Just a weekend at home...

This weekend we had a leisurely weekend at home. We did get the Christmas decorations down inside and outside and switched cable (DirectTV - if you want to use us as a referral and save money email me!!). We also had some visitors on Friday night. My cousin Christine and her boyfriend Joe came up for the evening. So Tim and I got a babysitter and we went out to Shakespear's and then to the Black and Gold. I don't think we got home until 1 AM (way late for Tim and I). So our Saturday was a bust, lots of lounging around and eating. But we had a great time with Christine and Joe so it was worth it.


Abby wanted to make Great Grandma Powers' chocolate chip cookies with Christine so we did that on Saturday morning.


Megan was helping too, of course.

Licking the batter was the best part. I think Megan had more batter than she put on the cookie sheets. Her shirt and Christine's pants were covered in cookie dough by the end of it. But they tasted great and were worth it!


Saturday morning we also had to finally put together Megan's Barbie ATV that was a Christmas present from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Rebekah. Megan had pulled the box in to the living room and was trying to open it with scissors. So Tim assembled it, and it had to charge over night. So Sunday after church/brunch/grocery shopping Megan finally got to try it out. I promptly called Andrew to see when he would be up here to give a lesson on turning and breaking.

Getting a little help from Abby and running in to the coffee table. It needs a brush guard!

We spent the rest of Sunday just relaxing and somewhat preparing for the snow storm that was supposed to hit on Monday. It's supposed to be a cold week!

The Booster Seat

Abby has been asking for a booster seat for quite a while now. I'd keep her in a 5-point harness until she was 8 if I could but she is "getting bigger" as she likes to tell us. So Tim and I broke down and ordered a booster seat and it showed up last night so I installed it in the car and this morning was the first official ride in the booster seat.


To say Abby loves it would be an understatement. Since it's a lot less wide than the previous one she has room for her bags on the side and it even has cup holders. She loves to be buckled and to be able to undo it herself. Our biggest problem now is keeping Megan out of the seat. She wants to be in the seats for Abby that she is not tall enough or heavy enough to be in. She pitches a pretty good fit every time so far. We'll see how the booster works when Abby falls asleep.

We're slowly adjusting to actually having to work a 5 day work week, and the kids having to go to daycare/preschool all 5 days. Everyone seems to be tired. The weekend will be a relief.

Happy New Year

Well here it is, 2011 already. Christmas to New Years went by in a flash - and I was even on vacation which should have helped it drag out a bit, but it didn't. I started my vacation out with Megan's ear drum bursting so that put a little damper on the "to do" list as we had a doctors visit, prescriptions to get, then monitoring of the fever. She had a miserable day, but we eventually got everything done. One of the projects I am most proud of is the quilt I made for my nephew Theo. Tim's grandmother, Doris Schmidt, would make baby quilts for all the great-grandchildren. She passed away 2 years ago and the last quilt she completed was the one for Megan, so Theo did not have one. I figured - how hard can it be to make a quilt - I have a sewing machine, I can follow instructions.....and so the project began. Thanks to the nice ladies at Appletree Quilting who helped with step by step process and questions, and of course for having toys for the girls to play with so they didn't destroy the store.

The quilt was finished on the 23rd and washed on the 24th and still in one piece! I think it turned out really good for my first quilt and hope Theo enjoys it (and it stays in one piece!).




Christmas Eve we packed up the family and headed to Collinsville, IL for the Dietz family Christmas Eve party which is held at Tim's aunt and uncle's house. Good food and family, and of course gifts that the girls loved.

Here is Megan and Abby scoping out the presents - trying not to get caught.

Abby also discovered Great Aunt Val's iPad which had great kid games on it for her grandchildren that Abby enjoyed playing all night. You'd be surprised how well she can use an iPad.



Our effort to get the kids (that were left) in front of the tree in their PJ's. It was getting pretty late at night and time for bed.


Christmas Day over at Betsy and BJ's house. We did manage to eat brunch before opening presents even though it almost destroyed Abby and Megan to just have to look at presents for 45 minutes.

Our family photo with Gracie before opening presents - as you can see Megan is ready to be opening, enough with the photos.

Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt tried to push a photo in too, and you can see how Theo and Megan are enjoying it - they want presents!

Here's Abby with her favorite present - she has played this game quite a bit. We're already on our second set of batteries.



Here is Megan's favorite - other than trying to steal her sister's Leapster Explorer. Tim had to assemble this immediately.


Here I am with Theo and Betsy after he opened his quilt - we'll see if it becomes one of his favorites down the road.

A Sit N Spin - classic.

And drums - they are actually Megan's but are shared well. They are downstairs now to help contain the noise - Thanks G&G Schmidt!

Sunday we headed back to Columbia to see if Santa had remembered where we lived and if we had good little girls or not - we did of course!



Abby with her loot.


Megan with her pile of presents.


Towels with their names on them from Aunt Colleen and Uncle Tony.

A princess piano - Megan likes it as well.

Rollerskates for this years broken bones to come - Abby has a pair as well.



Then another classic - the Fisher Price Record player - I had this as a child and G&G Papke got this for the girls. It gets played daily and fought over daily as well. Megan is a little indecisive to say the least on what to play.



Our first Mizzou basketball game of the year as well. The cheerleaders were the highlight for the girls I think.

New Year's Eve we went to KC to ring it in. Friday we went to Emporia, KS to lunch with our friend Leann who is due Jan. 7th with her daughter. They are moving to Canada in February so we had to take advantage of seeing her one last time as they will be gone for 2 years.

Here is Jenn's truck breaking down in the parking lot and Tim fixing it.........

Then our adult dinner (with Allison) at Fogo de Chao - a Brazilian Steakhouse - Tim's one request of the trip. All you can eat meat - it was awesome. We had a lovely time and spent over 2 hours sampling all the different meats.

We safely are back in Columbia and in recovery mode from the Holidays and hope to be back to normal by this weekend.

Happy Birthday Theo & Tim

It has been a week full of birthdays for December. First our nephew Theo turned the big "1" on December 16th so we were in St. Louis on the 12th for his party. As you can see, he knows how to take down a cup cake.


It was a nice party - minus the snow/ice that made for complicated and lengthy driving. Abby and Megan enjoyed Theo's presents, and hopefully he did too once we left and could actually play with them without all the "help" from his cousins.


Betsy, Theo, and BJ

This past weekend we headed up to Carrollton, IL for the Schmidt Family Christmas. Always a good time with good food and a little bit of crazy on the side with all the kids there are now.

Megan is ready for the "little kid exchange"

Abby is excited as well of course.



Here's a shot before the madness of opening of gifts - which all happened at once because you know little kids can't take turns when half of them are under the age of 5.


Megan with her Rockstar Zhu Zhu Pet "Pax"

Abby has a box of books and games.


Some classic games are back too that I love to see! Abby with Eli playing Rock'm Sock'm Robots, how cool!

And last but not least, a Happy Birthday to my husband Tim who is now the ripe old age of 33. We had just dinner with the family and of course cake that the girls decorated. There would probably be more colored icing on the top if they wouldn't have eaten as much as they did while decorating.


Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Monnig Family this week as our friend Nick lost his father, George to cancer. He will be greatly missed.

Buddy ~ 2001-2010

Buddy Schmidt
September 1st, 2001 - December 10th, 2010

It is with a heavy heart that I have to report that we put our dog Buddy down this past Friday. Right before Thanksgiving we found out that he had cancer. We tried strong doses of prednisone to shrink his tumors however it did not work. Prior to the 10th he had not eaten or drank for about 3 days and the tumors were affecting his back legs and mobility - so very much not the dog we have known and loved for the last 9 years. So Tim and I made the very difficult decision on Thursday night that it was time. We were both with him on Friday and he went quickly and painlessly. Although it is still difficult to think about him, we know he is better off.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and calls and happy hunting stories. We are grateful that so many people loved him as much as we did.

We miss you big guy!

IL Deer Season, Part 2

For the 2nd IL deer season Tim took Abby up to Carrollton, IL so it was just Megan and I this past weekend and we packed it full! Friday night we went to the mall - a place I dread around this time, but it had to be done so we went, and conquered. I think Megan is a better shopper than I am. She's very content to browse clothes.

Saturday morning we have Breakfast with Santa Claus at Rockbridge High School. If you like a little "crazy" with your Saturday morning feel free to go next year - we won't be there! There were over 400 people.


We started off with our breakfast and coloring at the tables.


The big man himself shows up!



We started doing some crafts before getting in line, as recommended by the Elfs - little did we know....


Here's Megan with her bag for her crafts - we made a lot of ornaments. She was happy to just have a bag.

Here we are waiting in line and they have given the kids lists to make for Santa. You can see Megan is hard at work.


Biding our time while we are STILL waiting in line! It was somewhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour and we were even moved to a line that was a "short cut to Santa". I swear we were the last ones leaving the school almost. And if you know how my kids love Santa, here's how it went.


Here's Megan squirming and crying, she was in the sled for 30 seconds, we got some pictures and grabbed the candy cane and book and left. I had never been happier to leave.

Megan and I went back home and both needed naps! We ended the weekend with baking some cookies and some "Christmas Activities" which is all I can say without giving away are present surprises. We're actually getting crafty!

This weekend is my girl weekend with the Carrie/Carey's and Theo's 1st birthday party. Never a dull moment for us.


Also - our thoughts go out to the Gordon family in IC. They lost their father in a car accident. Tim, Erin, and Katy ~ we are thinking of you.

Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did, although as usual it was too short. This year we headed up to Iowa City for Part 1 of 3 Thanksgivings. The Papke family will not be getting together for Christmas this year as it's an "Outlaw Christmas" as we like to call it so we all gathered for Thanksgiving.

We had this little surprise on Thanksgiving morning - yes the head is attached to the neck!


As my Dad would say "Save the neck for me Clark!"


Then little did we know it was also Christmas this year at Thanksgiving as our parents surprised us with our gifts. We'll be a little more prepared next time!

Andrew and Rebekah opening their gifts.



One of our family traditions is to make a hot chocolate mix from scratch. It was my Aunt Arlene's recipe and is delicious! So I got out the 20 qt pot so Abby could "make" it herself with out a big mess. She was quite proud of herself.

The almost finished product.

Here with the dinner table all ready for the food.

And the first official Papke kid's table for the girls. Grandma Papke volunteered to sit with them and one of Abby's first comments was "Grandma, you need some wine!" and that pretty much sums it up.

The next Thanksgiving was the Cousin's Thanksgiving in Cedar Rapids, IA which had a good number of the Power's cousins, aunts, and uncles. Another good meal and good time with family. Look out for Okoboji this summer!

The final Thanksgiving was in Onawa, IA but we didn't make it as far as we hoped as Abby got sick in the truck which required us to return back to Iowa City for a bath and cleaning of the truck. We ended up heading back to Columbia later that day so we could recover Abby at home and in case if anyone else got her bug. Thankfully we didn't.

Now it's on to Christmas shopping and traveling every weekend until after New Years! Just a normal Schmidt month for us :)