A Step Inside

Two more work days to get through to another long weekend! Definitely looking forward to that! Today felt like it lasted ages…guess that could be due to feeling exausted from all the traveling we did from Friday through yesterday. While it’s fun to travel around, and spend time with everyone, there’s just something nice about coming home to your own home, and sleeping in your own bed.

We had a really nice long holiday weekend.. Five of our six different x-mas’ have been completed. We still have one this Saturday in Springfield. Kaylor got a ton of new goodies.. I believe she was most thrilled about the GameBoy. She has been going on and on about getting one, and her X-mas wish came true, thanks to Aunt Vicki! (note *you didn’t really have to get her the GameBoy to win her love, Aunt Vicki.. you’re already her favorite Aunt!.. lol) All in all Santa was very good to us. We were blessed to spend the holiday with all of our families, be in good health, and enjoy it.

Thought I would share a few pics from our holidays:

This is cousin Keith (home from Iraq) Can you tell Kaylor just adores him?

Ah, the end to another enjoyable weekend. Aside from Kaylor having an ear infection, caused by her lingering cough & sinus cold…

Something I’ve been meaning to post about.. Kaylor is beginning to read! I can’t even begin to explain how proud I am of her. She knows around 25 “sight” or “snap” words now! (i.e. the, is, if, for, look, she, he, etc.) It’s amazing how quickly she is able to memorize the word by visualization. She’s also learning to pronounce words that she doesn’t know, just by simple phonics. We read together almost every night, and I point to the words as we read, and let her read the ones that she knows. The thing that most excites me that she’s enjoying learning to read, is that I hope she continues to have a love for it. I always have a book or two that I’m currently reading, and love the “escape” of enjoying a good novel. Books are a definite hobby that I hope to share w/ her throughout her life.

Busy, busy today… Did LOTS of baking and making goodies! I spent a good 80% of the day in the kitchen.. aside from going to church this morning, and running to pick up a few final gifts. Kaylor helped me make chocolate dipped pretzels.. She enjoyed being able to get her hands right in and help me. I also made fudge a few days ago, and it was good, but not the fluffy fudge I’ve been craving. So, I tried that today. It’s the “fantasy fudge” (I think that’s what it’s called) on the back of the marshmallow fluff jar. I was going to double the recipe, but turns out, it already makes 3 lbs! Ha! That’s a LOT of darn fudge… Anyhow, it turned out pretty good. I think I used just a tad bit too much vanilla, as it’s a bit more moist that I had intended. But all in all the flavor is great.. I’m taking two containers of goodies to work tomorrow. I’m sure it won’t take long to vanish!

Speaking of reading, I’m off to grab my book and hit the sack.. A girl needs her beauty sleep! =)

Holy cow! Did someone just throw Christmas at us… I keep telling myself, “Oh, I have PLENTY of time for x-mas shopping still”… um, that was until I realized yesterday by looking at the calendar that x-mas is in TWO weeks! And two weeks from YESTERDAY, at that! Oye! I’ve gotten a few things here & there, and thought that I was “ahead of the game”… but I made a little spreadsheet for myself last night, and it’s time to put the petal to the metal. Sooo looks like this weekend I’m gonna need some serious shopping time. Anyone wanna join me! Let me know!

Kaylor is finally feeling better. She had a fever from Thursday (3am) until Sunday. It was off & on, then Friday evening she developed this really odd white blotchy type rash inside her bottom lip, that then had her lip and entire jaw swelling up. Talk about crazy/scary! We called the on-call pediatrician, and he advised Benadryl, and that really seemed to take the swelling away. She still has a nasty cough that is lingering, but that I can handle over random rashes and fevers!

Had “date night” doing flash cards w/ Kaylor & watching “Friday Night Lights” (great show, by the way) w/ Erik. I’m off to hop on the treadmill… tonight is Nip/Tuck season finale night!

Lots of rest for me today… gotta love the joys of being a female, and never knowing what your body will do next! I’m sure my desk will be loaded with lots of paperwork when I return tomorrow though… ah well, I know it’s not going anywhere! lol

It’s amazing how looking literally at something can completely open your eyes to a new perspective. Tonight, watching Kaylor doing her usual splash in the tub brought two realizations into mind.. It only takes a moment to put things aside, and cleanse yourself of a rough day. And secondly, it’s important to take a deep breath, and just enjoy. I am continuously mesmorized by the freedom and innocence that fills a child. And at the same time, I’m grateful, that I can not only enjoy those traits, but use them to become a better person…

Be thankful for the people who mean most… be thankful for life..

Thanksgiving came & went quickly… we had a nice holiday.. or 3! We got to see most of our families, and enjoy our time w/ them. Makes you realize how quickly Christmas is approaching as you draw names for gift exchanges!

After last Friday of being outside without jackets and hanging our lights, Kaylor riding her bike up and down the sidewalk, seemed ironic that we got a horrible ice & snow Thursday night! Seemed like the entire town shut down, people were without power, lots of leaks in homes after around 9-10 hours straight of icy rain… it was a mess! Our house suffered from the storm, as our 3 bedrooms that are on the North side of our house had water damage from the ice melting through the window sills… fun fun!

I took Kaylor outside today to play…only for a few minutes though, it was freezing out! Here are some shots that I got of her: