Cookies for Everyone but only if you dare

After we arrived in Kansas this afternoon we headed over to Great-Aunt Karen's to visit with the family. The older cousins were making sugar cookies and generously offered to have the little ones help them.  I am amazed at the patience and love that Kate, Abby, and Sam demonstrated.  The girls had a Fantastic Time!  

Cousin Abby and Phoebe cutting out santa cookies

Cousin Eleanor working hard to cut out her cookies

Cousin Abby and Audra working on their tray of cookies

Cousin Kate helping Phoebe and Eleanor

A turtle tale

One of the items on Audra's Christmas list was "Crush the Turtle" from the moving finding Nemo.  Basically she has been talking incessantly about how she is going to get Crush for Christmas and is SO excited that he is coming to live with her.  Ben and I did not get it for her thinking that someone else would choose it for their gift.  When that did not happen we made a special trip to the Disney store in a nearby town.   The tricky part was purchasing it and getting it home without her seeing it.   We were able to accomplish this with a little white lie about the bag containing something for Phoebe.  However, we were naive to believe that this story would satisfy Audra's curiosity.  Little stinker got up on our bed while Ben and I were making lunch and looked in all of the packages.  Of course I didn't know this until the next day when she pointed to the bag in my closet and asked "Why does Phoebe get a Crush and not me, I wanted him for Christmas".  I guess next year I will have to go shopping alone and hide the presents until I get a chance to wrap them.

Crush "hiding" in the tree

"Hey mom, my friend Crush is in the tree! Can I have him finally?

"I love you my crush"

FYI - Nemo (Audra's previous BFF) has been relegated to the closet - but Phoebe is still not allowed to play with him =)

Little Brown Riding Hood

Phoebe is in LOVE with the basket I use to keep Greta's toys and clothing in (yes our dog has her own clothes). She often empties the basket and takes it to other parts of the house filling it with goodies along the way

Today the basket contained: a kitchen spoon, several kids books, kitty (of course), two christmas ornaments, and a dog bone.  

You never know what I will find there tomorrow...

The truth comes out

I got a voice message from Ben a few minutes ago saying that he checked the blog while at work and noticed the new post about Greta the house cleaner.  Not wanting our friends and family to be misinformed he confessed that HE put Greta into the high chair and then left for work. I am not nearly as impressed as I was when I thought she got up there on her own.  

Now you know...

My house cleaner

Ok so despite my best efforts I am not able to clean up immediately after a meal. This morning I come back to clean up the breakfast things after changing Phoebe and this is what I find...

It appears that Greta has done my job for me.

I had no idea how she even got up into the chair (she is a little dog who CAN NOT jump).  The funniest part about the whole situation was she could not figure out a way to get down and had to sit up there until I came back and rescue her.

Ladies Night

Tonight I was able to steal a few moments (hours) to myself and spend a little time with my fantastic group of girlfriends. We have a weekly play group for our kids but once a month we like to get together and have a little girl time with full conversations, hot food, and tasty beverages.  These ladies have enriched my life in numerous ways and I am so glad and thankful to have them in my life.

Any of you want to move to St. Louis?????

Hazardous to your health

So I have recently discovered that having children can be hazardous to your health, or at the very least my health.  Case in point:  Audra and I were playing in her room last week when she landed directly on my ribcage.  It really hurt but I did not really think anything about it.  Problem was the pain did not go away and was progressively getting worse (I can't even take a deep breath without pain).  So today I finally went into the dr. an sure enough Audra cracked my rib.  Not really anything that can be done except take pain meds and give it time. I am just glad she landed on me and not Phoebe (although Phoebe is a brick house so she would have probably faired better than I did).  The funny part about this is that Audra thinks she "broke" me so she keeps doing little things to make be better, like reading me her favorite books.  It makes me proud as a mom to realize that I am raising a child with such a tender heart. I hope that she always retains her caring nature.  

Clarkin-mas

This past Sunday we had our annual Christmas / Birthday celebration with our friends the Clarkins.  As always we had a great time, we will really miss them when we move to St. Louis.

Phoebe examining all of the "goodies" in her musical drum

Audra showing Nemo his new towels

Way to go Grandma Debbie

On Saturday Grandma Debbie and Papa George "stole" Audra for several hours for an undisclosed reason. On Sunday we discovered it was to make this hand print ornament for our tree. What a nice surprise!

Giving Auntie Becca a Run for her Money

As many of you may have read on the blog Audra has recently become interested in taking pictures using the camera phone as well as our "for reals" camera. On Sunday Grandma Debbie and Papa George gave her her very own digital Camera. To say that she was thrilled would be an understatement.  I don't think the camera has left her side since Sunday evening (when she sleeps it has a special place next to her bed)!  You better watch out Antie Becca you may not be the only professional photographer in the family for long!

Audra examining her brand new camera.

It did not take her long to figure out how to use it... now we can't get her to take a break=)

Picture composition is obviously something we are going to have to work on

Audra is in love with WALL-E (after Nemo, of course).

This is a picture she took of her new WALL-E book

Phoebe is still a favorite subject of hers!

I've changed my mind

In our never ending search to replace Audra's "kids stuff radio" we are trying out various free Internet radio services.  Our latest discovery is pandora.com.  The plus side of this site over my previous favorite is that it does not feature 20 second commercials.  While I type this we are listening to the Christmas station on Pandora.  It has a fantastic mix from classic Bing to Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Plus, the kid stations are great and of course it has my Ani!

No thanks, I'll do it by myself

It appears that all of the recent ice skating success had gone to Audra's head.  Check out her response to Ben's offer of assistance.  

Peek a Boo

You can't see me

Here I am!

Phoebe throughly enjoys playing Peek-a-boo with everyone, including her favorite friend, Kitty-Kitty. It is quite cute to see her hiding from her stuffed animal.

Ms. Independent

This week we decided to go to the ice rink on Friday night rather than our typical Sunday evening.  We missed last week because Ben was on call so this was the only the third time Audra has been on the ice this season.  It is amazing to see her confidence grow each time we take her skating!

"Hey mom and dad, look at this"

We could not believe she initiated this on her own!

Will work for Shoes and Stories

Phoebe will be 15 months at the end of December (crazy!) and has been "getting around" for quite some time.  However, it has been primarily on her seat rather than her feet.  So...Ben and I have been doing a little "physical therapy" with her.  Encouraging her to walk by enticing her with her favorite things, her pink shoes and Sandra Boynton books.

Although she still chooses scooting as her main mode of transportation we are hoping that our "intervention" soon takes hold and she chooses to walk on her own.  I will miss having a buffed floor but enjoy not having to scrub all of her pants!

Christmas pictures...take 53

I was feeling a bit behind on my holiday preparations and decided to take a few pictures for the annual Christmas card.  I had the fantastic idea of taking them outside by our neighbors evergreen trees... the girls found the spot to be less than desirable.

Once we came inside the girls found the process much more enjoyable.

Audra loves to "ham it up" for the camera. She is such a great helper!

Perhaps with this cute headband everyone will finally recognize that Phoebe is a girl!

O' Christmas Tree

We took some time on Wednesday night and put up a few Christmas decorations. Audra helped Ben put up the tree and then proceeded to "decorate it" all by herself!

Audra showing off her decorating skills

Spacing was a bit of an issue as you could imagine

Audra and her "pumpkin"!  

She insists on calling snowmen pumpkins and we are not sure why.

Story Time with Audra

Audra loves to read and she especially gets a kick out of reading to Phoebe.  Here she is reading Sandra Boynton's Red Hat, Green Hat

The Budding Photographer

Audra loves to play with my old cell phone using it to call her friends and take pictures around the house. After taking multiple pictures the other day she handed me her phone and said "these are good ones mom, please post them to the blog".  Because the phone is not one we use anymore I could not post her "good photos" and gave her our "real" camera to take a few shots.  Here is Audra's first official blog post...

Nemo is not only her favorite stuffed animal it is her favorite subject to photograph as well

Obviously subject matter is something we are going to have to work on

Phoebe was not sure what to make of Audra wielding the camera but she made her obligatory photo face anyway (aka this is Phoebe "smiling" for the camera).  I think I will be purchasing a "child friendly" digital camera in the near future... unless Santa chooses to bring her one for Christmas (hint, hint) 

A night on the Ice

One of our favorite cold weather activities is to take Audra ice skating at our local ice rink.  The Onalaska Omni center has two indoor rinks which have open skate times during the week and on the weekend.  On Sundays they have a toddler skate from 5-6; fewer "big" kids, better music, much more fun for the little ones.  Ben and Audra went last week but this was the first time Phoebe and I were able to attend and document the fun.

Audra showing off her skating pose.  

Audra is much improved from last year.  This season she is able to utilize the bar appropriately instead of leaning on it like she did last year.  Also she was much more confident this evening than she has been in the past. It is interesting to see her develop her own sense of accomplishment and independence.  Here are a few things Ben and I observed this evening:

Audra would often wave to the other skaters as she went past them

She repeatedly told Ben that she "needed her space", "needed her privacy", and "please daddy, don't touch my bar".

When she did fall down it appeared to be in response to the other skaters who were getting attention for their missteps as she would often make herself fall and then look to Ben to see how he would react.  

Toward the end of our time at the rink she started pushing her bar away for several seconds at a time.

It will be interesting to see how she is able to develop over the course of the season.  

Phoebe had a great time watching Audra and even said something that sounded like "skate".  I tried to get it on tape but of course she would not talk with the camera turned on.  After watching Ben and Audra for a while Phoebe decided that she needed a turn on the ice too so she started banging on the glass and yelling "Audra" & "Daddy".

Since Ben wasn't "allowed" to help Audra he came and picked up Phoebe for a turn around the ice.  She LOVED it.  In fact, she wanted to go back out so bad that while I was taking more video she "escaped" back out onto the ice.  

Third time is a charm

When I was pregnant with Phoebe I decided to quit my job as a school psychologist for the Westby School District, in nearby Westby, WI.  It was a very difficult decision but I knew it was the best thing for the family.  The first person they offered the position to decided to take a job closer to her home.  They asked me to reconsider my decision to resign (job offer #1) but I really felt I was supposed to stay home with the girls.

The year after I left the special education director moved to Montana and the district went on a search for a new director.  During this process the woman hired for my position quit so that her husband could interview for the director position.  They asked me to consider returning to the district (job offer #2) but I was not ready to return to work full time just yet.  

The woman they then hired as the school psychologist did not work out and as of last week left the district so they called me to see if I would be interested in a part time position (job offer #3). This time I said yes.  So as of this week I will be returning to work on a part-time basis.  My contracted hours will be one day per week at the school and one day at home to complete paperwork.  I am looking forward to rejoining the Westby School District but I am a little sad about leaving the girls with a daycare provider.  

Post Thanksgiving in Kansas

After we left Oklahoma on Friday we traveled to Kansas to see Ben's Grandparents as well as the Lehman Cousins.   

Audra enjoyed walking the dogs with Abby

Phoebe and cousin Kate lounging on the couch

Cousin Sam and Phoebe

Phoebe had so much fun with all of the cousins she had to take a nap on great aunt Karen.  

We had a wonderful time with everyone and can't wait to spend more time on the farm when we are back in town at Christmas.

Perhaps the funniest part of our trip was when Phoebe attempted to help Greta "escape" from the hotel room.  Phoebe has been enjoying the fact that she can open and shut doors if they are left open a crack (enough for her to get those tiny fingers through).  So when Ben was loading up the car to come home on Saturday morning and I was getting ready in the hotel bathroom Phoebe decided to take advantage of the opportunity daddy provided by leaving the door open a bit to make it easier to cary all of our stuff out to the car.  She opened the door and scooted out into the hallway letting Greta out as well.  Luckily I was standing right there and was able to grab Phoebe right away. Greta is a bit faster and was able to make it all the way down the hall before I caught up to her. I think we will be securely shutting all hotel doors from now on!

Oklahoma Thanksgiving

We traveled to Oklahoma on Monday in order to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings.  We had a great time spending the week with the family and ended our visit with a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.

We purchased a turkey from a co-worker of Ben's and brought it with us from Wisconsin.  Ben undertook the responsibility of cooking the turkey and tried out some new recipes including making a brine for the turkey.  It turned out great!

The head chef takes a break from her hard work in the kitchen

An Oklahoma Thanksgiving would not be complete without the use of the good dishes (Chinet).  Hey at least we use chargers and place mats, so what if they are made out of old Christmas cards.  

Take your daughter to work day

While in Oklahoma I had the chance to go to my dad's shop and "play" with glass.  I had a great time pretending I knew what I was doing but needed help finishing most of my pieces.  I am grateful to my dad for his patience in demonstrating the techniques to me multiple times so that I could replicate them on my own. By the end I was able to complete some pieces on my own but I have decided that I need more practice. Perhaps I will have more opportunities to make it home once we move closer.

The master at work!

He makes it look SO easy but it is MUCH more difficult than it looks

Creating a pendant.

Yes, I am cutting glass with scissors, crazy but it works and makes interesting "flower" pendants. Once I get home I will take pictures of the pendants and post them! 

I am slacker and so can you...

So those of you who have been to our house or who talk to Audra for more than a few minutes know that she is OBSESSED with music.  If we are at home we MUST have on the Sirius radio, in fact her first words everyday are "Can I turn on kids stuff?"  FYI- Kids stuff is the name of her radio station on Sirius.  Or I should say WAS her radio station.  Sirius merged with XM radio not too long ago and last week they redid all of their radio stations.   In the merge they eliminated some of their stations including Audra's station.  It was replaced it with a really random mix of music, some of which is appropriate (Little Einsteins) and some of which is not (MC Hammer).  Needless to say she HATES it and keeps asking me what happened to her music.  Luckily, Ben saved the day (what a great daddy) by finding www.slacker.com.  It is a FREE internet radio system of sorts with TONS of different stations.  It has several that Audra loves including a Veggie Tales station and another one dedicated to Rafi.  I even found a station that plays Ani Difranco music (for those of you who did not know me pre-kids Ani is my FAVORITE artist) so of course I love it!  Thought I would spread the word... you can be a slacker too.

Fall in Wisconsin

A few weeks ago when we had fantastic fall weather I took the girls out to Riverside Park in downtown LaCrosse.

They had a great time playing in the leaves, 

especially since the trees at our house had about 50 leaves total, 

not great for playing or picture taking.

Audra thought these statues were great!

 She wondered what they were looking at on the other side of the river...

Big Eater

We brought home subs the other day for lunch. I gave Phoebe some of Audra's sandwich and when I returned to cut it up I saw that she was already helping herself.  It is humorous to see how pleased she is with herself for being a "big girl". 

I was attempting to take a "got milk" picture of Phoebe but she just kept licking off the cool whip.  So I just gave up and let her have the spoon.  Not quite the picture I had intended, but still cute.