Sledding with Aunt Melanie

Mommy and Daddy are taking a few days to celebrate Mommy's 30th birthday and find the perfect Daycare for Miss Madeline, so Aunt Melanie and Grandma Judy volunteered to take care of Madeline.
Today Aunt Melanie took Madeline sledding... and taught her how to eat snow!!! After wearing off a bunch of energy outside they came into the house to warm up. Madeline didn't hesitate for a second when Grandma Judy asked her if she wanted to help her open a few Christmas gifts she received from her Kindergarten students. Last year Madeline wasn't too "in to" opening gifts, but we're pretty sure this year will be a whole different experience!

We'll miss you Uncle Phil...

Mommy's Uncle Phil had been battling Non-Smoker's Lung Cancer for over a year and earlier this week his courageous battle came to an end. Services were held over the past few days with so many caring friends and family there to support Aunt Mary & Cousins Erin and Emily.

It was very sad to see him go, but we know that Uncle Phil is in a better place now and undoubtedly having a great time with his brother - Grandpa Ron :)

Uncle Nick flew in to town for the services and Madeline really enjoyed getting the opportunity to see him. We spent quite a bit of time at Grandma Judy's over they last few days remembering Uncle Phil with other friends and family. Madeline didn't really understand what was going on, but was happy that she got to spend time with so many people she doesn't get to see very often.

Tuesday Playgroup Christmas Party!

Almost every Tuesday Mommy and Madeline get together with a great group of Mommies and Toddlers at various location in southwest Minneapolis. It's a great excuse to get out of the house a great chance for Madeline to play with other kids her age & a great time for Mommy to talk with some other adults!

Well, mommy just recently got offered the part-time job that she has been wanting for over a year! She'll be the new Product Manager of Single-Use Dosing Systems for Bosch Packaging. She used to work with this company while at her first job at Eli Lilly and is very happy to be getting back into the Pharmaceutical industry... now she just has to get the Engineering part of her brain working again! She'll officially start at the beginning of January, but had the opportunity to head out to Philadelphia to meet the project team this week - nothing like getting thrown into things quickly... Just two days of being away from home, so Daddy took the time off work to spend with Madeline :-)

Since Mommy was going to be gone on Tuesday and didn't want Madeline to miss the Tuesday playgroup Christmas Party, Daddy took Madeline to the party. Daddy dropped Madeline off with the other mommies and went out to do some Christmas shopping - THANK YOU other mommies for letting Madeline participate even though her own mommy couldn't be there!!!
We know she had a great time because it was ALL she talked about when she got home. It looks like there was some tickling that went on along with an art project...and treats!
What a great party!

Yep, that's right, Mommy and Daddy are pretty crazy trying to take on a new Baby, building a new house AND starting a new job, but we're sure everything will fall into place :-)

Christmas Card Photos

Christmas card photos were a bit of challenge this year... Madeline just doesn't want to sit and look at the camera for very long, but eventually we got a few good shots and this is what we decided on: With the help of the Gimp photo editor we were able to come up with just the right combination for another nice Christmas Card this year :-)

Oak Hill Light & Sledding

The weather was so nice outside today (38 degrees), that when daddy got home we decided to get all dressed up in our winter attire and head out for some sledding! Daddy pulled Madeline in the sled all the way through the park across the street from our apartment and then up a BIG hill to another park where all of the trees are decorated with Christmas lights! This is the same park that has the splash pad that we play at in the summer, but in the winter it has an ice skating rink and fun places to sled. We looked at all of the fun characters lit up with Christmas lights (Madeline's favorite is Frosty) and Daddy pulled Mommy and Madeline all around.

On our way back to the apartment Daddy and Madeline went sledding down the big hill 3 times - Madeline thought it was great fun :-)

Another New Cousin!

Mommy's first Cousin, Gretchen, and her husband, Frank, had their first little baby on November 23rd! Her name is Kensley and Madeline & Mommy have been anxious to go and meet her. Well today we got all bundled up and headed over to their house. Madeline hasn't been around a whole lot of new babies, but she got a kick out of getting a turn holding Kensley... We hope this means she'll be very welcoming of her new little brother or sister in May!!! As Kensley grows up we hope these two can be good friends :-)
Kensley has her own blog too!
Kensley McQ Makes Her Debut

Another New Christmas Dress

Today Madeline got ANOTHER package in the mail! This one was from Grandma & Grandpa Frantz and it was a new Holiday Dress :-) Madeline loves new dresses and this one is a beautiful gold color. Mommy just hopes there are enough chances to wear all of these beautiful dresses - especially with is being sooooo cold outside!

THANK YOU GRANDPA & GRANDMA!!!

Macy's Holiday Display 2008: A Day in the Life of an Elf

Once again this year, Mommy and Madeline drove downtown Minneapolis to go and see the annual Holiday Display on the 8th Floor of Macy's. This year the theme was "A Day in the Life of an Elf". We went with our Tuesday playgroup and all of this kids thought the display was amazing! First we saw the Christmas Tree Forest, then Michael, Kinzie & Madeline found a polar bear decorating a tree. Next we were off to Santa's workshop - so much to see! After a fun-filled morning we took a break for lunch. Another great Tuesday :-)

Saint Nicholas Day!

Saint Nicholas showed up at out apartment a little late this year, but we're thinking that Miss Madeline won't mind :-) When Madeline woke up from her nap to find that Saint Nicholas had stopped by while she was sleeping and left a few things for her in her pink shoes. We told her the story of Saint Nicholas and hope she learns a little bit more about this great man every year.

She was quite taken back that this year St. Nick brought her a brand new Christmas outfit, a Dora book, and a few treats... YUMMY! She must have been a good girl this year :-)

A day full of Santa

Today we had 2 Christmas parties to go to! First we went to Daddy's work and did all kinds of fun things. First Madeline sat on Santa's lap for a picture: She was such a good girl that she got a brand new book about Marley the Dog and little Marley stuffed animal. Then it was off to the Christmas Clown, who made Madeline a very special hat. After that we colored some Christmas pictures and sat very still while one of Santa's helpers painted a picture of Rudolph on Madeline's cheek. All of these fun activities left us feeling kind-of hungry, so we headed to the cafeteria for a few snacks - What a great party!

Then it was off to another party at our Realtor's office. It was so nice for Bob to insist that we come, even though we had already decided to build instead of buying - yep, that's right, we're building a house!!!!

We've decided to build with a custom home builder (Knoblauch Builders) in Shakopee :-) John Knoblauch is a family friend and got his start selling homes for Great-Uncle Marv over 15 years ago! Great-Uncle Marv will be doing all of the concrete work and giving us advice along the way. It's a HUGE undertaking, but we've just gotten so frustrated with our (seemingly unending) house hunt. We've spent the last year trying to find the right house for us and it just hasn't happened.
We've very excited about getting to help design the house that we want!

Santa was at this Coldwell Banker party too! Madeline thought it was a little strange that Santa was at 2 different parties in one day, but she still sat on his lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas. She told Santa that she wants "Presents" for Christmas. When Santa asked what kind of presents, she very quickly replied "Blue Presents!". I think Santa should be able to handle that :-)

Parachute Playdate

Today Madeline & Mommy went to the Eden Prairie Community Center with our Tuesday playgroup. We had a tone of fun and even got to play with a parachute. All the kids thought it was great fun crawling underneath the parachute and watching the balls bounce all over the place!

Christmas Tree Decorating & Thanksgiving #2!

This morning Daddy & Grandpa Steve went out on the hunt for the perfect Christmas Tree for our apartment - and they found it! It is the most beautiful tree we have ever had!!!. After we moved all of Madeline's toys out of the way we set up up in the corner near the big window facing the road so we can look up at it every time we drive by. First Daddy put on all of the lights and then we added all of our ornaments!

After the tree decorating was finished we got ready for Thanksgiving Dinner #2. Since Grandma & Grandpa Frantz didn't get here until the day after Thanksgiving we wanted to make sure they still got a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Grandma Judy, Dave and Aunt Malanie joined us and we all ate to our hearts content. As usual Madeline wanted all of the attention and when the grown-up started leaving her out of the conversation she let us know she was still there by claiming she didn't like her mashed potatoes (her favorite). So, we made up a little game where she would eat them if her eyes were closed - she's never NOT the center of attention for long :-)After a little football watching, we all had enough room for some pumpkin pie - we think it was Madeline's favorite part of the whole day!

Minnepaolis Hollidazzle Parade

Grandma & Grandpa Frantz came all the way from Indiana to help us celebrate Thanksgiving this year - yeah :-) We had lots of fun with them and even ventured out in the cold of a Minnesota November to downtown Minneapolis for the annual Hollidazzle Parade. The parade started at 6:30 and each and everyone one of the floats and people were covered in Christmas lights - Madeline thought it was great fun! Grandma Judy and Dave met us there too. Afterwards we all went out for pizza! We had a great time and hope to make a trip to the Hollidazzle parade every year :-)

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Today we went to Mommy's hometown (New Prague) to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Schoenbauer side of the family. This huge event takes place every 3 or 4 years and there were over 100 family members there (even without those that couldn't make the trip). We all brought part of the Thanksgiving meal and had the chance to talk to many relatives that we don't get to see very often. Here is all of us in one huge family picture - we are in the the top right-hand corner: After the Schoenbauer thanksgiving we stopped by Great-Aunt Janet's house to see a few of the Weiers family relatives and then headed to Grandma Judy's for some homemade Pheasant Wild Rice soup - yummy!

Cutting up a Tree

Today Grandma Judy called and she needed some help... a very old dead tree had fallen down and it needed to be cut up and hauled away. Daddy got out his trusty chainsaw and we all got to work... First Madeline just wanted to scope out the situation and try and figure out what was going on - it was REALLY LOUD! But then she pitched right in and helped us carry the wood to to the CRV. She worked really hard and decided it was time for a break... That didn't last long and then she wanted to help again - she thought it was great fun!When we were all done Grandma gave her a big kiss for all her help :-) She definitely earned herself a ride in the swing before it was time to go inside and warm up!