We Found Him:)

Santa took the sleigh on a test drive and stopped by for MP kids to get a few pics.

Santa Came and Went

Kit had a cold all weekend so things weren't as festive as we'd hoped, but she is feeling better and got all she needed from Santa and more!

Bundled Up

Kit got out her sled last week to deliver some XMas treats to Papa Bill.

The First Weekend of XMas---It all Starts Now

There's no shoes like Princess shoes, there's no shoes like Princess shoes...click your heels three times Kit Finley and you'll be all grown up before you know it.

Whoops...I Forgot Thxgiving

Lots of fun that weekend as we started the day walking in the Berbee Derby. Kit and her Dad will participate next year, weather permitting. (Yes Troy, it is now an official tradition as long as Mom's in Fitchburg:) Kit and Evan played all day and night. Papa Thomas-Griswald got to work decorating outside and Kit got to steal a hug & kiss from Santa. The best thing about Thxgiving was the leftover/redemption soup that will undeniably be Grand Champion at The 2011 Gundlach Family Soup Party! Thank goodness for flavorful stuffing and sweet potatoes or we would never have tasted such a fine and respectable soup.

Meeting Santa

Kit, Roen, and Liam met Santa and the Missus @ Shakerag Alley.

2011's First Snowfall

Kit woke up and declared that it was time to play outside in the snow....so we did.

Kit,
Did you know that you can do whatever you put your mind to? That you were born with the ability to affect your life; to change what you want to? You deserve to be happy, and your life should be as positive for you as you can make it. Don't rely on others' help or let others' opinions steer you down a road of indecision. You can be an astronaut, a statesperson, a farmer, an electrician, a school bus driver, a singer, a decision-maker, a world-traveler, a race car driver, a teacher, an architect. You don't have to decide right away either....take your time. We want to make sure that you know that if you put your heart into it...."it" can be yours. I hope that we can help nurture the things you love to do when you're younger. I hope we can help you understand that is important to care about yourself and others, to read and write, to believe in yourself, to have friends and love your family, to be as positive as you can, be forgiving, and be honest with your word. We will help you along as much as we can, but we can only do so much. The rest is up to you.

PS--I know this is deep for a 2.5 year old, since you can't read and may not know some of the words. But, don't worry...someday you will know exactly what we're talking about.

XMas Photos = Done

Outside Decorations = Done.
Advent Calendar = Goes up today.
Tree Decorating = Done. Only 2 ornaments and 1 picture broken during Kit's first decorating extravaganza.
Gifts = Getting there.
Snowman Cake = Still need two small ball pans.
First Xmas only 17 days away.
Let the fun begin!

Yes Mom, We're Lit Up....

FYI: Scrooge Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

We Sure do Love this Kid

Multi-Tasking

Kit looks like she's on her way to school and baking cupcakes.

Kit Meet Baby; Baby Meet Kit

All the waitin' was worth it....Idrissa Thomas Samb...one of the cutest newborn babies we've seen so far.
Kit loves to hold her new cousin already.

Dear Mr. Finley,

I am hoping you read this post as you have recently rediscovered this blog; I am writing to tell you what I would like for Xmas this year. Don't worry about calling my Mom on December 22nd. Here is your answer....

I want a plan.
A five year plan.
Let's agree on a plan and work towards it together.

By ourselves & For ourselves....and Kit and the other kids we want to have. One that accomplishes three things: A finished house, a new baby(s), and $$$ in the bank.
When we talked in bed last night I don't think I told you how important it is for me to be able to be motivated to work towards a goal. OUR goals. I want to do the work with you; not watch you do the work. I want Kit to help to. I want us to be able to teach her that we will do this as a family. Our plans now will be our life in the future. We can make it happen.
Our kids and grandkids are the pieces of ourselves that we leave behind and I want them to be proud of us, the family we've built, and know that they can make the same life for themselves. They will have to think, decide, and DO IT. I hope because we will have a plan and it will be successful, that they will just DO IT too.
I hope this helps you....and know that I will always love life with you,
Me

Just Around the Corner

Katie & Pape got married a few weeks ago on a beautiful Fall day in Wisconsin. She was beautiful and he was handsome. It was a short & sweet ceremony. Kit & Anna were flower girls. We enjoyed a great meal & cupcakes afterward. Little peanut on the way ...hopefully soon!

Kit & Andy do Breakfast

Finally...Halloween & Candy Came

A Turtle, a Skunk, and a Bumblebee walk into a bar....

SHE DID IT!!!

If there was a trampoline in our backyard this would be me and Troy and Kit. I'd probably call you up and ask you to jump with us. And you could bring all your friends too.
There's a big reason to celebrate this week at 509 Fountain....Kit has ditched diapers. And in a big way. Only one accident since Sunday night. No wet sheets either. This girl's got it mastered. It only took a Jedi mind-trick to make it happen: We told Kit she couldn't get Dora wet (Dora's on her undies) and she couldn't get Frosty wet (he's on her pj's) or he'd melt. It worked and it worked big time. I'd do it again too, but a lot sooner. Potty training has seemed to drag on and on and on........Congratulations Liam-you're getting some free size 5 diapers:)

The After...

A Pretty View

A Sunday outing with the Finley Family.

They Played, Cooked & Played Some More

Saturday together was the best.

The Before

Troy scraped, and scraped, and scraped, and scraped some more. The paint went on like butter...

And then She Slept...

Bedtime is going to start earlier this Fall as the days get shorter. Troy and I have decided that 9:30 is waaayyyyy to late for this cat to be awake. (Don't ask why we hadn't thought about starting our bedtime rituals earlier in the evening?!) But when she falls asleep....she sleeps.

Potty Training

This is what happened when I told Kit that Penny Lane (cabbage patch doll) needs to go potty in the toilet like a big girl.

Both Fingers.....

It's Here...and It's Hot!

I was given an exclusive invite to this year's Shut Up & Dip It's big salsa making day. This is how it went down:
Who= 3 people
What= 60 jars of Shut Up & Dip It in varying degrees of heat
When= A Packer football Sunday...8+hours
Why= Because 100lbs of tomatoes, 75+ peppers, a big bag of onions and various secret ingredients were begging to be reincarnated into a salsa which seems to have some heat behind it this year
Where= A small kitchen and one oven...hoping for bigger digs next year
How Much Beer= Todd got this day confused with a beer drinking contest and probably polished off a 12pk by himself....somehow he can make salsa and double-fist Bud Light:)

Will we ever have Baby #2?

I don't know....I have asked myself that question everyday since Kit was born. And, lots of people keep asking now that Kit is 2.
I try to imagine our lives with another baby and I sometimes can't get past the fact that I would have to give-up Spotted Cow again for 10mos. Once in awhile, I do get past the first stopping-point and I wonder how I could become more patient, create more time, pull two more hands out of my ass, grow more money, calm down enough to have another baby, get a job that didn't require me to feel guilty about not working 50-60hrs a week.
Then I get mad at myself because I've only considered myself in the equation. HELLO--There's two other people in the house! Kit would love to have a brother/sister. I'm not so sure about my husband. He says, "maybe when the house is done." I know Hell is on it's way to freezing over at our house, but I don't think it's going to be as cold we think. There's always another project around the corner.
I read an article in which a woman was struggling with the decision of adding Baby #2. She and her partner decided not to grow their family and she wrote a great snippet on how she has come to terms with their decision: "Or perhaps in another lifetime I will meet my other child, the one I won’t be having. Or she will come to me in a dream in this life, and we will live together every night, after I fall asleep. Yes, I say to myself, yes. It isn’t that she doesn’t exist. It is just that she lives on the other side, and I will visit her and love her there."
Whatever happens will be and I'd like to think that I can rationalize it just as she had. Kit is one of the coolest kids I know and I'm glad that we are lucky enough to have her in our lives.

The Quiet Didn't Last that Long

To say the least, Kit is talkative. She does not keep her mouth shut for very long. She has a comment/question for everything. When she isn't talking, she is probably singing with her Dora book. We tried to see how long the tape would stay on....2 seconds:)

First Pumpkin Painting of 2010

Kit & Grandma Wagner got down & dirty on a Saturday morning.

One of the Last Rides of the Year:(

Good times at the "Big" Park