Sara loves to dance

Hi!  Go to my other blog for the link to a super cute little video clip of Sara dancing.  Really, just go watch the first 15 seconds.  And yes I shamelessly believe I have the best baby is the world!

Life marches on

Life continues in Greg's absence.  I am posting about it occasionally at my other blog.

You can also check out things like David's Grand Canyon and the Sara's first valentine at my Flickr page.

And find links to short YouTube videos throughout my Twitter feed.

The Adventures of Ninja Dude and Taco Man

For the link to The Adventures of Ninja Dude and Taco Man, go here.

Idaho

Sara spent her first birthday at her great-grandmother's funeral.  It was a joyous occasion (even though poor Sara was sick) and a wonderful weekend.  More details on Greg's departure and our trip to Idaho here.

Birthday stuff and more

Birthday stuff and more over at Baby Bear Steals the Show.

Christmas Chaos

Hi!  I posted about Christmas over at Baby Bear Steals the Show.  Come visit over there.

And happy holidays to you!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

More pictures of these three little bears over here, with more Christmas posts to soon follow.

Christmas cheer

This year's Christmas cheer will be posted on my new blog, like this post about gingerbread houses.  The new blog is still "under construction," and I'm not officially closing shop here yet.  But I thought it was important that our first Christmas here in Cincinnati be recorded on the new blog.  I have a post or two yet to go here at MadGoneMom.  I will let you know when it's really THE END.

Merry Christmas!

See you later

Remember David's going away party (tucked into the middle of this post)?  He had a chance to say good-bye to his buddies.

Except to Bailey.  To BFF Bailey he got to say, "See you later!"  How lucky that his best friend moved to Columbus just weeks after we moved to Cincinnati!

Here are the buddies wearing matching Invention Club shirts that Bailey made.  (They've always called their play dates Lego Club, and during the last few months we were there Lego Club turned into Invention Club.)

This was just before we moved from Wisconsin.  What great buddies!

Instead of saying good-bye, they said "See you later."  And so they did!

Bailey lives about two hours away.  David played at his house one Saturday.  Bailey's family came down here for Mary's celebration.  And one weekend Bailey was here for a sleep over.  Here are the boys, dressed in their matching shirts, hanging out in David's room after the sleep over.

It's been great to have a Wisconsin family here in Ohio with us!  And our calendars are marked for a get-together with them in January.  Yay!

P.S.  Also, I think it's time to say "See You Later" to this blog.  I am going to be wrapping things up here at MadGoneMom.  I love this blog.  But, as you might know, I'm weird about blogging.  It has come to represent different chapters of our life, and the Wisconsin chapter is over.  As much as I may fantasize about finding time to blog more about books or my church or Montessori education or life in the Air Force or general parenting observations or travel or whatever, blogging is really about recording our family's story--for my family.  So, yes, that Wisconsin chapter is over.  Time to start building--and recognizing--a good life here in Ohio.

My birthday

One day after Sara turned 8 months old, I turned 36.  Years.

I have such great kids.  They made it a really special birthday for me.

Mary made me a multi-media picture of us, complete with string, hole punches, and staples.  Adorable!  (That girl is turning into a crafting/art project maniac.)  And she put it in a special envelope!  I love that David and Mary can do art projects completely on their own!  (It makes them way more meaningful.)

David wrote me a chant about me being great and awesome and loved.  He attached a page of 3-D pictures he had drawn.  Very cool.  Love that kid.

David posed for the picture of my "big gift"--a Bose speaker I can stream NPR (and other necessary things like The Nutcracker) onto from my phone.

(You notice my sweet dream baby in the back ground?)

I got lots of birthday cuddles with my kids.  The following is a series of pictures entitled "The Strand of Hair."

To celebrate my birthday, I got not one, but TWO, super fancy cakes.

We shared the cakes with my niece and nephews.  What a great birthday!

And the very best part was my three amazing children.  I love each of them more deeply every day.