Snowed In: 2013 Edition

As I'm sure you know, we've had a crap-load of snow here lately. Two storms rolled through dropping about 16-20 inches of snow. We've attended school 1 out of the last 5 school days making it a teacher's dream come true. Thank you, supposed Global Warming.

These snow days have been a bit less relaxing than snow days of the past, but nonetheless I've enjoyed the extra time with the kids and the additional free time. We've just been livin' it up around here! Picnics, obstacle courses, snow ice cream, cuddling by the fire, and lots of movies.

The view from inside.

Cade and Matt braved the elements to shovel the drive...again and again.

Reese was amused by all the white stuff...and oh crap...that thing is still out there

Havin' fun

There are rules for the fire you know...

Sweet Reese

Our Super Hero

I can't remember the last time I left the house...or put on make up for that matter. But tomorrow we will emerge again and try to settle back into a routine. Wish us luck!

Reese: 11 Month Update

The pretty girl is 11 months old.

I feel the baby phase slipping away.

Since she's refusing to walk, it's helping to slow down the process a little. We know the developmental window for walking is 9-16 months...but since Cade walked at 10 months and she's just so close to walking...it seems like she's holding out on us.

She could do it. If she wanted to. But she doesn't.

Keeping us on our toes, Reese.














Stats & Sizes: Moving toward 12 month clothes. Still size 3 diapers. No stats available at press time.

On the Move: Standing, cruising, will walk holding your hands and behind toys, prefers to crawl though. We should be glad...

Food: Loves to feed herself and LOVES to eat! Yay!

Sleep: Still a good sleeper. She sleeps on her stomach with her bottom in the air and sucks on her first two fingers. She likes to cuddle with her stuffed pig and a blanket my grandmama knitted for her.

Social: Her sweet, sweet smile will melt your heart. She gets SO excited when I come into the room. Sometimes I step out and in again just to see her reaction again. That might be her reaction when anyone comes into a room...but I prefer to think it's just me.

It's looking like Reesie's first birthday party will be a joint celebration with Easter in The Bend. I'm sorry, Reese. But you won't remember. You must be the second child.

Takin' Care of Business

Last week, we enjoyed an impromtu outing to Little Monkey Bizness and Fritz's train restaurant on our Friday off of school.

It was busy, but not too busy, and Cade had a blast! Wore him out!

We had only been to the Fritz's at Crown Center prior to this. I might be the last to figure this out, but I would recommend the Shawnee location over the Crown Center location any day. Far less busy and far cleaner. Enough said.

We enjoyed having my parents in town, although I didn't get a single picture with them actually in it. They insisted that Matt and I have a date night while they were there and I'm so glad they did! We headed out to Town Center and ate at Aaron Sanchez's restaurant Mestizo. The pork and steak tacos were very yummy and I'm definitely going to crave the pineapple salsa. I was shocked to glance behind Matt and see noneother than Aaron Sanchez himself! I was too chicken to take any picture but this one. But I think this pic is hilarious. Our waitress says Aaron comes for three days once a month to train the chefs and work the restaurant floor.

In other news...we've got a soon-to-be flower girl and ring bearer in our presence! Mitch and Christy came to town and asked the kiddos to be in their wedding in May. Christy is so sweet to want to include the kids in her special day. Bless her heart. We'll see how this goes...

Next up, our pretty girl turns 11 months...sigh

And, don't worry carseat fanatics, I had loosened her straps after carrying the seat in before taking the pic and I moved her from the seat to her bed right after the pic. Promise. Isn't she just so pretty?!

"Cheese!"

Love that little cheese ball. Also loving reading books together (in my bed) before he heads off to bed at night. I'm pretty sure I'm just as guilty as Cade is of stalling his bedtime!

A very social February so far! Friends, birthday parties, etc! Cade LOVED going to Reegan's "Pancakes & Pajamas" 3rd Birthday Party!

Let's just assume that Matt was in charge whenever the kids are running around not fully clothed. Reese wonders why she is topless...

See what I mean? Matt texted me this pic...don't even want to know.

We bought Cade a "Fear the Neer" t-shirt at the MNU game but we had to hide it from him to keep him from wearing it 24/7. He's a Pioneer fan to the core!!

Be My Valentine: 2013 Edition

Cade picked out his own Valentine's cards this year...innocent little boy, where for art thou?

Once he saw the Ninja Turtle cards it was GAME OVER for all other options. No Mickey Mouse, no Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So long age-appropriate choices. Only Ninja Turtles. Then I notice on the box the recommended age is 6+. Somehow letting my 2-year-old take age 6 and above Valentines felt on a similar playing field as buying your kids the mature rated video games or hosting the underage drinking party at your home...

I tried to pick out the least violent ones to give out to make myself feel better.
I'm dramatic, I know.

A glance back at when Cade was still young and innocent, 2012 edition here.

New Girl in Town

Reese's hair is getting thicker and longer...begging me to do something with it besides let it hang in her eyes. I must say my expertise lies in the gel spike in the front for a boy hair cut but I'm trying to expand my horizons.

Growing Up...

Nope, not referring to how quickly my kids are growing up. Actually, this potty-training phase has brought time to a screeching halt. Seems like this phase will stretch on for months and months...and it probably will. When will I be able to eat dinner again in peace--without dealing with anyone's bodily functions while we dine?!? I know I should never wish these sweet moments away...but at times I long for the day when the kids going to the bathroom will not involve me in any way.

What is growing up then? Well, I'm thrilled to be a part of an evening Mothers Of Preschoolers group at my church and our latest and greatest project at MOPS is an Easter grass-growing crafty-thing with a tomb and 3 crosses. The purpose is to get dialogue going about the Easter story and the grass symbolizing our new life in Christ as a result of Him defeating death on the cross for our sins. Neat concept. But I suppose I was just a little scared this would be like my Christmas birthday cake all over again. A nice idea...but I was going to be shocked if my grass ever actually grew. I took pics originally to show you my predicted lack of progress. I doubted my green thumb, I suppose.

Hoping to have grass by Easter?

Before I could get these riveting pics posted, the grass sprouted and has just grown and grown! Boom, baby!!!
Cade and I are enjoying watching it grow...now I'm just going to have to figure out how to mow it by Easter...

Once Upon A Time...

...we hosted Thanksgiving dinner...long, long ago, right?

You may or may not remember that I soaked our turkey in a brine overnight.

Well...fast-forward to last week when the weather was oh-so-unseasonably warm. In the winter we rarely open the curtains or even so much as glance out into the backyard.

But this day, I did. And this is what I saw.

Oh crap. My mind raced. Has that been there since Thanksgiving? Is the brine still in there? I remembered not really knowing what to do with the brine...was it ok to go down the sink? I couldn't dump it outside anywhere or we'd be attracting animals for miles, right? Dare I look in it now?!

I won't show you what was inside. I apparently emptied it at some point but I had chosen to forego cleaning it. It's gross. It's yucky and hairy inside now. I want to just throw the whole jug away...but my mom says I can't.