Spring Fever

After our late winter snow, we are ready for some warmer weather.  We are channeling all of our warm thoughts and can't wait for days to be sunnier, warmer and longer.  Some of the things we are looking forward to are...

swimming -- Hannah and Bitty got matching swim suits from Nonnie!  This girl is ready for the pool!

swinging and days at the park.  Big Man has been cooped up all winter and cant wait to climb, swing, jump and play!

 biking...Hannah's new bicycle is waiting in the garage for the weather to break!

new shoes...both kids got new TOMS from Aunt Debbie's shoe store.  They are both ready for shoes with no socks!

Hurry up spring!  The Casey's are anxiously awaiting your arrival!

Snow Day!

Well, even though today is March 25, we have a snow day!  This is the latest I can remember ever having snow...especially enough for a day off school!  And this wasn't just a little snow.  We had almost 10 inches in places and some areas around us had over a foot!  It is just crazy!!  However, it is suppose to melt pretty quickly, but we did enjoy playing this morning in the snow.

Hannah was loving the snow!

Cameron was loving eating the snow!

 Daddy and Hannah worked on a snowman...although it got really big, really quick and Hannah stopped working.

 Taking a break on the front porch before heading inside for hot chocolate.

 Tim's finished snowman!  Even though there is snow on the ground, the Casey family is ready for spring and some Cardinal baseball!

A Mommy's Day Out

I was so blessed to spend the day with these lovely ladies and some awesome mommies from my church.  This is the fourth year I attended the Hearts at Home convention in Bloomington, Illinois with some great friends.  The first two years, I met Kristina, Sarah, Lindsey, Jennifer and/or Stephanie in Bloomington for a fun night hanging out on Friday and the conference on Saturday.  Last year, I added to the fun by riding up and back with some ladies from church and then meeting my college friends there.  I was able to do the same this year.  It is the best of both worlds because I get to spend some quality time with both old friends and new.  The ride up and back was fun and I was able to meet some new people and get to talk to some I didn't know very well.  Friday night included dinner (with no kids!) and lots of chatting at Lindsey's sister-in-law's house.  Saturday was full of learning and growing along with chatting and laughing!  While I didn't get a picture of the ladies from church, Kristina posted this one on Facebook and I stole it. :-)  Here are some takeaways from the day (great idea Stephanie!).

Main Session 1:  No More Perfect Moms ~ Jill Savage
     * Stop the Mommy Wars!
     * Turn your mess into your message.

Breakout 1:  Wise Women Raising Wiser Daughters
     * We need to teach our daughters that only Jesus can fill our Love Gap
     * We do this by teaching them how to interact with Guys, Girls & God
     * She had some great illustrations and a website to find them and more.  I think this will come in handy as Hannah gets a little bit older.

Breakout 2:  Dressing Your Mom Body, 35 and Under
     * Watch what I say about my own body image in front of Hannah -- little ears pick up what they hear.

Breakout 3:  The Passionate Mom
     * This author/speaker is the founder of iMom.com and has her first book out soon.  I want to explore her website and see what resources are on there.  She had a ton of awesome ideas that will be more applicable when Hannah reaches the preteen/teen years.
     * She uses the story of Nehemiah and his job to rebuild and protect the gates as a way to teach our children about boundaries/privileges.  I will definitely want to read her book in the years to come.

Breakout 4:  Seven Habits of Highly Effective Moms
     * I will admit that by this time of the day, my brain is a little fried.
     * She talked about how important our relationship with God is and how it needs to be more than just relating it to motherhood.  We need to be growing deeper as Christians as well.

They day ended with hearing Candace Cameron's (can you say DJ Tanner?!?!) personal testimony.  It was great to hear and be able to relate to part of it.

I'm thankful Tim gives me a night/day away to spend time with friends, grow deeper in my relationship with God and learn some tips and tricks of being the best wife and mother I can be!

Movin' & Groovin' Fun Meet

Hannah moved up a class in gymnastics this fall, and because of the level she is in, was able to participate in her first "fun" meet.  Although she was a little nervous when we first got there, she quickly went with the other Kinderkids and did a great job!  We were having some camera issues, so none of these pictures are great, but they at least capture the moment.

Her first rotation was the tumble-track.  Each girl had three or four turns showing off a variety of jumping skills.  Hannah loves to jump and had a lot of fun showing off her tuck jumps, X jumps, and even some fun jumps!

Then they moved onto "vault," which at her age means jumping onto a springboard then off or onto a mat or two.  We didn't get any great pictures of that rotation.

Next, she had her "floor routine."  She had several steps that went in a straight line.  Some of these included a straddle roll on the floor, backward roll on the wedge, turning, jumping and even a pose at the end.

Then, her group went to the bars.  This was super close to where we were sitting, so the pictures are slightly better.  Hannah is getting really good at her strong arms that hold her up,

 and her casts.

She even showed off her "Tada" at the end!

Her final rotation was the beam.  They spend a lot of time on the beam during practice, and she had a routine for this as well.  I see improvements on the beam every week when I watch her in class. 

At the end, each gymnast was announced and got a pretty pink medal.  She was one happy girl!

Nonnie and Poppy were able to come for most of the meet and brought Hannah some flowers.  She really looks like a little gymnast here!

I'm glad Hannah has continued to enjoy gymnastics.  It is fun to watch her strength, motor skills, balance, and even a little grace develop through this sport.  And, I think Aunt Nikki would be quite proud!

Let's Go KC!

When Tim took the job as athletic trainer at Kaskaskia College last fall, we knew it would be an adjustment to our family.  We knew that his night/weekend commitment would increase, which is one of the downsides of his field.  However, with our kids being a little older, we decided we would try to be at as many athletic events as a family as possible.  Then, we found out that several of the coaches have kids around the same age.  It is so much fun to be at the games and matches when our kiddos have friends to play with.  This year, our friend got some shirts made for some of the kids.  We finally were all able to be at the same game to take pictures of our kids.  Here is some of the KC kids crew at a basketball game...

and here is one of the backs of their shirts...

How cute are those?!?  Not only is this an awesome picture of the backs of the shirts, but I love Hannah's smile.  She has so much fun with Jaxson and Cash at KC events!  We are thankful that Tim is in a job that we are also making connections and building friendships. 

Valentine's Day Crafts

Hannah and I did a couple of fun Valentine's Day projects before the big day.  The first one was to make a cute shirt out of a heart-shaped doily.  This project was pretty cheap and great for Hannah and I to do together.  Here is Hannah ready to start painting.

And here we both are working hard at painting through the doily and onto her purple shirt.

 Time out for a photo op

Here is Hannah's final project as well as a shirt for me too.  I know it is totally cheesy, but it was so much fun to do this craft with Hannah and end with matching shirts.  She wore hers to my school this morning when my mom and dad brought her and Cam up for my party.  I hope we have other crafts we can do throughout the next several years.

We also worked on special Valentines for Hannah's preschool classmates.  I was searching Pinterest for something cute, easy, and not necessarily food/candy based.  I found these and they were perfect!  Easy to make and super cheap!  Hannah really enjoyed her Valentines Day party and passing out her special, fun straws!

Some Magic House Fun

We were so excited that the Gorschs were able to come down for the weekend!  Kristina and I had been talking about them coming down for a trip to the Magic House (it was included in a children's museum package they bought) for several months.  It finally worked out for this weekend and we had a lot of fun. 

They got in late Friday night, and immediately Sadie and Hannah started hanging out by "giggling and talking" before bed.  They really enjoy playing together.

Saturday, Tim and Marc were going to head to Kaskaskia for a women's basketball game, so Kristina and I took the kids (all 5 of them!) to the Magic House in St. Louis.  We played, ate a picnic lunch (it was a little chilly), played some more, then headed home.  I didn't get a ton of pictures, but all of the kiddos had a lot of fun!

This is a Jack and the Beanstalk exhibit where kids can climb up and down between the three floors.  Last year, Hannah did even want to try.  This year, she was an old pro!  She loved it!

 And so did Cameron!  This boy has no fear!

 

The only other part I got pictures of was the water table.  Both kids really enjoyed this as well.  In fact, Cameron was quite soaked when we left!  I think he was just one of the reasons I didn't get many pictures.  I think I chased him around most of the day.  But he had a ton of fun so that's all that matters!

It was a great day at the Magic House and even more because we were with Kristina and the Gorsch kids!  One of the things I love about the Magic House is that there are a variety of exhibits that are designed for a wide age range.  I don't think this will be our last visit!