Guitar Hero

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. We hope you had a great holiday season!

Christmas was fun at the Mushett house this year. After a Notre Dame bowl victory on Christmas Eve (I am still not convinced, but they did look a lot better - is Hawaii really that bad or did ND just finally play like they should?), Santa came to visit Reagan the next morning. Honestly, she didn't care what was in the package, but she loved unwrapping everyone's presents.

She received a ton of great gifts, including the pink guitar and ice skates she asked for from Santa. She must have been a good girl this year! Other highlights included clothes, two Strawberry Shortcake dolls, a Dora doll, lots of games and puzzles, a digital camera, a Dance Cam and a tie-dye t-shirt just like her friends Jake and Eli have ... and that was just the beginning. Oh, and did I mention that she received over 6,000 stickers? We have been "playing stickers" (which entails sticking them on any piece of blank paper we can find - at least it is not the walls yet) non-stop for the last week!

Later that morning, we drove to Wisconsin to see Great Grandma and the rest of Andrew's family. They had a lot of snow so we were able to play outside while we were there. We built two big snowmen only to wake up the next morning and they were gone. Reagan had a hard time understanding that. We were also able to "play house" as we set up the Rose Petal Cottage that her cousins got her. She thought that was pretty cool and "baked" a ton of cupcakes. Thankfully she has not asked where it is since we left it at Great Grandma's until I can find some room in our house for it!

We returned Saturday night and went to "two parties" on Sunday. All of us had to return to work or daycare on Monday, so life is somewhat normal once again.

Here are some photos of our Guitar Hero! Dave...aren't you proud (she is even lefthanded...I know, I need to change the strap.)?

Gotta "go, go, go,"

Reagan's mom

More Fall Foliage and Holiday Spirit

Here are a few photos of Reagan and us at various places lately. You will notice the photo of Andrew and I was taken by Reagan herself. She has really taken a liking to cameras and wants to take photos all of the time. It is a good thing she is getting one for Christmas. Her photo taking skills are pretty good I have to admit. Happy Holidays...

I just found these photos as well. They are from way back in October when we went looking at fall trees!!!! It was also the day Texas played Oklahoma State! Hook em' Horns.

Happy Holidays - The 2008 Christmas Letter

December 2008

Time really does fly as you get older. I am three now and the world is still my bowl of ice cream or cheerios depending on my mood (since I don’t like oysters, I thought this might be a more appropriate cliché)! I hope that everyone has a great holiday season and a blessed 2009!

Nothing has really changed in my life. It is one year later and everything is still all about me! I turned 3 on November 1 and am 37 inches tall and 30 pounds. I am slowly transitioning into a "big" girl, although I still love being a baby (my mom and dad are such suckers for this move). In the transition process, I have totally ignored the part about potty training. My mom is positive I am going to know how to read before I am potty trained. Let her keep thinking that … it keeps me one up on her!

I moved to a new daycare in March and I love it. I get to do schoolwork every day and have already moved into much of the kindergarten curriculum. I know all my letters and numbers, my colors and shapes and probably a lot of other stuff I shouldn’t know. I have my own computer so I can continue to do my schoolwork after hours (an overachiever already) and make weekly trips to the library with my friends.

I started gymnastics right after I turned three. I thought I better do it now since I will only be "gymnast-size" for another year or so since my mom and dad are both six-feet tall. I really like the beam and have dreams of being the next Nastia! I am hoping that I get skates from Santa this year so I can start playing hockey with my daddy as well. That is all I have been talking about lately (Note: Andrew…stop pressuring her!). I still love Strawberry Shortcake and own almost every movie she has ever made. Some people have Brad Pitt…I have Strawberry Shortcake.

I traveled a lot this year as I went to Phoenix, Dallas (twice), Wisconsin (multiple times), Spokane and Ohio (twice). In August, I actually spent a week with my Great Grandma Jan in Wisconsin and the next two weeks with my Grandpa Rick and Grandma Vicki in Spokane. I had a great time (Read: No parents telling me no.)! I went to the water park, learned to drive a car, helped water Grandma’s garden, picked berries and grapes and much, much more. My mom thinks I was pretty spoiled during this time, but it seemed like every other day in my life.

Mommy and daddy are good. They are still with the USTA and Thomson Reuters, respectively. Both are still doing stats for the various sports teams in the Twin Cities, although they have cut way back this winter. Mommy is playing a lot of tennis and her team made it to the National Championships in Tucson in November (of course she missed Halloween and my birthday again, but what is new). She did not win, but she had a fun time with all of her friends. Daddy is really into this hockey thing and is doing quite well (at least he hasn’t gotten hurt which is how mommy evaluates it). His team won the winter league title and finished second this summer. He has moved up a level and actually played a game at Mariucci Arena in December (he scored so he was pretty excited about that). Corby (who is 4 ½) is doing fine too. We are just one big (getting wider every year too), happy family.

Mommy went to Texas for her 20th high school reunion in July and mommy and daddy went back to the US Open in September with their Notre Dame friends. It was a great time as mom was finally able to see Roger Federer play in person. She also saw Robby Ginepri (awesome!!!), Venus, Serena and the Bryan Brothers. Sadly though (maybe thankfully), they did not make it back for a Notre Dame football game this year. I am sure they will rectify that next year as they already have three games on the docket.

The rest of the family is doing well. Grandpa Chris had heart valve replacement surgery the day after Thanksgiving and will be recovering for the next two months. He is feeling well, although I think he is extremely bored as he cannot do much. Daddy, who went to visit him the day after surgery and passed out three times before being rushed to the ER (that is a whole different story – he is fine though), is going to visit him in a couple of weeks. Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Rick are going to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in June and there are rumors of a possible Disney vacation celebration with my cousins. Trust me, every chance I can talk about seeing Ariel, Jasmine and Sleeping Booty (no, that is not a typo) in person, I do it!

I miss all of you. Here’s hoping that 2009 is the best one yet. If you are ever in Minnesota, please stop to see me. Also, if you want to keep up on all my activities, visit my blog at www.reagansmom.blogspot.com. It has quite the following!

Love, Reagan
(Andrew, Lisa and Corby too!)

Busy Holiday Season

Like everyone, times are really busy for the Mushett family these days. I have been extremely crazy at work and then with all of the typical holiday activities thrown in the mix - not to mention hockey games, tennis matches, basketball games and much, much more - I just have not had much time to write.

We did finally get our Christmas stuff up in the house, but not without a few disasters. We bought a real tree this year (which we always do), but with the temperature near 0, it was frozen. So we finally brought it in the next day before going to church. Of course, when we arrived home from church, Reagan says "Oh no." The tree had toppled over and was laying on the ground in our living room with water everywhere (or at least I think it was water since we did leave Corby home alone with it - you never know if he decided it was warmer and easier to relieve himself on the tree in the house rather than on one in the cold), but I digress.

We got the tree back up again and started to decorate it when it decided to fall over again - this time with all the ornaments on it - and of course a strand of lights in the middle of the tree shorts out. Just so typical. So once we replaced that string of lights, I put the ornaments back on and ever so slightly tapped another string of lights. That strand decided to start blinking - even though they are not twinkle lights. Needless to say, I gave up and now we have some lights that twinkle near only the top and a tree that is being held up by a bungy cord. Nice ... it was like my very own Christmas Vacation - I am just waiting for the squirrel to come out of the tree next.

The holiday mishaps just keep coming (you cannot have just one). I was making fudge last night, trying to multitask, when the sugar creation I made boiled over the top of the pot and crystalized on my ceramic stove top. Nice ... I have tried three different times to get it off - with not much luck. If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way! Andrew couldn't stop laughing of course. Ugh!

Speaking of Andrew, he is leaving on Sunday for Ohio to spend four days with his dad and siblings. It should be a fun time for all of them and hopefully some comic relief for his dad since he is bored out of his mind. He is feeling good and should be able to ride a bike soon. They are also bringing Andrew's sister's new puppy up to Cleveland so that should be fun. He is a cute thing, but he loves to chew on stuff (like Uggs, Barbies and tennis shoes). He chewed the hands off Reagan's Barbie at Thanksgiving and she said we needed to go to the store to buy Barbie some new hands. I just laughed and told her I didn't think they had those at Target (her favorite store).

Reagan is great. She is hoping for a pink guitar and ice skates for Christmas, but she is too afraid to tell Santa. We are going to try again this weekend, but I do not see it happening. She has been helping me with all of my cooking projects (thank goodness she did not want to make fudge last night) and she helps wrap every present I do (so when you see the tag in the middle of your gift - that was courtesy of Reagan!).

She also has stopped taking naps during the day at school. It has really helped in bedtime for us, which has been great. She is asleep by 9 p.m., instead of the 10:30 or 11 p.m. it had been. She still manages to catch a few extra Zs on the weekends though (which mom likes). She is really doing great.

Happy Holidays to everyone as I am off running again. A few last minute presents and a lot of wrapping that has to happen tonight.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

We Are Back!

We made it through the weekend and are finally back in Minnesota. We had a nice weekend, but it is always nice to be home for a while.

First and foremost - Andrew's dad made it through surgery with flying colors. In fact, he was out of ICU the next day and was released from the hospital on Wednesday. He is doing great, although he is bored out of his mind. Andrew, his brother Brett and his sister Alison are planning on visiting December 14-17 so that should be a nice time for all of them. They ended up just repairing his dad's valve rather than replacing it so that was good. Everything seemed to go fine and he is making a good recovery.

Everything seemed to go fine except when Andrew visited his dad the day after surgery. Andrew, who has an aversion to hospitals and blood, proceeded to faint three times and had to be rushed to the ER after his heartrate dipped into the 30s. He is fine, but it was still a little scary as they had to break out the paddles just in case they needed to shock his heart to make it beat again. Of course, I was at the Children's Museum with Reagan and knew nothing about all of this as no one called me. It was probably better that I was not there, but still a scary situation. I guess it is very common though and there is nothing to be alarmed about.

We went to the Blue Jackets/Coyotes game on Wednesday, had Thanksgiving dinner at Andrew's mom's boyfriend's house (did you get all that) on Thursday and then shopped on Friday before Saturday's drama. We then left early Sunday for Chicago as it was supposed to be the weather event of the year - they have the same weather terrorists there as in Minneapolis - and of course it did not snow until the next morning when we needed to leave. It turned out OK though as once we got away from the lake, the roads were fine and we made it home in good time.

So now it is back to our normal lives...Andrew had hockey last night. I have to work late Thursday. I have volleyball Friday and Saturday. Andrew has Timberwolves Saturday and a hockey game Sunday. And I should proabably do some Christmas shopping and baking in there. It is good to be home again.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

Here are some photos from the weekend...


Reagan with Dorothy at the Sesame Street Exhibit...that is for you Grandpa Rick!




Reagan checking out the Christmas Tree at Easton Shopping Center in Columbus...


Reagan ready for game day...too bad Brady is out for the season.

Reagan is way more cultured than I am...she can actually eat with these. It is amazing.


Reagan loved the trains outside of Jen's bedroom window. Here she is after she fell asleep watching the trains.