Yes to the Dress

Today was quite a special day for my niece, her mom, and all the important women in my niece's life. We visited bridal salons and we found the most beautiful and breathtaking dress for her wedding in May. What's amazing is that ALL six of us knew IMMEDIATELY that it was the ONE! It was the second dress she tried on and after trying on lots more, we all came back to the second one. There's also something neat about it because the second dress I tried on was the wedding dress I chose for my wedding. (Just a cool tidbit!)

When she put the veil on, everyone was getting a little teary and we have already decided that we need multiple boxes of tissues during the ceremony!!

These next 4 months will fly by with wedding preparations and I am so excited to be in the thick of things with helping her with wedding favors, helping with the shower, and of course getting a bridesmaid gown and flower girl dress will be fun also!!

It just seems like yesterday that she was born and I got to see her less than an hour old and now she is 22 ! Time flies so fast!!

Preparing for Changes

2012 is marking the beginning of a lot of changes for my family. One of the biggest changes is our diet. Over the past few months, we have fallen into bad habits again. Well, starting January 1st, we are totally changing all of that.

We are going to eat more fresh veggies, fruit, whole-grains, and less of processed or fast food. The days of fast food are over and we just have to get rid of the fast and destructive habits. My health has gone downhill which is linked to what I eat. I HAVE to get myself back to a healthy diet or have to face some real serious issues looming in the future! I am getting back into my Jillian Michaels dvds and bought her latest extreme workouts. Mr. C has already started to workout with me (although he cannot afford to LOSE weight!) and Cinderella will get on the wagon with us.

2011 has been probably one of the worst years of my life for multiple reasons, and I am positive that 2012 will be brighter and better!!

It goes away fast!

It's amazing how fast the holidays come and go! It seemed like Christmas arrived way too fast and went by too quickly! One thing I am glad about is that I took the tree down today. It takes up so much room in our family room. It's amazing how much clean and spacious it looks with the tree gone! I also put Mr. C's piano stand together and said piano now has a permanent place!

Now we are cleaning up the toy store here in the family room and just doing some daily chores like laundry, cleaning, and cooking.

Tomorrow we are going to set up the family Wii and play some games. The kids are sooooo looking forward to that!

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was wonderful!! We had such a great day! Cinderella woke us up at 7am declaring that there were presents under the tree. Then, we had to wait until Mr. C woke up 45 minutes later and yes, Cinderella was in agonizing pain waiting for Mr. C to wake up!

Finally he woke up and the wrapping paper started to fly fast and furious! The biggest hit of the morning was the Casio electric piano. It has a screen that shows where your fingers are and how to teach basic piano strokes so Mr. C will start a few piano lessons!

After present time, it was time to eat breakfast and get ready for church. The Nintendo DS kept the kiddos quiet (for the most part) during the service.

Mr. C could not wait to arrive home. In fact, when we turned the corner onto our street, he yelled "PIANO!" at the top of his lungs.

In the afternoon, Matt's parents arrived to bring Christmas gifts. Cody was very excited to get a nice karaoke machine with an awesome microphone. Cinderella loved her twin doll stroller with dolls.

In the evening, we headed to my sister's for Christmas with my family. It was a great, yet filled with action day!

And seeing that Mr. C got 2 guitars, one keyboard, one karaoke machine (with flashing disco lights), and a T-Pain recordable microphone.....I think I am going to need a quite refuge in the near future!!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had Christmas with Matt's family and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins. There were a lot of kids....8 in all which multiplied the noise but everyone had a lot of fun. After we came home and after baths, my parents came over and gave them their big Christmas gift. They were in Nintendo DS heaven!! Of course Mr. C was thrilled with the money and actually slept with his $20 and $5 dollar bills he received as presents. Both kids were eager to go to bed because Santa was coming in the morning!!

Santa House

Cinderella and I made a foam Santa House on Christmas Eve. It was a lot of fun with lots of TINY foam stickers!! It was a great activity to pass the time before we left for Matt's family Christmas get-together.

Yesterday, the kids and I had so much fun relaxing and watching Christmas movies. I have been not feeling so well so it was great to sit and enjoy those calm, easy moments with the kids.

Today, I did last minute shopping and am getting my schedule of to do items for the next couple of days.

On Christmas eve, we celebrate with Matt's family and on Christmas Day, we will go to church and then later in the evening, we will celebrate with my family.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Time to Relax

School for 2011 ended today, presents are all wrapped, no more shopping to do (other than grocery), so other than cleaning, it is time to RELAX and enjoy Christmas break!

Tomorrow, we are planning our first-ever Christmas movie marathon day! We are going to spend the day in our pajamas and watch a marathon of Christmas movies, have a picnic in the family room with popcorn, make a gingerbread house (non-edible) and just enjoy the day together.

All of us need a day of sleeping in and taking it easy!!

Christmas Program

Tonight was definitely an interesting night! From the beginning of the program with the preschoolers and toddlers singing and showing personality, I knew that everyone would be entertained.

Once Mr. C got on stage, he was very captivating! He clapped, stomped and sang his little heart out! Yes, my son loves the spotlight (unlike his mother!) and is quite the entertainer. During the reception afterwards, countless people came up to me to tell me how they enjoyed Mr. C's enthusiasm and singing. Cinderella did a fabulous job and knew all the words to the songs. She did fabulous for a 6 year old!!

On a serious note, please be in prayer for my mother-in-law. During the reception afterwards, she was sent by ambulance to the hospital for chest pains. That is all I know as of this time.

Productive Day

Today, I vowed that I would finish our Christmas shopping and by golly, that is just what I did! A trip to our favorite flea market, a visit to Santa in his sleigh, another couple of stores, dinner with grandparents, and a long ride to see an awesome light display, this day went by VERY fast!

Now I have the daunting task of wrapping and hiding gifts from curious children. Last year, my hiding place was found out so I can only hide them in one place in the house and even that place is not the most secretive!!

Tomorrow my kiddos will be performing in our church's children's Christmas program. It should be interesting indeed....then I have 2.5 more schools day until Christmas vacation. Can ya tell I am excited??!!

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Tonight was Cinderella's first grade class production of the old classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It was such a cute play!!

Cinderella had 4 lines to say and I must say I was quite impressed with all the first graders! They had a lot of lines to say, especially the Grinch and they all said them so well! Cinderella did everything she was supposed to do and blended in with the rest of her class. At the end of the play, each student came up and said their name and what their roles in the play were. And yes, Cinderella did that so well!!

Cookies and Friends

After the play, everyone enjoyed cookies and my kids enjoyed talking with their friends. Several students in Cinderella's homeroom class is also in the primary special education class that both kids are in and it was great to meet them and their parents. One of the educational aides where there and was telling me about how Cinderella was too shy to say her line earlier in the day, but tonight she said ALL of them!! We are so proud of her! She did amazingly well!!

The ornaments I made last week!
Our annual trip to Niederman Farm's amazing Walk through the Bible.
Another ornament I made!

Pretty in Red

Church Program Practice

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Today, the children practiced their Christmas program on stage for the first time. It was quite interesting indeed! Mr. C sneaked a couple of moments with the microphone as well as cracking up several adults in the process! Cinderella did a great job being her first Christmas program. I have great confidence that she will do well in her "Grinch" play on Thursday. The final performance will be next Sunday evening. Five out of six of the Schmidt grandchildren will be performing in this program. I have no doubt that my son will be a ringleader and cause lots of laughter and smiles during the final production....he does enjoy the spotlight!

Deck The Halls

Today, my sister and I made glass ornaments. It was a lot of fun! We bought the large glass balls and then put fake snow or different colored glass beads inside. Then, we wrote different greetings on the outside and finished it off with beautiful ribbon. It definitely got me in the Christmas mood and of course while making them the song "Deck the Halls" got in my head. Fun Fun Fun!

It was an interesting weekend for sure with a trip to Niederman Farm with the children's ministry at our church, shopping, hearing that my niece is ENGAGED to her almost 6 year long boyfriend, listening to my kiddos practice for their church Christmas program, helped Carleigh with her lines for "The Grinch" play for school.

We're looking forward to next 3 weeks filled with parties, get-togethers, Christmas programs/plays and of course gift-giving!!

I will post a pic of the ornaments as soon as I can!!

Christmas Card Attempts

Last night I took the Christmas card photo....it's here plus I have more on the Christmas card this year. I must say that getting the picture was easier this year and in fact, it took less than 10 minutes! When they were toddlers and preschoolers, it was near impossible! I love looking at old Christmas cards and seeing how my family has changed over the past 8 years. Wow! If you would like a Christmas card, please leave a comment!

Cyber Monday Shopping??

How many of you shopped today? I usually take advantage of the day, but I was extremely busy in my classroom today (new student, student teacher observation, first day back, etc.) plus another phone call from the school nurse. Honestly, there is nothing online this year that I thought was a great deal too great to pass up! Santa is finished with Mr. C and only have one more gift or two for the Cinderella. Therefore, I really didn't think it was worthwhile and after my marathon night and day of shopping, I didn't even want to THINK about shopping of any kind.

So now, I am trying to get back into the swing of things and boy did I struggle after having a full week off!! My new goal is to get the Christmas card photo taken this week so I can order our annual Christmas photo cards. This is one of my biggest challenges because getting two kids to look cute, smile, and look at the camera is about as hard as a miracle at times.

Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving started on Wednesday when we had dinner with Matt's family. Thursday came quickly with dinner with my family. Then, my sister and I started our marathon of shopping!

The sales started at 10pm. I have never been one to buy electronics but when a Wii goes on sale for $99 and Christmas is coming....hmmmm! It's a no brainer for sure! I finished my shopping for Cody at 3:30am this morning. I have to buy Carleigh one more gift and she is finished! It's nice to have done a HUGE amount of shopping in one day!

Black Friday is such a sporting event and every time we try to outsmart other shoppers, they surprise us by figuring out our game plan. All in all, we got everything we wanted despite waiting in lines for items such as games, tvs, and yes towels (fight happened last year at the store we were at).

We have had a great holiday and will enjoy the next two days together.

Wordless Wednesday - Leaf Fun

John Glenn

Today was a special day for Cody. He presented his famous American during the second grade Biography Fair at his school. My mom and I watched him read a page LONG report about John Glenn. To hear this sweet, special boy READ and participate with his peers makes my heart swell with pride for him!! He is accepted by his classmates and that is SUCH a relief!! Cody was not in the classroom when we arrived as his educational assistant was helping him to get dressed in his costume. A little girl in his class saw Cody and exclaimed "Oh! Look at Cody! He is so cute!" To which Cody heard her and went over and gave her a hug. He charms everyone he is around and his regular education teacher thinks he is the sweetest little thing!! He's such a very special boy!!

Quiet, calm, and....

enjoying it! I am sooooo not used to having quiet time at home. I work with 7 and 8 years old all day and usually have maybe 30 minutes before my wild stallions arrive home. When I take a personal day, it usually (99%) involves taking one of my two kiddos to a doctor's appointment or IEP meeting. Needless to say, I am enjoying these two days.

Goals for these days include:

Finish cleaning (already thoroughly cleaned the majority of the house)
Put up the big Christmas tree (Princess already has her tree up in her room)
Organize laundry room
Watch "my" tv shows on DVR
Enjoy a slow, quiet breakfast and lunch

1 more day to go!!

I have one more school day before I am off for an ENTIRE week for Thanksgiving! I am so excited! I really need a week off to do house projects, cleaning, and of course Christmas SHOPPING! And did I mention that I have TWO entire days at home without children or husband?!! Ahhhh!!

National Adoption Month

Every November, I think about how God has blessed me with the most precious children I could possibly ever have. We are so blessed! If you have considered adoption, I strongly urge you to make that step and become an adoptive parent. The benefits are out of this world and will completely change your life!

Words cannot describe what adoption means to me and for Matt. If it were not for adoption, we would not have our very special family! No matter what struggles we have faced in building our family, nothing could ever fill that hole than our two beautiful and precious children.

If you would like to learn more about adoption, feel free to leave a comment!

Post-Surgery

Miss Cinderella's surgery went well! She had 3 caps and 3 fillings and no extractions! Thank you JESUS! The sedative they gave her before the gas made her QUITE loopy and my mom and I had a laughing fit over some of the cute/funny things she was saying or doing!! Afterwards, she was in some pain, but not sickies or blood! Yay! She got to ride a race car wheelchair out of the hospital. Too bad she was a little loopy or she would have really enjoyed it!

So now, she is snoozing and I am relaxing until we need to pick Mr. C up at the bus stop. We are so very glad that these surgeries are over and are praying that no more are in the near future!

Another surgery day....

Tomorrow, Miss Cinderella has her dental surgery at the hospital. This is her first time with general anesthesia and we are a little nervous for her. We are praying that it goes smoothly and no teeth have to be pulled like in Mr. C's case!!

If you could, please keep her in your prayers tomorrow!

It's that time again!

Since the weather has been GORGEOUS we decided to take advantage of it and put up our outdoor icicle lights and LED lights on our wooden fence. I have been thinking of adding a little bit more....wreaths or bows on the fence and maybe a snowman. I love decorating for Christmas! Mr. C and Cinderella have poured over the ToysRUs Wish List Catalog and they are going to be so easy to buy for this year! I love their excitement! It definitely keeps me young!

Haircut

Yesterday, we decided to cut Cinderella's hair since she decided to play "Beauty Salon" and cut her hair into lots of layers. It originally was supposed to be a simple bob on her shoulders. Well, due to her handiwork, we had to go with a stacked bob with side bangs. Of course, I LOVED her long blonde hair, but I keep telling myself, it will grow out quickly. *sigh*