Tulips

I really should have taken a picture of these tulips when they looked their best, but they still look beautiful to me even when droopy.  I just love tulips and  really enjoyed this birthday gift, even if they weren't from my husband :)

Melt Down

  Tyler showing that he's ready to call it a day after playing outside most of the afternoon.

Backyard

Over the course of this beautiful Saturday afternoon, more girls arrived and some found different (and not so safe) ways to use our playset.  Thankfully, no one was hurt before I was the party pooper.

Birthday

Thanks to my loving husband, my facebook friends actually think I turned 40 today!  Good thing he made up for that little joke by buying me a cake!

Strolling

Good thing we live on a quiet road.

Sick?

Since Claire awoke this morning with a temperature around 100 degrees, we stayed home from preschool today.  You'd never know looking at her that she had a low grade fever.  Ironically, she actually seemed a little more playful!  Maybe I need to make sure my thermometer isn't broken.

Swinging

When we arrived home from preschool, Claire asked if we could swing in the backyard.  I thought for sure we'd be back inside immediately, but she has apparently overcome her fear of the swing because she was constantly begging to be pushed higher!

Not fair

So badly wanting to join his sister on the playground outside.

TGIF

Not sure what the girls are doing walking around this tree, but it's a Friday afternoon and they're outside playing nicely together, so that's really all that matters.

Typical Thursday

Claire is signed up to go to preschool everyday.  At the same age, Grace never wanted to miss.  Claire, on the other hand, always says, "Mommy, I don't want to go to school everyday."  So most Thursdays, I oblige and Tyler, Claire, and I enjoy a morning at home together before we take Claire to dance in the afternoon.

Coffee table

All day we make sure the girls' bedroom door stays closed so Tyler won't climb up the bunkbed ladder.  Well, he's got to climb something so I guess our coffee table is the next best thing these days.

Mess

I knew Tyler was being too quiet in his bedroom tonight.

Ham

What I learned on this Valentine's Day.  Although Tyler is a big ham, he clearly does not like eating it!

Memory

Claire and I went to Chuck-E-Cheese at 1:30 this afternoon for a birthday party.  Thankfully, Claire only lasted 45 minutes because the chaos was even too much for her (not to mention, the Chuck-E-Cheese mouse in costume absolutely freaked her out).  So while Mike worked, Grandma babysat.  And Grace took that opportunity to pull out any game she could find for Grandma to play with her.  When Claire and I arrived home, they were in the middle of our Dora Memory game. . . and of course, Grace won!

Markers

While Mike was at work, Grace was at a birthday party, and Tyler was napping, Claire had fun finding different ways to entertain herself.

Daddy's girl

Since Mike is on call this weekend, he made it home a little early today. . . needlesstosay, Claire was a happy girl!

Drool

Tyler's molars are taking their own sweet time to come in. . . and unfortunately, we've only seen the top ones so far.  Maybe by the time he turns 2, he'll stop sporting a wet shirt all day.

My snacker

My tiny baby is finally getting a little chunky, especially in his gut.  Must be all those Veggie straws he has to snack on throughout the day.  

Laundry

Why I can never seem to get laundry folded and put away.  While unloading the dryer, the whirlwind that is Tyler managed to toss all the hangers everywhere.

Typical day

Just another normal day where Tyler has something he's not supposed to.  This time, he's doing his best to conceal the window cord in his mouth while gazing out at the rain :)

Computer time

A Saturday morning on the computer. . . at Dora's website watching a video nonetheless!

Party #2

Getting another set of birthday cards ready for a second night of fun!  This time the party was for Allie and Jackson at Pump It Up.  Grace loves this place and was super excited!

Skating party

The first night of three birthday parties Grace will be attending this month.  Aiden's party was at the roller skating rink near our house.  Grace was eager to try roller skating for the first time.  And of course once those skates got on, she fell, and fell again.  Needlesstosay, her eagerness lasted all of 15 minutes.

On and off

A ritual every morning while Mom and Dad get dressed.

Artist?

I tried my hand at art tonight and definitely confirmed what I already knew. . . I am not an artist!  There were over 50 people at the guided art class I attended, and it was amazing to see how good some people are.  Maybe if I go back a couple more times, I might get the hang of it!

Christmas Day

Now that it is February, I guess it's a good time (finally) to get the rest of our Christmas pictures posted.  Although Christmas 2010 in our house may not have been the most enjoyable since 3 out of 5 of us were really sick and the other 2 were on the verge, at least we woke up to a beautiful sight outside.



Although Grace was feeling the worst on Christmas Eve, she woke up feeling a lot better and was excited to see what Santa brought her.

Santa even stuffed Grace's stocking with a book after her. . . okay, let's hope this is not in her future!

Claire, who was sick on the 23rd and seemed all better on Christmas Eve, woke up on Christmas Day appearing to feel worse and sadly was not too excited about her Christmas gifts.

Tyler, however, was thankfully spared from the worst of the sickness, and quickly got the hang of opening gifts.

Though like any normal kid, he enjoyed playing with them even more.

Claire managed to open all her gifts, but could not really muster a smile.

Unfortunately, she was starting to have a relapse.

And just wanted to go back to bed.

So of course, Grace took the opportunity to play with Claire's toy.

And Tyler showed he knows exactly what he's not supposed to do with his new toy.

So while it snowed outside, giving us a gorgeous White Christmas, we hunkered down inside and worked on getting well.