Christmas Fun

We had a great time this year at Christmas. My mom was able to come into town from MN and although Maelin wasn't really herself from being so sick (she was a bit cranky and clingy), she had mostly recovered and had a blast with all the family and her new loot!

We always spend Xmas eve at my Aunt Laura's house and we get to see all of my family: my aunt & uncle, my cousins, my brother and sister, etc. We had fun this year because we did the White Elephant Junk Exchange. I ended up with a really cute bank from my Aunt Laura that I plan to slip back into her house the next time I'm there because I think she needs it more than I do. :-)

On Christmas day, we stayed home for a few hours and opened the presents that Santa brought for Maelin. Jeff and Kat came over to watch and we had a really nice morning with cinnamon rolls and watching Maelin enjoy her new car and Elmo. Then we headed over to Kevin's parents' house to see all of Kevin's family and my mom came with us. We had fun over there because we just hung out all day and opened presents slowly and Maelin was able to take a really long nap which probably helped her feel better.

The day after Christmas we went to the zoo for a few hours. Maelin LOVES the animals: the hippo ("ippo") and the lions ("rooooooor") were her favorites. Even though it was a bit chilly with the wind, we had fun. We plan to head back to the zoo as often as we can because we know we're lucky to live so close to it!

I love Christmas time because I love how we finally get to see all our families. Everyone is so busy these days that it's hard for us all to get together but it seems like it always works at Christmas. Can't wait for next year!

Here are a few pictures of Maelin enjoying her new presents. Her favorites are the car, Elmo Live (which is actually kinda freaky because he acts so real!!), bike and laptop.

Hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Our Sick Little Girl

Maelin is sick. Of course she is: she always gets sick whenever anything fun is about to happen. Nana is coming from Minnesota for a couple of days and Christmas is almost here...so it's a perfect time for Mae to come down with a nasty stomach bug.

Poor little thing. It started on Saturday morning: I went in to get her and she and her crib were covered with blueberry vomit: she had thrown-up sometime during the night and had just rolled over and gone back to sleep in it. (eeeeewwwww) Then all day Saturday she was listless and moody and then again on Sunday and then again today. Today was the worst: she threw up 3 times today: including once in my car (thank goodness for how easily leather seats clean up!) and once in a crowded restaurant right in front of other guests trying to eat their lunch. (eeeeewwwww)

Kevin and I are worried sick about her and we're exhausted. We're tired of cleaning up puke from every corner of the globe and the poor little thing just isn't herself. The doctor told me today that she thinks it's just a bug and if she keeps throwing up tomorrow, she'll put her on an anti-nausea medication. Fun.

Anyway, after watching hours and hours and hours of Elmo (although that sounds like torture, it's the only way the poor little thing is remotely happy), we finally got her to go to sleep tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that today was the worst day and we'll be over the hump of this because I'm really starting to get depressed: not exactly the way I had imagined Mae and I spending our time off.

Here's a picture of our sick little girl watching Elmo. Check out who's also worried about her!! Sweet kitty...

Merry Christmas!!!

An Amazing Day

I barely have the words to describe what it was like in my classroom on Friday. I'll do my best because I know there are a lot of people who worked to make it happen and want to know how it went:

Imagine 26 kids excited for the last day of school. Their teacher has told them a special surprise is coming, but they don't know what it is. They are thinking about how it's going to be 2 weeks off of school and that can be scary because home life isn't the most stable. Sometimes it's great, but parents have been talking lately about how there isn't any money for Xmas presents and they might lose their house like their friend did and have to move. They are quietly doing their work at their desks when they hear a noise and look up:

5 uniformed Air Force men are walking into the classroom! Mrs. Corzine is smiling at them and goes over to introduce herself and shakes all their hands. They are dragging about 10 huge garbage bags with them! What is this???? Mrs. Corzine tells them to put their work away and says that these nice men are from the Air Force and are our new friends. They care about us so much that they've put together Christmas Presents for every child in this room! In the bag are Christmas Presents!

The kids look at each other with huge eyes and squeal!! They can't believe it: they try to sit quietly as the men pass out 2 wrapped gifts per child, but this is too much. They've never had gifts like this before. They were all prepared to not have anything for Christmas this year because Mom says there isn't any money for things like that! They start laughing and jumping up and down while the presents are being passed out. Mrs. Corzine looks shocked at the amount of gifts and she has tears in her eyes. One of the girls asks her why she's crying and Mrs. Corzine can't even answer her...this is amazing!

Finally everyone in the room has their 2 presents...but wait! They're not done yet! They bring the bags up to the front of the room and start taking out MORE presents to give to Mrs. Corzine for the whole class. Mrs. Corzine is smiling and crying at the same time and telling them it's way too much, but the men are shaking their heads and telling her how happy they are to do this for the kids. They have piled gifts on the front table and are explaining to Mrs. Corzine what is in each of them: soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, chapter books...enough to share with the entire 2nd grade!! Oh...an a box of homemade cookies that one of the officers' wife had stayed up late to make.

The kids all say "Thank you!" and then start to rip into their presents. It's the best scene you could ever imagine. They are laughing and excited and talking to the officers and their friends and saying things like, "I needed new socks!" and "Now my feet won't be cold!" and "Legos!!! Now I don't have to share with my brother!" and "Oh...jewelry! I've always wanted a necklace!" The officers and Mrs. Corzine are just standing by and watching them tear into their gifts...probably the best they've ever gotten (or will get). The joy in their eyes is unmistakable. It is pure happiness. They are shocked at the amount of goodies they've received:

Sweaters/Jackets for each kid (nice ones too...Nike, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc.)
Legos for the boys
Jewelry packets for the girls (each with necklace, earrings, bracelets)
Hair things for the girls
Hello Kitty! Stuff for the girls
Hats and Mittens and Scarves
Socks

They are modeling their new outfits and trying on their hats. A few pictures of them doing this are below. They have never been so excited in their lives. Imagine you were 8 years old and you knew you weren't going to have much of a Christmas this year. You had resigned yourself to that and you tried to convince yourself it didn't matter...then this happens!!

Mrs. Corzine starts passing out the other gifts for the kids to open. The boys go nuts at all the balls...now they have something to play with on the playground! They start squealing and yelling and jumping up and down all over again.

The principal comes in to say hello and her jaw drops when she sees how much stuff the kids have gotten. She shakes each officer's hand and thanks them...she says later that there aren't any words to describe how amazing this is. Just look at the kids' shining eyes...I know, Mrs. Corzine replies and tries to smile back without breaking into tears in front of the kids.

The officers eventually leave but first they tell Mrs. Corzine what a pleasure this was and how 50 families were involved and they'd love to come back on a regular basis to read with the kids! They say they'll be in touch and hug Mrs. Corzine and tell her "Merry Christmas"...and they smile and go back to the base where Mrs. Corzine hopes they'll spread the news at how Christmas Miracles are REAL and they made something happen for 26 kids that they will never forget...these kids are experiencing not just the new toys and clothes but the feeling that they are important and they matter.

But wait...the day isn't over yet!! After lunch, a special Christmas helper rolls in another cart filled with more presents! A elementary school in Cherry Creek (for those of you who don't know...the wealthy part of town) adopted the kids and made school supply boxes for each of them to have at home! They each got all the markers, pencils, crayons, rulers, etc. they'll ever need to do their homework! As the Christmas helper (thanks Christina...) passes them out, there is more cheering and comments like, "Now I can do my homework!" and "I've always wanted my own markers!"

Then the kids notice something...more presents on the floor: the gift bags that the WalMart gift cards were able to buy! Their eyes pop open and you can see their tiny brains about ready to explode: this is almost too much!!! One girl says, "Mrs. Corzine...there's more?????" as Mrs. Corzine explains that people from all over the country sent them some gifts because they care about them and really want them to have a nice Christmas. Also because they really want the kids to know that they are important and the best way to pay these people back is to do well in school. Who's going to do well in school to say "thank you?" All the kids shoot up their hands and their grins couldn't be any wider.

As they open their gift bags (standing on their chairs throwing the paper around...), Mrs. Corzine watches their faces closely. This will be a day these kids remember for the rest of their lives. It's not so much the new chapter books each kid got (we had enough donations for each child to have 2: plus we added to our classroom library and we gave extras to the school library and we also gave a bunch to the principal to pass out to kids who've earned a special prize), or the new basketballs, or the socks or the hats and Hannah Montana dolls (one girl saw her doll and immediately gave it a hug)...it's the fact that for this one day these kids felt RICH. They felt like they mattered in the world. They are important. You could see their self-esteem just shoot up as they realized how much other people cared about them.

One girl goes up to Mrs. Corzine and gives her a bug hug and says "Mrs. Corzine...this is amazing! All this from people we don't even know??? They must really like us and want us to read better!" Mrs. Corzine laughs and says she's right.

Finally, the gifts are over and it's recess time. Not a single 2nd grader is playing on the swings or the one slide we have. Every single one is on the blacktop playing with a new soccer ball or jump rope or kickball. It's shocking...we've never seen them do this before! They are all laughing and having a great time.

This is the true meaning of Christmas. For all of you who donated, to Sgt. Alex and his unit, to those of you who sent WalMart cards, your child's old books, to those of you who drove all the way up to Commerce City to drop items off so I wouldn't have to, to you who bought new books online and had them mailed, sent blankets and to Emily who had her 1st grade class make school supply boxes (with personalized notes from the 1st graders...my kids loved that!)...

Thank you isn't enough. I hope some of the pictures tell the story better than I can because you truly made a Christmas Miracle happen for these kids. It was a day I know I'll never forget...it was truly one of the best days of my life because I saw dejected and hopeless kids turn into kids full of joy and happiness. Even if for one day...

Thank you all and Merry Christmas! The world today is a bit better because of you!

Santa Claus is Coming to Commerce City Today!!!

So excited...today's the day that all of our hard work is going to pay off. We have TONS of stuff for these kids...they have no idea. :-)

I'll post pictures this weekend. Thanks again for all your hard work!!

What My Class is GETTING For Christmas...Thanks To You!

This is an update to my previous post about what I was trying to do for my kiddos this Christmas...

So after much work this weekend...shopping, organizing, going back to WalMart 3 times because I miscounted my kiddos, the gift bags are finished! I thought you'd like to know what your kindness and generosity provided for these 26 kids:

Blankets
Socks
Hats
Gloves
Chapter Books
Recorders
School Supplies (pencils, markers, crayons, etc...)
Hannah Montana Dolls & High School Musical Dolls (one for every girl!)
Soccer Balls
Footballs
Basketballs
Kickballs (one ball of those types for every boy!)
High Bouncy Ball Thingys
Hand-Held Video Games
Card Games
Silly Putty
Hair Accessories (bows, headbands, etc.)
Lip Gloss

We were able to make appropriate BOY and GIRL gift bags filled with all that stuff! That doesn't even include the things that certain people have emailed me to tell me is still on the way: if it doesn't get here before Xmas, than the kiddos will have a big surprise when they come back in January: and who doesn't like that???

I am just amazed and touched beyond words at the generosity you have shown these kids. Please email this to everyone that you forwarded my original request to: I received so much from all of you AND from people around the country that I don't even know!!! PLUS...I have some things left over that I'll be able to give to new kids I get or save for next year!

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished gift bags: thanks to Kevin, Kat and Heather for their help putting everything together. I will take pictures of the kids on Friday when they get their bags and send those along. My intention is to also send a personal "Thank You" to everyone who mailed me a gift card, but as I've been somewhat disorganized lately (see above...can't even remember how many kids I have these days!), please forward any thanks I send you on to whoever you know that might have helped out.

Again...I am in complete shock and overwhelmed with gratitude. I get teary-eyed every time I think of how you braved the WalMart crowds to buy a gift card to help out kids that you've never even met...just because I asked you to.

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

Zoo Lights!

Gotta love Colorado. We were able to take Maelin to the Denver Zoo for Zoo Lights tonight and the weather couldn't have been nicer. It was about 45 degrees all night with a very light breeze: just chilly enough to feel festive but nothing was freezing!

That didn't stop me from bundling her up like the Stay-Puft-Marshmallow-Man though...she just looks so darn cute in her snowsuit! (a hand-me-down from our cousins in Michigan where I'm sure it got a lot more use than it does here!)

Anyway, the Zoo Lights were gorgeous and Maelin LOVED it. She loved the animals, the carousel, the lights, the snacks and the fishies. She kept repeating "apppo" (hippo) and "ishies" (fishies) over and over again after we had seen them. We had to explain to her that the fishies and hippos had gone to sleep so we had to keep going so she put her finger to her mouth like she was shhhhing someone and made sleepy noises. What a cutie.

Here are a few pictures of our trip to the zoo. We're totally going to make it a new holiday tradition! Try to get there yourselves...it runs until Jan 4th! (tip: buy your tickets online before you go: Kat did this and saved us a good 45 minutes of waiting in line!)

Cookies!!

I love Christmas. I love how happy everyone is, I love how pretty everything is and I love how everyone is in a peaceful, giving spirit. People who don't understand could say that that's the way you should be all year long and that's true, but it doesn't happen that way. People are busy and tired and just don't have the energy to be full of goodwill all the time. It's understandable.

Anyway, I've been hosting a Cookie Exchange party for about 8 years now and every year seems to be more fun than the last. We really have a good time. We all bring cookies that we made to the party and we sit around and enjoy our wine or hot chocolate or beer or eggnog while we listen to music and chat and decorate sugar cookies. We have a blast and we all go home with plenty to share.

This year I was able to bring Maelin. She tried to decorate cookies but she was more interested in eating them, so I let her watch "Elmo" until Kevin came to pick her up. It was fun having her be part of the "big girls" for a while though!!

Here's a couple of pictures of our cookie party this year. We had a great turnout and so many yummy treats! I highly recommend organizing this for you and your friends if you get the chance. It's great holiday fun and a low-stress way to make sure we all take the time out of our busy lives to catch up and slow down and enjoy each other...which is another reason I love Christmas.

Cookies!!


Me and my girls...plus the love of my life (that's the little one in the blue in case you're wondering...) :-)

CRASH!!!!!!!

Long night last night. We were up till around 1am doing random things on the Internet and we both realized that it was 1am and should go to bed! So Kevin was putting things away and I was in the bedroom and I heard a CRASH!

It totally sounded like he had fallen through a window or something so I ran out and he was standing in the kitchen shaking his head...

He had been putting the bottles of liquor away on top of the fridge and his brand new bottle of gin had fallen right on top of our 3 month old glass cooktop stove and shattered the whole thing.

Brand new stove...ruined beyond repair. If we were single, it wouldn't be a big deal but we need the stove to make dinners for MaeMae. Also if we were single, we'd have the $$$ to go buy a new one...but we don't.

Kevin ran downstairs to check how much a replacement top for the stove would be and gulp: $400 to replace the top and $500 for a brand new one.

This just sucks...it'd be different if this stove was a junker but it was brand new when we bought our house 4 months ago. What a waste.

Kevin is so mad at himself, but I told him accidents happen and he shouldn't have been up so late anyway. (secretly, I'm really glad it was him and not me!) The biggest yuck about the whole business is that not only do we have no stove now but we were saving up money to replace the awful fluorescent light in the kitchen and now we'll have to use that money for a new oven: when we had a new oven!!!

Lesson learned: Don't stay up late on a work night! Only bad things can happen...

We Knew This!!! :-)

REMEMBER THIS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November.

However Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer in late December, the beloved Reindeer, from Rudolph to Blitzen had to be Girls !

We should've known!!!! ONLY WOMEN would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

Blankets and Socks...

I just want to send a big "THANK YOU" to those of you who have responded to my original post about the kids in my class and what they wanted (needed) for Christmas. Your response so far has been overwhelming.

I think that if everyone who said they are going to send something actually does, there will be enough to get every child in my class one good Christmas present (including socks, mittens, hats, books and a fun toy like a Bratz doll or Legos), AND enough school supplies to send a box filled with them home for each child AND enough for me to save for next year!!

I am just amazed at the generosity and love you all have shown for these kiddos. I will post pictures of them with their stuff starting next week and be on the lookout for personal thank-you's that the kiddos write after Christmas.

It's amazing that in these tough economical times, you all were able to find it in your hearts to make 26 kids happy this season. It's truly heart-warming.

THANK YOU!!

Thanksgiving Fun With Family

I wasn't really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Last year was fun, but very stressful. We go to Kevin's Mom's house in the morning and eat dinner around 1pm and then hang out for a bit and run across town (about an hour drive) to my Aunt Laura's house where my uncle makes a killer dinner around 5pm. Then we hang out until 10ish and go home.

Last year was so hard and exhausting with baby Maelin. I was so stressed out making sure we had packed everything she would need to be gone all day...all the bottles and food and toys and diapers and binkies and blankies and it was exhausting. I didn't really enjoy my time at either families' house because it was so stressful making sure we stayed long enough at the first house and didn't leave too soon...and we got to the 2nd house early enough when we were tired and just wanted to go home and go to bed.

Anyway, we decided that we'd try the two family thing again this year and if it was as stressful as last year, we'd stop going to both houses: we alternate years next time. We woke up around 8am on Thursday and I'll admit that it was stressful packing up the car with all of MaeMae's stuff: it made me laugh that I thought she needed a lot of stuff last year: that was nothing compared to what we brought with us this time around: 2 different Thanksgiving outfits (in case she got one dirty at the first house), toys, books, bottles, jammies, blankies, lunch and dinner (in case she threw her classic I-don't-want-to-eat-that), the wine and desserts we brought to contribute to the two dinners, cameras and random snacks and juice cups. It was crazy.

We made it down to Boulder where Kevin's family lives around 10:30am and Maelin had a great time running around playing with her cousin Oakley (a black Lab who is the sweetest doggie and his only fault is his tail is exactly level with Maelin's face so he wags his tail in her face which she doesn't really enjoy), Keith and all the other family. She loved Grandma Lea's famous green jello: she liked dipping her noodles in it and licking it off. She also liked the sweet potatoes but wouldn't touch anything else.

Then we took a quick nap and changed clothes and we were ready to go back to Denver around 4pm for round 2. I sat in the back with Maelin and you could tell she was tired and worn out but we just read books and chilled while Kevin drove us up there.

We got to Denver around 5 and were greeted by Maelin's cousins, Auntie Kat and Uncle Jeff and Laura and Mike who had been cooking all day for everyone. Maelin was a bit freaked out at first but she quickly discovered the basement which was filled with our cousin's old toys. She had a blast! We ate dinner and hung out until 9ish and changed Maelin into her jammies and loaded up everything into the car. We made it home and put baby to bed and congratulated ourselves on another Thanksgiving with both families.

We really had a nice day. I just love both our families and I think we're incredibly lucky to not only have one place to go to on Thanksgiving but two: not everyone has that and I don't want to give it up yet. If it ever becomes a huge burden on Maelin to go to both places on the same day we might give it up but right now it's just a burden on us. I don't want to give up Maelin's limited time with her extended families just because its a lot of work for us...

Then I got up at 4:30am on Friday morning to brave the sales with Kat, Mary and Emmie. We had a BLAST and found really great deals on all sorts of things. I'm totally going to do it again next year...maybe we've discovered a new tradition! When Maelin is old enough to understand what's going on, maybe she can join us...

Playing with Grandma's sheep...she calls him "Baaaa." She was also making the Stink Face (see previous post for explanation on this...)


Reading books with Grandpa...


Playing in the basement with Cousin Mary...she had a great time!


The Kimling Klan enjoying Uncle Mike's cooking!


Taking pictures with Grandma...she wasn't real excited about this because we had taken quite a few earlier and she was over it!


I love Grandma's green jello!


This is when Maelin had had enough: we were changing her for the 4th time that day and she decided she just wanted to run around the house yelling in her bunny slippers. She had done this earlier at Grandma's house and it was so funny...what a cute little girl!


Maelin stole the whipped cream and took off with it. She took it all over the house and eventually left it in Cousin Emmie's room. She didn't want to eat any of it: (she actually didn't like it at all...)she just wanted to HAVE it and you were NOT going to take it away from her!