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.  

Tagged A-Z

I have received a bunch of "tag" e-mails from various sources but when I was tagged on my friend Sara's blog I knew I had to respond.  So here we go.....

A.  Attached or Single?  Attached

B.  Best Friend? Ben & I have several close girlfriends

C.  Cake or Pie?  Flourless Chocolate Cake

D. Day of Choice? Saturday

E.  Essential item? currently ...  headbands

F.  Favorite color?  I don't actually have one

G.  Gummy bears or worms?  Swedish Fish

H.  Home Town?  Home is where my family currently resides

I.  Indulgence?  Sleeping in until after 7 am

J.  January or July?  January 

K.  Kids?  two Audra (3 yrs) and Phoebe (13 months)

M.  Marriage date? 12/30/2000

N.  Number of brothers and sisters?  2 younger sisters, 1 step-sister, 1 step-brother

O.  Oranges or Apples? Honey crisp Apples

P.  Phobias?  SNAKES

Q.  Quotes? "Promise me you will always remember... You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."  Christopher Robin to Pooh

R.  Reasons to smile?  my family and the love we share

S.  Season of choice? Fall (but a warm fall)

T.  Tag five people? Lisa M, Holly, Becca, Rachel, Paula

U.  Unknown fact about me? I wanted to be a nurse but I can't stand the sight of blood

V.  Vegetable?  Eggplant

W.  Worst Habit?  Biting my nails

X.  X-ray or Ultrasound?  Ultrasound

Y.  Your favorite food? Sushi

Z.  Zodiac sign? Virgo

Audra's hat

Apparently I had a terrible case of "Mommy brain" when I made the girls' hats last year because the hat I made for Audra was way too big. I think it will fit her next year, and actually matches next year's coat so all is not lost =)  So... while making a hat for cousin Nora I made this one for Audra.

As you can see she as not very excited about having to take a picture.  

Winter is here...Already!

Last week was beautiful, mid sixty's all week with one day reaching 72!  We had a terrific week playing outside and going to the neighborhood park. On Friday that all changed when the temps dropped into the thirty's and we got snow!  So I decided to breakout the winter things from storage.

This is the hat I made for Phoebe last year in hopes that she would be big enough to wear it this winter with her hand-me-down coat.  This was of course when Phoebe was small and still a "normal" size for her age and not the GIANT she is now... Seriously 26 pounds at 13 months!

This is how Phoebe felt about wearing the too small hat. 

It's a shame I really liked that one... 

A much happier girl!  

Good thing I kept this prototype (don't look at it too closely, it was the first one I made with ribbons)

Phoebe's eye update

So we went in today for a checkup to see if the antibiotics were working for Phoebe's eye infection.  The doctor that saw us on Wednesday was running late at the hospital so we saw our usual doctor's NP.  She is a very nice woman but says at least one inappropriate thing when we are in the office, today was no exception.  After looking at Phoebe's eye and discussing the medication she asked "Did the other doctor tell you why we are so concerned about these types of infection?" I said yes but she kept talking and said " Well when they are not treated properly they can go into the brain and cause a deadly type of infection".  Wow thanks for that!  Luckily our regular doctor was walking by the hallway a few minutes later and popped in to see Phoebe. He said that the eye was looking good and as long as we keep up with the meds she should be fine.  (I really like him - obviously he scored more points today).  Ok so looking back at the picture I posted it does not look THAT bad but it really did look worse in person.  At least now it is no longer swollen and the irritation around her eye has mostly subsided or I would really be freaked out.  

If you think this looks bad, you should see the other guy

No she does not belong to the Baby Fight Club!  

Phoebe woke up on Tuesday morning (after not sleeping most of the night due to a high fever) with this lovely infection under her eye.  Turns out is a bacterial infection and not pink eye.  Which one would think is a good thing until you go to get the antibiotic at the pharmacy.  Not only did is cost $40 (that was our co-pay, the actual cost is $190) but it is the WORST smelling medicine EVER!  I wish the computer had scratch and sniff because I don't think one can possibly comprehend how horrible this stuff is without actually being subjected to it.  The pharmacist tried to add some favoring to help but I don't think it did any good. I have to give it to Phoebe three times a day and I feel like I am torturing her every time I do, poor girl.  On a happier note she is fever free and a much happier baby and I think the infection is getting a bit better with each passing day.  Thank goodness ... I would hate for social services to pay a call to my house today. 

Story time

Phoebe's new favorite activity is "reading" books.  She loves to look through them on her own, have Audra do a picture walk with her, or read stories in great grandpa's chair.  As you can see from the picture everyone has to get involved during story time, even Greta. 

Audra and I typically attend story time at the library on Monday evenings and this week Phoebe had to go with us since Ben is in Ohio.  Phoebe really enjoyed the event and even joined the older kids and sat by her sister on the rug in front of the teacher.  

What a big girl

The other day Audra was in the bathroom with me while I was getting ready.  She asked if I would blow dry her hair too so we decided to make her hair straight.  I can't believe how big she looks with her new hair style. She was in love with it because it had NO tangles and she could brush in on her own.  The entire day she kept saying "look at my beautiful hair", perhaps next we should work on humility!

Well what do we have here?

Phoebe enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and saying "Hiiiiyaaaaa" to everyone on Halloween.  Imagine her joy when she discovered we were gathering candy from all of the houses and that HER pumpkin was filled with goodies!

As you can see she did not want to wait for assistance with her treats...

Can't blame a girl for trying!

Trick or Treat

The girls had a fantastic time this Halloween. We started the day off by wearing our costumes to play group where we enjoyed some fun time with our friends and some tasty treats (thanks Sarah).  The girls had a great time wearing their costumes and enjoyed trick or treating around our neighborhood.

In the evening we headed over to the Jerry and Debbie Clarkin's house for our annual Halloween festivities. Audra had a great time passing out candy to all of the kids and Phoebe enjoyed some time with the Clarkin Clan.  

Phoebe and Tauntie

B and Phobo

Papa George and the little monkey

Grandma Debie and the Butterfly 

(wonder if this was before or after Audra got her individual Haagen Dazs ice cream?)