Happy Birthday Great Grandma Wiuff

Tomorrow my Grandma Wiuff turns 90 and we are heading down to Iowa for her party. It sounds like dinner at Mickels' with most of the family and some good hanging out time. I'll have to eat my fill of Mickels' greasy buns and maybe even see what kind of fun drink concotion we can create while we wait for our food (ah, the memories... greves....heilesens.... mickels'!), and we can maybe even see how long it takes the ketchup to come out of the bottle.......

Happy Birthday Grandma!

A Break for Cabin Fever

Yesterday we were able to play outside again, both in the morning and the afternoon. And I am so thankful! Cabin fever seems to be settling in around here and we have definitely hit the time of year where it is most challenging to keep everyone in a good mood, have happy attitudes, and to keep away the whining. But the fresh air was invigorating for myself and the kiddos yesterday. In the morning the littlest kids went outside for a short play time and after school the big kids were outside for a long time. Thank you, Lord, for a break from the sub-zero temperatures!

Wild Friday Nights

With the middle of the winter upon us and our tendency to be home-bodies anyway.... we've really come to enjoy a good movie night around here. Recently we've enjoyed watching "Sky High", "Night at the Museum", "National Treasure" and "Wall-E".

Don't we look like quite the party crowd?!?! Everyone wrapped up in warm blankets and cuddled on the couch for an exciting (?!) movie....

Snow Pictures

It is bitterly cold again today so we will be playing inside. The kids decided to make snow pictures. They decorated their snowmen and added some snowflakes and, voila, fun in the snow - inside! They also made magical snow wands today, so parents, beware!

Crazy Hair Day

Bria had a fun week at school celebrating Red Ribbon Week. On Thursday she got to dress up in crazy mismatched clothes and crazy hair.

Happy Birthday Megan!

I'm recovering from spending the past several days with the flu, but wanted to post a quick birthday wish to Megan - we love you!

Also, thanks to all my daycare families who aren't giving up on me!

This flu bug has been merciless in it's attack on our whole family the past 3 weeks.

I'll see you all back tomorrow and hopefully this will all be over at our house!

Truly Happy Day for Kiddos

Since we are out of the deep freeze up here, we finally have a day warm enough for all the kids to play outside! Talk about a nice change of pace from being inside all day long every day. The kids enjoyed hanging out in the snow fort, climbing up and sliding down the small snow hill that has formed from scooping snow off the deck all winter, playing on the swing set, and just enjoying the warmth! Granted, it's not quite tropical shorts weather yet, but I think we all are beyond happy to be enjoying 25 degrees today! And no subzero temperatures again until Friday. . . yahoo!

With no school today, we had 3 extra "big kids" here all day long, but everyone got along well, played great, and had a really good day.

Painting

This weekend was spent repainting our living room/dining room/entryway. Thankfully, I had done all the prep work during the week: taking stuff off the walls, taping, moving furniture out of the way, etc. I started painting Saturday morning and we had the house all put back together (except stuff back on the walls and putting up new valances) by Sunday night. Wow does it feel good to be done!

Here is the before shot:

Here are some during the process shots:

And here is the final result!

Happy Birthday Reed!

Reed turns 2 on Sunday! Today we celebrated his birthday and had some goodies. Katie baked delicious cupcakes in ice cream cones and all the kids had fun devouring those. The kids also had a good time opening up goodie bags and wearing their party hats. Sophie decided that sleep was more fun than party stuff, but hopefully she likes her little party t-shirt anyway!

So have a wonderful birthday on Sunday, Reed!

Family and Friends

One of my favorite things about Christmas is receiving Christmas letters and updates from family and friends we don't get to see very often anymore. There is nothing better than getting that card or letter or email from someone you know but haven't had a chance to talk to in awhile.

Last week, one of my second cousins, Amy, was blessed with a brand new baby girl. She and her husband are adopting her sister, Allison's, new baby. It's all a huge blessing for the entire family for so many reasons, and I am just so very happy for them all. I know it will still probably be awhile before we see you all again, but congratulations Amy, Bob, Kaitlyn, Adelia, Allison, Rich, Julie & Adam!

Another fun bit of news that I received this week was a message from Phyllis Wiuff down in Texas. She and Bruce got to visit their youngest son, Nathan, who is in the navy. They got to spend time with him on board his ship. Nathan had put up the Christmas picture I sent him of Bria and Emmy on a commons area bulletin board, so now my girls' smiling faces are sailing around the ocean. They were pretty excited to hear about that. Stay safe Nathan!

For all our other friends and family. . . . thanks for keeping us up to date on your lives. Isn't it awesome to be living in an age with cell phones, digital cameras, email, internet and all the other wonderful gadgets that make it easier and easier to keep in touch with each other even though it seems we're all spread out more and more all the time?!

Teeth #5 and #6 and The Flu Bug

Emmy was so excited to head to preschool this morning so she could show her friends the big gaping hole in her mouth! Saturday she and Bria managed to knock out tooth #5 and this morning tooth #6 came out as well. So, our little Miss Emmy, who is just 5, has now lost 6 teeth! I think she's trying to keep up with her cousin, Tre! I'm not surprised her teeth are coming out so fast considering they all came in so fast when she was a baby. She had 16 teeth in by 14 months old - and almost all of those came in in pairs. She seems to be losing them about the same way!

Tooth 5 got bumped out on Saturday

Tooth 6 fell out this morning!

We've also had the flu bug floating around here for the past week. Emmy had it last Wednesday - Friday and last night Bria came down with it. So we've had lots of movie time and quiet rest at our house. And with the stinking cold weather, it's ok to be quiet and warm under a blanket right now. Really - it's just stinking cold!!! We woke up to 35 below this morning and the next 2 or 3 days promise to be just as cold, only the wind will be added to the mix again starting tomorrow I believe. It makes us very thankful for a warm house and vehicles that are running well in spite of the temperatures. So we'll just keep bundled up through the cold and the weather man said we might see 20 or (gasp!) maybe even the big 3-0 this weekend! Talk about tropical!

Well, I think I might try to sneak some rest in while Bria is settled down a bit and Emmy is at preschool. Two girls with the flu during the past week means not much sleep for Jon and me and I'm feeling it today!

Girl Scouts

Bria loves participating in Girl Scouts and today their troop leader, Julie, had put together all kinds of fun activities for them to do. The event was originally scheduled as their Christmas party, but due to a blizzard that day, it was postponed until this afternoon. But the girls had so much fun! They got to make snowflakes, frost and eat sugar cookies, make gingerbread houses, create winter clay creations and made a handprint dishtowel for their moms.

I had forgotten my camera, so I took these pictures with my cell phone, but you get the general idea. The girls all had a great time! Thanks, Julie!

To Play in the Snow. . . .

I've said it before, I'll say it again. . . . we love snow and it's a good thing! Even Bailey this winter has embraced playing in the snow with a passion. A couple of weeks ago she found her favorite green toy buried under all the snow and now her greatest delight is to throw it in the snow, hiding it, and then to dig it up again. .. . how great is it to be able to dig and not get in trouble!

And we got a snow fort dug out for the kids in the backyard, which will continue to grow more impressive since we have a lot of winter left!

I really don't know what I'd do if we lived somewhere warm all year. (other than have a really great tan!) The cold and the snow are great - it's a good excuse to curl up in a big cozy blanket, wear silly looking stockings hats, mismatched gloves, and warm scarves, and who can resist building a snowman or a snowfort or snow angels . . . . You just gotta love the snow!

One-Of-A-Kind Purse

Ok, those of you who know me well, know that I really like purses. It's one of those weird inherited things. :) The catch is, I don't like to spend money on purse; I don't care about designer labels. I delight in finding something different than what everyone else has at the time, usually in a fun color - I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to plain black or plain brown again!

Knowing this about me, my multi-talented friend of friends, Noni, made me a new purse! And I love it! It's the perfect size to throw in my wallet, my cell phone, and a few other odds and ends. . . . . And it's designer - one of a kind! Thanks Noni!

Sophie's First Day

Sophie seemed to enjoy her first day here.

She was asleep when she came today and took a very long morning nap.

Checking out the scenery from the bouncy seat.

Emmy and Sophie Playing with the Sesame Street gym

Sophie and her cow enjoying the swing during the big kids' lunch time.

She enjoyed her first bottle after a very long morning nap.

Sophie had a pretty good first day of daycare

Pizza Planet Cheesy Calzones

Around here, our little Emmy also goes by the name, Chef Emmy. One of her favorite presents at Christmas this year was her Disney Magic Kitchen Cookbook. Saturday for lunch Emmy made our meal and she picked "Pizza Planet Cheesy Calzones".

She cut up all the pepperoni, spread the sauce, put on the cheese and pepperoni, folded them and brushed them with milk for cooking. Talk about a most delicious lunch prepared by our very own, Chef Emmy!