The last 6 months have flown by!

I sincerly apologize. I had NO idea that it has been 6 months since my last update. I knew we have been busy, but I guess that shows just how busy.

Arabel is now 4. She requested a Muppet birthday party so we made Muppet themed food and rainbow cupcakes. I can hardly believe that it has been over 4 years since she came into our lives. :) She will be learning how to read this summer, she is simply too smart for her own good so it is time to harness all of that energy. She has been participating in mileage club at Emma's school since spring break and has logged 20 miles! It is over 40,000 child sized steps and we couldn't be more proud.

Emma is about to finish 1st grade. She has really excelled in her reading, writing and math this year. She told me that she was bored with just regular old addition and subtraction so I taught her how to carry and borrow. We are currently working on multiplication tables and her goal is to know all of them by the end of the summer. (Not too shabby for a 7 year old, huh?) She is officially a girl scout, and loves her daisy troop. Everyday I am amazed with how lucky I ended up to have her. She is one of the sweetest,  craziest, silliest, caring little girls that I know.

I have been working my tail off. I volunteer at Emma's school basically everyday. I am the mileage club co-coordinator, the book fair co-chair and am currently running a box top contest. If you ever need me between 1:30 and 4, chances are I am at the school. I am proud to say that the contest has proven to be very successful (even more than I had hoped!) On top of all of the school volunteering I have been spending time at the United Way. I recently took notes for the grant team review, which was a really neat experience. I was able to listen to all of the discussion and find out why certain programs got funding while others don't. Oh, and I recently was officially named Vice President for the PTA for the upcoming school year, I will then be president the year after. :)

So there is a very short recap of what we have been up to. :) I will get some pictures up shortly!

Year in Reveiw

2012 is quickly approaching, here is what we did in 2011

I flew to Maryland

 We played soccer on the deck for St. Patty's Day

 Arabel turned 3!

 We hunted Easter eggs

 mom and I went to a Bob Seger concert

 Emma had her last day of school

 we got a swingset

 the girls were flower girls

 Rob and I watched the sunset on Lake Michigan

 We visited Marilyn in Chicago

 Emma and Arabel were pirates for Halloween

 Emma donated 16 inches of hair

 Emma turned 7!

 We celebrated Christmas!

We are very lucky to have had such a wonderful year! I hope that your family was as blessed as we were!!

And now she is 7!

Since the last post Emma has turned 7!!
Hard to believe that my little girl has gone from this:

to a little lady

We are on christmas break now and I couldn't be happier. We have been sleeping in and enjoying time off right now. 

I will be back with a christmas and year end round up post. I just wanted to take a special post for Em and her birthday. 

Here is what we have been up to.

Since the last update, here is what we have been up to.

Emma is in first grade now. This is her on the first day. She loves her teacher and is in the same class as her best friend.

Halloween came and went. Both of the girls were pirates. They asked that they be princessy type pirates, hence the tutus. Arabel wasn't feeling well and only made it to a couple house. Poor girl.

Emma decided to cut her hair and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, an orginization that makes wigs for women with cancer. She decided to do it all on her own, I was just there to get the information for her and take the pictures. I am really proud of her. She decided to donate her hair in honor of a schoolmate that she lost a few weeks ago to cancer. 

The before:

 The cut:

The ponytail!! 16 inches to donate!!

The after!!!

She loves her new haircut! I am thrilled that we no longer need to spend 20 minutes washing her hair or 15 minutes combing it.

Home sweet home.

I love to travel. I love to be somewhere other than home. I also love to come home. After being gone for 6 days with both girls, the excitement I had to pull in our driveway was unexplainable.

Tuesday evening: We left to drive approximately 4 hours away to break up the 7 hour drive that was originally planned for Wednesday morning. I will say one thing... thank goodness we decided to. It turns out that the alternator on the car decided to die the very moment we pulled in the hotel parking lot. Had we waited to leave, we probably would have been left stranded on the side of the road. At least we were safe and sound. Rob dealt with all the car business and I wrangled the girls. We ended up getting it towed and fixed, we got a rental car for the next couple days.

Wednesday: We got to the hotel which was amazing. The girls had their own room complete with bunk beds and their own tv. We went to dinner and took the girls swimming. They couldn't have been happier.

Thursday: Rob worked most of the day. The girls and I took a walk and watched planes take off from the airport across the street. Swimming was the girls' favorite activity by far.

Friday: We headed back to pick up the car and return the rental. After playing switcheroo with all of our stuff for the trip, we were on our way to Chicago.
Arrived in Chicago and the girls were thrilled that we were so close to O'Hare. The number of planes that went by was crazy. We were also very close to an EL station, so they got to watch the train quite a bit as well. We ate some italian beef from Al's and weren't disappointed.

After getting settled in we decided to take the EL into the city and explore. We ended up at Millennium Park.

We even got to catch a concert in the park complete with a full orchestra and choir. After that, we decided to head back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday: We met up with Aunt Bev and Uncle Tom at Paradise Pup for lunch. They were featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. GO THERE. Hands down the best burger I have ever had. The girls loved eating out on the picnic tables and having fun with their aunt and uncle.

Since it was also our 7 year anniversary, we figured the city was calling our name once again. :) We headed back into the city and got caught in a down pour. The girls couldn't have been having more fun, we were out in the rain, on purpose. We went to the site of the controversial Marilyn Monroe statue. Emma giggled at the sight of her undies.
After a trip back to the hotel we got some dinner and called it a night.

Sunday was filled with driving back home.

We saw lots, did a ton of walking, lots and lots of driving and spent countless hours of family time together. Check out the rest of the pictures on the flickr link on the top of the blog. I can't wait to tell you about our next adventure. :)

On the road again

The Waldo-Horvath family will be on the road again. Wednesday morning we will leave to spend some time in Bloomington, Illinois. Rob has some work to do and when he is done we will be heading to Chicago. We plan on hitting up the pool and a couple children's museums. We will hopefully hit up Millenium Park and eat some delicious food. We will be meeting up with Aunt Bev for lunch and playing the weekend by ear.

Rob and I will be celebrating our 7 year anniversary. It is hard to believe that we have been together that long. :)

Daddy won dad of the year by bringing home a pool for the girls. They have been bathing beauties all summer and are so tan!

Next time you check in, I should have some good pictures of our adventures. :)

Summer is flying by

Summer has been flying by. We have had a BBQ complete with friends and family to celebrate the fact that the girls have a swing set in the backyard now. :) (Hooray for living in a place with a backyard!) We owe a huge thanks to my aunt and uncle, they are the ones that hooked us up. We took a trip up north, went to a fabulously fun wedding. The girls were flower girls, and damn adorable ones at that. We came home, unpacked and I repacked the girls to spend the week with my parents camping. Rob and I decided to take a mini couple vacation while the kids were away. While they were camping and playing on the beach, we were hitting up breweries and exploring towns in Michigan that we have never been to. Everyone is home now, and it feels great to have us all home and under the same roof.