Nothing Like Her MAMA

My dad sent the picture above of me. I am guessing that I'm about the same age as Olivia and I was surprised how different we look. I don't see any resemblance at all. She must look like her daddy when he was little!

A Busy Birthday Weekend!

The fun started Saturday morning! Darrell volunteered to stay home and watch Olivia while Judy, Steve, Braden and I went to a play at First Stage Theater downtown. It was, "The Dinosaur Play," and was geared towards preschoolers. I was very impressed with how interactive and child friendly it was. Braden even got to raise his hand and ask a question at the end.

We picked up the usual Chinese for lunch and then celebrated Judy's birthday with singing and cake. It was my first attempt at a homemade chocolate cake! The recipe came from Judy (it's one of her favorites) and it doesn't have any eggs. I was a little skeptical as to how it would turn out but it ended up delicious! I made it thick and round so I could cut through the middle and add an extra layer of frosting - the best part if you ask me! :)

The kids went down for a nap, Steve watched the Marquette game and Judy and I watched, "The Secret Life of Bees." It was super cute and both of us had wanted to watch it for quite some time.

Jennifer came over to babysit the kiddos so we could enjoy a relaxing dinner downtown at La Fuente. Jillian and her boyfriend, Cody, met us there. We had a great time and enjoyed some margaritas and very yummy food. We hadn't been there in a really long time so it was fun to be back in the festive Mexican atmosphere.

After dinner we came home, played a great game of UNO Hearts, (I kicked their bums) and then hit the hay. It was a great day and really fun to celebrate Judy's birthday with her. Happy Birthday Judy - Thanks for the fun weekend. :)

Meet Magnus

Tonight we went on a little family adventure! We drove down to Janesville, WI (about an hour away) to see some puppies that we had been looking at online. They are absolutely adorable. The puppies are called, "Frenchtons." They are 1/2 AKC French Bulldog (dad) and 1/2 AKC Boston Terrier (mom). It's kind of funny that we came upon them because we had been looking at either French Bulldogs OR Boston Terriers. People who know me are surprised that we aren't looking at Boxers. The simple reason is that we don't feel like we have a big enough house or yard to properly care for one. Maybe next time! :)

Magnus, the little darling you see above, is the newest member of our family!!! He was born on January 14th and will come home to us mid-March. He's fairly stocky and when full grown will be about 20 pounds (probably a little more). He was completely laid back while we were there and sat in Braden's lap for a long time. We are quite smitten and can't wait to bring him home. On our drive back, Braden was talking about where he was going to sleep and what he wanted to put into Magnus' house. It was really cute. He's a big reason that we want a dog. Shouldn't every little boy grow up with a dog? We certainly think so.

Evan turned 4!

Evan and Andrew had their birthday party on Sunday at Salto Gymnastics. It was a lot of fun! They had two different rotations the kids went through, then we went up and had cupcakes in one of their party rooms. We ended the evening with some free play on the trampolines.

It's so fun to watch the boys grow up. Evan and Braden have been together since they were little. They are as close to brothers as you can get without living under the same roof. I love how well I know Evan. He's like one of my own when he's here. I feel so good that he's comfortable at our house. He asks if he wants something and lets me wipe his bum. :) I really treasure that time with him and am looking forward to even more of it next year when I have him an extra day or two each week. I only wish I knew Andrew just as well.

I asked him what he wanted for lunch on Monday and his request was easily fulfilled...ham sandwich, and an apple. I squeezed some carrots and peanut butter on his plate too which he finished happily. Kristin had brought cupcakes over so we lit candles (Braden had to have one too), sang, "Happy Birthday," and blew them out. It was fun. He got to open his present afterwards. We got him some new legos!!

Happy Birthday Evan! We are so proud of what a wonderful boy you are and love that you are part of our family.

Braden's Date with Jen

Braden had a date yesterday with one of my best friends Jenny. She loves kids and doesn't yet have her own so she "borrowed" him for a few hours. He had a great time and she put me to shame! We got there and she had a job for him of putting window gel clings on the windows. She had a place all set up for him to roll out cookie dough and some in the oven already so that they could cool in time to decorate. They also watched the movie "Bolt," and cut out some valentines with fun paper punches. Ben (Jen's boyfriend) happened to have a Godzilla and lizard hanging around the house so in between everything he found some time to play. Jen got this awesome camera for Christmas and she takes great pictures. She caught him in action as you can see. He is pure BOY!

Thanks Jen for taking time out of your weekend to spend with Braden. He had a really good time and felt very special to have his own date! You're the best.

Valentines Day

Braden and I looked through my file system where I pull out ideas from magazines that I want to remember. We picked out a few different Valentines day projects to do together. It's been a lot of fun since typically he's not into crafts.

Here are two of the three things we've done. The heart is the valentine we made for his classmates. He'll deliver them on Wednesday. He melted crayons in a heart mold and then glued them onto the little paper circles I cut out.

The clothespins are for his teachers. He painted them and then I put the letters on and the magnets on the back. They hold a small gift certificate.

Such fun and it makes me excited for whats next... hmmmm St. Patricks day!

What a delightful day!

We had a really nice day yesterday! Marc and Steve went to a men's conference but before they left, Braden and Marc had a puppet show in the kitchen! Braden loves play with his uncle Marc.


It was amazingly beautiful outside so after Steve and Marc left, the kids got bundled up and went outside. We have a fenced in yard so they played and played while I buzzed around the house picking things up. They played for almost an hour. It was great and gave me glimpses of what this summer will be like. I can't wait!

After warming up with some hot cocoa, we changed and went to the zoo. It was so nice to walk around in the fresh air and sunshine. We met the Olson's there for part of the time which was a highlight of course. Before leaving we rode on the carousel. Braden loved it, Olivia hated it. Once it started moving she wanted into mama's arms for the rest of the ride.


Both Steve and Marc had a great time at the conference. When they got home we took a leisurely walk to the grocery store and came home to make a delicious dinner. We had a pepper crusted beef tenderloin (one of the meal co-op meals I had made), my mom's famous pomegranate salad, garlic mashed potatoes, broiled asparagus, and a new favorite wine - tempranillo. It was such a treat.
Once the kids were in bed Marc, Steve and I played games until way too late. I haven't laughed as hard as I did in a long time. It was really fun.
I am feeling very blessed right now. It was a delightful day.

Comments

Sam just brought to my attention that I had my settings such that if you didn't have a blogger account you couldn't comment. I changed it. You can now make comments on our posts (if you want!) by selecting Name/URL and just writing your name in. Sorry for the confusion! :)

The Look

We had Braden's conferences at school yesterday. They said he is doing really well and that they enjoy him. His biggest struggles are transitioning from one activity to the next and sharing. He struggles with this at home as well so it wasn't any surprise.

This picture says it all. They gave it to me. Not sure if they were suggesting something or if they were just handing out photos. :) It was picture day and he didn't want to stop playing to get his picture taken. So he is giving them ... THE LOOK. He does this look when he's mad. He crosses his eyes and says that he's making two of you. Ha! It's actually very cute but I certainly wish he wasn't doing it at school. When I showed him the picture he asked me what he was doing and why.

So we'll continue to work on sharing (taking turns) and transitions. Everything else was positive. Great job buddy!!

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Today Braden and Evan were at their friend Daniel's for a play-date over lunch. Olivia and I were home enjoying a little lunch date. I knew she was tired (she's had a little cold and hasn't been sleeping the best) but didn't know she was this tired. I stepped up from the table to get some water and turned back around and she was asleep on her plate. It was the cutest thing. What you can't see in the picture was that she fell asleep mid-chew. She has food in her mouth and still managed to drool. Is she taking after her uncle Sam?

Super Bowl Picnic

We were lucky to have Steve home for Super Bowl and decided to have some family time since we haven't had a lot of it lately. We cozied up, picked up pizza and had a picnic in the living room! It was a lot of fun. Braden got into the game somewhat and Olivia had fun picking olives off of our pizza.

What a fun game it was. I have cousins in both PA and AZ so I would have been happy for either team. I love to watch close games but had to leave at the last minute to go for meal co-op drop off. I listened to it in the car and then saw the last play at Kristin's house! What an adrenaline rush!