Time to tie up some loose ends...

We vote on our union contract this week. Hopefully there will be enough votes to pass. It's going to be close. I don't want to lose pay either, but I'd rather keep a full-time job. Our meeting is Wednesday. Should be very interesting.

John heard about his job. (We were unsure he'd have a job after the first of the year.) He's still there. Which is good! Apparently he's "ok" until the end of March. Then, we don't know. Again.

But then this week... a new wrinkle. (It's seriously, never ending!) His employer though has basically "transferred" all of their contract employees to a new contract house. He keeps his same assignment, but new company for the benefits. We finally heard today that he will keep his same pay (a 20% pay cut prior to this point should have been way more than enough, but it's not up to me, right?) and vacation, so that's a plus. He has a meeting tomorrow to hear more and to hopefully get the enrollment package for the benefits we do use.

Alexa and Ava have a new found addiction for Harry Potter movies. Seriously? I have no idea why. We've watched three of them in the last four days.

We're taking Ava for a speech evaluation next week. I don't know if she is really behind (she is hard to understand) but it won't hurt to get an evaluation. I'm just not telling my dad until AFTER it's over. Because, his babies are perfect (which I know!) and there is nothing wrong with Ava. I will hear that for the next ten days if I tell him now.

Alexa has decided that when she goes to kindergarten, (I need to figure out when I register her) she is going to get a boyfriend. So not ready for this.

MLK day message (yes, I'm a day behind)

They talked about this at day care.
"Mama, we colored that boy's picture today. I can't remember his name." "Was it Martin Luther King?"
"Yeah. He said to be nice and not fight. If you fight, your toys could break."

Snow.

I think this picture is a good representation of our area.

12 inches of untouched snow on the play house. And that's probably only what's fallen in the last week or so. I'm so over winter.

p.s. it was -15 on Friday morning. brrrrr, freaking brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

-11 degrees at our house this morning.

Seriously? Unnecessarily cold.

Some new layouts.

I've spent some time in my scrap area (basement). Here's what I've been up to:
I'm eagerly awaiting my first kit from Apron Strings Designs. I signed up for the "Smaller than a Bread Box" kit. Waiting until the March kit when I'm supposed to design is much too long. ;) Kits are just starting to ship now (mid-month kit), so there is still time to sign up!

Barbie birthday party

Saturday, amongst the several inches of blowing snow, we had Alexa's 5th birthday party. She chose "Barbie" as the theme. If you've never seen "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" there is a Princess Alexa in the movie. 'Nuff said. She had a blast with her cousins and enjoyed her favorite meal and dessert (pizza and cupcakes). Alexa has to pick out her own clothes:

Pink halter dress (always stylish in the winter), white sweater, pink party hat, Tinkerbell socks and black dress shoes.

This girl is allllllll about the clothes. Total girl.

You can't beat ice cream cake and cupcakes:

She doesn't look too excited does she?

I still can't believe my baby is 5!

It's been awhile...

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I've neglected my blog. :(

This week we went back to work and daycare. By last Thursday, Alexa was missing her friends.

Say a small (or large) prayer. We may learn tomorrow if jobs are being cut or if our union contract was accepted. The thought of losing my job is actually numbing.

On to some happier stuff, I've loaded some holiday pictures of the girls. They loooooved Christmas. It was a wonderful holiday.

I just love these pictures.

Saturday, we are celebrating Alexa's 5th birthday. Looking forward to an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. :) I've been working on a banner and some pink and purple party hats. In Alexa's world, you can never have too much pink and purple. Hopefully, I can get them finished by Saturday!