Cousins

The day of the Birthday Bash, I got a call from my SIL saying her son had just thrown up.  So they obviously weren't going to be able to make it.  We were all so bummed, that because Monday was a day off of school, we decided to meet in Denver and hang out.  We met at a park close to the temple, had lunch, and played.  It was a gorgeous day!  In the 60's!  We have had such cold weather, it really was a shocker!  (Of course, we got snow the next night, so whatever.)  Baby Girl loves the park!  The kids had so much fun playing together. Bucko took my camera and snapped a few pictures. They spent a lot of time in the trees.  We played Red Light, Green Light and Duck, Duck, Goose as well.  So much fun!

 After the park, we stopped at the bookstore and then headed over to Chuck E Cheese's.  We all had a blast.  We were all pretty exhausted by the end though.  It was a great day, though.  So grateful for family!

Birthday Bash

Because we celebrate four birthdays in our family during the month of February, I decided to have all the extended family over for one big birthday bash on a Saturday.  I kept it pretty low-key with hot dogs, chips, baked beans, salad, and fruit.  The night before we blew up over 150 balloons.  We put a piece of candy in each and filled the finished room in the basement with them.  The kids had a lot of fun playing in them and then popping them.  I enlarged a picture of Baby Girl and the kids all played "Pin the Flower on [Baby Girl]."  I guess I forgot to take pictures of that, so I'll have to get one of the finished product.  (Yes, it's still hanging on my wall.  Don't judge. It's just such a precious picture!)  I made these super yummy cupcakes and made them look like Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  The kids helped, and they turned out so well!

No problem digging into that Oreo here!  Love this!

Baby Girl turns 1!

I know time goes faster as you get older, but seriously, where did this past year go?  I feel like I was just in the hospital delivering her.  She is just so sweet and cute. 
I had class the night of her birthday, so we did not really celebrate it that night.  We got her this big purple sheep.  She likes it pretty well.  She started making that face in the top right picture recently.  It is so funny and cute.  Just can't get enough of her.  (Sorry the one of me and her is so close and a bit scary.  I just had to include it because it was the clearest one of her that day.)

Start the Art Night

We did not go to Start the Art Night at the kids' school last year, so I didn't really know what to expect.  We had a great time!  As a Home Room Parent, I did help a little with setup, so I knew a little bit about it, but not much.  They even had a few art pieces from the middle school, and because Tink is in Advanced Art, one of her pieces was on display as well.  Here they all are with their art. 
There were also crafts to do, writing pieces to read, and even baton twirlers in the gym.  They had some of the fifth grade student playing their instruments in the hallways. We enjoyed the face painting and painting with marshmallows the most.  It really was a fun night.  We got to see a lot of others parents that we don't always see, and the kids loved seeing their teachers at school, but not during school time.  Here we all are in "Antarctica" (each grade level had a country/area of the world and kindergarten was Antarctica). 

Can someone please tell Tink to stop growing!? She doesn't seem to be listening to me.  Every time I look at this picture, I feel like I'm in denial!

Happy Birthday to me

My birthday starts off our February birthdays.  With PC out of town, all I really wanted was to go to the temple.  The ladies I go to class with agreed to go with me.  My in-laws agreed to allowing us to sleepover, so that the kids could go to sleep before I got home.  It all worked out wonderfully. I had a great time.  I hadn't been to the temple in a long, long time. It was much overdue.  As we were driving to Nana and Papa's house, I get a call from a florist saying they have a delivery for me.  They were wondering if it was ok to leave them on the porch. I said yes and then turned around to go take them inside.  PC is so wonderful.  They were just beautiful and came as such a surprise.

My friend even gave me flowers and an i-tunes gift card. Then she treated me to dinner after the temple as well. I knew the kids were ok, so I really got to enjoy a "night off." 

On their marks. . .

I signed Baby Girl up for a Baby Crawl during halftime of an Air Force Academy basketball game.  We ended up getting some friends/family to sign up as well.  We got free tickets, so were not out anything. The winner would get $500 in cash, so it was worth a shot.  I was holding Baby Girl back until they let them go. She started out great, then I pushed the car we brought along for her to chase, and it went sideways! So she followed it, of course, just like we planned.  Another baby got to it first, though, and then they just sat there and played.  The winning baby deserved it, as he went halfway, turned around, then went all the way across.  There was so much going on, it was too crazy for the babies.  It was a fun experience, though, even though it was sooo cold that night!  We were even able to nab a picture with the Falcon mascot before we left.

Oh, one other funny thing that happened that night:  when the girl sang The Star Spangled Banner at the start of the game, Baby Girl started yelling and "singing" with her.  It was so funny and embarrassing at the same time.  She loves to sing and always does that at church too.  At church, though, everyone is singing.  At the game, it was dead silent except for the one singing....and Baby Girl. 

Snow, Cold, and School

We have had a lot more snow this winter than normal.  I love it.  We have even had the big, pretty flakes falling this time!  It is so dry, though, it doesn't pack really at all.  The kids have had quite a few school delays and cancellations.  Of course, at least half of those were due to the cold rather than the snow.  When it gets down to -25 F with the windchill, it's too cold for school.  I don't mind one bit.  I love spending more time with the kids and it allows us to just slow down a little.
Here is Minnie with her "snowman."  So cute!  We tried so hard to make a real one, but it just would not happen.

Every time the other kids go out to play in the snow, Baby Girl stands at the window, wishing she could go out.  In subzero temps, though, it is just not happening!

They did get to have their 100th day of school celebrations though!  For Goofy's class, they had them decorate a t-shirt to wear to school.  He wanted to do one hundred 100's.  I thought that was a great idea, so printed them out on iron-on transfer paper and put them on his t-shirt.  What a cutie!  Minnie made a heart out of 100 Cheerios.  I forgot to take a picture though.

And a few weeks ago, I was looking through Goofy's papers he brought home.  One was such a cute snowman I had to take a picture before tossing it. (Yep, I'm a tosser! It is what happens when you marry someone used to moving around all his life.  It is something I am still learning, but doing much better than I used to!)  The other one just made me so happy.  Goofy LOVES werewolves.  I his fascination stems from Harry Potter, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  Anyway, they were learning about mammals that week and had to draw a picture of a mammal.  Yes, Goofy, I believe a werewolf would be a mammal. ;)

Silly Girl

Baby Girl will turn one soon.  I can't believe how much she has grown. She is growing up and has such a sweet personality to boot.  She found the one  pound weights in the basement and carried them all the way up the steps.  She has been crawling around with them in her hands ever since. She loves the sound it makes on the wooden floor.  It sounds like high heels clicking on the floor.

Tink popped the lenses out of some of her old glasses, so Minnie and Goofy have been wearing them.  They put a pair on Baby Girl one evening.  Too funny.

Goofy still makes her laugh a lot. He came down in his monkey costume one morning and she thought it was hilarious!

And one more: lifting weights.

Oh, never mind. I forgot a couple more.  I was changing the sheets on the bed the other day and she went over to the blankets and pillows and started chill-axing.  So sweet.

 I took Minnie to the dentist the other day and she wanted to hold Baby Girl in the chair.  She put the sunglasses on her and thought it was so cool 

And guess who refuses to let me feed her now?  She is so independent! Just like Minnie was at this age. She has started throwing huge fits now. It has progressed from the "boneless" refusal to do what you want, to the arching the back fit, and now to throwing herself backwards on the floor.  I'm going to have to start time-outs soon if she doesn't stop!  Anyway, I thought she just didn't like the cereal I was giving her, until she reached for it and gobbled it up.  So I just let her have at it. She would try to use her spoon, but mostly just reached in with her hand and shoved it in her mouth.  What a mess!