Jump-A-Thon

The elementary school had their Jump-A-Thon a couple weeks ago. My cute friend Tanya took these great pictures of my kids for me so I could run the video camera. I was so super proud of both Kyler and Lexi for jumping their little hearts out!

I loved Lexi's pigtails bouncing while she jumped. She came in 2nd for the 1st grade girls and even won one of the practice rounds before that. She was very excited!


Kyler's Jump-A-Thon was the next day. He is such a great little jump-roper and was jumping 100 miles an hour! In even got 4th in a contest with all the boys in the entire school with only 4th and 5th graders left jumping! Great job buddy!

Lexi loves riding the bus home so she didn't want to come with me, but Kyler did and we secretly went went out for ice cream before everyone else got home. We got caramel shakes from the Emporium, our new favorite! Mmmm!

Little Escape Artist

Brenner has learned how to open the back sliding door. It's driving me CRAZY! He pokes his head out all day long and one day leaned out too far and tumbled out on his head on the concrete stairs! Poor thing! I'm dreading summer when the snow doesn't stop him from going all the way outside anytime he wants to. I thought it was funny one afternoon a few weeks ago when he had Lexi's shoes on and was showing them to the dog.


He also opens the door leading into the garage. He gets on his gear (which usually consists of anyone's shoes and mismatched gloves and hats) and heads out to the garage, so he keeps me on my toes all day watching and listening for where he is and if he's trying to escape. I thought he was too cute one day with this hat he put on by himself as he waved bye to me.


I told him he couldn't go outside so he switched hats into this Hulk one and it cracked me up. I couldn't say no this time because he was too cute so I put on a jacket and headed out with him for a walk down the driveway to see the other kids who were playing outside.



We walked out to where they were playing in their snow castle. We have such great neighbors that the kids love to play with after school. They always have a blast together.

Mint Cookie Cupcakes

We got in the shamrock mood the week before St. Patrick's day and I found these fun cupcakes and made them for the kids one day after school. The shamrocks were fun, you just melt white chocolate that's been tinted green and flavored with mint extract and shape them into shamrocks on wax paper and put them in the fridge to harden, then poke them into the frosting. And the Grasshopper Cookies in the bottom of the cupcakes, mmmm!




They approved!

O-R-E-O!

Brenner climbs on anything climb-able and one of his favorite places to climb and explore is in the pantry. He scored BIG one day when instead of the usual crackers and cereal he found a package of Oreos (something I try not to buy very often because it's usually me eating all of them). He had been with me in the basement but had wandered away so I went upstairs to check things out and found him behind the couch with hands and mouth FULL of Oreos. Crumbs even up to his hair. One of my favorite things in these photos are his cute little feet.











Lovin' those Oreos. Yep, he takes after his mama.

Dishes

We've reinvented our chore charts again, trying to keep the kids motivated for doing their chores. Charts are a great thing for Porter, he is so super motivated by checking things off and seeing his progress in getting things done. A couple weeks ago he was doing the dinner dishes (with Brenner right by his side up on the chair, which was so darn cute) and he said so sweetly, "Mom, doing the dishes makes me feel happy inside." My heart melted. Don't those moments make all the ups and downs of mothering worth it? That night it definitely did for me. Little sweethearts.

Wednesday is Gymnastics Day

My kids love Wednesdays. They LOVE gymnastics. I took the camera last week and got some pictures of them doing their thing. Porter is in the 5-6 year old class and Lexi and Kyler are in the 7-8 year old class. When we get home they do handstands and cartwheels all over the house until bedtime. Love it.

Porter. Happy smiles for the whole hour.



Lexi. A little timid but trying super hard.



Kyler. He's a natural at this stuff.
One-handed cartwheel...


And my baby runs wild. He's feeling pretty at home in the gym by now roaming around trying out all the different trampolines, mats, the rocking horse, all of it. Heaven.And I get to chat up a storm with the other moms. So fun.

Wednesdays are good days. I like Wednesdays, too.

Sometimes it's Good to Eat Cake.

Last Wednesday before Kindergarten Porter kept asking if we could make a cake. After the umpteenth time I thought, "Well, why not?" So at 10:00am we mixed up the batter, watched and waited while it baked, and made yummy homemade chocolate frosting. It was a good moment. A happy moment. Sometimes I think it's okay to just let go and eat cake.






Loved making this memory with my two sweet little boys.

Cute

I watched my friend's little guy this morning and I just couldn't resist posting this picture of these 2 cute little boys! Tanya and I were pregnant at the same time and they were born just weeks apart. I foresee some fun adventures ahead for these two!

More Ice Skating

The kids can't get enough ice skating so we went again last Saturday. They absolutely love it and it wasn't long before they (along with the Dads) had a apeedy game of tag going! It was fun to watch as I more cautiously skated near the wall.

Lexi, Kennedi, and Tyler Anne.
Porter even got too hot and took off his coat and gloves, but cooled off pretty quick and put them on again after a few minutes!
Lexi and Kennedi practicing their turns.
Ooops!
Porter loves playing hockey! That kept him busy for most of the afternoon.
Reiner and Kyler taking a break.
Brenner and Daddy watching the action.
Kennedi and Lexi enjoying some hot chocolate.
This rink is run by volunteers and it's just fabulous. I'm thankful to have something like this in our community!

Oh, What Do You Do in the Winter-time?

We went out to build a snowman last week but it was too cold and the snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick together. Kyler went snowmobiling at Carson's house but Lexi, Sophie, and Porter sledded down our snowbanks for a bit. Then Brenner saw the swings. He wanted to swing so bad. So while the rest of the world is starting to turn green and see their tulips poking out, we play on the swingset in the middle of 2 foot snowdrifts and hope for spring!