This and That

A few weeks ago, we went over to visit my brother in the Cities.  We had lunch at the bar/restaurant that he works at and then we went to the Science Museum.  It was a little old for Mya, but she still had a great time!  We're going to have to try out the Children's Museum next!  Mya had such a fun day and it was great to be able to meet up with Noah for a while!

Mya has been a learning machine lately.  I downloaded a letter tracing app on the iPad and she LOVES it!  I've also been printing out some handwriting pages for her and her printing is really coming along nicely!  She asks all the time how to spell names of people and then she will copy them.

I love when she makes her "E."  It looks more like a centipede, but it's pretty cute!

Greg has gone back to school for nursing.  He left one of his books out one night and Mya opened it up and starting flipping through it.  She came upon a page on how to give a rectal exam or something.  Then she proceeded to ask Greg why he's looking at butts.  We had a really good laugh over that one...and then promptly put the book at a higher level!

 We've been playing a lot of board games recently.  Candyland is the favorite.  It's been a great way to teach fairness, rules and it's okay not to win.

We've been working on rhyming too.  This kid loves to learn.  We play the letter game constantly.  Like, the first thing in the morning when she crawls in our bed.  I love that she loves learning!

And here are just some other random pictures...and a video to prove her mad skipping skills.

Cold Days

A couple weeks ago, I got an extended weekend.  Cold days!  One of the days was Greg's day off and the other was a Mommy and Mya day.  Those are the best days!

We stayed pretty busy doing fun stuff.  There was some relaxing, paper dolls, school work (cutting and pasting), playing with Barbies, painting and reading books.

Spending days at home really are my favorite thing.  I wish I could be home every day with this chicklet!

I'm hoping for another cold day next week!  I could use another break!

Sledding with Friends!

A couple of weeks ago (and in between cold spells), we met up with the Hardt's for a little bit of sledding time.  Adam, Nicole and Jackson were in town over the holidays and so we took advantage of one of the nice days.  The kids had a great time and we found out that some sleds really are faster than others!!

Mya was a tough little sledder.  She actually wanted to walk the sled up the hill herself.  I figured she'd want to be carried or pulled up.  Greg was a trooper too.  He went down to carry her up and console her when she lost the sledding race.  She doesn't know how to lose gracefully yet!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up to find that Santa had come to our house!  Mya was sooo excited to check the tree to see what he left behind!

Santa was very kind to Mya.  He brought her some more superhero things, books, movies and Barbies.  Christmas is beyond amazing right now because of the age that she is at.  Mya is so excited about everything.  The joy that shows up on her face is priceless and it's something I never want to forget.

BUT, the highlight was definitely the Barbie Dream House!  Every little girl's dream!  I know I wish that I had one when I was little, so now we can play with it together!  She was so excited to get it put together and it has already provided for hours of entertainment!

Baby sister even got a few toys...like superhero Little People.  Just what she wanted, I'm sure!

After breakfast, we headed out to my aunt and uncle's farm for some more family togetherness.  Mya had a few other gifts to open and she was really excited about them!

We also took in some sledding.  And when I say "we," I mean Mya and some other person!  No way that I'm getting on a sled!  She loves to go sledding...whether it's down a hill or being pulled behind a 4-wheeler!

After our time at the farm, we went back over to Greg's parents.

Christmas surely was exhausting!  We always pack so much family fun time into such a little amount of time, that's for sure!

It's hard to believe that the holiday season is over and done with for another year!

Christmas Eve!

The Christmas season is always a marathon running from one family to the other.  We kept so busy and we were all tired from all the fun!!

A couple days before Christmas we did our kid and adult gift exchange.  Gregory was Mya's gift giver and he did a super job!  She got some art supplies, a sword, My Little Pony and a Barbie with purple hair.  He knows Mya all too well!

Since everyone was home, we managed to get a photo of all 12 grandkids.  Trying to get everyone looking at the camera and smiling is impossible, so these will do!  :)

On Christmas Eve, we started our day at the Telisak house and Mya got to open her gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.  More art and coloring supplies to satisfy her artist craving! She waited so patiently and opened each gift carefully!

That evening we went down to my parent's house for our traditional homemade pizzas and gift opening.  Let's just say that this was the year of Barbie and superheroes!  Even baby sister got some special presents for her springtime arrival!!

When Mya opened this Pillow Pet she said, "It's just what I've always wanted!"  She said that phrase a lot that night!

(A special thank-you to both Grandmas and Grandpas for making Mya's Christmas so special!!)

Then we went home to set out cookies and milk for Santa in hopes that he would make a stop at our house!  :)  Spoiler alert...he did come!