Field Trip Day!!

I was able to join Eileen's class on their monthly field trip...to the middle school band! No, it was better than I expected. The band director was very good at keeping the pre-schoolers involved the whole time, and the kids even got to get up and go to their favorite instrument to watch the middle school student play. Since I was the room mom Eileen was the "special helper", so she earned the privilege of giving the director the Thank You card the school made for the band.
Eileen and her friend Emily watching the percussion section, the xylophone!

The Kennedy Middle School Band

Eileen helping her teacher and her friends give the Thank You Card to the band.

Note the Xavier sweatshirt, we are praying for another victory over St. Joe's tonight (that would make 7 in a row!).

Winter in Wisconsin...still

Bryan throwing a snowball at the photographer, always an instigator!

Bryan working on the snow slide he made for the girls, they had so much fun on it (so did Bryan and I).

Olivia taking a turn on the slide.


Eileen taking her turn and trying to remember to keep her feet up while going down! She got more adventurous the more she went down it, head first, on her back, her belly, her side, and even rolling head over feet!

While the girls and I were playing on the slide Bryan was working on his giant face, the neighbors made a snowman that must be about 10 feet tall so we got more than enough snow to remind us that winter in Wisconsin will not go out without a fight (more snow to come this week!). We all had a blast playing in the snow while Joseph took his nap, a good thing with all the bowing it would have been so cold on his fat little cheeks. When the girls were thoroughly frozen we went in to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate (Thank you Auntie Lori, the girls love it!) with marshmallows of course. Over the weekend we were also very happy to have the hot tub working again, it was nice to be able to warm up in there after all the shoveling and playing outside we did, what great family time snow is able to create!

Joseph is too funny!
Joseph is going to be hard to keep up with once he figures out this whole walking/running thing! Every day when I go to get him up in the morning or from his nap he is jumping on the bed! He stands there holding the crib railing jumping (sometimes he even gets some air) and laughing. He has also completely disassembled his mobile, it has finger puppets that hang from it and he has pulled them all off, and just think this is him confined to his crib! His new favorite thing (out of his crib) is when he is playing with something and decides that it is time to move on, he will put whatever object in his mouth and crawl around, I call him my little puppy dog. We are having a ball watching him change, the girls still get so excited every time he stands up (pulls up). It is kind of nice the way they don't get used to his accomplishments as quickly as I do and it helps me to remember how quickly it all passes, it doesn't seem that long ago that we were trilled that each of them had pulled up.

We had another busy but wonderful weekend

This weekend we went to Kelsie's 4th Birthday Party, a Princess Party! Eileen dressed up as Princess Leia and Olivia was Snow White, they were too cute! Eileen was so excited because she was a "real" princess and she was really strong (a bit of coaching from Mom and Dad on this one). All of the little girls looked so cute in their princess costumes, and many of the women also donned a tiara in honor of the theme. Princess Leia, not a bad costume on an hours notice!

Olivia as our little Snow White, the fairest one of all

All of the little princesses waiting for cake, Eileen lost her seat at the last second so you can see her pouting in the background, the hair just jumps out at you

Everyone feeling so much better now that we have cake and a juice box!

Nana and Papa also came in this weekend and they offered to stay home with Joseph so we didn't have to take him to the party. I think they enjoyed having some uninterrupted time with Joseph, and I think he enjoyed it too! On Sunday morning Bryan and I were able to sleep in a bit, Papa was willing to get up with the girls and make them breakfast! A bit later Nana and I went to church and when we came home we had a nice brunch of baked French Toast, fruit, and coffee. It was a great weekend, it is always so nice to have people come visit.
The girls were a bit over tired from all the excitement from the weekend so last night we caught them sitting on the couch reading together, it is so nice when these moments happen.
The girls love the valentine books. Today the Presidents books come out I wonder if they will go over as well...Happy Presidents Day everyone!

The other good news is the hot tub is up and running again, no more cold tub!!
With the cold air the steam is so thick it can be hard to see, but it hasn't stopped us from enjoying it!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today we celebrated Joseph's first Valentine's Day! We had a fun day, red breakfast and lunch and for dinner we will have pasta in a "red" sauce, it seems that everything has to be red or pink today with the two girls calling the shots.

Joseph was not in the mood to have his picture taken this morning, he was however in a great mood and just wanted to play! The girls however were more than happy to oblige and pose for a picture for me.

Next Year Will Be The Bears Year!

Even though our beloved Bears were not victorious this year we still managed to have a great weekend at Nana and Papa's house. The kids and I went in on Saturday and were joined that afternoon by Uncle Bob and Aunt Paula. With all those adults I was able to get out with Uncle Brian to watch the Xavier game (they killed them! 91-57 over Charlotte). On Sunday Dad came in (after celebrating Uncle Eric's 21st Birthday again, this time at the bars!) and Uncle Mark was able to join us as he returned home from a visit in Chicago. Watching the "Big Game" with all of these die-hard Bears fans was a bit intense at times, but even with the down-hill progression of the game we still managed to come out of it having had a good time!
Joseph enjoying his first super bowl with Daddy

Olivia joining Aunt Paula and Uncle Mark on the couch to watch the game

Uncle Brian and Uncle Mark watching the Bears very intently

Uncle Bob, Dad, Eileen and Nana (hidden) enjoying some snacks during the game, and were there ever a lot to choose from! All day it was non-stop eating!

We stayed a few extra days after the game, no work for Nana due to the cold weather (-30 wind-chill, Milwaukee and the area had 2 days off for it!). On our last night Papa made chocolate milk shakes for all of us. Joseph loved his first shake and can't wait to go back to Nana and Papa's house, they give him the best food!
Papa let the girls help make the shakes

We all enjoyed the shakes the three of them made for us,

but I think Joseph loved his the most!

Thanks for a great weekend everyone (except Grossman)!

Peek-A-Boo

Joseph is in love with the game peek-a-boo and I have to say I love it too! The girls just love playing with him also, and he laughs and laughs every time he finds us!

"Where is Joseph?"

"I see you!"

"Peek-a-boo Joseph!"

I have to share this with you, it is true kids say the funniest things! The other day I shelled out the big bucks and bought some rosemary mint shampoo, when I got out Eileen told me "Mmmmm, you smell like dental floss!". I think I made a poor spending choice. Then this morning I was cleaning the first floor bathroom because last night Bryan finished painting, installing the chair rail and new faucet so I thought I could do the clean up for him. To clean the paint splatters off the porcelain I was using a cleaner with bleach. Olivia came in to check up on me and said "Oh, Mommy it smells like the hot tub!", maybe I need to be doing more cleaning!

This weekend we are off to Madison to watch the Bears with my family, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Paula will be joining us, though we will miss Jonathan (currently in Alaska), Benjamin and Mike, Jen, and Gwen all in the Twin Cities. Though not all together we will all be pulling for our Bears to come through in the end and show us another victory!

Go Bears!!