Let it Snowwwww...

Let it snowwwwww. (Sung to the sound of Frozen's Let it Go)...

Over ittttt.

Actually, it's beautiful. I want it to snow more. But the ice kills me. I can't tell you the number of times I have almost fallen. I have always managed to catch myself, but it still hurts. Our driveway was lined with piles of ice right where I load Sam into the car. I definitely slipped and went under the car, but luckily caught myself on the open door somehow...although I swear I pulled a muscle. Ha!

The day Tom came home from Hawaii another storm hit. Literally minutes after he walked through the door the snow started falling and continued all day. I was overjoyed that he was home and I wouldn't have to shovel any of it. But what a way to welcome him home after 80+ degree temperatures over there. Paybacks can be ugly;)

Fresh faced to the world! Sledding with no makeup...don't judge!

 We literally ate snow on our way down the hill. Had to take a selfie of it;)

 Sweet sisters. Love when they get along.

 Me and my girls...plus an extra cute snow bunny, Claire!

 Zero editing done to these iPhone pictures. Look at that incredible sky. So blessed to live in this amazing area!

 They were all pretending to be Elsa from Frozen and making it snow!

 Love this shot!

Mr. Travis throwing a snowball...starting trouble!

 My amazing middle child. Adore her smile!

 Wish Madeline could take credit, but this is Travis's snow angel! He grew up in IN so he's pretty much an expert!

 Ella in the pink...she looks so tiny.

 What daddy and Sam did while I took the girls sledding! He was recovering from jet lag;)

Don't worry. He earned that snooze!

 Can someone tell me when she grew up? 

 Making daddy do all the work for the snow slide. Which I totally pictured to be more of an Olympic style bobsled track, but ehhhh it worked.

The result.

 

 Some sledding videos for your enjoyment...especially my friends and family in FL;) 

Madeline sledding...could have been a very ugly ending.

Ella and Claire

Me and Claire...eating snow. Gotta keep those feet up!

Ella...headfirst!

Peridot

When Tom came home from Hawaii he was so excited to give everyone their prizes. I honestly never expected anything because I assumed he would just spoil the kids. And he did! He bought them tons of little Hawaiian souvenirs: beach dresses, a little hula girl, candy, lei headbands. He bought Sam home his very first, and probably last, Hawaiian shirt. Ha;)

But then when he handed me a jewelry box and I saw there was a beautiful peridot necklace inside I nearly lost it. You see, peridot is the August birthstone. I have always loved it, but even more so since my grandmother's birthday was in August. I mentioned how I loved the light green stone maybe once to Tom so for him to remember (or not even remember, but still choose it) and bring home something so beautiful really tugged at my heart.

Then I remembered what the date was: February 15th. Seven years ago I took a positive pregnancy test on February 15th. My Ella. One of my first phone calls was to my grandma. I told her she was going to have her first great grandbaby. But she had to keep it a secret. She was so excited for me and we talked in detail about how she wanted to have generation photos taken and she would get her hair done for them. She promised to keep it a secret. Four months later she passed away. I will never forget her telling my mom about the circle of life and how she was dying, but I was having a little girl...

I felt like a part of her was with me when I opened the jewelry box on that day. I know she would've been one heck of a great-grandma considering she had ten of her own babies!

Just a little story I wanted my kids to know. So eventually when they see me decked out in multiple peridots they'll know why;)

Pictures do not do this necklace justice.

We played Chutes and Ladders Hawaiian style since we were pretty snowed in! Note the cute Hula girls as game pieces;)

Valentine's Day

Happy love day! The girls woke up to find giant Hershey's Kisses waiting for them and a whole bunch of extra hugs and kisses from their mama. Sam, too. Minus the chocolate. Although I am pretty sure I saw Madeline sharing a bite...

Tom was still away in Hawaii for this Hallmark holiday, but he managed to send me flowers with a super sweet note. I am not a flowers person, especially not on a holiday like Valentines Day, but I secretly loved it. Too bad we have since discovered I am pretty allergic to stargazer lilies;)

Kisses and muffins for breakfast

My sweet Valentine from Ella. She's going to make me breakfast on Saturday. She could barely sleep the night before because she kept saying "I am so excited to give you the Valentine I made for you!" How lucky am I?

 This face. So obsessed with him!

Some pics from our very unprofessional photo shoot. 

 Peek-A-Boo

Three out of four of my Valentine's:)

How Did I Ever?

Honestly, how did I ever survive deployments? I questioned that after this week without Tom. The first few days are always the hardest. By Saturday when he returned we had settled into a routine. But I missed Tom like crazy! Crazy. Crazy. Or maybe that is what I became without him around. I missed his company. He's always busy with school anyway, or holed up in the office writing, but at least I know he's home to lock the doors at night and to climb into bed with me to make me feel safe.

There is something about just having that feeling of comfort and company and safety that makes my day complete.  When he got home he said "so you're saying you missed me and that you actually see that I do DO stuff around the house?" No, buddy. Don't go getting all full of yourself. Lord knows I can handle taking the trash out;)

But I did miss him. A whole lot.

Although the gifts of Hawaiian chocolate and jewelry were so unexpected and awesome that I could be willing to sacrifice seeing him for another week if I keep getting spoiled like that.

Sick week.

 The only way to get any cooking done. Love that Ergo.

 And he loves brown rice and pork chops!

 That's right...we did store bought Valentine's Cards! No guilt. No stress. 

 We did, however, make the bus drivers some snacks and give them a little gift card for coffee:) Don't worry, Ella's teachers got goodies as well!

Ella is obsessed with reading lately. We read a new book every night. My mom loves to have these little video clips sent to her so she can see and hear her. However, in this one you can totally hear how noisy our house is and how sick poor Ella was.

 "I can't see you."

And boom goes the baby. 

Oh, did I mention we got another wild, slushy snow "storm"? They called it that, but it wasn't too too crazy. Here's the start of it that I sent to Tom in Hawaii. The flakes were huge and it sounded pretty hitting the ground.

We Need...

a bigger bed.

Between sick kids and Madeline's itchy allergy flare-ups at night, this is my life. These two little love bugs sprawled out in our bed. I think I have mastered sleeping with one leg hanging off the bed and my head resting on a pillow placed on my nightstand.

It's how moms operate. We just make do.

Because look at how adorably sweet they are.

Daddy's in Hawaii...

And we are all sick. Fun times! Tom left this week for Hawaii. The morning he left, I had been up all night with a stomach bug. I don't think it was the flu per say, but I felt like I had been hit by a vehicle of some sort. But when moms are sick, head in the toilet, it doesn't matter to her three children. They are still as demanding as ever. From the second they woke up, it was no rest for the weary. Did I mention all three of them were sick as well? Coughing, runny noses, just general yuckiness. Even though I did the least amount I could to keep them happy, I kept cursing Tom for being away for "work". I knew if he was home, I could have rested a bit in peace. Instead I drove all of us to the closest convenient store for Gatorade and little goodies to keep them occupied for at least an hour so I could try to close my eyes and make the room stop spinning.

It never happened. But luckily, it was a quick bug and by evening I was up and cleaning the house. Which by the way, looked like someone let a tornado loose inside.

The night before Daddy left... Sam snuggled on him. And Ella enjoyed the fancy schmancy cupcakes he brought home. Then the next morning when Madeline woke up to hear "no, daddy left. He's in Hawaii"...big tears. Kinda hilarious. 

They worked on some Valentine's Day art to keep busy...

And Ella entertained them with a disappearing act.

Welcome our niece, Juliette Rose

We are over the moon excited for Tom's sister to have her first baby. Miss Juliette arrived on February 6th and she is simply beautiful. Her tiny features are just perfect and her mama and daddy are adjusting to parenthood with total ease. I am impressed!

She joins this wildly awesome family full of little cousins who adore her already and an auntie who absolutely can't wait to meet her! Now if only this busy mama could escape for a weekend in FL without my kids or husband noticing...

Juliette is on the left and Madeline on the right. I know it's not all about us with this post, but don't these two resemble each other?? 

My precious niece. Gorgeous like her mama!

 Tom and I were asked to be her godparents. This is the package that arrived for us. So creative! I wouldn't expect less from Monica though! Tom thoroughly enjoyed his scotch in his Uncle Tom glass, and my bracelet is my favorite new accessory (my first Alex and Ani!)

More Snow? No way.

Yes way. Another winter storm!
This was the beginning of it when I HAD to drive in it to a very important Dr appointment...but I promise I was stopped to take this picture. ( I am sure my mom was wondering!)

It was just so beautiful. Even though I said a few Hail Mary's to get me home, I couldn't help but think just how amazing the seasons are in this city. So far I have experienced the prettiest summer, the most colorful fall, and hands down the most bitter cold of winters. I went to change this picture into black and white and realized I didn't even need to.

Welcome February!

We started off the month with a Saturday morning trip to Home Depot. As soon as I found out the girls...ahem...I...could build a Tony Stewart race car, I was in! Grampy Larry LOVES him and Nascar so I knew he would get a kick out of seeing his granddaughters build the cars. These Home Depot workshops crack me up. The kids take the credit, but really, minus maybe hammering a nail every now and then or gluing a piece of wood down, the moms are truly doing all the work. But the end result is what matters: the pin on their apron. And man are they always beaming with pride when they get it.

Playdate after at the neighborhood park. Sam didn't drink the coffee. I promise. Come summer, that cup holder will have a beer. And he won't be drinking that either. 

The kids were so muddy from the park that they immediately got baths when they walked in the door. Sam crawled around in mud. It's what boys do. His outfit after could top my favorites list. That's a screenprint of overalls on a gray sweatshirt one-piece. There's a back, too. All he needs is a tractor. 

Sam had his 9 month appointment. He's on the small side. 0% for weight. And 21% for height. He was almost 16lbs. Dr isn't concerned and neither am I. Both girls were really tiny, too until a year and then the whole milk kicked in and they grew like crazy. That pic on the left was taken at the commissary after his appointment. Poor boy couldn't hang and passed out on the top of the cart. Easiest grocery store trip to date.

He recently started taking steps, too. It's quite hilarious.

January Catchup!

January has come and gone. I would love to stay on track with this blog, but such is life. This blog post alone probably took me ten nights to finish;)

No, really. It did.

Ok now it's taken me a month, but I will date everything accordingly.

Lots of lunch dates with friends and playdates at the park to keep busy.

 I lost track what number this particular winter storm was. Maybe 15? ;) However, with those temps, we stayed inside and played Chess, drank hot cocoa, and watched lots of movies. That bottom right picture is of Sam's window...on the second floor. 

 Since Madeline is home with me every day and not in preschool like most 3 year olds, I try to work with her daily doing crafts, letters, numbers, stories, ect. The lightbulb has recently gone off for her and she has a real love for learning. She actually will complain when we don't do schoolwork. While we keep busy, Sam does as well. Eating playdoh. (note his teal teeth.)

Slo-Mo video of the girls at a bounce house birthday party for our sweet friend Claire!

Her party was so much fun! And I think I ate three cupcakes. 

Even moms have fun sledding! Love that Madeline took this video and her cute chubby fingers block it. Ha!

Tom plays in an ice hockey league here and we were invited to watch one of his games. Brings back awesome memories of watching him play in HS and college. 

My sweaty stud muffin hubby:)

Our friend Renee threw an amazing surprise party for her hubby Dylan's 30th birthday. It was a beer tasting theme and we enjoyed every bit of it. 

Love their silly love for each other.

 Whatever keeps him busy and smiling.

And one last video. Because his giggle makes my heart melt.

Learning how to give a high five!

And that pretty much sums up the last week in January for us:)