Christmas 2012

We had a very busy Christmas this year!  It started last Sunday at my parent's house.  Then, we opened presents at home Christmas Eve morning.  Then, we headed to Manhattan to celebrate with Rob's family.  We went to Christmas Eve mass together, came home and opened presents, woke up Christmas morning to open presents from Santa, and then headed to Rob's Uncle's house to celebrate with his extended family.  We then headed home Wednesday afternoon.  Once we got home, the festivities didn't end either!  All 3 of us ended up getting the stomach flu!  It was not a pretty sight at our house for a couple days!  All in all almost everyone on Rob's side of the family got sick, too (his mom, dad, brother, Great Uncle, our nephew, brother in-law, aunt, uncle, etc.).  On the plus side, whatever Christmas weight we put on, definitely came back off!!  On a more serious note, we had a wonderful Christmas this year celebrating with our families!

Visiting Santa

After I got off work yesterday, Rob and I took Maggie up to Bass Pro to visit Santa.  My mom and dad met us there.  She actually went right up on his lap this year and told him exactly what she wanted, too!  Here are some pictures from the visit:

 She had to take a picture sitting on the turkey bench just for Uncle Brett!

 They have all kinds of free activities for the kids to do while they wait to see Santa.

She told him she wanted Baby Butterscotch.  It's a toy horse that moves and makes sounds by remote control.

Thanksgiving Lunch: November 2012

Maggie's class has adopted a soldier overseas.  To raise money to buy things to send him, her class, along with 2 other kindergarten classes, made and served the school staff a Thanksgiving lunch.  Each class was in charge of making something for the lunch.  Maggie's class was in charge of the stuffing and gravy.  Then, each student had a job when they served the lunch (ie. take the money, check names off, hand out plates, serve the food).  Maggie met me at the door and checked off my name when I came through.  It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen and they did such a great job.  The little girl that served the turkey even asked me, "Would you like white meat, dark meat, or smoked?"  Here are some pictures from that day:

National Game Day and Pumpkin Pie Day: November 2012

For National Game Day, the kindergartners were allowed to bring a game or puzzle from home and they got to play all the games throughout the day.  Also, they had pumpkin pie for their snack that day since it was Thanksgiving week.  Here are some pictures:

Western Day: November 2012

As I stated before, the kindergartners learned their letters and sounds by having themed days.  For the letter W, they had Western Day.  Here are some pictures of our little cowgirl:

While Mommy's Away, Maggie and Daddy Will Play!

While I was out of town for my cousin's wedding, Rob and Maggie headed to Manhattan to visit Nana Karen and Papa Bob.  They had a great time hanging out with them, her cousin Nathan, Uncle Jim, some of Rob's aunts and uncles, and his grandparents!  While they were there, they went to the Flint Hills Discovery Center.  Here are some pictures of the fun (You'll notice in some of the pictures Maggie is wearing her new shawl Nana Karen made her and the cat hat they bought for her!):

 

Maggie with Great Grandpa and Grandma Thurlow

Halloween 2012

Maggie decided she wanted to be a witch this year for Halloween because Nana had bought a little broom for her a couple months earlier.  So, here are some pictures of our little witch:

 At her party, playing a game.

At her party, showing off her teeth!

Beach Day: October 2012

The kindergartners learned their letters and sounds this year by having themed days to go along with them.  So, for the letter B, they had Beach Day.  They had a cookout, played beach games, and got to dress up.  Here are some pictures:

Update...LONG OVERDUE

So sorry for taking this long to update Maggie's site.  She has been incredibly busy in kindergarten and learning tons and tons!  I can't believe the growth she has already shown this year!  She is reading like a champ, ahead of grade level and continues to surprise me everyday with the things she knows!!

Kindergarten Field Trip to the KC Pumpkin Patch

Maggie had her very first field trip today and the kindergarten classes went to the pumpkin patch!  Rob went with her and they had a wonderful day to play and explore.  They couldn't have had better weather either!  After the pumpkin patch, they went to a park to eat lunch and play some more!  Here are some pictures of their day:

Homecoming 2012

Yesterday, all of our school went to cheer on the Paola Panther football team at our Homecoming Parade and Pep Assembly.  Maggie was decked out in black and gold, although you couldn't see a lot of it because she was covered to stay warm!  She even had a Panther Paw tattoo and a Panther tail!!  Here are some pictures Maggie's teacher took of our little Paola Panther:

 Homecoming Parade

 Homecoming Parade

Pep Assembly at the football field

Life Lessons

This week at school, Maggie decided to cut her pants.  When she came to my room after school, I asked her what happened.  The story I got: "Mommy, it was an accident.  I dropped the scissors."  When I looked at her and asked how that could cut them, she proceeded to say "They were open and they were really sharp."  So, I reinacted it with a pair of scissors and my own pants.  Needless to say, my pants were not cut!  When I told her she had one more chance to tell me the truth about what happened, she admitted that she cut them.  Of course they couldn't have been an old pair of pants either.  They were brand new ones!  Well, I told her she was going to have to pay for them since I had just bought them and she cut them.  Last night, we went to Wal-Mart and she had pick out the patch to fix her pants, take it to the cashier, and pay for them with her money from her piggy bank.  Today, she had to help me iron the patch on to fix them.  Hopefully, the lesson was learned and no more clothes will be cut!!

Maggie Funnies

On Friday, when Maggie was spending the afternoon with Bob and Karen, she was pretending to be a baby.  Karen tried to persuade her to pretend to be a big girl.  Maggie said, "Okay.  I'll be 16 because then I can have a baby."  Karen's reply, "Oh no.  You have to be at least 26 before you can have a baby!".

On Sunday, Maggie woke up and said to my mom, "Nana, it's too bad we don't have any stones left.  I would like to have a stone."  My mom, confused at first, finally figured out Maggie was talking about scones.

While Maggie, my mom, and I were at church on Sunday, Maggie asked how much longer we had before it was over.  I explained to her that there was just a little more to do and that mass was almost over.  Five minutes later, Maggie asked who Matt was.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  So, I asked her.  She repeated that she didn't know who Matt was and wondered who I was talking about.  Then, I figured out she misunderstood me when I said mass.

Last night, when my brother, dad, mom, and I were sitting out on their deck, Maggie walked out with her life preserver she plays with at my parent's house.  It was around her neck and she proceeded to tell us that she hurt her neck so she needed to wear it that way.

Maggie's latest phrase that she used on me the other day when I told her something..."Hmm hmm.  I know that's right!"  Now, it may not sound so funny when I type it, but you have to imagine her saying it with the full attitude in her voice.  Needless to say, my mouth dropped open and I about died laughing the first time she said it.

As always, there is never a dull moment when Maggie is around!!

Grandparent's Day and Other Weekend Activities

Last Friday was Grandparent's Day at school.  Both Rob's parents and mine made it down.  She was pretty excited and wired, too!  She suckered both sets of them into taking her to the book fair and into buying multiple things!!  She even had a list made up of the books and things she wanted!  Karen said Maggie walked right over to a princess book, picked it up, and took it to the cashier.  Of course they ended up buying it for her!

My parents went to the first session and Rob's parents went to the second one.  So, after it was over, Bob and Karen were able to sign Maggie out.  They took her to get ice cream at Dairy Queen, to visit Daddy at Pizza Hut, and to swing at the park.  That night, after Rob got off of work, we all went out to eat dinner.  Now, here comes the shocking part...Maggie actually looked at us and said, "I'm so tired.  When we get home, can I go straight to bed?"  That is so completely shocking because Maggie NEVER admits she's tired, let alone asks to go to bed!!!

Rob's parents ended up spending the night with us on Friday night.  They also spent the day with us on Saturday.  Karen, Maggie and I even went to Louisburg Cider Mill for a little while.  After Rob left for work,  Bob, Karen, Maggie and I were invited up to my parent's house for dinner.  So, we all went up for some BBQ and then Maggie and I spent the night.

On Sunday, my brother, sister in-law, niece and nephew met us at my parent's house to watch the Chief's game and eat lunch.

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend spent with family!

Lindsay and Chris' Wedding

This past weekend, Rob, Maggie and I drove to Indiana for my cousin Lindsay's wedding.  We drove out Friday, went to the wedding on Saturday, and drove home on Sunday.  It was wonderful seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins!  I haven't seen them in too long.  We got to spend a lot of quality time with them between meals out together, hanging out at the hotel, and sitting together chatting at the reception.  We don't get to see each other near as much as we should.  As usual, Maggie was a pro traveler!  She watched some movies, read some books, slept, snacked, etc.  Yesterday, on the way home, she fell asleep 2 different times and probably slept for about 3 hours total.  She must have been catching up from all her late night partying with the Gadlage family!!  Here are some photos from my cousin's wedding:

 Lindsay getting walked down the aisle by her father, my Uncle John

 The bride and her groom!

 Family photo op!

 Maggie holding my cousin Kacy's baby, Sydney

Maggie asked Papa if he wanted to dance...how precious is this?!

Officially a Kindergartner!!

Maggie and I had our first day of school today and neither of us cried!

First off this morning, when I woke her up, she didn't want to get up.  In fact, she said, "I'm still tired."  I told her she was more than welcome to stay in bed and go back to sleep, but she'd be late for her first day of school.  She shot up and said, "Oh no, would I get a tardy apple then?!"  (Our school hands out little paper apples if a student comes in late.)  Well, once we got her up and ready, Rob and I both dropped her off this morning.  I think having had her at my school for 2 years now in our preschool prepared me enough to not be emotional today!

After school, I asked about her day and this is what I was told:

• She had a good day.  It was fun.
• She played in the field at both recesses...and it was boring.  (They split the kids up to play in the field, on the wood chips, or on the blacktop so there aren't too many kids in one area.)
• She dropped her corn dog at lunch and had to get a new one.
• She liked PE.
• She played with a little girl at recess that wore a black shirt and had curly hair.  (no name was given)
• She also had Science/Social Studies and there are 2 frogs in the room.
• She had music and Miss Taggart didn't notice it was her at first. (She had music last year in preschool, too.)
• They read the book The Kissing Hand and she made Rob and I both one to have for when we missed her.
• They had pink and brown wafers for snack.

Overall, she seemed to enjoy her day and is excited to go back tomorrow!!  Here are some pics:

 Notice her tennis shoes...She was not too happy she had to wear them, but had to because she had PE!

 Smiling and excited!!

Maggie with Mrs. Cole, her kindergarten teacher! 

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy aka Maggie Smith

When Maggie was eating some summer sausage today, she asked, "Mommy, why do they call it summer sausage?  Is it because it's summertime and it's sausage?"

Branson Trip 2012

We just got back from a long weekend trip to Branson with my family.  We had a wonderful time, too!!  We got there Thursday after stopping off at Lambert's to eat.  On Friday, we went shopping in Downtown Branson, including Dick's 5 and Dime.  On Saturday, we toured the war museum and went to an Amish store to pick up some goodies.  We even went paddleboating.  We spent lots of time swimming at the pool the resort had, too.  Maggie's favorite memories from the trip are: getting to take a bath in the jacuzzi tub, going swimming, and shopping.  It wouldn't be a trip with Mag if she didn't make us laugh.  At the war museum, there was a large horse statue that was obviously a male.  Maggie looked at it and said, "Mommy, that's where his poop is."  I about died laughing.  After I composed myself, I replied that that was the horse's private part.  Maggie's reply, "Well, I guess that means he's a boy then!"  There is never a dull moment when Maggie is around!!  Here are some pictures from our trip:

 Maggie's first time in a jacuzzi tub.

 War Museum in Branson

Maggie's first time paddleboating.

Papa is a brave man...he let Maggie shave him!

Dallas Trip 2012

We had a great time on our trip to visit our friends Fred and Claire in Dallas!  Our other friends, Troy and Beth, drove in from Western Kansas and joined us.  We loved visiting with everyone.  Maggie especially loved playing with Ben, Fred and Claire's 18 month old, and Brooklyn, Troy and Beth's 7 month old! 
We did some shopping, including the Lakeshore teaching supply store, cooked out one night, Rob went to a concert one night and a movie one day with the boys, we went to Dave and Busters, and spent our last day at the Dallas Aquarium.  Here are some pics from the trip:

Great Weekend!!

On Friday, Maggie and I met my parents, aunt, and cousin and her family to tour the Boulevard Brewery and spend the day hanging out.  Then, that night, Rob, Maggie and I drove to Manhattan to see his family.  We spent the whole day with them yesterday.  It started off with brunch together.  Then, we went to the Farmer's Market, went to Menards, did some other shopping, and had a wonderful day together.  

 Maggie with my cousin's daughter, Kinder.

Maggie and her cousin, Nathan, checking out the tubs at Menards!

Busy Start to Summer

Well, we've already had a busy summer!  We've spent some time with friends and family.  Rob and Dad competed in a BBQ contest, and took 3rd place in brisket and 1st place in People's Choice.  I've been tutoring every Tuesday and Thursday.  Maggie has also just completed her 2 weeks of swimming lessons.  She still hesitates to put her head under water, but overall seems much more relaxed in the water!  Here are some pictures:

Maggie gliding to her teacher through the hula hoop.

 Kicking her way back to the side.

 Practicing her back float.

Last Day Fun!!

Maggie's Last Day of Preschool

My baby's last day of preschool was Thursday.  

We have been blessed with a wonderful 2 years with Miss Suzy!