Mia is 4 mo...

okay- so she isn't technically 4 months (she is older now) but I am off this week and scheduled her check up for when I was off... so she is more like 4 months and a few days! Anyway, we had a every exciting check up. She is growing and a healthy chicky. She weighs a huge 10lbs. 2oz, her height is 24 in 1/8, and her head is 15 1/2 cm. Just perfect...but a little small. Her weight came across as a low percentage so we have to "watch" her growth. Kadyn and Gaby were both the same way and look at them now. This month has been exciting. She is smiling with purpose, laughing really hard when we do "tricks", and is starting chatter more and more. Other new adventures are the bumbo seat, rattles, and her soft bunny. It is so fun going back through all of the firsts that an infant does. Such a wonderful gift!

Christmas Eve at the Fluke's

Christmas Eve has always been when Dorsett-Fluke get together for Christmas. The family comes over, we eat lots of snack type foods and unwrap presents. This Christmas Eve marks 3 years that Dustin and I moved in to our current house and have hosted this event. I remember our first Christmas like it was yesterday. We had our couch, chair, tree, gifts and beds. I often refer to that Christmas as our "Charlie Brown" Christmas. It was simple yet one of my favorite Christmas' ever.
This year we had everyone down; Mat, Amy, Reese, Leo-Leo, Grammy, Papa, Great-Grandma, Dustin, Laura, Gaby, Kadyn, and Mia. It is always such a treat to have everyone here to celebrate. However, my favorite part is watching my girls tear into their gifts with such anticipation. Such an awesome parent feeling! Here are some pictures of our gift feast! Enjoy!

Our spread of food (my dad and brother doing something)

Grammy and Santa Mia

Mia is showing of her gifts. She received 2 pairs of shoes, lots of outfits, and some great toys for when she is a little older!

Gaby is posing in her new shirt and Wii PJ pants. I bought Dustin a pair of Wii pajamas and Gaby was so upset she wasn't getting any- so I luckily found some pants in the boy section, they were a hit! Go mom!

Gaby and her make up set from Grammy and Papa!

Kadyn and her tower of gifts- she had a Barbie themed Christmas this year!

Matt, Leo, Amy and Grammy

Here I am getting ready to pass out the gifts- it took longer to pass them out then to unwrap!

Mia and Leo doing some time...tummy time that is! I think Mia is trying to figure out who is laying next to her! I love this picture!

After everyone is gone and we are winding down, we go outside and spread Reindeer Food in the yard to help make sure Santa stops at our house! (This year we made ours at Dawn's place) We also sat out a special treat for Santa...Dr.Pepper, candied pecans, chips, fudge, and an apple. Not the normal plate of food but we figure the big man get milk and cookies from a lot of house- we're into making our own traditions!!!

Santa picture...

Another tradition we take part in is Santa pictures. When growing up my mom used to take us to the mall Santa. And to this day, I have continued this with Gaby, Kadyn and Mia. Gaby has never been scared of Santa but used this time to make sure Santa knew what she wanted for Christmas. This year she even wrote out a list and drew pictures for him. Kadyn on the other hand was different. For a month she has been saying that Santa will bring her hungry, hungry hippos. When we got to the mall- she froze. We were doing good to get Kadyn to stand by the sleigh. Then there is Mia- this is her first Christmas and picture with Santa. She didn't smile, but she wasn't scared.

Looking at the Santa picture I see that I have 3 beautiful blessings. Each with different and one of a kind traits that make them wonderful.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, I am looking forward to my week off to spend time with Dustin and the girls. Until next next time!

Christmas party

Today was our daycare party! We had it today so everyone could participate. We ate, read stories, ate, danced to Christmas music, ate, did a craft, unwrapped daycare presents and ate. I must take a moment and say I have wonderful parents. They have made this holiday season a fun for me and the kids. I am truly spoiled. The parents brought gifts for the daycare and treats to share with everyone! Let me just say, I am glad I am doing Jazzercise or my waist would still be expanding! We had chips and cheese, popcorn, rice krispies treats, and BBQ beanie weenies. Yummo! That was just for our snacks!

Here are the kids getting my present to them. One of my friends had a great idea to make knot blankets for everyone. This idea seemed great until I started cutting and knotting...12 blankets later...whew! I was complaining and they almost did not get finished. But, I have to admit when I brought them out and they each have their own design they were excited. I was not sure how they would react to a blanket but they made all of the work truly worth it! I started hearing, "Laura I cold, I need my blanket" and "you made dis for me?". It was a fun time to watch! And, I do have to give Dustin some credit also, we spent 3 late nights working on these- he would cut and I would knot. Then he would feel sorry for me and knot with me. These wouldn't be finish without him as well!

The last 2 years we have not drawn names for daycare presents. I know it is hard to buy a gift for a child that your child knows but the parent may not. So, I have made it totally optional but if you want to do a gift buy one for the daycare, that way every child in my care will get use from the gift! Again-wonderful parents- Here are the items we received for the kids! Dress up uniforms, wooden blocks, Leap Frog reading DVD, and construction paper. You guys went above and beyond! You guys rock! As Gaby would say, "I am sugar happy" right now!

This was are party craft. This took us some time. First we traced everyones hands and then the kids helped glue on the hands, eyes, and nose! The "antlers" didn't stay on the back as well so I had to re-do it the hot glue. They are really excited about the Rodolph candy holders. They are adorable! Or, maybe it is the candy inside they are excited about-either way...cute!

Gaby wasn't able to be at our holiday party but she was excited to spread some Christmas cheer at school. While running errands last night we picked up a Santa hat for her to wear to school.

Every year my gift to the parents are the same. As everyone knows, I love taking pictures. We do a lot of fun things everyday so when I can, I try to capture it with the camera. I know first hand it is hard to drop your children off everyday and know there is a part of their day you are missing. And because of that I print off the entire year of daycare pictures for each child, put them in an album for my moms and dad. It is a fun project to do, the parents love it, and you see how much each child had grown and developed in one year.
The Christmas season is off to a great start! 7 more days to go! Enjoy it while you can and thank you all for making the daycare party an awesome one!

My peeps!

Today I am writing about my "small group" because they are the best group of woman I have ever come into contact with. They bring me up when I am down (or have lost a Walmart sack that has daycare supplies in it), they encourage, they support, they send FB flair, they do not judge but offer advice, and they love ya no matter what.
I know God placed each of these woman in my life for a certain reason as they each bring a different attribute to the group. It becomes a priority for us to get together and stay in touch as we all need each other.
We are a spunky, sassy, funny, and cute group of ladies. Each of us are in different places in life. Some are entering teenage years with their children, some are shuttling school aged kids to sporting actives, some home school, some work from home, some are far away and some are giving birth and starting all over again. As much as each of us have going on, we always make time for each other! We are all bonded by a sunflower tattoo as well. Something permanent to remind us that we are always there for each other. I love you all for everything you do. Brandi, Laine, Allison, Lisa, Laura R, and Dawn...you are so very special to me! What a group!

Baby, it's cold outside!

This weekend was Topeka Bible Church's annual Christmas light show! This is truly a cool thing that takes place! The side of the building is covered with lights, there are live musicians playing in the windows, a local station listen to the live music, parking attendants, computer nerds (insert Dustin here) , and then there was me! This year I got to be a part of the hospitality crew. I was so excited that my sister in law agreed to watch our girls so Dustin and I both could be apart of such a huge out reach event!
Saturday was great! The weather was nice, people had windows down, we talked to people as we passed out surveys and glow sticks. It was awesome!
Sunday night was a different story- still a fun time but not so much as the night before. On Sunday during the last three shows, it was 4 degrees outside. That is freakin' cold! No matter how many layers of clothing you have on! I had my "leading people to Jesus coat on" (aka my 15.00 brown coat that I justified buying since I was going to be outside), long underwear, sweatshirt, long sleeve shirt, 2 pairs of socks, and boats... and still couldn't feel my legs/toes most of the night! As Brain (our worship paster) puts it, "the hospitably crew took one for the team" and we were the "frozen chosen".

(This was my cute glove and scarf set) This was what I looked like after the first show...note the red cheeks! That smile is frozen on! 2 hours later and I still have it on my face!

After each show, we stood in a line and waved to everyone as they left!

Below is Dustin's cave...note the difference in climates. Above I am dressed head to toe in winter wear, below people are wearing short sleeved shirts, no hats, no gloves! Hum, I wonder who had it harder tonight??? This is the "monkey crew" that makes the show happen.

wrapping gifts...

Last night after the kids went to bed, Dustin and I started to wrap gifts for our family. We drug in all the Target, Kohl's, and Mall shopping bags. Once we sorted gifts this is what my kitchen looked like. Department stores have thrown up in my house. Barbie's, shirts, DVD's everywhere.
I must admit even though it was after midnight before I went to bed, I was excited to wrap the gifts and get them under the tree. The true joy will be when the girls open their gifts Christmas Eve.

My first elf in charge...helping out with Mia's new toy!
Such a cute elf!

I can not wait for Kadyn to open her toys... she is getting into the Barbie dolls ect. Most of her gifts are Barbie related. I played with Barbie's much longer then I should had, I loved them. So to get K her first Barbie house and furniture set was a special time for me. I so love having girls! And this kitchen set is soo cool- it even has green pots and pans! Love it!

Here are some of the adult gifts. I love doing something simple and adding ribbon or a bow. I was pleased with how these turned out. Simple and cute, that is how I roll!

Well, there is a peak into what I have been doing the last 24 hours. I am happy that things are almost finished so I can relax during the holiday season and enjoy my family! Enjoy!

Our snowy day

Our theme this week is Winter/Christmas. And, just as I had it in the lessons, it snowed for our "snow flake" project. I know, great planning, huh??!! It cracks me up to relive things through the eyes of children. Once one child noticed the snow, all of the where back by the door looking out to see the flakes. After the initial running and banging into the door took place, we took turns so we all could it the snow, and the little ones could have a turn too.

Here is H working on her snowflake ornament. We had a dark blue paint and white, we mixed it together to make a lighter shade of blue. The older ones really like to see how things change.

This is my artsy view of our snowflakes as the dried... oh so pretty, if I do say so myself. And they will look that much better on the tree.

I know I do a lot of ornaments this time of year- as an adult those hand made ornaments (that I made 25 years ago) have become one of my favorite things that hang on the tree. I know they don't always look like much now but in years to come they will. I hope you enjoy them! They were so fun to make!


Okay- this picture has nothing to do with our snow theme but I am just excited that Mia is starting to like the bumbo chair and she is grabbing some of her toys now!

Parent night out!

Last Friday I kept the daycare open until 10pm for the parents to have a night out. This is my way of thanking my parents. Some parents finished Christmas shopping, went to holiday parties, or stayed at home and slept on the couch. While the parents were away, the kids and I played. We had a fun night of pizza, crafts, and movies. Here are some of our pictures from our late night!

Here is Gaby and her friend Chloe

After we were finished with our pizza and crafts, we all got into our PJ's for some popcorn and Christmas movies!

Here is little A finishing up her 2nd piece of pizza... she was a happy mess!

J and I are working on his glass ornament. We squirted paint and glitter inside glass bulbs. It has a neat tie dye effect when you are finished!

Here is C getting ready to shake the bulb. I had to explain to shake lightly so the bulb wouldn't brake!

After the daycare kids went home, Dawn (my best goodest friend that helped me on Friday) and I toasted (by doing a shot) to a successful evening. All the parents had a great night, the kids did had a blast, and my parent night is done...until next year that is!!!!

The busy season!

Let me just start out by saying, I am a bit of a control freak. I love the Christmas season yet it stresses me out to no end. Getting the house decorated, getting the tree up, and then making sure it is all kid friendly! Do you ever feel like you are never "caught up"??? Holy Moly that is where I am at. I am not caught up on laundry, I am not caught up on dishes, and I am not caught up on food shopping (don't worry, you're kids will be fed lunch tomorrow). So, I am feeling a little out of control. It is times like this, I remember a bible study lesson that was for busy moms. The assignment was to make a "to-do" list... that isn't hard, I have about 20 of them, then take each item and pray about it. When I do this, my list become so much easier to tackle and I feel that God is in control and that is where it should be. I have to remind myself of this, it doesn't come easy because, again, I want the control. Anyway, as I am re-doing my never ending list, I am praying about it.

Another reason I fall behind is my three young kids: Gaby, Kadyn, and Mia! Last night we had a fun evening getting the tree finish up with the last step, decorating it! Here are some festive pictures of our night! Hope you are having a wonderful winter day!

So far, Mia is such a good sport, she'll smile and giggle when we start taking pictures.

The girls in action- you can tell there is one branch K decorated, there are about 20 bulbs on one branch.

Gaby by the tree- Yes! Her pants are wet- we had been posing for pictures but the floor was wet from the tree water spilling...Nice!

This one is a favorite of mine- KK and I by the tree! Kadyn is so hard to get a good smile out of so most of her pictures are giggling and goofy!

My nugget is getting big!

Within the last 7 days Mia, my lil nugget has shown signs of growing up. She has started focusing on objects intensely, started eating cereal for dinner, and just tonight rolled over tummy to back about 6 times (then was really tired). Mia is 3 1/2 months old. Here are some pictures of her awesome achievements.

Mia the cereal face... second time eating it. She is a tiny bit picky, it has to be a certain
way before she'll start chowing down on it!!

Step one: head up young person...

Step 2: arm out, side tilted to the side, other arm tucked in...

Step 3: Back legs up, body tilted, arm still out...

Step 4: Mission accomplished! Mia has rolled over completely!!!

Gingerbread Math

Today we did some math and science activities with our theme. This was our math time today. I took the outline of the gingerbread man and put all numbers on the sheet. The directions were to circle the number "8" (number of the week). I went over the instructions one time and let them at it. I will be honest, I was not expecting much from this activity. I thought there would be circles on every number, kids coloring the entire sheet, or just nothing at all!

I was busting out the seems when I saw that my three year olds were doing it. They were circling the correct numbers! And if that wasn't enough, they were discussing it with their friends. I heard: "Dis isn't an 8, dis is a free" and "I count to 8 not to 5" and "I sawed an 8 here, do you got that one?"

Anyway, I thought I would share an awesome moment here at the daycare! Hope everyone is having a rock star day!

Gingerbread day!

This weeks' theme is G is for Gingerbread! We made a spice playdough, made cinnamon gingerbread ornaments, and colored a gingerbread man and glued buttons on his front! The kids had a blast this morning as we completed the activities. They even acted out the story of "Gingerbread Man" by running around and pretending to take bites out of each other... it was pretty funny to watch!

Our color sheet... then we added glue dots, picked out buttons, and glued them on our little gingerbread guys! So simple yet so cute!

Above: is the group getting ready to help me make the playdough!

Starting the steps in making our doughs...

Everyone had a special job...pouring, measuring, stirring!

More pouring...

Now for the fun part... playing in the dough! We had a great morning as we explored our some of our senses, used fine motor skills, and even got a little messy!!
I must admit, this is a fun week of lessons!

Real woman talk about weight!!!

Yes! I am posting about my weight and how frustrated I am in how things are going! I have always been a chunky monkey and to this point I have been happy with a little junk in my trunk. Recently, I lost about 30lbs with the birth of my baby in August. And with that 30lbs I went down 4 jean sizes. I was so freakin' happy! And, thought I could keep on, keeping on. I thought since I had lost 30, I could keep it going and lose another 30. Well, I have quickly learned that when I am not pregnant and puking every morning, I GAIN WEIGHT! Can some one please tell me how I can chase after 8 kids infants, toddlers, and preschoolers all day and still be gaining weight??? Come on now, this isn't right! I am frustrated because I have been creeping back up slowly. I am up about 8 lbs from when I started. I want to start walking (Santa can I PLEASE have a fold up treadmill???) but now it is freezing and dark when I have time. I want to join the gym that is up the street but don't want to take time away from my family to go in the evenings ( I know- I am whining because I could try to go in the morning but I struggling to get out of bed by 6:40). Then I find out there is a Jazzerise (?) up the street from me but again, butt crack of dawn wake up time and with an infant still getting up, I am still needing all the sleep I can get, I even asked a friend to have a weekly weigh in as motivation...so, I think I am just going to be fat the rest of my life! I already have my "true" friends, I am already married, and I am just happier when I can eat! So, there it is..! And then, if the weight gain isn't bad enough, after my meltdown last night I went to Dillons (after already doing my weekly shopping at Walmart) and drop another 65.00 of healthy crap that doesn't fill me up! So, today is a new day,I got over my "I will be fat" stage and decided I will continue to lose weight! I had a bagel, cream cheese and a diet milkshake for breakfast. Then for lunch I had a diet soda and 3 sugar cookies with icing on it! See- I can't go one day without breaking my own will! I am weak! I need help! I need motivation!!!

Here is why my waistband is expanding!!!
Cute little kids with cookies and yummies all over them!

These really have nothing to do with my weight issues but we made cookies Saturday night and we had such fun decorating them and of course eating them!!!