Happy Easter!!

Hope you all have a Blessed Easter!

I know that this is a little early but we are going to be gone over Easter and I won't be able to post this so I am doing it early!

I know I know...

I have been really bad at blogging lately. I swear I will be better! I guess that the easiest thing to say it I have been adjusting to our new life in this new city.

Here are some of the highlights from the last few months.

Pumpkin patch
















Halloween- Nora was Sleeping Beauty and Zie was Ariel

















Nora was Mrs. Claus in her school Christmas play















We had a fantastic Christmas!















We saw Disney on Ice! Nora was in heaven!















My niece Grace was born on New Years Eve! Nora thinks she is great!















Nora found a new career as a model. Watch out world- here is America's Next Top Model!




















So in a nutshell- those are the highlights of our lives the last few months. See you really did not miss much at all!

OK OK!!! Confession time!
The real reason I have been absent from blogging for so long............
















I was bitten and have been reading and rereading! I have also been watching the movie- too many times to count and listening to the music insistently! Didn't my playlist give me away?I can't help it- I am a total addict!

Anyhoo- that is your update and I really will be more faithful about keeping up.

Pioneer days

At school this month, Nora's class is doing Pioneer Days. They are making little covered wagons, having a Feast Day and dressing like pioneers among lots of other stuff. Today, she was supposed to dress like a pioneer. I got the outfit from my aunt. She was really excited and I thought she looked pretty cute. I braided her hair which was a really experience. Braiding curly hair- that is fun! But in the end, it worked out and I think she looks like she should be in a log cabin or running in a big field!

Fair Fun!

Yup- still catching up on my blogging! Sorry!
This is from our fun trip to Cape for the day when the SEMO District Fair was happening. This is an annual event in Cape. It is a big deal and I love going. I did not get to go many years while we lived in Kirksville but I went every year until we moved there. It was fun to take Nora and watch her in the same environment that I was in. Oh- lots of memories from the Fair!
Anyway, she of course had a blast. She has her group of me, my mom, my dad, two of my aunts, and my cousin all there just to watch her ride some rides. She also got Cotton Candy out of the deal as well as riding as many rides as she wanted because my parents bought her the bracelet that allowed for unlimited rides. Funny- I don't remember getting that bracelet!
We also feed the animals but that did not go over well with my little girlie who hates to have her hands dirty- much less licked by some animal. It was quite funny though!
Her favorite ride by far was the caterpillar roller coaster. She rode that thing 9 times that night. She just kept asking to ride it. She made a little friend on it and they had to ride it together every time. I would never have thought that she would have loved it so much.
We had tons of fun and ate lots of yummy food. What else do you do at the fair!

PBS Fun!!

A couple of months ago, September to be exact, we went to Arthur's Picnic in the Park with some friends. We were there for about 4 hours and the following pictures are the general idea of what we did the entire time. There were some bounce houses too but the lines were so long for them as well that the kids only got to do one house. Really most of the time standing in line to see the many PBS characters that Nora loves. Here are the pictures that I have been trying to post from that trip.


Curious George




Clifford




Wyatt from Super Why





Maya and Miguel




Arthur



We had lots of fun, despite the long lines and will do it again next year if they have it again. Best part- it was free!!

Goodbye Grandma

Today is a sad day for me because my grandma died this morning. It is a very mixed emotions sort of day. I love my grandmother. She was an amazing person who raised 6 kids, lived on a farm, was a devoted Catholic and was a wonderful example of giving and loving. The weekend we moved to Kirksville, over 4 years ago, she fell and was put in to the nursing home. She went home briefly (for a week or two, fell again and then was back in the nursing home again. She has been there ever since. That is where she died this morning with her kids around her.
I never realized how much she changed after that first fall. She slowly slipped away and then the the last year has been really tough for all of us. I know that she is in a much better place now. She is reunited with all her family that had gone on before her. The thought that brings me the most peace is that she is with my grandpa again. My Grandpa Hahn died before my mom and dad were married. My grandmother raised the kids by herself after he died and kept the farm running which is still in our family. I love the idea of Grandma and Grandpa being together again after so many years apart.
Above is one of my very favorite pictures that I have of my grandma with Nora. She thought that Nora was wonderful as were her other 7 other great grandchildren. She loved kids and loved her family. I will always considered myself lucky to have been blessed with such a wonderful grandma.

My Little Catholic Girl!

Nora started her new preschool today at out church, St. Joseph. We had her in the public preschool in our area but I was not happy with some aspects of it so we switched her. She is now going 3 days a week instead of 2 and will have gym, Spanish class, Music class, Religion class and many other fun classes as well. She was so excited to get up and going this morning. She could not wait to go and to wear her new uniform. One of the little girls in her class lives two houses up from us so that was even more exciting for her. She looked so grown up walking into school this morning. I dropped her off at the door, her teacher got her out and she was off- no kiss or anything! She is so big and grown up. I am so proud of the independent child she has become. Isn't that uniform the cutest thing you have seen? We go the smallest one possible and it still swallows her. She loved it though and says that she will only wear the dress and not the pants ever. We will see about that.