Spring Break

Our Spring Break has been pretty low key this year.  Jason's sick time from his shoulder surgery ended and we've already taken an unexpected vacation, so we've been hanging out at home.  On Monday, the kids and I had a play date at our neighbor's house.  Actually it was a coffee date for the moms and you were invited to bring your kids, but for the sake of the kids we called it a play date.  It went well considering we had seven kids there aged 7 and under.

Xander and Jordis got these fun glasses from my dad and step-mom in their early Easter basket, so we've been laughing about them as well. 

We've been letting the kids stay up late and play their DS's together.  We give them until 10 but they usually can't hang that late and end up in their rightful beds, sound asleep, all on their own.  We've really lucked out with these two and the disciplined sleep habits they both have.

And of course Mr. Jake has been getting lots of extra love and attention this week as well.

Spring Break is almost over, but the excitement is just beginning.  Tomorrow is Easter AND Xander's birthday.  I feel a sugar rush in our future.

It's that time

Spring is officially here, although the way the weather has been lately you'd think it's arrival had preceded the real date. My hyacinths came up two weeks ago and my neighbor, Dena, split some of her daffodils and I added those to my collection. Actually, the kids did it for me. I was so impressed.

The kids have also been enjoying some time outside, which I love.  The winter's are usually long with them cooped up in the house.

And Jason's time off from shoulder surgery has come to an end, so we've been enjoying as much time with him as possible.

As well as enjoying some beautiful days.

Hope you're enjoying your Spring, too!

Feeling Green

This is the first time I can remember wearing shorts on St. Patrick's Day. The weather has been so pretty that I keep forgetting it's technically still winter. The kids started off the day with their annual breakfast of green scrambled eggs.

We had pizza with festive holiday napkins for dinner while we watched this week's episode of Swamp People. I also made cookies for the occasion. I love an excuse to make dessert.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dance Fever

Our local Daddy-Daughter dance was last month, and it couldn't have come soon enough for Jordis.  No joke, she's been asking about it since last summer.  See how excited she was?

She was slightly more patient for the hair styling this year.  And I do mean SLIGHTLY.  Two days previously we had decided to go on vacation, leaving right after the dance was over, so getting these two ready and out of the house was hectic when we added trip preparations to the mix.  But they couldn't have looked any more stunning.

Jordis had quite a few friends there this year.  Here she is dancing with a few of them, instead of her date.  (Sideways, of course, because for whatever reason certain pictures will not upload here the way they are showing up in my computer.  I think it's an i-phone thing).

And of course a few trips to the ice cream bar.

  Xander and I usually have a dinner date during the dance, but we had to make it a quick one this year so we could get home and finish packing. So I suggested the KFC buffet.  Xander loves mashed potatoes and he loves buffets, so he was a pretty happy guy.

Then home we all went to finish packing and load up the car for our trip south. 

Happy Heart Day

They say that Valentine's Day is overrated, or a Hallmark Holiday, but I love any reason to turn an ordinary day into a celebration.  Especially with little ones in the house.  Jordis was dressing for the holiday a few days in advance.

I was pretty excited that my Valentine's treats for bible study turned out exactly like they looked in the picture.  That rarely happens.

I also got a box of chocolates from my secret sister.  Yum!

Jordis and Xander each brought home a ton of cards and goodies from their classmates.

We ended the day with breakfast for dinner (and a picture that for some reason keeps showing up sideways even though it's upright in my computer...grrrrrr).

Hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day, too!

Happy New Year!

I know, I haven't blogged in a while. A long time, to be exact. I usually do my blog posts at night when Jason goes to work. But since he's been off for his shoulder surgery/recovery, I've been enjoying having him here EVERY night since November 28th. It's so nice to have someone here to talk to that I haven't been spending as much time on my computer in the evenings.

So, Happy 2012! Let's see how quickly I can catch you up.

We had a lovely Christmas season. I didn't put up all of my trees or decorations and Christmas still came. Imagine that.

I took the kids to a pancake brunch at our local Arts Castle a few weeks before Christmas. It was a good time, albeit crowded. Xander volunteered to cut Jordis' sausage links for her, so I had to capture that.

Jordis also had a very nice visit with Santa.

Then Xander told everyone in the room that Santa was fake because he was wearing a watch and Santa should know what time it is since he is magical. Luckily we were about done at that point, so I quickly ushered them out of there.

We got a dog. Meet Jake.

A friend of a friend couldn't keep him and because of his age we were afraid he wouldn't get adopted if they took him to a rescue, so now he's ours. I'm not a fan of big dogs, but if they were all like this one I would love them. Well, except for the shedding. I'm still having issues with that part.

We had a nice, low-key Christmas with our Latiolais/Hartman/Bradshaw families.

The kids were not very grateful for their gifts this year and were complaining of being bored a few weeks later, so we took away their birthday parties for 2012. I love planning the parties so this absolutely kills me, but they need the lesson and it will save us money, so I'll get over it.

Not much else has been going on except for our serious lack of winter. The kids were so excited when we first got some snow in January and it barely covered the ground.

Other than that we aren't doing much, which is kind of okay with me. But I will try to find something to blog about more often.

The Nutcracker

I try not to wish away my kids' childhoods, but I have seriously been looking forward to the day I could take Jordis to see The Nutcracker at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus. With Jason's surgery and other Christmas happenings, I figured this wouldn't be the year. But then I got free tickets from work. Yea!

Jordis used my phone to take our picture before we left.

We parked in the lot under the statehouse, which is across the street from the theatre.

The LeVeque Tower was looking very festive with its red and green lights and cross pattern in the windows.

I love the Ohio Theatre and have been in it many times, so I was excited to be with Jordis when she got to see it out for the first time.

We arrived early and they had some singing groups up in the loge and mezzanine lobbies. Our seats were on the floor level so I took her upstairs to look around and watch the singers.

While we were standing there a little boy wearing a suit, who appeared to be about 8 or 9, approached and basically hit on her. At first he bowed slightly at her, then said, "Hello, aren't you looking beautiful tonight." In typical Jordis fashion she gave him the stink-eye, so then he looked at me and said, "Hmm, must be a shy one." His parents were standing off to the side drinking cocktails and seemed to be in serious discussion so they didn't witness this exchange (and I couldn't get my camera ready in time before he walked off), but it cracked me up. And of course he was right, she did look beautiful and she picked this dress out herself.

Like the Christmas tattoo on her arm? She is a Latiolais after all.

We went in to the theatre and Jordis thought it was so pretty.

She was really excited when the curtain opened and did a really great job of paying attention. I paid a small fortune to buy us a snack during the intermission and that held her interest a bit better than the actual ballet did when we returned to our seats. But then it was over and she clapped very loudly until the curtain calls when she said her hands were just too tired. Apparently the rest of her body was tired as well, because she was asleep before we made it to the freeway.

Hopefully she was dreaming of sugar plum fairies.