Christmas Recap 2010

Christmas started early for us this year. It began a week before the actual holiday with the Children's Christmas Program at Church. I didn't intend for Madison to participate this year even though I was going to be singing with our new church's Contemporary Worship Team. Maddie hadn't gone to any of the rehearsals until the morning of the day of the program. I had to be there for my practice and I brought her along. The leaders said she could still participate if she wanted. That evening, her lack of rehearsal was evident in that she didn't know any of the songs and just danced around on the stage. Oh well. I hope everyone was entertained.

The next day, we celebrated Christmas with Bryan's parents (and Aunt Marlene). This is also the time when we exchanged our gifts to each other.

On Wednesday we took off early for Michigan to spend Christmas with my family. We stopped in Columbus, OH that evening for dinner with Bryan's Uncle Larry & Aunt Kay then on to the Kushnirs to spend the night. We exchanged gifts with them the next morning then made our way to Michigan in the afternoon.

Maddie had a great time playing with her cousins and also playing in the snow. She even help frost some cookies.

Christmas Eve evening we went to church and then next door to my Grandpa's house for the Cook Family Chirstmas.

Afterwards we got ready for bed and left cookies & milk for Santa.

We awoke the next morning to find the cookies & milk all gone and new presents under the tree! Madison wasn't quite sure what to make of all this.

After opening presents from Santa, Sam, Kristie, & the boys came over and we exchanged gifts from them and from my parents. Maddie is definitely loved. She got so many presents. I can't believe we were able to fit all of them in the car.

We left early the following morning. It had snowed a bit overnight. There wasn't much in terms of accumulation, but the roads were VERY slick. Only a few portions of the highway had been treated. It took us an hour just to get to the state line (which is only about 30 miles away). We saw no less than 30 accidents along our route home. One was just a couple cars in front of us. As Bryan slowed down, even he started to slide. He quickly gained control and all was fine. It was pretty scary, though. The roads & weather finally started to get better as we started heading west into Indiana. By the time we got back to Missouri, the sky was actually clear. But now the sun was starting to set and the temperatures quickly dropped to the teens.

All in all it was a very nice Christmas. I know Maddie greatly enjoyed it - which makes it all worthwhile.

Christmas Cards

I take a lot of pride in designing and making my own homeade Christmas cards every year. But with Christmas sneaking up faster and faster, and with motherhood making my life busier and busier, I just don't have the time to assemble so many cards from scratch. So this year I am turning to Shutterfly. They have so many unique & Modern cards to choose from that I may have a tough time deciding which one to pick. But even though I will be buying my cards, I will still add some personal touches to make them stand out even more.

*Bloggers get 50 free holdiday cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010 *

Halloween 2010

Maddie couldn't make up her mind on her halloween costume this year. So she was a cat Saturday night for Trunk or Treat at church, then a pumpkin (her original choice) on the actual Halloween.

Neglected

Like many others, I've noticed, I've been neglecting my blog in lieu of Facebook. I suppose that now that I can access and update Facebook directly from my phone, it's so much easier to write about all the quick non-important day to day goings on there and leave all the major (and long) updates to Blogger. Also, since more people seem to view Facbook than my blog (including most of the people who read my blog), it's almost a why bother. Plus, there just haven't been that many major life happenings worth writing about. I don't really want to write too many details about the results of our robbery (in either medium) for security reasons. You never know who's looking at it. I suppose I could have written about Madison's 3rd birthday party last month, but I'm still sorting through all the pictures to find the best ones to post.

Of course there are a few things on Facebook that I can't do from my phone and that require me to be in front of our computer at home (which doesn't happen that often). I can't upload photos that weren't taken from my phone, and I can't link my latest blog update to Facebook when I actually DO have one of those long and detailed life events that can't be summed up in a sentence or two. So perhaps my blog isn't dead after all.

So for a personal update, we are nearly complete with our settlement from the insurance company, I think we got our credit stuff resolved (we were finally able to obtain the financing we requested), and we are looking forward to flying up to Michigan this weekend.

PSA

Please note the following Public Service Announcements:

1. "Document all your stuff"
In the event that your belongings are lost (fire) or stolen, it is adviseable to have complete documention in at least one of the following forms to provide to the insurance company
-Model/Serial numbers (also owners manuals & boxes)
-Receipts/credit card statements (if model/serial numbers are not available)
-If the item is a gift or inherited, provide photographs & note any distinct markings
Keep all documentation in a secure place, possibly offsite.

2. "Keep tabs on your credit report"
I know you've seen all the commercials (some jingles are quite catchy). Do not ignore them. Not only to prevent identity fraud, but also to catch any innacurate information. Example - A certain lending institution (name has been removed for security) reported delinquencies in payments that did not exist. These inaccuracies caused our credit score to drop dramatically (in a short amount of time) and prevented us from aquiring a loan from another lending institution.

Thank you for your attention.

These announcements were brought to you by the Helman Institute for Bad Luck - "May our misfortune save you from hardship & frustration."

*update on PSA #2* - The lending institution has been made aware of their error, has sincerely apologized for their mistake, and we are still in the process of rectifying the situation with the credit bureaus and the other lending institution who denied our loan application.

Madison Marie is 3

Robbed

I'm sure most of you know by now from Facebook or word of mouth that our home was robbed on Tuesday. It happened sometime after 12:30 when our realtor was showing the house and 4:45 when Bryan came home. He had seen a couple loose items scattered about the driveway and instantly knew what had happened. We don't think the potential buyer had anything to do with it, especially since he's still interested in buying it. I think it's just a coincidence. From the evidence, it doesn't appear to be anyone who has ever been inside the house, but who's to say they didn't tell their friends. I'm sure we'll never find out.

They took everything electronic - TVs, DVD players (with all our DVDs), computers and all the back-up drives, my digital camera, Bryan's tools, chainsaw, electric weedwacker (left the gas powered one), my jewelry box (with no jewelry of value), my wedding memory box (with Grandma's wedding band inside and other mementos from our wedding such as the our Unity candle, a copy of our invitation, the jewelry I wore, stuff that's only important to me), Bryan's guns, and other misc. items. They definitely knew what to look for and where to look for it. The only room they left alone (except the bathrooms) was Madison's room. They did take one of the TVs and the DVD player that was in there. The room wasn't trashed like the others and they even left her piggy bank. The also left a tiny TV with a built in VCR and left all our VHS tapes.

We spent half the day yesterday cleaning up and trying to figure out all what was stolen. The other half of the day was spent at the bank getting our accounts closed and transferred to new accounts and at our insurance agent's office to pick up the claim forms and figure out all what we need to do.

We have to write down model numbers, serial numbers (if known), when & where the items were purchased, and their approximate value. We also have to provide proof of ownership in the terms of receipts, bank/credit card statements, owner's manuals, boxes, photos, etc.

I'm handling the situation a lot better now. That first day I was completely hysterical. I couldn't think straight. I felt completely sick. I praise God for Madison. She is completely oblivious to the whole situation. Yesterday she just broke out to singing the "Pokie Hokie", and you just can't help but smile and laugh. I actually did start to cry, but it was a good thing. First I was upset at all the pictures I lost that were on the computer. But through various CDs, Shutterfly, the ones I copied for my mother-in-law for Christmas, and pictures I downloaded on my work computer, I think I may have recovered most of them - at least the good & important ones.

Now it's just the tedious part of dealing with the insurance company and the proof of ownership stuff. Who know how quickly we can get everything resolved. Hopefully it won't take too long so we can have some sort of normalcy in our lives.

What A Day!

Phew...
First off, the main highway (and intersection of 3 major highways) is closed because the road collapsed into a sink hole. I'm zig-zagging all over town trying to find the best alternate route because some of the roads I typically would have taken also have construction, lane closures, and detours. They say it won't be fixed until early fall.

Next, I'm driving home, in a severe thunderstorm, and Maddie says, "my nose hurts." I look in my rear view mirror and blood is gushing out of her nose and down her face. I try asking her questions to find out how this happened, but she won't tell me anything useful. I don't know if she hit it somehow or if she stuck her finger (or something else) up a little too far.

Her doctor's office is closed, I don't really want to go the ER, so I try my doctor's office which has urgent care and after 5 hours. Well, I get there, but they don't have a doctor on call that day that is licensed to see children. But there is another urgent care center two buildings away. We walk in, but Bryan has the one insurance card for both of them, and he is in Nebraska for a business trip. I try calling so I can get the numbers, but he doesn't answer, so I have to pay the out of pocket amount. While we were waiting, however, he calls with the numbers and we get the co-pay changed (a savings of $30). But there's another slight issue with the insurance. They have Madison's birthdate as 09/07/07, but that is 1907! She looks really good for 103! Maybe she's a real Benjamin Buttons.

So we finally get to see the doctor and Madison did GREAT! She abliged to all the doctor's tests of checking her temperature and her pulse, and looking up her nose, in her ears, and in her mouth. Well, her nose and tonsils were a little red, so he thinks it's a sinus infection and prescribed an antibiotic.

Next stop - the pharmacy. First they were having troubles with their computers freezing. They get that working and say it will take 15-20 minutes. No problem. We'll sit and wait. 20 minutes goes by. Madison is getting antsy, and hungry, and tired (so am I). They, too, were having trouble because her birthdate was off by 100 years. But they were finally able to get it sorted out and after an hour, we got her antibiotic. Now it is almost 9:00 and we haven't even eaten yet. I drive through the McDonalds accross the street to treat her with chicken nuggets for being such a trooper through all this.

Then, to top it off, someone hacked into my FB account and sent a post about testing the new iPad.

Today is a new day. My commute was a little better. And so far no more bloody noses.

Fireworks Day (Weekend) 2010

We had a really nice holiday weekend. Bryan and I left Thursday afternoon and drove halfway to Aunt Marlene's house in Bloomington, IL. We got to my parents' house Friday afternoon. Maddie was in the middle of her nap when we arrived, but we were so anxious to see her that we had to wake her up (she had been sleeping about an hour and a half already). Friday evening, we went to Greenfield Village to watch the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and fireworks.

It was a gorgeous evening. In fact, it even got a little chilly once the sun started to go down. The kids were really excited about the upcoming fireworks. But poor Madison, she just could not stay awake.

Saturday was mostly spent relaxing. Maddie's cousins were over again and they played together in the kiddie pool. Saturday night we shot off our own fireworks that I had gotten from work and that we bought at our church's fundraiser. I made sure Maddie stayed awake this time and she really enjoyed them.

On our way to Michigan, I had received a Facebook comment from one of Bryan's half sisters saying that they were going to be in Ohio the same weekend. Shortly thereafter, I received another one from Bryan's Aunt Kay saying that BOTH of his sisters were going to be at their house for brunch on Sunday and invited us to join. Columbus is a bit out of our way to travel home, but seeing as Madison and I have never met Bryan's two half-sisters and he hasn't seen them in a very long time, we just HAD to make it. So we left my parents' house Sunday morning to drive down to Columbus.

We had a very nice brunch. I was able to meet Bryan's sisters and their families as well as one of his cousins and their kids, Ben (3) & Bess (1). As you can see from the picture above, Bess also has red hair just like Maddie. We spent the rest of the day visiting with Uncle Larry & Aunt Kay, who we haven't seen since about 2 summers ago. We spent the night at their house then headed back to Missouri Monday morning. Despite all the potty breaks (potty training & long car trips are not easy) we still made it home by 7:30 for a late dinner.