Update

Sorry about the massive delay in posting pics.   I’ve been resorting to emailing you all pics.  We’ll for those of you who don’t know, we had Maddie go in for surgery back on the 1st of December.  She needed tubes in her ears for going over 3 infections inside of 6 months.  She did well and we were out of the hospital by 8:30 the same morning.  Her attitude ever since has changed drastically, she even did very well on our way up to Show Low last weekend. 

In other news, we had to take Alyssa out of preschool at Pioneer which was heartbreaking, but it had to be done in order to save some money per month.  She hasn’t missed out on any learning though since Lisa (day care) has begun preschool out of her home.   We’ve had a lot of time together at home otherwise and although it’s sometimes quite stressful, we have fun being together.  Needless to say, it’s going to be a hard time when I have to go back to work (no prospects yet). 

We’re getting ready for a long trip to Oregon to visit Andy’s mom and dad (and family).  We’re driving ALL THE WAY there…gotta buy some road games and we’re contemplating getting a dual DVD system for the back seat of the truck.  Andy and I will escape the chaos for a few days and head to the Oregon coast while the grandparents spend some well deserved time with the girls (I think they want us out of the way anyways…haha). 

I’m sorry for the short post today, but I will try my hardest to update with pics after the first of the year.  Thanks for your patience with us and talk to you all soon!  Love to everyone!

Girls, girls, girls!

Well, I know it’s been awhile…yet again.  We’ve been through a lot these past 2+ months.  I was laid off from Wachovia at the end of July and am still looking for gainful employment. I have been spending most of my time off with the girls…and let me tell you…HIGH maintenance!!  Being a stay at home mom so far has been the hardest job in my life.  I have to take Alyssa to school in the morning (Maddie comes with), come home for two hours and keep Maddie busy while Sissy is gone, go back and pick Alyssa up, come back home, get lunch ready, get Maddie ready for a nap, clean up lunch, clean the house, play with Alyssa…cook dinner (while Maddie close at my heels), clean dinner up, clean kids up, get them ready for bed…and so on and so on!  I never knew it’d be so hard. Although I do receive severance, I’ll still need to find something so that we can use some of the money for some upgrades to the house.  We want new flooring, paint, a new back door (hopefully French doors).  All of you who’ve seen our house…it’s rather drab in the living areas and we’d finally like to add some color. 

Well, the past couple of months have been busy, as you can see.  I wish I had some good news about Maddie walking, but she’s pretty lazy.  She figures that crawling will get her where she wants to be a lot faster than learning to walk.  Maddie also celebrated her first birthday on August 23rd, she did so well, and absolutely LOVED her cake.  Alyssa helped her eat it of course.  We remember Alyssa’s first birthday, and she didn’t wanna dig into her cake, but Maddie, striving to out-do her sister, wore her cake EVERYWHERE!  The bath water afterward was disgusting.  She got lots of good stuff from clothes to toys, and we’re glad to say that Alyssa is enjoying all of the toys…hehehehe! Maddie also had her 12 month dr appt which gave us a weight of 18.5 kbs and 27 inches…I’d love to say she’s growing like a weed, but I’m going to say SHE’S EATING LIKE A PIG!!!  And NO…not gaining weight it seems.  We’ve finally stepped up to size 3 diapers, although 2’s still fit her just as good.   

Alyssa started school again back on the 19th of August and so far is doing awesome again.  This is her second round of preschool since she won’t be ready for kindergarten until next August, but we figure this puts her on the fast track to grade school.  Who knows, she may be a grade or two ahead of the rest of the kids her age.  She’s a smart cookie!!  Since her tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy, she’s had no change in her squeaky voice, so we think it’s permanent.  It’s not a bad thing, as we believe that those HUGE tonsils and adenoids were making her sound all nasaly.  She sleeps so much better at night now, we can hardly hear her breathing anymore. 

A couple of weeks ago, found us up in Show Low where Alyssa had her first real fishing expedition.  We’re proud to say that she caught her very own fish.  Out of kindness, she threw it back (with Poppy’s help of course).  They were too small to keep anyways.  Alyssa busied herself at the cabin by playing in the sandbox, and playing with Maddie on the floor.  Sometimes, she’d rest inside and catch a flick while Mimi and busied ourselves otherwise.  We visited with Gigi and Grandpa as well, and met Gigi’s new kitty Mandy.  Mandy isn’t so sure about Alyssa, but Maddie wanted everything to do with Mandy (we saw Mandy for about 20 seconds before she tore off into another room).  Hehehehe. 

Recently, we’ve been hanging out just enjoying each others company.  Last night we rented a movie for Alyssa…she reached another “penny” milestone at 200 pennies and was rewarded a movie rental of her choice…and she chose Meet the Robinsons.  For those of you who don’t know what the “pennies” are, Alyssa receives pennies (anywhere from 3-10) each time she does something helpful around the house.  She gets 3 when she does something that we ask her to do, 5 when she helps with Maddie and 10 when she is helpful without being asked.  This past week, she was awarded 25 pennies in ONE day…WAY TO GO LYSS!!! 

With that, we’re off again.  I hope to post again soon with updated pics (as I finally have my new camera)!!!  Love to you all and talk to you soon!

Visitors!!

Hello again, one and all! It seems we’re always apologizing for delays, seems a neverending process.  But here we go again, hopefully the next few weeks will bring some much deserved relaxation!

EVENT #1–Sea World San Diego!  What a wonderful time we all had, the only one not affected by the sun was our fair-skinned, red headed girl.  Even Maddie had a small spot on her face that we missed with the sunblock (as you can see below).  We watched Shamu splashing from a safe distance, and Alyssa even got a little emotional due to the pretty music playing along with him swimming.  Alyssa fed the seals and sea lions TWICE.  Maddie…well…she couldn’t have cared less, which makes me happy that her admission to the park was FREE!  We also visited Sunset Cliffs, which was absolutely TERRIFYING for yours truly.  Here I am thinking we’ll be on a beach looking down the shoreline at some pretty rocks…no no!!  We’re on TOP of the cliffs and the bottom you ask….50 feet below onto jagged rocks!  My first thought is…my 4 year old running around.  I gave her a strong talking to about the edge and constantly paced back and forth making sure she wouldn’t trip and slide over the edge.  I would look over at Andy just thinking “Can we just get in the truck and go, please…I think I’m having a heart attack!!!”  Now that I’ve freaked myself out again, I’m going to shift gears. 

             

 

We had a visit from Grammy at the end of June, and oh the fun we had!  We had a lot of other visitors too, Great Gramma and Grampa, our cousin Erinn (who we haven’t seen for about three years) and Gramma Pat.  Since everyone was here at once, we had a couple of parties.  We had so much fun with everyone, and even though it was Auntie Mary Lee’s birthday party, all the kids got gifts too!  We celebrated the 4th by going over to Fiesta Mall and watching from the top level parking lot.  Alyssa loved it, Maddie…not so much.  The booming had her trying to crawl right over the shoulder of anyone trying to hang onto her.  She eventually calmed down and watched the fireworks while chewing on the top of a water bottle.  The weekend found us at the Museum for the Youth in downtown Mesa, which was actually pretty cool.  They had crafts and artwork for kids, and a HUGE child-sized kitchen (Oxymoron?).  Alyssa made me a butter sandwich and gave Daddy some coffee.  Maddie, well, she got a strawberry to chew on and she was happy.  Before leaving the kitchen, Grammy and I made an attempt to take a napkin folding lesson which didn’t go very well.  But we had fun trying.  Grammy got to baby-sit for us too, all week while we were at work and even sat with the girls while we got away.   The morning Grammy left was a sad one, just minutes after Daddy and Grammy walked out the door, Alyssa was awake and crying somewhere in the house.  I finally found her crying on the sofa in the living room.  Luckily, we went to Lisa’s that day and she got better as the day went on.  Grammy is loved! 

 

Second to last…Alyssa has graduated from her Sea Sprites swimming lessons.  She LOVES being in the water now!!!  Unfortunately, she won’t be back in until late July or early August due to surgery…which you will read more about below.  She has done very well, although she was scared a few times, she overcame and is performing well.  We know she’ll do much better in the upcoming lessons. 

 

And now, the reason for the late post!  I meant to update this past Monday, but it got late and we got sleepy.  Alyssa went in for her tonsil and adenoid removal midday Tuesday.  She is a trooper, and so very brave let me tell you.  We’re so proud of how she’s taking this.  We’d been told that this would be a tough recovery for her and were expecting the worst, but she’s been so strong.  She held on without anything to eat or drink for 6 hours on Tuesday!   When it was time to go into the OR, I got dressed up in my scrubs so that I could go in while they put her under.  She just went to sleep is all, but the feeling I had walking away from her is something I really can’t explain…if you’ve ever had your heart actually ACHE, that’s what it felt like.  It hurt all the way into my back…No joke!  I could have sworn she was in there an hour, but was told it was only about 25 minutes.  When we were called back to see her, we walked toward her bed to see her arms up, eyes closed.  She had already awoken before we were called back, but just dozed back off.  When she opened her eyes again, we were there and they promptly sat me down and handed her over to me.  She sat in my lap for an hour, and she even talked a little.  Get this…she never cried!!!!  I thought for sure that she would being the drama queen she is.  We went to our room shortly after, where she was showered with gifts.  She slept well overnight, Mommy on the other hand, didn’t sleep well whatsoever.  I was given what was rumored to be “the best” cot in the hospital…uh NO!  It was like a flat of springs covered by a sheet, and it sagged so bad in the middle that you would have thought you were in some torturous hammock.  I hated having to get out of it and then get back in.  If any of you have ever seen The Money Pit, you’ll recall the scene where Shelley Long got into the bed and it basically swallowed her up…that’s what this bed was like…except it was far from being soft.  Alyssa was worth it though.  She woke the next morning crying a little bit from pain, but it was soon remedied with pain meds.  Not one tear shed!  We’re home now and she’s doing well.  We have told everyone that calls, “It’s like nothing ever happened!”  She wants to play and jump around and gets very discouraged when we tell her not to…I can only imagine how boring it is for her, but it’s for the best.  I have no doubt she’ll come through this unscathed. 

And here are a few more misc pics for your enjoyment!

       

More pics to come, Alyssa is needing some pain meds    Love to you all!!!

Thanks for your patience!

Oh my, what a busy few weeks, sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, we have little to show for it.

Well, we have now got a bike rider!  With her Barbie bike, training wheels and helmet, she’s blazing the sidewalks in the neighborhood.  So fast in fact that Mommy will have to start putting running shoes on to catch up, or get her own bike down.  Alyssa almost has it down, she’s still getting the hang of pedalling backward to stop, but she knows all too well how to get going fast!   

Alyssa is now out of school for the summer, and what next year holds we’re unsure since it pretty much hinges on my employment.  The uncertainty in this industry is an absolute killer right now, you never know if you’ll have a job come the end of the day.  But whatever happens, she WILL go back to preschool.  ANYWHO!!  The last day of school was so very cute, they had cake, drinks, projects and a special “See ya later, Alligator” good-bye song.  Our little wallflower was actually singing and performing the moves right along with Mrs. Newby.  As we were walking out of the school yard, Alyssa asked if she could give the school a hug, but couldn’t figure out how so she ended up giving it a kiss…right on the wall.  She was a little sad driving away, but assured her we’d be back next year (which I really hope happens).  I told her teachers that I appreciated them and have absolutely loved watching Alyssa progress.  She writes her name, and even knows a little bit of math.  We’re overflowing with pride. 

As for the past weekend, Alyssa, Maddie and I took a trip up to Show Low while Andy went to his golf tournament in Long Beach, CA.  I know he played his heart out, and had a great time, but it wasn’t enough this year to win first place…DEAD LAST was his place and you’ll see the lovely award for that below.  I wish we would have brought the camera up to Show Low, but we really don’t have any pics of the trip.  We had a nice time, but Mimi and Poppy had to do some maintenance, so it wasn’t really a leisurely trip for them.   I finally had a little bit of quiet time as well to get some scrapbooking done, Alyssa’s baptism at 3 months.  Yes, I have A LOT of work ahead of me. 

We had an appointment for Maddie today at the doc.  Here are the stats:  16lb, 13oz-28 inches long and immunized.  Her head is no longer mis-shapen like it was back in March, however there is just a little flat spot in the back that doesn’t require her to wear a helmet.  YEA!!!!!!  She’s looking good and right where she should be. Still no crawling, just using her arms to pull herself along the floor after sissy.  She’ll also hold our fingers and walk, we think at about 11 months she’ll be on her feet.   As for Alyssa…we have an appointment with the ear, nose and throat specialist to be evaluated for possible tonsil removal.  Her snoring is so bad, and she even sounds winded when she’s sitting still.  A look at her tonsils reveals one straw opening sized hole in the back of her throat which is the only passage for air through her mouth.  I have a good feeling that in the months to come, there will be a surgery.  She also wakes herself in the middle of the night, so it’s a form of apnea as well.    We’ll keep you posted, her evaluation will be on the 23rd of this month. 

We have a trip to San Diego coming up this weekend (6-9), so we’ll hopefully have some great pictures to share when we return.  Sea World and the beach await!  Everytime I mention Sea World, Alyssa gets really giddy…i can just see the two of us now…holding hands, skipping in the entrance gate…kinda like a “The Sound of Music” entrance.  Thanks everyone for being patient!  Until next time!!! 

  Stylin’ on Barbie Bike!

Alyssa and Mrs. Newby

Our first bath together!!!

BUBBLES!

U-SUK Award Nadel 2008 Golf Tournament

Daddy’s latest creation!

Open.

 

Busy busy busy…such is Life!

I’m sorry for the delay everyone!  I will update on Sunday evening, please don’t lose hope!    Love to you all and have a great weekend!

Uh, cheese?

So, here’s Alyssa’s very last school picture of the year.  All I have to say is… WHAT?  The day I dropped her off for these pictures, she had dressed herself and I had put ponytails in per her request.  While we were driving to school I kept asking her, “You’re going to remember to smile pretty, right?”  And she would say “Yes, Mom”  Before I left her at school, I said “Show me the pretty smile you’re going to give to the camera”  And she gave me the pretty smile, and I told her to remember to use it.  UH, she must’ve forgotten.  So here it is…no time for retakes this year.  Good thing we have a class picture.

Happy #4 Alyssa and #31 Andy!!!!

SOOO sorry!  Last week was a toughy, getting prepared for birthday parties and surprises.  Whew, it can really take it out of a gal.  As most of you know, it was Andy’s birthday on Friday and I decided to TRY and surprise him with a Diamondbacks game.  Well, he did kinda figure it out, but he couldn’t foresee a couple of my surprises……..we all surprised him at the door wearing Sedona red DBacks garb, news that we were taking Alyssa with us and at the game I got both his and Alyssa’s birthdays announced on the Jumbotron at the game!!  There is a pic below.  As the end of the 4th inning grew closer, I wondered how I’d get him to look up there, so I ended up just pinching him and and pointing at the screen.  At least I FINALLY surprised him!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Anywho, the DBacks lost, very frustrating game, but we all had a great time.  We all went home afterward and then began the busy birthday party planning. 

Alyssa was so excited for her birthday, she came into bed first thing and surprisingly enough, WE had to remind her of her birthday.  I wish I had the camera so that you all could see the look on her face!  We first gave her gifts from Uncle Matt & Aunt Kim, then she got our big gift (so that we didn’t have to haul it to the party)…her BIG GIRL BARBIE BIKE!!  It’s got training wheels and allows plenty of room to grow.  We can’t believe how big she is getting, she only needed about 5 minutes of practice and knows how to really book it down the sidewalk.  As for the party, WHEW…it was crazy and oh so very loud.  Alyssa had some friends to play with and lots of family.  We ordered about 7 pizzas, and sent about 4 home with other people.  After learning from last year’s $40 princess two tiered cake…I finally got a little more economical and ordered a $20 cake that was just as pretty and fed EVERYONE (well, at least everyone that actually wanted a piece).  After the party, we came back home with Wes, Maranda, Irelyn, Chris, Amy and Kayleigh.  While the little girls played, we all had a chance to sit down and play with the Wii.  Wii (hehe) all bowled and played Mario Kart, and had a great time.  After all of the company left, Alyssa finally had a chance to lay down and MAN, once her head hit the pillow, that kid was OUT!!!  Both she and Maddie slept until 8:00 (thank you girls!). 

We had one more event to go on Sunday afternoon, my brothers college graduation party.  Can I just take a moment here and say:  Scotty, I am SO very proud of you and I wish you the very best of luck throughout your career!!  Congrats and WE LOVE YA!!  He’s majored in journalism guys, and he’s gonna be famous…I just know it.  He’s definitely got the personality for it! 

Anyways…this post came with limited info on Maddie, but here’s a blurb.  She has 4 teeth now, one fang, one front top and of course the two bottom front that she’s had for three months.  The crawling is progressing, but I still maintain that she’ll walk before she crawls.  These princesses certainly keep us busy, I’m ready to call it a night all! 

BTW, we finally met our new neighbors tonight…Pete and Connie.  They have a two daughters that live at home, one is 11 and the other is 17 and taking courses at high school in…CHILDCARE…yay, a babysitter!!!  We might give it a test run by letting her come over while we clean up the pool or somethin’.  Sheesh, I don’t even know what the going rate for a babysitter is anymore.  At least I know she won’t be able to charge me more per hour for gas…HA!!  Okay, I promise, I’m done now.  Take care everyone and thanks for being patient with us while we update.  Love to you all! 

          

     

    

     

     

 

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Madelynn!!

What fun we’re having!  Maddie has started to scoot and is working on a serious crawl.  She gets by now with pushing with her feet, however we know trouble is on the way with the knee work we’re seeing.  She gets back on her knees and starts to rock, and we think that before long she’ll be all over the place and into all sorts of things.  Lisa at daycare has been having her sit up a lot more often now, so she’s having more fun playing.  And just yesterday we discovered another tooth up top…she’s got one little fang!  Only 4 more months and she’ll be ONE if you can believe it! 

Alyssa is having a birthday party on MAY 3rd!!!  This time, in order to save a little cash, we’re going to Peter Piper Pizza.  She’s chosen (again) to have a princess theme, and we’re hoping that a family friend will make a cake for us.  We’ve sent out invitations and anticipate about 15 kids, however I’m not certain all will attend yet.  All I can say about those 15 kids, is that I’m GLAAAADDD it’s not going to be at our house! 

Speaking of Peter Piper Pizza, we went to William’s birthday party this weekend, and we had a blast!!  Alyssa saw her cousin (2nd cousin) Johnathan and Maddie saw her newest 2nd cousin Joshua.  We played some fun games, ate lots of pizza, and caught up with family.  

 Mommy got brave and decided to give the ponytails ONE more try on both girls, and they turned out….um…okaaaayyyy.  Alyssa’s actually looked good, Maddie’s on the other hand, was one pony with one uncontrollable POOF on one side.  The pony itself was cute, but the whole “do” wasn’t up to par for Mommy.  Of course it didn’t help that Maddie wouldn’t sit still while I was brushing, but what can we expect from an 8 month old, right?    Upon taking pictures of our girls this weekend, Andy and I realized ONCE more, that these are the two most beautiful children that we’ve seen…of course we may just be biased, but whatever the case, they’re gorgeous and we couldn’t be any luckier.  We still get comments on Alyssa’s red hair and I’m often asked by complete strangers “Are they SISTERS??” due to Maddie having dark brown hair, which I’m sure won’t be staying dark for long.  Due to the rolling, we’ve noticed a bald spot and the hair growing in is lighter.  

As for the pictures, hope you all enjoy.  I was told recently that there are no pictures of ME on this blog, so let it be done.  Don’t poke fun, I was very tired and had been very ill for the prior 36 hours!! 

We apologize for the delay in posting this week, it’s been crazy.  We have a quiet weekend coming up, Alyssa will be taking a trip to Show Low while Daddy, Maddie and I hang out in the valley.  We’ll make sure Mimi and Poppy (HA, I almost said Poopy…sorry Dad!) take pictures too.  Hopefully we’ll have some time to focus on the pool and get it up to par for summer.  SPEAKING of pools…….We got Alyssa enrolled in swim lessons!  June 16th thru 26th for only $20.00!!  Her brush with drowning a few years back had her stuck on the steps last summer, we’re hoping swim lessons get her over that fear and make it more fun for her.  So far she’s excited and says she can’t wait…but we’ll see.  Sorry, I’ve gotten a bit long winded and I know you are just waiting to see pics.  Love to you all, keep in touch!  Love, Mel Andy Alyssa and Maddie

 

Mommy, Alyssa and Maddie (Before Ponies)

 

Maddie and Lyssa (after ponies)–see…beautiful girls!

Gigi Cecka and Maddie (after pulling pony out)

Lyss and Maddie (getting ready for bed)

“Haaaaaeyyyyyyy!”

What a weekend!!

Hope the week was good to everyone, as well as the weekend.  We had a pretty busy one and were pretty happy when Sunday came. 

After work we all went out to dinner at Uncle Scott’s restaurant (well, he works there), and had a great Italian dinner.  After dinner, we asked if my niece, Sierra, wanted to spend the night, sounded good to everyone so we made it happen.  I was kinda nervous having two girls running around crazy, but they were so good!  The age difference is nothing to them with Sierra being 9 and Alyssa nearing 4.  We watched Enchanted, for the 4th time Friday night.  By mid movie, Alyssa started getting a little sleepy (as you can see below, she was in no mood for smiling).  By movie end, Sierra was still awake but was ready for bed, as was Alyssa (passed out and drooling).  Her and Sierra slept in Alyssa’s twin bed all night long!  Morning came, all kids were still asleep come 7:30AM!!!!  Maddie was first to rise, kicking up the most ruckus with her incoherent garbling.  The other girls slept for another 45 minutes.  Alyssa came first, then Sierra complaining that our little foghorn of a daughter kept her up all night SNORING!!!  They finally stumbled to the table to eat and got busy making a mess of the house.  The GREAT thing was, WE weren’t the ones who cleaned up the mess.  Both those girls cleaned everybit of the mess they made, Sierra stole my heart by even making Alyssa’s bed…she even folded all of the blankets that Lyss keeps at the foot.  I almost wanted to cry. 

After taking Sierra back to Gramma’s, we headed to our first birthday party of the day…I would have included pictures, but they all came out really fuzzy for some reason.  It was Alyssa’s 2nd cousins birthday parties, Jacey and Jordyn.  She had a good time, we think…they had a gal from an imagination place doing a little jungle safari thing with the kids that included a couple of dances and songs…instead of participating, our little wallflower just stood there.  HMMMMMMMMM….found out on the way to our SECOND birthday party of the day, that she was so very tired.  Just as soon as we got to Mimi and Poppy’s, she was wide awake!!  I finally got a picture of her on the Jeep, man…take that little “Governor” out of that thing and boy it’s got some serious “get up and go”!!!  One of the neighbor girls came over, McKenna with her friend (whom I think might be Emma, I can’t remember).  It was so great seeing all of them play together.  Another neighborhood gal came over to play with Alyssa in the spa, Colleen…she may be our new babysitter, although we’re going to miss having free sitters…hehehe…love you moms and dads!!   

We were thinking of a Diamondbacks game on Sunday, but quickly overcame the urge.  Glad we did, we lost miserably!!!  We’re thinking next weekend though, Alyssa really wants to go.  We have Gramma and Grampa Cecka coming in for cousin William’s confirmation this weekend too, so we’ll be pretty booked.  Should make for some good pictures!!!  Hope everyone has a great week!  See ya next week! 

 

  

  

 

 

      

A Wii Wiik!! (A Wii Week)

Well, we hope all is great with everyone.  We had a good week, super busy at work too (well, for Melanie anyway).  Yes we watched our movies, and let me tell you, after watching Johnny play Sweeney Todd, I’m now re thinking my favorite actor.  He was really creepy in that flick, however it was good.  The real fun started on Wednesday when my cousin texted Andy letting him know that some Nintendo Wii’s were coming into his store!  Naturally, we told him to jump on it!!!!  That evening we sold the futon in the playroom, and soon after Andy set up the Wii!  After the girls hit the sack, we played a quick game of bowling…and OOH the fun we had.  I almost thought I was gonna throw the remote through the screen of our TV.  Next morning I woke up with an aching right arm, shoulder and back, never thought a video game could give you such a work out.  Alyssa had a sleepover at Mimi and Poppi’s on Friday evening so that we could re-decorate her and Maddie’s playroom. Unfortunately, when she got home, she was feeling under the weather so we took Alyssa to the after hours clinic Sunday morning to find out she has a virus.  Her tonsils are very red and swollen, doc did a strep test that came back negative, however, he’s sending it out to a lab just to be certain.  While we were busy working on the playroom we had a landscaping guy come to the door asking if we needed any work done…well, for those of you who have SEEN our front and back yard, know that it needs help, so we had them work on it for us.  Both front and back yards, they worked for near 4 hours, and it’s looking so much better.  Andy liked it so much, that he decided to hire them to come out twice a month.  We figure this gives him more time with the girlies and I, rather than going out for 3 hours every other weekend to work on the yard. 

Alyssa and I had a little present for Daddy when we came back from getting the mail on Saturday night.  His alternative fuel license plate came in!  He LEGALLY drove in the carpool lane to and from work today and it knocked about 20 minutes off his AM/PM commute.  The Hybrid is a fun car to drive, no real power, but fun.  It’s cool to make the MPG meter hit 100mpg, although that’s not the mileage it gets.  Andy filled up last week for $30 with appx 43.5 mpg.  It’s really a good buy for the amount of driving he does to and from work, and picking up the girls. 

Alyssa and Mom’s day off consisted of two rounds of Alvin and The Chipmunks and one round of Enchanted (which by the way is really good).  We’ll now fall to sleep with the sound of a chipmunk serenade.  “Christmas, Christmas time is near, time for toys and time for cheer…….”  Is it in YOUR head now?  Good!  Hehehe!  Good thing is, Alyssa appears to be feeling 99.9% better and can go to school and daycare tomorrow. 

Hope this finds you all doing well…wishing you all a wonderful week!  Love you all! 

 

 

Top:  Maddie (1st Easter)                                          

Above:  Our little sicky.                                                                              

    Alyssa with STRAIGHT hair (Mom got her with the flat iron!)                         

 The girls new playroom!

 ”D’ya mind, Dad??  No boys allowed!”