Black Pants + Sidewalk Chalk

80's Pants!!!

Stinky Story-time

Lorelei asked about Stinky Story-time nearly every day last week. Something about stinkiness must be memorable. Plus they showed a picture of a child holding their nose...so maybe that was it. So, we were extra excited for our library visit today.


We met up with the Hughes ladies and intended to have a nice time outside for a while before the noon story-time. We got there early and discovered it was colder than we thought, so headed in for the 11 o clock class thinking it was the same...nope, no stinky stories there. They only do themes for preschool and the earlier story times are for the younger kids...so we ate our lunch outside for a bit and luckily it had warmed up. Then we headed in for our second story-time of the day. :) Makin did better than ever going along with the actions with the songs, so that was really fun to watch. They had a flannel board with skunks and lots of stinky songs to go along with the books, one of which had bear puppets to go with it. They do an amazing job and I'm so glad we go each week.

Afterwards Lorelei went up to one of the ladies who does story time and asked what was next week. After telling her it was mice, Lorelei said, "Yay! I can't wait!" :)

Little Helper

Moving Toys

It is amazing how much more exciting toys are when they are moved from their usual spot. These kids have never played with this kitchen so much in their life! I have always contemplated having their kitchen in my kitchen. We moved it there for all our painting jobs and they are loving it...just not sure I can handle it full time. So. Messy. Plus it is nice to have one or two rooms in the house that are toy-free. But for two weeks, bring on the kitchen! :)

Visit From Heather

We were very excited to have Heather visit us this weekend! She arrived a little before 10 Saturday morning (with star-shaped sprinkled donuts, big hit) and after playing around for a while on the swings and such, she and I headed out for a little shopping.

When we got back, we got to work (really she and the kids got to work, I just took pictures) re-potting my poor, poor plant (who is now named Norman according to Heather). I knew if I tried this I would kill the poor thing, and I have managed to keep it alive for 6 1/2 years or so. That is quite an accomplishment with my black thumb. Very good thing my mom (who got it for Brad and I after we were married 2 months) told the lady to give me something that couldn't die! So, thankfully it seems like a successful move for the poor neglected guy.

Then we started to work painting the tree! Yes, we put my sister to work when she visits us now. Heather also had the idea of adding some cute owls made from scrapbook paper for something a little fun, so we got started on those and will add them in a couple weeks when she comes back. We will also work on perfecting the finishing touches on the tree...the kids are pretty much banned from the playroom for two weeks. We are thinking we will just paint the walls as long as we already have everything moved out, so Brad and I have a painting project next weekend. Woo hoo for one personal and colorful room in our house coming up! And oh love having the tree painted and can't wait to see it all done!

Adventures In Tree Painting

Makin...got into the paint within the first two seconds of opening it (didn't have him gated out of there in time) but luckily it washed off his fingers easy. He and I played away from the paint. :) Lorelei...super super excited to help paint. She helped Brad with the entire inside of the "trunk" and was not ready to be done when he had just a little left to finish.
Heather...a glass of wine was much-needed. ;)
And isn't that the cutest owl family you have ever seen!? :) All Heather coordinating scrap-booking paper. And tracing them. And now putting them together for it...I did help her cut them out! ;)

Sunday was more mellow and just had some fun getting ready, going to church, and then some more time outside.


While getting ready Heather drew on the kids with eyeliner, that is what they are showing in the pictures if you can't tell. They were so proud! :)

Glad we get to see you again soon! Thanks for all the help Heather!

Best Lunch Date And Warm Afternoon

80 some degrees in February called for meeting up with Brad for a park lunch date! Almost every day he eats his lunch (usually soup) in the office, many times even at his desk. When we found out it was going to be such a beautiful day we just had to get out and enjoy it, and wanted to enjoy it as much as we could as a whole family!

So after a much-needed grocery run to Kroger. (And getting to see the Oscar Myer Wiener truck! AKA "Big Hot Dog Truck")  We headed home to quickly pack up sandwiches for lunch.

We picked up Brad and went to a park at the lake very close to his office. And boy were we in for a treat! We had not been there before, and had just seen that there was a park on Google maps.

Not only is there a lake, but you can swim in it! (When its warmer of course!) Then we checked out a pier nearby (there is also a marina) and then headed to a fun playground. They had HUGE slides (that is Makin's happy face after he went down one by himself) and lots of other great features. We did not get to stay nearly long enough and will definitely go there again and try and stay longer.

After getting home we changed into shorts, played outside, napped, had an ice cream treat before playing outside the rest of the afternoon (Makin was loooving golfing today. If he keeps this up we are all set for mini-golf this summer! Not to mention the two men in our family convincing us to go on a golf family vacations. ;) Lorelei was the announcer. Can't figure out if she picked that up from the little golf/football she has watched with Brad or if they had it on one of her shows.) and then of course had to grill out for supper!

Wonderful, wonderful day. Love it.

The Dallas Aquarium

I love educational field trips! I am one of those crazy people who loved taking kids on field trips when I was in a classroom. Just so much fun to get them out and see things and learn while doing it. So of course, I jump at the chance to do this with my own kids.

Mary and I have been planning this trip this month and had to reschedule from last week, so we were all very ready and excited to head to The Dallas Aquarium on Wednesday. We checked out fish/turtle/seahorse books from the library and read them a few days before. I also found some coloring pages and printed them for the kids to color on the way and at lunch. I also got the idea of doing a simple picture scavenger hunt. Brad did an AMAZING job making one for me and whipped one together in under an hour when it would have taken me...well I just couldn't have done it. Big props to him for his help!

We met up and all loaded into the Hughes car and after a few kinks, (like no GPS!) made it there just a little after they opened. We found practically everything on our scavenger hunt within the first 10 minutes, but that is because some of the best parts are right when you walk in! My personal favorite was right as you enter, and it had a huge tank with the manatees and sea turtles, along with catfish and a few others of course.

The kids loved it. They saw so many different creatures. We were there for just under 6 hours, with only one melt down from Lorelei with having no nap. They were completely entertained every minute. Lorelei said her favorite was the Poison Dart Frogs. She also talks the most about the Jelly Fish and the Flash Light Fish when telling you about our trip. If Makin could talk, I think he would say the Sea Otters. They were so entertaining I think the kids watched them for at least 30 minutes. It was absolutely wonderful to have a little field trip to take during the middle of the week. I love this stuff!

Um and you realized I would take about a million pictures for this right? So here is a slideshow. (Also big props to Brad, again. What can I say? It pays to have a computer wiz for a husband.) :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Our Rainy Saturday

Trip to Lowes













Brad and Kid's first Mooyah burgers!


















Indoor bounce house



We tried to get a lot of things done and have some fun too. It rained alllllll day. We pushed our luck with running errands Sunday after church too...guess we are being reminded why it takes way longer to get your "To Do" list done with two kiddos! :)

Date Night

Game night!

Some Of Our 2012 Goals... A Bit Late

I have discovered at my wise age ;) that Brad and I are not very good at balance. So, overall I want us to get better about balancing work and fun, which is also seen throughout our other goals.

Lots of house projects...from painting to organizing, not going to list. (And we have done some already!)

Less time on the computer.

Date nights once a week. Once a month we will go out if we can, but the rest are at-home date nights. Found some fun ideas and we are excited. I'm going to post at least short posts about our date nights most weeks (unless its something boring like a movie) because I think its important and hoping it will help encourage others to do it too!

Start a family fun can.

Get better at couponing.

As mentioned on previous post, getting in shape!

There are probably more but ready to have this done and posted! :) Hoping to check many things off the list!

Brad - The Reality Check

I am typing this on January 6th, planning to wait and post it sometime when things have settled from Makin's surgery coming up, but I feel that is something that is worth sharing.

Now, for the reality check you are wondering about. Brad went to the doctor last night (yep, 7pm, guess its good that they have late hours at this office, not so fun for me though) because he had been having a lot of trouble with headaches. He has had trouble with headaches for a while, but this last week he had one almost every day, so he finally made an appointment. The verdict? Probably caused from "slightly" high blood pressure. Yes, stress for sure is a contributing factor, but mostly weight. SO Brad is now highly motivated to drop the extra pounds so he can live longer and see his kids get old.

Not that we have not been working towards this, he did loose thirty pounds towards the beginning of 2011, which was a great start, but as usual, life gets in the way.

So anyway, I have decided to add some updates to our blog following Brads progress the upcoming months. His goal is to loose 10 lbs a month, so it will be a very big challenge, and we will just take what we can get, but would love any encouragement and tips you want to share. His main goal is getting enough exercise, which is quite the challenge with our schedule, but its just going to have to become a priority.

Wanted to share the back-story in this first post.

When I first met Brad he was at his most physically fit because he had gotten in great shape preparing for football at Concordia. However, after blowing out his knee a second time within a year, he decided he should not continue with football. And that's the switch that started the decline in fitness. He still played golf, but they did not require the physical work out that football did. Then add on that he was eating cafeteria food (Fries, fries and more fries), and going out with me at least once a week and eating chicken nuggets and ice cream from McDonald's, along with random trips with the guys from his floor to Amigos and its pretty easy to add a lot of pounds...way more than the typical "Freshman Fifteen" for sure! So, as it is for many, college was not a good way to get him on the right track.

And what comes after college? Certainly more spare time to exercise? Right. :) He worked at his full time job, worked on finishing his classes online, and then still spent a little time with his wife.

In Nebraska we did make a few efforts to get him on track, even joined a gym (gasp, I know!) and at some point (not sure if it was before or after the gym) ordered some fitness DVDs we saw on TV! And then...

Moving to Virgina Beach and KIDS! He was working full time, free-lancing some on the side, and still getting time with the kids. And then the constant attempt to balance work and family life, and still find time to exercise, when his wife certainly wants him to relieve her as soon as he gets home so we can team up two against two!

So nearly 10 1/2 years later, we are where we are today. High blood pressure causing headaches...among other problems. So, support and encourage, and hopefully the upcoming posts will have great reports of progress made!

Makin Update

I write this post with a very heavy heart when I say that I am 98% sure Makin still has a hole in his palate. Very small compared to what it was, but a hole. During about week 3 of recovery I noticed there may have been some food coming out of his nose, but thought it could also just be normal discharge or that he may have gotten it there while eating. Then I have noticed more the last few weeks.

I emailed CHKD and they said to keep an eye on it and we will revisit if it is a problem in 6 months. 6 months- 1 year is the earliest they would try to close it back up.

As I remembered the surgery - him crying, the blood, the recovery...I could not believe we may have to go through all of this again so soon, but we have to deal with what we have been dealt and there is no use getting all worked up over it.

A little note I saw from Brad's cousin that helped a bit -
It is such a daily challenge to not worry, but to pray, trust and obey. Worry does nothing but steal the joy of the blessings we've been given.

So for now I guess we just pray our socks off that the hole closes up on its own. That is possible (not that they have told me that, but I heard it from the doctor here that it CAN happen sometimes) but I feel very unlikely. Thanks again for all your support!

"I Like Bread And Butter"

Bread and Butter is one of the only things Makin wants to eat lately. Hoping it is just from all the crud in his tummy and that is all that sounds good. (And from my point of view, this is the first time I feel like I have almost totally lost my sense of taste! So that may be it too.)

Guess we will need to tell Pops that Makin is taking a page out of his book. My Grandpa Heinz LOVES bread and butter. :) Made me think of him this morning when I made Makin his millionth slice of the week. Hopefully this guy gets to meet him soon when we find some cheap airline tickets to Milwaukee! :)

Fresh Air

We have cancelled every plan for the last week and a half, and continue to do so. And boy was it a lot of cancelling. Hoping to be back in full swing next week and it will be packed with fun making up for all our rescheduling!



And a huge help with getting us through keeping the nasty cold bug to ourselves was sunshine and a warm up in the weather. Not THAT warm, but warm enough we could get out for some air. We made a quick trip to the library (where I told Lorelei not to touch anything) and then after grabbing a book we had on hold, the kids played outside the library with sticks etc (since they actually have trees there) for quite a while. What a joy to just get out of the house! Also, side walk chalk has been a hit lately, and of course the usual swings and sandbox. Cutest moment was when the kids were swinging in unison and would touch hands/hold hands would smile and laugh.

We also loved getting special Valentine mail from Grandma and Grandpa with extra special stamps! (not to mention the stickers inside!)












And the latest sickness update...Makin still has the most of the runny nose but all of us are finally starting to fade and start to feel more normal! Woo hoo! Now if I can just figure out how to get the kids to be less cranky! :) On to a productive weekend ahead!

Valentine's Day

Okay my poor husband is waiting to start a movie with our supper but had to post really quick since there have not been any blogs for you lately! Sorry I didn't get our usual video of the kids up to wish you Happy Valentine's Day!

We had planned on having a Valentine's Party with the Hughes girls, but since we are still full of germs we decided to postpone it. Yuck, another fun thing we couldn't do! And I am still feeling very crummy. Lorelei and Brad are doing much better and Makin is pretty crummy too, but thankfully not a fever like Lorelei had. SO our Valentine's had to be at home this year!


Brad was wonderful and helped me frost the last-minute cookies. Had planned to do earlier but then we were sick...anyway he did great! Then first thing in the morning the kids got to have one, right before going on our Vday scavenger hunt. Lorelei had a TON of fun finding the clues and figuring them out. Makin was thrilled to finally have new sippy cups...but he can't seem to get them to work. :) Guess we'll keep trying. Maybe when he can breath out of his nose it will help? :)

Hmmmm the extent of Brad and I's Valentines Day...I made him coffee to go. :)












By 9 AM Lorelei had already made her Valentine's hat and had talked me into frosting her cookies (saved three for her to do) so I didn't have to hear her keep asking! I loved how she made her hat, and then she insisted on adding the blue papers to make it look like Bear's hat from our Franklin's Valentines book. She actually wore her hat a lot throughout the day. As I was asking Lorelei to smile while she was frosting her cookie she said, "I can't look at you and smile or I'll mess up!" :) Geeze Mom. ;)


And we continued our new tradition of making heart-shaped pizzas for lunch. And Brad even got to come home and enjoy them with us! Lorelei helped with every part of making them and Makin just watched anxiously for them to be done in the oven. Notice the pic of Brad with the kids Lorelei is upset about not having the car fork...it has been one of those weeks!

And after 5 days of being cooped up in the house, the sun finally broke out and had decent temps so the kids and I enjoyed a bit of time outside before and after nap. Taking a walk, splashing in puddles and drawing with chalk on the driveway. MUCH needed chance to air out just a few germs. Bleh. Still going to stick close to home to try not to get everyone else sick...hoping to maybe be back to normal on Friday but not sure I can stay home two more days!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Nasty Cold

Wednesday Lorelei started to complain of leg pain and ended up with a long-lasting fever. Thursday we spent the afternoon driving to, sitting in, and driving back from the doctors office only to find out she does not have strep or anything else, just a nasty cold.

And of course by Saturday we are all down for the count.

And we are super sad because we were going to have visitors this weekend. :( Amanda and Sydney were supposed to spend the night with us Friday night for lots of fun together, but we don't want that sweet girl getting this bad fever, so will have to look forward to the next time. :(

Hoping that the rest of us don't take as long as Lorelei to kick the fever. She is finally seeming more like herself with just a bad cough and runny nose Saturday afternoon...yuck!

Okay another update as of 6 pm Saturday...Lorelei still has a fever. :( Hoping we get over this soon!

Busy Start To The Week

Monday. I tried my hardest to resist taking more gymnastics pictures...but boy it is hard! They did different activities this time, and there were 6 in her class today, two new and one regular who had missed last week. They did some work on the balance beams, which she is NOT a fan of except for the one that is on the ground. Anything in the air is a little too scarey and she needed some extra help. She was also still the most talkative (surprised?) and most of the other moms were chuckling at all of her remarks throughout class. The little boy behind her was so sweet and stayed at "his" spot in line behind her the entire time, no matter how much she lagged behind. Lane was his name and a new girl joined named Lila. Poor Coach Bret. :)

Makin did a million times better. Snacks and cars kept him happy during class! Phew.



Got a package from Nana and Papa which basically entertained us the rest of the day! Candy, coloring books, stickers, puffs for bath...you name it! The first big hit were the little airplanes. Loved them!









Monday night was our turn to be the babysitters! The kids had fun playing, (Aubrey was thrilled to try out Lorelei's roller skates too!) using Valentine stickers and coloring pages, and did a little singing and dancing too. :)









Tuesday we got registered for preschool! Had no problems getting Lorelei signed up and excited to hear more about it in July. We will have an open house the Thursday before Labor Day weekend to get more of an inside scoop. Until then, just going to enjoy completely being on our own schedule and not worrying about school yet! :)

Since we were already out bright at early (Had to get there at 8:30 to insure slot in class) we headed on a quick errand to Target followed by trying out a new coffee shop. And boy was I pleasantly surprised! They have a children's table complete with paper, crayons, books and cars. Woo hoo!


Then we were back to story time on Tuesdays at the library! It was an animal theme (including making doggie noises, among others) so Lorelei loved the books and songs. So great getting back there since they love it so much.

I Love You To The Moon...And Back

From the book, "Guess How Much I Love You" If you don't have it, get it. One of my favorite children's books ever and Lorelei FINALLY loves it. I remember reading it to her when she was a year old or less, and she had no interest whatsoever...well apparently age three is just right for this book! :) Now sometimes at night she will tell Brad and I that she loves us to the moon and back. Completely melts our hearts! Anyway, obviously this is how I feel about my kids, since I cannot say enough about them...and have been jotting down notes like crazy, so here we go again, another post of cute things my kids say and do. :)

Lorelei:
"I sit still like statue. (30 seconds goes by) I moving statue. (starts walking) I talking statue. "
(Yeah...maybe statue isn't her best thing.)

Lorelei requested raw carrots and ranch for breakfast and after a little coaxing still was not budging on her choice. And what parent should argue with carrots? So as I was getting them for her I said, "Your weird." and her reply was "I know." followed by her made up song "Wah carrots and Wanch!"

Me: Do you need to go potty?
Lor: No. It normal dance.





She speaks her own language and makes up random words that usually sound like eekahbuhkabeah...and she calls it Spanish. :)

"It's too quiet. Makin must be getting in trouble."

When people tell her something, especially a compliment she replies with "I know."

She is using some more fun vocab words like gorgeous and delicious.

We were discussing that I did not want to eat at Applebees and she seemed to think she wanted to eat there so she just told me, "Then you can just stay in the car."




At 8 AM the morning of Makin's food day she said, "Mommy, my tummy says, 'I want to eat cupcakes RIGHT NOW!'"

Anything she names has a double name. Beary Bear, Monkey Monk








Makin:
He cracks himself up.

He folds hands for us to pray and then after we do the "old prayer" (what Lorelei calls our traditional one that we usually say) he holds his hands up in the air to do the Superman prayer. :)

If he does something naughty (and usually knows he shouldn't) and I give him "the look" he will just start shaking his head no...as if, "yes I know that look means you are saying no."


Sometimes when you ask him how long he will hold up his full hand to say "5 minutes." (Lorelei was not keen on this new time concept when that was how long he wanted to wait to share something.) :)

Like a typical male, he needs to have pain sympathy. If he gets injured I have to acknowledge that he was hurt and give him a little hug and then he can go on his way perfectly fine.

He will gasp with excitement. (Especially when he hears big sis wake up!)

Getting more ornery. He will take something from Lorelei just to get a rise out of her.

He is very good at making known what he wants by yelling or pointing.

Busy Saturday

We started our morning with waffles and strawberries! Hoping to start doing more special breakfasts on Saturdays. Trying to fit in a little more simple fun around the house.








Then Brad and Lorelei headed over for their first Home Depot workshop. They have these the first Saturday of every month for free. We thought this was a great chance for some father/daughter time each month, and its something they both really love doing. It didn't take nearly as long as we thought, but they really enjoyed it! They decided to paint it at home as Brad wanted to wait for the glue to dry, and there were 40 kids were around each of the three paint stations, so they did not think it was worth waiting. Brad said Lorelei's favorite part was being able to hammer the nails in. :)


Oh and they picked up a baby swing for Makin too! (I'm sure you will see it later.) How nice to have one errand off our list without me even asking!

Makin and I stayed home for our mother/son time today. We read books, played with toys in his room and then tried finger painting. That was not a huge hit with him. It lasted all of 5 minutes. He would barely rub the paint in (after insisting I show him that I would do it first before he dared try it) and then point to another color, also barely rubbing it anywhere after I gave it to him. :) Will wait a while and try again...I'm sure he would be more into it if he watched Lorelei do it, but like to see what he does without following big sisters lead!

We still had plenty of time to burn the rest of the day and Brad got some great time with the kids while I got a few jobs done around the house. Love just listening to all of them playing and laughing together. :)

Brad had to get a haircut and got the oil changed at the same time, so we had to keep occupied around the house for a little extra time than planned this afternoon. (Yeah, trying to do those two things on a busy Saturday afternoon takes a while.) So we did pasta with glue...which eventually turned into pasta with water (Makin's suggestion)...oh well, I got some chores done and they were happy!



Brad has been itching to start the family tradition of a movie night. I kept telling him that I was fine with this, as long we had not watched T.V. the rest of the day. Well, this was the ideal day for this to work out since we were so busy! (Eh hem, already decided before said afternoon solo, but I powered through!) Plus he was extra motivated as we knew Lorelei would love to see the new Treasure Buddies movie! :) (Makin ended up going to bed, so it was a most-of-family movie night ;) ) She loved having her special movie night with popcorn! :)

Date Night!

Yep, you read it correctly! Brad and I actually got a date night! We can probably count on one hand the amount of times we have gone out since the kids were born. Well, our new friends, Mary and Patrick (Aubry and Morgan's parents) are up for a date night swap once a month, so we are going to be shocked to start doing this, but know it will be great for us!

Tonight it was Red Lobster for supper. When we went to pick up the kids, they were busy making snowmen out of marshmallows (well, Makin was busy eating it rather than worrying about the snowman) and could have cared less we were gone. :) Just have to figure out how to make it a little earlier so they are not so grumpy on the drive home. I asked Makin if he had fun as I was putting him in the car and he nodded with an excited "eh!" :) Oh how nice it will be if they are okay with us being gone for a bit!

(And I am so sad I even include pictures of my kids on my date night post... ;) )

Hot Chocolate And Coffee

Lorelei requested hot chocolate with her breakfast while I had my coffee. :) Notice the strawberries and blueberries...great sales and it felt SO good to get back to our normal fruit habits now that Makin can eat everything again! Still working on getting him to eat these fruits though...so much pickier on fruits than big sis!

February Family Picture

Warm Start To February

Ummmm water and sand with short sleeves on February 1st? Got a work out today and remembered why summer is so exhausting. Towels...three outfits a piece...etc. Boy did they have fun though.

The Furr family came over for pizza and cupcakes to celebrate (and show Jen how to get some pictures on Facebook) and the girls ate their supper in the playhouse! Lorelei loved Quentin pushing her high on the swings!