June 16 - We made it back from our Galena trip!  We left the afternoon of Monday, June 9 and got back late Friday afternoon, June 13.  The girls spent most of their time swimming.  Poor Ryan!  He was definitely waterlogged.  We hired a sitter through the hotel, Helene, to watch the girls while we attended my work dinners.  It was nice for Ryan and I to be able to go do those things and have a little fun and Helene was AWESOME!  She's worked for Eagle Ridge for 16 years (well recommended thru them and sat for clients of Eagle Ridge for that long).  I hope we can use her again next year when we go.  We stayed an extra day there so we can do some family things.  Unfortunately it rained like cats and dogs, but we still managed to have a great time.  We went swimming, the girls got their nails done at the spa, I got to shop, we went horseback riding - whew!  Yes, we did a lot.  It was so much fun and we got to stay at a gorgeous resort in a beautiful 2 bedroom villa.  We were definitely spoiled.  Oh!  One funny saying Megan made while on the trip was "I look like a pickle".  It doesn't sound very funny, but O M G we were laughing so hard.  It was so cute and the way she said "pickle" was precious!

When we got back into town we turned around and dropped the girls off and Ryan's dads house.  Ryan and I had CPR renewal class the next morning, early, so we didn't want to have to take them to Riverton that early in the morning.  They had a blast and Ryan and I took our class and got some grocery shopping done before picking them up.

Yesterday was Father's Day.  The girls and I had already given Ryan his present last weekend - a bike and bike attachment for Kylie to ride with him.  Then we turned around that evening and bought a bike trailer.  I think that was the first time in 16 years that I surprised Ryan!  He thought he was getting a pressure washer.  Ha ha.  I was so thrilled to finally surprise that little sneak!  Hee hee.  Anyways, yesterday the girls and I let Daddy sleep in.  He woke up around 10 am all cheery and rested.  We then decided what to do with the day.  It was very hot outside, 90 degrees, so we didn't do some of the things Ryan had wanted to do - such as picnic in the park and bike riding.  We did, however, decide to take snacks to the park and play, then go over to my parents for an early dinner.  After that we went home and did some yard work.  I tried to get Ryan not to do them, to relax, but he did anyways.  I think he had a great day, though.  He seemed to enjoy just being with us - which is what we all would ask for and nothing more :)   Oh, btw, the girls did get Ryan a St. Louis Cardinal beer bucket and playing cards which they gave to him yesterday, too.

All and all we've had a great "vacation" week and ended it with a great Father's Day.  In a few weeks we head to Mt. Vernon for several days to swim and visit with more family.  I swear we are traveling a lot more this year for sure!

June 9 - Well, the tooth fairy came and left several goodies for Kylie.  She got a Hello Kitty electronic tooth brush, Watermelon tooth paste, and a $5 bill.  She was so super excited.  FYI - Tooth fairy only does this for the FIRST special tooth.  Ha ha.

June 8 - Kylie lost her tooth today!  We were at my office and Kylie came in to find me and screamed that her tooth fell out.  We were so excited.  So the tooth fairy has to make a visit tonight for sure.  Wow!  I can't believe my baby lost her first tooth.

June 3 - There are so many precious moments in our lives I think we tend to really savor them.  I have a few to share. 

• Last week Kylie learned how to ride a bicycle without training wheels.  I am so proud of her, her confidence and her ability to not show any fear in doing so. 
• Last week - one day - I had just put the girls in the tub for a bath and went outside to talk with Ryan.  I came back in to check on them and make sure they turned the water off and when I walk into the bathroom I saw the funniest thing ever.  Both girls were naked, soaking wet and staring into the tub.  I asked them what was going on and they had this shocked look on their face and tried everything they could to mutter the word “SPIDER”.  I was laughing so hard at the way they looked - it was cute.  You just had to see it.  I called Ryan in there to get the spider and put the girls back in the tub.  Ahh, I love how they keep me smiling.
• Funny that Megan is so scared of spiders and bugs, yet she saw a frog in the rocks the other day, picked it up and held it for a good 2-3 minutes before it scared her and she tossed it in the yard.  I was completely shocked that she did that.  She still wanted to go find it again and pick it back up.  How can you be scared of spiders and not frogs?  Ha ha.  I know I’m scared of both!
• Ryan and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this past Saturday.  We went for a relaxing weekend to Branson, MO.  I truly had a wonderful time with my hubby and look forward to many more weekend-getaways with him. 
• Last night it was storming and Kylie was scared.  Ryan went in to talk with her and just hearing them on the monitor - interacting, talking - it was just SO precious.  I cried.

May 27 - I just can’t seem to grasp the fact that Kylie has a loose tooth.  That she’s growing up so fast.  Yesterday she was giving me a “pinch massage” and she mentioned that she will always give her mommy and daddy one AND her future husband.  Ha ha.  That last bit cracked me up.  Already thinking about how well she’ll take care of her husband.  I hope she learns that throughout the years - to take care and love for her husband like he will to her.  Seriously, how pathetic is it to think of things like this at this age of her life?  I’m terrible.

Megan - well some days I see her growing up and others I wonder if she ever will.  She constantly cries and whines and some days it seems unbearable.  I keep reminding myself that this is just a phase - it will go away eventually.  Mind you, I’ve been reminding myself of this for 3 years now.  Ha ha.  It has to end eventually, right?  Please tell me yes it does.  I can’t handle anything other than that.  Ha ha.

Our family had a wonderful holiday weekend and even though the sun is not shining today, it’s a beautiful day so far.

May 21 - Megan has a fever :(  I don’t know what she has and why.  We just went to the doctor on Monday for her post-op appointment and she was perfectly fine.  Why couldn’t she get the fever on Monday so I could ask them why my little girl seems to get fevers all the time.  I just don’t understand it.  I sent her to Terri’s today because it’s just her and Kylie and told Terri to call me if she gets too fussy.  I haven’t gotten a call today so she must be doing well.

May 20 - Yesterday ended day 2 of cleaning up from the flooring project.  I am SO tired.  On a good note, the floor looks gorgeous!!!  On a bad note - the carpet looks not-so-good against it, ha ha.

Last night when Ryan was moving the refrigerator back into the kitchen he found a small bag of breastmilk stuck in the very back of the freezer.  It was January 2003.  It was breastmilk I had pumped for Kylie.  For some reason I wanted to cry when Ryan showed me this.  I felt sad.  I felt like time has gone too fast.  I went back and showed it to Kylie, who wanted to sleep with it because it made her sad too.  Ahhhhhh!  Of course I didn’t let her sleep with it.  I hesitated, but threw it away.  I almost wanted to keep it forever to remind me of that time.  sniff.  sniff.

What made me even more sad last night was discovering that Kylie does in fact have a very loose tooth.  I told her this morning that she has to stop growing up.  She proceeded to tell me that even though she grows up she’ll always be my baby.  Ahhhhh!  My sweet girl.  This morning I explained to her that she needs to save her tooth if it falls out so we can leave it for the tooth fairy and she’ll get money.  She informed me that the tooth fairy could leave money or presents?  Huh?  Someone needs to let me in on this secret.

Megan is a night owl - that girl could stay up later than any of us.  I went to bed at 11 pm last night and she was still awake.  She shares that common ground with her father. 

Kylie’s school party - last day of school - was today.  I messed up and sent her on the bus this morning, which I wasn’t supposed to do.  I got a call from the school to pick her up and so I did and then we met Ryan over at the party.  sigh.  If I don’t slow down this busy life of ours I’m going to mess one of these children up before they are 10!  I am SO happy Kylie was not upset about the mix-up.  I was so afraid she would be crying when I got to school, but she wasn’t.  So school is over for the summer!

 Megan had her post-op appointment yesterday and everything went well.  So we are on our way to the next phase of things.  Hopefully her therapist has more information for me on Thursday.

 So that’s it so far since yesterday.  I lead a very boring, slow-paced life.  Ha

May 19 - We had a great weekend at our friends in Waterloo.  Their daughter, Emerson’s 1st birthday party was this weekend.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we all spent a lot of time outdoors.  That’s not good for allergies, but for the mood it is.  It was nice to get away because the floors weren’t finished when we left on Friday and the guys were going to work on it Saturday which meant we couldn’t walk on it until mid afternoon on Sunday. 

We got into town yesterday around 12:30 p.m. and cleaned the office.  Then went home and we didn’t sit down to breathe until 10:00 p.m. last night!  Ryan actually didn’t stop until after 11:00 p.m.  It was crazy.  There was so much to do with the flooring project and the yard that got pushed to the waste side for awhile.  So we mowed, planted more of the garden, watered flowers (that I hope come back to the land of living - I forgot about them), and then after all the outdoor stuff we tackled the areas that were just floored.  Scrubbing counters, rewashing dishes and other stuff, cleaning out the refrigerator which gosh knows when it was last scrubbed down.  Ryan matched up trim to certain areas, swept the floors, cleaned.  We just didn’t stop.  That was mainly because we knew that this was going to take us days to clean.  Thankfully the kids from next door came over and played with the girls so we could do the things we did. 

Also, without having a washer and dryer right now laundry piled up and so I trucked down loads to my parents house.  I think I made a dozen trips down there yesterday.  Ha ha.  I even broke their washer after the second load.  Thankfully Ryan fixed it temporarily for me to continue my task, but it put me behind and so I still have piles of laundry to attack once we get our appliances in.

We are supposed to wait 72 hours before washing/putting anything on the floors.  Ryan has decided we MUST put the appliances back tonight.  I would disagree but I want them back just as badly as he does.  We’ll wait a bit longer to mop all the floors and get all the rest of the furniture back.  Once we get everything back to the way it was then we have to have all the carpets cleaned.  They are nasty after this remodeling project.   THEN it’s on to the next project - the patio!  I’m excited and not excited about that one.  It’s the expense and not having all the money we need to go full fledge forward with it that doesn’t excite me.

Oh well, we are getting the slowly but surely.

May 15 - Flooring Project - Ryan left work early yesterday to meet the contractor at our house to see how the flooring was going.  I got off work and picked up the girls.  When we got into the house I about cried at the sight of dust everywhere.  I knew this was going to be a messy project - especially in the areas being refloored but I didn’t expect it in all areas of the house.  UGH!!!  I also knew that when the flooring was finally finished we’d have a lot of cleanup, preparation, etc to get everything back in it’s place, but I didn’t imagine I’d be scrubbing down the whole house.  Wahhhhhh!  Can I have some cheese to go with my wine?  sigh.

So since everything was a mess and we really weren’t supposed to be walking on the floor (which is difficult since the areas being done pretty much lead you to all areas of the house) we went out for dinner.  I was battling a migraine so I was not much fun.  Afterwards, we went to buy the fire pit for our new patio that I’m not sure what is going on with.  Ha ha.  We have decided on stamped concrete, color, pattern, etc - but the landscaping plans we had drawn up are still not finalized and I have questions on landscaping and changing a few things with the patio - so……sigh.  The bid also came in higher than what we budgeted and Ryan just needs to pull the trigger on this.  We can’t put the pool up until the patio is poured.

I am so glad we are getting away this weekend, although the flooring may be done before we leave and it would be nice to use the weekend to clean and get everything back to normal instead of coming home Sunday to a mess.  Oh well.  Just another thing to sit at work and think about what I could be doing instead of being there.  ha ha.

Kylie is wrapping up her final full week of Pre-K.  Monday is her last full day.  Tuesday is her big party and Ryan and I will both be there for it - it’s the final day.  I’m almost going to be glad when school is out so I don’t have to rush the girls to get ready so quickly in the morning so we don’t miss the bus.  Kylie is obviously excited about it. 

May 14 - It’s been a few days since I’ve posted.  Mother’s Day “weekend” was fabulous.  On Saturday Ryan and the girls gave me one of my presents - a picnic basket and all the stuff to go with it.  I’ve been wanting one of those for years!  The girls also gave me a card and Kylie gave me a card she made at school.  So we went for a picnic at the lake and then to the zoo.  The weather was beautiful!  Ryan got a bunch of pictures of the girls and me, which was great too.  After that we did some shopping and then to a very nice dinner.  Then we went home and watched movies and Ryan fixed me raspberry daiquiri's.  YUM!  On Sunday, Ryan gave me a beautiful card and a letter that made me cry happy tears.  He then gave me a folder which contained information on the romantic getaway he’s taking me on for our anniversary at the end of the month!  I about cried.  We then did some shopping, visited with my mother and then went to see Nim’s Island.  It was a fantastic Mother’s Day weekend and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.  Oh, and Ryan and the girls bought me my outdoor swing I’ve been wanting for years.  He got it for me early so the we could use it while I was home with Megan after her surgery.

Then came Monday when our flooring guy called and said “tile is in early - I’ll be there on Wednesday”.  Ahhhhhh!  Huh??? So we spent Monday night and last night taking trim down, moving furniture and stuff, moving appliances, etc, etc.  It was exhausting!  More so for Ryan, I’m sure.  Ha ha.  Today they start ripping out our old flooring.  Luckily we’ll be gone this weekend and won’t have to worry about the mess then we’ll just have to worry about when they finish on Monday.  sigh.

The guy that was to do our patio bid also came out last night so now we have to decide what we want to do with that.  Lots of projects for sure!

Oh and Megan woke up at 2 am the other morning begging for food!  This kid is begging for food constantly, but when you try to feed her a regular meal she barely eats it.  Grrrrr!  ha ha.

May 7 - These past 5 days have been a roller coaster of fun and not-so-fun times.  Hee hee.  Megan went in Friday morning to have her adenoid surgery.  I was stressed because I felt bad putting her through that pain even though I know it was needed.  I felt bad, too, because my stress was increasing Ryan’s stress level and there seemed to be some negative tension between us all weekend.  I hate how my stress pulls us apart.  I want, during stressful times, for that to bring us together and instead it seems to be that I push Ryan away and he gets upset and well, the tension grows between us.  I hope that is something we can work on.  I really need him when I am going through stressful times, and not there in a tension sort of way. 

 Ok, so Megan was in recovery mode the last 5 days and I think we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel….maybe.?.  She was not happy this morning when we dropped her off at Terri’s :(  I wasn’t happy to be going back to work, either.  Despite the fact that I looked stressed the last few days, I was really enjoying my time at home with the girls.  I think the girls appreciated me being there as well.

While we were at home recovering we also took over a major garden relocation project.  In anticipation of getting a stamped concrete patio poured, we had to move the garden beds so the pool to go in it’s place.  My lovely husband, who I know was not looking forward to such a daunting task, did a wonderful job moving all the beds, rebuilding them, moving all the dirt, hauling more dirt and just working up a lot of sweat.  I know that was a lot of work for him and I greatly appreciate it more than he will ever know.  The girls and I got the less stressful task of planting seeds in the beds.  Ha ha.  So far we planted corn, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes and I know there is something else I’m forgetting. Oh well.  We still have strawberries, melon and herbs to plant.  Oh, I know!  We also planted lettuce.  Oh, and we planted a kiwi bush in a planter on the deck.  I’m so excited about this!I hope it produces kiwi this year.  The girls are madly in love with  kiwi.  ha ha.

May 2 - Megan had her surgery today.  It was supposed to start at 9:30, but we didn't go in until 11:30.  It was terrible - the wait.  She was freaking out so they had to give her something to calm her down.  The agony of waiting was too great for me - I was stressing out.  Then right before Megan went in for surgery we got a call from the sitter that she wasn't going to make it back from St. Louis in time to pick up Kylie so Ryan had to go pick her up.  After her surgery and they called us back and said she was awake - what we saw just broke my heart.  The nurse was holding Megan and my baby had been crying her eyes out.  I don't know if she was scared, in pain or what.  After an hour they finally let us come home.  Megan was not what I expected when we got home.  She was jumping all over the place.  I figured she would be tired, but she wasnt.

May 1 - I forgot to talk about this before.  The girls were so excited.  We are now drinking unpasteurized cows milk and so when we get the milk we have to skim the cream off so it’s not whole milk.  No reason to waste the cream so we are making butter with it.  It tastes out of this world!  The other night when we picked up our milk from my mother-in-law, she gave us a few smaller jars for the girls to use themselves to make butter.  They thought that was the neatest thing ever!  Although, after a few shakes the girls arms were tired and so mommy took over.  Ha ha.  It is really neat and satisfying to make something like that by yourself.

April 29 - This morning was a great morning!  Ryan and I had a lovely evening ;)  and this morning I still felt like I was on cloud nine.  The girls were still asleep when I got out of the shower, so that always makes the morning better.  I love my two beautiful gals, but they tend to stress me out in the morning when I’m trying to get ready for work.  I usually like to get a shower, blow dry my hair, and brush my teeth before seeing their smiley faces.  One of the highlights of my morning, besides seeing Ryan get out of the shower (hee hee) is getting to go wake up our girls.  I love going in there and kissing their foreheads and whispering “good morning, I love you”.  It’s an even better morning when they are cheerful and happy to see mommy’s face.  Ha ha.  This morning was one of those mornings - everyone cheerful and happy to start a new day.  No rushing, no fighting, no stress - just a wonderful morning, despite the fact that we all had to go places we would rather not go.

April 15 - Kylie is really riding her bike well.  Ryan and I were shocked to see how fast she was going on it.  Last year she was so afraid of it and this year she has no fear.  I wonder when she'll let us take the training wheels off of it?

April ? - We went to see Dr. Seuss' Horton Meets a Who.  It was not a great movie by Ryan's and my standards, but the girls thought it was ok. 

April 8 - Megan's ENT appointment was today.  After the doctor put some contraption up her nose (ouch, looked uncomfortable but she did good) he determined that her adenoids are rather large and that we should go ahead and have the surgery done.  We accepted that diagnosis and are waiting to hear back as to when they will schedule surgery.  Ryan and I, are both, nervous about her being put under :(

I also found out today that my grandmother, who's been in the hospital for about a week now, does in fact have breast and lung cancer :(  I can't seem to wrap my head around the news yet.  I'm in denial mode right now, I think.

April 7 - We had a great, relaxing weekend!!! The weather was beautiful so we took advantage of that and went to the park and even took a hike down to the river.  The girls weren't sure about that.  Ha ha.  I got to hang clothes out on the line which was a nice change, too.  Alaina's 1st birthday party was Sunday so we attended that as well.  I'm ready for the nice warm sunny weather!!!

Kylie is on Spring break this week so she'll get to spend more time with Megan at Terri's.

March 29 - Today was Kathy's memorial service.  A very hard experience, but I'm glad it's finally over with.  We spent a lot of time with family and looking back on Kathy's life since we didn't know much about her.  Poor Ryan was still sick and ended up going to the urgent care for medicine.  He did in fact have the flu.

March 28 - My poor hubby is still sick and NOT good with Aunt Kathy's memorial service this weekend and family coming into town to stay with us.  I'm a bit stressed because it will be a long weekend, but hopefully we'll survive.  Kylie has soccer practice tonight and it's COLD, COLD outside!!!

March 27 - Ryan is sick.  He is very sick with fever - I think it's the flu.  He never gets sick so when he's down he's DOWN.  Megan was supposed to have OT today, but with Ryan being sick (I made him stay at home) I had to get Kylie on the bus so OT was skipped today.

March 23 -  Happy Easter!!!!  The girls were so excited about Easter.  Kylie woke up early to tell us the bunny had arrived and left goodies.  We told her it was too early and to wait until her sister woke up and then we'd get up.  ha ha!  So Megan finally woke up and we discovered all the goodies the bunny left us and Kylie did the egg hunt.  Megan wasn't interested in that.  Then we got all dressed up to go over to Susan and Raymond's for the annual egg hunt there.  It was fun, despite the fact that it was very cold and SNOWING!!!  Afterwards we had dinner at my parents and the girls got gifts there as well.

March 21 - Kylie did not have school today and I was off of work - for Good Friday.  We spent the day doing all sorts of fun things.

March 17 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Megan had her 3 year check-up today.  She weighed in at 26.5 pounds (35% on the chart) and 37 inches in height (50% on chart).  The doctor scheduled an ENT appointment for her in April to have her adenoids rechecked since she is still mouth breathing and snoring.  He also had an ultrasound done because she was complaining of pee problems.  We also have him reassure us about the bumps on her neck.  A while back Ryan discovered big knots on the back of her neck so I took her in a few weeks ago and the doctor said it was lymph nodes growing and normal for her age.  Well we weren't satisfied with that answer and a bit scared about it.  He did reassure us everything is ok with the way they are right now.

March 16 -  It's my baby girl's 3rd birthday today!!!!  I can't believe she is 3!  We had her birthday party yesterday.  She wanted the Superman theme - silly girl.  It went well.  She had a lot of fun, actually opened her presents too.  Jim and Jen stayed the weekend with us as well.  I can't get over how big both of their kids are getting.

March 12 - Busy week this week!  Ahhhh!!!!  Megan had her pre-K screening today.  She did a lot better than she did last fall.  She cooperated much better.  It appears like she will get in to pre-K this fall, but we won't know anything until late May at the earliest.  The lady said she has a forward tongue thrust (which we knew), a frontal lisp, very very bright girl/ very smart, and a few small speech issues that they will watch throughout pre-K and Kindergarten.  They will then re-evaluate her around 1st grade when she qualifies for speech help through the school.

March 11 - I had my work lobby day today and so the girls had to spend the evening with daddy.  I missed all three of them so much.  Of course they did well without me, but were all excited to see me when I got home :)

March 10 - We went to Indy for the weekend to go to an indoor water park and visit with Angi, Pat & the kids and Russ, Wendy and Sean.  It was a lot of fun.  It was also tiring, too!  Ha ha.  The kids wanted to be in the water all day long.  I think the adults were feeling pretty water logged.  Ha ha.  I was so busy playing that I didn't even get any pictures - I think Pat took two for me with my camera, but that's all I got.  I'll have to see if he got any with his.  The kids had so much fun as well.  Ryan and I acted like kids again and even went down the water slides a few times!

March 4 - Ryan and I took turns being home with Megan since she still has a fever and telling us her ear hurt.  Later in the evening Kylie started complaining of ear pain so Ryan took her to the Prompt Care and sure enough she has a double ear infection.  Oy! 

We got 4 inches of snow today and before Kylie complained of ear pain she was able to go out and play in it.  Megan wanted to go outside so bad, but with her ear infection she couldn't.

March 3 - I had to take Megan to the Prompt Care today.  She has an ear infection.  Kylie and her both have been hacking, coughing, and runny noses.  Megan was also running a fever.  Hopefully it goes away in a few days with our Indy trip coming up.

Kylie had her Kindergarten Preview night tonight as well.  She got to see what she'd do in a typical Kindergarten day and I got to listen to a speech about how K would be.  It was scary to think of Kylie "moving up" in the world.  She's growing up so fast.  Both girls are.

March 2 - Kylie attended a birthday party for a girl, Brandi, in her pre-K class.  The weather was in the 70's and was absolutely beautiful.  It was a fun party. 

March 1 - The girls had ballet class today.  It was Megan's 1st ballet class.  She looked so darling in her little outfit and slippers.  She didn't pay attention very well, but I think she'll start to understand it more as time goes on. 

February 22 - 24 - We spent the weekend at Jim and Jen's in Waterloo.  It was a lot of fun.  It had been a long time since we've seen them so it was nice to get together.  We caught up on "current events" and the kids played a lot.  Emerson is growing so fast.  We went to a bounce place which was a lot of fun for not only the kids, but for the adults!

February 19 - Megan had a doctor's appointment today to see Dr. L.  A few weeks ago Ryan noticed a knot on Megan's neck - it was very odd looking and feeling.  Of course I freaked out like the mom I am and it was torture waiting until this day.  Dr. L said it was most likely benign cysts on the lymph nodes and that it's common because of the growth rate patterns for kids ages 2 to 4.  Interesting.  He did have a chest x-ray done to double check that everything is clear there.  We also scheduled Megan's ENT appointment as well as an appointment to get a sonogram done since she was still complaining it hurt to urinate.  Poor girl.

February 18 - No school today and I'm off work!  So I decided to be brave and we invited Kylie's cousin over for the day.  So I had all three girls.  We visited Ryan for lunch - we went to Pizza Hut.  Afterwards I took the girls for ice cream.  Megan was so tired so slept through the last place, but the girls enjoyed it.  After that we had to swing by my office to help on a computer problem and then back home for a fun-filled afternoon.  All three girls did surprisingly well and had a great time.  That evening we went over to my mothers for cake and ice cream - today is her birthday.

February 14 - Valentines Day!  The weekend before Valentine's Day, Ryan surprised all three of us girls to manicures and pedicures.  It was so much fun!!!!  It was a very nice, relaxing surprise -- the best he could have given us.  So that was our big V-Day gift from him.  On V-Day Kylie had her school party.  I met her there to celebrate it with her.  They did not have games, but had a snack time that we could share with her, then a craft, and last was opening Valentines from classmates.  It was a lot of fun and Kylie seemed to enjoy herself.   Later that evening we celebrated V-day as a family.  The girls wanted to get Ryan Cardinal stuff so they got him baseballs and a lunch box.  I got him a shirt, two books, and we got him a talking bull.  ha ha.  Then dad and Doris came by to give the girls candy, snacks, clothes, and games for the holiday.  After that we went out to get dinner.  We originally were going to go to Cancun, but the wait was too long so we went to Sam's pizza.  It was a long evening but a nice one. Oh, I almost completely forgot.  Ryan and I just got the girls some candy and talking V-Day animals. 

January 22 - It's a Thursday.  It's been a few weeks since I have journaled and I have really wanted to get here to day it.  Every time I think about it something comes up and I don't get here.  There hasn't been too much going on.  It's freezing cold outside and none of us seem to have the energy we should.  Right now the girls and I are battling colds.  Ryan just finished having one, himself. 

One of Megan's latest things is when you tell her to do something, like eat her food, she looks at you with this really big smirk on her face, bats her eyes and says "Yes, your highness".  What a turkey!  If she wasn't so darn cute I would probably get a bit upset with her comments, but I don't.  I must admit I was annoyed after her doing it numerous times. 

Kylie went back to school after a long break (January 7) and so it's been hard to get back into that routine with her.  We review every evening after dinner what she did that day -- looking at all the papers she did at school.  Every night she can't wait to show us her papers. 

Last weekend we went to the PBS Fun Station at the fairgrounds.  The girls had a blast, despite the fact that it was very crowded.  They got to do several arts and crafts, jump in the bouncy house, see Curious George, and much more.  Afterwards, Kylie had been asking to go see Grandpa Russ so we took the girls to his house and they stayed the night there. 

Megan and Kylie started back up at the Y this month.  Kylie chose an art class and Megan is in swimming class.  She's in a class now where she gets in the pool with the teacher.  I don't get in there with her.  I was amazed that she did it.  I thought for sure I'd be in that pool with her, but she sat there, listened to the teacher and did what she was told.  I am so proud of Megan.

January 4 - Well the new year is here -- 2008!  I am so excited for this new year -- a fresh new start for our family and the chance to watch our family grow stronger, healthier, and happier.  The girls are changing so much that each year is even more exciting, but in the same token they are growing older and that is saddening in many ways.

We had a great New Years.  We went over to Wayne and Sandy's and enjoyed a few hours there with family and friends.  After that we went home and goofed around there until the new year . The girls were getting very anxious to get out the party favors and hats so at 11 pm we told them it was the new year and we did a big celebration then.  After that they went downstairs and watched a movie on the big screen.  Dh and I watched the MTV New Years Special, had a few drinks then played some poker.  At midnight we both went downstairs and had a family hug to ring in the new year.  The girls were still awake, obviously.  Ha ha.

New Years day we took down all the inside Christmas decorations and put the house back in order.  We have yet to take down the outside decorations -- it's too cold!!!

Ryan and I went back to work yesterday and the girls settled into their routine at Terri's.  Last night our niece, Kirsten, stayed the night and the girls had a blast.  Today the girls are at Grandma and Popo Taft's since Kirsten goes back to Georgia today.

I know Ryan and I, both, are excited to see the changes in our family this year.  The girls definitely keep us on our toes and make life that much more exciting.

Happy New Year to our family and friends!