Dishwasher Darlin'

Last night Miss Lila discovered something very intriguing--the dishwasher!

She shimmied right on over and pulled up on it to check out what was inside...

She looked so happy about it that I thought she was about to let go, run around the room and tell us all about how cool it was.

"Not so fast, mom! I think I'll keep one hand on this fun machine."

Sweet girl was so tuckered out after her new discovery that she fell asleep in the highchair before I could feed her dinner. Now that's a big night!

Snow Day - Round 2

This past Wednesday school was cancelled again! Last week I could understand why...this week, not so much! It was cold, sure, but there really wasn't a big reason to go and cancel everything. We were scheduled to bring some friends a meal that night and decided to go ahead and do it. Jackson helped me bake the brownies...such a big helper.

I was glad that he refrained from asking to wear my pink apron this time...or for any apron, really!

After we got the brownies in the oven, it was time to make some early Valentines. The kids worked so hard for a whole 5 minutes. Here's Jackson writing his name all on his own...a newfound skill!

I let the kids make two Valentines each and decide who to give them to--today the big winners were Lila and Boom. What fun! We can't wait to make more this weekend:)

10 months

Just a mere 10 months old and Lila has already started practicing her cheerleading skills!

She loves to sit in the position of a herkie jump quite often...

next we will work on jumping off the ground!

In this respect, Jackson and Lila could not be more different. He is a rough and tumble, soccer ball-kickin' dude...but they sure do resemble one another!

Same big blues eyes and cute little round cheeks...

and the sweetest smile.

Thank goodness Lila has a few precious dimples. Otherwise, we would surely be in danger of confusing their pictures years from now.

Lovely Friends

We went to a Valentine's party at Kelly and Andie's house yesterday and had so much fun! Lila loved playing with the girls...

here she is with Miss Andie and Miss Chloe--so cute how they all wore festive clothes!

Then Lila's boyfriend arrived, so she went to check him out. Even though he came dressed in his best tuxedo shirt, she was a little bit leery!

Not sure how we mananged this pic, but here are all 9 kids that were in attendance. Jackson is one of the oldest, so he got to hold the youngest...and he did great! Maddie had a hold of Lila and made sure she didn't leap off the couch, either. So glad the big kids take care of the little ones. I really am lucky:)

After lots of playing, it was time for some good eating. Bring on the cupcakes! Jackson wolfed them down like he was participating in one of those eating contests that you see on TV. He scarfed down two cupcakes in under a minute and wanted a third!

Cupcake number one--done!

After cupcakes, it was back to the toys. Lila and Maddie were loving this cute little piano.

Things took a turn for the worse when Lila nabbed Maddie's sheet music. It's all fun and games, till someone takes away the playbook!

Thanks, Kelly for a great kiddie party. We loved it!

Snow Day Numero 4

Let there be snow! "Snow Day" number four rolled around today and we actually had snow. Hooray!! We woke up this morning to a beautiful sight--there was a winter wonderland right outside our windows.

After getting all bundled up, the boys decided to take Miss Sadie for a walk around the block. This dog loves snow...loves to run in it, stick her nose in it and eat it, too. Loves her some snow.

This boy loves him some snow, but the cleaning bug runs deep. For a few moments he honestly struggled with whether to go play in the snow...

or just stay near the front porch and sweep it!


His daddy convinced him that sweeping snow was kind of lame, so off they went for their walk!

Eating My Words

My mom always said that there is nothing that can make you eat your words more than your children. Let's see if that's true for me....

I always said, "I will never take a baby to a wedding." Hmmm...looks like Jackson attended his first one at a mere 3 months of age, and for that matter, Lila went to one when she was 6 months old. Moving on...

"My child will never sleep in the same bed as me." Oops! That has happened more than a time or two. In fact, just last night Jared and I shared our bed with Jackson for the majority of the night. He got half of it and we got the other half.

But perhaps my biggest proclamation yet was, "I will never drive a minivan! NEVER." And what do you see here, friends? Yes, that would be me in the driver's seat of a Honda Odyssey. For those of you who have not yet been in the market for a larger car, the Odyssey is a minivan, no two ways around it. Looks like I just ate some more of my words.

You were right, mom, you were right.

Icy Week

While it has been absolutely frigid outside these past two days, we have been hanging out quite a bit indoors. Jackson has been really good--I know he's probably verging on stir crazy today--and we've all enjoyed having Jared home from work. I don't think he's ever had two snow days in a row! Here's a little touch of what we've been up to...

Lila recently discovered stairs! Her big brother has been great about staying right behind her while she tackles this new task. He's there "just in case" she falls, is what he tells me.

After all that stair climbing, J decided it was time for some drawing. His daddy printed out pictures of a plane and car and then drew them on his dry-erase board. Pretty good, I think!

While our day had a few tears (no nap will do that to a 10 month old),

it also had lots of smiles. Look how happy sweet girl is to be playing in her new "house" that she got from Gigi and Boom for Christmas. A snow day seemed like the perfect time to work on a project, so Jackson and I put it together for her yesterday.

This afternoon Jared simply could not take being inside anymore, so he decided to try his hand at breaking the ice on our driveway. As soon as Jackson saw him out there he insisted that I get him all bundled up so that he, too, could shovel some ice and snow!

The kid loves to work! I figure a few minutes in 20 degree weather won't kill him. Afterall, he does have on a long sleeve shirt, fleece, hooded jacket, sweatpants, jeans, toboggan and gloves!