Ice Skating

Look what we did yesterday...

Action shot so it's a little blurry:

We all had soooo much fun and J did awesome!

He even told us after a while that he didn't want the ice walker anymore and kept saying, "I can do it. I can do it!"  He's definitely getting more and more independent and wants to do things by himself.

What a blast!

Our Snow Day Fun

Oh, what a wonderful day it was!

What J and I did during the most recent snow day in our area:

He helped me shovel and then took a rest by making his own snow seat in the pile we had made.

He did some snow painting.  I'm glad I took out both colors and not just the red because it really looked like blood and might be a little concerning to the neighbors if they had just seen splotches of red all over the front yard!

My accomplishment!

It took me 1 1/2 hours to unearth (or should that be un-snow?!) the entire drive from the 6+ inches that had fallen...this time.

One of our snow dogs.  Don't know what she was after, but boy, that face was probably freezing!!

We came in and had some hot apple cider and then made some suncatchers.

I haven't seen these since I was a kid!  I did the butterflies and J was so excited to do the clownfish which, according to him, is "just like Daddy saw in Belize!"

He can't wait to "catch the sun" with these.

And here's someone who did not want to get his picture taken again by his camera-happy mama.  But he was more than happy to go with Daddy to DQ to get some ice cream for having such a productive day!

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Welcome the year of the Horse!

Going out to celebrate with friends tonight with some yummy Korean food!!!

Wordless Wednesday - bed. head.

Retirement

Yeah, not mine. (although some days I wish I could retire and not have to work anymore!)

We started off the year by attending my dad's surprise retirement party...and then made it back home before a huge blizzard hit that shut down pretty much everything in town, except, of course, for the hospital where I just happen to work.

Grandpa was very surprised when he walked in the room, but when he saw Boo and me there as well, I'm pretty sure I saw tears in his eyes...a double-whammy of a surprise!  My younger sister was going to try to make it with her kids, but they live about 6 hours away (much farther than our 2 1/2) and between the storm that had just come through and the one that was predicted to come over the next few days, she made the safest decision to stay home.  We missed her, but so glad she and her kids were safe at home!

My dad loves. lives. breathes. is. Notre Dame!

For those ND fans, you'll recognize the play on the sign above.

That cake was almost bigger than Boo.  He could not wait for Grandpa to get there so we could finally cut it and eat!!

Grandma and Grandpa; such a beautiful couple!

I love this picture.

Boo and I stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's that night.  Look who was having fun with oranges...cheese!!

Putting a puzzle together that I did when I was a little girl.

Snuggle time with Grandma.   Shhhh, I think he fell asleep!

Happy Retirement, Dad!  Here's to starting the next chapter of your life!!

Movies from our second Christmas

First ride on a snowmobile with Daddy, bundled up and helmeted.

the helicopter

The only tame snowball fight that we had the entire weekend; it was usually much more intense...and louder!

I've got a funny video of Chris riding a new "scooter" of Boo's, but for some reason it's not uploading.  Cross a scooter a bit too small for Chris, slick wooden floor, two dogs wanting to get in the way, and his mom freaking out that he is going to go backwards down the stairs...fun times!

Second Christmas

My boys   :)

Love these two to pieces!!!

Chris and Boo had fun snowmobiling when we stayed at Uncle Pat's

"Look at me, Mom!"

with my Godmother, Aunt Lisa

token picture of me

Noah, the card shark

getting Zach's help to play Go Fish, officially Boo's favorite game now!

Sweetness!

Boo and Great-Grandma (G-G)

Remote control car from Uncle Pat.

He also got a remote control helicopter, which has been played with more by Daddy than him!

The Hulk boxing hands...they look so silly on our small guy!

Lexi felt a little left out, so got up close and personal with Daddy.

Lexi and Jinx

the cousins...I adore this picture of the three of them!

Family picture, minus Uncle Mike.  (taken with my new camera using the face timer, so the timer doesn't start until it notices a new face in the picture...pretty neat, huh?!)

Silly boy

We had a great time visiting with everyone...can't wait to see you all again!