It's A Wrap!

As 2011 comes to a close, I can't help but reflect on the AH-MAY-ZING year it's been! Here's how it all went down...

January: I spent my 29th birthday in Chicago with my brothers! Their friend Andrea was kind enough to watch my kiddies, so that the guys and I could go downtown to Kinzie Chophouse for dinner. Dinner was delicious and it was SO nice to spend time with A and G for the night! It was BY FAR, the best birthday I've ever had! My brothers are so amazing!!!

February: I took a major self-inventory and realized that the way I was living was... hard...because I was MAKING it hard. I learned to finally put into practice the simple steps that I'd heard for so long. Learning (and living) to take things "one day at a time" really helped me take a step back from trying to control life, stay calm, and just turn things over to God. Although it's still something I have to remind myself of daily, it has helped me to enjoy things more. I've learned to try to accept things (and people) for what they are, not question "why", and just "do me"....these are things I obviously still struggle with, but for the most part I can honestly say I have taken a step back and just let things BE.

March: When our boss told us that we'd be getting a new traveling admissions rep for awhile, our entire staff whined that our "normal" guy, Cliff, wouldn't be coming. We didn't want this new guy. Ugh. Who knew that this boy would turn my world so completely upside down! I remember when JM walked into our campus for the first time. I barely looked up from my computer to welcome him. He quickly walked by my office and into his own, and I don't really remember talking to him the first two days that he was here. Finally, we made small talk and QUICKLY became inseparable. The week my kids were in MN with their dad, JM and I spent four out of the five days together, learning as much as we could about each other.

April: JM and I continued building our relationship, though from afar, as he was working between here and Michigan for a majority of the month. We went out as much as we could, (thank you Mom for helping with the kids SO much!), but most of our dates were via phone late at night once he got off work!
My cousin Megan and I took our two older girls to Disney Princess on Ice! They loved it! It's so much fun having kids the same age!

Chloe and Lilly at Disney on Ice

May: The first weekend this month, Megan and I ran our very first 5K in Chicago! Although it's not much to most people, the 3.something mile race was a huge accomplishment to us! We "trained" for a couple months, and were VERY proud of ourselves for finishing!

Megan, Me, Gary, Manny, and Andrea..post race pic! 

Also this month, we celebrated Lilly's 5th birthday by throwing a big polka-dot party! It was so much fun to have friends and family here to celebrate with us! Aaron was able to come in from MN to be here with Lills too! It was just a GREAT party for our little lady!

Happy Birthday Lilly! 

June: My dear friend Shannon welcomed her first daughter, baby Kinslee! Yay!
Earlier in the month, Megan and I joined my brothers and their friends in Indy for the wine festival. FUN!!! Although it was SUPER hot, we had SO much fun together! I can't wait to go again next year!!
I spent a majority of the early months of summer outside in the sun, with the kiddies...just enjoying life!

July: The kids, JM, and I spent July 4th in Wabash with Megan, and her girls! It was very low-key, and so much fun!
Late in the month, the kids went to MN for another week! I took the time to spend a night in Michigan with JM for the first time. I met his immediate family and LOVED them! The next weekend, I took a weekend trip with Megan, to St.Joe, MI and then onto Chicago. Megan and I took full advantage of being kidless, by sipping on Shandy for a majority of the weekend! FUN!

Me and Meg, at A&G's place in Chicago

August: And so began the rest of her life! My little Lilly started kindergarten this month! We had a lot of things leading up to her first day, including kindergarten registration, kindergarten kick-off, and a quick meet and greet with her teacher. Finally the big day was here. Lilly's. First. Day. Of. School. OH MY GOODNESS! I can't believe she is old enough to start school...REAL SCHOOL! Although it was (VERY) hard leaving her in the classroom on that first day, I knew she was in good hands, and I knew she'd be just fine. She made it through her first day (and months) just fine!

September: What a month! I met JM's extended family at a Labor Day cookout. They were amazing, of course. Then the next weekend, JM met my brothers for the first time! He was a hit! They loved him! JM and I took our first major roadtrip together! We went to Cleveland for a wedding. It was nice to meet JM's friends for the first time!
JM and I joined some friends for a country music festival in downtown FTW. It was FUN to spend the evening with friends, family, and good music!

Josh, Amanda, me, and JM

October: I took the kids to JM's house in MI for the first time. We spent the day in GR for Pulaski Days (eeeeh!).
I interviewed for (and didn't get) a new position at work.
The kids and I went to FL with my mom and brothers for a quick little weekend vacation! We flew in on a Friday morning, spent the day shopping in Orlando, and woke up the next day to go to Sea World. It was SO much fun! The kids LOVED Sea World, and it was the PERFECT trip!

November: We ventured to Chicago for Thanksgiving! It was great having JM celebrate with us this year! We had our first (and only) snow of the season. Thankfully it was over as quickly as it started! The snow melted after a couple days!

Uncle Adam and Lills

December: Still no snow (knock on wood). It's been the most PERFECT "winter" so far! One day of snow, temperatures in the 40's, and a GREEN Christmas! Woot woot!
It was our first Christmas with JM. He spoiled me like CRRRRAZY (I thoroughly enjoyed it!)!
Anderson turned FOUR this month!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe he's already FOUR! He keeps telling us that "four year olds are so much nicer than three year olds!" We'll see!!! JM and I took Anderson to his first hockey game for his birthday! He LOVED it!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to get another year started! I'm so excited to see what 2012 has in store!!!!!!!!

Eh, Why Not?!

Having a couple days off work inspires me...to sit on the couch and mess around with the look of my blog!

Yesterday, JM and I both had the day off. We took the kids to daycare (don't judge my parenting!) and used the "free time" to return a few Christmas gifts, use up our gift cards, and just enjoy each other's time! It was nice to spend a weekday together, without babies. Last night, we took Anderson to his first hockey game! HE. LOVED. IT! We all three had so much fun! (Pictures to come, I promise!)
Today is another relaxing day! Kids are at daycare, JM and I are about to head to a movie (or first movie together in nine months!), and it's after noon and I'm still in my jammies. I'm taking FULL advantage of this long holiday weekend!

Passing It On

My cousin Megan and I were the BEST of friends when we were younger. We would lie and tell people that we were twins! It was so much fun! A couple weeks ago, we took a night for "us" and watched (for the millionth time) our favorite movie, Beaches. I think I already blogged about that! Anyway, Megan and I have kids the same ages. It's been fun to see our kids grow into friends too!
One of my favorite memories from my childhood, was spending holidays with my cousins at Grandma Hahn's house. We were a family of traditions. We met at the same time, every holiday. The kids did the same activities every year! We would go bowling after Thanksgiving or Christmas (and it almost always resulted in a big argument). But we always had fun together! Each family's kids were similar in age, so it was nice to have specific cousins in the same age group. For me, it was Eric and Megan. We always had fun!

It's been fun to see my kids and my cousins' kids "pair off" again! Lilly and Chloe are good buddies (although Lilly LOVES little Eli too!). And Anderson seems to do whatever precious Ava is doing! It's so cute! This year at Christmas, it was fun to see ALL six kids play together! Here's a picture I was able to snap (this NEVER happens so easily!)!!!

Noah and Eli (Aaron and Sarah's kids); Lilly (mine!); Chloe and Ava (Megan's kids); and Anderson (mine!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY MANO!

Today is my precious baby's birthday! Here are just a couple pictures from his birthday party yesterday! I'll take the time this week to catch up on the past few days!

Such a happy birthday boy!

Uncle G and Anderson

Our Christmas Letter

Wow! I cannot believe 2011 is already coming to an end! There have been a lot of exciting changes that have gone on this year. So, in case you've missed out on anything that's happened this year, here's what we've been up to!

Lilly started kindergarten this year! Although it was rough on us all (okay, me!), Lilly seems to have adjusted well and has only had a couple minor transitional issues. (Who knew it was bad manners to stand on your head at circle time?!) She rides the bus this year, which is a pretty big deal too! I see changes in her daily, and it's still so hard to believe that my little girl is in kindergarten! Lilly is also in ballet and tap! She takes class once a week, for forty-five minutes. She has a lot of fun and seems to really enjoy it! I cannot wait until her recital in the spring! (Stay tuned for pictures!)

Anderson is still at preschool all day. He loves it! He has developed quite the personality, and is such a silly boy! Anderson took tennis lessons this past summer. Fort Wayne has a parks and rec summer program, which includes a five-week tennis class. Although his class was earrrrly on Saturday mornings, he enjoyed the lessons and I think he'll probably want to do it again next summer! Watching him grow into a little man absolutely warms my heart. It's hard to believe he'll be four at the end of this month!

I'm still working for the same company in Fort Wayne. I have made amazing friendships with my co-workers, and I feel so lucky to love my job as much as I do! For those who don't already know, I bought a house last year (July 2010). I love being a homeowner and it's been very exciting making changes to the house! I can't believe we've already had our house for over a year now! 

The kids spent a few weeks in Minnesota over the course of the past year. They have fun spending time with their dad, and I love that they're still able to see him, even with him being so far away. Although I dread their time away from me, it IS nice to have a break every once in awhile! The kids and I went to Florida a couple months ago for a quick weekend getaway! We spent a day at Sea World, and the kids absolutely loved it! It was a perfect, quick trip! In addition to these trips, we also spent some time in Chicago with my brothers! I look forward to taking more family trips next year (starting with a cruise in February with my brother, to celebrate my 30th birthday!!!!)

I look forward to starting 2012 with as much enthusiasm, and hope for another amazing year! 

Butterflies

Lately certain things have given me that butterfly feeling...ya know, the feeling like you could just jump up and down because your heart feels so full of love and excitement! I thought I'd make a list of things that give me butterflies!

• seeing JM's handwriting on forms at work. (we work for the same company)
• hearing Anderson crawl into bed with me in the morning and feeling his little hand on my shoulder
• hearing songs that make me think of my grandma
• waking up and seeing JM's love letters to me
• the pictures on my desk of my kids
• thinking of my little Lilly...doing anything. Oh I just love her to pieces!
• getting a vm from JM, and hearing him call me "baby girl!"
• receiving a text from an old friend
• thinking about Christmas morning!

She takes my breath away

I've had this picture saved in my inbox since August of 2008. On days like today, I open it up for a little reminder that someone very special in heaven is watching over me. It helps to calm my mind and settle my nerves. Knowing that I'm not going through life alone, that I have someone very special helping me through each day, makes my heart happy.

In my free time...

With Aaron being here these past few days, I've realized that with the help of another parent, it frees up a lot of my time! I haven't made dinner in five days. I have managed to squeeze in a haircut, a manicure, and have tanned more than once in the past week. Last night, I even got home after 6:30pm. OH. MY. GOSH!! Although I've enjoyed my free time, I feel like I haven't really spent quality time with the kids-- since when I am home with them, they're either on their new DS's or they're climbing all over their dad. I have missed reading to them at the end of the day, I've missed bathtime, jammie time, and even bedtime. Daddy has put them to bed the past two nights and it kinda makes me sad! As much as I've enjoyed the mini-break from reality, I miss our normal routine and I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Aaron will be gone in less than four hours, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have my kids back to myself!!!!

Lesson Learned

"When the past calls, let it go to voice-mail. It has nothing new to say."

So, I mentioned earlier this week that Aaron is home to spend some time with the kids for the holidays. Although every one many of my friends wondered WHY I was being so generous to Aaron by paying for a room for him and the kids (JM "donated" his hotel points) at a hotel one night so the kids could swim, letting him stay at my house one night (while I stayed in Wabash with my cousin), and letting him hang out with the kids at my house while I was at work for two days, the bottom line was that I was willing to do anything to  keep my kids in FTW over the holidays versus them traveling to MN for a week. With the winter weather, I wasn't willing to risk them driving across country for a week, just to celebrate Christmas with their dad. It made more sense for him to hunker down here in FTW for a few days instead.

While I appreciate the fact that Aaron agreed to celebrate in FTW, I can't help but regret my decision to be so generous to him. He has taken advantage of my gratuity, for the millionth time. I came home today to find my Christmas tree still aglow (middle of the day), my space heater running on full-blast, my kitchen lights on, the television blaring, and my dryer full of HIS clothes. SERIOUSLY? Aaron and I haven't been a couple for the past two years or more. He doesn't have the "right" to just leave my house in shambles and more importantly, to do laundry with MY soaps, without my permission. I've been more than generous by opening up MY home to him.

The bottom line is that I did what I did this year, for my kids. I wanted them to be able to spend time with their dad over the holidays, but I wanted them HERE. I guess this is what they mean when they say "you do what you have to do for your children." Things don't always work out perfectly, but as long as I can keep as much normalcy for my kids during the next couple days, I've done what I've needed to do.

Prayers please.

Christmas with Daddy!

I'm so excited for my kids this weekend! Aaron gets to town later today, and he and the kids will spend tonight in a hotel (with a pool of course!)! Tomorrow morning they'll come back home and open their gifts from Aaron! They are under the impression that Santa stops in Minnesota first because it's closer to the North Pole (sure!)!  So, since Santa already stopped at Daddy's house, we're going to celebrate Christmas with Daddy Saturday morning! I'm excited for the kids, mostly because Aaron got them exactly what they wanted (of course), but also because I'm glad that Aaron has never missed out on a Christmas with them. Even if they have to celebrate it on a different day, it still means a lot to me that they have their own Christmas with their Dad.
Stay tuned for pictures.

The rest of the weekend, the kids will hang out with Aaron, while I go to Wabash to spend some quality time with my cousin Megan! Her kids are also going to be gone, so we plan to go get manicures, maybe get some pizza and wine, and watch our ALL TIME favorite movie, Beaches! We used to watch that movie three times a day when we were younger! I cannot wait!!!

A Wise Girl Once Told Me...

I was dealing with a lot of heavy "stuff" on Monday. Things were weighing heavy on my heart and making my mind swirl. Before I picked up the kids that afternoon, I just lost it. I sat in a parking lot, just sobbing my heart out on the phone to JM, (bless his heart for not freaking out and running the opposite way!). It wasn't pretty, let me just say that! Anyway, by the time I picked up the kids from school, my eyes were puffy and red, and I looked a mess! I tried to pull myself together, but Lilly asked what was wrong with my eyes. Ugh, bad parenting...never let your kids see you upset.

When we got to the car, Lilly asked what was wrong. She was very concerned. My only answer to her was "sometimes people just say mean things and it hurts Mama's feelings." Lilly's response: "Mom, you just need to walk away and not bite their hook." What? I asked her what that meant. She explained that when people are mean to you, you just need to plug your ears and walk away. She said that sometimes people just say mean things to trap you. They want you to cry. She said "as long as you don't bite their hook, you can't get hurt." Wow. My five year old just said one of the most profound things I had ever heard (seriously!)!

It's true. We sometimes set ourself up for disappointment by letting people hook us. We take the bait and end up getting hurt, for no reason. If we had just walked away and carried on with life as usual, maybe we wouldn't have ended up crying in a parking lot somewhere. My plan for the future-- walk away and don't bite their hook. (Thanks Lills!)

Keep It Happy!

So I totally was "that" facebooker the past few days. Sunday night I posted about my struggles with Aaron. I did the vague, "...and just when I think I've heard it all, he comes and shocks me with another one. I truly thought, in the past six years, I had heard it all from him. Wow." Although my close friends and family knew who/what I was referring to, I still took it "there" and it was just unnecessary. Then last night I posted something about being exhausted with having to be the positive voice in a crowd of so much negativity. Again, it was one of those "tell just enough to make people ask questions" type of posts. It's tacky, and I apologize to my fb friends who also read my blog!

But here's the deal. I LOVE my life. I LOVE my job. I am HAPPY with where I am in life. But, there are bad days and there are issues that come up that make me question everything (and post a bogus fb status or two!). And sometimes I just get tired of having to be the team's cheerleader. Sometimes I just want to blubber to my boyfriend about the crappy day I had. Sometimes I just want to be mad at the world for...everything. I really feel stressed about having to keep everyone else happy. I am tired of hearing about EVERYONE'S crap. BUT.....

In posting my pathetic fb status, my bff Brandon's step-mom wrote: "'Let no one encounter you without your parting gift of encouragement and hope.' I know how hard it is to remain positive in a negative world; but let me encourage you to LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BRIGHTLY! William James said 'Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.' You are always planting seeds with your words of encouragement! Be blessed my friend!"

So yes, sometimes it's tacky-magacky (yes, you can use that word) to post garbage on facebook, but sometimes you just need that encouragement from someone. For me, it was Karen, reminding me to keep on shining and keep on keeping on. Because regardless of how exhausting it may be to ME to cheer people up or keep people happy, it must be a lot more exhausting to have such a negative outlook on so many things in life.

Nana time!

The kids and I had a very relaxing weekend! Friday evening we picked up pizzas on the way home from work/school and watched a movie cuddled up on the couch together. As much as I LOVE having JM here, sometimes it's nice to get alone time with the kids! 

Saturday morning, my mom came to town. She promised the kids that they could  help her decorate her Christmas cookies this year, so she brought all her cookies to our house and let the kids go crazy on them! The kids LOVED it and had so much fun with Nana! We discovered that Anderson has a knack for decorating cookies....Lilly, not so much! 

Making the icing!

Putting on the sprinkles!

Stay In Touch!

I took a huge leap of faith this year by putting my blog address on our family Christmas cards. My blog has somewhat switched from an online journal of my own life, to a way of keeping family and friends informed about what is going on with the kids and me. There are so many hilarious stories about the kids that it would be a shame to not share them! I think every parent, at some point, has said that they should write a book about the silly and crazy things their kids say or do. Well, my blog is my way of "writing that book" about my kids! I hope you all enjoy keeping in touch with us and I'll be posting a "Christmas letter" closer to the big day. Although my blog has detailed many of the exciting events and changes over the past year, a year-end recap will be nice for all our new readers and followers!

A Natural!

Last night was Anderson's Holiday Program...and it was all that a kids' Christmas program could hope to be! He was adorable and did a fabulous job on stage! He's a natural!

At home before the program

Cody Coyote!

Finally, after nearly a month of being sent home with less-than-perfect behavior charts, my little Lilly had a great day at school yesterday and was awarded for it with Cody Coyote! Apparently, the "good kids" (as Lilly has termed it) get to spend time with Cody Coyote during the day (according to Lilly, it's a small stuffed animal that stays in the classroom until the end of each week when it is then sent home with a child with the best behavior, for the weekend). I know Lilly isn't a bad girl, she just struggles with listening and following directions, and is easily influenced. We're working on this, and I know yesterday is the start to better days for Lills! GOOO LILLY!!!

He's lucky he can't write!

My children have had trouble lately remembering that crayons and pens are for coloring on paper and not on household items. I was always one of those parents who said "my kids would NE-VER write on walls or furniture." (Of course I was also that parent who said my kids would NEVER cut each other's hair, but that happened a couple years ago too.) Well, imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw the word "happy" engraved into a piece of furniture.

Immediately I questioned Lilly about it and of course she blamed her three year old brother. Anderson's response: "It wasn't ME, I can't even write letters!" (I giggled to myself!) Kid has a point!!!

**Lilly was punished appropriately (calling her uncle (who had given the table to us) to apologize, cleaning the baseboards in the entire downstairs on her hands and knees, and an early bedtime) and that was the end of the conversation. The word remains uncovered on the table, which sits at the bottom of our strairs, and serves as a constant reminder everyday to be "happy." (Thanks Lills!)

What's In a Name?

I always get so excited when the list of the 100 most popular baby names comes out each year! It takes me back to the time when I was choosing names for my own kids, and praying that my favorite choices weren't near the top of the list of popular names. I had a rule when I was picking names, that it couldn't be anything with a strange spelling, it couldn't be a name that any of my friends' kids already had, it couldn't be shortened and it couldn't be in the list of most popular baby names for that year. Well, I clearly broke that rule for Lilly, as she was #14 in 2006 (even though the spelling was different). And I sometimes catch myself calling Anderson Andy. Although I'm proud to say that Anderson's name is still not on the list, four years later!
I remember writing out different names that we liked...Ella, Lilly, Harper (yes Katie, I know you still laugh at that one!), Brody, Oliver (Mom's favorite), Reid, and Anderson. With Lilly, I would practicee writing different names, until finally I got butterflies when I wrote Lilly Jane. Lilly is a family name (Lillian, actually) on my Mom's side, and Jane pays tribute to my dad's mom, and of course my mom. Anderson's name took us a little longer to decide upon (and to this day, there are people who openly dislike his name, RUDE!). Mom wanted us to name him Oliver, but it reminded me of a dog. Aaron liked Brody Aaron, but I was afraid Brody was too trendy because of Brody Jenner (hello hotness!). I openly have a weird infatuation with Anderson Cooper, and I use to say that if I ever had a boy, I'd name him after Andy Coop.

I'm pretty sure I had the final say in naming both of my kids. I know Aaron really liked Ella better for Lilly, and I'm sure he would have rather had Anderson's middle name be tied more closely to him, but...! I ended up giving in and letting Aaron name Anderson's middle name Lee, after both Aaron and Aaron's dad who passed away twelve years before Anderson was born.

I wonder now, what's in a name? I picture Lilly to be a carefree-fun-loving girl. I imagine some creative career for her...something without much structure or boundaries or limitations. I see Anderson as a strong, conservative, businessman with a rigid schedule and overwhelmingly high standards and expectations. I guess we'll see, huh?!

We're getting closer!!!!

It's finally December! Only 24 more days until Christmas! Last weekend we put up our tree and a few decorations around the house! And just yesterday we put our first presents under the tree. With JM back in town, I had been hiding his gifts in Lilly's closet! Finally Lilly and I just decided to wrap them and put them under the tree to be totally sure JM wouldn't see them! (Lilly was verrrry worried that he might!) I CANNOT WAIT to spend this Christmas with my kids and the love of my life. It's going to be the happiest Christmas EVER!





"You can call me Mom"

I was laying in bed this morning, listening to my son scream "moooooommmmm" from his bed. He apparently was awake, but too lazy sleepy to walk into my room across the hall! I heard Lilly dart in to save him, pretending to be his Mommy. It went like this:

Lilly: Oh bubby, what's wrong hunny?
Anderson: I want brekafus. (breakfast)
Lilly: Hunny, it's not time for breakfast. It's still night time. (because it's still dark, der!)
Anderson: Okay mommy.
Lilly: You can call me mom.
Anderson: Okay mom.
Me: HEY! I'm the mom! You can call ME mom!
Both kids laugh hysterically, and proceed to call each other mom for the next ten minutes.

I remember when I was younger (hehe!) I used to diiiiiiie at the idea of being called "mom"! I never pictured myself with a kid on my hip, let alone TWO! Now I wanna flick my kids if they call EACH OTHER mom! That's MY name!!!!!!!

Lilly, Mama, and Anderson @ Thanksgiving in Chicago!

It's HEEEEEEEERE!

Winter is here. Boo. It has been raining for two days straight now. My road is flooded (literally). And now the rain is turning to sleet, which is said to turn to snow later tonight. We are projected to get up to five inches through the night and early tomorrow morning. I'm HOPING that this is just Fort Wayne's meteorologists at their finest and we'll wake up tomorrow to birds chirping and the sun shining! Prayers please?

Pic

Weekend of Thanks!

Well, the first of the holiday season is over! Thursday, as I already mentioned, was spent in Wabash at my aunt's house. Friday, it was just me and my boys (JM and Andy). Anderson and I hung out and watched a movie, while JM hung Christmas lights on the house! Then, the three of us went to dinner. It was SO nice to just spend time with the boys, although we all missed Lilly dearly!

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to my brother's house in Chicago. It was a fun little roadtrip! Lilly and Anderson were so excited to be reunited (it had been one whole day, afterall!). It was a fun day, spent with the perfect family! I always love our visits!

Yesterday the kids, JM, and I got home in the early afternoon, only to relax for the rest of the day! We put up our Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations, ordered pizzas (of course!), and just spent the day together. It was the perfect ending to a perfect Thanksgiving weekend!

I Cherish The Time

After the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday, my mom decided to keep Lilly until we all met up again in Chicago for Thanksgiving part deux, on Saturday. Of course I jumped on the chance to be down one kid (hey, everyone needs a break sometimes!), and so Anderson and I were on our way back home, without Lilly. Anderson was missing his sissy before we even got out of Wabash, but I assured him we would do something fun that night. Well, after his coughing progressed to "ew" status, we ended up stopping at Walgreens for some cough medicine and then making our way home to get on warm jammies.
After dinner, Anderson and I cozied up on the couch and watched a movie. I couldn't tell you the last time Anderson sat (still) with me for more than a few minutes. I mean, he is almost FOUR, afterall! But he actually sat on my lap, cuddled up with a blanket, and watched an hour of the movie, before he asked to go to bed (told ya he wasn't feeling well!).
I truly cherish the alone time with each of my kids. It's rare, but when it happens, I just eat it up. They are both SO different. Where Anderson is content sitting at home with a movie and leftovers, Lilly would rather be out and about (pedicure and dinner, for example!). They are such beautiful little blessings, I wouldn't change a thing about either of them.
Thanks mom, for giving me the chance to do this. I love you so much and I know Lilly loves the time with her Nana too! 

Happy Thanksgiving

At the risk of being predictable, I thought it'd be nice to take today and write about what I'm thankful for...

• My perfect-to-me babies. I wouldn't be where I am today without them. They are my world and I will spend my whole life loving them unconditionally and making sure they are taken care of. 
• My family. Without their support, I'd be lost. They have been my rock, my soft place to land, my sounding board, and my sanity. I have the best family in the world!
• My job. I have met the most amazing people through my job. I love what I do, and I love the people I work with. My job was the first step to becoming the independent person I am today. 
• My friends. I have learned over the years who to trust, who I can count on, and who to listen to. I have weeded out the toxic relationships in my life, and those who remain are TRUE friends. I am forever grateful to those trustworthy, honest friendships in my life. 
• My boyfriend. He is the most incredibly patient, understanding, forgiving,nurturing, loving man I've ever met. His optimism is inspiring, his good mood contagious. I love loving him. 

It has been an awesome year and I'm so excited to kick off the holiday season today with family! 

SURPRISE!

I hate surprises. Plain and simple. I love gifts, der, but I HATE to be surprised! This causes a little trouble at Christmas time. All I want to do is tell everyone what I bought them BEFORE Christmas! I am like a child. I cannot keep secrets about gifts! It's torturing me to wait until Christmas to find out what other people are getting! It's not even that I want to know what I got (although I'm very excited for that too, of course!)! I just get so anxious! I've been begging JM to let us do our Christmas this weekend, but he's not going for it (Scrooge), so if I spill the beans and tell him what I got him, sometime within the next month, it's not my fault!

The Face God Gave Me is Flawed!

I don't care what people say, there's nothing wrong with getting a little work done! In a news-worthy story earlier this week, it was reported that Kate Gosseling may or may not have had a little work done. And? I say anyone who had eight children is MORE than entitled to get a tummy tuck, boob job, and whatever else she wants!
Earlier this year I went under the knife (shocked?!). For me, it was more a self-esteem issue rather than wanting to look better for other people. As a single gal, not even thirty years old, and a mother of two, I really just wanted to "reward" myself. It's something that I always wanted, especially after having my kids. Things change after having a baby-- NO MATTER how hard you work at keeping your body up to par (which I attempted to do)!!! It's inevitable! I don't regret anything that I did to my body, and after the improvement, I'd even like to have more work done (to be continued....).

My Little Performer

Last week I got a letter from Anderson's school letting me know that they would be having a Christmas Holiday Program at the beginning of December. I am so excited to see my little man perform. I've been hearing him sing Christmas songs around the house lately, but whenever I ask him if it's the song he's singing at his holiday program, he says no! Hmmm? The other night at dinner, I FINALLY got little man to open up and show us what he'll be performing. I got tears in my eyes as I heard his little voice belt out the words to "Up on the Rooftop" WITH MOTIONS! It just made me realize how much my baby boy is growing up. He'll be FOUR in no time! He is going to be quite the performer, if I may say so! He had no problem remembering the lyrics or the motions to go with it. It was adorable! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

And please excuse his silly outfit! It was Friday night and we were veggin'!

Insecurities of Parenthood

When Aaron and I split up, I always told myself that I was swearing off relationships. It wasn't necessarily that I didn't want to TRY a relationship again, but rather I told myself that no one would ever be good enough for my kids-- that no one could ever love my kids enough to be "worthy" of my love. Sure it was probably arrogant thinking, but I just knew that being alone with my kids would be better than being with someone who couldn't love them like Aaron or I could. Then the fear became what if, on the off chance I did meet someone who I felt was good enough for my kids, my kids didn't like him? Or what if, by some cosmic chance, the stars aligned and I found "the one" and he loved my kids and they equally adored him?

My fear is, what if someday my "one" realizes that he got in over his head? What if he thinks my kids are insane? I worry that the normal day-to-day tantrums will be too much. Does he think my kids are misbehaved? Does he think these "normal" five year old 'tudes are horrible? Does he think I'm a bad parent? Will his family think my kids are terrible when they meet them?

I've always given myself a fair amount of credit for being a single mom. I like to think we've got it pretty much together at home. I like to think that my discipline is working (or at least a work in progress), and that my kids respect me. I like to think that my kids know how to treat other people, and that they use their manners even when I'm not around. Sure, we're a normal family. We have meltdowns (all three of us!). We make bad decisions. We say things we don't mean. We're human. But what if, to an outsider, that's too much?

The worst feeling in the world is to feel like you've failed as a parent...to think that someone sees your parenting as flawed. It's a horrible feeling to think that someone sees your children as something less than what you know they're capable of. It's a terrible feeling to think that someone you love doesn't love your children as much as you do. Loving someone, other than the father of my children, is scary. Is it even possible for someone, who didn't ask for these children, to love them like a biological parent does? I guess this is just one, of many, insecurities of single parenthood.

Blessings!

Heather, from H.Renee Photography, has outdone herself. I absolutely love this picture of my children. 

Why can't I...

So I've had my house for over a year and there are still TONS of things I want to do to it. One of the biggest things I want to do is replace the flooring in the kitchen, downstairs bathroom, and entry way. Of course, that's a $1800 project, so I don't see it in my very near future, but...part of the reason I want to change the kitchen is because it feels empty. We had friends over last weekend and Dan asked if we had JUST moved in because the house looked empty! LOL! (In my defense, he only walked from the front door, through the kitchen, and into the garage!) So right now I have a small two-seater table in the kitchen. We never use that table because we usually sit in the dining room, but it's still nice to have the extra seating. I'm really hoping to do something like this:

I've been asking JM to whip something together, but I don't see it happening in the near future either. Until then...I'll just keep hoping! I just wish I could make my house feel "complete". I really love my living room, my master bedroom (which I've still never posted pictures of), and both of my kids' rooms. Those are the rooms where we spend most of our time, of course...but it'd be nice to have the rest of the house finished. I know it's all a work in progress, and I've only been in the house a year, but....I'm a VERY impatient person! I want it done NOW!!!!!!

We're just THAT close!

I think JM got his first taste of just how close the Hahn bunch really is. Remember I've not been feeling well, so by 8pm I was ready for bed. I was asleep on the couch when JM got home around 8:15pm. He had brought home a couple little gifts for me, so I woke up long enough to accept them of course, but then fell right back to sleep. As JM was tucking me into bed (isn't he perfect?!), he pointed out that I had missed a call from mom earlier in the evening. I told him I was too tired to call her back and that I'd just talk to her in the morning. And then I was OUT.

Around 5:20 this morning I woke up to my darling son belting out the lyrics to Christina Perry's "Jar of Hearts" from his bedroom. JM and I laid in bed laughing hysterically for a minute before I fell asleep again!

Later, JM told me that my brother had called last night on the house phone after I was in bed. Apparently, Mom had called out the SWAT team since I failed to answer my phone and texts. JM explained to my brother that I hadn't been feeling well and that I had been asleep for over an hour at this point. My brother promised to call off Jane the troops and let her them know that I was safe!

I love my mom for being so concerned! That's just how we are....if one of us can't get ahold of each other, we call the other person to see if he/she has talked to them. We never "ignore" each other's calls or texts, so when we don't hear back from someone, we panic! I love my family and I'm so glad that we're as close as we are!

You Can't Rush Perfection

Patiently waiting on me...

So I write a lot  maybe too much about how amazing JM is, and how lucky I am to have met him. And I started to touch on this a couple days ago, but I never went completely into the story...I know I know, get to it already huh? Well, last weekend when we were kidless, JM and I both felt pretty miserable (not because we were kidless, but because we had terrible colds). I woke up Friday morning with a head full of..well ya know. And things just kept getting progressively worse as the weekend went on. Saturday I mustered up as much energy as I could to watch the Michigan game with my perfect boyfriend, but I kept getting up from the bar every five minutes to go blow my nose (pretty, I know). By the end of Saturday, I was D-U-N done! As soon as we got home from dinner that night, I was ready for bed. JM drugged me with cold meds and I was fast asleep by 9:30. Sunday morning proved to be just as torturous. I woke up at 8am, watched a few episodes of Friends, and then tuned into LMN until 2pm. During the four-hour movie on lmn, I whined to JM about my nose, my cough, my sore throat, and my hunger pains. He was soooo loving the whole time...running to get groceries, more cold meds, lunch, etc...all the while putting up with my pathetic moaning and groaning about my "terrrrrrrible cold" (which he also had!).

We've all heard and loathed the old saying that good things come to those who wait. Well, as cliche as it is, it's true. I never in my life thought I'd find someone as amazingly perfect as JM, but I met "the one" and I thank my lucky stars for him everyday!

I just love 'em!

I have the BEST work family EVER! We have become like sisters...we tell each other everything (way too much, at times!), we get mad at each other and then we're over it ten minutes later, and we just have a great time together. This is by far the best group of girls I've ever worked with! I'm so lucky to have met each and every one of them!

Whoopsy Daisy!

Although I'm not officially participating in Nablopomo 2011, I was hoping to blog everyday. Well, clearly I've failed at that more than once this month! Oh well! Tis life, right?! So I had a pretty fab-u-lous weekend!

Friday I took the day off to go Christmas shopping with Mom. Last year we decided to take a day off so to do our shopping so we didn't have to worry about doing it at a time when the kids were either with Aaron (ha!) or with a sitter (bigger ha!). So, we got up EAAARLY Friday morning (in fact, I got a text from my mom at 6:15am asking when we were leaving...ummm, AFTER 8am preferably!). We dropped the babies off at school, and headed to Kohls (mom had a 30% off, der!)! We then ventured to Old Navy and Target. Target was a HUGE success for me for the kids' gifts! I was SO excited! Then we had lunch at my FAVORITE place, Cebollas (YUM!), where we rechecked our shopping lists and came up with a plan for the remaining hours of our shopping trip! After a trip to the mall and Toys R Us, our day was coming to an end. Aaron would be at my house soon to get the kids for the weekend, and I still had tons of stuff to do before I picked them up from school.

Aaron decided about three weeks ago that he would come here for a weekend to spend time with the kids. Although he says it's a hassle for him (I don't doubt that it is, but that's not really my problem), he followed through on his plans and he and his brother arrived in Fort Wayne around 4:30 Friday afternoon. The three of us went to get the kids at school and then took Anderson to get a quick haircut before the four of them headed off for a weekend of fun! I went back home to relax (with a glass of wine) and wait on my darling boyfriend!
JM and I spent Friday night on the couch, catching up on DVR'ed shows, and just relaxing without kids. It. Was. So. Nice.

Saturday morning we slept in, relaxed on the couch for a few hours, and then headed out for lunch. We tried a place neither of us had been before! We went to Target for an impromptu shopping trip, got a few things for the house, and then drove around aimlessly until our afternoon plans of watching the Michigan at one of our favorite hangouts. After the game (Go blue!) we stopped for dinner at a little locally-owned pizza place, close to home. By this time it was close to 9pm and I was ready for bed! I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 9:30 that night! Eh, I needed it!

Sunday I spent the morning (okay, and part of the early afternoon) cuddled up on the couch watching a Lifetime Movie (seriously) and whining about my terrible cold (which I'm SURE JM gave me!). JM did a few things around the house before the kids got home. Around 4:30, the kids came home!!! I was SOOO happy to have them home. As much as I LOVE the alone time with JM, I just need to have the kids home in order to feel "normal" again. JM and Aaron met for the first time. It went really well (not that I was too worried...how could anyone NOT love JM!?). I got a text from Aaron a couple hours later saying that he was really glad that he got to meet JM and that he really seemed like a nice guy.

It was a VERY enjoyable, relaxing weekend, but I'm glad to be back to the normal routine of life this morning. Happy Monday!

She's My Girl!

Lilly has been AH-MAAAAAY-ZING lately! She has been SO helpful, SO pleasant, and SUCH a delight to be around, which isn't always the case with a five year old! I don't know if something has changed in her little growing mind, or if this is just the start to a better behaved, more settled little lady. Either way, I'll take it! I'm so proud of her and just love her to pieces! She's so adorable and such a blessing to my life. I cannot imagine life without my little Lills.

*even if she does have her daddy's eyes!

"Breakfast with us?"

JM is AMAZING for so many reasons, but one of my favorite things about him is that he takes the time to have breakfast with my kids in the morning before he leaves for work. I've mentioned before that he has a two hour drive to whichever campus he's working at for the day, so he usually leaves the house around 6:30am, but some days he squeezes in a few extra minutes to have breakfast with the babies. They are always SO excited to be hanging out with him before he leaves for the day, and I'm excited to be able to shower and get ready without trying to break up early morning sibling feuds!

This morning I stood on the stairs listening to the three of them chat over their bowls of Captain Crunch...It just made me feel extremely blessed to have such an incredible person in my life who my kids love. It truly is the little things in life that mean the most.

Andersonisms

Anderson has been quite the fountain of information lately. Let me just fill you in on a few Andersonisms that we've heard over the past few weeks.

Q: Do you know why there are stars in the sky?
A: Because it's dark.

Q: Do you know why your tongue is wet?
A: Because it's in your mouth for so long.

Q: Do you know how God makes the sky?
A: With a sky machine with sky buttons.

There are more, but these are just the few I can think of off the top of my head. He reminds me of the little boy from Jerry McGuire. So full of VERY important information, that boy!

Boobs and Poopy

This weekend my kids thought it would be hilarious to add a couple words to their once-innocent vocabulary. Boobs and poopy. First off, let me say, I never really baby talked to my kids. Aaron and I found it repulsive to hear such ridiculousness come from new parents' mouths. All that cutesy baby talk makes me wanna vomit. It's unnecessary and to be quite honest, I feel that by talking to our children as humans, rather than adorable zoo animals, we have actually improved their vocabulary and their comprehension...until now. So we never baby talked to our kids, but perhaps sometimes we should have been more selective with what we talked about and showed them. We never shut the bathroom door at our house-- ever. It's not unusual to be having a conversation with someone who's showering, while the other person is sitting on the toilet. I mean, we all lead a busy life-- we squeeze in conversations whenever possible, right? And since it's usually just me and the kids at home, we all get ready in my bedroom in the mornings. Well, looks like that may have to change soon.
Saturday morning I was getting dressed. I had clothes on, but just jeans and a tank, not a shirt yet, as I was still finishing my normal morning routine. Anderson comes in my bathroom and says "I see your boobs!" and then runs away, laughing hysterically. Two minutes later, Lilly comes in and does the same thing. I was annoyed! I can't have my children talking about my boobs! Later that day, it was the same thing, but with the word poopy instead of boobs. Again, not something I want my kids running around talking about. Oy!
Here's to hoping they don't use those words at school today.

Oh to be a fly on the wall...

I'm just now getting around to writing this, but I have to share the conversation the kids and I had first thing Tuesday morning. It went something like this:

Lilly: Mom! It's November today!
Me: Yep!
Lilly: What happens in November? Referring to what holidays are in November.
Me: Just Thanksgiving.
Lilly (screaming): NO! I HATE TURKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Well, sometimes we have ham at Thanksgiving too. You like ham!
Lilly: Uncle Adam said he's not having ham at his house.
Me: Well, should we just cancel Thanksgiving then?
Lilly (still on the verge of tears): Yes!
Me (in my practiced announcer voice): I HEREBY DECLARE, THANKSGIVING OF 2011 IS OFFICIALLY CANCELED!
Enter Anderson, just waking up, hair all amuck, eyes barely open.
Anderson (crying): Buuuuut IIIIIIII LOOOOOVE Thanksgivinnnnnnnggggggg. (Imagine the worst whining sound ever.)
Me: Anderson! I was just kidding! I can't really cancel Thanksgiving.
Lilly (now in hysterics): But I hate turkey!
HAPPY NOVEMBER YA'LL!

Shamu + Hahn/Scudders= True Love

Last weekend, the kids and I took a mini-vacay! It was exactly what we all needed! I'll let the pictures tell all...!

Thank you Uncle G for taking us swimming!

First night: Dinner with my favorite uncles!!

Waiting for Shamu!

*I cannot believe Lilly actually went on this ride and L-O-V-E-D it!!!! Look how happy they are!!! Thanks G!*

First Attempt

Here's my first attempt at a Gluten free product! I have been reading a lot about the gluten free lifestyle, not because it's trendy, but because I really think JM has a gluten allergy. Although he completely disagrees (mostly because he's done zero research on it), I am convinced that taking steps toward becoming a gluten-free household is a good decision for all of us. A basic description: Gluten is a protein that lives in wheat and rye, and for people who have gluten allergies, it can cause difficulty digesting gluten, thus the need for a gluten-free diet. Regardless, going gluten-free can only be an improvement to our diets. I've been looking at GF products, and although they're still a bit pricey, in the long run, I feel it'd be beneficial to us. Today I tried a GF dressing on my salad (everything in my salad is already GF). The dressing was super strong, but had I used even a forth of what I used, it would have been perfect.

O-V-E-R IT!

This precious little golf game WILL be the demise of my almost perfect relationship.

Hallowoo-hoo!

I dislike Halloween SO much that I would do just about anything to avoid the whole thing altogether. As much fun as it seeing my little punkins all dressed up and eager to candy-hunt in the neighborhood, I could literally forget the whole day completely and not feel an ounce of remorse. The holiday is satanic, dark, scary, and well, just plain dumb. Even my kids weren't that into it. We hadn't even made it across the street before the complaining started. "It's so cold." "My feet hurt." "My hair is falling off!" Thirty minutes and a half block later, we found our way back to our house where we handed out candy to the happy trick-or-treaters for the rest of the night!

Lilly, my future little _____.

Yesterday was my first parent-teacher conference with Lilly's teacher. I was a little nervous because poor Lills had had some behavior issues during the first nine weeks, and I was worried the teacher would call me out on my poor parenting. I imagined it much like a firing range-- that the teacher, principal, and a guidance counselor would put me in front of the black board and just point fingers at my lack of follow-through, my poor song-selection in the car (seriously, Ke$ha? Britney?), my awful food habits at my family's dining table, etc. You get my point. Truth is, the classroom didn't even have a black board, the principal and the guidance counselor were no where in sight (LOL!), and Lilly's teacher and I found that we actually have a lot of the same parenting guidelines. Shew!

Lilly tested above average in both reading and writing. She scored a little below the national average for math. When I was telling JM about the "results" of her beginning-of-the-year testing, he simply replied "eh, so she won't be an accountant, big deal!" Which got us laughing and wondering if our parents said the same thing after our first parent-teacher conferences! Does what we learn about our child's educational abilities really set the tone for the rest of their life? Did I really want to be a teacher when I was growing up? Or did my mom just think I was comfortable with and good at bossing people around (which I did a lot of!)? Regardless, we have high hopes for our little lady! I'm sure she'll make a great career path...in twenty years from now!

My little Hopper!

I'm one proud mama! Yesterday I got a letter from Anderson's teachers saying he had been selected as Hopper of the Month for his class! In November, Anderson will have a bulletin board in his classroom that's ALL about him! He gets to pick out some pictures to take in and share with his friends, he has to write about his favorite food, movie, color, and toy. Needless to say, I'm very proud of my little man and am excited for him! About a month ago, Anderson was home sick from school. He was just vegging on the couch, watching a movie, while I used my afternoon at home cleaning and catching up on laundry. I kept shouting out "I love you!" and he'd reply "love" in his adorable little sickly voice! Since then, everytime I say "I love you" from a different room, I hear "love" from my little boy! We'll do it six or seven times! "I love you!" "Love!" "I love you!" "Love!" I love you!" "Love!" And then finally he gets annoyed with it and says "I said LOVE!" LOL! I've written before about how funny and entertaining Andy is. The other night JM got home late from work. The kids had been in bed for well over an hour. JM came back downstairs and asked if I knew what my little boy was wearing to bed. "Ummm, yeah I put him to bed in his jammies, der!" "Ummm, you might want to go take a look at him!" There was my boy, sleeping soundly....in a pillowcase. He was using the pillowcase as a sleeping bag. He is just so random! He's such a good little man! He's always happy, always smiling, and always ready to help Mama, with just about anything! He puts up with A LOT from his always-moody big sister, and is a trooper about being the "man of the house"!!!! He's such a delight and I am so lucky to have such great, amazing, gorgeous little babies!

Ziggy's Privates!?

So I mentioned that I volunteered in Lilly's classroom yesterday. It was quite entertaining and it was nice to be able to put a face to the friends that Lilly always talks about. I have to admit though, that it made me want to dictate who Lilly hangs out with at school. Wow, I just admitted that, huh? I'm sorry, but when I see her little friend "A" act out in class, it helps me see why Lilly sometimes acts silly crazy too. *I'm in no way blaming friend A for the actions Lilly takes. Lilly is aware (now) that she is responsible for her actions, no matter how her friends are acting.* I know it's wrong for me to encourage strongly encourage her to spend her time with certain friends (friend H and friend R please!), but I just can't help it. Sometimes our little tots need that little push to make better decisions in the friend department, right? It's never too early to start, right? So this morning when Lilly and I were talking about her classmates, she told me about her friend C who talks about privates all the time. SHOCKED, I asked her WHAT she was talking about. She said that friend C was talking about his dog Ziggy's private parts and that Mrs.Summers said "Now *friend C* is that appropriate conversation for the classroom? I know that people potty and animals potty, but we do not need to talk about it." Wowza. It's CRRRRRAZY the things my little five year old is already exposed to. I know that this is all bound to happen eventually, but REALLY? In kindergarten? My daughter knows how to spell "kissing" because of the lovely "sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g" song. Ugh. Already? LOL! Oh, it's always something. Thanks Lilly for the entertainment, but could you PLEASE slow down please? You're FIVE!

For My Children

There's no easy or pretty way to say what I'm thinking. There's no simple way to explain the thoughts that are flooding my mind. And although you may not understand why I'm writing this, there is a purpose in writing it.
Recently I starting following a complete stranger's blog. One of my other blogger friends follows her and I got hooked on her "story" and starting following her too. You can read Amy's story here. Anyway, at the risk of sounding like a complete blog-stalker, I started reading some of the blogs that this girl follows, and came across this one. OH. MY. GOSH. I sat at my computer for over an hour yesterday just engrossed in Jessica's blog. For those who aren't interested in reading it, or don't become completely obsessed with her story like I did, let me explain her story. Jessica and her husband had a beautiful little girl, Elizabeth. Elizabeth passed away from cancer at the age of five. Jessica writes about the many different emotions that she goes through after the death of her daughter. As a mother of a five year old daughter, it made me literally sick to think of losing her, and of having to ever experience the things that these parents experienced (or are experiencing). Yes, I know many of you are probably thinking that it's incredibly morbid for me to even be thinking these things, but after reading her blog, I couldn't help but go "there".
I realized that I have used my blog as a way to talk about myself and not so much about my kids. I want this blog be a journal of my thoughts for the kids to eventually go back and read one day and see the silly things that they were doing, the things they said,the things we went through as a family. Sure, I love writing about my love story, and I want the kids to be able to look back and see how this relationship started and played out in the beginning (and hopefully they'll witness it throughout their life because JM and I will still be together!). But, even more so, if anything ever happened to me or to one of them, I want to be able to have this blog as a catalog of our lives. I want these memories to last a lifetime, no matter how long or short that may be.
Again, not to take it to the "dark side" but I have to be realistic that life on earth is a gift, and that it can end at anytime. As much as the kids drive me bonkers at times, I never want to live life without them. I cannot imagine not seeing their face every single day or not hearing their precious voices every single day. I can't imagine seeing piles of toys go unused or closets of clothes go unworn.
As cliche as it is, it's true that life is too short. My mom once sent me a quote that said "Enjoy the little things in life for one day they will become the big things." This is so true and I pray that I can live everyday with this in mind.

Kindergarten Helper

This morning I had the opportunity to volunteer in Lilly's classroom. Although at first I was dreading the thought of spending an hour with 20 five year olds, it ended up being an awesome experience. I got to the classroom before Lilly and her friends arrived from the bus. I made a few copies for her teacher and by the time I got back to the room, there was my precious baby, sitting perfectly at her desk, working on her morning exercises. (I have no doubt my daughter is always this perfect and that it had nothing to do with me being there! RRRIGHT!) She blushed when she saw me and ran to give me a giant hug! She was so excited to "show me off" to all her little friends! It was precious! What was supposed to be an hour long volunteer stunt, turned into two hours with the little tots. It was so much fun and I really do plan to do it again soon next month!