When Mommy's Away.....

Hmmm...so Mama works on Monday nights and Daddy takes over. I was scanning through the camera pics tonight and came across a doozie :) In all fairness, I'm sure they got into our shower themselves, but this just made me giggle. I love my girls so much. :) What a wonderful family I have. I am so blessed. My husband is a wonderful father.

A Mitch Albom Reflection -- Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

I'm sure you've seen it/read it....but if you haven't....it definitely shares my beliefs (Kelli...that is).

OK. It's a fantasy. But if I had five minutes in front of Congress last week, here's what I would've said:
Good morning. First of all, before you ask, I flew commercial. Northwest Airlines. Had a bag of peanuts for breakfast. Of course, that's Northwest, which just merged with Delta, a merger you, our government, approved -- and one that, inevitably, will lead to big bonuses for their executives and higher costs for us. You seem to be OK with that kind of business.
Which makes me wonder why you're so against our kind of business? The kind we do in Detroit. The kind that gets your fingernails dirty. The kind where people use hammers and drills, not keystrokes. The kind where you get paid for making something, not moving money around a board and skimming a percentage.
You've already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies -- and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup -- $25 billion -- just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.
Does the word "hypocrisy" ring a bell?
Protecting the home turf?
Sen. Richard Shelby. Yes. You. From Alabama. You've been awfully vocal. You called the Detroit Three's leaders "failures." You said loans to them would be "wasted money." You said they should go bankrupt and "let the market work."
Why weren't you equally vocal when your state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants there? Why not "let the market work"? Or is it better for Alabama if the Detroit Three fold so that the foreign companies -- in your state -- can produce more?
Way to think of the nation first, senator.
And you, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona. You told reporters: "There's no reason to throw money at a problem that's not going to get solved."
That's funny, coming from such an avid supporter of the Iraq war. You've been gung ho on that for years. So how could you just sit there when, according to the New York Times, an Iraqi former chief investigator told Congress that $13 billion in U.S. reconstruction funds "had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste" by the Iraqi government?
That's 13 billion, senator. More than half of what the auto industry is asking for. Thirteen billion? Gone? Wasted?
Where was your "throwing money at a problem that's not going to get solved" speech then?
Watching over the bankers?
And the rest of you lawmakers. The ones who insist the auto companies show you a plan before you help them. You've already handed over $150 billion of our tax money to AIG. How come you never demanded a plan from it? How come when AIG blew through its first $85 billion, you quickly gave it more? The car companies may be losing money, but they can explain it: They're paying workers too much and selling cars for too little.
AIG lost hundred of billions in credit default swaps -- which no one can explain and which make nothing, produce nothing, employ no one and are essentially bets on failure.
And you don't demand a paragraph from it?
Look. Nobody is saying the auto business is healthy. Its unions need to adjust more. Its models and dealerships need to shrink. Its top executives have to downsize their own importance.
But this is a business that has been around for more than a century. And some of its problems are because of that, because people get used to certain wages, manufacturers get used to certain business models. It's easy to point to foreign carmakers with tax breaks, no union costs and a cleaner slate -- not to mention help from their home countries -- and say "be more like them."
But if you let us die, you let our national spine collapse. America can't be a country of lawyers and financial analysts. We have to manufacture. We need that infrastructure. We need those jobs. We need that security. Have you forgotten who built equipment during the world wars?
Besides, let's be honest. When it comes to blowing budgets, being grossly inefficient and wallowing in debt, who's better than Congress?
So who are you to lecture anyone on how to run a business?
Ask fair questions. Demand accountability. But knock it off with the holier-than-thou crap, OK? You got us into this mess with greed, a bad Fed policy and too little regulation. Don't kick our tires to make yourselves look better.

Busy....Busy....Busy

One of my all time favorites of me and my my big girl :)

McKenzie Grace's model photo shoot :)

One of my favorites of Kylie :)

It seems like life has slipped away so quickly around here! We have been jam packed lately with things to do. While the days seem to go by slowly, the weeks are a blur! It's hard to believe Christmas is only about 13 days away! Nutso!

I've been finishing up the semester at OCC, working at Sylvan, hanging out with the girls and doing all I can to keep my head above water :) It's been good and challening lately.

We still don't know anything about Rob's job. Thanks to all of you who have been praying. It's tough not knowing, but our plan is still in place and we're waiting for God to move...however He does...even if He tells us we're staying where we're at. I've got my own opinons on the bailout from Congress, so if you ever want my two cents just ask me :)

The Christmas season will be busy, but we'll enjoy it, I'm sure. Just trying not to go overboard with the girls. McKenzie is getting some pretty cool stuff and we want to make sure she understands that it's really about Jesus after all, too. We don't do Santa. We celebrate Jesus and make him a birthday cake. We try to keep the focus on that so when it comes time for her to know why she is who she is and how God created her so beautifully.....it will all make sense. :) We're excited and thrilled and what we've been up to is alllll posted below! It took me about an hour to add all these entries, so enjoy...and I'll try to not to fall this far behind again! :)

Winter Fun

Kylie patiently waiting her turn!

"Daddy! Are you coming?"

"Come on, Daddy!"

Waiting at the top.... :)

Bundled and ready to go!

McKenzie loves the outdoors...we all do! So, when it gets cold outside, it's just so hard to take! But...she's got a GREAT daddy who will go out when it's 16 degrees and play with her...just because she's got so much energy! She is such a fanstastic little girl and such a trooper! They had a blast playing the other morning :) Here are some pictures!

Kylie's starting to W-A-L-K!!!

Kylie learned how to walk with help yesterday! What a big girl! I am so surprised she is walking so early (she'll be 10 months on the 12th), but also thrilled for her! :) It's so neat because she just wants to be just like McKenzie. She is so excited to follow her around the house and McKenzie is starting to really interact with her. It is so fun to watch them together!


I know she doesn't look happy trying to walk here, but she did really GREAT. She just got a bit frustrated at the end :(


McKenzie enjoying her Taco Bell "roll - e- up" :)

Kylie LOVES baby dolls.

My little miss playing with her toys :) She loves that ice cream cone! She's definitely a Crampton, too :)

GYMNASTICS!

Kylie getting in on the action with sis....she wants to be just like her!

Jumping with the girls...and looking at the "big kids" with "swimsuits" on :)

Practicing her jumps on the trampoline!

Stretching with Coach Sam :)

Ok...so I've been putting off doing this because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money, but I should have done it much earlier :) On Saturday, we signed McKenzie up for gymnastics class. She was in a class about a year ago, but this is a real class with a teacher and she is learning how to use gymnastics equipment and do "gymnastics moves". :) She jumped on a trampoline, walked on a balance beam, jumped into the "pit" and had a GREAT time. She was so awesome and our hearts swelled watching her. I have never been so proud. There are only 2 other girls in her class (sisters) and they are quite a bit older (maybe closer to 4?) and I know....I know...I'm biased....BUT...McKenzie did SO GOOD listening to her coach "Sam" and did soooo good for being 2 and 1/2. I was so proud. So...we'll keep going as long as we can. It really seems to build confidence in her and she has a great time.

First Christmas Party in Ohio

"Mama...that was a LONG trip....where is my sippy?" :)

After the trip....McKenzie lovin' on her daddy by the fireplace :)

Kylie Noelle loving on her Great Grandma Amos. What a cutie :) And yes, we also play bingo at these parties....if only I had the time, I could have won some cool prizes!

McKenzie and Kylie and all the little ones got backpacks from Great Grandma Amos. McKenzie LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her backpack and didn't want to take it off. :)

Kylie Noelle with her 3rd cousin Alexis (Rob's cousin's daughter's daughter) born on EXACTLY the same day! :) They love playing together.

Today we traveled to Ohio and back for our family Christmas party. These are always so nice, though it's quite a haul making it there and back ;) We started out about 11:15 or so and made it to Ohio at 1:45. We arrived to Rob's family and a room of oh-so-much love. About 50 of his relatives were there including cousins McKenzie and Kylie don't see very often. We would love to get down there more, but it seems time slips away faster than we would like. We have fabulous food....waaaay to many deserts....a $5 gift exchange game (you'd be AMAZED at what this family can find for 5 bucks!) and the littlest ones always get the most attention (of course). It's always a blast and often ends too quickly :( But, we plan to return to Ohio for Christmas and make the rounds with the immediate family, so it won't be long before the girls can enjoy family time again. We got home around 8pm...just in time for baths and mama to crash with McKenzie in our bed before I had to work online at 11 tonight. I am very tired, but it was a great trip!

Marin Nora Webb --- Our New Niece! :)

Nemo, When Baby Jesus was "Borned" and Turkeys

Here's a video of how our life pretty much is in the mornings. :) A recap of the day before and McKenzie being McKenzie :)

We've Been Busy (Again!)

Kylie waiting her turn....it will be here soon, little miss! :)

McKenzie and Cookie

McKenzie got an "owie" and daddy had one too, so we took a picture of their matching band-aids, but this one was cuter :)

Shopping at Costco. McKenzie loves her sunglasses...and Kylie just loves everything and everyone :)

McKenzie playing at Braden's house...she tried on his helmet ;)

Wow! Where does the time go? We have been very busy lately, doing our own things and trying to enjoy life with the girls.

As most of you know, we are facing uncertain times (like the rest of Michigan!) with Rob's future and Ford. It seems the more I read the papers, the more it seems this bailout is not coming. If you would like my educated opinion on this, feel free to write me! :) I can talk and talk about this topic. BUT....I would also encourage you to write your senators (if you agree with the bailout, not trying to force opinions on the matter). I did today and at least it felt like I was doing something! As soon as we know, you will know.

The girls are growing fast...and busy. McKenzie is 2 1/2 now and 37 inches tall. When we went to the doctor today, she wanted to get on the scale. She is 33 pounds. :) She always tells us, "I'm getting so big!" And she is...her vocabulary is amazing. She can count to 10 without any help and sometimes higher! She can say her ABC's (though like all kids K-P is a bit jumbled :) ). She knows her birthday is "April 12th", and I am currently trying to teach her the months of the year and days of the week. We try letter identification by sight, but she just isn't ready for that yet :) Her attention span is like her daddy's ---- always a BUSY mind :) She has such a personality, and at times, a "tude" :), but she is WONDERFUL and so many people have commented on her humor and love. Kylie Noelle is growing wonderfully, too (you can see below in the next post!)

It snowed yesterday...our first significant snow of the year. McKenzie HAD to go outside and go sledding with daddy. They had a blast and I will let Rob post the videos we took. McKenzie is not a big sled rider...she just loves to pull it. Then, daddy had the idea to put animals on the sleds (stuffed ones) and so she got Cookie Monster and daddy got one of her stuffed doggies. It was so cute...she was like, "Come on, Cookie!" Then, Rob convinced her to ride on his sled with Cookie. When they were finished, they came inside after we convinced her she could have hot cocoa like Curious George does after he sleds. She had the cocoa, but was more impressed with the whipped cream. Kylie and I just stayed where it was warm and watched out the window :) I had to go buy new snowpants for her today...and boots! I guess I should have been more prepared :)

We plan to spend the winter months dreaming about Hawaii and other warm places, while entertaining ourselves with library visits and trips to visit friends around here. We've got lots of ideas of things to do, but we'll see how much we get done :) It's always nice to plan things :) We are, however, looking forward to the holiday season. We are planning to go get our Christmas tree (hopefully) the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and that is always a highlight of our year. We pray life is treating all of you wonderfully. And as always, the door is always open here in O-Town, so stop by for a visit! : )

Kylie Noelle

She's standing! All by herself...she LOVES doing this :)

No joke...when she looks out the window like this all the time, I hear squeals of delight. She loves being mobile! :)

Just an angelic picture of her true personality :)

Again, here's my lil' pumpkin. What a cutie! :)

Ok...here's another blog post dedicated just to Kylie :) She went to the doctor today for her nine month check-up. I can't believe she is that old already! She is our little mover. She has learned to climb steps and does wonderfully at pulling herself up! I am so proud! She is such a happy, content baby. I am not exaggerating when I say that 9 times out of 10 when you see this baby, she is just as smiley as she is in these pictures :)

Anywho, she weighed 17 pounds, 7 ounces today at the doctor and is 27 inches tall :) The doctor also called her "ADVANCED". :) She can use a sippy cup all by herself and if McKenzie's is anywhere in sight, she'll crawl over and start drinking it! It's so cute! So, we introduce the sippy by putting formula in it and she does great :) She sleeps pretty much through the night now and when she wakes about 5AM or so, I bring her to bed to cuddle with us and slide back off to sleep. She is amazing and wonderful, just like her sister. We are so blessed. So...enjoy the pics of our lovebug! :)

Snow!?!

We started covering the windows with clear plastic prepping for the snow and colder weather to come tomorrow. The lawn is as finished as it needs to be for winter and most of the summer toys (chairs, umbrellas, trampoline, etc) are put away until the warm weather comes back. The snow blower is on deck and the sleds are waiting on the back porch :-) The tow straps, jumper cables and emergency blankets are ready in the cars. Why do we live in Michigan? Come on winter!

Fall Fun!

Things have been going well for us. We really love the summer, but these warm fall days have been nice, too. I like to wait until most of the leaves are down before picking them all up, which is working out pretty good for McKenzie to jump into from the slide. Enjoy the pictures and video :-)

Toshia to Tascha

We switched the spelling (Rob's idea) since Mama wasn't too keen on the name. I wanted Bailey. McKenzie won. I lost. :( Just wanted to update that. :) We're doing great and all adjusting. My husband is wonderful and I love him....I'm working late right now (it's 1:05AM) on Tutor.com and my eyes hurt :) I went out tonight with Kiki to The Secret Life of Bees. Great movie, but she is almost 8 months preggers and I cried more than she did :) Then, we went to Mongolian BBQ (yummy!), Target, and Starbucks. I know...I know...two wild women on a night on the town! :)
Things are great otherwise...just busy :) Rob's schedule was pretty consistent last week, so that was better. He gets 2 days off this week! Election day is free...then, he is taking Wednesday off because I got the opportunity to sub in 2 classes on another campus for OCC. The problem is that the prof quit...1/2 way through the semester. I have no lesson plans to follow, so this will be quite tricky! :) It's OK though. We'll see how it goes. :)
Well..I have a student working on suffixes, so I better go! Have a wonderful week, everyone :)

A Perfect End to the Perfect Day!

A perfect fire....

Daddy jumping with McKenzie...note her smile! :)

McKenzie "hiding"...her new favorite game :)

So, Friday came around....We had a BLAST. Seriously. We don't celebrate Halloween in our house. So, we started a "tradition"....my friend Kiki and I (they don't celebrate either) don't want our kids to feel "punished" when we pull them out of school that day (due to parties)...SO...we go do something out of the ordinary and special. This year, Autumn (her daughter) is in 1st grade, so we knew we had to make it extra special ;) We decided to go to the Ann Arbor Children's Museum. Then, Jonah (her son) got sick and we had to end the day early after lunch :( BUT...it ended up being a GREAT day!
When we got home, we tackled the leaves in the yard and then we ended the night with a campfire. Kylie fell asleep early, but McKenzie got some trampoline time with Daddy! Seriously, it was one of my most favorite days in memory with the girls. I loved it! :) Here's a picture album :)

More Friday Fun Pics! :)

Here's some "glo rocks" from the floor-0-lights!

McKenzie learning how "magazines" work...her favorite Curious George video has George playing with magnets and she calls them "magazines" :)

More magazines

She probably spent 85% of her time at the water station. They even have lil' smocks for them to wear! Isn't that awesome?

More water station :)

The BEST Fall Day a 2 Kids Can Have!

McKenzie learning how to jump in the leaves :)

Kylie...I just thought this picture was oh so sweet with the sun...I love her!

The leaf pile at the end of the slide!

Getting the work done :)