Nothing New

Really isn't much to report here, but thought I post a few pics. Ryan was gone pretty much all of last week and got home late Saturday night. Maggie wanted to have every last inch of his attention yesterday and she pretty well succeeded including one trip to the donut shop and many dance parties. Her new favorite is having a sleep over and Ryan did not disappoint!

And wanted to include this one of Maggie's ballerina moves. She got a beautiful ballerina outfit for her bday (Thanks Grandma Sandy!) and whenever a dancing movie is on, she sports it with her ballerina shoes (Thanks Grandma Hartzler!)

BINGO!

Now that I got my Aunt Donna's attention with the title of the post ...

Maggie got a bingo game from my Mom. We all played last night. The winner got a treat out of the bat bag (IE: leftover Halloween candy. Yes, we still have some. Maggie isn't much on the sweets.)

At one point, Ryan asked if this round was a cover all. Definitely made me smile and reminded me of the time my brother-in-law Jonathan went to play bingo with all of us and Aunt Donna. He yelled out bingo and everyone looked at him. He had no idea that it was a cover all and all he had was a traditional bingo. You should have seen the death looks he was getting! Those legion players are serious about their bingo!

Mom also sent Maggie a Valentine mailbox.

Now if she can just get some Valentines to go in it!

Fun Weekend

Friday night we watched our neighbors' kids, Jack and Beau. Maggie and Jack had a blast. While Ryan and I were in the kitchen I looked in the dining room to see Maggie all dressed up and Jack combing her hair. Pretty cute.

Then they worked on these adorable caterpillar crafts. Shocker that Maggie's was covered in all purple!

Saturday night Ryan showed us his moves on Just Dance 3. I love my husband!

We Made the Charts!

Maggie had her 3-year check up today. I'm happy to say she is on the charts folks. Albeit in the 12-ish percentile, but still on the charts!

Weight - 27 pounds
Height - 3 feet tall

Here is a picture from the other day when she wanted to sport her IU cheerleading outfit to Target.

And the most recent craft ... a coffee-grind bear. Few explanations. 1) The misshapen bear is because I stink at drawing and 2) The "smile" on the bear is a Maggie original!

Craft Central

Maggie has really been into crafts recently. It started a bit before Christmas when I bought some foam stickers and has continued ever since.

Her and Ryan made some beautiful sticker creations the other night ...

Over the weekend I checked out some craft books from the library and found some great ideas. I haven't tried most of them yet, but I did make the homemade play dough (which I had heard about before). The process was pretty simple. Make some dough ...

Add food coloring ...

And play!

Maggie Loves Her Cousins

Today on our way home from the Children's Museum Maggie asked if we could go see Abe and Addie. I told her that it was too far away and she said we could drive there. I then told her they live over a huge ocean and we can't drive there. After thinking about it she said maybe we could take a boat there. If only it were that easy Mags.

In honor of Abe and his love of Transformers, we took this picture at the museum today ...

One more story of Maggie and her cousins. She came in with her toy cell phone the other day and told me, "I can't believe it. Kate/Lucy texted me and they want to come to my house!"

I'm so thankful she loves her cousins so much!

Still good after all these years ...

When my parents came last weekend they brought a doll house that my sisters and I used to play with back in the day. I attempted to clean it up a bit and Ryan and I may do some painting and updating of the rooms (they are all about circa 1980), but it has been fun to watch Maggie play with something I remember from childhood.

Here are her and Jack enjoying the house ...

Almost Finished

As promised (to all my faithful blog followers!) here are some before/after pictures of our room switching.

Our old guest bedroom ...

Which has become Maggie's new room. We still have a few things left to do (picture some kind of "m" above her bed and a few more pictures on the wall) ...

Her old room ...

And the new office (still need to hang the picture up and reorganize a bit!) ...

I don't think I have a before picture of our IU room downstairs. It used to have a couch, chair, etc. All that has been moved out to accomodate our new guest bedroom. I really hope our guests like to either workout (with the nice treadmill!) or cheer on the Hoosiers!

New Year's Resolution and Pinterest

I don't typically get into New Year's Resolutions. However, this year I had one ... to make seasonal wreaths for our front door. Side note: Ryan thought this was a silly resolution, but I thought it was not only attainable, but also a good goal for me since I NEVER make wreaths ... or really any craft that isn't for toddlers.

Rewind to last fall, when I heard a lot about Pinterest. If you aren't familiar, it is a site where you can look for ideas ranging from birthday party favors to recipes to do it yourself projects. I had registered for a user name awhile back but hadn't really gotten online to look around. (And let me warn you, it does take some time to play around on that site. I still don't think I understand it 100%!)

I thought my resolution and this website were a match made in heaven. So, a few days ago I searched for "seasonal home wreaths" and after going through several links I stumbled across this woman's idea for yarn wreaths. It seemed easy, so Friday night I went to Michaels with my 40% off coupon in hand and got all the materials for about $20 - including a glue gun which I did not formerly own.

By Saturday night, I had this to show ... my very own winter/Valentine's Day wreath that will proudly hang from our door as soon as I get a wreath hanger!


I see many of these in my future. Pretty cheap, really cute and SO many options!

Here's to you 2012 and my resolution!

Grandma and Grandpa Hartzler

Since my parents have been gallivanting across the globe for the last month, we didn't get to see them for Christmas. They drove over to spend the day in Indy. It was so fun to see them, catch up and compare pictures of our Malaysian trips! :)

Thanks for making the trip Mom/Dad ... wonderful as always to see you!

Random Fun

Maggie sporting her IU warmup outfit the other night ...

Then, cheering Dad on while he played our new video game ...

And some good old fun at the Children's Museum today ...

Y-Town

Ryan, Maggie and I headed out to the *beautiful* town of Youngstown, Ohio to celebrate New Year's with my sister and her family.

We tried to have a sleepover for the three youngest ... didn't work out so well! Maybe next time ...

We have a few ballerina performances that were choreographed wonderfully by Ella ...

And just overall had fun ...

I'm so thankful that at least one of my sisters lives within driving distance. Albeit, a horrendous six hour drive, but still driving distance. Glad we got to ring in the new year with them!

PS - Lest you think three years old is better than two, here is a peek into the tantrums we get to live with these days ...