Love this time of the year!!!

Well this past weekend was Thanksgiving and it officially starts my favorite time of the year!  Got our tree up and Hailey put up her ornaments and it was officially Christmas Time!!!  Love the way the house feels during this time but more importantly I love the traditions that we share. 

Christmas time is when I do A LOT of baking and making special treats for all the parties we will be going to.  This weekend I made my highly recommended chocolate chip cookies and then last night me and Hailey make pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles.  Hailey said she was the official Decorator.  Next on the list with me my mNm pretzel treats and then sugar cookies! 

Here is a picture of Hailey in front of our tree this year. 

Have a wonderful Holiday Season Everyone!!!!

Stop and slowing down sometimes...

Being a single mom I keep pretty busy normally with no problem at all.  There is always something that can be done.  I've been  blessed with a great business with Premier that God has brought into my life and am lucky to always find new projects to stay full-time at work.  However, I also have to keep my priorities right and keep Hailey above my work.  I think that is going to be my new years resolution is to be better about not working so hard and all the time and stopping and taking those moments to really enjoy her. 

Last night after dinner I got a few things done around the house and then me and Hailey played some games.  It was so nice.  I have become so busy with other stuff and have missed out on probably a lot, more than what i want to think of.  So that's whats going to be changing.  Hailey's time is Hailey's time.  We have got a great relationship going and I don't want to lose that with her because I'm focusing on what's not important.  I know that's what God is telling me to see and almost forcing me to see because of what he is doing in my business. 

So here is to slowing down and enjoying being a mom and my beautiful 4 year old!

Asked Hailey these following Questions...

1. What is something Mom always says to you? "Who is my favorite girl...HAILEY!" haha


2. What makes Mom happy? when I laugh


3. What makes Mom sad? When I don't have to go to school (?)


4. How does your Mom make you laugh? "when you tickle me"


5. What did your Mom like to do when she was a kid? "you like to watch movies" lol


6. How old is your Mom? I don't know...16?


7. How tall is your Mom? 4??


8. What is her favorite thing to watch on tv? Dancing with the Stars. NOT...that's hers!


9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? You do home work...???


10. If your mom becomes famous what will it be for? What's that??


11. What is your Mom really good at? Writing numbers


12. What is your Mom not good at? Starting the fireplace...true! lol


13. What does your Mom do for her job? Your and office girl and you make a lot of phone calls....lol particially true!


14. What is Mom's favorite food? Candy lol


15. What makes you proud of your Mom? When I go to the park

16. If your Mom was a cartoon charcter, who would she be? ahhh...you would be silly


17. What do you and your Mom do together? watch movies


18. How are you and your Mom the same? We have the same hair

19. How are you and your Mom different? You have short hair and I have long hair


20. How do you know your Mommy loves you? When you put me to bed you say Good Night I love you! (aww)

21. Where is your Mom's favorite place to go? To my school ...lol

What we've all been up to!

Wll it's been a while since I've updated, we have been really busy it seems lately. 

As far as my job goes, I ended up getting on another 3 week project which was horrible.  I've never been at a place that I did not enjoy the people I worked with that much!  But thankfully I found a new job working downtown in Dayton and so far I'm really liking it.  Started just this past Monday and so far so good. 

Kim and Eric's wedding went great.  Hailey did so good with everything I was really proud of how brave she was.  She partied hard that night though.  Danced all night long and loved it all. She found me at 11pm and crashed and crashed hard on my lap finally.  I was surprised she lasted that long as she was already rubbing her eyes at 8pm!  We slept a lot the next day from the long day we had on Saturday. 

Hailey started soccer!  Saw her first game last weekend and she did so good and had a blast!  She even scored her first goal!!!!  So proud of her!  After that we went shopping and out to dinner at the cheesecake factory.  It was a great day! 

Went trick-or-treating in there as well.  Not sure which Hailey had more fun doing, actually trick-or-treating or passing out candy at our house.  We only went trick-or-treating for a half hour in our neighborhood because it was so cold.  Hailey kept calling people who were coming to our house our "customers"  haha! 

Will post pictures of everything soon! 

Waiting to see what unfolds...

Well, today is my co-workers last day at BAE Systems.  It would be my last day as well but they are letting me stay till next Friday so I have extra time to find another job since I'm with RHI.  It is going to be so hard to walk into this place and for no one to be here, this is the first place in 4 years that I have enjoyed the people that I work with.  But I have a feeling God has got a plan and he knows what is in store for me and Hailey and I have faith it'll all be ok.  I'm very at peace with it all and really know its all going to be ok.  Some of the things that have been lining up or NOT lining up has been very interesting and so I'm curious to see what God's plan is as it unfolds. 

My premier business has been out of no where growing and it'll be interesting to see what happens.  If I do not find work I will be laid off on November 5th, which will be Premier's 25th year anniversary...kind of weird that its that date.  Also emailed our church yesterday to see if they have a spot open in their preschool program open for Hailey in case I do get laid off because I won't be able to afford her daycare once laid off.  And Ironically they were full but she said they have 1 student who is moving to Florida this week and they would have a spot open for Hailey.  So as you can see, things are kind of lining up weird and it makes me realize that God has a great plan than I could ever imagine which is kind of exciting.  

Please say a prayer for us that everything goes well and whatever is meant to be happens!

Disney On Ice 2010

This year we went to Disney On Ice Princess Classics.  Went with our friends Amy and Kinsley and had a blast!  Went to panaera for dinner and then went to the show.  Hailey had a blast!  When asked what her favorite part was she responded "when Snow White waved at me"!  Here are photos from our night out. 

Miss Snow White aka Hailey

Kinsley & Hailey

waving to snow white and the princesses

First Day of Fall

So we have been having a busy September so far.  Lots of fun things starting and I love this time of the year.  Being able to open the windows and just enjoy the cooler fall weather, although we haven't been having much of that lately.
Hailey is officially into the swing of things in her Pre-K room at daycare and doing very well with it.  It's amazing how much she is improving with things like writing her name and how much she is learning.  Her teacher Ms. Heather is awesome!  Hailey can now write her entire name and you can actually visually tell what it says.  She's finally gotten the hang of the "e"!  Will have to take a picture of it to share.  We also got word this week that she will be getting to go on 2 field trips in October with her class.  Which Hailey's first thought it "she gets to ride the bus!"  Also signed Hailey up for indoor soccer which won't start until the end of October but she is excited for it.  
This past week it was Grandma/Great-Grandma Hartke's 80th Birthday party.  Hailey was tired from the weekend with her dad but everyone enjoyed getting to see her even if she was full of attitude!  Pictures were a little hard to get with her which is rare because normally Hailey loves the camera.  We attempted to get a 4 generations photo which we were unsuccessful at, so we will have to try at Kim's wedding in October.  Love having those photos though.  Grandma is a huge part of my life and many of my favorite memories as a child include her in them and I enjoy it so much for Hailey to have that bond with her as well. 
We also had a dress fitting for our dresses for Kim's wedding.  Hailey's dress is very cute but was a little big on her but she enjoyed twirling around it in during the alterations so I can only imagine how she'll be the day of Kim's wedding.  

Mom, Grandma, me and Hailey

Hailey getting fitted for her dress.

It's Froggy Out Mom!

This morning on the way to school/work there were patches of fog out and I always love it when Hailey says this but instead of FOG she says its FROGGY out.  ha!  I always forget to write it down and so I had to share real quickly so I don't forget.  Probably one of my favorite things she says and I'm sure its bad but I don't correct her. 

First Day of Preschool

Hailey's first day of preschool...scary thinking next year she'll be getting on a bus to kindergarten! 

Great Darke County Fair 2010

The other girl in this picture...I babysat her when she was a baby!  I'm old!

The Great Darke County Fair

Last night for the 3rd year in a row, Hailey, Grandma and I went to the Darke County Fair.  Hailey had her follow-up appointment early yesterday afternoon with Dr. Thakkar and so afterwards we met up with Grandma to enjoy the fair.  This was also the first time I have taken Hailey out on a "big event" without our stroller.  I sold it to my best friend who I know will enjoy it but it was a weird feeling having Hailey walk right next to us.  What a big girl she is.  I tell her this all the time but I am so proud of her.  She is such an independent girl and even though that makes me sad, I am glad that we are raising her to be such.  She will be such a strong woman some day.  But yet will reach for my hand when she is a little timid and I love that. 

I know I know what the heck does this have to do with the fair!  It was a HUGE Mommy moment for me to not have that stroller that I probably cursed having so many times when trying to get through the crowds.  But we had a great time, it was kids night so we got a ride bracelet and Hailey rode rides till she and we were wore out.  Of course ate our fill of fair food and checked out all the animals we could take in.  So funny how that changes too each year.  First year we went, every cow was a different one and even more exciting than the last.  Last year it was a big deal too and this year she was good with just walking down one aisle and not demanding to go up and down every row of animals that were available to see.

Going to try to get better at this!

Ok so I really need to try and get better at this, with having family living out of the state I know they like to know what is going on with Miss Hailey so I promise I will try to get better about updating this blog more often.

We have really had a great summer dispite being sick and in the hospital. I am really sad to see the end of summer here. We spent a lot of time at the pool and parks this summer but also went on our very first family vacation with the Cooke Family and our good friend Brian.

We went to Cancun, Mexico this year in June and had a blast, we were gone for an entire week! It was amazing. Just a few highlights were getting to swim with dolphins and collecting sea shells on the beach. I'll never forget this vacation with Hailey.

Also on the down side Hailey had several ear infections this summer and also a lot of strep throat. Just seemed like we could never fully get better. Well just last week on sunday night we went to the ER at Children's. Hailey had started to complain the back of her head hurt and it made me nervous that the strep infection was settling on her spine. Ended up finding out she had strep again but also the beginning of a mastoidistis which is an infection in the bone before her ear. We were in the hospital for 2 days and Hailey enjoyed every minute of it. lol I am so glad that I went to children's because they had so much to offer her as far as entertainment that she didn't mind being away from home at all. She was very brave with her IV and handled it like a real big girl. All the nurses and docters heard how brave she was and she was sure to tell everyone as well. Below you can see a picture of Hailey in the hospital and a few vacation pictures as well.