Winter Fun...and a SNOW DAY!!

The days of January and February flew by!  We are excited that March is here and  hope spring is around the corner!  Since our last update, we have been busy with the "normal" routine of every day life.  The kids have enjoyed going to Grandma and Grandpa's house each day as Phil and I head to work and John is continuing to love preschool!  He amazes us daily with his vocabulary, letter-writing abilities and growing maturity!   He had his first eye exam a few weeks ago and the Opthamologist was extremely impressed by John's letter recognition and ability to clarify for her when things were blurry or clear.  He keeps us on our toes!  He is an amazing big brother as well and is quick to offer help in snuggling Emma and rocking with her for a little while at bedtime before we put her in her bed and say good-night.  He also loves reading stories to her and they are so fun to watch play together too!

Emma is also enjoying life these days as a rambunctious and talkative 20-month old!  Her new favorite word is "no" as she uses it in the best of understanding!  For instance, when being naughty and not listening to what is being asked of her, we will ask if she needs a time-out.  She instantly stops her behavior, gets the most innocent look on her face and replies, "no!"  Then, just to top it off, she'll bat her baby blue eyes and smirk like, "yup, I'm too smart for you!"  I have a feeling she'll keep us young... or exhaust us as she gets older!  She also loves to read stories, dance to any music that happens to be on the radio or computer and has also gotten to be quite the little cook, both on her play kitchen and with mom!   She's also quite the instigator for a good wrestling match with her brother!  She can certainly hold her own!

Work for both Phil and I has been extremely busy lately.  I was honored to be asked to be an associate researcher for a new DIBELS reading assessment program, which has been both fun and exhausting!  A few weeks ago I was trained and began the research, all while planning for substitutes in my room each day and trying to keep up on correcting and grades, as the trimester ended a week ago and we finished the week with conferences as well!  I also started another book club for 3rd and 4th graders,  since interest had been shown after having word of the popularity of my 2nd grade club get around, so needless to say, sleep has been on the back burner for awhile!  I'm hopeful after this next week life will calm down for awhile.  We're all looking forward to spring break next week!

Here are some pictures of the fun we've had in the last couple of months!

When my new Thirty-One utility tote arrived, I knew it would have multiple purposes!  I have to say, I absolutely love it for throwing the kids' snow gear in, hauling things to school or just putting things in for a trip up north! 

John wanted to help Phil with the dishes one day... I'm not sure if there was more playing or washing going on!

Phil's brother and sister-in-law gave him this awesome Snuggie for Christmas.  Nice, eh? 

Our Christmas tree... just before we took it down.  I realized I hadn't taken a picture of it yet!  Oops!  Better late than never!

Emma is a MUCH better eater than John and on any given night will eat double the amount he does in half the time!  One night she wanted to get down because she was done eating, so after washing her up, we let her down.  Minutes later, she came and crawled into John's lap and started eating his dinner too!  He thought it was pretty funny and certainly didn't mind that she was going after his veggies first!

A few nights later, it happened again!  She is a twerp!

Here John, let me share your food with you!

Nothing beats fun in the firetruck tent!

The kids had a great time with Uncle Tim's cowboy hat!

Who needs toys when you have a cardboard box?

A girl this cute is bound to get some of her brother's ice cream, right?!

Yes!  It worked!

And a kiss too!

Do you think he'll give me some more?  I sure am cute!

Emma was being such a ham!  Kisses for all!

Dr. John is in the house!

Dr. Emma is too!

I tried to get a cute picture of them together, but of course that was a near-impossible task!  I got a few cute ones that were close by one another, but not the snuggle-up-to-one-another cute I was hoping for!

They are so lovey with each other!

Emma thought it was much easier to slide across the fireplace to get a book rather than just walk up to the basket and grab one!

Fun with the doll house!

Emma is so big now that she's graduated from the high chair to a booster chair at the table.  

She loves it!

One night the kids were really quiet, so I went to see what they were doing, since quiet is normally not something we have in our house!  They had turned on music on the computer, were both sitting in the desk chair and spinning themselves around like an amusement ride!  Once I saw what they were doing, they both broke into giggles! 

On Valentine's Day, the kids were both so excited to make cupcakes for our loved ones, they couldn't wait to get into the sprinkles!  They were both very precise about where the sprinkles went and how many they put on... until Emma dumped them and found pure glee in the fact that they were everywhere!  Of course, then she tried to eat them as fast as possible too!  There were a lot of giggles and we all had a great time!

Daddy makes the BEST pony!

For Valentine's Day, the kids made Nana and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa each a picture with their hand prints.  It said "These (hand prints) hold my (heart) forever!"  Emma wanted nothing to do with the finger paint, but she did a great job.  I guess we'll have to work on getting dirty and being ok with it!

Cute moments on Valentine's Day!

Emma loves her new apron so she can cook with mom!

Ahh... lazy weekend moments...  Emma was enjoying watching a little of Princess Sophia on the Disney channel.  Nothing better than jammies and her blankie!

Look, mom!  I can even wave my wand like a princess!

John and Emma both have a incredible creative side and love drawing on the easel at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  When we made a trip to Ikea, we knew they would love an easel at our house too.  Once they got home and got up from their naps, they couldn't wait to draw!

Emma is so serious about her artwork!

SNOW DAY!!  On Monday, March 4, we were blessed to wake up to a winter wonderland!  We were hopeful it would result in a snow day earlier in the weekend when we heard the forecast, but know it's hard to get them to actually call off school.  Thankfully, our prayers and wishes were granted!  We had a great day together playing inside, building forts, relaxing, sledding, reading stories, making cookies and just enjoying time with each other!

Emma was blowing kisses from her fort!

Mmmm... chocolate crinkles!!  Our favorites!

Sledding!!

Emma and John loved sledding together!  

Their giggles and screams as they came down together were amazing!

We are trying to enjoy each moment we have together as a family, as our days lately have been extremely busy.  We're looking forward to spring break next week and all the fun and relaxing to come!