And These are the Days of our Lives....

I feel bad I haven't blogged in so long but not being able to blog about a huge part of our life right now makes it hard.  I can say that we have finally gotten into a good routine with our plus one, eating and sleeping are improving, and we are enjoying our time with her.  Sorry I can't share much else.

D is doing good, working hard on learning to read and still loves to write.  N is trying to get her back out on the slopes now that we are a little more settled.  She didn't do so well last weekend, a little rusty.  They hope to go back again this Sunday.  She is eager to go, so hopefully that will help with the rust.  :)

The countdown to our cruise has begun!  We can't wait.  We are looking forward to some fun in the sun.  We have begun to try on our summer clothes and make some new purchases.  We still have so much more to buy and get ready. 
We have lots going on this Spring; cruise, birthdays, a graduation, our anniversary.....Love this time of year!

D dressed as a 100 year old for the 100th day of school

Crazy Couple of Week!

I am not sure where to even begin so much has happened in the last couple of weeks!  Some good, some not so good.
Is it crazy I have to look at pictures on my phone to see what happened when?!? 
D had another ski lesson and did fabulous!  Hopefully we can get her back out on the slopes again soon.  She had to make a vet's office out of a milk carton for school and also a poster with pictures of herself as a baby and now.  Her and Daddy went to a Daddy-Daughter Dance.  And I am sure I am missing some things....
My Grandma Rose passed away over a week ago, she lived a long and wonderful life.  Unfortunately we were unable to go home for the funeral as we now have our first foster child.  She is a 9 month old little girl; extremely adorable and mild mannered.  I won't say much else for privacy.  If you see me out and about now you will know who my extra passenger is!

Sick Day

D is home today; her first official sick day.  She has gone in late once this year, but never missed a whole day.  I am surprised it has taken this long!  She has been fighting a runny nose since Monday, woke up with a headache last night, and has had a bit of a belly ache (probably because she refuses to blow her nose, instead she snorts--ugh!).  We have spent the morning watching TV, making a new chore list, drawing, and resting.

Letter D wrote to her Daddy inviting him to a dance.

Lanie reading a book after D made the bed.

The perfect shirt for her!

New Chore List-earning money for a doll from the American Girls Store

Our first family ski outing!

We headed to PA this weekend to have Christmas with the N's family and to also ski for the first time as a family.  N and his step-mom both ski, but the rest of us have not (ok-I had one lesson 16 years ago!). 

N's brother Jon, his girlfriend, and I took a first time skiers lesson.  We had a great teacher and we all did pretty well.  J even felt so confident that her joined N and Kelli on the slopes.  Courtney and I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee (it was the worst coffee ever, it should be a law that ski slopes serve only the best coffee!) and rest our tired legs.

D spent the day in a program called the Little Rippers.  It was from 9-4 and included a lesson and lunch.  We got to see her out on the bunny slope and she did awesome.  The teacher said she was a little nervous at first but then took right off.  She is looking forward to skiing again this weekend if the weather cooperates.

During our lesson

Getting instructions from Bob

D (pink helmet, white/pink coat and dark pink snow pants)

D headed down the bunny slope

Courtney and I after our lesson

D getting instructions from her teacher

Jon and N

Christmas Recap

We are finally back to our normal schedule!  After two fun weeks of all three of us being home together, D headed to school happily this morning and N zoomed off to work.  I hit the gym for a Zumba class and will spend the rest of the day catching up on all the things I wasn't able to do with everyone home. 

I posted Christmas pictures on Facebook, so I will only post a few here!  We had a fabulous Christmas, my parents, grandma, and brother were able to come to Michigan and celebrate with us.  A good time was had by all.  D enjoyed having everyone here to cater to her every request!

New Year's Eve we spent with friends, D had a blast with their 5 kids and N and I had fun playing games with their parents.  D lasted till midnight!  This was her first year and she wasn't too cranky the next day.

Now we are counting down till our cruise!  We are headed out to sea in March and can't wait to see how D likes the cruising experience.  N and I love it, so hopefully she will too.

N and I are trying to train to do a 5K this Spring and maybe a 10K or 1/2 marathon next year.  Any advice or encouragement is welcome! 

Our First Annual Holiday Party and Wine Exchange

We hosted a holiday party and wine exchange on Saturday night.  It was our first big party in our new house.  We had a great time catching up with friends!  Everyone brought a bottle of wine for a white elephant exchange.  A few bottles of wine went through a few hands as people were looking for their favorite wine or a new wine to try!  We ended up with a Michigan wine and I can't wait to try it!  I was so busy chatting and drinking that I didn't get any pictures, so bummed!  I did take a few of the house before everyone arrived.
We are headed into a busy week; Santa visit, 4 holiday parties, last week of school, volunteering, meetings, etc.  Hopefully all our shopping will be done by this weekend, we just have a few more things to pick up.

The Busy Season has begun....

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and will probably continue to be crazy until January! 
We travelled to PA for Thanksgiving to spend a few days with N's family.  We had a great time doing a Turkey Trot 5K (we walked it!), eating lots of good food, playing at the local park, our semi annual visit to Overly's, and finishing off the visit with a trip to the Carnegie Science Center.  We will head back to PA in January to celebrate Christmas.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed we are busy with all the holiday events.  First up was a holiday festival at D's school.  She had so much time visiting with Santa, playing games, making crafts, and enjoying some pizza and a snow cone.  We absolutely love her school and all the activities they have going on.
We have spent the last several weeks trying to get the house decorated for Christmas.  We put up our old tree in the formal living room and got a new bigger tree for our great room.  We had fun decorating them both as well as the outside of our house.  We will put a few more finishing touches on the house and tree as we get ready to host a holiday party on Saturday.