Before pic!
During- half & half
(2-27-2013)
The first time I met Matt was back in 2005 in our bible class with Dr. Ringenberg. And when I say "met" I actually mean, I saw him. We didn't actually starting talking until almost a year later. :)
He had long curly hair and sat on the other side of the room. However, one day he came to class completely bald! There's much more to the story (and we'll save that for another time) but about a year later, we were dating.
After we had been dating a while, I asked Matt if he would grow his hair out again. He said no. The only reason he grew it out to begin with was to donate it to Locks of Love and he's had no interest in doing it again.
However, this fall, he started letting it grow for me. Obviously, it didn't make it past his shoulders like the first time, but it did get pretty long! After much debate, though, we decided it was time to cut it. With a professional job and trying to get his photography business off the ground, we thought a "clean-cut" Matt would be more appropriate.
Maddie didn't quite know what to think of the process: she started out scared, but then by the end she was laughing and said that daddy looked like a princess (I think she meant prince.)
I am thankful that my husband loves me enough to do something for me even though he didn't really care to. Thanks, honey!
This week was a busy one for us. On
Monday, we went to Rochester to visit Mama at school and to go to the book
fair. We also stopped and visited with Nana!
On
Tuesday, I took Maddie to a toddler "baking" class at the Country
Kitchen and she got to decorate a cookie and cupcake and make salted
caramel pretzels.
Wednesday was supposed to be dance class but Maddie ended up coming down with a cold, so we had a lazy day at home.
Thursday
was Valentine's Day and we surprised Maddie by decorating her door with
hearts that described the reasons why we loved her. She hated it. She is very particular about her room and was very upset that "there were hearts on her door." Eventually she did calm down.
Friday I was wiped out, so we didn't do a whole lot. In addition, Matt appears to be sick, so it will probably be a laid-back weekend as well.
Maddie
continues to love learning and I am trying to do my best to stretch
her. Even though this week has been crazy and filled with sickness, I am
thankful that we got to do so many fun things and celebrate our love
for each other.
(2-1-2013)
In September, I started doing school time with Maddie about four days a week. Before Christmas, I was struggling to stay organized and keep up with the lesson planning, but over this past month, I relocated all our school supplies downstairs due to Matt's work schedule. (Since Matt works nights and sleeps in late, having the "school room" upstairs wasn't working out.) I also came up with a more concrete routine that works perfectly around Matt's schedule.
Since getting organized, both Maddie and I are loving our school time together. She just loves reading, writing, and spelling and seems to be learning so much so quickly. She definitely challenges me to stay one step ahead of her. Seeing how much she loves school time has encouraged me to do the best I can to teach and challenge her. It also gives me a good reason to utilize my Early Childhood degree!
I am so thankful that God has blessed me with the ability to stay home with Maddie and have an active role in her education.
