mac cheese and roni

Sorry it has taken so long to update, I've been a little busy/preoccupied the last two weeks or so. We had our big Kick Off and Sponsorship Day for the Relay For Life last week which took a lot of emotional energy out of me!! It was great to get our first meeting under my belt and hit the ground running so to speak!! It would have been nice to take a few days off from planning, etc but I quickly remembered that I was asked to speak to the Nebraska Well Drillers Association Auxiliary Group on Thursday in Lincoln! So, I took the weekend to regroup and started to work on that project Monday! I don't know why I spent so much time on it! I always rewrite something for each "talk" to make sure it is personal and doesn't get too rehearsed and I also made a video, but once I got started the "script" flew out the window and I just did my own thing. It is nice to have the script to fall back on just in case...but I spent so much time on it for nothing!! Oh, well...I had nothing better to do :-) I got a very yummy breakfast out of the deal, and was able to talk to a room full of attentive women who must have been eager to help. The next day I was given an envelope with $300 that was raised by the individuals who attended the brunch as well as from their formal organization. I was touched by their generosity. I look forward to donating this money on their behalf knowing that it will make an impact. I mentioned our site at our meeting, so if any of you reading this were at that meeting -- thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Last weekend we went to Omaha (one week early, yeah!!) to pick up Charli's furniture! The night before Charli and I had a sleepover at the farm so we could make Derek's early morning basketball game in Newman Grove. Charli had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's, and at the game!! Chad quickly got Charli's room put together Saturday night but we thought we would wait until Sunday before making the attempt to have Charli sleep in it! She helped move all her toys to her room and helped make the bed, etc. She seemed to really enjoy making the transition with her things and putting her clothes in the new drawers. For some reason we decided to try nap time in her new bed, on the first day of her seeing her NEW room...and much to our surprise she did GREAT!! She has been sleeping and napping in her room since! What a big girl...she really does make life seem so easy :-)

Chad and Charli got to play in the snow a few times this weekend, you will see an obvious picture of that below!!

PS - the title probably should be explained! For each meal this weekend I asked Charli wanted she wanted to eat and each time she would tell me "mac cheese and roni mom"!!! If you haven't seen her for awhile she has really grown up and changed a lot in the past two weeks. She is so much fun to be around, it is funny to listen to her and watch her as she is starting to become miss independent!

Chad, Charli, and the 8-foot (plus) snow creature!

she doesn't look to excited here, but she was!!

I got a bouquet for Valentine's Day!! 1/2 does cookies wrapped to look like flowers - too cute, and too yummy!!

Charli moving toys into her NEW room! She makes sure to stress NEW room vs OLD room!

moving the ever-important silky!

trying to maneuver her way down, it is a "little" tall for her right now!!

making herself at home!

helping daddy move everything into to her NEW room :-) she is a pretty good helper!

I NEED ONE!!

So...Charli has really started to catch on to the ways of the world!!
#1 - If you say PLEASE and THANK YOU before/after any request, it is hard for anyone to say no when asking so politely.
#2 - If you offer kisses after a "Please daddy", chances are your are in!
#3 - If you say "but I said please daddy", chances are you will get what you want!
#4 - If you say "but I need a sucker daddy", chances are you will get one!
#5 - If you say "come on guys, please", chances are you will get one!!

It really is hard to say no to a two-year old who asks for things in such a sweet voice, even if it is a sucker at 9am :-) (although, we do manage to say no!)

Charli got her first "official" haircut this weekend. Some of you may remember Charli's "first" haircut about 18 months ago. Although...we will always consider this to be her first! When she started to loose her hair after treatment we cut a few strands off to compare color, etc. She was such a champ...didn't skip a beat, bat an eye, or think twice about what was going on.

after the BIG cut!!

proud little peacock!

Charli thoughthis was fun :-)

let get to it Aunt Amanda!

she is searching after those socks she "hides" under there each night!

the "book tower" - each book had to be taken off her shelf for this project...and done again the next night!! This was such a fun time for Charli!!

Charli, "this is what mommy looks like". Gee, thanks for teaching her that daddy!

who you calling funny-looking?!