End of February!

It's already the end of February! Where did the month go?!

We have done A LOT this month....Andy has used his snowblower a lot, the kids have played outside in the snow a lot...and while we've enjoyed it, we're ready to move on!

We've also spent a lot of time potty training Colin this month! He's 90% trained...and that last 10% is ready to kill all of us! However, we've decided to just stay at 90% for now and perhaps time is all he needs.....or perhaps it will be the new red "gee-tar" that will be arriving in the mail this week! We'll get there!

One of the best things this winter has been Andy snowblowing paths around our yard! You don't realize how heavy Colin is until you are in the position of carrying him through the snow that is deeper than knee deep on him! The girls also love the paths, and we have QUITE the hill of snow from the plow that has cleared our court. And yesterday, Ellie was out with a neighbor boy digging a tunnel in the front yard....and then it started snowing AGAIN!

These pictures (above) are from "Snowstorm Dana"....and I wish I had thought to snap a BEFORE photo. Almost all of our snow in the front yard had melted 2 weeks ago...and in 1 afternoon/evening, we got THIS MUCH SNOW! It was amazing.

This month, we also taught Ava how to ROLLER SKATE!

I have a confession about this....I was TERRIFIED to take Ava skating! We've analyzed her up and down and she really is a "princess"! She's the child who does not want to learn to ride a 2 wheeled bike--she'd much rather be carted around in her chariot! I was fearful that we'd get there, get the skates on and she'd immediately be frustrated and the day would be done! Boy, was I wrong!!! She LOVED it! She can't wait to go again, and was very disappointed that Aunt Megan couldn't come the very next day to go roller skating with her!

Other than snow and skating, we've just been attending our various activies....
The girls started with a new piano teacher that they just adore. I love it because this teacher comes TO OUR HOUSE for lessons!

Jayna still sings her way around life--she's happiest when singing at the top of her lungs...

Ellie is back to swimming and sold "a few" Girl Scout cookies this winter...

Ava is still loving ballet. The Town of Menasha does a phenomonal job with these little ballerinas! Last week was parent observation week and we were able to see the little girls practice their recital piece--it was just precious!

And Colin? Well....this is the photo snapped at him during Ava's dance lesson last week:

Ballet observation pictures:

To see 2 shortvideos (from behind, unfortunately!), click HERE and HERE.

And now, as we leave February, I leave you with the new photo we've created of our ballerina. And, everyone, mark down the recital date: April 8th at 7pm!

Valentine's Weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Valentine's Day!
Andy and I always have a Valentine date...but never ON Valentine's Day! Yesterday, we went out for the afternoon and had one of our wonderful sitters, Amy, stay with the kids. I had found this super cool idea to make hanging hearts out of paper and had printed off the instructions and left the supplies on the table. When we returned, we were met with many surprises:
1) beautiful heart garlands hanging in the kitchen and dining room
2) homemade Valentine's for Andy and I...on the above photo, at the very top right, you can see yellow and black coloring--Colin made Andy a "Hawkeye Valentine"!
3) a Valentine paper chain entwined on the stairway
4) heart garland hanging from the curtain rod in our bedroom
5) and...the biggest news of all...while we were gone, Amy got Colin to poop on the potty! We have been trying for 4 weeks....what a super day!

We ♥ Valentine's Day!

This weekend, we also decorated Valentine cookies with Amy--we had lots of sugar cookies, lots of frosting and lots of sprinkles! Amy took cookies home, we have cookies around our house and Jayna took 30 cookies into school to celebrate her 1/2 birthday!

Every year, we give the kids "something" for Valentine's Day and this year, the gift was new pjs. I tried so hard to find Valentine themed pj's for Colin...but didn't see ANY in his size. However, I do feel that the jack pot was hit--a monkey playing a guitar pjs? He loves them!
The girls got matching heart pj bottoms, and they quickly paired them up with other heart pj attire we own--it was one big heart fest last night!

And while I did not get Valentine themed pjs for Colin, I got the cutest shirt for him! What a perfect saying for a boy who's surrounded by princesses!!!

Since Jayna has an August birthday when school is not in session, she gets to celebrate her 1/2 birthday at school...and it is always around Valentine's Day, which she just loves. Today, she even got to say the opening prayer at school--it was a very fun day for her today! To hear the prayer, click HERE.
Tonight, Ellie will hopefully spend swimming practice with her best swimming bud and we'll all enjoy a very red meal--spaghetti, berry flavored juice, strawberries and salsa!
Love to you all....on Love Day!

...Brought to you by the Letter "S"...

The past few days were filled with events and issues that started with "S"....and it was either unreal or I've been doing too many "letter of the week" activities with Ava for kindergarten!

We started our "S" adventure with Ava waking me up Thursday night not feeling well. I hugged her and said 'go back to bed'; only to realize what I had done hours later when I vaguely remembered her waking me up. :( She had a fever...she was SICK. This photo below was taken last November at the Dells--this is how she looked this past week:

But Ava wasn't the only Sick child....Jayna had a Sick event of her own--Friday night she woke me up minutes after I fell asleep...only to proceed to throw up every 40-60 minutes all night long. Jayna was Super though, as she Surprised us all by hitting the throw up bucket each and every time. Sweet.

However, Jayna being Sick meant that most of the family missed Andy's Mom's Surprise party on Saturday! She turned Sixty--and Andy and Ellie attended together for the day. This is the one photo I have of them:

On Superbowl Sunday, we were no longer considered 'Sick'...and Andy made a Snow maze with his Snowblower in our yard! What a Slick idea to allow Colin to Spend time in the Snow.

Since it was the Superbowl, we Started our morning with green/gold waffles that were Scrumptious and the children Sported their Packer Shirts. While I Scrambled to the grocery Store, Andy had a "Go Pack Go" photo Shoot...the kids loved it!

Shortly after the photo Shoot, Andy's cousin and her family arrived for the afternoon; they were in town to see Wicked at the PAC. We had a Super time with them and Andy Surprised us all by bringing out his Star Wars figures and his old Transformers. We enjoyed some Sweet food and the kids played, creating Sounds of Sharing.

Then, we Started our Monday with Ellie complaining of tooth pain; it looked like a cracked tooth...and turned out to be a NEW tooth! In addition, Jayna's new braces' wire is too long, poking the back of her mouth with a Super Sharp wire. She is being a Super trooper, waiting until we can get her into the orthodontist. Andy handled all of these issues with Stamina as the mouth issues all occurred as I was going to the hospital for Surgery.

Our Shananigans Seem to be Slowing down though; I am Sore and we are Super happy that we can move onto a new "letter" in the weeks to come....Shhhh... ♥