Week after Christmas

Things are getting quiet now that Christmas is over. We're spending some time relaxing, because I only have this week left before school starts. Killian is enjoying spending so much time at home, though I've learned of some naughty habits he's picked up from daycare. I need to work on restoring those manners immediately.

I finished painting his stool. Now I need to move onto his book cases. You can see his classic pooh theme. :)

I made my first truly successful batch of mozzarella, because I finally got thick enough gloves that allowed me to stretch the cheese at 150 degrees. We had it on homemade pizza tonight, delicious :) In addition, I made some great cheesy bread which was almost as good as cheesy bread we used to buy from a little bakery in Wild Rose.

So.. here's my new year's resolution and my promise to myself and all of you, I will lose all my baby weight by the END of April. I WILL do it. :)

Shortest Day of the Year

Well today was the winter solstice.. the shortest day of the year :) I was hoping to get Killian outside today to celebrate spring's eminent arrival, but I spent about 3 hours in the doctors office and getting a prescription filled. It turns out, I have bronchitis. And.. since I've ignored it for 5 weeks.. my body is ready to collapse. I literally feel like I was hit by a truck, and then ran a marathon. So.. no fun outside activities for us.

However, we do have all our Christmas shopping done... and we're down to 3 days before Christmas. WOW!! We're spending Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family, and Christmas day with my mom, her mom, and her sister. I can't wait for this year's Christmas. Now that Killian understands what presents are, and knows how to open them, this Christmas should be fun to watch his face light up :) Today I splurged and bought him a few more presents to open, since he only had one for the actual day of Christmas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!

Vacation here we come...

Well.. I'm finally done with school for 2 whole weeks! Sadly, I still have lots to do. I need to get scholarship applications/papers/letters ready, I would like to paint Killian's stool and two bookshelves, I need to strip the wallpaper off my mom's room, paint it all one color, then paint a mural on one wall, get some more felt board stories done, and so much more around the house. It seems like I have endless amount of activities going on.

Killian and I have  both been in bad moods the last couple days, which made today kind of a hectic day. I have been sick for 6 weeks, and I think Killian is starting to feel upset with me for not being on my game. :( Tomorrow, we have a play date for making gingerbread cookies. :) I'm hoping our vacation goes a little bit better over the next couple of weeks.

Hope to see all my  family members soon. :)

Killian's Christmas book

So here's the book I made for a class... and decided to do it for Killian. It's touchy-feely (his favorite). Here's the cover of the book :) I'll put photos on here from cover to end:

So.. not caldecott award worthy- But I think Killian will like it. :)

Winter is here

Well.. December is here, and winter is finally coming to Wisconsin. (though I'd be okay with Summer all year long). I only have 2 (count them), weeks left of school! Alot of my finals are projects that I've already completed, so the next two weeks shouldn't be too hectic. Killian and I do have a court date on Wednesday the 9th with Killian's dad to establish paternity. That's going to be an extremely tense, unpleasant, and emotionally draining time. I will be happy when all this court stuff is over with. Anyone who's thinking of us on Wednesday around 1:30, please pray that it goes alright.

On a happier note, December brought Killian's Advent calendar.. where he gets a present a day. So far, he's gotten two train cars, a play kitchen (that's his only big ticket item), a toy lap top, and an afternoon at the children's museum with mommy. It's only been 5 days, but he already knows the routine of it. Today, the only thing in the slot was a note saying I was taking him to the Children's Museum, so I didn't have him open the drawer. He, however, remembered that we hadn't opened a drawer today, and got very upset until I let him. :) He's such a smart cookie.

I'm hoping to get some furniture painted in the two weeks off of school I have.. especially since it was supposed to be done over the summer! (Oopps :) )

In addition, Killian started sitting on the 'potty' last weekend. :) He doesn't know yet what he's supposed to do while on it.. but he gets excited to sit on it.

So Much to be Thankful For

Well the last week and a half has been SO busy... and the busy doesn't stop until Dec. 26th! School has been piling on homework, and Stubby got sick this week so I haven't had time to sit down and write a blog. But here's one for the night before thanksgiving!
Some of the very many things I have to be grateful for this year:
1. I have a healthy, happy son.
2. I have a healthy, loving family that supports me.
3. I am able to go to school to fulfill my dream. :)
4. I am able to stay home with Killian half days 2 days a week, one whole day and the weekend. :)
5. I have a naughty dog who is a second child to me. (and is costing me dearly this holiday season).
6. I was able to spend a week with my sister, brother in law, and nephew this summer. Sadly, this may not happen again for a long time now that they're in Alaska.
7. I spent three AMAZING months being a stay-at-home mom for Killian this summer.
8.  I have a wonderful home where Killian and I are safe and happy.
9. Killian and I have enough food, clothing, and toys :)
10. I was born in a time where a mother can raise her child alone without being scoffed at. (it may not be EASY, but it can be done, :) )

When I think about all the less fortunate people out there, I feel ashamed about the many times I've complained about something trivial such as not being able to buy new clothes this year. I am thankful that I'm alive and able to watch Killian grow up into a wonderful man.

I hope all of you have a safe, happy thanksgiving. Remember all that you have!
Love,

Stephanie

Busy busy busy

Well this last week was so busy, and the weekend has been as well. Killian and I both have a bad cough, and I've been extra tired lately. We got some shopping done this weekend so we wouldn't have to venture out next weekend with the mob. :)

Killian has learned some new tricks this week such as saying "hide", climbing onto the furniture, saying "more", and doing the hand motions to "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee". We're going to spend as much time outside today as possible, since I've been so busy with school, we only got out once last week.

We are so looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend, even though I have a million projects to get done that week. It'll just be wonderful to have Killian for 5 days :) That's the week that I'm taking bottles out of our house as well.. so screaming here we come. :)

Slow week.. busy weekend

Well, the rest of our week went along pretty slowly. Nothing too marvelous happened except that I finally got a laptop for work, so I spend two hours last night working from home :) My goal is that I'll only need to go into work on MWF, leaving Thursdays open to spend with Killian all day:) This weekend though is turning out to be pretty busy.

It's SO beautiful outside that I can't decide what I want to do with Killian. We spent the morning at the Mom and Pop Place like we do every Saturday, though today we met Megan and her daughter Maddie there. :) That was nice to catch up. Killian kept trying to tickle Maddie's feet like I do to him. :) He'd make such a great big brother. This afternoon it's between biking to the park and going to my mom's house for a walk and pony time. It's a hard decision.

Tomorrow we need to run a few errands... like picking up diapers and mittens :) After nap, we're going over to Brandi's house for a play date. I'm sure Killian will love that because they have a whole play room for him to run around in. :)

Yesterday, Killian wore a sweater that I knit for him the end of summer/beginning of fall. It was really adorable. Here's two photos:

Swag Bucks.. earn $

So I thought I'd let you guys know about Swag Bucks. I've been using swagbucks.com as a search engine since August, and I've just gotten m 15$ towards amazon from using it. How it works is when you search for anything and you use swagbucks instead of google/yahoo, you win swagbucks. You can also get promotional codes which give you more swagbucks. When you want, you can redeem them for anything you want. There is amazon gift cards, starbucks gift cards, free movie tickets, paypal gift certificates (which you can transfer into your checking account for cash!), and so much more! Like I said, I've been using it since the end of August and I already have 15$... here comes xmas gifts :)
Just thought I'd let all of you know... if you sign up http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/winkes70 you get 3 swag bucks for signing up, and 2 more for using my referral.
Happy searching!

Start of our week...

Well yesterday was a little rough on all three of us (Stubby, Killian and I), because it was our first LONG day in 2 weeks. SO we had trouble getting back into the routine. I had school from 830-400, so Killian was in day care from 745-430, and Stubby was in his kennel from 730-445. Like I said, rough day.

Today's looking like it'll be better though. I don't have class today, so I'm going into work for 4 hours (and hopefully buying a laptop for work so I can work from home/school). Then Killian is going to my mom's (where he'll probably tow the pony around), and I'm going to the Oshkosh Library to see Patricia Polacco speak about her books. :) I'm also getting two books signed by her, which will be a great addition to my classroom library.

I'm hoping the rest of the week goes as well since I don't seem like I have alot of homework for my classes. I'm going to try and work on the book I'm writing/illustrating for one of my classes and then giving to Killian as a X-mas gift (I'll post photos when I'm done), and on my felt story board of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was initially Killian's Xmas gift, but now I'm using it for a class too.

Welcome to Our Blog

Well I decided that I'd start a blog because I haven't been keeping up with my handwritten journal to Killian. This way, my friends and family can keep up with our life as well. :)
So we've had a pretty easy going weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Mom and Pop place as usual, but we met Brandi and Keira there. Killian loves playing with Keira, and it was nice for me to catch up with Brandi. :) After his nap, we went to my dad's for trick or treating and carving pumpkins. Killian was insistent about walking to the four houses we went to. However, he kept trying to go in through the garages, and wouldn't listen when I explained that we had to go to the front door. :)


Today, we've gone grocery shopping and soon we're going to go to my mom's house. Killian and I haven't seen her for a week while she was in Seattle, and he misses her. :) I'm sure we'll end up in the barn with the pony at some point today as well. I'll try to post some pictures/videos of that.

I'm going to try keep up the postings as the time goes by. Love you all!