February - Valentines Day!

We love Valentine's Day around here. Though it's not really focused on romance, we have several fun traditions that mean we look forward to it every year!

Ben had to make a box for his valentine's at school. Of course he wanted to check on Pinterest to find a cute one. We worked together to make this adorable Ninja Turtle one.

I started doing scavenger hunts several years ago for the kids to find their Valentine's day goodies. It is by far my kids favorite thing we do. Every holiday they want a scavenger hunt. For the Valentine's one I try to list out things that we love about them and of course they have to rhyme. I put a lot of thought into them and they are really special.

With two kiddos in school, that means TWO valentine's day parties that GG and I get to attend. These are always fun to see the boys interact with their friends at school. They both have some really sweet little friends.

Here's Des with Cole, Nate, Bode and Grady.

Then we packed up and headed over to Ben's class. His favorite thing to do is show off his sister, NO LIE. It is absolutely precious. He wants her to sit with him and then gets her to answer silly questions for his friends to hear. Des knows most of Ben's friends and they always make him feel welcome. It's just so sweet.

We also have spent the last 7 or 8 Valentines Days with this special lady. One of our favorite traditions is spending the day with our Mimi. She was here for an overnight when the boys got home from school. She brought them huge balloons that were a hit.

We had a cozy night cuddling with Mimi and then first thing the next morning, the kiddos got to do their scavenger hunt.

Then it was off to basketball with Mimi in tow. It was another great Valentine's day!

February - Desi's tooth

Pre-K is almost always fun. Every day filled with toys and books and crafts and recess and movies. But sometimes you and your friends are playing and you get pushed down onto a chair. You hit the chair just so perfectly that it knocks you smack dab in your frenulum and it shreds apart and your lip turns black. The impact causes your tooth to start to turn gray and the kids in the class are traumatized by the huge pool of blood on the floor. You scream and cry and the teacher can't get a hold of your dumb mama because she has her phone on silent from teaching yoga that morning. So your daddy comes to your rescue and you get to go home early. Those days of Pre-K aren't always the best but they are some of the most memorable!

Then when for 2 weeks straight you have headaches and cry for no apparent reason and fall asleep too easily at 4 in the afternoon for 3 days in a row, your worry wart of a mother starts thinking you have a concussion and rushes you to the 1st available pediatrician appointment.

And she says, "uh, I think he's fine and probably has a cold and yes, his tooth is gonna turn gray and he needs to see a dentist anyway because he is 5 and hasn't been to one since he was 2, but a concussion? Really? No." So then you get to go get ice cream because Mama feels happy and relieved and sorry all at once.

And your big brother is so worried about you that he sits by the window for an hour waiting for you to get home because he loves you so much. Not the best days, but ones worth remembering for sure!

February - Children's Museum with Desi's Class

In February, Desi's Pre-K class took a field trip to the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum here in Seminole. GG and I joined them, and had so much fun seeing all those boys play together. Desi's best friends are all in his class this year: Nate, Cole, and Grady. They are inseparable and have the best time together.

Here the four of them are playing weathermen:

Here Des and Nate check out the fish in the big aquarium:

Courtroom drama! Des, Jeremiah and Grady play judge...

Banging the gavel. Order in the court!

Little Attorney GG has more fun playing with the chair.

But her FAVORITE place on the planet is the miniature grocery store. Her and Graham shopped like old married people together...nagging and all!

For some unknown reason, Graham is busting a move here...cause that's how he rolls.

Desi loves the grocery store too! He picks out all the junk food I won't let him buy at the store. :)

Here they are playing school...

And then we found the face paint. Oh dear. Let that creativity shine boys!

This girl couldn't be happier than with a paintbrush in her hand.

Des, Cole, and Grady. Best friends rule.

Some bubble fun.

Then after a delicious lunch Nate's mom was brave enough to take that fab four home with her for an afternoon of playtime. They are so lucky to have each other!

January 2015

It's a new year! Such an exciting time as we plan ahead for all the fun adventures to come in 2015!!! On New Years Day, we started the year off with our friends Ash and Zach. We had been trying to gather a group of friends for a Friends Thanksgiving and then a Friends Christmas and well, it finally came down to a Friends New Years Day with more than 1/2 of the group missing. We still had a great day as the 6 kids played together and we watched some really exciting football...the Ducks winning the 1st ever semi-final to play for the National Championship!

Ash and I got a rare photo together...

Even though the winter weather here makes you want to curl up and do nothing, we had plenty to keep us busy. The boys basketball teams were in full force with weekly practices on Tuesday nights and games on Saturdays. I started teaching yoga at Seminole State College on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. I had the class coincide with Brad's lunch break so he could watch Genevieve for me. That means I am now teaching 4 days/5 classes a week. I also took on the challenge of being co-chair of our Main Street Promotions Committee that is in charge of all the fun events downtown. 

Des bought these earrings for Genevieve for Christmas. She wore them every single day for a good 3 weeks before they broke. This girl is all about the fashion.

We had gone to the mall so Brad could spend his Christmas money on a bunch of new work clothes and shoes. (He is so practical!) She was completely captivated with herself at each and every dressing room!

Sure there were fun new things added to our calendar this month, but most of our days were completely cozy. A fire in the fireplace, dinner at the breakfast bar, watching movies together, warm bubble baths, wii family tournaments, and of course, family storytime before bed. Clean, cuddly babies in warm, fuzzy jammies...there is just nothing better.

On days that I'm teaching at the college, GG gets to have lunchtime adventures with her Daddy. They usually just come home and eat grilled cheese and tomato soup and then head back for office hours where she colors endless Frozen pictures and wanders the halls entertaining the rest of the business department. But on really special days, she gets to go out to lunch with some of the oh, so important college folks. And she entertains them too.

Of course we have been enjoying all of the wonderful Christmas gifts we received. So much playing! And well, I'm not the only one that has enjoyed this beauty. The kids can't believe how much dessert they are getting these days! They sure do love to help in the kitchen.

A couple of days the cold, dreary weather broke and we would have glimpses of sunshine. One of those days just happened to be a Saturday when we got together with 3 other families to discuss putting together a tee ball team for Des and his friends. The other families had 5 year olds ready for ball too and we had to discuss serious baseball business...like team names, and how we would hardly never practice and certainly NEVER go to tournaments. :) The discussion quickly turned into how we should have all those kids (8 boys + gg) outside so we grabbed some poles and headed up to the pretty pond.

Then it transformed into grilling out and laughing our booties off. I think we are gonna love tee ball this year! :)

The boys were pretty excited to go back to school, Ben more so than Des. But soon enough we were back in the swing of things. I always assumed that when the kids were in school, I would have so much more free time and life would get less hectic. That has certainly not been the case with us. I guess when you factor in moving to a farm, beginning to teach a lot more, and still having one of those kiddos at home it makes sense, but man, school + sports is CRAZY busy!!! I am always working on someone else's schedule and there is never enough time in the day. But school brings so many celebrations. There is always something fun for the kids to look forward to and something they accomplished that they are proud of. Even the 100th day of school got a celebration!

There were a few sick days and a few days where the boys just stayed home to rest/play/be with sister and me. Especially our Desi...sometimes it's all too much for him and he needs a mental health day. And heck, he's in Pre-K...which Ben didn't even go to. So whenever he's a little too sleepy, or bored with school, or just wants to be with us, he gets to. And we LOVE when he is home...

All in all, a fantastic start to the new year! Time just keeps cruisin' along and we sure are enjoying the ride!