March 2014

 As  you can see, I am extremely late updating the family blog.  Our  lives are in full swing I am having  a hard time staying  on top of  everything.

We started out the month of March by going to a carnival at Claire's school.   They had games set up in  every classroom, a few inflatables in  the gym, balloon animals, and lunch in the cafeteria.  Here are some pictures from the carnival:

We were one of  the  last ones to play the game where you were able to win live gold fish.
They were "generous" and gave us three regardless if we won.
We currently have zero goldfish.
We apparently don't  know how to keep them alive?

Cousin piggy back ride!

We had many family birthdays in March including Kim and Kristen (Pete's sisters), Claire and myself.  One Sunday afternoon, we all went bowling and my kids had a blast!  They now  want  to  go all  the time!   Here are some pictures from our bowling trip:

Bob got a turkey!  Here is his gobble! :)

Our crazy little man fell and  his  tooth went through his  lip.  I was at work so when Pete brought him to the ER to see if  he needed stitches, I was able  to  come  down and check  on  him.
Thankfully, no stitches necessary!

In early March, Beth and Matt came  for a visit and  we  went  to a "Hearts for Hope" benefit geared towards helping those affected from domestic violence.  Three of our favorite couples as well as my sister and  our spouses   went.  We had a great time and Pete even won an AMAZING basket for me!
Pictures below:

Below is the basket Pete won.
The cleaning service came yesterday (May 19th) and the house look phenomenal!
Carpets are getting cleaned on Friday and the spa day is late June :)

Aunt Beth with the kids

My birthday was spent snuggling with my kids a little bit and then my most favorite group of people all came together to hang out, eat, and play cards.  It was a wonderful birthday!

Our children seemed to inherit our love for games/board games this month (and beyond).
Pete and I love  board games so we had a great time playing Chutes and  Ladders, Life, and Uno.

One Sunday,  the girls and I baked some cupcakes.

Grace had her very first birthday party in early March.
She wanted to get super "fancy" :)

My whole world...

My mom came to help watch the kids during  their spring break and visit the last week in March.  This was also Claire's birthday and they had a great time hanging out together. 

Claire and Grace couldn't believe Grandma had never seen Frozen!
Here they are snuggled  up and ready to watch:

On Claire's birthday, we went to Chucke Cheese and had a pretty good time.
Three small kids in a crowded place is pretty stressful but thankfully my mom was there and Pete  met us on his lunch break.  Here are some pictures from Chucke Cheese:

For dinner, we went to "Dan Pablas" as Claire  likes to  call  it.  A few years ago when we went, the hat and singing scared her so much.  She liked it this time  and it was a very fun dinner.

Pete and I went a little crazy for her  birthday party this year.  She wanted Frozen themed and since Pete and  I  both enjoy the movie, we had fun coming up with decorations and activities.  Here are some pictures from her birthday party:

The kids continue to LOVE  to bake with Grammy :)

The kids love bowling  SO much that we went back towards the end of March and they had just as much fun.  Some of the pictures are blurry,   but you can see the anticipatory excitement!

This pretty much sums up our March.  I am sure there are things   that I am  missing but (unfortunately) since I am so behind, I can't think of the little details from the month!

Hopefully I can stay more on top of things in the future! :)

February 2014

February was a month that seemed like a whirlwind to us...mixed with lots and lots of snow!

As some of you may know, I am room mom for Claire's kindergarten class.  Some may also know that I most definitely did NOT volunteer for this :), however, I am trying to do the best I can.  The biggest task for the room mom is to organize a Valentine's Day party for the class.  This involved meeting with all of the other kindergarten room moms and coordinating the party so that each party was exactly the same.  Pete helped a lot with the prep work, but it felt like a crazy amount of work.  The night after the party, a bunch of room moms met for a glass of wine to debrief a little bit! 

My mom came for a long visit in the middle of February and we had a great time.  We played with the kids, went shopping and she was kind enough to babysit the kids so Pete and I could go out to dinner on Valentine's Day.

My sister and I went to Florida for a quick 3 day trip to get some sunshine and relax.  We are so grateful that our husbands support this vacation - I am sure they appreciate our mood change when we return from the trip as well!

Our month ended with Claire's artwork being featured at the local library.  They have a little art gallery and pick artwork from each school to display.  Claire's was picked this time around and there was a very cute little opening reception with snacks and punch.

Pete stays busy with coaching soccer a few times a week and playing soccer once a week (if I am not working that night).  I have given up trying to scrapbook an annual book - who has the time for that?  Instead, each kid gets a scrapbook baby book and then other ones along their little life journey.  The annual family scrapbooks are digital now - and much easier and cheaper!  I have enjoyed playing with some of the features and am almost done with 2013!

Claire continues to impress us with her reading and writing skills.  She does a great job spelling words by sounding them out.  She has made some great friends at school and on two separate Saturdays was asked to go to a friend's house for a play date.  She is starting to get some sass to her and actually told me to be patient the other day when I was telling her to "hurry up and buckle up" because we were running late.  I was knocked down a peg or two when I realized that my 6 year old was absolutely right to tell me to be more patient!

Speaking of sass....Grace is our little angel some of the time and then other times she knows just how to push our buttons.  She is so quiet and shy sometimes, but is starting to push back a little bit when Claire or Jake push her buttons.  Eating with her is a battling because she takes AT LEAST 45 minutes to eat dinner.  Every time Pete and I say "Come on Grace, take another bite" she will quickly whine and say "But I will get full"...to which we tell her that that is the point of eating a meal!  Or if we ask her to pick up the toys or puzzle she got out she will whine and say "But I will get sweaty!"....its just a phase....its just a phase... :)

Jake is officially potty-trained and does really well.  We are impressed with how quickly he caught on.  About half the time he will not even say anything and just walk to the potty, go, flush, wipe his hands and come back.  His words are improving and sentences are increasing.  We continue to work with him and feel small victories with his increasing knowledge.

Here are some pictures from our month of February:

Playing in the block room at the YMCA while Grace was at swim lessons

Pictures from Claire's Valentine's Day Party in her classroom

We then went to a coffee shop and she opened her valentines.  She had fun organizing them and her OCD mom beamed as she did it!

Spirit wear from Grammy and Opa for Valentine's Day

We did a little "Stickers by Numbers" when my mom was here.  I helped Claire and my mom helped Grace.  Jake ate a sucker...

We had a conference with Grace's teacher and she was that she was impressed with Grace.  She showed us this picture and said that without prompting or a guide, Grace made this pattern with blocks one day.  I don't know what is normal for a 4 year old, but I was impressed :)

Pete and I before our date night on Valentine's Day

Pictures from Beth and I's trip to Florida:

Me and my little ladies

Here is Claire at the art exhibit.  She is pointing to her picture.  She's got this weird smile thing going on.  She has a hard time "remembering" how to smile.  I don't know if she can't figure it out because her two front teeth are missing or what, but this is Claire's smile...:) 

We were so glad Grammy, Opa and Kimmy came to see Claire's art, too!