Sesame Street Live

There is a reason I only have two pictures to commemorate this event, I took the camera, but forgot the batteries were dead! The second pic is of Hadley SO excited to see Elmo before we left. The first pic I couldn't resist, it is of the 8 dollar balloon we got suckered into at the show. They are smart. At intermission they have two guys come down the aisles with about a hundred Elmo balloons. How could we say no when our daughter looks at us and says, "I would like an Elmo balloon please". Seriously.

We had a great time. Mike and I both had tears in our eyes watching Hadley's face light up when she realized all her best Sesame Street friends were right in front of her. It was one of those parent moments we'll remember and cherish forever.
We did however miss our friends Joe and Joseph who couldn't join us because of the terrible weather, we missed you very much!

Breakfast with Santa and the Christmas Parade

This morning we were up early to go see Santa for breakfast. Hadley was beside herself she was so excited! She wasn't so sure about Santa however once we were up close and personal to him! She had a ton of fun though. They had all the characters that were going to be in the parade so she was excited to see them too.... from afar. (:

Eating with Lulu

"Hi Belle, no sit on lap."

Hi Cookie, you can stay right there!

Bundled up for the parade with mommy

Bundled up for the parade with Grandma

Rock a Bye Baby

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we had plenty to be thankful for. In addition to being thankful for the day to day wonderful life we have with a wonderful house, both having jobs, and a fantastic daughter, we have a lot to be grateful for this year. It was a long year in many ways. The year began with putting Grams into a nursing home, a place she remains, but we were able to spend the day with her today and that was wonderful. February brought Jill's step father being diagnosed with bladder cancer. After much of the year filled with surgery and treatment for that, he is cancer free as of the beginning of this month's scan. For that we could not be thankful enough. This year brought Jill's dad losing his job due to our terrible economy, but that also has turned around with him accepting a job at the end of October, so we are also thankful for that. For us personally the months of August and September were filled with fear over the lump in Jill's lymph node. We remain eternally grateful that after many painful procedures and surgery, the news was as good as it could have been, no cancer. This year brought many of our friends losing parents and we think of them today and always and pray they are healing slowly but surely. So, on this day of thanks, we are thankful for all mentioned above and all of you, our family and friends, we are grateful for each and every one of you. Happy Thanksgiving.

First Snowfall

While the first snowfall of the year made mom's commute much longer, it made for a fun day for dad and Hadley. They had a blast making a gigantic snowball and snowman. Hadley loved the snow and looked adorable all bundled up.

Moment

This is what I came out of the shower this morning to hear...


Hadley: Mommy, Daddy and I are building a tower
Me: That's cool!
Hadley: We're best friends (meaning her and daddy)

And the tears....

The ABC's

Here's a short video of Hadley singing the ABC's tonight.

Badger/Gopher weekend

This weekend we headed to Madison for our annual Badger/Gopher game weekend with the Polzer family. We stayed with Christopher and Pam this year and had a great time. They have a 4 year old and 10 year old at their house so it was all kids all the time. They had a blast together and it was awesome watching Hadley run around playing hide and seek and other games like she was so old and independent. Here are a few snapshots of the weekend...

Mommy with her Badger cheerleader

Hadley and Daddy, ready to cheer on the Badgers

Feeding the fish

Hadley and Tony

Swimming with mom

Drawing on the easel

Watching a movie together

Hugging, there was lots of hugging!

Racing trucks around the house

Visit

We went to visit the Myers family this afternoon. We had a great time watching the kids play together, they loved hugging and running around together, it was cute to watch!

Beauty

This sweater/hat set was a hand me down, couldn't resist putting it on Hadley today, how cute!

Never forget

Here's a conversation I never want to forget....

Me: (speaking to Hadley) What's your full name

Hadley: Precious Angel

Me: laughing hysterically

Cutie

Here are a couple of pics of Hadley tonight in her jammies playing before bed.

Moment

I experienced one of those moments that changes your life just a little bit, the other day. It was the day after the election and a little African American boy who I see on a regular basis to help at school came up to me. Our conversation went like this.

Him: Mrs. Schwenzen, who won to be President?
Me: Barack Obama did honey.
Him: (after thinking for a minute) But, Mrs. Schwenzen, he's black.
Me: Yes he is (insert name) but black people can be President too.
Him: (smiling) That's cool.
Me: Yes it is (name), Yes it is.

Watching him realize that the President could look just like him was an amazing thing to witness. It doesn't matter who you voted for, that's cool.