Into the Woods

This year Lily Grace tried our for a part in her school musical, Into the Woods Jr.  She was given the part of Cinderella's mother.  
She did an amazing job.  She even had a solo and I have to tell you, it brought tears to my eyes to hear her sweet voice. (Matt was all smiles himself at hearing his little girl.) It was absolutely beautiful!  
The entire musical was really fun and entertaining.  The kids did a fantastic job! They performed two nights with three shows.
Gracie, daddy and I are so proud of you for trying out, for all the practice time you put in while juggling school work and other obligations and for the wonderful performance you gave!

I think Matt and I held our breaths the first couple of seconds since it was the first time Gracie had done a solo and it turned out to be breathtaking.  

These kids shined!

Curtain Call

Some of the cast and crew...these kids put in so much time and effort and it truly showed.

Friends and fellow cast members

There isn't a bouquet around to express mine and Matt's pride.

Family Day: 12 years

We celebrated Family Day today!  It's definitely been a memorable one.  Family Day just happen to fall during the Polar Vortex that has hit the midwest and gave Gracie the week home from school with dangerous temps and blowing snow.  We didn't let that stop us.  Lily Grace loves Sullivan's Steakhouse in Indy.  Matt had a meeting in Indy this morning so what do you do when you are out of school and it's -16 degrees?  You pack the car with your emergency weather items like water, blankets and snow boots and travel to Indianapolis of course to enjoy a delicious meal at your favorite restaurant.  We got a good laugh on the way at the thought of Sullivan's not being open today.  (After all, mail delivery was stopped today and several businesses were closed and of course schools all over the state are closed for the remainder of the week.)  It may have been cold but it was fun and delicious and of course we did it together! 
Thank you God for safe travels and the blessing of family.  

Check out that windchill of -40 degrees.  Add in the wind and I won't lie, it would take your breath away.

The newsfeed across my phone this morning on the way to Indy.

Freezing for a selfie in front of Sullivans as the wind whipped about and Gracie freaked out because she took the 5 minute exposure frostbite warning seriously.

According to her, this is The Place for the BEST burger, hands down.  It's her favorite!  

March for Life

So proud of Gracie and some of her Fidelis sisters for walking their faith today.  The snow was on and off and the high was barely 18 degrees, but these girls walked with a heart and voice for the unborn.  Gracie, walking along side you and watching you live and represent your faith today truly touched my heart.  Remember to always follow Christ and don't hesitate to share His love with/for others, especially those who count on your voice. 

Last Middle School Dance of 7th Grade

May the force be with you....They did it!

Matt and LG started building on the Lego Millennium Falcon on Christmas Day!  They have worked on it every day and on some days almost the whole day.  Well, 7500 pieces and 10 days later, they put in the last piece after dinner and completed this massive build.  
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them go at this together.  Granted, my dining room table has been hostage to this thing, but hearing them chat and figure out different phases has brought a smile to my face on more than one occasion.  They seem to have had the best time.  I know Matt has.  According to him, he would have bought that expensive thing three times over for the time he's had with Gracie. Neither of them worked without the other.
Not only do they now lay claim to having built the largest Lego set sold, but they also have big memories.

🎉2019🎉

We made it!  Whew!  Lily Grace planned snacks, movies and games to help us make it to the midnight hour. We did indeed welcome and ring in the new year.  
In 2018 Lily Grace started 7th grade, Matt graduated Purdue with an MBA and was made Vice President of Technology, we celebrated 11 years as a family, Matt and I celebrated 25 years married, we visited Jackson Hole, WY and Cameron, MT and finally saw a moose, Molly got a new leg and throughout the year, like always, we remain blessed to have one another. 
Looking forward to 2019 and all it brings our way!

Even Molly managed to wake up long enough to ring in 2019.

Merry Christmas!

We have had the most amazing day.  We woke around 6:45 and got the day started.  We have opened gifts, laughed a lot, played games, enjoyed lots of food and simply enjoyed being together and sharing in the magic and wonder of this day.   
For the past two years, Lily Grace has been asking for the Lego Build Star Wars Millennium Falcon.  It's the largest set Lego makes with 7,541 pieces.  The box is huge and the spiral bound manual is like a large catalog. 
Well, this year the iconic ship landed in our living room.  

Top of her wish list

Excited to see that big box

Very excited

I think Matt was just as excited since he is her build partner.  They just had to take a look at the enormity of the build inside.

Gracie couldn't wait for me to look in my stocking and insisted I hurry up and do so.  The girl knows me so well.  She has talked about gel pens and Sharpie's being a high priority on her Christmas list.  She loves pens and drawing/creating fonts/etc...  In turn, she surprised me with my own set of colorful pens because I am forever looking for one in the kitchen "junk drawer," or from the bottom of my purse.  She also knows how much I love chocolate.  

In the bottom of my stocking I was surprised to find diamond hoop earrings that she and her daddy had managed to get past me. 

I surprised Matt with his very own Pit Master t-shirt.  ha!

Lily Grace was excited for Matt to open up this new chip net she got him.  They've already had a little competition this morning.

Matt got several new boxes of personalized golf balls. 

Living in the midwest, I think I go through a pari of Ugg slippers almost every year.

Cuddling and tossing her new bear from LG

Trying out her new Harry Potter chess set

Happy, Merry, Grateful, Joyful, Blessed 

Look at that massive manual.  

Matt and Gracie wasted no time getting set up and getting a system.  Each of these boxes hold about 16 bags of Legos for this build.  

These two officially got started around 9:25 this morning on the building of the Millennium Falcon.

Today, our Savior is born and we have all received the greatest gifts in His birth!  From our family to yours:
🎄Merry Christmas!🎄

Christmas is coming!

We are having a wonderful Christmas season.  Spending time together, making memories and celebrating the birth of our Savior.  

This year, we attempted decorating a mini village.  As always, there were a lot of laughs as we each got busy.  Matt declared himself the best.....whatever!

Matt, Barb and LG

And it just wouldn't be Christmas Eve morning without a visit from Bob Elf.  Regardless of how old Grace gets. We all look forward to his visit.  I don't know that he will ever stop coming until he starts making visits for Gracie kids one day. A few weeks ago, we watched the original pilot episode of Wonder Woman with Linda Carter from the 70's.  Let me just say that it's so much different than Matt and I remember as children and it was down right comical and bad in a hilarious way.  Oh my gracious the acting, the "special effects," the plot.  I don't know the last time we all laughed so hard.  There was one scene in particular where Wonder Woman is carrying a pilot in her arms wrapped in a pink blanket in full on sprint.  It's so obvious she is holding a mannequin and his head is bobbing around.  Lily Grace does a spot on impersonation and again, it's hilarious.  Well this year, Bob was delivered by none other than a running Wonder Woman.  We got the biggest laugh off of this.  As always, he brought donuts and new games.  We spent Christmas Eve playing all our new games, snacking and laughing until time for Christmas mass.  

Blank Slate is one of our new favorite games.

After Christmas Eve mass we came home and made homemade brick oven pizzas on The Big Green Egg, played games and watched a movie.  We had a wonderful evening filled with Christmas music and fun!   

Happy 8th Birthday Molly!

Here's Molly as a puppy.  This was the first picture we ever saw of Molly.  The breeder sent it to us.  This particular litter was given color names.  Molly wore a green ribbon.

8 years old 

Winter Recital

Gracie had her winter piano recital.  She played two pieces.  One was a duet with her teacher Mrs. Anny and the other a solo.  She did so good!