Hangin' with the Ginskeys

On Monday, we watched the Ginskey boys for a little while so Stacey could go to her doctor appointment. I am not sure who seemed more excited--Kelsey or the boys! Kelsey says Noley for Nolan, Jakey for Jacob and Noley for Connor. We are still working on saying Connor. The kids played with blocks, and Connor even built a helicopter.

Nolan attempted to read books to Kelsey.

Kelsey played Connor a song on the piano.

Jacob and Kelsey had a tea party. Can I pour you some tea, Jakey?

Jakey and Kelsey also played with puzzles.

To finish off, we all had lunch together.

What a fun morning :)

Christmas 2009

To begin our Christmas festivities, Matt had to go outside and snowblow because we received about a foot of snow! It was quite a mess. Once Matt had it all cleared up, the pile at the end of the driveway is as tall as he is! It was definitely a white Christmas! Later that day, we had Matt's parents over to our house for dinner. It was actually our year to be in Pulaski for Christmas, but since my dad was here last weekend, we stayed in Owatonna. Dave and Vickie brought Kelsey her 1st Christmas present, and it was a big one! She got a kitchen set!
She has really been into pretending to mix things in bowls and then pretend to eat it. So this gift was perfect for her. Daddy and Grandpa were gracious enough to put it together for her, which only took 2 hours! hehe
After opening her gift, we had a really nice dinner together and relaxed the rest of the evening. We later attended Christmas Eve mass at 10:00pm. Kelsey had been sleeping for 2 hours before we left for church. She stayed sleeping in the car, but once she heard the music, she woke right up. We ended the night by watching the pope on tv because it was a tradition that my mom did every year. She would call my grandpa on the phone and they would talk in Polish about the pope.

On Christmas morning, Daddy had to snowblow again because we got more snow. When he came in, Kelsey opened her presents from Santa. She got a shopping cart, vacuum, blocks, a doll, bath toys, movies, and a magna doodle. Kelsey did a great job ripping the wrapping paper off. After each present was open she would say, "Oh boy" or "wow". She has already been having a blast playing with them. Daddy opened his present from Kelsey which was a Brett Favre jersey, and I got new Christmas decorations for the house from her.
Next, we were off to the extended Skala family Christmas at the Izaak Walton building. Because Matt's family is so large, it is impossible for someone to host everybody at their house. I think there are about 100 people in all, and around 75 made it. It is a fun day filled with food, bunco, exchanging cards, and catching up.




Yesterday, my friend Becky stopped with her husband and two boys on their way through Owatonna. Becky and I have been friends since we were little, and I am so glad they were able to stop and see us.



Today, we are going to the Ebeling Christmas which is also hosted at the Izaak Walton building. Matt's mom's side is not as large as the Skala side, but it is still a nice place to hold the event because there about 50 people on that side. We again have a meal, exchange cards, play dirty bingo, and socialize.

We are not done with Christmases yet though! Next weekend we are getting together with Matt's immediate family, followed by going to Pulaski the next weekend to see my mom's side of the family. I think that will make 6 Christmases this year. I wouldn't have it any other way though. I feel fortunate that we were able to make so many gatherings this year.

Smith Christmas, Daycare Party

My dad and Chris came to Minnesota this weekend to celebrate Christmas. We began the festivities by attending Lauryn and Miranda's dance recital. Kelsey did a great job sitting and watching the dancers. Seeing the littlest age group dance made me excited to get Kelsey into dance when she gets a little older. After the program, we went back to Brian and Molly's. We opened gifts, sang Christmas carols, ate dinner, and played games. It was a very full and fun day. Tonight we had our daycare Christmas party. Our daycare provider is wonderful and she has an annual get together each year with all her daycare kids and their families. Mary sets out crafts to do, hires a Santa, sang Christmas songs with the kids, gave them all a present and made us all supper. What a lady! We have been prepping Kelsey to see Santa by reading books about him and teaching her to say ho, ho, ho. However, despite our efforts, she was terrified of him and cried when she sat on his lap. For the rest of the night, if she got close to him, she clung on for dear life. I guess we will have to stick with books and pictures of Santa this year.

We have a 3 day week of school this week, followed by a week off for Christmas break. I am hoping the 3 days go quickly because I am definitely looking forward to time off with Matt and Kelsey!

Funny

Nate's girlfriend, Diane sent this to me today! Too funny! I told her I would be posting this. Enjoy!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/vfPYPmFJGg45yhKa

Baking Day

Saturday was our annual baking day! For the past few years, Matt's mom, sister and I have gotten together to make Christmas goodies. This year, we added to the bunch and Nate's girlfriend, Diane joined us! We arrived in the morning at Stacey's house and got busy right away. With Christmas music making the day that much more festive, we baked, talked, laughed and ended up with a lot of delicious treats! This year we had a few new recipes that are SO yummy! Diane made Christmas crinkles which taste like a brownie cookie. Vickie made her mom's caramels and a peppermint fudge. After trying cookie dough on a stick at the fair this summer, I thought it would be fun to try and make cookie dough balls. I found an eggless dough recipe and we dipped them in chocolate. I was nervous because I found the recipe on the internet and you never know for sure how it will turn out, but after trying 1 (or 2, or 10!) I have decided they are delicious and I will be making these again! We also had some traditional items like peanut butter blossoms and seasoned pretzels. The boys joined us too and watched the kiddos so we could bake away. I think I gained 10 pounds this weekend from all the tasting I have done so far. It is all so good that I have no will power to stop myself from eating it. Tis the season!





Here is Kelsey in her church outfit today. I love when she gets to wear skirts or dresses on Sundays. I don't send her daycare in them because it is not as warm and it makes it easier for her playing. So it is always a special treat when I get to doll her up on Sunday mornings. I am just waiting for her hair to get longer so I can start to put in clips and put in a pony tail.

What do you do on a snow day?

Today was wonderful! I posted earlier saying that we did not have school due to the bad weather. Kelsey and I decided to make the most of the day and had a blast! We started off by watching cartoons in our jammies and then eating pancakes for breakfast. Next, it was on to books. You already know that Kelsey is really into books, but today she literally took every book off the shelf and sat and looked at it. She also played with her toys, including her baby and stroller. Next, it was time for lunch. Kelsey loves to dip things in ketchup, so we had chicken nuggets. After lunch, we made a fort using her table and chairs. She thought it was pretty silly! After all that playing, it was time for a nap. While Kelsey napped, Mommy baked! Matt has a Christmas party on Friday so I made a new recipe--chocolate chip blondies. When Kelsey woke up, we made a cup of hot chocolate and I let her eat the melted marshmallows off the top. She wasn't too interested in trying the liquid part. I tried giving it to her on a spoon, but she preferred her sippy cup and snack. Kelsey still seemed a little sleepy when she woke up because she didn't nap as long as she usually does, so we cuddled on the couch and watched part of The Polar Express. She did doze off for a little longer--and I kept watching the movie :) Of course Kelsey had to talk on her cell phone today. We made phone calls to Grandpa Smith, Grandma Skala and Uncle Natey because those were the names she said. Her conversations consist of saying Hi Grandma/Grandpa/Na-Na, love you, bye-bye with me saying it first and Kelsey repeating. It looks like she is trying to text in this picture! Right before Daddy got home, Kelsey took an interest in her Christmas presents under the tree making sure to tell me "mouse" for the Mickey Mouse wrapping paper. What a fun day!
Seriously, I love days like this. I had brought home some things from school to look at just in case we were off today, but I did not even open my bag. Playing with Kelsey seemed way more appealing. It has stopped snowing, but the wind is still blowing and the temperatures are dropping fast. They say tomorrow morning will be -25 with the wind chill. BRRRR! Do you think we could have 2 days off in a row? Stay tuned to find out!

Snow Day!

I write this on a Wednesday morning as the blizzard outside swirls. I love snow days! It is such a nice unexpected day off. I actually got the call last night so I didn't have to wait until this morning to know. We were 1 of probably 100 schools that decided to close due to the bad conditions. Days like this are a little bitter sweet though because although Matt and I are both teachers, he has to report on snow days. So Kelsey and I had to send him off to school. However, before he could go, he had to snowplow the 2 foot drifts in our driveway. I think he was out there for an hour! Now Kelsey and I are going to decide how we will spend our day. I think that lots of playing will be done! I will post later about how we filled our day. Winter has officially arrived!

Alo?

Kelsey loves to talk on her pretend cell phone! She picks it up and says "hello", or as she says it "alo." She usually says "alo" over and over very quickly so it is pretty funny. Then she will hand us the phone and we will pretend that someone is asking for Kelsey and she will take it back and start over with the alo bit. When she holds the phone, she holds it so it is backwards, but does put it to her ear. If we say it is Grandma or Grandpa on the phone, she does say hi mama and hi papa.
Yesterday I wrapped presents because the tree was looking bare underneath. Kelsey of course wanted to be right with me and help out. She liked to pick up the pen I was using and then take off with it. One of these times the cap is not going to be on and we are going to find quite the mess! Kelsey has taken interest in using a pen or colors to make marks on paper. She also has tried using a magna doodle and liked scribbling with that, too. While attempting to keep her entertained and still get the gifts wrapped, I wrapped up her cell phone and let her tear it open. She needs practice for in a few weeks, right? For Kelsey's gifts, I bought her Mickey and Minnie Mouse wrapping paper and she kept pointing to it and carrying it around saying mouse. Kelsey has not bothered the tree thus far which has really surprised me. But once I put the gifts underneath, it added a whole new dimension of fun and now she is more intrigued with it. Let's see if all the gifts actually stay wrapped before Christmas or if I will be doing some touch-ups :)
Although Kelsey likes Mickey Mouse, her interest is changing to Dora. She calls her Dorie. Her interest in TV usually only lasts a short while, but she will ask for a show.
Another thing she does is when we say 1, 2, Kelsey will say 3. The thr sound does not come out perfectly clear, but you can understand what she is saying.
As for Matt and I, we had Matt's football banquet last Tuesday and my 1st graders Christmas concert on Thursday. I was able to attend the banquet with Matt and listened as he talked about his undefeated season. Way to go, Mattey! I also convinced Matt to bring Kelsey and come to my concert with me. I thought she would sit and listen to the songs, but she was more interested in letting Daddy chase her around. We had a really nice weekend that was pretty low-key, which is what we needed.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Here it is Sunday afternoon, and I am making what seems to have become my ritual Sunday post. It has been a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend full of family and fun. To start things off, Mattey and I watched Angels and Demons on Wednesday night. It was an entertaining movie, but not the best I have ever seen. It did keep our attention. Thursday we went to Matt's parent's house to celebrate with his family. Vickie made most of the food, while the Skala kids brought a few things to share as well. I actually made a few of my mom's recipes: pumpkin bars, Polish drumstick and Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. It was my first time trying them and I think they turned out well! It is special for me to be able to honor her by making the foods I grew up with at the holidays. It was all so yummy. We even brought the food back out for supper for round 2. During the afternoon we watched the Packers beat the Lions :) and the other games that were on. Grandma and Grandpa now have a kitchen set in their toy room, and Kelsey loves it! She spent a lot of her day playing with it.
She also liked pushing the shopping cart around. Nolan and Kelsey played together a lot, too. Nolan gets a little rough with her because I am sure he is used to having to hold his own with his brothers. But Kelsey keeps going back for more, so she obviously doesn't mind it too much! Before we left, Nolan and Kelsey took a bath together, and Kelsey was laughing like crazy! Nolan kept dunking his head, splashing water and being silly, and Kelsey loved it. She even tried dunking her head under the water, too! Those two could be trouble together!

To end the evening, Nate and Diane came over to our house. Natey and Matt watched the Minnesota Gophers basketball game while Diane and I watched the movie My Sister's Keeper. Talk about a tear-jerker! (the movie that is, not the game) I seriously spent half the movie crying. Very emotional storyline!
Friday we braved the crowds and did some Black Friday shopping. We have made it a tradition to go the past few years. We don't get up at 4am, but we make our way out later in the day. This year we found some great deals and I am happy to say we are almost done shopping! What a good feeling! One of our purchases on Friday was outdoor Christmas decorations. Matt decorated the house for me this year, and it looks beautiful! Thanks, Mattey! Next we went to Stacey's house to hang out for a bit. With Nate and Diane in town, it is nice to spend time with everyone. We finally made our way home and put up the Christmas tree, as well as all the inside Christmas decorations. Whoo-hoo!

Dave, Vickie, Diane and Nate stopped over Friday night so the boys could watch more basketball and the girls could chat. What a busy day! Saturday morning we went to my brother, Brian's house. It was our year to be in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, but we still wanted to see each other since we are only an hour away. We had a delicious meal together, complete with my mom's pumpkin bars! I brought along the camera and video camera to get some updated pics of all the kids together, but got too busy playing and talking and didn't take one picture! Bad me! Usually I am the camera lady that everyone groans at because I am always requesting pictures. I guess that means more pictures at Christmas! Saturday night we ordered pizza and rented yet another movie, Four Christmases. We recently bought a Blu-Ray DVD player and we are sure getting some good use out of it lately! The movie was really funny! I highly recommend it during the holiday season. This morning Matt went to school because he had some work that he wanted to finish up before we head back to school tomorrow. Kelsey and I went to church, and she did better this week! We had about a 10 minute fussy time where I wasn't sure if we should stay in or go out. Sometimes she is not being naughty, but just jabbering away. After being super antsy for that short time, she fell asleep. During the week she only takes one nap at Mary's, but she seems to take more than one on the weekends. I guess she is catching up from the week. I tried a new recipe for supper tonight--white chicken chili. It is in the crock pot now. I will let you know how it turns out!
There you have it! Our weekend has been very full, and I am sad to see it go. I love the time I have at home with Kelsey and Matt. I feel so blessed to have them in my life. I am also grateful for our brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who are so dear to us. We hope your Thanksgiving was just as wonderful!