What's NEW for the New Year...

We have started the new year off with a bang! The first month already brought a load of changes for our family... namely me starting a new full-time job (that I wasn't even looking for or expecting). I am now the librarian at Liberty Early Elementary School. It is an all Kindergarten school building in our district. I have four Kindergarten classes come to library per day and work with three intervention reading groups as well. Maybrie is attending the preschool in my building, so she comes and goes with me. Thomas is going to a small in-home daycare. H absolutely loves Diana and I have been very pleased and impressed with how much he loves her and has easily transitioned. Maybrie was a bit shy the first week, and nearly gave me a heart attack by hiding Monday morning of week 2, but now is well-adjusted and loving it. Her teachers say she doesn't talk much, but that she always has a big smile on her face. I know she loves it because she talks about it all the time and today while she was home sick with an ear infection... she played school all day!

I have been super crazy busy between learning my new job, setting up the library my way, learning names and schedules, and figuring out how to balance all of my usual wife/mother/homemaker duties at the same time. I hit my bed exhausted each day, but happy about how well everything is going. Aside from the lack of nice home-cooked meals, and a little less time relaxing with the family, I can't complain. I am just learning to juggle my responsibilities around by doing laundry/cleaning in the evening and on Saturdays. The house is cleaner, however, since we are gone all day. Brian is being very supportive and has started his semester off strong with an A on his first exam. Keep up the good work honey!

 Our first day of school was a two hour delay, so we picked up donuts on our way and ate a special breakfast together in Maybrie's new classroom.

 Maybrie's naptime tub (She actually sleeps almost every other day there, they must be wearing her out!)

 Maybrie's coat/back pack hooks- She was excited to see her name around the room. :)

 I sneaked a peek at Maybrie playing in her classroom on her first day. So cute!

Welcome to the Library with Mrs. Naylor!

Thomas wanted to put his backpack on too!

He looks so ridiculously cute running around the house with his cars backpack on!

My big preschooler Maybrie. I love walking into school with her everyday!

On Friday night of our first big week, I got to take Maybrie on a little mommy/daughter date to Disney on Ice with some of our friends from our ward. All of the girls wore their princess dresses and absolutely loved it. It was a magical night, and I'm so glad I got to spend the night with my little girl, who doesn't seem so little to me anymore now that she is going to school.

 The Little Mermaid

 Maybrie was so tired and uncooperative taking pictures... here is the one I got of her (blinking of course!).

The last Friday of January Brian and I went to a couple's baby shower to celebrate the Gillespie's newest addition. It was the first couple's shower I've been to, and I have to say it was an absolute blast. Dawn and Catie did a great job planning and decorating. The food was delicious, the games were hilarious, and the company was fabulous as always. We can't wait to meet their new little boy!

 Cute brown/green color scheme

 I made some yummy chocolate cupcakes. If anyone hasn't tried Betty Crocker's Fun-da-Middles cupcake mix yet... DO! They are cream filled deliciousness!

 The guys were teasing Brian about not having facial hair, since they all have beards right now, so this picture was suggested. We all had a good laugh at how much younger it makes Brian look than the rest of them!

Game where we guessed how big around Kristin's belly is. Brian and I both lost big time!

 Disgusting apple juice chugging contest. Seriously nasty watching the guys attack these baby bottles... and man did my cheeks hurt after the ladies' round (which I lost pathetically). 

 Brian, Nate, Dan, Chris, Dennis

 Kristin G., Dawn, Kristin T., Me, Catie

Our last game was my favorite... It is like pictionary telephone with Apples to Apples cards. Basically draw a picture of your card, pass it to the next person, they write what you drew, the next person draws what they wrote, etc. You see if they match at the end. Here is mine that went from Niagra Falls to Texas Sheriff! Fun times with good friends. Life is busy, busy and good right now!

Happy 4th Birthday Maybrie

Our Maybrie Rae turned four on Sunday, January 6th! It was a special day for her. We started the day rushing out the door to make it to church on time, at our new time of 9am. Then Maybrie started sunbeams and was sung "Happy Birthday" on her first day in primary. She got a cute pink "I am a Child of God" bracelet and was so excited to tell us all about her new teacher and sing the songs they are learning. 

At home she wanted to change into her Cinderella dress-up immediately, and was ready for me to make her cake! Brian pulled his parents up on Skype so Maybrie opened her present from them... a velvet dress and outfit she loves. She was anxious to open her gift from us, so we decided to go ahead and let her so she could play with it... we gave her a cabbage patch doll. That afternoon I made a yellow cake with pink and purple frosting, just like she requested. She loved putting the sprinkles on and insisted on decorating it with the Snow White figure that was on her cake last year. I had no problem recycling the cake topper!

For dinner we had macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets... a favorite for many preschoolers, I'm sure. Afterwards our friends the Woolf's stopped by with cookies in a cute bag/purse for Maybrie. They joined us for cake since we were just about to light the candles. Maybrie loves them and was thrilled to have them there too. A little while later Maybrie's friend Matthew and his mom stopped by with cookies. Matthew was wearing his awesome Superman pajamas with cape, and he raced into the room singing "Happy Birthday" while I ran around and around! It was hilarious and Maybrie totally blushed. It was a priceless moment. Her birthday was definitely special and she was just plain excited about everything all day! Glad you had a great day my sweet girl!

I love how Maybrie isn't wearing her pants here because she was too excited to put them back on after she went potty. Thomas and Maybrie are probably laughing at Landon, while Jaxson is posing perfectly for me! haha

Silly, cute kids

We had a "Winter Wonderland" birthday party on Saturday, January 12th once everyone was back in town. Maybrie had a long list of friends she wanted to invite, and since it included basically everyone, we decided to just go ahead and invite them all. I guess everyone was excited to see each other again after the Christmas break, because we had a great turn out... 34 people in our little home! There were kids, parents, food, and balloons everywhere... and we loved it! We were so happy so many friends could come celebrate with us. I always wanted to do a fun, big party... and this definitely qualified. I am glad Maybrie enjoyed it, I just hope she doesn't expect one every year, cause it won't be happening! haha :) I had a blast decorating and gathering coordinating goodies. After Christmas is the perfect time for a snow themed party... everything is super cheap on clearance!

Snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and on the windows. The birthday banner was the only thing that didn't match, but it's our family tradition so it stayed up all week.

Wrapping paper backdrop and blue and white treats

Light lunch of snowflake crackers, meat, cheese, fruit and veggies

The sugar cookies and cupcakes turned out so cute, I love them. Thank you Maddie for helping me frost them!

A great pinterest idea I stole, pictures of Maybrie at different ages

 

I made cookies 'n' cream popcorn bags (so yummy and easy if you've never had it) and had lots of blue and white candy to put in snowflake bags... hardly anyone took any, so we have a lot of sugar at our house still. Dangerous! 

 Maybrie chose to wear her Cinderella dress again and she did her own hair. When did she get so big and independent?!

The lovely ladies (minus Brittany and Tiffany who had to leave early)

Even though I said not to bring gifts, most people did. It was a little embarrassing how much she got. It was way more than she got for Christmas... she definitely got spoiled, and loved every second of it! Now she has plenty of baby dolls and princess stuff to go around.

The gift that stole the show was the huge cardboard coloring castle from the Navarro's. The kids were so excited about it we ended up opening it up and letting them color at the party up in Maybrie's room. She and her friends love it... I'm sure it will get lots of good use.

Thank you to all of our dear friends here who made Maybrie's birthday so memorable. We love our baby girl and can't believe it's already been 4 years since she joined our family. We are so blessed to have her in our home. We love you Maybrie!

Happy New Year

Thomas and I flew home from Utah on New Year's Eve. After a nap, we woke up ready to ring in the new year. We celebrated with the kids at 7pm... haha! They didn't know the difference. I pulled out pots and pans for them to bang and they had a blast!

After the kids fell asleep we did our handy dandy cell phone monitor and went to our friend's, the Wilson's house for an adult party. It was so fun to see friends that had been gone for Christmas. We had yummy food... a chocolate fondue fountain, fruit, chips/dip, etc. We played the game Quelf, which was a blast! We had some great laughs. At midnight we watched the ball drop on TV and toasted sparkling cider. It was a fabulous way to kick off the new year!

Ashley and Dawn

Becca and Landon

Ryan putting make up on Landon

Alanna

Dawn and Dan with their elbows on the game board and a shoe stuck in their left hand.

Ryan with a paper stuck to his head and his permanently pointing finger.

Ashley in true comic form!

If you ever get a chance to play this game, DO. It is hilarious!

We forgot to snap a picture of ourselves till we were home headed to bed.

On New Year's Day we had the Woolf's and Pena's over for dinner. We had yummy pulled pork sandwiches. The rootbeer sauce we discovered in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook is a new favorite of ours. We enjoyed good food and good company. We were so happy to spend a little time with the Pena's new little girl, Camilla. The kids love babies.

Sweet baby Camilla... love her big eyes and long dark hair

Holding Camilla

Vandro Pena

Say Cheese!

Thomas thought she was the best doll ever!

I found Thomas just chillin' with the bag of m&m's watching football later that night. It cracked me up!

We had fun ringing in the New Year of 2013! We are hoping this is a good year for us, just like the last one was. I'm looking forward to setting goals and getting to work!