When a year ends you often hear about people reflecting in the year that was, a personal year-end review. Most of this review is about all the things that didn't happen or goals that weren't met. On Christmas Eve Brad and I were watching our traditional National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and reflecting on this past year. We didn't talk about it's short-comings or failures, but what we were proud of. I definitely have some accomplishments that I'm proud of.
1. Our Marriage. I think I'm most proud of this, because I know that having a solid marriage is an important component to a happy life. Most people know marriage isn't always easy and while I think Brad and I have a strong marriage it does take work to maintain that. My parents are divorced and have been forever, or 30 years to be exact, and so while technically I was alive while they were married I don't remember them being married. Brad's parents, on the other hand, have been married since 1971 and he's never known any different. On Christmas Eve we were talking about how proud we are of our little family and how it really enhances special times, such as Christmas. We were discussing our Christmas memories and I was saying I feel I have been able to give my girls a gift I didn't have, to have memories, i.e. Christmas morning, with a "nuclear" family. For Brad this is an oddity because he only knows waking at Christmas morning with a nuclear family and spending the day as we do with our girls. We decided long ago once we had children we would stay home on Christmas. Anyone who wants to come over is more than welcome to, and generally his parents and my mom and Tim come over for dinner, as well as Brian and Sarah when they can. Most of my memories were going from place to place. While I had fun at all these places when you are a young one it makes for a long day when all you really want to do is play with your new toys:)
Now, I don't begrudge my parents, all things happen for a reason and their choices have actually expanded my family and given me, and my girls, many family members I wouldn't have otherwise. But I do have a lot of pride in the things Brad and I have done and the way we have done them in. We have worked hard together, to be independent productive members of society. I hope that we will be a good example for our girls and continue to provide a stable, healthy and consistent home that will aide in their life successes and encourage them to make good choices.
2. Brad. Yes, I sort of included him in the above. However, I have to say he has taken some risks this year and I really think they will payoff for him. He always has us, his family, first and I see that time and time again with all he does for us. For he is truly one that shows through actions. I am not a trusting person, in fact their are very, very, very few people I completely trust. If someone has proven to not be trustworthy the likelihood of me ever trusting them again is less than 1%. He has never given me a reason to not trust him. I may not always agree with his thoughts, but I do trust he always has our best interests at heart He is truly the rock of our family. I use him as my gauge for many things. His loyalty is admirable and his integrity is respectable.
3. Our children. They've had a big year, transitioning into pre-school and Kindergarten, and have done so well on their newest adventures. Their teachers have all had wonderful things to say about them and we couldn't be more proud of how well-adjusted they are and how they love going to school and learning new things. I feel blessed that Brad and I have been able to provide them with a solid education foundation.
Many people may think it's odd, given my background as a trained educator that we would make the sacrifices we have to send our girls to the preschool we have, however I think there's something to be said about a classroom experience, learning in an environment from other teachers. Not only are they learning the academics but doing so in an environment that includes distractions, where children have to be able to learn together and independently. Kaylee has, and Ainsley is, learning and being challenged both with environment and academics. I have seen how ahead of the game Kaylee is this year and that's so important to me because I don't want my children to have the challenges I did and/or lack the confidence. This also allows us to do lots of fun play things at home because I don't feel I have to drill the educational things into them. We can do reinforcing activities that are more fun/game related, or we can just play play-dough and Barbies:)
With accomplishments should come goals. We aren't perfect and we should try to be better people, as well as realize we are all a work in progress. In the days after Brad and my conversation I was having one of those inner explorations. Not so much reflecting on what I failed to do in 2010 but what, in myself, did I want to improve?
Well maybe not "improve" but what I want to do is just focus more on the positives. I am really a cynical person for the most part. I tend to over analyze things and have my feelings hurt very easily. Ahhhh...such a senistive soul. I don't trust easily, it takes a lot to trust someone and once it's broken it's gone. I use humor, sarcasm and a laid back exterior to hide my anxiety and sensitivity from the world. What I've realized is I need to focus on the positives in my life and let go of things I carry within me that can get me down. What's done is done, to let things eat away at you is not constructive. The most positive things in my life are those I'm most proud of. They are what make me feel at peace, safe and secure; maybe that's why many a day I would be happy just staying at home:) The bottom line is that I'm so blessed to have the people under my roof and as long as they are here everything else is gravy!
I hope 2011 brings peace, love, laughter and joy to all of you! I hope that there are positives that are lights in the tunnel of your dark days, and the brighter they become the less tunnels there will be.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Christmas Montage
We had a wonderful Christmas with many wonderful Christmas celebrations! We had our traditional gatherings this year: Duffy Family Christmas, Cookie baking Christmas at my Mom's, Christmas Eve at my Dad's and Christmas Day at our house with Brad's parents, sister, my Mom and Tim and Brian and Sarah. We also had some new celbrations this year with Kaylee's school program and their Deck The Halls celebration.
With all of these celebrations comes many photos. So to try to put all of those in the post without the massive list of photos I thought I would try to compile them all in a slideshow.
With all of these celebrations comes many photos. So to try to put all of those in the post without the massive list of photos I thought I would try to compile them all in a slideshow.
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| This free slideshow design personalized with Smilebox |
Monday, December 20, 2010
Who Could Imagine
This time of year I have Christmas music on 99% of the time. Between stations that only play it to my CD case that only hold Christmas CD's I am getting my fill. One of my most favorite CD's is the soundtrack for The Preacher's Wife, also one of my most favorite movies.
A song from that movie that I love is "Who Could Imagine?". When I was putting some of my favorite Christmas songs on my playlist for this blog I tried to put that one on, however, I could only find 30 second versions on the site. That wouldn't do, but it still deserved a post.
For you see to me it's a song about hope, about seeing the obvious but realizing the big picture. For realizing that He is in control. Who could imagine how blessed I would be? Who could imagine I would marry my high school sweetheart and best friend and have 2 beautiful girls? He could and He provided me with those blessings. This time of year we are forever reflecting on our blessings.
When my girls were babies I used to sing it to them before bed, while I rocked them. In the last line I would insert their name, Who would imagine...Kaylee (or Ainsley).
Even still to this day there are nights when I'm putting Ainsley to bed and she will ask me to sing her song.
If you have never heard it I encourage you to find it and listen. Here is what it says:
Mommies and daddys always believe
That their little angels are special indeed
And you could grow up to be anything
But who would imagine a king
A shepherd or teacher is what you could be
Or maybe a fisherman out on the sea
Or maybe a carpenter building things
But who would imagine a king
It was so clear when the wise men arrived
And the angels were singing your name
That the world would be different cuz you were alive
That's what heaven stood to proclaim
One day an angel said quietly
That soon he would bring something special to me
And of all those wonderful gifts he bring
Who would imagine, who could imagine
Who would imagine a king (or insert child's name:))
While it's a Christmas song it's one we obviously like to sing year round. Often it's a reminder of things we should realize year round too.
A song from that movie that I love is "Who Could Imagine?". When I was putting some of my favorite Christmas songs on my playlist for this blog I tried to put that one on, however, I could only find 30 second versions on the site. That wouldn't do, but it still deserved a post.
For you see to me it's a song about hope, about seeing the obvious but realizing the big picture. For realizing that He is in control. Who could imagine how blessed I would be? Who could imagine I would marry my high school sweetheart and best friend and have 2 beautiful girls? He could and He provided me with those blessings. This time of year we are forever reflecting on our blessings.
When my girls were babies I used to sing it to them before bed, while I rocked them. In the last line I would insert their name, Who would imagine...Kaylee (or Ainsley).
Even still to this day there are nights when I'm putting Ainsley to bed and she will ask me to sing her song.
If you have never heard it I encourage you to find it and listen. Here is what it says:
Mommies and daddys always believe
That their little angels are special indeed
And you could grow up to be anything
But who would imagine a king
A shepherd or teacher is what you could be
Or maybe a fisherman out on the sea
Or maybe a carpenter building things
But who would imagine a king
It was so clear when the wise men arrived
And the angels were singing your name
That the world would be different cuz you were alive
That's what heaven stood to proclaim
One day an angel said quietly
That soon he would bring something special to me
And of all those wonderful gifts he bring
Who would imagine, who could imagine
Who would imagine a king (or insert child's name:))
While it's a Christmas song it's one we obviously like to sing year round. Often it's a reminder of things we should realize year round too.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Story of Belle
Warning: This is a long story!
As many of you know we recently got a new puppy. Brad and I started talking over the summer about getting another dog. Abby will be 10 in February and we thought it would be nice to have some overlapping time with the dogs. We got Abby in the spring and figured that would be about the time we would get the new one. Wrong!
My mom knows a lady from work who breeds labs. They have 2 females and 1 male they use to breed. They just happen to have 2 litters back-to-back. First litter available 11/26 and the other 12/3. We had some discussions on if we wanted to act now or wait until next fall when the breeder anticipated their next litter.
We decided to get one now. We didn't tell the girls anything about it. My mom came to stay with the girls, I picked Brad up from work and we were on our way. Picked her up and brought her home. Walked in, set the cage down and the girls realized we were adding to our family.
They were super excited!!! Ainsley was especially happy for Abby because now she could be a twin since the new puppy was just like her. Later that night Belle got sick and threw up all her food. We assumed that it was a combination of eating too much, the car ride, excitement, etc.
The next morning she ate with no problems.
Later I came home from work, was trying to hold her and put her leasch on her to take her outside. I couldn't get it on her while holding her so I put her down. She layed on her side, her back was stiff, she was non-responsive and there was drool coming out of her mouth. I picked her back up and talked to her, put her back down and she was still having trouble standing so I picked her up again. I kept petting and talking to her and finally she seem to snap out of what had happened, went out and pottied right away and seem to be fine. I called the vet because whatever had happened wasn't something that seemed normal. The vet's office said to bring her in.
We got to the vet and he checked her out and said she looked great. Took her back to check her blood sugar because he said if it was low that could cause that and he also wanted to get a stool sample. He brought her back in and said blood sugar was normal, temp was normal but while getting a stool sample she had another seizure, a Grand Mal, which is a full-blown seizure.
He started to tell me all of the possibilities and testing that would need to be done to find answers. I was having an out of body experience. I couldn't believe this was going on. We hadn't even had this little one 24 hours and here I am in the vets with options that aren't great and 2 little girls who are growing more and more upset while asking if we are going to have to take her back.
I called Brad at work and we decided we would get in touch with the breeder, explain the situation and take her back. I told the vet our plan. I felt horrible. I told the vet I don't want anything bad to happen to this puppy but I can't justify all these medical costs, for a puppy, that we just got, especially with the girls and this poor puppy having seizures. The vet completely understood and felt our choice was the correct choice. He wrote a report up for me so we could give it to the breeder.
In the meantime Brad got a hold of the breeder who was mortified. She felt bad for us, the dog, the whole situation. She told Brad she had another female from the other litter that she would swap us or just give us our money back. So Brad went and met her last night and swapped the dogs. The breeder had been in contact with her vet and they were going to work together to find the answers. The breeder said it wasn't anything we should have to deal with.
Brad brought the new Belle home, yes we are keeping the same name. I keep thinking about the first one and am anxious to hear from the breeder on Monday to see if they have found anything out. I felt horrible even though I know the breeder and her vet will do all they can.
So that's our LONG story about Belle.
The short story is we have added a new addition to our family. Brad told me since I can't physically have anymore children I could still have a baby by getting a new puppy every 10 years. I'll take that:)
The girls are loving her and Kaylee is always reminding us to give extra love to Abby, which we are. Abby is doing great with Belle. I knew she would because she is the sweetest most gentle dog I have ever known.
We know have 2 fur babies 9 1/2 years and 8 weeks, and 2 people kiddos that are 5 and 3. I guess we just like to keep our house a little on the crazy side:)
As many of you know we recently got a new puppy. Brad and I started talking over the summer about getting another dog. Abby will be 10 in February and we thought it would be nice to have some overlapping time with the dogs. We got Abby in the spring and figured that would be about the time we would get the new one. Wrong!
My mom knows a lady from work who breeds labs. They have 2 females and 1 male they use to breed. They just happen to have 2 litters back-to-back. First litter available 11/26 and the other 12/3. We had some discussions on if we wanted to act now or wait until next fall when the breeder anticipated their next litter.
We decided to get one now. We didn't tell the girls anything about it. My mom came to stay with the girls, I picked Brad up from work and we were on our way. Picked her up and brought her home. Walked in, set the cage down and the girls realized we were adding to our family.
They were super excited!!! Ainsley was especially happy for Abby because now she could be a twin since the new puppy was just like her. Later that night Belle got sick and threw up all her food. We assumed that it was a combination of eating too much, the car ride, excitement, etc.
The next morning she ate with no problems.
Later I came home from work, was trying to hold her and put her leasch on her to take her outside. I couldn't get it on her while holding her so I put her down. She layed on her side, her back was stiff, she was non-responsive and there was drool coming out of her mouth. I picked her back up and talked to her, put her back down and she was still having trouble standing so I picked her up again. I kept petting and talking to her and finally she seem to snap out of what had happened, went out and pottied right away and seem to be fine. I called the vet because whatever had happened wasn't something that seemed normal. The vet's office said to bring her in.
We got to the vet and he checked her out and said she looked great. Took her back to check her blood sugar because he said if it was low that could cause that and he also wanted to get a stool sample. He brought her back in and said blood sugar was normal, temp was normal but while getting a stool sample she had another seizure, a Grand Mal, which is a full-blown seizure.
He started to tell me all of the possibilities and testing that would need to be done to find answers. I was having an out of body experience. I couldn't believe this was going on. We hadn't even had this little one 24 hours and here I am in the vets with options that aren't great and 2 little girls who are growing more and more upset while asking if we are going to have to take her back.
I called Brad at work and we decided we would get in touch with the breeder, explain the situation and take her back. I told the vet our plan. I felt horrible. I told the vet I don't want anything bad to happen to this puppy but I can't justify all these medical costs, for a puppy, that we just got, especially with the girls and this poor puppy having seizures. The vet completely understood and felt our choice was the correct choice. He wrote a report up for me so we could give it to the breeder.
In the meantime Brad got a hold of the breeder who was mortified. She felt bad for us, the dog, the whole situation. She told Brad she had another female from the other litter that she would swap us or just give us our money back. So Brad went and met her last night and swapped the dogs. The breeder had been in contact with her vet and they were going to work together to find the answers. The breeder said it wasn't anything we should have to deal with.
Brad brought the new Belle home, yes we are keeping the same name. I keep thinking about the first one and am anxious to hear from the breeder on Monday to see if they have found anything out. I felt horrible even though I know the breeder and her vet will do all they can.
So that's our LONG story about Belle.
The short story is we have added a new addition to our family. Brad told me since I can't physically have anymore children I could still have a baby by getting a new puppy every 10 years. I'll take that:)
The girls are loving her and Kaylee is always reminding us to give extra love to Abby, which we are. Abby is doing great with Belle. I knew she would because she is the sweetest most gentle dog I have ever known.
We know have 2 fur babies 9 1/2 years and 8 weeks, and 2 people kiddos that are 5 and 3. I guess we just like to keep our house a little on the crazy side:)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wordless Wednesday (almost)
We made gingerbread houses and the girls wanted to try it out. So we started with the roof and behold we now found that Dora now lives there.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
Here we are in the first weekend of December covered in snow! The girls could not be more excited!!! Before I knew it they were outside, no coats, hats, gloves, boots with the door left wide opened marveling at the marshmallowy look of our backyard.
I led them back inside, closed the door and agreed to get their snow gear out if they would go and get dressed, yes they were in their pajamas. They went to get dressed while I pulled out snow pants, boots, hats, scarves and gloves from the closet.
I got them dressed and out they went. Brad was out putting the exterior decorations up so he was really excited for the help:) Thankfully Abby loves the snow so she kept the girls occupied by sitting pretty so they would throw snowballs for her.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday, minus the initial run outside in only pajamas. Ainsley had a little difficulty on Saturday trying to walk through the freshly fallen snow. She looked more like a penguin and occasionally lost a boot. Sunday there were some "trails" put in the yard from Daddy and the walking from front to back of the house that helped her move around a little easier.
Ainsley lost a boot! When you aren't much taller than the snow, you don't weigh much and you are carrying around lots of extra weight with all your equipment it can make it a little more challenging to maneuver yourself in new fallen snow.
Kaylee and Ainsley hanging out. Ainsley was having some difficulty with her hat staying on.
Kaylee sitting in the snow.
Throwing snowballs for Abby.
Ainsley decided to wear her safety goggles to keep the snow out of her eyes.
Ainsley without her safety goggles on.
While I seem to remember many a year where it's almost Christmas and I am wondering if the first snowfall will beat Christmas, this year that is not the case as the winter wonderland has arrived well before Christmas day. Will it stick around or melt away? Only time will tell. While it's here the girls are definitely enjoying it!! Abby is too!
I led them back inside, closed the door and agreed to get their snow gear out if they would go and get dressed, yes they were in their pajamas. They went to get dressed while I pulled out snow pants, boots, hats, scarves and gloves from the closet.
I got them dressed and out they went. Brad was out putting the exterior decorations up so he was really excited for the help:) Thankfully Abby loves the snow so she kept the girls occupied by sitting pretty so they would throw snowballs for her.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday, minus the initial run outside in only pajamas. Ainsley had a little difficulty on Saturday trying to walk through the freshly fallen snow. She looked more like a penguin and occasionally lost a boot. Sunday there were some "trails" put in the yard from Daddy and the walking from front to back of the house that helped her move around a little easier.
Ainsley lost a boot! When you aren't much taller than the snow, you don't weigh much and you are carrying around lots of extra weight with all your equipment it can make it a little more challenging to maneuver yourself in new fallen snow.
Kaylee and Ainsley hanging out. Ainsley was having some difficulty with her hat staying on.
Kaylee sitting in the snow.
Throwing snowballs for Abby.
Ainsley decided to wear her safety goggles to keep the snow out of her eyes.
Ainsley without her safety goggles on.
While I seem to remember many a year where it's almost Christmas and I am wondering if the first snowfall will beat Christmas, this year that is not the case as the winter wonderland has arrived well before Christmas day. Will it stick around or melt away? Only time will tell. While it's here the girls are definitely enjoying it!! Abby is too!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Superstar!!
Shortly before Thanksgiving Kaylee brought home her first report card. I was very excited to see it! Kaylee loves school and learning seems to come easy for her. Maybe it's because she wants to know everything about everything, maybe it's because she takes pride in it or a little of both, either way it's exciting for me to see how her work is paying off. Plus this was her very first Kindergarten report card, it's worthy of a little excitement, right?
In our district the Kindergarten grading system is a +, /, or - and a 3, 2, or 1 type system. 3's and +'s are the best, meaning consistently showing mastering of skills, 2's and /'s are showing developmentally appropriate, or sometimes shows mastering of skill, and so on and so forth.
Kaylee received 3's in everything, except P.E. where she earned a 2, with a comment that she is always willing to participate. I got a little chuckle out of this as Kaylee's coordination has not always been her greatest strength:) But I have seen much improvement. As she has gotten older she's grown into her body a little better as she's always been tall for her age. Being tall comes with big feet:)
She received +'s in everything with the exception of neat handwriting in which she got a /. At her parent teacher conference her teacher told us that some kids are good with a box of 24 crayons, but Kaylee needs the 64 box. She is always wanting to be challenged and to move on to bigger things. Needless to say taking time to write her name is not a top priority. I also think it's because she gets frustrated if she can't do things perfectly. So rushing through her name is a way to deal with that frustration. She doesn't allow herself to focus on it enough to warrant the not perfect realization and therefore become frustrated. This is usually saved for when she has to write 5'S during homework.
She continues to read more and more. Most books she is up to the Level 2 in. Her teacher told us at conferences her reading was at the end of year range for Kindergarten, so we knew she was ahead of the game. She loves to read so she gets lots of practice:)! She also loves Science and is staying ahead of the game in Math as well.
We could not be more proud of her. Her teacher had wonderful things to say about her during her conference and on her report card! She is loving school and we are loving watching her grow and learn everyday.
Way to go Kaylee McKenna!
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