hence the girls’ last day in daycare).  It felt strange saying goodbye to my sweet coworkers and thinking that most likely I’ll never see them again.  I have been so blessed to have such a great job that has been so perfect with hours so I could be home most of the time with my girls, but also allow them some fun times at preschool.  Not to mention the financial benefit of being able to avoid significantly higher debt from law school.  I had the privilege of working with some fabulous people and I will miss it a lot.  That being said, I am very grateful for the time ahead that I’ll be able to focus solely on getting our house ready to sell and spending as much time as possible with my two children…before that number becomes three!  

Since I was lame enough to accidentally take the camera with me, I thought I'd better share my view on my way in to work.  Crazy weather!

From Nate's Phone:

Our awesome snowman!

 Warmin' up by the fire!

 This is what you get to do when Dad's home...Spoiled!!

Showered with Love

This week I was spoiled with TWO baby showers!  I have the most amazing friends.  The first one was with my law wife friends & was thrown by my Oregon sisters, Chelsea & Christie.  They did a sailor theme and it was absolutely adorable.  The second was with my ward friends and was thrown by my close & wonderful friends Stacia & Teresa.  It was equally amazing with a cute jungle theme.  Both were so perfect down to the very last detail.  We had great food, fun games and wonderful company.  I feel so spoiled and blessed to have such supportive and thoughtful friends.  And of course I am very grateful to be MUCH more prepared for the coming of this sweet little boy!  We finally have some blue around here!   

I know this is so sad, but I only got pictures from the first shower.  Just picture this cuteness doubled!

 Christie, Me & Chelsea - LOVE these girls!

Hairdresser in training

Remember how I said Makenna loves to do her own hair?  This is why she only gets that opportunity when we're not leaving the house...  :)

So stylin'!

My Awesomely Domestic Husband

I have to say Nate surprised me and showed me up in the domestic category today. :)  Makenna has been complaining about her jammies for a while because she's worn the feet of them out pretty badly and her toes stick out.  As Sage's are mostly hand-me-downs from Makenna, you can guess that hers are just as bad. This morning Kenna told Nate that TWO of her toes were sticking out of the same hole now and asked if he could fix them.  He told her he had an idea, asked me where the hot glue gun was and they headed up together to work on their project while I cleaned up our waffle breakfast.  To be honest I was thinking, "hot glue? This 'otta be good!"  However, I went up a little later and was surprised by his ingenuity.   He had taken an old pair of his jeans, cut "feet" out of them and glued them to the inside of 2 pairs each of Makenna & Sage's pj's.  Then he turned them inside out and, walla!  No more holes for the girls!  I'll admit I admired his work...until he told me he was going to start a craft blog. :)  Just kidding, I WAS truly impressed and thankful for his work.  Craft away Nate!

The new "inside" of the P.J. feet...

 The source of new feet...

 And the finished product.  Pretty cool!

My sleepless girls and other fun!

On Thursday night Nate had a late class so he was gone most of the night.  I got the girls ready for bed & all tucked in and headed off to enjoy the quiet (aka clean up!).  I didn't hear a peep from them after I shut their door so I assumed they had crashed immediately and were sound asleep.  I went to check on them about an hour later and was surprised to see the light in their bedroom was on.  I peeked in there and found Kenna asleep with a bunch of books in her bed and Sage slumbering with her bear over her face (to block out the light I'm sure!).  What silly girls!  However, I couldn't complain as they hadn't made a mess, had stayed in their beds & had eventually gone to sleep.  Not too bad! :)

On another note, Makenna has been trying to be independent with doing her hair lately.  It's not always a pretty sight!  Who can blame her though, that curly hair is tough to do!  She usually has about 10 bobby-pins stuck randomly into her hair or (in this case), 5-10 headbands.  On Monday, I decided to let it go for a while and let her keep her stylin' do.  It made me smile every time I looked at her!  On top of that, we made a cake for her little buddy's birthday party & I let her lick the beaters after we were done.  This was the outcome...

Makenna with a nice 80's sweatband look, complete with a chocolate goatee.  You go girl!

On another random topic, this weekend some of my great girlfriends and I went out for a girls night.  It was a really fun time!  We basically talked for 4 1/2 hours, but that's what girls do, right?!  Other than talking (or I should say while we talked), we got delicious frozen yogurt (my favorite!) and drove up to the top of Skinner's Butte to check out the beautiful view of the city.  I have such wonderful friends. Thanks Kayla, Stacia & Teresa for the great time!!  And a special thanks to Nate for getting the girls to bed & letting me have a night out on the town. I love you!