We love you because...

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was a great way to spread the love during the month of February.  Every night, or almost, Tim and I would write down something we loved about the kiddos and tape it to their door.  Each morning, they, especially Hannah, were very excited to see what we wrote. We started each hear with "I love you because..."  While some days took a lot of thought and careful word choosing after a rough day, it was such a blessing to get to pick various things that we love about our kids.  When parenting two young kids, some days feel like they will go on forever and all you do is discipline.  This was such a great exercise for Tim and I to pick both big things and little things that spoke to us about each of our unique kiddos.  I'm so glad we did this activity and can't wait to make this a new February tradition!

Let's Go Blue and White!

The KC cheerleaders had a morning cheerleading clinic before one of the home basketball games.  Hannah was super excited to go learn to be a cheerleader and even more excited that Grace was going with her.  Grace's mom, Megan, took the girls out to KC and I joined them before the women's game started.  The girls were to all sit together near the cheerleaders during the first half so they could watch the big girls and guys.  These two girls love hanging out and have a lot of fun together!

During halftime, all the girls went to the floor to perform their cheers and a dance.  It was fun to watch Hannah out their.  The longtime cheerleader in me hopes this isn't the only time she will be a cheerleader!

I'm so glad KC had this event and that Hannah and Grace were able to do it together!

Happy Heart Day!

It was a low key kind of Valentine's Day around here.  We didn't do too much, but the kids did get a few special surprises from us.  Each got a new book, a heart full of chocolates that they like, and a new board game for the family, Hungry Hungry Hippos.  They were very excited and we have played many games of Hippos.  Although it was a very normal day for us, it was fun to celebrate the love we have for each other.  So blessed to have a wonderful husband and two amazing kiddos to love on everyday!

Pirate and Princess LIVE!

Before Christmas, I saw that a Disney Junior Live! show featuring Sophia the First and Jake and the Neverland Pirates was coming to St. Louis in February.  Although Nonnie and Poppy were still in Florida, they decided to buy the kids tickets for Valentine's Day.  Tim had a game that day, but I checked with Emily to see if she and her kids wanted to go.  She was all in!  So, we joined Joe, Emily, Emma & Jack and set out for the show.  I love Emily and am so glad we were hired at the same time at school.  And now we have kids the same age and it is so much fun!  Our kiddos get a long great and it's fun that they are getting old enough to do stuff like this together.  Here is our foursome waiting for the show to start.

I also let each kid pick out a special treat, even if they did cost a fortune!  Cameron chose cotton candy with a Jake headband attached.  Although he loved it while we were there, he has since broken it.  Oh well!  Life with a boy!

 Hannah picked out a new Sophia stuffed doll and still loves playing with it!

It was fun to take the kids to this live event and it was even more special that we got to go with friends!

P is for Pajamas

One of my favorite parts of Hannah's preschool is all the fund days they have while they are studying the letters of the alphabet.  Right after break, it was Pajama Day during "P" week.  Hannah chose to wear her new Tangled pajamas she got for Christmas.  She looked nice and comfy as she headed out the door for school!

It's Snowing....and Snowing, and Snowing, and Snowing...

One of the the great things about a trip to Florida this particular year was that once we got home, we still had three days before school started again.  We thought that would be nice to be able to decompress a bit before going back to grind.  What we weren't expecting was the biggest snow since 1982 and being off of school for an entire week!  If I would've known that, we would've headed to Fort Meyers with my parents for some more fun in the sun.

As we were getting back home on January 2nd, we started hearing the weather people talk about a significant snow storm that was going to start on Sunday the 4th.  We were predicted to get at least a foot of snow and possibly even more.  Well, this prediction did not disappoint!  We sure got a ton of snow in a very short time period that also included high winds and blizzard like conditions.  It was suppose to get bitterly cold after that so we took advantage of the first day to do some shoveling and playing.

Although we got better snow clothes and boots for the kids since the last snow, we didn't have good snow gloves.  So we did the next best thing...put some of our big gloves on them and tape them up!  It was quite comical.  The kids didn't last long and either did we.  Here is a shot out our kitchen window of some of the crazy drifting that happened.  It was definitely the biggest snow I've ever seen!

After the initial tons of snow, the next two days were bitterly cold.  The weather people called it a Polar Vortex where the lows were in the negative digits and the windchills down to -15 or sometimes colder! Put that on top of lots of snow and little plowing/melting and we were in for quite a week.  Every night we would wait patiently to see about the next day, and every night we got another phone call.  After the first few days, the main roads were a little better so we ventured out to the Speaks' house for some sledding and playing.

It was the kids' first time sledding and they had a great time!  Joe and Emily have a great little hill perfect for our kids.  They had a great time!

We ended up being off for a whole week!  It was a little crazy and I think everyone is finally ready to go back to school!

A Badger Bowl Game

Well, our time at Disney World was over, but we still had a couple of days in Florida so we decided to find some other fun things to do.  New Years Eve morning we met my mom and dad for breakfast before they took off to Fort Meyers Beach to their home-away-from-home for the next seven weeks.  It was a fun morning send off!  Then, Tim's parents and us decided to do a little shopping at some of the awesome outlet malls they have in Florida.

Next, it was time to show our Wisconsin Badger pride!  A week or so before our trip, Tim realized that the Badgers made it to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando and they were going to play on New Year's Day!  He knew right away that he wanted to get tickets and go to the game.  We also found out that there was going to be a big pep rally on New Year's Eve.  So, after shopping we made our way to this open area mall/park for the big rally.  We were running a little late and didn't know exactly what to expect, so our seats were not the greatest.  But we did hear the Wisconsin band and the kids got a glimpse of their beloved Bucky!

It was a fun time even if we were a little late!  We did a little more shopping, ate dinner at Pizza Hut and headed back to the condo.  We were a little exhausted from three super busy Disney days and I think we all crashed fairly early, even if it was New Year's Eve!

Today, we said good-bye to Nana and Papa and finished our Florida trip as a family of four.  Tim found some tickets to the game, so we but on our red and black and headed to the stadium.  It was a dreary, rainy, chilly day, but we tried to make the best of it.  We arrived pretty early and had plenty of time before the game started.  We found the big Wisconsin semi and thought it was a great spot for a Badger family picture.

We ate some lunch, while trying to stay dry, before heading to the outdoor stadium for the game.  When we got to our seats, our overly tired kids both crashed in our laps before the game even started.  So here we are...trying to stay dry and keep them dry and comfortable in our laps on the bleachers.  The life of a Badger fan!

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the only downer of the day.  Wisconsin lost yet another bowl game, the fourth in a row!  Oh well.  Despite the rainy, cold weather and the loss, it was fun to have a family day watching our Badgers live!  We finished the day at Buffalo Wild Wings and then back to the condo for repacking and resting.  Tomorrow, we head back to reality.  It was been such a great winter vacation to Florida!