Cleaning and scrubbing will wait ’till tomorrow, but children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs! Dust go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep. – Ruth Hamilton

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

January Bithday

I always think after the holidays we have some down time, but with a family like ours there is always a birthday!  Our kids love celebrating birthdays and this one was special to them because it was Nanny's birthday.  We had her dinner at our house and the weather was warm (for a day).

Luckily we had some day light left when the cousins arrived.

They rode around, played on the playground and showed them their special trail in the back.


We are very blessed to have some extra land behind us-friends bought it and have opened it up to explore a bit.


We found some snow!


The background was amazing-very surreal!


Avery set the table with place cards with everyone's name on it.


Then, they got really hyper and caused all sorts of trouble!  They get really excited to see their cousins, aunts, and uncles since it's not that often.  This in turn, equals crazy, hyper, energetic, excited little people!



Avery also wrapped all of Nanny's gifts.  They may have been in Christmas bags, but I didn't have the heart to tell her.



 Oh the anticipation for the cake...


We got them to calm down with a movie and some extra snuggle time.






Happy Birthday Nanny!  We loved celebrating with you and hope you know how much we care about you!

Now comes all the nieces, nephew, Aunt, our little Lincoln, and possibly one for me in there:)
 
We are thankful to have all this family to celebrate!!!!
Cheers!

Refreshed

This past weekend we went away to the lake to just get away.  We had some friends join us Friday night and then they had to leave Saturday morning.  We decided to get some fresh air and tried out the State Park.  It was beautiful!  There are trails, horses and of course the Lake as a view!  We found a park and were the only ones there.  We walked down the hill and ran up-good cardio with kids on your back.









It was nice to do nothing and just spend some time playing with them.

We love being at home getting things done, but heading to the lake feels refreshing.

Our kids get all our attention and they create special memories.

Cooper LOVES it down there.  He was worn out after running all over the park.

Have a great week everyone.  Stay warm!!

Monday, January 20, 2014

New Adventures at This House










The new year brings new adventures.  We have hit the activities hard this year!
 
Instead of toys for Christmas, we have been thinking of activities for the kids.  They are getting older and spend a lot of time together.  It's good to get them around other children.  Mark's parents were thoughtful to get us a pool membership this summer-it's right down the road and the kids enjoy their time there.  It's a perfect gift for Christmas when the weather is so yucky.  We are thankful! 
 
My parents got Lincoln a membership to Little Gyms.  If you can tell by my posts, Lincoln has a lot of energy and needs to be around more people.  Little Gyms is perfect!  This was such a fun activity to do when I was working part time and got to go with Avery and Mack.  As much as I hate not being with Lincoln during this time, I know he will have the best time.  Thank you Mum and Papa! 
 
 
Mark's mom (Nanny) raised three boys and never got to go to dance.  Now that Avery is ready, she gets to share this experience with her!  Nanny got Avery her dance outfit and takes her to dance class.  We are very thankful for this and know it's a special time for the two of them.  Avery had her second class on Monday and seemed much more into it.  They are already learning movements and tried walking on their toes.  I love the place we have decided on!  Thank you Nanny!



 
And what do you do with the third child who is asking to go somewhere?  We decided to try out a gymnastic (gym) class.  Luckily his cousin Cohan was interested too! 
 
One of my college students (who teaches the class) has been telling to bring Mack because I was trying to find something that would be safe for him.  She had also worked in his classroom so she would be a friendly face.
 
Since Avery has dance on Mondays, Mark took Mack to Flipz.  The boys loved it...I guess we are signing him up!






 

 
I thought we had a few more years before we started so many activities, but it's hard to not get them all involved.  Right now Little Gyms is during the day and Mack and Avery are on the same night, but this sure does give us a glimpse of the craziness ahead.  Mark texted me tonight ,"I love this craziness and we will miss it someday."  This was after we all ran out of the house in different directions!
 
It will go fast!