Fun New Website

It's amazing how much my love for shopping has diminished. Of course I still enjoy a quick trip to White House Black Market, but I'd rather play with Gracie outside these days than spend a whole day at the mall. As a result, I've turned to any on-line opportunity I can find and my searching led me to a fun new website for handbags and shoes. The site is Endless.com and it was started by Amazon.com. They carry name brand shoes for women, men, and kids! It's fabulous!!! Check it out when you have a moment...and happy shopping!

Blogging Drought...

Wow - a whole month since we've last posted. Needless to say, it's been a crazy and busy month (although I realize that is really no excuse for not taking two minutes out of my day to post). For those of you that have missed us, here are a few of the highlights over the past month (in no particular order):

1) Kelvin Sampson is officially no longer the IU basketball coach. $750,000 later, Dan Dakich will take over as our new "interim" coach.
2) Our friends Matt and Alison have announced that Baby Hunt will join us in August 2008. Congrats to them!
3) Gracie went sledding for the first time! I have a few photos of this which I will post later this weekend, but she had a great time sledding with Papa Tuff, Grandma Alys, Mommy, Daddy, Great Grandpa and Gram. After two hours of pulling her up the hill, Mommy and Daddy were definitely worn out!
4) I made it through another board meeting. You see, that's what started this ridiculous blogging drought. I promise not to let that happen again :)
5) The Fighting Irish basketball team is on a roll...they are great fun to watch. Harangody for Player of the Year? Or perhaps DJ White?
6) I spoke with Shana the other night and got the update on her wedding plans. As always, Shana was hysterical and made me laugh for a solid 40 minutes. We can't wait to travel to San Fran in June and celebrate with her and Scott!
7) Our friend Joe turned 30 and we celebrated at Club LaSalle. Gosh...turning 30 this year is not going well. Although I still have approximately 90 days, it's really taking a toll on me. Stay tuned to see how I cope with this in May.
8) Happy Anniversary to Scott and Kara Coryn - today is their 5th anniversary!
9) Gracie was able to spend the night with Aunt Missy, Uncle Brian, Lauren and Drew last weekend. She had a great time and was exhausted when we came home. I think Drew chased her around the house about 500 times..thanks Drew! When can she visit again? :)
10) Perry was featured in a local magazine. They did an article about local musicians who make their own instruments. It was a great article that highlighted his gorgeous handmade guitars.
11) I met Bob for lunch yesterday - it was fun to catch up with him. We followed that up with dinner with Patty and Elly...that was even better! (just kidding, Bob!)
12) Gracie had a fabulous Valentine's Day party at school last week with all of her friends, especially her boyfriends Wyatt and Max.
13) Vic and Perry got a new puppy!
14) Oh, and just a few "minor" things that happened this week...our country shot down a toxic spy satellite, the space shuttle landed safely, J. Lo gave birth to twins, tori spelling announced she's pregnant again, and did I mention that Kelvin Sampson was fired?

It's great to be back...we'll post again later this weekend!

Hello Wii...hello fun!!!

As we previously posted, Grandma Babs came to visit this weekend. While her visit was much too short, she did bring with her a fantastic new gift...a Wii!!!! Scott and I hooked it up tonight and played multiple games of tennis, bowling, golf and baseball. We can't believe how great this thing is, and now understand what all the hype is about. Not only is it great fun to play the various games, but the Wii actually hooks up to our wireless Internet and provides the current weather, forecasts, and all the latest news releases. If any of you have a Wii and want to challenge us to a game of virtual bowling, just let us know! :)

Thank you so much, Mom and Dad! We love our Wii!!!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Saturday night we celebrated our friend Steve's 50th birthday. We definitely did it in style...complete with early evening appetizers, cruising the town in a Hummer limo, drinks at the Vine, partying with the band "Red Alert", BK bolling, and ending the evening (okay morning) with a Steak n Shake Grilled Cheese! It was a great time, and props to Pam for hosting such a wonderful party. Steve, we are so happy we were able to celebrate with you...Happy Birthday You Old Man (just kidding, of course!). Here are a few photos of the fun evening.

Gracie spent the evening with Grandma. She wasn't feeling well at all, so most of the time was spent cuddling and snuggling. Today Grace felt much better, so the girls ventured out for lunch, a movie and a little shopping. We saw the movie "Mad Money" and Grace did great as she slept through the entire film. Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes were all very good; and while it isn't the best movie it was perfect for a girl's day on the town!

Tuesday I'm going to see 27 Dresses with a few friends...stay tuned for a full review of that movie.

Well, we hope everyone had a great weekend. Scott phoned from the Packers game a few minutes ago. Although the wind chill is -24 degrees, he and Coryn are having a great time!!

Kidder Update...the good, the bad and the ugly

Because of our two week posting draught, we figured it best to provide a complete Kidder update (by category, of course!):

The Good: Well, let's see...Gracie has moved to a big girl bed and is doing GREAT!!! She got to pick out her favorite toddler bed (she went Dora), along with matching sheets, bedspread, blankets, pillows, dolls, etc. Her bedroom has now been taken over by Dora and Boots, but she loves it!! I'm very proud of her for transitioning so well! We also went to see her first live show...Sesame Street Live. The Kidders, Dittys and Bradys all braved the toddler-filled Morris Performing Arts Center. It was fabulous - Grace LOVED the show and kept asking for more after every song and dance!

This weekend we ventured to our first movie with Gracie...the VeggieTales Movie (can't remember the exact name). It was great, and with a little popcorn to the rescue 1/2 way through, Gracie did wonderful!

Scott has a big adventure coming up this week...the Packers/Giants game. He and Coryn will be making the trip...it should prove to be an exciting time!

Grandma Babs is coming for a visit Saturday morning. It will be great to spend a few days with her, and I know Gracie is SO excited!

The Bad: Not much to report here, other than freezing cold and trying to adjust to work. Last week was my first one back since December 21st. It felt like it took forever, and now I'm just as stressed as I was pre-holidays. Oh well - it was a nice break while it lasted!

The Ugly: There are only two words worthy of this category: Colts - Chargers. ugh - it was an awful game on Sunday and I felt sick into the evening. Oh well, I guess there's always next year!! Hopefully Favre or Eli can take care of Tom Brady in the SuperBowl...is anyone else sick of hearing about Brady and the Patriots. Ok, so maybe I'm just a bitter Colts fan...but the media coverage on this guy is ridiculous!! Anyway - go Packers! Go Giants!

Holiday Joy!

Wow - two whole weeks since we last posted. We apologize for the shortage in posts...we have been enjoying the holidays with friends and family! We spent almost a week in Tell City...it was a relaxing yet fun time spent with many of our closest friends and family. Gracie had a wonderful time with Grandma and Pop, Great Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bob, Kay and Bob, the card club clan, and of course the entire LeClere family. As many of you are aware, we have an annual fondue night with the LeClere family. It is a long standing tradition and one of the highlights of the year! We decided to spice it up a bit this year, and I must admit it was a huge hit! Matthew, Vanessa and Lauren proposed a "Tacky Christmas" theme this year, and boy did we embrace it! As you can see from the pictures, we all really got into it. Dad won the "tackiest" costume though with his impersonation of Cousin Eddy from Christmas Vacation. It was absolutely hysterical. Thanks to the Ewing and LeClere families for making this such a wonderful tradition. We truly look forward to this every year and hope it continues for many years to come!

We hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful and blessed holiday season! Happy New Year to you all - enjoy the festivities today! We will be enjoying lobster and fillets with Coley, Patty, Heather, Bob, Anthony, Caroline and all the little kiddos. It should be a wonderful evening! Happy New Year!

Gracie's big day!

We apologize for not posting last week. It was a hectic week of holiday parties, pink eye (the saga continues), and shopping. We had a wonderful weekend though...Friday evening we hosted supper club at our house. We had so much fun visiting with everyone; we only wish that the Bradys would have been able to join us. Unfortunately Elly was a little under the weather - Gracie sure does hope her friend is feeling better! Grace spent the night with Nanny and Papa on Friday, and had a great time playing with Will and Drew!

Saturday we went to dinner with the Coryns and then back to their place so Gracie and Eli could play. They were so darn cute and really had a great time together. Today was kind of a lazy day, with lots of shopping, playing in the snow and finally doing our Christmas cards! We did have one big event today though...Gracie got her first hair cut. As many of you know, we weren't really sure what to do with Grace's hair. It is VERY thin and blond, a combination which proves to be a little difficult. While her hair was growing rapidly in the back, it's kind of halted on top. So, we decided to get the back cut...while she still looks like a boy at least the mullet is gone! She did very well too...she sat very still and let the nice lady go to work. Of course - this only took about 5 minutes and cost a whopping $5...well worth it!!!

It's Christmas Time!!

Scott, Grace and I officially kicked off the Christmas season yesterday. While we had decorated the outside of the house and put up one of our trees before now, we just weren't into the spirit yet. Well, that all changed yesterday!!! We picked Grace up from daycare around 2:00 and headed to visit Santa. While Gracie certainly wouldn't sit on Santa's lap alone, she did a lot better than I expected. She kept waving to him and saying, "ho, ho, ho!" It was very cute!! In the end though, we do have a photo of the entire Kidder family sitting on Santa's lap!

After our visit with the big guy, we did a little holiday shopping. While this was fun, it strengthened my opinion that you just cannot do a lot of shopping with a toddler. Rather, we ended up at Build a Bear, where Grace made her first bear, "Bree". She had a great time...picking out her animal, giving it stuffing and a heart, and finally dressing and naming it. Bree is doing wonderful in her Build a Bear box home, where she will stay until Christmas Day!

We stopped for a quick dinner at then proceeded to get our tree. Last year we did the full tree farm and cut down our own. It was very Griswold of us! This year we opted for the "tree farm" on Grape Road...precut trees that took us literally 15 minutes to get from start to finish. It was fabulous! After a quick stop at TJ Maxx to show Grace her favorite Spiderman toy (yes, she is addicted to this Spiderman toy that sings Itsy Bitsy Spider), we headed home to decorate the tree. Grace fell asleep immediately which left Scott and I to enjoy a glass of wine and decorate our tree.

It was a wonderful beginning to "our" holiday season. Now I'm off to Chicago for a weekend of shopping, time with Cooper, and Sunday sushi with the girls. I can't wait!! Cooper - here I come!!!! Oh, and here are more photos of Grace's fun night at Build a Bear!!!

Puppy Love

Gracie is battling a "potential" case of pink eye, so Scott and I split the duty and stayed home with her today. I got the afternoon, which included lots of dancing, applesauce (the girl is addicted to it), playing with Baby, cartoons (by the way - afternoon cartoons are awful), marching around the house, and playing with the dogs. Gracie just couldn't get enough "doggy hugs" today, as you can see by the photos. Both Sydney and Toby seemed to enjoy it and let her crawl all over them. It was pretty darn cute, if I don't say so myself!

Thank you Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys!

Scott and I attended the Junior League Holiday Ball Saturday evening, so Gracie was able to spend the night with Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys! She was exhausted today from all the fun...throwing snowballs, playing with Buddy, throwing rocks in the pond, reading books, playing with the alphabet blocks, looking at the beautiful Christmas tree, etc. The list goes on and on!

Tuff and Alys - thank you so much for watching her over night. Gracie always has such a great time at your house! We had a wonderful time at the ball as well; it was fun to get dressed up and enjoy a night out. Thanks again!