Train Trip to Great Grandma's House

The kids were bouncing off the walls when we told them that we were taking the train to visit Great Grandma for her birthday! Henry was so anxious that we were going to miss the train until we were actually on the train in the seats. Of course, our seats were on the top level of the train. Where else would they choose to sit?! Evan sat in his seat for about 10 minutes. At that point, he decided that he needed to take a tour of the train, and meet his co-passengers.

We visited with Great Grandma and Aunt Debby for a while, and gave Great Grandma the cards and cookies we made for her. Aunt Debby, of course, had all sorts of games for the kids to play. :) Unfortunately, Evan was not at his most charming. I thought he might be coming down with something, and he was. We found out the next day that he has a double ear infection and double pink eye. :( Poor kid.

Nosek Wrestlemania!

This is one of the biggest requests the kids have when we have a family night. The kids all love to wrestle with their dad! I can't believe that he can handle all four like this. Dave is a good man.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! XOXOXOXOXO

This little girl loves her Valentines

Caroline had a fabulous time addressing all of the valentines for her friends in class. And when she got home from her class party, she loved looking at all of her valentines, sorting them and playing with them. I remember doing that when I was a little girl.

After completing our big laundry room project yesterday, I was pretty much wiped out today. I wasn't too productive, and that felt kind of good. And now, I am heading to bed, before 10:00 even. :) Looking forward to a good night's sleep!

THE BIG REVEAL!!

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once the ball started rolling with this project of organizing our laundry room, it really picked up some momentum. Its hard to believe that less than a week ago, our laundry room looked like this. (Click HERE to see it)

After a whirlwind of a week, we now have a space that makes more sense, and hopefully the order and the systems that we have in place will make an impact on our daily lives.



Henry helped Dave make some of the cubbies and the shelves for the pantry. He said it was the most fun he's ever had making something. He's a chip off the old block!

Puddle Jumping

Walking through the parking lot into preschool this morning, Caroline had to face many temptations...in the form of deep, splashable puddles. Not wanting her to walk into her class soaked, I promised her that if she stayed strong and kept herself out of those puddles, I would take her out after preschool to go stomping in the puddles in our neighborhood. She agreed, on the condition that she could wear her froggy boots and bring her duck umbrella.

It was a very sweet, but very messy time. And I would be lying to you if I said that Evan didn't come back caked in mud, and that a load of laundry didn't need to be done IMMEDIATELY on our return. But it was joyful and the kids were happy, and that made the extra work worth it.

I know that you've been anxiously awaiting...

...our fish update. I apologize for keeping you on pins and needles. :) Here you go...

I have to admit that I have been on the border of being a little obsessed with our fish. I so wanted the kids first pet experience to be a good one, so we chose an easy pet. Fish are easy, right?

Well, it turns out that they are a little more complicated than I thought. We did have a few fish fatalities, BUT, to look on the bright side, we did manage to save one. Thank God for Speedy. He is one tough fish.

We were able to lower the nitrate and nitrite levels in the tank, changed the water, and vacuumed the gravel (!) a few times, and with our water now passing muster, we were able to add 3 new fish. They've been happy and healthy for 2 days now. WAHOO! You know, its these little victories that we have to celebrate.

Here's a picture of Spot, Seth's new fish:
He's actually sleeping in this picture. Yes, sleeping, not "resting in peace". Did you know that fish do that?! (I didn't...I've been fooled, ready to flush, a few times.) He's resting his tail on that orange plant.

And in other Fish News...Dave hung his sail fish, the one he caught in Mexico, in a place of more prominence in his office. Its hard to believe that he reeled this huge thing in!! We are slowly but surely tackling his office, but the laundry room is almost done!!! I do believe I'll have pictures to share by the weekend!
One last thing, the Valentine's picture of the kids at the beginning of the blog is actually one that I took last year. No worries...Seth still has his permanent (adult) front teeth! :)

Siblings and Friends

I love it when they get along like this!

Before the snow melted away, Seth and Caroline decided that they had to build a snowman. It didn't last too long in this warm weather, but it'll last forever in this picture! They were so proud, and I was so proud of their teamwork. They made it mostly on their own, with a little bit of Dad's help.
AND...Yesterday, the boys came running up to me and told me that Seth can read Magic Tree House books! They were so excited. They've worked it out so that they each have a copy of the same book, and Seth reads his aloud. If he stumbles on a word, Henry is right there to help him out. Seth LOVES this.

I complimented Seth on his excellent reading, and Henry on being such a supportive older brother, and told them that whenever they want to do this, I'll let them stay up 20 minutes past their bedtime. They thought that was a great idea. Henry and Seth both said that with all of this practice, Seth is becoming a more fluent reader. They actually used those words. ;)

This morning, Dave and I thought that we heard the boys wake up, but they didn't come out of their room. So we just assumed that they went back to sleep. No, they came out forty minutes later saying that they read 3 more chapters.

I have to say...I am eating this up!

Here's the pictures I promised...

...of our trip to the waterpark!

Seth going down the slide with his buddies

Sarah in the whirlpool with her three sons

The next two pictures are our kids and their friends posed in front of one of the original snowmen from Santa's Village!

Evan playing Deal or No Deal

Evan enjoying a cupcake. Perhaps he didn't sleep well at the waterpark because we gave this to him at around 8:30 at night. Hmmmm...perhaps....