Kate - 15 months

Playdate with Grandma

Justin's mom and I took the kids to Paradise Park today followed by lunch at Jose Peppers, yumm. We had a fantastic time and the kids were superb. I love hanging out with Lin and taking the kids to fun places like PP. Oh and I love Mexican food, too. Overall . . . a fantastic day, even if it is freezing out. Grr. Come on, Spring! :)

The ball pit was by far, hands down the most favorite attraction today. Kate even got in on the fun. I was slightly terrified once is started filling up with kids, so we quickly exited and returned once it emptied out a bit. She LOVED it, so did the boys.

The boys got their craft on. They listened to a Valentine's story about Pooh and then made a bear craft followed by honey-chocolate chip muffins. Wow, I had a tiny taste and they were yumm-o.

Playing and a first tooth

Four days ago the kids were bundled up in their snow suits playing in the snow. Today they have light jackets on and are playing in the 65 degree weather. Ca-razy! We'll take it, though. Getting outside and burning off some energy is never a bad thing. Just having the warm sun on my face is making me antsy for Spring. Can't wait . . . then the HOT summer hanging out at the pool! Yes, please. Ok, moving on. In other BIG news . . . Kate has FINALLY busted out her first tooth! It's so cute. It only took her 14 1/2 months, but that hasn't stopped her from eating anything and everything. The teeth will just help things go down more quickly . . . Have I mentioned how sweet she is? Oh my. 

This guys is rocking it out with going potty on the potty chair. He's been going strong for about a week now. He's had 2 accidents, that's it! We've even started going places and he goes both #1 and #2 in the potty at restaurants and stores. NICE!!! Great job, Ev!

Luke is always eager for Evan to go poo on the potty because Evan gets a new Hot Wheel - so more new cars for them to play with. Thanks for the help and encouragement, bud.

There is that tooth! Ahh, so cute.

First Snow of 2012

Pay no attention to the tag on Evan's boots - I got around to cutting it off eventually! Ha.

Learning . . .

The boys got some amazing new stuff for Christmas. They spend most of their days playing cars. I'm great with that, but sometimes they need (I think) to take a break from that and do something else. So (I'm turning over a proactive leaf, ha) we have started doing/playing some "educational" stuff throughout the day. I have found the best time to sneak this stuff in is when they are already at the table during breakfast or lunch.

Evan is getting better with letter recognition and has discovered that he really likes his new Tag Junior. I can't believe we didn't have one of these before now. It's been really awesome when we're waiting in the line at school to pick Luke up. A very nice distraction. 

Before Christmas Luke got very upset because he couldn't write his name. It was sad. I feel like I'm good a reading to the kids, but I'm not so great with art stuff or just giving them time to draw, paint, whatever. Each time I try, they are entertained for a few minutes and then want to move on to something else, so I just kind-of stopped trying. Well, not anymore! Luke got an awesome tracing book with dry erase markers and he loves it. Seriously - check out the word "rose". No joke, he did that all by himself. I just know he'll be able to write his name in no time!

Dance Party or something like that . . .

The kids are into Katy Perry lately. Probably not appropriate for too much longer as they are beginning to sing along. Some songs are ok, but they are definitely not "kids" songs. Anyway, they wanted me to play one of her songs and a mini dance session of sorts followed. Good times, good times! Enjoy. 

Playdate

During Luke's Christmas break from school we got together with Lily and Cole. We met at Kaleidoscope so the kids could get their craft on. Luke loved it. Evan was too young and Kate hung out in the stroller, obviously. We had planned on going to the train restaurant down there but with school being out for everyone, it was PACKED. So, we headed over to Panera for some lunch and hit a few stores at Crown Center before the kids melted. We had a great time. I miss hanging out with them. We need to take advantage of days off as much as we can from here on out! 

January 5th and it's 60!!!

After we picked Luke up from school we were supposed to head home, eat lunch and take naps. However, that didn't happen! Nope, we drove thru, picked up some lunch and headed to the park - in JANUARY! It is absolutely gorgeous out today so naps got pushed back an hour or so and it was definitely worth it! Below are some pics I snapped from my phone. 

This past Summer/Fall Ev was a little hesitant of this bridge, but not today. He started out timid and by the end of the afternoon he was full on running across it!

Kate loved the park. The last time we were there she either hung out in the stroller or the swing the entire time. Not today, she had a blast exploring on her own.

Luke discovered that he can now climb this spiral thing to the top of the play equipment all by himself. He thought that was pretty cool and definitely picture worthy. 

Holding onto these moments

I am told that "it goes so fast".  It certainly does. I just want to remember it all - oh, they melt me. 

One more Christmas celebration . . .

We had our final Christmas celebration at my mom's house on Christmas evening. We had a great time, as usual. It was even more special with my little brother being home from Kuwait. He's been home for a couple of weeks and has to head back soon. Hopefully it won't be long before he's home for good!