Valentine's Day

A bit late, but that shouldn't be a surprise.

On Thursdays, brynlee and I go to library story-time while fletcher is at school. The lady had a fun project for the littles to do after she read to them and sang a few songs. So cute and so fun.

All week, fletcher and I worked on his valentines for school. I saw a Pinterest idea that was pretty cheap and didn't involve candy. Simple to make-my kind of project. The awful part...having fletcher write his name on twenty of them, by request if his teacher. He made out like a bandit from his party at school.

Keeping with tradition, I made a heart meal for supper. This year, heart pancakes. And they were pink. A crowd pleaser, so I was pleased.

Adam and I had a day date that in saying was our valentines treat. On the Sunday before, we took the kids to Dsm so my dad could watch them and we went to the home and garden show at the iowa events center. It was probably the worst 22$ we spent, as we were there for less than an hour. We really didn't spend enough time looking at the vendors. After we did a walk through, we went across the street to buzzard billy's for a late lunch. It wasn't a thrilling day, but we had a few hours, kid free which was nice.

We have a 2 year old

On Monday, my sweet baby girl turned two years old. Time sure has flown by...I type that as she's being good right now.
She sure has taught us a lot. Like patience. And 'don't sweat the small stuff'. And how to survive a night with very little sleep. And how to kind of get sleep with a toddler in your bed, who's kicking and wide awake at 2am. Oh, and she's taught us patience. But really, we're still learning that one.
This kid is a handful, but a good handful. Aside from the naughty things she does, the good and funny outweigh all the bad. She is really tender hearted toward others, but she like to hit too. She loves 'tandy' and 'nacks'. She does not like fruits or vegetables. She loves to copy her big brother and always wants to play with him. Sometimes he's nice, sometimes he's not. She loves books and her babies and cooking up things in her kitchen. And she also enjoys dumping all the toys on the floor, which I do not enjoy. A current favorite is coloring...with markers and eating play-doh. She fights naptime and bedtime with every ounce of energy.
I know that as much as I want some of these battles to be over, I need to cherish the good and the not so good, because some day, I'll want it all back. All of it-the sleepless nights, the blue marker on the lazy-boy, the fights between her and her brother, trying to get her to eat something good and not another sucker. So, as her third year begins, I sit back and take in all of the good and bad and practice working on my patience. Here's to another year sweet girl.

thanks, santa!

Way late with this, but it needs to be documented.

santa came a few nights early, since we were heading out of town on christmas eve day. it's easy to do since the kids don't really know when Christmas actually is, with all the festivities we attend, I barely know when Christmas is for that matter.
Anyway, mr Claus and I talked up the evening and told the kids all the things parents say on Christmas eve, just to get the kids all excited. We decorated cookies earlier that morning. Before bed, fletcher drew on a styrofoam plate and signed his name (and brynlee's) and we left chocolate milk, a beer, cookies and also some carrots for the reindeer. Nothing like getting them all excited before putting them to bed.
So the children were finally asleep when the mr went out to assemble the kitchen and scooter for the wee ones. I did stockings and then had the pleasure of putting on all the stickers to the kitchen and getting the placement just right for everything.
The next morning when the kids woke up, they were excited to see what the big guy left. They were also excited to find gus, only to realize he went back to the north pole with Santa. But he was quickly forgotten when they saw the goods that were left.
Another good year from Santa, but we discovered that it is getting harder as fletcher starts asking for more bigger and complex things that are not quite age appropriate, but are cool with 'the big kids.' I'm sure sooner than later that he will be crushed, but until them...HO, HO, HO.

christmas traditions

everyone grows up with some sort of family tradition. they are something that i look back on and have great memories of. i knew i wanted to carry on some of those same traditions with my kids and that i wanted to create new ones. as the kids get older and understand more, it is much more fun to see these traditions continue. in keeping a few, we have also added a few. 

one thing my family always did, was make christmas candy. my parents make fudge and caramels that people rave over. i remember always being in the kitchen when my mom was making caramels and my brother and i would fight over the 'tester' piece. when they were set and cut, we would sit around the table and do the dreaded wrapping. as a kid, it wasn't fun, but it is something that i enjoy being a part of as an adult. i didn't get the caramel making gene, but i do enjoy making other types of christmas candy/treats. one of my favorites is the pretzel, white almond bark and m&m's. very easy and with littles around, a pretty quick task. cookies, grinch treats, and apple bread was also on the list.

i always had an advent calendar growing up. the one with the days numbered on little doors you opened on that day and then there was a little chocolate inside. my mom has searched and i have searched and we can't find them, so i came up with my own version of an advent calendar. i saw it on pinterest last year and just put my retired elementary teacher/crafter skills to work. it's cute for now, and the kids love putting on a cotton ball each day. the only problem, they both think they need to do it. i have a few other ideas for the future, but this will work for the next few years. 

along with the advent calendar, i did a little thing with the twelve days of christmas this year. for each day, we had a christmas book that was wrapped and the kids took turns each day unwrapping a book and then we would read it. sometimes i read during snack time. sometimes at bedtime. sometimes we even forgot and then opened and read two the next day. this was fun, but maybe a bit advanced for their ages. as they get older, i'm sure the books will hold their attention better. i had many of the books from my teaching days, but some of them i checked out from our library. i just had to make sure they were opened sooner than later so i could return them on time. 

and my favorite tradition that we started in 2011, is the elf on the shelf. when i bought him, i wasn't sure how well i would do, but i really do love finding a new place for gus and using him to make fletcher behave a little better. it's also great to see the kids try and find him. brynlee really got into it and sometimes found him before fletcher even had a chance. i've had to be a bit careful with my placement of him, since baby girl likes to not listen and touch when she's told not to, which makes a little boy flip out because he gets it more than than she does. some of the ideas on pinterest are too fun not to do, but until i have two children who will 'play' along with the rules, those fun things won't be happening. 

a trip to CGO

Just a few short miles south of town, there is an orchard/pumpkin patch called Center Grove Orchard. This year, they had a season pass offer, which was 19.95 per person, 3yrs and older. I decided that since I'm not doing daycare anymore, that I needed to do more fun stuff with the kids and get out of the house more. This was a perfect opportunity for me to do just that, so I got a pass for Fletcher and myself.
Every time we go, the first thing we have to do when we arrive, head over to rope some cattle. Fletcher is all about cowboys and farms these days, so this is one of his favorite things to do. We come back to it at least three times while we are there.

They have tons of different activities in the farmyard. There are pigs, goats, chickens, horses and sheep to watch. The kids really love feeding the goats. Brynlee is such a fan. No fear at all.

They have the houses from the Three Little Pigs. Fletcher and Brynlee run from house to house pretending to get away from the Big Bad Wolf, a.k.a. ME.

The jumping pillow and corn pool are the two must-do things when we go. Some of the best smiles and laughs come from the adults as they jump or watch the faces of the littles they are with.

Adam and I have races on these tractors. More like timed laps, to see who can go faster around the track. The kids like to ride with us.

On the hayride heading to the pumpkin patch. After this ride, little boy always talks about 'going to the punkin patch.' it's usually brought up on a daily basis.

And no fall trip to the pumpkin patch would be complete without pumpkins. I just wanted the photos. I'm too cheap to pay for them there. I went the 3 for $11 route at Earl May.

Since our first trip to the patch, we've been at least five more times. The season passes really came in handy. I will definitely do the same again next year since we had so much fun on our little adventures. We still have a trip or two planned before they close for winter.

and the final easter post

when we returned home from our easter weekend away, the kids came in to yet another surprise. not only did the easter bunny come to pops and nana's house, but he stopped by our house too.

Every year, my sister has an egg dying party in her back garage. She and her husband invite their friends and the local family, order pizza, drink beer and chat. The eggs eventually get dyed and all the kids play, running from backyard to the garage numerous times. It's always a good time. 

 Codi and Jen

 Princess Camryn

 Me and the Fletch

so serious

Adam and Crash (check out her nose)

Chase

having fun

it's Brynlee's turn

oops!

maybe next year she'll make it without spilling

the finished product

a little unwinding before we call it a night

one last snack with Camryn before we leave

After we left my sister's, we headed to my parents' house to stay the night. A little bonding with grandma and grandpa was in order before the kids went to bed. We would be leaving the next morning to head to Albia where we would be celebrating Easter. 

egg dying extravaganza

in preparation for easter, the kids and i headed over to marshalltown for our annual egg dying extravaganza with angie and payton.  after the past two years of forgetting things, and not having all the supplies we needed, angie and i planned about two weeks in advance. she was getting the pizza and cookie dough and i was bringing the eggs, dye, and vinegar. we arrived and after the kids got into their easter baskets from one another we soon belly-up'd to the table for some papa murphy's pizza. 

as soon as we were done eating, i got the cups and dye tablets going. angie put out the newspaper, because one of the littles always makes a mess and we were on out way to dying eggs. fletcher was thrilled. payton had a mild meltdown before realizing she liked to dye eggs, and brynlee just took it all in...after dumping the orange dye all over herself. 

it was a good time. angie and i got to catch up. the kids ran and played hide-n-seek in the curtains, and relay's life was threatened a few times for licking my toes and breathing nasty dog breath in my face. i'm already looking forward to next year's egg dying extravaganza.