Merry Christmas

 

We are just about ready for Christmas at our house.  Our tree is up and the house is decorated inside and out.  A lot of the Christmas shopping is done and we are just finishing up the final few purchases.

The kids have been enjoying playing Christmas by packing up empty boxes and pretending to be Santa and putting the presents under the tree.  Then they open their presents and act surprised about what is inside them.  It is very cute.

 

We went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop this weekend.  Mackenzie sat on his lap and let him know that she wants Octonauts for Christmas.  Isaac got very nervous once we got up to the front of the line and wouldn't go anywhere near Santa, even for a candy cane!  So no shot of Isaac on Santa's lap this year.

The last few nights I baked gingerbread for a gingerbread house and I tried to put it together last night.  It was going well until Hurricane Isaac came along and broke the roof pieces.  I was able to repair the damage but we had to wait to decorate the house until this evening after the repairs had dried.  They had a great time though and the house looks great.  Mackenzie had been eating the left over gingerbread like crazy and even told me that I was "the best gingerbread baker."  Tonight though she decided she doesn't like it any more.  Perhaps she had a little bit of a bellyache yesterday.

 

More Good Times

So we continue to have good times in the Phillips family lately.

We went to the Holiday Spectacular at ONU the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The kids really enjoyed it.  They took some pictures before the show with Grandma and Grandpa by the Christmas tree.  Mackenzie even took a picture of the rest of us.

 

After the show Santa and his entourage were out for pictures and Mackenzie got her picture taken with them.  Isaac was too shy to take a picture with them after the show.  A little while later though, after they had left, he was upset that they were gone and that he couldn't get a picture with them.

Last week was Thanksgiving, of course.  Brian had the week off and on Tuesday he hired a couple of ONU students to head to Perrysburg and move a swingset that our neighbors had offered us.  The kids love their new swingset.  Thank you random neighbors!

We spent Thursday at Linda and Butch's house with Brian's family.  We had a lovely time and even had some adult time to watch the Lions and chat.  It is really great that the kids are old enough to entertain themselves and their younger cousins.

On Friday we headed north to spend time with my family.  We were fortunate to get to hang out with Grandma, Grandpa, Mike, Misty and Lexie as well as my Grandma and Grandpa Conklin.  The kids were so happy to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house and Sunday morning when they woke up to snow, Mackenzie was truly in heaven.  As soon as the sun was up she was outside making snow angels, brushing off the front porch and anything else she could get her mittens on.  The kids were a bit sad when we came home Sunday afternoon and there was no snow here.  I am sure we will have snow soon though.

Today we had gas logs installed in the fireplace in our den and I am now enjoying a romantic night alone in front of the fire with my current favorite wine, flipping between Bones and The Voice.  I would prefer to be doing this with Brian, but I am not going to complain about a bit of quiet time.

 

Oh and by the way, for anyone that doesn't know, Notre Dame has completed an undefeated season and will be playing in the BCS championship is Miami.  Awesome!  Earlier Saturday, we had the Michigan, Ohio State on and someone scored a touchdown.  I was upstairs and I heard Brian yell "Touchdown!" and Isaac finished up with "Go Irish".  Awesome!

Life is good!

It Has Been a Great Week

OK, I have been a total slacker with updating my Halloween pictures of the kids, so here they are.

 

Even though the weather wasn't great, we made it through the neighborhood.  We even scored a swingset out of the trip.  One of our neighbors said she had been waiting for us to come over so she could offer us her swingset, if we would take it out of her yard.  So over Thanksgiving break Brian is going to pay a student to come help him move it to our yard.  Yay!

 

I was also the mom in charge of Mackenzie's fall harvest party at school.  I don't know who they are trying to kid calling it a fall harvest party and having it on Halloween, with costumes and a costume parade.  It was a Halloween party and it was a pretty good party, if I do say so myself.

 

So onto my great week.  I took this Tuesday off to go "get out the vote" for President Obama.  I don't know that I, myself was very effective, but obviously all of the people in Ohio who have been doing this for months were very effective.  

 

On Thursday I get a call from Isaac's teacher that he had been crying and complaining that his ear hurts.  She said they looked at it and it looked swollen.  We do not get a lot of calls from school so I figured it was serious and went to get him and had an appointment for him at the doctor's that afternoon.  By the time I got him home, it was obvious that he felt just fine.  When I started probing further into the ear he told me that he had punched himself in the ear.  I don't know if that is accurate or not, but that was his story and he stuck to it.  I cancelled the doctor's appointment and  I did my normal "Mommy has to work while we are home" routine, hoping to ensure that this not become a habit.  So I got one day off and a day working from home with Isaac this week (which, although I don't want to make it a habit was pretty fun), and the week flew by.

 

We went to a craft fair this morning.  I called it a craft show and Mackenzie corrected me that it is a craft FAIR.  We all picked out homemade soaps by one of Brian's co-workers and the kids each got a book for today and one for a Christmas present.  Then we went to the library and Mackenzie got to pick out her books without any help from Mom and Dad.  She even went over at one point and asked the librarian for help all by herself.  Isaac also picked out his books, but with a little help from Mom and Dad.

 

The kids have already made construction paper turkeys for the fridge and are already commenting about how Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday, which makes me really happy.  We are already talking about Christmas and they are already making Christmas lists, but they say that Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday because they love getting together with everyone.  Again, what a great week.

Caution: Political Views Below

Brian and I had a conversation the other day where I expressed that I have a hard time understanding other people's political views, other than the news commentators that tend to be pretty clear.   Political discussions seem to be taboo, particularly since things seem so divided lately. 

So I decided to publish a letter to the editor of our local paper.  My first version was almost 1200 words long and the local paper requires letters to the editor to be 300 words or less.  So I sent them a very condensed version, but I decided to post the original here.  I doubt that my political views will be a surprise to anyone, but if you want to comment with your own thoughts, I would love to hear them. 

I am a supporter of President Obama and Vice President Biden.  I personally find it hard to understand how people in similar situations to me could support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  I feel like it is taboo to talk about politics outside of family and friends and sometimes even with family and friends when there is such discord like there is with the election this year.  I am hoping that expressing my opinion will help others understand why many of us support President Obama and Vice President Biden and that others will write in and express why they support whomever they support and hopefully we will all learn a little something.

With two young children I have to think about their future and the generations after them.  Romney has proposed stripping the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gasses and the Department of Interior's ability to lease and issue permits for drilling on federal lands and waters.  Romney's energy plan very clearly states that he would continue to supplement oil by giving them large tax breaks and incentives and that he would give no help to alternative energy, but expect them to compete on their own against supplemented fossil fuels. Obama has advocated raising the federal standards for fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks and maintaining incentives for renewable energy including wind and solar-powered generation.  Additionally, I am one person that obtained a green energy job during President Obama's administration.  I don't know that my job was a direct result of any of the administration's policies, but I do know that the company I work for is successful, employs American workers and supports many more, reduces pollution, enhances U.S. energy security, and is exporting its products to many countries.  Because I am concerned about the environment, I support President Obama. 

As I moved to my current position, my husband also changed jobs.  He works in the arts.  I believe that most everyone knows where Romney stands on this one due to his remark about Big Bird in the debate.  Because I support the arts, I support President Obama. 

I consider myself fortunate because I have never had an unexpected pregnancy. Although I believe that I would never have made the decision to have an abortion I do not think that I, or anyone else, has the right to legislate this decision for other women.  Also, I and the women I know generally make health care decisions for our families.  I have worried about the lifetime cap that my father hadson his insurance plan as he fights cancer.  I heard about a close friend's father's fight to get insurance privately due to a preexisting condition.  Thanks to Obamacare I need only worry about my father's fight against cancer now and not about a lifetime cap and soon others will no longer need to worry about being denied coverage because of a preexisting condition (immediately for children).  Finally Obamacare is also providing eight preventive health care services at no cost to millions of women enrolled in insurance plans. Because I think the healthcare legislation that took generations to be enacted should stay in place and because I think women should be allowed to make their own choices, I support President Obama.

My husband and I both have university degrees and we both paid back our student loans.  As a mother who is aware of the cost of a college education as well as the benefits, I hope that my children will be able to receive student loans so that we can afford to send them to college and so that, as a colleague of mine says, "They have some skin in the game." I attended public schools and a private university.  I know that I benefited from smaller classrooms and dedicated teachers in both environments. Because I believe that our students deserve our support, I support President Obama.

I think that when choosing a president,the choice for vice president should be given considerable thought.  Joe Biden has a lot of experience in the government.  I believe that he showed this during his debate with Paul Ryan.  I also believe that he respects hard-working Americans, women, and the men and women that serve or have served our country.  I believe that during his time in politics he has worked to make this country better for everyone, not just himself.  I believe him to be honest, to have integrity and to have empathy.  I believe that if we needed a Vice President to step up and lead the country he would do a better job than Paul Ryan who supported ending Medicare as we know it, cutting food stamps, and voted for a bill that would have allowed anyone involved to refuse to perform an abortion for any reason, even if the life of the woman needing the abortion was in danger.  Because I think we need to plan for disasters, I support Vice President Joe Biden.

Finally, I am a nerd.  I have always been a nerd. I love numbers and facts and I make most of my decisions based on facts.  This election, like most elections I have witnessed, has been full of negative campaigning.  I strive to find out the facts behind the sound bites and the facts that I have been able to find point to both candidates quoting the facts in ways that make them look better or their oppenent look worse.  However, Romney seems to do this to an extreme and seems to feel no need to even stick to the facts at times.  Although some misrepresentation of facts is going to happen, particularly in debates where a candidate could simply misspeak, Romney's mistakes just seem too extreme to not be considered misleading or untruthful.  One example was when Romney tried to depict himself as wanting to produce jobs for women.  First of all, he did not lead a search for qualified women for his cabinet; a nonpartisan coalition of women's groups did because in 2002 women held only 30 percent of the top appointed positions in Massachusetts.  Also, while Romney was governor the number of high-level appointed positions held by women fell 27.6 percent.  Secondly Romney has opposed numerous policies striving for pay equity, such as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.  Finally, when he ran for governor in 2002, Romney told voters, “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose.”  Now he says, “I’m a pro-life candidate and I’ll be a pro-life president.” Romney does not mention that his stance has changed or why.  Because I believe honesty is the best policy, I cannot in good faith support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Thanks,
Denise

By the way, I purposely left the whole job argument out because to me it truly is not important.  Economists say that no matter who is elected 12 million jobs will be created in the next four years. I am sure in four years someone will be trying to take credit for them though.  I saw this chart and thought it was a good look at what has actually happened with jobs since Obama took office.

Another Busy Weekend

Life in the Phillips' household is continuing at a breakneck speed.  Last weekend Brian and I both worked, we went birthday gift shopping, we went to Gavin's birthday party, we went apple picking (and rode the ponies), and we went to the library.  The kids were exhausted at the end of the weekend, but very happy.

A couple of funny stories:
Mackenzie blurted out "O M G" in the car the other day. Needless to say, Brian and I are too old to talk in text acronyms, but we thought it was pretty funny that Mackenzie did it. We asked if she knew what OMG stood for (she used it in the proper context) and she said no, so we explained that it meant "Oh my goodness".

Brian was home with the kids and Isacc came tearing by him in his Woody cowboy hat, one Woody rain boot and one fireman rain boot and his underwear. Brian suggested to him that he put on some pants and Isaac explained, "Cowboys don't wear pants!" Brian turned on parental controls on Netflix, just in case.

Trip Back to Chicago

The kids had their first trip back to Chicago since we moved and they had a great weekend.

We left Friday night and stopped in Shipshewana for the night.  We had gone to Splash Universe there before and we thought going to a waterpark would be fun and would wear them out Saturday morning before the drive to Chicago in the afternoon.  The kids had a blast at the waterpark.  It has been a while since we went to one and this one is the perfect size for their age now.  Mackenzie loved swimming in the lazy river and going down the big tube slides.  Isaac still likes the smaller slide in the toddler pool, but he tried the bigger slides in the "bucket" section (where there is a bucket that dumps every few minutes). He even went down the big tube slide with me once.  He didn't like it so much (it was very dark for a good portion of the slide, since the slide goes outside and we tried it out Friday night).  However, for Isaac he has made huge strides at the waterpark.  When we went to this waterpark when he was still a baby he pretty much cried and sat in Grandpa's lap the whole time :)

Saturday we headed over to Chicago.  We got there in time to check into the hotel Brian and I were staying in that night, to go to the grocery store and get Isaac some milkless snacks, and to go to Pollo Campero for dinner.  If you have never heard of Pollo Campero, it is a fast food restaurant that is actually based in Guatemala and serves fried chicken, black beans and rice that the kids love.  Mackenzie is a particularly big fan.  When we told the kids we were headed there, I am not sure they remembered what it was, but once we got there they remembered.  Mackenzie didn't stop eating the whole time we were there, in fact she was still finishing up the bowl of beans as we were clearing the table.

The bowl was one of the sides for the family, but I am pretty sure Mackenzie ate 3/4 of the bowl.

I didn't think to take any pictures of the kids when we dropped them off for their sleepover at Granny's Corner.  Mackenzie was super excited, but Isaac was a bit hesitant when we left him.  I am not sure he remembered Granny's Corner very well.

Then Brian and I headed to the ND vs. Miami game at Soldier Field.  We had a great time at the game, particularly since the Irish won and are now 5-0.

 

The next morning we headed back to Granny's Corner to pick up the kids and to go to brunch at the George's new house.  Of course the kids did not want to leave.  Mackenzie got to spend the entire sleepover with Sophia, who was one of the three baby girls at Granny's Corner with Mackenzie from the time she was six weeks old.  I asked Mackenzie how Isaac did and she said that he cried the whole time.  Granny said that he did fine once he got used to being there.  Isaac said he cried a little when he went to sleep and when he woke up.  He told me that when he woke up Granny gave him sausage and he calmed down. 

We all had a great time at the George's for brunch.  We got to see their new house in Oak Park and hang out with the Georges, the Conn's and the Schultz's.  All in all there were 8 adults and 9 kids there.  The kids all played really nicely together.  I had gotten some small pumpkins for all of the kids before we went over in the hopes that I could bribe them with the pumpkins to get them all to sit together.  It worked pretty well, but unfortunately I am not a very good photographer.  I thought the pictures looked okay on the camera when I took them, but when I downloaded them they were really dark.  Hopefully someone else got a better shot.

From left to right: Isaac, Mackenzie, Abigail, Ben, Sydney, Isobel, Noah and Vivienne.  Milo is still a bit small to sit for the picture.

 Here are a couple shots of Isaac and Isobel playing together.  They may not remember, but they were cohorts at Granny's Corner together.  Miss Terry used to tell me that she would put all of the infant/toddlers down for their naps together and after she left the room Isobel and Isaac would stand up (there pack 'n plays were next to each other) and chat and keep each other up.  If she opened the door they would plop back down : )

 Vivienne decided to join in the fun as well:

 

Meanwhile, Mackenzie was playing upstairs with Ben and Noah.  The three of them definitely remembered playing together in the past.  Here is a shot of Mackenzie and Ben with a wagon full of pumpkins that they got up the stairs together:



 

Here is a shot of all of the babies born after we left Chicago, with their moms.
From left to right: Jenn and Abigail, Laura and Sydney, and Amber and Milo.



Later Isobel and Isaac joined the party upstairs.  Evidently Mackenzie convinced the boys to clean their room up (and she helped) in order to decorate for Halloween, which then became decorating for a birthday party.  Then they decided that it should be a surprise party.  So they would all hide in the room and then ask the adults to come up and when we opened the door they would yell "Surprise!"  The kids did this a number for times for different groups of adults.  It never got old for them.

When I was upstairs with them, the kids wanted to take pictures.  Here is Mackenzie's shot of Isobel with her pumpkin (she didn't quite get the pumpkin in the shot):

 Here is Mackenzie's shot of Ben with his pumpkin.  She told Ben to hold up the pumpkin so that she was sure to get it in his shot:

 Here is Ben's shot of Mackenzie with her pumpkin:

 Here is Isaac's shot of Noah with his pumpkin:

The kids didn't want to leave the George's either, but it was time to head back to Chicago.  The kids were pretty exhausted and slept most of the way home and then went to bed on time and slept in this morning.  I think they had all the fun that they could handle.  Hopefully Granny will invite us back for the next sleep over so we can do it again!

So Much Going On

It has been a long time since I updated the blog and a lot has been going on.  Today I had a mini-go-live.  We put in a PeopleTools Patch to our system, so I have been at work most of the day. I am feeling pretty relieved to have that done. 

Last weekend my parents came down with Lexie and stayed with the kids so that Brian, Butch and I could drive over South Bend and meet Tammy and go to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan Prime Time (aka late) game.  It was fun to be in the stadium for the night game and it was awesome that Notre Dame won, even if ND won because Michigan kept giving us the ball whenever they got close to the end zone. 

Mackenzie is doing really well at school.  She brings home handwriting everyday and also does a lot of coloring.  She seems to really like her teacher, Mrs. Zuchowski.  She is enjoying having gym and being independent at lunch and getting to punch in a code to buy her milk.  She also likes when they get to go to the library.  She says she doesn't like anything else, but I think she just gets tired of being asked. 

When we got back from Chicago she wrote this for me:

Awesome!

Mackenzie is also going to gymnastics twice a week.  One of her classes is a half an hour of gymnastics and then a half an hour of ballet.  She literally gets on the bouncy floor and doesn't stop bouncing until class is over, except to do whatever task they ask.  She really seems to like the crab walk. 

Isaac can start gymnastics when he is four.  For now he is really enjoying his class at daycare and he seems to like having alone time with Mom or Dad when the other takes Mackenzie to gymnastics.  He is an extremely busy boy.  He doesn't slow down all day, both his body and his mouth.  He has also decided that he doesn't always need a nap and honestly he seems to do fine without one.  I can't believe that he is three and a half.

Next week we are headed to Chicago for the Notre Dame vs. Miami game at Soldier Field.  When Brian and I went back to Chicago 2 weeks ago for the Estonian show we went to the old house to dig up hostas and day lilies and we stopped by Granny's Corner.  We mentioned that we were going to try and bring the kids the weekend of the game if we could find a babysitter.  Lucky us, Granny's Corner has decided to have a sleepover the night of the game, so the kids are going to spend the night with some friends while we go to the game!  Seriously, Granny's Corner is the best daycare ever.

Busy Birthday Weekend

The kids and I had a very busy weekend.  Friday was Mackenzie's birthday so we got to do birthday presents and have cake that night, which is always fantastic.

Brian was working the rest of the weekend so it was just the three of us most of the time.  Saturday morning we went grocery shopping.  The kids were very good at the store in order to ensure they got their treat, Pop Tarts.  The kids used to ask for Pop Tarts a lot because other kids at day care got Pop Tarts for breakfast.  I have never thought that Pop Tarts were a very good breakfast, but I have gotten them for them at other times so they could have them for dessert.  In the past they have never really liked them once they got them and Brian and I have always ended up eating the extra calories.  Well the page seems to have turned on Pop Tarts at our house and the kids loved them when they had them as their treat yesterday.  Now if only I could avoid them somehow . . .

After grocery shopping we went to watch Carson play soccer, and to wish Aunt Shannon a happy birthday.  While we were at the soccer game we were very close to a playground and the kids thought that going to the playground would be more fun than watching the soccer game.  I told them that we were there to watch the soccer game, but that we could probably go to the playground the following day, since it is almost in their cousin's backyard.  They weren't too keen on the idea yesterday, but they were very excited about it this morning. 

Here is a shot of the kids at the playground with their cousins:

They had a fantastic time at the playground and afterward playing in the Rogers' yard while we waited to see Grandma and Grandpa and wish Nathan a happy birthday.  This afternoon Mackenzie and mom did a little sewing whil Isaac played with MagnaTiles and I think that everyone is going to sleep well tonight.

I almost forgot that Isaac and I watched Notre Dame beat Purdue while Mackenzie hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's Saturday afternoon.  Go Irish!

First Day of School & Sewing

Mackenzie started school today. It was a little weird to watch her get on the us at daycare and go to work and not see her at her school at all. I didn't ride the bus to school, so maybe that is why it was weird for me.

Grandpa Butch picked the kids up from CDC this afternoon and when I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to pick them up (a very tired) Mackenzie wanted to spend the night at Grandma's.  I thought that maybe she should come home so I reminded her that her new sewing machine was waiting for her.  So after dinner we got her Pixie unpacked and set up.  Fortunately Aunt Bonnie (who gave Mackenzie the Pixie for her birthday) had it pre-threaded so we just had to plug the foot pedal in and plug it into the wall and it was ready to go. 

 

 Mackenzie did a couple of practice runs and then wanted to make something.  Isaac got some leftover robot fabric out of the closet.  It had been used to make a beanbag for Thomas and Nicholas and it was cut in an interesting shape and I thought it might make a decent bag so off Mackenzie went with me helping to guide the fabric.  She gave it to Isaac and he thought it made a good hat:

Then it was decided that the bag needed handles so back we went to the sewing machine.  We found an extra piece of long fabric from Isaac's quilt and sewed a tube, turned it right side out and attached it as a handle.  Here is Mackenzie modelling the new bag:

 

Isaac still thinks that it is a great hat, now with chin straps :)  Mackenzie has all kinds of ideas for other things she wants to sew.  I think a pillowcase is next . . .