Life lately...

The blog has been pretty quiet for a number of reasons. First, we just haven't had a lot going on. Second, we entered a (brief) round of sickness. And lastly, I've just done an overall horrible job of taking pictures! I'm working on it.... :) 

With all the ice and snow and cold we've had lately, John has been working from home several days. We all love it when he's in the house. The boys especially love it when daddy shows them pictures of the grain elevators. 

Valentine's Day preparations!

"Mom, I'm not tired!".....famous last words! 

At our ballet studio, the girls got to write something that they love on a heart and they all got hung up on the walls in the studio. Mellany's is the heart on the left with the ballet slipper and Charlotte's is on the right. 

Soccer night! Charlie is the closest to the goal...

Charlie snatched my phone while I was doing some things on the computer one afternoon. He thinks it is so funny to do that lately! 

Date night: Dinner and Home Depot....my how things have changed over the years!

We have the best grandparents around! Gammy sent a bag of goodies that included legos, cars and fun new plates. Papa & Teresa sent bags of yummy treats for the kids. And Nana sent these fantastic cupcakes! 

Nail stickers! These things are amazing. No mess and super quick!! Will definitely be purchasing these again!

Charlie got a hold of my phone again and wanted to take my picture. Then he wanted a picture of himself with me. 

I just love pictures of my kiddos sleeping so peacefully.

Soccer & Snow Days

Things have been pretty quiet and calm around here and I am just fine with that....

The boys started soccer and really love it. We've only been once so far as I had a doctor appointment the first practice and it was cancelled the 3rd night for below freezing temperatures. 

Mellany is still doing ballet and is exceeding all our expectations in school. She's full on reading stories to us and "ace-ing" just about every math paper she completes. We couldn't be more proud! 

John traveled to KC this past weekend for the funeral of his friend Bud's mom. Mellany and Johnny wanted to ride with him so they were able to do that and spend the entire day with Gammy on Saturday while John was at the services. They also got to see MaeMae, Capri & Delaney which was super fun for them. Charlie and I held down the fort in IN as the trip would have been too quick for him and he would have been a hot, hot mess! We ran some errands, played with lots of toys, watched movies and went to our Small Group Super Bowl Party Sunday night. We all had a great time in our separate adventures but we were more than excited to be all back together on Sunday night! 

Soccer!! Charlie is in a blue KC shirt and Johnny is in an orange shirt with grey pants. Mellany attempted some homework during the practice. 

Charlie got a hold of my phone at the bus stop one morning...

Just waiting for Mellany to get off the bus. Poor guy had just woke up from a nap....but he looks like a 40 year old man in this picture with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed....hahaha!!

Reading homework while I prep dinner

Temperatures reached -16 (real temp) this past week. Schools, businesses and even the USPS closed for two days so people could stay indoors; it was crazy! Thankfully our heater was able to keep up really well. We had two places that concerned us a bit...the fireplace and our dining room door. We put the blanket in front of the fireplace to keep it from drafting, but in doing that, it caused it to freeze up. So we pulled the blanket away and everything went back to normal. The dining room door really has no explanation other than it was just cold, thus there was ice on the inside of the door along the base. All our windows froze up on the inside too. Hopefully those temperatures are over and we are moving toward spring! 

While we were cooped up inside we baked cookies, played piano, worked on homework and watched lots of movies! I can't say the relaxation wasn't nice...it was fantastic!

One of the homework assignments we worked on was Johnny's heart project for preschool. He was given a heart with the instructions stating to decorate it, cut it out and bring it back to school. After putting off the assignment as long as he possibly could, he decided he would color it red. As we were working on that I was telling him about the heart "people" I used to make in school and I actually google an image of it so he could see. In doing that, he decided he wanted a "heart man" with a John Deere hat and boots. So, that's exactly what we did. I think it turned out so perfect; it fits Johnny to a "T"! 

Capri, Mellany and MaeMae @ Gammy's house! 

Ghostbuster, Snow & a Big Boy Bed!

It's winter. It's cold, snowy and icy and we are all ready to be able to play outside. We are trying our best to stay positive about being indoors but the open spaces in the back yard are calling our name. Until that day comes we've been doing lots of fun inside activities....

We met Simon & Charlotte to play....this place was something new we tried and loved it! We will definitely be going back. 

Just watching tv with our resident ghostbuster

Homework in her new snuggly robe and turbie twist towel after showers

...Charlie got my phone during the process...

Proud dad moment...Johnny is putting chips on his sandwich just like his daddy does...I think John almost shed a tear when I sent him this!

Lunch after haircuts and new shoes at the mall. Johnny wasn't feeling well so he and John stayed back.

Our first snow! The snow wasn't great for building a snowman but that didn't stop our girl. She was determined and she made it happen!

Small group at church

TV watching on our pillows made by Nana.

Charlie in his "big boy bed"!!! The official bed will come but we wanted to start low to the ground...he's done a really great job!

Thank goodness we have these two boys. They fixed up my table this past weekend! It needed lots of hammering and drilling!

 

Took the kids to their first gun show. We came out with two hot wheel cars and a tiara.... :) 

Second snow of the season. John took this shot at the end of our drive as he was plowing with the tractor. Great view if you ask us! 

Disney on Ice + Christmas Vacation Lounging!

Since getting back from KC, we've not done much other than lounging in PJ's.....and it has been fantastic! I haven't worried much about getting things put away or doing the laundry that piled up or even getting the Christmas decorations down. I've literally been hanging out with my kiddos and it makes me so happy!! 

This past Friday, we did get out of our PJ's to go to Disney on Ice with the Okos crew and the Furry girls and had a BLAST! 

Here's a few snapshots of the lounging and Disney on Ice....

Charlie had a muffin....this is the kind of mess that results from a muffin! 

Then he got a hold of my phone.....ornery little guy!

All three kids were in awe and really loved Disney on Ice. We got them the tickets for Christmas and it was so worth it....we all had a great time! The girls dressed up in their princess attire, the boys wore their tractor shirts and everyone sang way too loud and had snow cones and popcorn.....it was awesome! 

At one point this past weekend we finally got motivated to start putting things away. This included purging some of the old toys that don't get played with anymore...John was a huge help as you can see!!! I love how he makes me laugh! There's never a dull moment with him! 

Charlie snatched up my phone while getting ready for church