A Little Update.....

I keep falling into this forgetting to blog pattern.  Ok... maybe its not forgetting to blog... it is feeling too tired to blog.  But right now it is Sunday afternoon and I'm fully awake.  Steve and I cleaned out the garage (started to clean out the garage.... because the entire project is going to take days) and now I'm waiting for Mo to come over with Cameron and Emmersyn.  I figured I would write a few things down before I forgot about what happened the last 2 weeks.....

Did you know that March is Reading month??  The kids have been reading and reading in the hopes of earning a gold medal from school.  They need to read 12 hours outside of school to accomplish this feat.  Nicholas tells me he reads at least an hour at night... which I find hard to believe... so I made a deal with him... he needs to tell me when he starts reading and when he is finished he needs to mark down the time before going to bed.  I think this is one of the nights he told me he read 2 hours... was that before or after he fell asleep?  Steve found Nick like this when he went to check on him and we couldn't resist snapping a photo of Nick hard at work!

I can't believe how beautiful the weather has been!  Temperatures in the 70s and 80s for mid-March is unheard of...We have been taking advantage of all these nice afternoons and have been playing at the park ALOT!  This is the perfect opportunity to work on Gabby's motor skills.  They have improved so much from the fall.

It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE  to get her off of the swings.  I want her to practice climbing and she wants to sit on her butt!

After playing at the park, we decided to take a walk down the bike path.  I wanted Gabby to pose next to this tree so I could get some texture into the photo.   Here I am trying to get her to look at me and pay attention, but instead she kept pointing... I was really focusing on nature and when I took the camera away from my eye.... there was a huge goose coming out of the pond right where we were standing.  We had to make a run for it!  (I liked the tree in the background, but I really wanted a good shot of those pants.... aren't they great.... rainbow leggings!)

My little girl........ Ready to take on the world!  I loved this shot.... and it was edited in photoshop...

Pajama day came and went..... the kids wore pajamas to school because what better way to celebrate March is Reading month.  Everyone likes to read in their pajamas.... as noted in the Nicholas photo above.

Leave it to Nicholas to always have something genius on his mind.  He received this little gift from his teacher for Valentine's Day this year.  It just happened to slip out of his school folder as he was packing up for school.  Can you read what it says?

It is a homework late pass.  Nicholas told me that he was saving it up for when he really needed it.... like for college.... because it doesn't have an expiration date..... DUH!!  Steve was rolling his eyes when Nick told him this and promptly told him it was only going to work for second grade.... I just thought it was hilarious, and I would hope it works if he still uses it 11 years from now.

Boy... there are a lot of Nicholas pictures in this post..... just wanted to remember how he likes to line up all his Lego Ninjas on the kitchen floor and have them ready to do battle....

Another park photo..... sitting in the gazebo....

Remember how fun it was to swing really, really, high and then jump off the swings only to land with a huge thud before doing it all over again?  Well it is not so fun watching it as a parent.... Should they really be swinging so high? They are not really going to jump?  What if those chains slipped?  What if someone twists an ankle?  All these thoughts were racing through my mind as the girls were asking me to take an action photo.  It is definitely better to be the kid.....

So that is all I have to share for now...  until later.............

What's Happening Around Here......

Since I've been missing since the end of February I have quite a bit to share..... this has been the last few weeks ... 
The colds are over!  Hallelujah!!  I feel better and  Gabby and Nick have kicked the bug.... although Nicholas did come home from school on Thursday with a stomach ache.  After taking him to the doctor it seems he has some sort of mild stomach bug.  It is always something!

 

Yes.... This is Gabriella...she is always going to the fridge looking for something... a cheese stick.... some apples.... some juice....

She loves to climb right into the refrigerator in the hopes of getting something down or out of a drawer.  I often find her in there with the door closed behind her.  I just wanted to document this little girl getting a bedtime snack.

A fun photo of Gabby and Amanda before school.... This is one of the times that they took a photo very willingly 

Playing a little peek-a-boo with the camera.... or maybe it was I spy with my little eye....

I can't believe Gabby is growing up so fast.... she is going to be 3 in just another month!

And.... here are the kids taking a picture unwillingly.... this is what it is like a lot of times around this house... the camera comes out and the kids go running... I'm just keeping it real!

Gabby and I attended the impromptu birthday for Mom... The scariest thing about this photo was trying not to let the helium filled balloons ignite over the birthday candles... I was not doing a very good job.... Everyone was waiting for an explosion as I tried to take a photo.

Mom getting some assistance blowing out her candles... An explosion probably would have been a great thing right about NOW..... then Crystal and Justin would have woken up... check out the 2 of them in the background.  Ha, Ha

This was my best attempt at getting the cousins together.

The Birthday girl and Dad.... Now this is a cute shot!  Much better than the couple I had taken just seconds earlier....... hmmmm......

Really Dad!  He just couldn't look at the camera... he was too engaged with the basketball game on the big screen.  Mom looks perfect.... and Dad you got CAUGHT!

I love this shot!  I'll forgive Dad for his faux pas because he took this great picture of the girls.

Gabby and I had a great time making this cute little butterfly.  We worked on a lot of her occupational therapy skills like pinching, gluing, finger and hand manipulation, etc.  Here she is showing off her masterpiece.

Earlier in the week we received a fun package in the mail.  The kids always love when a surprise lands on our doorstep.  Well this surprise came all the way from Germany... Here they are checking out the address....

Can you see what was inside the box?????  Yummmm..... Chocolate from Germany, gummy bears and Kinder eggs... What a fun package sent from Steve's cousin, Betina.

The kids loved all the sweet treats.  They especially liked the Kinder eggs.  They are chocolate covered eggs that have this tiny little yellow egg inside.  Once you open the egg there is a surprise inside.... a small toy... they have uncovered a car, a motorcycle, hippo, 3-d stickers....  When Philip came to visit in Decemeber he was telling us about these little treasures.

Later in the week.... I made sweet treats for Amanda to take to school.  Her birthday fell over winter break so she didn't get a chance to celebrate at school.  Aren't the cupcakes cute?  They look like little sundaes... but, they are actually cupcakes.

I almost forgot.... I bought whoppee cushions this week.  2 for $2.00 at the dollar store.  Why you ask?  Earlier in the week Nicholas and I attended a mother-son event sponsored by school.  We played laser tag... which was a blast... and I was horrible.... and all the second grade boys were ganging up on me.... hitting my shield like crazy leaving me helpless.... (I digress.) We were also given tokens to play arcade games and ride go carts, etc.  Well, Nicholas loved playing the games and winning tickets to turn in for a fantastic prize.  He had 211 tickets at the end of the night and wouldn't you know it... the whoopee cushion was 200 tickets.... a perfect gaseous prize with 11 tickets left over for a jolly rancher.  Anyway...... the next day.... unbeknownst to Nicholas.... Amanda popped the farting balloon.  She tried to tape it together with scotch tape... as if Nicholas wouldn't notice the obnoxious explosions were not occurring....  So after apologizing for the whoopee mishap, Amanda agreed to replace the toy.  When the kids were at school the next day Gabby and I headed over to the dollar store.... in the windy, gusty, freezing cold weather we bought 2 more farting balloons!

And finally.... I cleaned out the pantry today.... it just needed to be done...   I found these stewed tomatoes in the back.....

The can read  Best By Feb. 2006!!  That means I probably bought them in 2005 because canned goods have a long shelf life...... but 7 years.... those tomatoes were as old as Nicholas.  Did I bring them from the old house?.... because we moved into this house in 2005.  I promptly pitched them into the trash.  I figured if I haven't used the stewed tomatoes in 7 years, I don't think I'll use them by the end of the week.  I don't even know why I bought stewed tomatoes... I don't know what to even use them for.....

So that about sums up the last few weeks around here.  What has everyone else been up to?  Anyone hunting for whoopee cushions this week ;) Until later....