Mommy-Daughter Holiday Date

What a fun day!  A few weeks back I planned a holiday mommy-daughter date to kick off the season. Rylee and I both love Christmas and I enjoy attending as many holiday activities as possible.

Getting ready to head to Des Moines for our fun day.

We attended our 3rd annual Disney on Ice performance.  I just can't imagine not going to this now.  It's fun for the whole family, no matter your age.  I never think it can get any better than the previous year and I'm always pleasantly surprised.  I really loved several things in the performance this year and even found myself getting teary-eyed with excitement (is that weird?). Rylee had been counting down the days and was overjoyed when she woke up that it was finally here!  She thoroughly enjoyed the show as I expected (except when I wouldn't buy her overpriced plastic toys).

The other event we attended today was conveniently right across the street from the Disney on Ice venue. I was gifted two tickets to the Blank Children's Hospital Festival of Trees.  What an amazing event!  This really put my heart in the right place for the season.  I'm always thinking of ways to give during the holiday and attending this event gave me some new ideas.

If you haven't been, Festival is held at Veterans Memorial and houses lots and lots of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, with proceeds from the event going to Blank Children's Hospital.  We got there right when they opened and had time to walk through all of the trees before it got busy.  Each visitor is given a ballot to vote for their favorite tree.  Rylee picked this one.

And this one got my vote.

Once we finished looking at the trees, we bought a cookie from the bake sale and found seats near the stage to watch the local dancers that were about to perform.  We watched about 15 dances -- young kids are so fun to watch perform!  There was an incredibly adorable young boy dancing and all I could picture was Wyatt -- I made sure to tell James I now have plans to put Wyatt in dance ;)

While we didn't participate, there were so many activities there for the children -- train ride, cookie decorating, gingerbread house making, etc.  Santa was also there for pictures -- Rylee was just "thrilled" about this (she hates Santa...and Cy...and Smokey the bear...and every other costumed creature).  It was a fun, festive event to kick off the holiday and I plan to attend again.  It's a great way to give a little to the children's hospital while enjoying sounds and sights of the season.

Our family Christmas activities this week will be driving around looking at Christmas lights and shopping for our Angel Tree families.  

Have a great week!!

Feeling Thankful

While I could definitely create a super long list of things I'm thankful for, I wanted to share a few that I have been thinking about recently.

1 - I'm incredibly thankful for our new home/property/location/town.  We have lived here almost two months now and not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings and feel like I'm on cloud nine!  I love my house, love the property, and the location.  I can't say a bad thing about our new town and have been impressed over and over again by the friendliness.  From the shop owners, to the fire chief, to the school staff --- everyone has been very welcoming to our family.  I am, as they say here, "Nevada Proud"!

2 - I'm thankful to have a daughter who reminds me not to take life too serious.
"Mom, but I don't even care if my clothes match!"
"Mom, you know it doesn't matter if we spill because we can just clean it up!"
"Mom, why does it matter if the house is clean all the time?"
Also, when she jumps out of bed in the morning so excited because she gets to be the line leader at school that day, or the snack provider, it reminds me that the small things matter!

3 - I'm thankful to have a husband who allows me to stay home with my children.  I'm also very thankful that he plays such an active role as a parent.  He never misses an opportunity to teach the children something new or coach them to be respectful people.  I'm impressed each and every time he takes a minutes to teach...whether its educational, an activity, or just a life lesson.

4 - I'm thankful for reconnections.  In the past few months I have reconnected with two friends from my childhood/high school.  Ironically, they both moved back to the area this year too.  I have enjoyed time spent with each of them.  In addition, I met with my first grade teacher today (who happens to have been my favorite teacher K-12), who I haven't seen since my high school graduation I don't think. Hearing her voice as she read to my children brought me back to my childhood and made me feel very "at home".

5 - I'm thankful for my mother who volunteers to take my kids even when she just saw them the day before and probably has a million other things to do.  The kids will never turn down a chance to go to Grandma's and I'm thankful she creates an environment they love to be in.

There it is....my very short version of things I'm thankful for today.  I'm looking forward to a Facebook feed full of thankfulness tomorrow!!

HAPPY EATING DAY THANKSGIVING!!!  

Christmas shopping done early

It's not unusual for me to start Christmas shopping in the early fall, but this year, I will be 100% done before Thanksgiving....and that, is unsual.  As of right now, I only have 1 thing left to purchase.

I have a four-year-old who has been making her Christmas list since September, so I was pretty certain what I was going to get her and started shopping for her in October.  I'm actually disappointed I have to cut myself off with her gifts...she is so easy to shop for, I want to get her every single thing I see that I know she would love. We are still arguing over which color cowgirl boots she is getting though; hopefully she won't be disappointed in what I pick out.  

Wyatt doesn't grasp Christmas yet (though I was shocked that he knew Santa Claus when he saw him in a picture), so he hasn't asked for a single thing.  I can tell shopping for a boy is always going to be harder for me, but I feel like I purchased some things he will love.  I leave his big gift for Daddy to pick out....but I'm giving him a deadline to have it by so I don't stress (he's a December 23rd shopper).

One thing I did this year that I've never done in the past and didn't think I would ever do, is buy a used gift.  I wanted to get Wyatt a certain farm toy, but was disappointed to find out it was $30 (it's not very big, thus I thought that price was crazy)...I happened to stop in my favorite children's consignment shop to kill time one day, and wouldn't you know...they had it for $4.85!!  It even looked brand new!!  They had another similar toy too, so I got both for less than half the price of the one brand new!  I was pretty excited!!

In addition to the kids and James, I had 10 other people to buy for this year.  Normally I really struggle with most of them, but this year it just came easy, thankfully.

I really wanted to try buying local as much as possible this year.  I definitely didn't get quite as many things from local shops as I would have liked, but I did get about 20% of it.  I did a lot of online shopping though and have been enjoying the daily deliveries at my house :)

I had a few motives for getting my shopping done early this year.

1. Weather.
I really dislike running errands in the cold, so I decided to take advantage of the nice fall weather to get some shopping in.  I hear we may get 5-7 inches of snow this weekend....GAG!!

2. Shipping time.
I know the closer it gets to Christmas, the longer it takes for items to ship.  Knowing I had quite a few things to purchase online, I figured "why wait?!"

3. Enjoy December.
I have heard people say they enjoy the Christmas season better when the shopping stress is out of the way.  I decided to try that out for myself.  So far, I really feel good knowing my shopping is done and I can just relax and have fun.  I'm not much of a Black Friday shopper, but my new favorite local shops in my small town are having great sales that day and I can just go and leisure shop and enjoy the start of the season without long lines and fighting for parking spots :)

I'm also excited for all of the holiday things we will do with the kids --- decorate the tree, look at Christmas lights, festival of trees, wrap presents, decorate cookies, build a gingerbread house, attend Christmas events, MAYBE see Santa (Rylee has already voiced her opinion that we NOT do this...she is not a fan).

Yesterday, Rylee and I listened to Christmas music and made ornaments...we are getting in the spirit already!

This morning I started addressing Christmas cards. If I wasn't hosting Thanksgiving, I might start getting my Christmas decorations out this weekend....if we really get a sizeable amount of snow, I still might :)

Five Events

Bare with me...I have several short stories to share.  I haven't had time to write, so I decided to do a condensed version of them all.  Enjoy!

Date Night In.

James and I are terrible at making time for dates.  It's something I really wish we could change and I'm always hinting that we need date night.  So, a couple Sundays ago, James told me we would be having date night after the kids went to bed.  At first I thought maybe he got a sitter.  Instead it went something like this....

We put the kids to bed about 45 minutes early and then went downstairs where James had the fire going in the fireplace, with two full glasses of wine.  I'm thinking "oh, this is romantic", right?!  I'm still wondering what it is exactly that we are going to do since it's "date" night.  Then, he tells me to go pick out a board game.  Ha!!  LOVED IT!!!  I knew exactly which one to pick.....LIFE!  Rylee and I had played that game earlier that week (sort of...we didn't use money and really she just wanted to drive her pink car around and add "babies" to it), and I remember thinking as we were playing that it would be a fun game to play with James again now that we have kids.We used to play board games all the time until we had a second kiddo.  We have a decent collection of them, but none had been opened in at least 3 years probably.  

It was just as much fun as I thought it would be.  We could laugh at some of the things that happened to us in the game and cringe at others, thankful they weren't real.  One of us might have even said, "whew" every time we passed a "have/adopt a baby" spot ;)  Somehow, we both managed to make it all the way through without kids in our car. 

It was a very fun date night in and proved we can still enjoy each other without electronics :)  James won the game, but by less than $100!  

External Fixator

One of the things I really love about my magazine job is getting to meet new people.  Last week, I was in a woman's home to interview her for a story.  As we finished, we were chatting about our lives and somehow my accident came up.  I don't normally just bring it up, but I felt comfortable enough with the lady and felt compelled to tell her about it.  When I finish, she quietly stands up and says, "I have something to show you....something you can appreciate."  

I follow her to the adjoining room that, although dark, contained a metal sculpture that kept catching my eye as I interviewed her.  She turns on the light and walks me over to the sculpture.  I could make out that it was a woman's body, but that was it.  I ask her what it is I'm looking at and she says, "It's my daughter." She then tells me that her daughter was injured during a hiking expedition and shattered her pelvis, like I did.  She explained that her daughter had to wear an external fixator for a while and the sculpture depicts her breaking free from it.  

"WOW!" I thought,  That's amazing.  We talked about her daughter's injuries, treatments and how she healed -- all similar to my story.  We were both in such awe that we had come into each other's lives and had this strange story in common.  

When I left she said, "I'm so glad to have met another external fixator survivor."  It was a pretty neat meeting -- got more out of it than I had planned on! :)  

Learning to Ride

Last week, Ry and I had an awesome horse back riding experience.  A friend asked if we wanted to go ride at their family friend's horse farm.  I knew that this family gives riding lessons, so I was comfortable going and knew they wouldn't put Rylee in any danger.  

We got there about 15 minutes earlier than my friend and her daughter, but she told me to go ahead and get started without her.  So, I went to the door to let them know we had arrived.  The owner, Anne, said for us to head to the barn and she would be right out.  

Now, I had imagined that Anne would have a small pony picked out for Rylee to ride, have it already saddled up, and that she would hold on to the horse reins and walk the pony around in a few circles, and then we'd be done.  I couldn't have been more wrong!!!  I was absolutely blown away at the entire experience!!

When Anne came out, she picked a full size horse and led it into the barn.  After she hooked the horse, Pete, up in a stall so he couldn't run away, Anne started telling Rylee why Pete needs brushed first and began to show her how to do it.  Then, she handed Rylee the brush and told her to finish brushing Pete while she goes and sweeps the barn.  WHAT?!?!  

My first thought was "wow, she is really going to let Rylee just do this?!?!"  I knew she must have really trusted the horse.  Ry was a little nervous at first, but she got Pete brushed.

After that, Rylee got to help pick out a saddle for her and Pete, as well as a helmet that would fit her little head.  Anne guided Pete into the arena as Ry and I followed.  She then told Rylee how to mount the horse.  I wasn't sure she would be able to do it by herself, and it turned out she did need a little boost. 

Then the instruction started.  Anne told Rylee how to sit and breath while on the horse. I learned that you have to control your breathing while riding so you don't scare the horse. Rylee practiced her breathing and sitting tall.  

She then learned how to make the horse walk, turn, stop, etc.  She was commanding the horse alone (mostly -- she needed to be a little louder and more aggressive) and riding so beautifully.  For the most part, Anne didn't have to hold the reins.  We even played a little game of "Red Light, Green Light", where I called out the colors and Rylee would either start or stop the horse.  I was one proud mama watching her ride so comfortably!!  It was an experience I will never forget!  I'm glad I got some video. 

Conferences

This past week we had Rylee's first school conference.  I'm "that mom" who emails the teacher frequently to ask how she is doing and what we should be working on with her at home, etc.  I just think it's strange to not have her at home and have someone else teaching her, so I always want to know what's going on. So, I thought I pretty much knew what would be discussed and what the teacher would say about her.  

First of all, I had one of those out of body "man I'm getting old" moments as I'm sitting across the table from the teacher, listening to her tell me how my child is doing in SCHOOL!!  

Second, I was both surprised positively and negatively with some of her results.  Some of the things she didn't receive a "Meets and Exceeds" on, I was shocked because she does them at home and/or with others.  The teacher wrote that Rylee doesn't talk much, but when she does she has something valuable to contribute.  This surprised me, because when I take her to library story time, she is always the first to answer every question!  I figured she was probably a "know it all" chatter box at school...but sounds like she is actually very quiet. 

The most surprising thing I learned in that 20 minutes is that Rylee is very ready to read and should have already started.  WHOOPS!!  Parent Fail!  The teacher finished telling us how remarkable her literacy skills are and then, with a hopeful smile on her face, she said to us, "Tell me about her reading at home; she probably reads to you, right?!?!"  Uhhhh......what?!?!

I think James and I looked at each other briefly and then I told the teacher she only reads books that she has memorized, or she looks at the pictures and tells a made up story about them.  I also told her how Ry is asking what certain letters spell or how to write/spell certain words. Her teacher assured us that these are all great signs of readiness and she encouraged us to get her reading sooner rather than later.  So, the very next day I headed to the library and checked out some early reader books and James and I each spent time working with her, separately that day.  I'm sure it's no big deal, but I just felt like I had let her down because I wasn't working with her yet.  We are on the ball now though!  I know she will love being able to read and not having to ask me "what does x-x-x-x- spell?" all the time.

Cousin Time

I didn't grow up with cousins, but I love that my kids have so many...and almost all within a couple years of their ages. Ten of them are age 1-6. We don't see them all often, and there is definitely different relationships between them, but they all get along and play together nicely.

One set of cousins who my kids really enjoy playing with, came and stayed with us this weekend.  It was such a beautiful weekend to be outside.  The kids played HARD the entire time they were here. They got very dirty and mine were in bed by 7:00 tonight!!  They had sleep to catch up on from being up until 10:00 last night....even then, they weren't ready for bed.  Silly kids.  

There was LOTS of running, squealing, wrestling, laughing and general FUN!!!  It made my heart happy to see them enjoying each other so much. It was a great reminder of how important family time is for the little ones.  It has been, and will continue to be, fun watching them grow together.  

Long overdue pampering!

Mamas - you know how you're always saying "I need to go get a relaxing facial", but a year later you realize you never made the appointment.....and then 6 years later you realize you STILL haven't made that appointment?!?!  This happened to me, but I finally made time for a facial last weekend and let me tell you -- it was wonderful and just what I needed!!  Just like every time I leave a pedicure or massage, I thought "why did I wait so long to do this again?!?!?"  

I love massages and pedicures, but there is just something about a facial that makes me feel good inside and out.  It's sort of like getting a new hair cut or color -- it just gets you out of a rut and makes you feel revived!  I love the way my skin looked and felt after my appointment, and it still feels amazing several days/washes later.  

I tried a new spa for my facial, and I highly recommend it!!  It is called Aviva Spa and is located in West Des Moines on 8th street near I-235 (inside Urban Style Salon).  Alicia, the owner, was super sweet and very professional.  As a mother herself, she understood that I was in need of some pampering and helped me feel relaxed.  I loved the small, private environment she is located in.  It was so quiet and personal.  I didn't feel like "just a number" that was being rushed out the door.  She took her time and focused on just me.  

I don't know about you, but for me, not only does the esthetician need to be great, but I also want products that smell good.  At one point during the facial I smelled pumpkin. When I asked, Alicia confirmed that it was definitely pumpkin and told me that the product line she uses is free of many chemicals and uses scents straight from their source (thus the pumpkin--and how perfect for the season!?!).  Turns out, pumpkin has many benefits for your skin (google it). I loved learning that the products were free of parabens and use natural scents! I purchased some of the skin care products to use at home. 

After the facial, I had Alicia do my make-up.  She uses mineral make-up, which I had never tried before, but always wanted to.  Bonus that someone else was doing it for me :)  She did a great job.  I told her that I'm very minimal with my make-up (like, mascara and chapstick only) and she kept it very natural looking. I wish I would have had a date afterwards -- instead I just went to Trader Joe's :)

 I really liked the mineral make-up...can't complain about something that is actually good for your face right?!?! Oh, and it has "built-in" sunscreen, which is awesome for me since I suck at remembering to put it on daily.  

Anyway, I haven't stopped thinking about how nice my skin has felt (like when you get your teeth cleaned and you cant stop touching them ---or maybe that's just me?!?!), nor can I get that wonderful pumpkin scent out of my head!!  I thought I should share my experience with you all, in hopes that my post will be the push you need to make an appointment!!  I highly doubt you would regret making one!  ;)  

If you want an experience more personal than a traditional busy spa and want to make sure the products used on your skin are actually good for you -- give Aviva Spa a call!!  It's a super convenient location -- Starbucks just down the road -- just sayin.  #Momsdayout  

www.avivasalonandspa.com  is the website for more information on their services - they do more than just facials and make-up.  Alicia also has a Facebook page - Aviva Spa.  Check out the make-up line she carries too -- it got me excited, and I don't even wear much make-up! You can try it out there and she can show you how to wear it -- much better than at the Younkers counter where everyone is watching you :)  

Oh, one more thing....if you want to give Alicia a try, let me know and I might be able to hook you up with a free 30 minute facial!!  :)  

Whirley Pop

If you are a popcorn fan and do not have the Whirley Pop, I highly suggest putting it on your Christmas list!

I never used to be a big fan of popcorn.  I actually hated the way it smelled.  I remember my mom and brother eating it all the time when I was growing up and I would leave the room.  That was also partially because I always hated listening to their hands rustle through the popcorn bowl -- I still do-- like at the theater when all you hear is hands in the popcorn-- and crunching....it's like nails on a chalkboard!

I'm not sure when I started liking popcorn.  It may have been several years ago when a friend bought kettle corn at an event and offered me some.  Mmmmm, kettle corn.....yum!!!  It's more like candy really and I loved it and have since been buying $5+ bags of kettle corn at nearly every event I attend!

In the last year or two I started buying microwave popcorn to have at home.  My daughter quickly became a popcorn fan and we would eat it every couple of weeks or so.  As I started paying more attention to what I was eating, I decided I wanted to shy away from microwave popcorn and start making the stove-top kind.  Well, as you probably know, stove-top popcorn takes a little more skill....something I don't really have.  Thus, I hadn't been making popcorn very much.

Fast forward to last week when a friend had leftover popcorn sitting in a super cute bowl on her counter and offered me some.  IT.WAS.THE.BEST.POPCORN.I.HAVE.EVER.EATEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  O.M.G!!!  My mouth is watering thinking about it. It was even a day old!

Then....she told me it was homemade kettlecorn!  WHAT?!?!?!
"Tell me how to make this!!" I demanded.

She says, "Well, do you have the Whirley Pop??  You have to have the Whirley pop."

Now, as a person who keeps trying to get rid of stuff I don't use very often, I decided I wasn't about to go spend $20+ on a kitchen item I probably wouldn't use much.  I mean, surely I can make this fabulous kettlecorn in a regular pan on the stove-top, right?!?!  WRONG!!!  SO wrong!! I tried twice to make it and burnt it both times.  I had one super disappointed little girl both times!

Okay, that's it.  I'm getting the Whirley pop!

Meanwhile, somewhere during this week I mentioned to my dad that I was looking for this item..... Saturday morning he tells me he is getting James and I one for our anniversary....an hour later I get a text that he got it....and a few hours later it is in my hands!!!

The next day Rylee and I gave it a whirl (get it?!?!).  I'm pretty sure she fell in love with it, because she ate nearly the entire bowl herself and loudly exclaimed, "THIS IS THE BEST POPCORN EVER!!!"  I will admit, I didn't love it, because it was full of gross butter that came in a package with the pan. But, it claimed to be "movie theater popcorn" and did taste exactly like that.

Yesterday I finally got to try out that kettle corn recipe, using the correct tool.  It came out perfect and Rylee and I devoured the whole thing in no time!!  I'm in love!!   THANKS DAD!!!!