4.0

In the fastest turnaround that I have ever seen with this professor, I got my grade for my last regular class - an "A". This means that I have finished my coursework with a 4.0 GPA! Assuming I don't completely botch my dissertation, I should graduate with a perfect record at NCU.

It is done.

Last night (more accurately, 1:03 this morning), I submitted my final for ED5020-Applied Statistics. That was the last final exam I will ever have. January 1st I begin the RSH/DIS track, thus initiating the journey towards the dissertation (although I guess one could say that the last seven years have all been part of this journey). It is kind of bittersweet knowing that I am done. I will never have another final exam or another letter grade (from here on out it is all S/U). Of course, the hard part is just now starting, but I am excited to start the research phase.

Sister reads her first words

Sister loves books and loves to read. She constantly asks me to read to her. Lately, she has taken a huge interest in letters and the sounds they make. She can identify all letters by sight and knows the sounds that they make. Today, she was walking around the house saying a letter and its sound. I took her to the refrigerator and took her magnetic letters out of the drawer. I put the letters "A" and "T" on the refrigerator and asked her to sound them out. She looked at them and said, "A...T...A...T...AT...AT...AT!" We were both very excited and did a dance around the kitchen. Then, I put "B" in front of the word and asked her to read that word. Again, she sounded it out; however, this time she remembered that "A" and "T" make "at" so she sounded it out "B...AT...B...AT...BAT...BAT!" Needless to say, Sister is very excited about her new found discovery and can't wait to read a book all by herself.

Sister meets a "real" ballerina

Sister LOVES anything dance/ballet. So when the opportunity arose for Daddy to take Sister to a free showing of the Nutcracker, both were very excited. Daddy took her early and took advantage of the chance to meet one of the performers. Sister was in heaven as she took a picture with the dancer and then watched the show.

Christmas Traditions

As an adult, I love Christmas. Growing up, it was a very stressful time for my family as we had to travel eight hours away, visit family that we only saw twice a year, and try to appease everybody except ourselves. We (my mom, dad, brother, and I) stopped doing this after I met my now husband. Now, I have a renewed love for the holiday season and strive to create positive memories for my children.

Over the years, we have started our own Christmas traditions. Here are some of our favorites:
* Christmas Cards: We take our Christmas card picture on Thanksgiving; this year was the first time that we broke that tradition since Sister was born, as we used a family picture that a professional photographer took shortly after Brother was born. I also took a picture of the kids in their Christmas clothes to put on it. We always put a picture of the entire family on the card; it is fun to look back over the years at how all of us have changed. We usually get cards out before December 1; one friend jokes that ours is always the first card she receives!

*Christmas Tree: We set up the tree Thanksgiving afternoon, after spending lunch with Daddy's family and before dinner with Mommy's family.

* Christmas Ornaments: Every year I buy an ornaments for each child to signify a special event or accomplishment for the year. For example, this year Sister got an ornaments that had a heart, ballet slipper, and said "ballet" because she has loved dance this year, had her first recital, and done a lot with ballet. In the past, she got a shoe (the year she learned how to walk) and a phone (the year she learned how to speak in sentences).

*Christmas Angel: Instead of the kids getting presents from us (because they get so many from other family members), we choose children off the Salvation Army Angel Tree of the same age and sex, then let the kids buy presents for them.

*Christmas Cookies: We just started this tradition this year. I made cookies with Sister (while Brother watched) to take to Daddy at work the next day. Instead of surprising Daddy at work, Sister told him all about it as soon as he walked in the door. Leave it to a three year old to spill the secret!

*Christmas in Branson: Another first this year, we went to Branson with my parents. We had a great time and plan to do it every year.

*Reading the Birth of Jesus: Christmas morning, we read the story of Jesus' birth. As the kids get older, they will take on the job of reading the story.

*Christmas with Family: Every year, we spend Christmas Eve night with my parents, Christmas morning at home, Christmas lunch with Daddy's family (we switch off each year between his dad's side and his mom's side), and another time with Daddy's parents/siblings/siblings family (it used to be Christmas night but that proved to be too much for the kids, so now it just depends on everybody's schedules)

Christmas at Branson

For Christmas this year, my parents took the entire family to Branson. On Monday we went to Silver Dollar City. Tuesday, we went shopping, looked at Christmas lights, and went out to dinner.

It was freezing at Silver Dollar City (it never got above 30 degrees the entire time we were at the park) but we still had a great time.

Sister loved waving at the people in the parade as it went by

Sister had never sat on Santa's lap before, so this was a first for her. She had no idea what he was talking about when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas (we don't do the Santa thing or much of presents for that matter, so this was a pretty foreign concept).

Brother and Sister snuggle after getting back to the condo and warming up.

Our family at Christmas

Our first Christmas as a family of four:

Christmas Day with Daddy's Family

Every Christmas day we spend lunch with his family.

The family keeps getting bigger every year!

Grammy with Brother and Sister.

Aunt K and Cousin R. We are very excited because Aunt K is pregnant with a baby boy; Sister and Cousin R are the same age (7 weeks difference), and now Brother and this baby will be the same age (about 7 months difference). We have loved watching Sister and Cousin R. grow up together, now both sets of children will have a friend for life.
The girl cousins - all three years old!

Christmas Night

Christmas night, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle G. came to our house for the traditional Christmas dinner of cheese enchiladas.

I thought this was so sweet; Sister and Brother sat next to each other and Sister held Brother's hand so "he not get scared"

Christmas at Grammy's House

The day after Christmas, we went to Grammy's house to celebrate Christmas with Grammy, PaPa, three other aunts and uncles, and five other cousins.

Sister and Cousin R. played while they waited for everybody else to arrive. Once the entire family got to Grammy's we ate salad and pizza.

Sister and Brother snuggling on the chair before opening presents.

Daddy and Sister being silly...

...and serious!

Daddy with Brother.

For the second year in a row, the cousins decorated cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Sister choose vanilla frosting and blue sprinkles.

After the kids finished, Mommy enjoyed a cookie as well!

After eating pizza, opening presents, and decorating cookies, Grammy had all of the kids sing a song. Sister, always the performer, relished in the spotlight and gave a soulful rendition of "ABC's"

After singing, the girl cousins danced around the living room.

Christmas Preview

With Christmas next week, I wanted to post some pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits.

One of the many kisses Sister gives to her Brother.

Sister has a beautiful "swirly" dress. We had a great time taking pictures of her and her dress.

When Sister put her Christmas dress on, she announced it was a "dancing dress" and proceeded to do a dance! Here is a picture of her grand finale!

With the many Christmas events we have next week, these outfits will get lots of use!

Sleeping Beauty

There is such a peace surrounding Brother when he sleeps. I love to snuggle him while he sleeps, but here are a few pictures I took when not snuggling.

Reading time

Today, I found Sister laying on the bed reading a book about animals. Although she can't read words yet, she goes through the book to name the animals she knows and point out letters.

The little loves of my life

Life just doesn't get any better than this!

Game Night

Tonight was our first official family game night. After dinner we set up a board game and played it as a family. Although during the day, Sister and I play enough "Candy Land" to make me want to go colorblind, it was great to play as a family. Tonight, Sister got to pick the game. She chose "Chutes and Ladders" and went on to win. We are going to start doing Family Game Night every Wednesday night. Next week, we will start making a treat, like cookies, to go along with our game. Perhaps gingerbread people with colored frosting to look like the game pieces in "Candy Land"...

Rhema Christmas Lights

The night after Thanksgiving we went to Rhema to see the Christmas lights with all of the cousins.

Here is Sister and Cousin R. as they try to stay warm.

Sister's new favoriate pose (I think she got it from dance class).

Brother wrapped up in the flease wrap and hat. What would we do without this wrap? (Thank you, Stephanie!)

Four Generations

Sister, Mom (Sister's mom), Grandma (Sister's mom's mom),

and GreatGrandma (Sister's mom's mom's mom):This picture was taken when Sister was five weeks old. We went to Kansas to see her maternal GreatGrandparents for the first time. This trip was extra-special because GreatGrandma passed away four weeks later.

Brother, Dad (Brother's dad), PaPa (Brother's dad's dad),

and GreatGrandpa (Brother's dad's dad's dad)

This picture was taken at Thanksgiving; Brother was nine and a half weeks old. Unfortunately, Brother will never get to meet any of his maternal GreatGrandparents as they have all passed away. Currently, he has all four paternal GreatGrandparents.

Thanksgiving

My two angels in blue. We spent Thanksgiving lunch with Grammy and PaPa (plus two aunts, two uncles, three cousins, Greatgrandma, and Greatgrandpa). Then, we had dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle G.

Grammy and PaPa holding Brother. This was one of the few moments he was out of the wrap and awake!
Brother and Sister with Greatgrandma and Greatgrandpa.
This was their first time to see Brother.

Sister's big pose! We started Thanksgiving by watching the Macy's parade. Taylor saw the Rockettes and now wants to do that when she grows up. The following dance class she showed her dance teacher what they do, complete with the big kicks!

Brother is two months old

Here is Brother's two month picture:

And for comparison, Sister at two months:

One more of him:

My daughter

Here is Sister breastfeeding her baby in a sling. That's my girl!