March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards

Molly loved this Dora doll

Maggie

Molly kissing Corey's head. Not sure what that was about!?



The nominees



Corey and I at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis

Social hour

Enjoying an absolutely fabulous meal

On Friday last week, Corey and I watched Maggie and Molly for a few hours so Tracy could work an extra shift at work. The girls had a blast playing together. Maggie and Chloe played store and house in her room most of the evening and Molly fell in love with one of Chloe's Dora dolls. I had Molly laughing out loud a good part of the evening. They were both really good and it was a fun evening.

Saturday, Corey and I went down to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Minneapolis for the March of Dimes MN Nurse of the Year Awards. I was honored to be one of the nurses nominated in the Neonatal and Pediatric Nurse category along with two of my co-workers and hundereds of other from throughout the state. Despite the snow, the drive wasn't too bad. It was really beautiful along Nicollet Mall with the snow and the lights (and we only got lost downtown Minneapolis for about 20 minutes)! We enjoyed everyone's company, an absolutely fabulous meal, and hearing about nurses' accomplishments throughout the state. It made me proud of my profession! Nurses are so awesome!

Just a quiet weekend

All the kids at Naomi's house

Having fun at Nay's



Twister



Playing doctor

Molly always makes everyone smile

Chloe playing with her BFF

Taya practicing piano

Chloe's little fingers learning to play

Chloe concentrating really hard on her piano piece

Taya cooking



Taya and Chloe cooking with Aunt Karin



As everyone leaves work for the week, there is the usual talk of "What do you have going on this weekend?". My answer to that question this week was, "Not much. Just a quiet weekend."

As usual, quiet around our house is anything but. Friday night Corey and I enjoyed a quiet dinner alone while Karin graciously watched the girls. It was fun to just have the chance to talk without being interrupted! Which, around home, NEVER happens.

 Then all of a sudden our Saturday was full! Naomi was wonderful and agreed to watch Taya and Chloe and Mike and Tracy's kiddos so we could go out to supper (I mean dinner--sorry!) with Mike and Tracy at Red Lobster. Naomi had seven kids at her house for 3 hours Saturday night. The kids had so much fun playing together. They wrestled, pretended to be doctors, played Twister, and made magnets and shrinky dinks. Luckily, Naomi's sister-in-law was there to help her because her house was kind of wild. But Naomi survived and Tracy and I got a chance to talk and catch up (because, you know, we never get a chance to talk). Then Corey took Naomi's daughter Ellie and the girls home to watch them for the night while I had a girls night with Naomi and her sister-in-law Kelli. It was a low-key, fun evening. So nice to have girl time!

Sunday, as usual, Chloe ran the neighborhood playing with her two girlfriends and at the park. Can you even believe that it is in the 50's this weekend? I could handle it if this was as bad as winter gets! Taya and Chloe (although mostly Taya) then helped their Aunt Karin cook for a good part of the day. Sunday is also our usual day to practice piano. It is Chloe's first year of taking piano lessons and she is catching on very fast and absolutely loves it. If only her fingers were a little longer! She has to concentrate so hard on playing the right notes.  Taya is working on scales and pieces that are getting pretty complicated. They both really enjoy playing.

Yup, nothing but a quiet weekend with not much going on! Smile! Life is good!

Happy Halloween 2010!

I worked Halloween this year. Ugh! Behind Christmas and the 4th of July, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! When Corey and the girls met me for lunch at work on Halloween, Chloe asked me, "Mom, why do you have to work holidays?" I had to explain, " Mommy has to work because there are babies that need my help even on Halloween."

But my having to work didn't stop Corey and the girls from having fun. Corey met Tracy and her kiddos at TERROR ON 23--a haunted house in Cold Spring. From 4P-6P they opened the haunted house up to kids and left the lights on so it wouldn't be quite as scary. The girls thought it was so cool to go through a haunted house. Then the girls went trick-or-treating around Cold Spring with Gavin, Maggie, and Molly. Then, just in time for me to get home, Corey and the girls came back to town and we went trick-or-treating for another hour around our neighborhood in Sauk Rapids. We went to grandpa's and Karin's and just had to visit the "scary" house across the pond. By the end of the night, the girls were excited, on a sugar high, cold, and tired from carrying their heavy bags of candy!

DeNaeFest 2010

Yes...that is me riding a mechanical bull

Yes...that is me falling off a mechanical bull

I love the ladies (& 3 guys) I work with!

Work can be stressful. Sometimes we deal with life and death--literally. Sometimes our shifts are so crazy we hardly have time to eat or go to the bathroom. Sometimes our shifts are laid back and we have a chance to talk into the wee hours of the night. Whatever the day (or night) brings, it is always fun and rewarding because of the awesome people that I work with.

This October marked the beginning of what I hope will become (at least) an annual tradition. We all got together to celebrate DeNae's recent divorce. Celebrate a divorce? You bet! We were there to support DeNae in everything she has been going through lately. To quote an old song that I can't remember the name of "That's what friends are for..."

Details? Not a chance. What happens at DeNaeFest stays at DeNaeFest!

Thanks for an awesome night everyone!

Taya's Friend Birthday Party



Taya's B-day party




Taya and her friends




Skatin'




Kirsten giving Chloe a hand




Even I tried to skate




Playing at the arcade



Enjoying pizza and birthday cupcakes



Ready for a mean game of laser tag




Taya opening her presents




The hokey pokey on roller blades




I have no idea what that is

 Over MEA weekend, we FINALLY got around to having Taya's friend birthday party. She had a few good friends to The Skating Place. Everyone enjoyed skating to the latest hits. Even though Chloe is still trying to learn to skate, she put on rollerblades and hugged the wall. Even I grabbed some skates and tried not to fall! EEK! We had pizza, pop, and birthday cupcakes. The girls enjoyed playing in the arcade and we had a really fun and exhausting game of laser tag. In hindsight, having the party for 5 hours was a little long, but the girls sure had a blast!