Monday, February 25, 2013

Lovin' It!

 Happy end of February!  We had a busy few weeks, but then again, when is it NOT busy in our house?  Our above photo is from Lutsen, more details on that trip below...
 Valentine's was good and bad.  The good part was we had some special presents for each other, including Cooper's artwork from Come and Play (above) and this adorable plate Jenny (daycare Mama) helped us make for Mommy and Daddy.  They loved it! Cooper and I have our fingertips and toes stamped onto the plate.  We had black toes for a few days :)  The bad part was we were sick, once again.  Details below!
 It was like Christmas on Valentine's Day morning.  First off, school was cancelled for Mommy due to some snow and ice.  This meant we had a PJ morning and gift opening.  We each got a Potato Head (Cooper wanted Mrs and I wanted Mr).  We play with these constantly.
 We received Peter Pan, some slippers, light-up boots (Cooper) and light-up shoes (me), candies, dollars, and some games.  We feel loved!
 At school, we had a Valentine's party and our family made this Mail Truck for my Valentine Box.  Mommy assembled it and I artistically colored it.
 Cooper and I went to the pediatrician that morning, we were diagnosed with pneumonia, so that meant ALL 3 boys (Daddy included) had pneumonia, were coughing like crazy and needed meds.  We are SO done with this winter @)(%_@!#)!~
 Earlier that week, we had a playdate with Laurie Jo and her two girls, Lucy and Lily.  The Moms heard some commotion and came downstairs to find us jumping in the spare bedroom crib.  All they could say was.... "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!" 
 We had plans to head to Lutsen Friday night for a long weekend with our good friends Meggen, Pete, Lauren, Abby, Margy and Bob.  Because we all had pneumonia (minus Mom) we decided to get some steroid med's for Cooper and drive up on Saturday morning.  With some new medication, Cooper was MUCH better by morning and we were off to Lutsen- just a 'short' 4 1/2 hour drive.  Once there, it was time for snow fun!  Daddy's goal was to make it home in the same vehicle, which we did!  No crashes and we had a great time!
 We had a dance party in the living room (Lauren LOVES to dance... she is the leader of our pack as a BIG Kindergartner)
 We made snow tunnels and did tons of sledding!
 Lauren and I are two peas in a pod... we both love to be outside all.day.long.  Cooper was still a bit under the weather, so he had shorter outdoor outings and was cranky.
 Mommy attempted to squish her hinder on this saucer and try it out.  Yep, it was fast!
 Crabby Coop (so cute below) wanted to try the Superman position while sledding... he just didn't want to look while Pete was navigating the sled.
 We love his baby blues.....
 Yay!  We finally get a photo with ALL kids in it.  Cooper even cracked a smile :)
 I had my first backseat driver experience.  Lauren wanted to ride with me, so I scooted forward and let her ride along.  I went very slowly and took my job and her safety very seriously. We only tipped twice as I attempted to make a few turns into the 4 foot high snowbanks. 
 We went for a family snowmobile ride- I rode on Mommy's sled and Cooper rode on Daddy's sled.  There was soooo much snow up north and it was beautiful!  We had a great time outdoors, couldn't get enough!
 And here is our annual kids on the step photo.  We look forward to many years of winter fun together at the "cabin!"
 Cooper and I were busy shaving in our tub (we have suction mirrors) and our parents caught us... only another year or two of these pictures before it will be totally inappropriate!
 This past weekend, everyone gathered at Grammy's house on Saturday for a fun day on the lake!  We hung out with our cousins, went snowmobiling, ice skating and ice fishing together.  We love seeing them and couldn't believe how BIG Emmett is getting (almost 4 months old!)
 Me and Uncle Ben
 Bennett and Uncle Matt
 Me showing off doing the kneeling thing on my snowmobiling while cruising loops
 Letting "me too" ride on back while slowly riding on the lake
 Mommy took this photo before work last week, just look how handsome we are in our matching shirts (compliments of Grandma Carla!)
Our last tidbit is from our volunteer night at Feed My People Food Bank.  Mommy had conferences so Daddy took us to package food with his Rotary Club.  We had a great time and were excellent helpers.  We understand why we were there~ to help people who don't have food get food.  We are blessed to not have to worry about food.  We were able to wear funny hats, scoop rice, and we hung out with the Gordy's Guru (silly guy who is a big kid at heart and is a spokesperson for a local grocery store).
 We will definitely do this again...Papa, we know you are so proud of us as you do this kind acts too!

Hugs to all this last week in February and we hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

A Case Of The Me Too's & Pukes

Mommy came across this picture from her purse camera and just loved how big our smiles were on the airport tram.  We were in Florida on our way to the Disney Cruiseline bus, all smiles and ready for a vacation.  Since we have arrived home (it's been one full month now), it has been a blur of activities- hockey, school, snow, freezing cold, the flu x2, colds and coughs, a crazy Mom who hosted Bunco and a baby shower a week apart, and so on.  We have been MIA with the blog but hope to get you all up to speed on the latest.....
 Cooper is doing really well with potty training.  He has been #2 trained for well over a month, but is still working on the potty part of this.  He loves wearing underwear- so much in fact that he gets several pairs on and parades around the house.  Our parents would love, LOVE, to have him out of diapers before he turns 3 in June!
 I continue to play hockey twice a week in the beginner's program and Cooper has a severe case of the "me too's."  While Daddy was putting on my long underwear for the arena, Mommy captured Cooper sitting in the corner of our kitchen with my gear on.  He sooooo badly wants to play hockey like the big boys!
 I always remind Cooper that I am bigger and almost 5, just so that he knows who is really the boss around this place.
We have had the flu in our house this past month.  Cooper and I had the throw-up flu TWICE in a month.  How can that be!?!?!  We wash our hands, we have an OCD Mom who cleans nonstop, and we are generally in good health (Mom tries to convince us that we don' t eat enough veggies, but I am fairly sure that is just called trickery.)  Our parents have taken days off from work and Mommy is pleading with us to only get sick from here on out on Mondays or Tuesdays (her days off from teaching).
 With being sick, we love taking baths throughout the day... our baths consist of tons of toys, shaving cream, foam letters/numbers, and splashing.  We are now expert head dunkers.
 On one of the few weekends we were NOT sick (but Mommy was), we went to Grammy's house on the lake to ride the snowmobiles.  Grammy drove Mommy's and Daddy rode his.  Cooper fell asleep in Daddy's arms on the ride and I talked endlessly to Grammy about the ins and outs of the Arctic Cat.
 We spent some time ice fishing at Grammy's too.  I was most excited about the gas powered auger and the ice fishing sled that you pull all the gear out to the lake on.  Cooper liked scooping the slush from the holes and yelled down the hole to the fish... "BITE MY POLE FISH!"  That didn't seem to help any. 
 Cooper and I love to get "cool hair" before leaving for preschool or Jenny's house or really anywhere we go.  Kinda high maintenance at the ages of 2 and 4.  Cooper came down the stairs with his hair like this so Mommy quick snapped his photo.  By the end of the day, his hair was flat, oily, and down right nasty. 
Mason (daycare buddy) turned 5 a few weeks ago!  We celebrated his birthday at Action City- an indoor play place with laser tag, go-carts, video games, bowling and more.  We love this place, especially the go-carts (sorry, no pics as Mommy was trying NOT to get rear-ended by some crazy drivers, aka Dad).  Daddy gave the above photo to Mommy as a little surprise.  All she could say was, "charming!"
 Laser tag with Mason and Cooper
 Jet-skiing
 Rollercoaster simulator (talk about motion sickness in a chair)
 And a super scary gorilla that delivered our pizzas to the party room....yes, that is Cooper hiding under sweatshirts and jackets.
Last weekend, our parents dumped dropped us off at Grammy's house to have an overnight with friends at a cabin.  The guys ice fished, the girls went for a short walk on the lake to bust up the meeting of the minds, and they all played games, ate and ate and ate, enjoyed beverages in the northwoods, and probably talked about their kids all day.  Our parents seemed happy and refreshed the next day.  Meanwhile, Cooper and I were full of stories- Grammy put Cooper in a timeout for a meltdown, we played outside on the lake, we ate donuts from the bakery, Grammy took us to Catholic Mass and we sat perfectly still (pretty sure she probaby bribed us with donuts) and she got pulled over in Mommy's Jeep for rolling through a stop sign (and Cooper and I just sat in the back without uttering a word).  Needless to say, it was an eventful weekend for all of us.
 Mommy finally had an early soccer game at the sports center, so Daddy brought us boys to watch her play.  We ate McDonald's, sat on the race car arcade games, and occasionally appeared to cheer her on.
Mommy's team won and our "Old Lady" scored 3 goals that night, one being the game winning goal.  She still loves the game, but knows her playing days will soon be trumped by her boys' sports schedules.
 And finally, Mommy hosted two bigger events in the past 2 weeks- Bunco night and a Pickles and Ice Cream baby shower for her friend Emily.  Bunco night involved 12 guests and the baby shower was 21 guests.  She was pretty busy, excited and crabby all at the same time.  The baby shower was for her good friend Emily, who is expecting her first on April Fool's Day- no joke!  They do not know if it is a girl or boy, but Huck or Hadley will soon debut!  Here are some pictures from the shower.... (good friend's group above)
Welcome table with nametags, invite in a frame, In a Pickle Advice Cards, and Emily's Badge :)
 Party Favors- Mommy found the ice cream marshmallows at Target, added sprinkles in the sleeve and added the Thank You tag.  These are for guests to take home to put on their own sundaes.
 Food included ALL pickle type appetizers- Pumpernickel/Cucumber/Dill sandwiches, Ham/Pickle Roll-ups, Pickle Dip/Chips, Pickle Relish Tray, Candies, Ice Cream Sundae Bar, Cake (made by the one and only Jeannie!), and yummy sherbert punch with floating rubber duckies.

Now that everything is back to "normal" we are looking forward to Valentine's Day on Thursday and Lutsen next weekend!  We promise we will drive safely with NO drama or crashes this year.  Have a great week!