Gymnastics, Family Fun, and C-c-cold!!!

 

With this cold winter dragging on, we're looking for ways to get out of the house and burn off a little steam.  Enter...gymnastics! 

The sitter's kids take gymnastics and have talked about it enough to peak Cade's interest.  (Who was less than enthused with his last round of gymnastics a year and a half ago, you may or may not remember).

So we returned to KGDC (since that's where Cade took his first class) for Reesie to be in the Parent/Tot class and Cade to be a Mighty Munchkin.  They were stoked!



I had been prepping Cade for days about the importance of listening to his teacher, doing what they told him to do, and waiting his turn.  These are typically NOT our strengths. 

 

I'm happy to report that Cade did awesome!  He took the class very seriously and was VERY well-behaved.  He did just what the teacher said to do and worked hard to accomplish each move just as she instructed.  #ProudMom

 

Jumping into the pit was a highlight for Cade, the red blur.

 

Both kids enjoyed their classes and are looking forward to attending their next class.  Hoping we can keep the enthusiasm going the whole quarter! 

 

It's safe to say their favorite part is getting the stamps at the end.  Well-played, Gymnastics Teacher, well-played.

 

(Fun fact: the black spot on Cade's toenail is from when he dropped his electric toothbrush on his toe.  The toothbrush did not survive this incident.)

 

Other news from the week, I enjoyed getting to celebrate Baby Birt who should be arriving very shortly!  Christy's friends put on a very cute shower.

I'm predicting that she'll be here in less than 18 days.  I'm feeling pretty good about my March 17th prediction, even though I'm not really known for winning any of the Keeley Lotteries in the past.

 

Dr. Birt will approve of this gift from Aunt Beth.

 

The beautiful Keeley Girls, with the surprise guest of honor, Beth!

It was so special to have Beth here to visit that we gathered at Erin and Cindy's house and didn't leave for over 24 hours.  We settled in and waited for the weather to hit.  The weather was a little anti-climactic, but we enjoyed our time together very much!  Running after the kids, playing games, and just lounging around.  Ingredients for a wonderful weekend!

 

 

We got what we'd hoped for despite the lack of snow...a day off of school.  But the cold did wreak havoc with our home...official diagnosis TBD.  The plumber comes tomorrow afternoon.  All I know is the water wasn't draining from the kitchen sink...and yet there was leakage in the basement.  Not cool.  We are such novices at home ownership.  

 

Take my advice.  Never look behind your oven.  Ever.

And, another milestone of the week...our car hit 77,777 miles.  Luckily Beth was there to record it for me. 

 

 

You know how you usually notice something like this like 4 miles before it happens and you think, oh, wow, I want to see it roll over to____, but then the next time you look it's 2 miles past the milestone...no, just me?  I'm the only dorky one like this out there? 

What a fabulous week it was.  A much anticipated week, with Beth's visit.  We miss you already!!!

 

Word of the Week: SNOW

The week started out a little rough as sweet Reesie's temperature spiked up on Saturday and Sunday.  She acted fine--didn't seem like anything was bothering her--but her eyes seemed to lose their sparkle and her forehead was hot, hot, hot.  We camped out at home, missing out on church and Super Bowl fun. 

We're still experimenting with the pigtails.  The swedish look?  Or is it more like Japanese anime?

Tunnel time

Still trying to capture pics of the hair...

It became apparent that Reese's fever was not going down and we'd be staying home on Monday.  Matt was traveling so by "we" I mean me.  I love extra time at home with the kids and extra cuddles with Reese...but making sub plans...
Making sub-plans is the worst.  Making last-minute sub-plans is really the worst.  Thank you, Mr. Belko (a frequent sub in our building) for returning my call during the Super Bowl. 
I knew I was going to have to go to the school, scrap current plans, go back and forth from the copy room, move out different supplies, etc.  All things that would take exponentially longer with my kids in tow.  Not to mention that I often am nervous about letting middle school kids access much of the equipment in my classroom, let alone toddlers!  So I brought the DVD player in the car, left them locked in with it running right outside my classroom and I went out to check on them every 5 minutes.  Is this illegal?  They were fine.  Every time I came to check on them they looked at me like, why do you keep interrupting our movie?  Took me about 20 minutes to get everything ready and we headed back home.  Phew.
Little did I know that I wouldn't return to school until Friday! What a great work week!

Mother Nature came through just as predicted allowing not one, not two, but three snow days!  Woo-hoo!!

We celebrated our snow days by making cookies using our new letters and numbers cookie cutters.  I'm excited to use them to create some birthday traditions around here.  Bust out that number 2 cookie cutter soon.  Number 2 like, the actual number...not like number 2 like...nevermind.

I had to loosen the reigns and just kind of let them do their thing...

Sanitation violations all over the place.

 

Lab points being deducted left and right.  Good thing they are cute!

Our cookies are nearly gone...and I've eaten the most by far. 

As the snow days wore on we tried to wear out the kids in any way we could.  Running laps around the living room?

 

All the furniture was moved out since we were scheduled to get new carpet on Wednesday.  Clearly that didn't happen with all the snow, so we got to move the furniture several times.  Notice below that Cade is standing where the couch usually sits...see the lines of dirt in the carpet?  Ewwww.

 

Living room furniture in the dining room makes Reese confused and angry.

 

Cade embraces it as a reason to party.

 

What can I say...these are my people.

 

Matt and I did take the opportunity to send the kids to the sitter for the morning of the THIRD snow day so we could attend Cade's parent-teacher conference and hit up Starbuck's.  Yes, please. Also, let's just say that I believe our very first parent-teacher conference (as parents) deserves its own post.  I need to document and forever remember the words she used to describe Cade's preschool adventures... 

 

Hoping this snow doesn't stick around until March...but there's so much of it that it very well could.  Will be sitting on the "teacher" side of Parent-Teacher conferences this week.  My time home with the kids last week makes working so much this week seem a little less painful. 

Four day week, I can handle it. 

And the Beat Goes On...

January has become February...which will soon become March, no doubt. 

The beat goes on...and many days that have seemed so uneventful have passed by so quickly.  Maybe even too quickly...I've been trying to do weekly (or so) recaps but they seem like the most BORING posts ever.  Ever.  It's okay, we can all admit it together.  But as the days roll on, even if they're uneventful, I hate to miss out on documenting them somehow!

We finished up January with a weekend visit from G-Mom and Papa (my parents).  Just as I was contemplating cutting Reese's hair myself...

 

My mom swoops in and introduces us to pig-tails. 

Sure makes our sweet Reese seem so grown up...

 

 

Our kids love to end their day with a "pallet" of blankets on the floor so they can "watch a show." 

 

G-Mom and Papa were ever-so-kind to join in.

 

As per usual this time of year, we hit up a couple more MNU games.  I must say, Reese sure is learning to work the crowd.  Every time I turned around she was on the lap of someone new making them read a book to her.  I promise we read to her at home!

 

 

Recruiting a cheerleader on "red out" night (photobombed by Uncle Todd.)

Then moving on up to Uncle Todd who came to town to catch the game.

 

And then the cheer coaches...keeping in mind, that I often do not know the people she is making read to her.  She's very good at helping us all make new friends, I suppose!

 

I also got out and about for "Fun with J & D" on an icy Friday evening to take in the Alton Brown Live show at the Midland Theater. We purchased our tickets in August.  Clearly this deserves its own post...coming soon.

 

And, don't worry, we saw Frozen one more time at the theater.  This time the sing-along version.  Holly talked us into this one but we're so glad she did as the kids loved it!  And, luckily, they don't understand how this photo booth outside the movie theater works. 

 

February is set to be a busy month so it's nice to start out in a holding pattern due to the weather.  Unexpected days home and cancellations are always welcome.  Bring on the big breakfasts, tent-making, movie-watching, and laziness. 

I currently have no pics of these snow day shenanigans because my phone is telling me it has reached capacity.  Yes, it's a sad, sad day. 

I have over 3,000 pics on my phone and just can't bring myself to delete any of them.  (I know, I have a problem).  I transfer them over to monthly albums in my shutterfly account using the shutterfly app on my phone...but what if I need the pic on my phone in the future?!  I make shutterfly photo books every year and 2013 is already made.  Does this mean I should just delete the pictures?!  It seems so wrong to delete those captured moments...the kids change so fast...

I've never utilized the iCloud before so I set that up and am currently "backing up" my phone.  14 hours left it says.  Reason enough to hope for another snow day tomorrow? 

What do you do with all your pics in this digital world?  Where can I safely put them so I feel confident deleting them from my phone?  Help cure my sickness!! 

 

Speedy Start to the New Year

I've decided to {attempt to} at least blog a weekly recap with pics I snapped from the week and any tidbits I'd like to remember.  I found myself standing at the end of 2013 thinking..."what did happen this year?!"  so hopefully this will help.

Somehow this just sounds like one of those resolutions along the lines of "write in my diary every day" or "work out 5 times per week" or other promises that are impossible to keep.  So no promises...

To kick things off, our Christmas break was extended one day as the "polar vortex" swept across our part of the nation bringing dangerously low wind chills. 

 

Temperatures were around -9 while I was in my warm bed sleeping and unable to screen-shot it.

 

We spent the day in our pjs making lego towers and playing with princess dolls and thoroughly confusing the kids about the "routine" they were supposed to be headed back into...

 

Oh yes, and I wouldn't want to forget this.  The "speedy" start to the New Year would be my speeding ticket that I got on my way home from my first day back to work. 

 

Can't say I didn't deserve it.  Have actually sped along that part of the highway pretty much every day so I very much deserved it. 

 

Still stings a little though. 

 

Cruise control for me from now on!  Another New Year's resolution, perhaps?!

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!

S-N Day!

Middle school kids are hilarious at times. The kids have been counting on a snow day today since the beginning of the week. I'm not one for checking the weather regularly so when I said that something was due on Thursday they all freaked out and insisted that we wouldn't be having school in light of the forecast. I banned the word "snow" from being said in my classroom because I just knew they were going to jinx it. It became the "S-N word." So yesterday as the flurries rolled in, just as predicted, a sixth grader stood up and proclaimed "It's S-N-ing out! It's S-N-ing out!!" I tried to hide it...but I was just as excited as they were.