What a weekend (and we are only half way through it!)

On Friday Papa came for a visit. He came in the morning and took Olivia for some special Papa/Olivia time. They went to the library and checked out some books and played, then they went to Nino's for a little treat (Olivia has told everyone more than once that she got a doughnut with frosting and pink valentine's sprinkles) and some hot chocolate! Then Papa picked Eileen up from school (she was thrilled!) and they went to the pet store to get some meal worms for Cassy, and have some special Papa/Eileen time. It was a great day for everyone (I even got some down time while Olivia and Papa were gone and Joseph took his nap).
Papa reading one of the library books to the kids before they went to bed.

Then today Joseph has shown some interest in the potty (no, I am not going to start training yet-but I am not going to discourage him yet either) and he has gone on it twice today-my goodness but boys are quite a bit messier than girls even when they are successful! He was so cute the first time he went, he was drinking juice while sitting on the potty, all of a sudden he starts yelling "I spilled! Momma, I spill!" Needless to say he had gone "on the potty" but not necessarily "in" the potty.
Joseph looking at books while sitting on the potty

Joseph showing off his fine work, "Momma, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!"

Quick note on today!
So today Eileen was excluded from school since she was sent home with a fever yesterday (low-grade, 100.1) and the school nurse informed me that they want the child to be fever free for 24 hours so if she is not running a fever tomorrow (today) she can return on Friday. Fine, so I have her home and rather than sleeping in like I was hoping both girls were up before 7 and feeling fine. While I took a shower this morning the girls were playing in Eileen's room, so when I got out I told them it was time to get dressed. Eileen got undressed and then needed to use the bathroom, she closed her bedroom door behind her since Joseph was now on the loose and her toys were out and she didn't want him to get into them. Well, I guess while the girls were playing Olivia had locked the door and now that it was closed Eileen was locked out, with nothing on! To top it off I have been on top of the laundry so we didn't even have any dirty clothes for her in the laundry room! While the girls were playing Olivia had taken one of Eileen's turtlenecks and I did have one basket of clothes to fold but all that was in there for Eileen was a sweatshirt one pair of socks, one underwear, and one set of pjs. So the poor girl is in pajama pants and a turtleneck, plus we have to run to the store today to pick up food for our playgroup tomorrow! Just thought I would share. I hope you are having a great day!

OK, so this is our past month in review! We should be all caught up on the on goings in our family now. We are sad that the Packers will not be going to the Super Bowl, we had some friends over to watch last weekends game and obviously that was a disappointing end. No one is really looking forward to the Super Bowl aroud here this year. We are getting a bit tired of all the cold weather that makes it had to be out for very long, if at all! We got some snow the other day and I took Olivia and Joseph out with me while I shoveled and it was just too cold for Joseph. Plus with all the drifting snow every time the wind blew he got a face full of snow! With single digits in the forecast today we will be stuck inside again so if anyone has any great ideas to break the cabin fever we are suffering from please share!

Olivia coloring a life size picture of herself, this was todays activity and she is already done with it and we haven't even had lunch yet!
Joseph being a big cheese ball for the camera at breakfast!

I hope you have all enjoyed the update!

Back in Madison
The kids and I went back to Madison to spend some time with Mike, Jen and Gwendolyn after Christmas. The girls had so much fun together! While we were there, part of the plan was that I would bring Jonathan and Sigan back to our house on Saturday to spend the night at our house before their flight out of Milwaukee Sunday morning. Well...on Friday night when Bryan got home from a long cold day at work he noticed that it was very cold inside-yes, the furnace was out! He called a guy to come out Saturday morning, and yes we needed a new furnace, but no he couldn't get it in today. So, we did not return home to a cold house or force Jonathan and Sigan to stay in our cold house...Dad/Papa was kind enough to get up and drive them in to Milwaukee at 3am for their 6am flight! New Years Eve day we got our new furnace and by the time people came over that night we even had heat! What a way to end the holidays, we are enjoying our heat though!
For Christmas Nana and Papa gave all of us the gift of donation (they have done this for many years). This year the gift was to Owen Woods, a place we have all enjoyed in many different ways over the years. While we were there we decided to go over to see the giving tree that had been made by the park. While we were there we went for a nice walk down to the little park, we played there for a while and then headed home for some hot chocolate. The walk wouldn't have been too long but with the snow and all the gear they had on it was difficult for the kids to walk.

Everyone looking at the giving tree and finding our leaf.
The girls watching a movie on the back porch at Nana and Papa's house.

Christmas!

Another wonderful Christmas with family was celebrated this year. The kids and I went into Madison the weekend before Christmas and Bryan re-joined us Christmas Eve (after working a full day!). After mass we blessed the Nativity and the tree, hung our stockings, each of the kids opened one gift from Bryan and I (the annual Christmas pajamas) and listened to Christmas stories before going to bed.
I hung Joseph's stocking for him this year (he "shared" a hook with his Godfather, he-he)
Joseph opening the first gift of Christmas.
Olivia showing off her new pajamas
Eileen was so excited for Christmas, so she was very excited to get her new pajamas!
All three kids on Christmas morning, don't they look cute in their pj's with all the beautiful gifts around them!
Eileen was very excited about her new bike!
Joseph working on his gift
Olivia with her new guitar, she was being a goofball for the pictures but she does like her gift!
Well we have our first "real" (by that I mean not a fish) pet. Uncle Benjamin got Eileen a Leopard Gecko for Christmas. Eileen named her Cassy, and she does a great job taking care of her.
Olivia and Joseph jamming out on Joseph's new piano, it was a musical Christmas for us.
Joseph taking a turn on Olivia's guitar
Eileen and Olivia got American Girl Dolls for Christmas from Nana and Papa. Eileen loves her Samantha Doll!
Eileen and Olivia with their new dolls, Olivia once again being a putz for the camera.
Joseph opening his cars from Grandma and Grandpa, he LOVES cars!
Eileen and Olivia got the Rose Petal Cottage from Grandma and Grandpa, what a hit that has been at this house! The only problem is Joseph is like the big bad wolf around here, he is constantly knocking it down! Makes for lost of squeals and screams from the girls, much like the little pigs sounded I imagine!
Uncle Eric gave each of the girls a baby doll and lots of accessories to use in the cottage, note that in both pictures Olivia has hers attached to her!
Joseph and Uncle Eric
Daddy and Olivia, in her new pj's from Auntie Krista and Uncle Carl.

Decorating the tree

We had a nice evening decorating the tree, this year both girls had a blast putting everything up (nice, because it makes it go a lot faster, but the bottom ends up a bit overloaded). Joseph put up a few all in the exact same spot, very cute. He pooped out mid way through and went to look at some books while his sisters finished up all the work. We ended up with a beautiful tree!
Joseph hanging his first ornament of the year.
Olivia putting up hers,
and Eileen with hers.
This year Olivia was our official "Tree Topper", she was soooo excited to do this!
Joseph hiding out and looking at his books.
The final product!
Our Christmas tree 2007, with all the gifts below.

Mid-December Eileen had her school "Winter Holiday Concert". She was so excited to get up on stage and sing with all of the other kids!Eileen prior to her big performance!
All of the kindergartners on stage to sing, Eileen is in the front (I know big surprise, I don't think anyone in my family has made it through a grade school performance with out being in the front row!) , left side-just to the right of the microphone.
The video is really bad, Joseph kept pulling on my arm, I just thought I would put up a bit of the singing. It's not easy to do these things by myself with the kiddos and be responsible for making sure these moments are documented!

The performance went very well, the kids sitting with me did great and Eileen had no fear on that stage! Joseph and Olivia just ate their way through the other performances, so Eileen was able to stay and be part of the finally (I had told her we might have to leave early if the little ones were getting to crazy).