The Fighter's

30.   The smell of bacon in the morning. 31. The excited "mommy!" exclamations I get from my smiling/running two and four year olds when I come down from working. 32. Supportive co-workers. 33. Sweet singers who supply background music to my work day. 34. Warm hot showers. 35. Blueberry mustaches. 36. Breakfast for dinner - and helpful stirrers. 37. My 6 year old Ava who is remarkably good at reminding me of things that I forget.  She keeps me straight:-) 38. For 2 year olds who learn how to move kitchen table chairs to counters so they can steal tomatoes and cheese. 39. Two year old baby toots that are still hilarious to me. 40. The fresh baby smell of my little bathed bear.

12. My mom. 13. Early morning coffee with my dad. 14.   Peaceful drives home after early morning aerobics classes. 15.   Sleepy smiles of little girls who greet me each morning. 16.   Coats, hats, mittens, warm boots on blistery cold winter days. 17.   Coming down to a clean kitchen - washed pots and pans - thanks to Doug. 18.   Hugs from my Ava bean. 19.   January and fresh starts. 20.   Kate's mini voice:-)   21.   Vacuum cleaner. 22.   My wooden snowman - I'm crossing my fingers for snow! 23.   Kate's curly hair. 24.   Salt trucks. 25.   Cold weather that makes me so appreciate inside. 26.   Little ballerina sisters holding hands as they walk into dance. 27.   Homemade chipolte rice and bean bowls. 28.   Fitting our fake Christmas tree into what seemed a too small bag and for 29. the high five with Doug after we smooshed it in.

4. The way Ava's big brown eyes light up when she tells me made up jokes.  Today it was.. ."what's e + e?  An e party!" followed by high pitched little girl giggles and lit up brown eyes just like this. 5. Warm hot baths with a good book and view of my favorite snow covered tree. 6.  Grilled turkey and swiss sandwiches. 7. Staycations filled with relaxation, family and home. 8. Cozy, soft, warm sheets and a bed to sleep in. 9. Snuggles from Katelyn.  She is seriously the best snuggler in the world! 10. Bright red Cardinals that show up so vividly on the wintery tree branches outside my kitchen window.  Whenever the girls see them in our backyard (sometimes we'll have 8 at a time!) they get so excited and yell..." Mom! It's your favorite bird!"   We also get blue jays, woodpeckers and cute little sparrows.  Love, love, love watching the birds in our backyard.   11. Ava and Katelyn wrapping presents for a polar bear birthday party. ...

New Year – New format for the blog!   I'm going to keep a list.  A little bit of background... December was quite a blur for me.  I loved, loved, loved my time with family – we had so many joy filled moments.   But I let projects and deadlines at work get the very best of me – said yes when I should have said no, worked crazy (uncompensated for) hours…and all of this left me tired, grumpy and not enjoying one of my most cherished times of the year.  Favorite Christmas activities turned into tasks, preoccupation took over during fun family/friend outings…I even ended up in urgent care Christmas morning for a diagnosis of strep throat, shot in the toosh and a week full of antibiotics/steroids (which probably was not related to work, but I’m blaming it anyways!).  Instead of focusing on the Joy of Christmas…I was obsessed with going the extra mile on the job .  I felt like I was in a constant state of emergency - and it was all my own doing. ...

We are on staycation!  But we decided to break it up with a mini road trip.  One of the great things about living where we live - easy access to beautiful Michigan.  The five of us plus Grandma and Grandpa drove North just a few hours to Frankenmuth, Michigan - and it was great!  Kicked the day off with a hearty German lunch at the Bavarian Inn, followed by a long stroll up and down the street through a doll shop, candy stores, coffee shops, cheese shops - we had a beautiful day for walking.  After that we took the girls on a carriage ride - let me tell you - they thought it was magical.  Gleamed ear to ear...I think they felt like princesses.  I loved it too.  The town was fantastic - such a fun place to take kids and go and relax.  After that we went to Bronner's (the worlds largest Christmas store).  On the way home we stopped in artsy, adorable, quaint Ann Arbor (yes - I'm a brainwashed OSU fan...but still LOVE Ann Arbor) for pizza a...

This is what happens to Grandpa when he's stuck in between his four and six year old granddaughters for a two hour road trip, in the back of a minivan....

Southview Cougars that is.  I was a lucky girl and got to hang out with two of my best friends from high school today.  My friend Lindsay was in from California so I picked her up from her mom's house (like the good old days...except this time I was driving a mini-van instead of a Geo Tracker with lighting stripes on the side and had three kids in the back).  We trekked up to Haneen's house - and I seriously had such a great time with them.  Lots of catching up while the kids played and some great Lebanese food (thanks Tarek!).  I love these girls - we have so many great memories together - and I just love who they have become.  Seriously beautiful ladies.  Just wish we all lived closer!!  Looking forward to July when we'll be together again for a wedding (where maybe we'll bust out some of our old cheerleading moves...or...maybe not...or maybe):-)

This is how we found Kate sleeping tonight...hello Kitty mask and all.  

Christmas was magical for the girls!  It was so much fun to watch their eyes light up (proof in the pictures!).  Visiting with family, super food (except for my Christmas Eve potatoes) and an abundance of laziness and just being...all of which was so very needed!  Joy was in the house ( despite a Christmas morning diagnosis of strep throat and shot in the toosh for me....bet you never got that for Christmas!). Opening Grammy's presents!  She got them the beautiful Christmas Eve dresses in the following pictures - girls are SO much fun to dress up.  Poor Doug.   Fake grumpy face prompted by Doug.  They then show their true feelings:-)   I think they're just a weensy bit excited!  The girls love their Grammy!  And Grandma and "pee-paw" (as Olivia calls him) too!   Cookies, milk and carrots (need to make it well rounded, right?) set out for Santa...   Setting out water and carrots for the reindeer.  The bucket ended up o...