My Pitbull Pup!

Miss Bailey Boo turned 7 today!!  Hard to believe our boo berry is 7 years old.

In true doggie birthday fashion, we forced her to wear her pink birthday hat like every year.  I rushed home from work, quickly picked up a #7 candle, some yellow cake mix, and a tub of chocolate frosting (for the kids of course).  Two hours later, we were ready to sing Bailey happy birthday!

Since our four-legged friend can't blow out a candle, Sean gladly stepped up to do the honor.

Ahhh I love puffy-cheeked, candle-blowing, birthday faces!  Sean licked the chocolate frosting off his cupcake, Evan smashed his and then devoured most of it, and Bailey scarfed down her peanut-butter frosted cupcake with a dog treat on top in one bite.  That's our girl!

Yes, we celebrate our dog's birthday with hats, cupcakes, and singing.  Don't you??

Happy birthday, Bailey!!! xoxoxo

Life keeps on moving!

Despite the 30" of snowfall this month (did I mention that breaks a Michigan record for snowfall in January?) and despite the "polar vortex" we've been living in with windchills as low as -25, we've still managed to get out.  If I mentioned cabin fever in my last post, it's even worse now.  They're already predicting two days of school cancellations this week.  So, we've bundled up with numerous layers and braved the snow-covered, icy roads for our own sanity.

Take this morning, for example.  The roads were horrible and the snow just keeps falling, but Sean and I escaped to meet up with my sister-in-law and her family to take the kids ice skating for the first time!

While we only lasted a few times around the rink, most of which was me holding up the weight of Sean's entire body as he glided on the ice in front of me, I'm still thrilled he was brave enough to get out there and try something that was a passion of mine for years!

The trick will be getting him to go back and try it again.  I figure if I can con Sydney into going, then Sean will probably follow.  And man, did she take off!  Skating on her own!

Sean has a busy schedule starting next month when he begins indoor soccer.  He's old enough to be in a class with 3-4 year olds without any parental involvement.  It's just him, a few other kids, and a teacher.  We've been pumping it up at home and practicing a bit with the soccer ball, but I'm curious to see how he'll do.  He hasn't shown much interest in sports at home yet, so it's been hard to tell whether he'll thrive and enjoy something like soccer.  Not to mention it's an 8 week commitment.  His track record has been 50/50.  Loved swim class, hated gymnastics.

He'd much rather spend his time doing puzzles, building monster trucks on the iPad, and using his imagination to play with empty 18-gallon bins lined up as a train.  I mean, come on.  Didn't you know that Huggies boxes can be used to fly an airplane using the flaps as the wings?  That's my Sean.

Evan, on the other hand, seems very interested in sports.  The kid runs around the house.  Yes, runs.  He has to have a ball with him all the time and he's got quite the arm on him already.  So many people have commented on how well he can throw overhand at his age.  I can tell Scott is grinning on the inside about his potential in sports.  Just yesterday we spent at least 30 minutes at Detroit Kid City in the back throwing soft plush balls back and forth.  I didn't think we'd get to see the other parts of DKC, but he managed to find some time to make a pizza and ice cream.

We are thrilled that he's finally starting to talk!  While it was just "dada" for a long time, he's finally saying, "mama", "doggie", "duck", "please", "thank you", "bye-bye", "hello", "nose", "bubble", "up", "more", "vacuum", "ball", and a few other words.  Some of them are crystal clear.  Others are his interpretation of the word.  Take "ball" for example.  He says, "dalllllllllllllllllll".  It's not perfect, but I try and keep it in to perspective that a month ago he was hardly saying anything.  We've been enjoying working on the words with him and showing him picture books to help him learn.  He can point to certain body parts like nose, eyes, ears, hair, and tummy.  He can sign words like more and please.  He will do things that you ask him to do.  He's learning and growing so much every day.

Making heart shaped stamps with a toilet paper roll.

With only five days remaining in January, I'm excited to report that the boys have only had colds this month.  No ear infections with Evan!  Can you believe it?  Are the tubes working??  I'm thrilled.  2014 is definitely off to a strong start on many levels.

And of course, one of my favorite winter outings is the bowling fundraiser our school district puts on.  The organization helps give grants to students and teachers in our district.  In fact, I was just awarded a $1,400 grant to purchase two touchscreen laptops for my classroom to use with my projector and document camera.  I cannot wait to enhance my lessons with this new technology.  That being said, I joined a team with 5 other co-workers, we named ourselves, "Livin on a spare", and decked ourselves out in 80's attire to win best costume and 2nd best team name!

I had a blast last night!  It's always fun to interact with your co-workers outside of work.  They definitely know how to have a good time!

This week we'll be celebrating Bailey's 7th birthday (how is she seriously 7 already?!) with peanut butter cupcakes, we'll be taking the boys to Elmo Live, and I'll hopefully be taking Sean skiing over the weekend for the first time!  Here's to keeping busy and staying healthy!!

Snowed in!

Snowpocalypse 2014?!  That's what we were welcomed back with as we returned from our Caribbean escape over New Year's.  We literally landed in a blizzard with zero visibility.  Sounds like a fun flight, right?

With the foot and a half of snow that's fallen over the past two weeks and three snow days in a row, it's easy to feel like Jack Nicholson in The Shining.  Cabin fever, anyone?

So, it was only fitting that the Ice Festival coincided with all this snowfall.  We managed to put a million layers on the kids and go out for an hour in the evening to get some fresh air and take in the sights.

Aside from this outing, mandatory trips to the grocery store, work, daycare, and the gas station, we've tried to stay home, stay healthy, and stay warm.  Translation:  I consulted Pinterest for winter crafts and made the most of our staycation.

First up:  Snowflake paintings using Painter's tape in the shape of a snowflake and blue paint.  Pull off the tape afterwards and there's a beautiful white snowflake!

Next:  We brought in snow from outside in a huge Rubbermaid 18 gallon bin and let the kids play inside with towels around it, gloves, and squeeze bottles filled with water and food coloring so they could "paint" the snow!  It was so much fun and kept Sean entertained for over an hour.  Take that temps in the negative with wind chill!

A little lounging on the couch and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Planes!

Finally, a snowman made out of mini-marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate chips, graham crackers, and cheese.  Evan was along for the snacking and Sean did the crafting.

With more horrifically cold temps on the way this week and February around the corner, it's time to break out the Valentine's crafts, projects, and daycare treats to keep us busy.  Fingers crossed we have a mild enough weekend with snow still on the ground to take Sean skiing once at Mt. Brighton and ice skating downtown in Detroit.

In the meantime, we're staying inside and bracing ourselves for these chilly temps.  Stay warm everyone!

Best of 2013!

I can't believe we're halfway through January.  I haven't fully wrapped my head around the fact that we're in to a new year.  One that will bring my boys' second and fourth birthdays.  Seems mind blowing.  It's crazy how I find that each year as I get older and older, time seems to go by faster and faster.  I can see how people keep telling me to embrace these days with the little ones at home.

That being said, I took it upon myself last year to recap some of the highlights from 2012 in a post.  I love that I can look back in one place and see pictures that capture the best of our memories from that year.  I've been anxiously awaiting a spare hour to sit down and do the same for 2013.  Without further ado, here we go:

January:

Our 4th Anniversary night out at the Ice Festival.

January is always a lazy month for us.  Unwinding from the holidays and trying to just stay warm and healthy. 

February:

Finding those rare moments to get out and spend time with great colleagues doing something we both truly love, bowling.

Snow days home with my loves.  All of us, together.  One of the many perks of us both being teachers.

Happy Valentine's Day, from my little ham!

Cousins all ready to go to Elmo Live!

A weekend away to Torch Lake to celebrate Scott's birthday

March:

Random mild days signaling winter is almost over.

Sitting up all by himself.

6 months old and so darn cute!

Karl family reunion...minus Eric and Ana.

Happy Easter!

April:

Girl's night!

Baseball season starts.  Go Tigers!

Overnight trip to Zehnder's Splash Village.

May:

Thomas the Train at Greenfield Village.

A friend's wedding.

Sean's obsession with playing in dirt.

First zoo trip of the season.

Memorial Day parade downtown.

June:

Off for the summer and ready to play!

Bubbles.

Happy Father's Day!

It's officially summer now.

Safari on our way to Toronto.

Blue Jays game in Toronto.

Toronto zoo.

Niagara Falls.

July:

Love these two.

Up north at the lake house.

Happy fourth of July!

Sean's first time tubing.

Cousins up north for fourth of July and Adelaide's second birthday.

Building our deck.

My new ride.

Work get-together.

First steps.

August:

Greenfield Village.

Snuggles.

Dinosaur fun in Ann Arbor.

Learning how to ride a trike.

First haircut.

Blueberry picking for the first time.

Evan's first birthday party.

September:

Fishing with Pops up north.

Sean's first roller coaster at the Fall Festival.

Brotherly love after Sean's first ride in a bulldozer.

First cider mill trip of the season.

New haircut.  For me.

Sean's first day of preschool.

Pumpkin picking.

The start of the football season.  Mixed emotions.

October:

Sean's 3rd birthday.

Sean's 3rd birthday party.

Like father, like son.

Halloween festivities at Greenfield Village.

Some of Kristen's bridesmaids at her shower.

Professional fall photos of the family.

The boys at the Halloween event downtown.

Kristen's bachelorette weekend in Traverse City at the wineries.

Happy Halloween!

November:

Jumping in the leaves.

Hanging with our friends.

Dinosaur Train Live at the Fox.

Sean wrote his name for the first time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Santa's arrival downtown.

December:

Bath time fun.

The beautiful tree.

Santa visits their daycare.

Lots of birthdays to celebrate this month.

Evan's first time in the snow.

Ugly sweaters at work.

All of us standing up in Kristen and Jeff's wedding.

Merry Christmas!

On our cruise in Cozumel.

Happy New Year!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  While this past year hasn't been all roses, we feel truly blessed to have experienced and seen the things that we have.  It's amazing to see how much our family has grown and changed over the course of a year.  It leaves me anxious and excited to see what 2014 holds for us.  With three snow days, a successful procedure of ear tubes for Evan, and everyone healthy the first ten days in to the new year, I'm feeling positive this is our year.  :)