Happenings

Paige has roller blades now and has been practicing in the basement until the weather clears up. She's going to be a pro at carpet-skating by the time the weather clears up.

Don't worry, we got smart and had her wear a helmet after this.

Owen has been playing a fair amount of Minecraft since he got it for his birthday and also reading a fair amount about Minecraft. He tells me little snippets from his books all the time and I only half know what he's talking about.

Reading

This is Pat micromanaging Owen's Minecraft game. It's funny because this is what Owen does to me when I play too!

Sleeeeeeep

It has been a very long time since I've posted pictures of the kids sleeping (except for that one of Owen on New Year's Eve). I felt a little weird when I took these pictures, like maybe I shouldn't be doing it? Also, a little worried that they might wake up and wonder why I was creepily standing next to their beds...but look how cute they are! Totally worth it!

Big News!

We have two new family members! Lisa and Alex had twin girls, Aliena and Anastasia, a couple weeks ago. Owen and Paige are extremely excited to have their first cousins and Pat and I are just as excited to have nieces! Of course, they're adorable (see below) and I can't wait to see their personalities emerge. 

Owen's Birthday!

We planned a low-key birthday party this year in preparation of having a big First Communion party in May but it still felt just as awesomely chaotic as always:) We gave Owen one of his gifts (Minecraft) right after breakfast so he could have some time to play before family came around noon and even though he had asked for it and knew he was getting it the excitement on his face was so genuine! We put up decorations we had saved from his soccer party (6th birthday) and added a banner with well-known soccer players. There was also all sorts of junk food on hand at Owen's request! I was feeling a little guilty about the small celebration but at some point Owen said the words, "best birthday ever!" and I forgot all about it.

Giant number balloons make everything festive!

Paige was on hand to assist with presents 

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

New soccer player banner! Check out who's in the middle:)

Happy Birthday Owen!

These birthday posts are getting so long! It's because Owen is getting so old! Owen's 8th birthday was yesterday, more details to come in another post but here's his progression!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Five!

Six!

Seven!

Eight!

MLK Jr Day

The kids had another day off on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day and we used it to accomplish the perfect mix of errands and fun. We started the fun off with some haircuts for both Owen and Paige. I don't know why they love haircuts so much but it could be because they were handsomely rewarded after with mystery-flavored Dum Dum suckers. We stopped home for lunch and actually had a discussion about why MLK Jr Day is so important (Owen already knew but it was a nice talk anyway and we did our best to explain it to Paige without getting super specific). The rest of the day involved a visit to the library, a surprise stop at Chuck E Cheese and a grocery store trip!

Before

After

This ride...again...

Field Trip

Paige's preschool took a field trip downtown last week to see a play called Havana Hop. The kids got to take a school bus and parents were not allowed to attend (I know, what?!). I think it all made Paige feel very grown up. When she got back she was most excited to tell me about all the friends she saw from the other preschool class and about the bus ride. She did say the play was very funny and there was a lot of dancing but couldn't remember the name of the play. I had to do my own research!

This was Paige's pose of choice before leaving for school

Disney on Ice

This was our 3rd year for Disney on Ice and this time the theme was Frozen! I think that theme made a lot of little kids happy but while the skating was good it made for a predictable show since it was basically a retelling of the movie. Paige was in full Elsa dress and was mesmerized by everything. I think she was so nervous/excited about the experience that for about two hours before I thought something was wrong with her! Luckily I got it out of her that she was just anxious. Owen chose to forgo wearing any costume but he had a great time too!

No School!

The kids didn't have school today so one of the first things on their list to do (after breakfast, electronics, and me making them get dressed) was to build dangerous towers of couch cushions. But don't worry, they told me it was sturdy. Not pictured are the pillows they laid out on the floor so they could fall "safely." (No knick-knacks from the mantel were broken during the playing of this game)

Art

We took the kids to the art museum for a family event they have once a month. The theme this time was time travel so there were luggage tags to make, clocks to construct, and faux paintings to pose with! The kids were given some polaroids from posing with the paintings that had a large glare so I won't bother posting those but you'll get the idea with what I took below. We actually had to leave before we wanted to so we could get to Owen's soccer game but it was nice to leave before anyone was whining:)

Owen is posing with George Washington's face and Paige has Mary Jemima's face.

Paige made a great luggage tag using some decorative tape and markers.

Owen and his time machine clock

This was the painting Owen posed in earlier (he's holding the polaroid they gave him)

I have no idea why Owen gets so comfortable at the museum but I think that means he likes it. I have a picture of him lounging on a bench from almost every art museum visit.

Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima (and Kim and Paige)

Cars!

We used to play with cars in our house so much that we kept them in a bin under the coffee table. Eventually we moved them downstairs when we realized they were being ignored and we haven't played with them a lot since. I've been trying to encourage Paige to read and decided to make a sight word parking lot. I made Owen one with numbers because I thought he would have fun with it too. You take some cardboard, draw lines for a parking lot and then write words in it. Then you say a word and the kids have to drive the car to the right spot. For Owen I put a bunch of numbers down, then gave him a math problem and he had to park the car in the spot with the right answer. They both liked it although next time I'm going to give Paige harder words and get more creative with the math problems for Owen. The other good news is that after we were done they played with the cars in the living room too!

Zoo

I haven't done a zoo post in a very, very long time (my blog search is showing me July 2014). These visits used to happen a lot more when the kids weren't in school! Anyway, as a last hurrah to our Christmas vacation we took the kids to the zoo since it was relatively nice out. We started with the animals outside because the weather was getting colder as the day progressed, and then went to the rainforest portion when we weren't enjoying the outdoors anymore. My favorite part was seeing the otters. They were super entertaining, rolling around, swimming, making squeaky noises. They seemed to be having a fantastic time!

Carousel ride-Owen was very excited to be riding in the pile of poo the dung beetle was forming.

I think one of the kids got this picture. Nice!

Psht. Lazy.

Check out this guy lounging with his leg up. (Also, those ledges are for the kids to stand on, right?)

Otters! They were moving around so quickly it was hard to get a good picture of them.

Gardens

We went to the Botanical Gardens with some friends last weekend on a rainy, rainy day. There was a lot of fun stuff to do inside but we still missed traipsing around outside too. We got to see some amazing gingerbread house creations (there were also some less impressive ones...) and saw some butterflies in the "rainforest." We also went on a very wet train ride outside that would have been much nicer with some lightly falling snow instead:)

Chicken Chili Mac and Cheese

Everyone enjoyed this recipe for Chicken Chili Mac and Cheese. The main ingredients were macaroni, chicken, cumin, chili powder, cheese and fire roasted tomatoes (something I've never used before but was very tasty). The kids had some broccoli on the side but I mixed mine in and liked it even more!

Another Hike!

Some friends asked us to hang out at the park a few days ago so we got bundled up and went for a hike and a visit to the nature center. The kids ended up wanting to explore outside for longer than I expected and I was so glad they did! We go here a lot during the warmer months so it was nice to get back out and see the area.