A Season First

It finally happened......Madelyn's basketball team was ahead in a game. This is a first this season. Although only temporary, we did savor the moment as long as it lasted. We ended up losing by three points.

Madelyn scored the first basket, had two fouls and several steals and assists. She did a good job, considering she wasn't feeling well. I think having Papa & Nana Muhlig cheering her on helped. 

Thanks Papa and Nana for coming down and spending the day with us.

One Tough Cookie

Since Madelyn was barely walking her daddy has been wrestling with her. The older she gets the tougher the wrestling matches. I can predict the outcome every single time. Madelyn ends up crying because her daddy gets too rough with her. I want to coddle and baby her when she starts crying and Ryan tells me she needs to toughen up. I kindly, with a glare and gritted teeth, tell him that she is only a little girl. But Madelyn is glutton for punishment and goes back time and time again to wrestle with her daddy.
I hate to admit it but Ryan was right, and the wrestling has turned her into one tough cookie. Case in point, Madelyn has a basketball game every Saturday.  She is quite aggressive and tough on the court. She gets right in there and tries to take the ball from the opposing team and doesn't care how many elbows are flying. Two weeks ago she got an elbow to the eye and ended up with a nice shiner. She didn't shed one tear over it, but it may have been because here daddy was yelling "be tough, shake it off" from the stands. Last week she took another elbow to the face and ended up with a bloody lip. Her coach made her sit out since her lip was bleeding but Madelyn told her coach I'm only sitting out for 3 minutes and then I want back in. This week she fell while at recess and hit her elbow quite hard on the ground. Her elbow is swollen a bit and  has a huge bruise.  I can tell by just looking at it that it had to have hurt. But, she didn't cry or whine about it, she just matter of factly lifted up her shirt sleeve and proudly showed me her bruise. She is way tougher than I ever was that is for sure. She is one tough cookie, thanks to all those wrestling matches with her daddy.

Wordless Wednesday (with the help of an iphone app.)

Sal's

It is no secret that the 3 of us love to eat out. In an average week we eat out at least 3 times, usually once during the week and a couple times on the weekend. However, it isn't unheard of for us to eat out 5 times a week. As I've said before...I.Hate.To.Cook, and although Ryan is a great cook, it isn't his favorite thing either. A majority of the time we will just go to a local establishment, but every now and then we will make our way to the metropolis for a decent meal. One of our favorite places is the Japanese Steak House. We enjoy being entertained by the "chef" as we watch him cook and the food is fabulous. There are several Japanese Steak Houses to choose from in Wichita, but we usually prefer Sumos or Sals. Saturday night Sumos was at capacity so we went to Sals where there was no wait. Ryan and I love their fried rice, and we all enjoyed the steak and shrimp. We walked away feeling miserably full.

Madelyn was the only one brave enough to use chopsticks

 

 Ryan was the only one able to catch a shrimp that was thrown by the chef. Madelyn dodged the shrimp and I got hit right in the face with a shrimp.

Cookie Time

IT'S COOKIE TIME!!!!! And I know the cutest little Girl Scout that is selling cookies beginning today!

There are 8 Flavors to Choose From:

Thanks-A-Lot

Shout Outs

Lemonades

 Shortbread

Thin Mints

Peanut Butter Patties

Caramel deLites

Peanut Butter Sandwich

If you would like to buy a box or ten for the low price of $3.50/per box you can email us at muhlig34@att.net. Madelyn is excited to sell, sell, sell.

Flashback Friday

Where am I?

Wordless Wednesday

Flour and Water

 Flour & Water

 Makes

 A

 Mess

But Madelyn sure thinks it is fun! 

Larger than Life

I have worked at Starkey for over 11 years and in those years I have gotten to know numerous adults and children with disabilities. Some are just mere acquaintances while others have forever made an impact in my life and I will be forever grateful for the time I got to spend with them.
In my field of work we all know that we will get attached with some of the people we serve. It is impossible not to, and I actually consider it one of the perks of my job. The downfall of becoming attached means at some point I will experience loss. Unfortunately, I experienced such a loss this past week. One of my favorite clients that I would consider larger than life passed away unexpectantly.  He had received services from Starkey since 1975, when it was still just a school, and Starkey residential services since the early 1980s. He was a large fellow towering over most people and had a bark that was much bigger than his bite. He loved his family, taking trips, and the KC Chiefs and KU until they lost. Whenever I would be providing tours in the Starkey workshop it was a gauranteed that I would have a visit with him. He either would tell me he was going to take a trip to KC or his sister was having a baby. In all the years I had known him I'm pretty sure his sister was pregnant the entire time and had at least 26 kids. He had no concept of time, which made talking to him even more amusing. I am still in disbelief that he is gone and I miss him immensely. I always looked forward to our visits and providing tours will not be the same now that he is gone. He was larger than life and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to know him. He, like many of the other clients, is the reason that I love my job.

First Snow

We finally had our first real snow of the season. Although it wasn't enough to cancel school, it was just enough to make my 25 mile drive to work that normally takes 30 minutes, be drug out to 50 minutes. Of course being behind a snow plow part of the way did not help any. These are the days that I'm envious of Ryan's two mile drive to work.
As soon as Madelyn arrived at her sitter's house she was playing in the snow. Once I picked her up and she finished her homework she was back out in the snow. Although she was a bit disappointed that the snow did not pack well she is thrilled to finally have snow this winter.

As soon as Ryan got home from working out with the wrestling boys he told Madelyn he was taking her to the big hill to sled. It was already dark but that didn't stop them from going up and down the hill about a dozen times.

 Best buds

I stayed nice and cozy in the truck and only stepped out to take pics.  I prefer to sled when it is a tad bit warmer and light out. Yeah I'm a fun hater. :)d

Basketball Weekend

Friday evening Madelyn and I made a mad dash to Council Grove to watch my niece, Kaitlyn, play basketball. The departure from home did not go as smoothly as I had hoped so we only got to see Kaitlyn play the second 1/2 of the game but I was thrilled to watch her play. It was nostalgic being back in the gym where I once played ball, not well, but I played nonetheless. It was fun seeing past teachers and coaches that are still there, but watching the HS kids, that were born after I graduated from high school, made me feel old. Such. Is. Life.
Kaitlyn is a  5'8" freshman that plays on the JV team and suits up for Varsity. She knows the game well and her size alone serves her well. I wish I was blessed with her height and long legs!

Madelyn and I stayed the night at my parents' house friday night and were on the road to home mid Saturday morning as Madelyn had her first BB game of the season. Watching first and second graders play BB is an amusing experience to say the least. The team has their work cut out for them and I'm hoping with each game they get a little bit better or it is going to be a very LONG season (we lost 17-6). I'm hoping the coaches also learned something as there is a lot of skills that they have neglected to teach. However, I'm not complaining about the coaching because I'm just thrilled someone volunteers to coach this age group, as there is no way I would be willing to do so.

 The Sharp Reality Team

Jump ball

 Getting ready to catch the ball being thrown in from the sidelines.

Number 5!

Mama's Bragging

I copied and pasted two emails that Madelyn's teacher sent us recently. I'm a very proud mama. When we had Madelyn's parent/teacher conferences in October Ryan and I were a bit concerned as she lagged behind the class average. Although her teacher, Mrs. White, was not concerned, she knew that Madelyn would catch up. And catch up she did and then some! Madelyn has really caught on to this learning thing and is doing excellent in school. We are thankful and blessed that she is much smarter than her parents were at that age!!


12/15/10
Hello,
I am so excited for Madelyn! She has been working very hard this year and it is paying off. We took a STAR test yesterday that measures reading comprehension. In October Madelyn scored a 1.8 (first grade 8th month) and yesterday she scored a 4.3 (fourth grade 3rd month)!!!
Her hard work and diligent habits are paying off. : ) Thank-you for sharing Madelyn with me. It thrills my teacher heart to see a student soar like this!

Fondly,
Diedre White
Second Grade Teacher
Lincoln Elementary


1/7/11
Madelyn and I were so excited about her NWEA testing results that I told her I would share them with you now and not wait for conferences.
The end of year target score is 190. In math, Madelyn went from a fall score of 175 to a winter score of 192. That is an increase of 17 points...way to go Madelyn!
In reading, Madelyn went from a fall score of 169 to a winter score of 200!!! That's an increase of 31 points...I am so proud of Madelyn that I have goose bumps!
Thanks for all you are doing at home to encourage Madelyn's success. I love her enthusiasm and determination. : )

Fondly,
Diedre White
Second Grade Teacher
Lincoln Elementary

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. At. All. I think it is just something that is meant to be broken. Many people will set goals to get healthier, whether that be to lose weight, start exercising, eat more veggies and fruits, or quit smoking, to name a few. Within a few months they will have failed miserably. Case in point,  the YMCA will become a mad house beginning January. All those people that set New Year's resolutions will have joined the gym. By March, the gym will be back to the usual crowd because the New Year's resolutions will be a distant memory.
Sure I could always use improvement in my life but I don't think a new year provides any more incentive to do so. I'm a person that likes to set goals. For example, I set goals and achieved training for and completing a 1/2 marathon (five to be exact) and then a full marathon. Other goals I hope to accomplish are to have our house paid off by the time I'm 40 (okay, that was strongly influenced by who I married), snow ski before I'm too old, complete a triatholon, etc. But these were/are not New Year's resolutions, more like a bucket list, I suppose.  My point is, I'm in complete support of people that want to improve their lives and set goals to do so, but don't bother setting a New Year's resolution if you don't intend to follow through, it's annoying to us year round goal setters.
Now stepping down from my soap box.

Bringing in the New Year

We started our evening by going to see "Little Fockers" with the Slussers and the Terrys, then the six of us met the Bishops at Granite City for dinner and drinks. We were back at the Terrys' house shortly after 9:00pm to relieve the babysitter and to bring in the New Year with our kiddos.  We spent the rest of night playing the Wii and wrestling. We brought in the New Year and then headed home shortly after 1:00am.

Kenzie, Roger & Dylen in a dance off

 

Kenzie & Madelyn getting ready to dance

 Madelyn & Ryan busting a move.... with those moves, Ryan should have won.

 Angelia and Dylen chilling

 Kenzie & Dylen indian leg wrestling

 The kids trying to bring Ryan down.

Kenzie whooped Ryan in the indian leg wrestling competition

It was fun bringing in the New Year with great friends and our kiddos. Today we have spent the day napping and recovering from the fun we had.

We hope you all have a happy and healthy 2011!