Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a little exciting that my kids are now getting old enough to have things like Valentine's Day parties. It was really fun to watch Caleb get so into it. He actually sat down with me and picked out which card went to which friend. He also signed his name on each and every card... Toy Story, of course. Here's his little shoe box we decorated. It's wrapped in regular wrapping paper that I keep around the house. I cut out the train pieces on my Cricut, and Caleb decorated every exposed surface in heart stickers. He was really proud of his box.

Madeline didn't actually understand what was going on... she just knew candy was involved! She picked out Disney Princess valentines. It's a little amazing how girlie she can be. I swear kids come preprogrammed. Anyway, here's her Valentine's Day bag. It's just something I made in about 10 minutes with some felt and ribbon, but she loves it.

And that about sums up our V-Day celebrations. The kids partied it up at school and got a ton of candy and lots of cute cards. I might just be helping out a bit with the huge pile of candy they brought home. :-)

Snowmageddon 2011

I'm not a huge fan of winter. I prefer my temperatures a little more fall-y or spring-ish, so I'm totally ready for the snow to move on. That being said, I'm glad the kids got to play in some snow this year. It's not always guaranteed to happen around here. Yesterday we decided to fight cabin fever by invading someone else's house for a bit. We ventured next door to Grammie and Popup's house to play in the snow and eat some chili. Here are some photos courtesy of Grammie:

Have a snow-tastic day!

Another Quiet Book

This is the Christmas present I made for my sweet nephew, Samuel. It's a small quiet book with interactive pages. I designed my own patterns, so please be kind! Each page does something different. The apple hides a small green worm. The orange fish can be pulled out of his little vinyl bowl. The sun has loose ric-rac rays that you can play with, and the tree has taggie grass. I also used a variety of fabrics to get some good textures. The blue rocket is probably my favorite. It moves up and down along the cord. The purple kite's tail is elastic encased in fabric, so it can be pulled and bounced. Overall, it was a little bit of work getting it all done, but I love the way it turned out. I really hope he enjoys playing with it!

Have a sew-tastic day!

Okay you people...

...I know I haven't posted in a while. I have no excuse other than the fact that I normally work on my posts when the kids are asleep, and I've been dealing with evening sickness lately. **Update: as Raina pointed out, I have people who read this that I haven't seen in a while. Yes, the big news is that I'm pregnant. (yay!) I'm due in July. I should have posted that earlier... sorry. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog. ***Anywho, here's a quick recap of our Christmas festivities. I don't have pictures of Caleb's school program yet, but when I get some I'll add them on here.

First up is a shot of Caleb in the Church's Christmas program. His class lined up on the steps and signed a couple of songs. It was very cute. Unfortunately, Caleb fell while playing in the Chic-fil-a play area and (probably) fractured his arm. (The x-ray was inconclusive.) But he soldiered on through the pain and did his signs mostly one-handed.

So here are a few cute shots of the kids opening presents:

Caleb with Buzz Lightyear.

Madeline received a lot of dress-up clothes. Here she has on her new headband, and she's opening the matching tutu. I actually had to make a spot in her closet for all the new fancy dresses and accessories. She loves them, and we play with them every day!

The one and only thing Caleb wanted for Christmas this year was a Hot Wheels Criss-Cross Crash set. It's a motorized cloverleaf track that speeds the cars around until they crash. This was his face when he opened his present from Santa. I bet you can guess what it was. :-)

Here's Madeline Christmas morning at Grammie's house. I think this expression says, "Can I open my presents yet?"

Among other things, the kids each received a pillow pet and sleeping bag from Grammie and Popup. They were a big hit. They're sleeping with their pillow pets every night now, and we play with the sleeping bags constantly. We finally had to make a rule that you can sleep in the sleeping bags for nap time, but not at night.

Well, that catches us up a bit for now. I'm sure I have a lot more to post from December. Oh well, we'll catch up eventually. Maybe.

It's snowing outside right now, so I'll just say:

Have a snow-tastic day!

Sugar Bowls and Christmas Lights

Here's a little incident that happened a couple of weeks ago. I meant to post it earlier, but life happens. Want to know what this is? It's my sugar bowl. Can you guess what that is on top? Pepper. That entire can of pepper you see there in the back is now empty.

And here's the inside... more pepper. Anyone want to guess what adorable two-year-old girl was standing there saying, "oh no." You should also notice the jar of candy corn that she drug to the edge of the counter. Luckily she never managed to open the latch. Sigh.

On a totally different note. Here's my husband standing on a ladder. He spent about eight hours climbing ladders and walking around on the roof messing with cords and little clips, but in the end it gave us...

This! (I don't think photos ever do justice to Christmas lights.) This is the first year we've ever decorated the house with lights. We're still deciding how far we want to go. This might be all we do this year, but part of me keeps screaming MORE LIGHTS!! The kids think it's amazing, and that's all that really matters. I'm just thankful that I have a husband willing to do these type of things.

Have a pepper-riffic, light-tastic day!

Chillin' With Daddy

Prepare for the cuteness. We all know by now that Josh likes to kick back and play a video game now and then. Madeline woke up early from nap a few days ago, and all she wanted to do was snuggle up to her Daddy and watch him shoot computerized people. Sweet... I know. About fifteen minutes later I walked by to see this:

She had fallen asleep watching him play. The funny part was that Josh and I were both immediately reminded of another picture of Caleb from when he was a little younger than Maddie is now:

Hmm... does this say something about the way boys and girls respond differently to video games?

Have a game-tastic day!

Kid Conversations

Scene: The backseat of my car as we drive past the big main library building.

Madeline: "Look, Momma, the lib-a-warry!"

Caleb: "No, Madeline, it's said lie-berry, like a little berry."

Madeline: "lib-berry"

Caleb: "No, Maddie, lie-berry."

Madeline: "lie-berry"

Caleb: "Good job, Maddie! Hey, Momma, I taught Madeline how to say it right. Whew... teaching is hard!"

Some things you want to remember forever.

Pictures from my iPhone

I'll admit... I've been pretty bad about updating lately. Here are some pictures that have been sitting on my phone. The weather has been lovely lately, so I wanted to make sure to take advantage of it. I picked up the kids from school the other day, and we "voted" to go to the park.

And when I say we voted, I mean that the kids badgered me until I caved. Caleb can be quite persuasive. It doesn't hurt that he also asks Madeline if she wants to go to the park. I bet you can't guess what she says. LOL

Oh well, they had a great time. We might as well go a lot now before the cold weather sets in.

Caleb tried so hard to push Maddie on the big swing. I tried to get a picture of them sitting on it together, but oh well. Maybe next time.

Okay, this cracks me up. Here's the sign in the middle of the park. Notice the list of things not permitted in the park. Did you see it? The last bulleted item says that you should respect your park and recreational facilities. Since it's bulleted, that means it's included in the list of things not permitted in the park. I know... it doesn't take much to amuse me.

Have a fall-tastic day!

A Beautiful Day

It's beautiful outside today. School is out, so I had both kids all morning. We had to do our big grocery run... which I'll admit is not very appealing on a nice day... for mommies or kids. Caleb and Madeline were amazingly non-whiny at the store, so I decided they deserved a treat. We ran home, threw the frozen stuff in the freezer, and went right back outside. We grabbed some happy meals and headed to the park.

Caleb was thrilled with the happy meals. I guess he saw a commercial that showed the trick-or-treat buckets, so he's been asking for one. He must have thanked me a dozen times. Madeline started using her bucket right away to collect berries, leaves, and rocks. (I conveniently spilled them out onto the ground before we got in the car.)

After they ate, the kids both ran directly to the tall slide. Madeline climbed up like a pro with no fear or hesitation.

Caleb was willing to take pictures for once, so I took full advantage. He wanted a picture by the monkey bars, and I think it turned out to be one of my favorites.

We played on the slides, took turns on the swings, and ran in circles... for no apparent reason. (We possibly even watched a drug deal, but I'm not sure about that. It looked a bit suspicious. LOL)

The kids had a great time. Moments like these make motherhood so fun!

Have a park-tastic day!

The Nature Center

We had a play date with my MOPS ladies on Tuesday. This time we visited the Nature Center. We had originally planned to walk around the (paved) little trail outside and then have a picnic, but it was a rainy day. Luckily there was plenty to do inside. My kids were actually entertained for a full hour! Inside! Let me add another exclamation point!

They have a spot where you can fish with a pole that has a magnet on the end. You then take your catch to this station to measure and identify it. Here's Caleb looking at the display.

Madeline was a hoot. She was into everything. Caleb was interested in all of the displays, but she just wanted to visit and run around. I'm glad we went, though. It was a great way to spend a rainy morning.

Have a nature-tastic day!