Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I failed at taking many pictures of Christmas because we were busy, busy, busy having way too much fun!  Santa came by and ate the brownies, took some carrots, and left a lot of presents.  Shyla even asked, "but what about those times when I made bad decisions?"  Well, sweetie, the good definitely out weighed the bad.  Shyla got the Easy-Bake she wanted and Harper got the bike that Shyla wanted her to have.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for breakfast and to open the presents that Santa left there.  There was much excitement, but the kids did a great job taking turns and waiting (fairly) patiently.
Later we went to Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Pop's house and stayed for the majority of the day. 

We are so lucky to have our family in town to be able to spend these special days.

This picture wasn't on Christmas but it shows Harper's beautiful tape creation:

And New Years - here's Pancake getting ready for our exciting night.

2013 was a great year!  I hope 2014 is just as blessed.  I hope to blog more frequently although I know I will be super busy with my new job and my master's program.  I also hope to continue to make special memories with my girls that we will all treasure forever.

Christmas Eve 2013

After arriving back from Pinetop around 2PM or so, we headed over to Auntie Chelsea's house at 4:30PM for a Christmas Eve dinner.  We had yummy lasagna and lots of good conversation with family (including a convo about why we should all eat brains ... no thank you!)

The kids opened their (now) annual Christmas Eve Box which contained new jammies for each, marshmallows for hot cocoa, and a beautiful version of the book Twas the Night Before Christmas.

They put on the jammies and Harper spilled her cocoa on them within about 3 sips.  Then, as the night went on - it was too loud and rowdy to read the book.  That was a bummer, but it was still a fin evening!

Then at home (late!) we got Harper to sleep then Shyla and I got the goodies ready for Santa and the Reindeer.  I had already made brownies (I'm a regular day Betty Crocker) so we set them out with a mug of milk and some carrots.

Up next - Christmas Day 2013!

Pinetop

We recently got back from a really great vacation in Pinetop.  Here's how we looked on the way up:

Once we got the cabin, we started getting comfortable.  Unfortunately for us three of the heaters weren't working so the first night was really, really uncomfortable, mostly for me and Stevie.

Harper was a it unsure of the snow and preferred her time inside drinking cocoa by the fire.

The girls worked together to decorate this beautiful gingerbread house!

And then Shyla and Stevie spent hours sledding the backyard.

Here's what's interesting: the girls' behavior while on this trip was less than ideal and thus it was a really stressful couple days.  But, we've been back for less than 5 days and all I can remember are the good parts of the trip and all the fun we had. 

The Magical Mystical Candy-cane Forest

We were recently invited back to the magical, mystical candy-cane forest.  As always, the journey began at the snowglobe where I was able to catch this picture of the head-elf with three of the elfins.

The fourth elfin was off doing this instead:

The elfins closely examined the map before leading us on our adventure.

Once we arrived the kiddos picked the candy-canes and slim-jims from the magical tree and we all enjoyed delicious chili, cornbread, and incredibly strong eggnog shakes.

Elfin John and Sharon are some of the sweetest people we know and we are so very lucky that they have been neighbors with my parents for nearly 35 years.  They put on this event for our kiddos each year and it has become one of the traditions that we value the most.

Christmas Tree Shopping - and meeting Santa

As always, Stevie won our annual fight and we, once again, bought a real Christmas tree.  It was another exhausting experience in which I got to chase the kids around while he closely examined two identical trees.  But at least I got to take a few pictures of the girls.

Then, a few days later we got to meet Santa and Mrs. Clause and even eat pancakes with them.  It was a {free} PTA sponsored event at my new school.  Again, it was exhausting because I mainly chased Harper around and pulled her down off of things, all while trying to make a good impression at my new site!

As expected, Shyla was really excited to meet them and stood in line nicely ... until we actually got up there, then she got timid,

New Job!?!?

Did I forget to mention my big news?  I got a new job and I am super excited!  Third time is a charm but, truly, everything happens for a reason.  After not getting hired at my middle school (6-8) nor our K-12 school, I've been hired as Assistant to the Principal at one of our elementary (preK-5) schools!  {Ideal setting for a budding administrator, in my opinion}

I start on January 6th so I have officially said goodbye to my students and to classroom teaching.  Tomorrow Stevie and I are going to take my things from my classroom and set-up my office (which conveniently overlooks the playground where Harper will be a preschooler next year!)

I am very thankful for all the support I've received over the years from all my administrators and I think they've all set great examples for me.  I'm also incredibly blessed to have such a supportive husband and parents who all really step-up with the girls while I finish up my leadership degree.  I think this is going to be a challenge that I will really enjoy and be good at - once I learn what the heck I am doing!  I can tell I'm going to love my principal and I know I will learn a lot from her and her experiences.  Stay tuned.

PS - the picture with this post is me with my "congratulations - I can't believe you won't be on CIMI this year" coffee.  Thanks, DH!

Thanksgiving 2013

Yep, this post is long overdue.  We had a great Thanksgiving and we have more to be thankful for than I could ever contain in one blog.

A few days before Thanksgiving we hosted dinner at our house for Auntie Kirsten, Uncle Jim, Simone and Sophia, Grandpa Steve, and Grandma and Grandpa, and the Yager clan.  It was a full house but a lot of fun to see everybody.

On the actual holiday we had our traditional dinner at my parents house - complete with all the craziness we are used to.  I didn't take many pictures but the girls really got into whipping the cream.

Having healthy, happy kids is always at the top of my Thankful List!  We sure are lucky and blessed!

Two More Classes Down!

The fall semester just finished up, along with another two classes.  Critical Issues was a class I took online.  It was just okay.  It wasn't overly challenging, but I also didn't get all that much out of it, unfortunately.  The personnel class was one of my favorites.  I'm learning that one of the biggest parts of an administrative role is dealing with personnel - so this class really addressed the rules and regulations of doing so.  It, also, wasn't too demanding but it was interesting and worth-while.
Up next: a 5-week winter class.

Shopping with Kids...

Shopping with kids can be ... challenging, to say the least.  This time of year, however, it is somewhat inevitable.  But, lucky for me my (goofy) kids don't mind holding hands with strangers while I check-out.

School Pictures ~ Fall 2013

As if I don't take enough pictures, the girls both have biannual picture days at their respective school.  Which I love!  Here they are, in all their glory: