We have been blasted with snow storm. We had a snow day from school and we did all things snow. I am happy to report that the oldest 2 can now get into all their snow gear by themselves! YAY!
I decided the snow was SO PRETTY we needed to get a winter mini session done. Too bad Joey was work though. He absolutely did not mind missing pictures. :)
Poor Eli looks like I am freezing him to death.
We also managed to do all the other normal things you do with fresh snow like snow man building, sledding, snow fort and snow table building and sledding. Winter is here and so far we have enjoyed it!
New years eve we did not do much We crafted and had family game night and rang in the new year around 9pm by playing a youtube video repeat of 2016. The kids don't get it and we all got to go to bed a reasonable time.
I have decided that the amount of pop I drink is ridiculous so I am stopping drinking it. I sorta started over Christmas, but had some pop still at home and work. Once those were gone I was not buying any more. So far it's been good. I haven't had a pop in weeks and there have been very few times I actually want it. A big help to this is finding crystal light that has caffeine in it. I knew there would be times I would want some caffeine for an afternoon lull and this will do the trick. I don't have one everyday so my apparent "need" for caffeine is not there. I am hoping I sleep better, lose my sugar cravings, maybe lose a little weight. So far nothing. Not sure I feel "better" either. I feel the same. Maybe I will just go back to drinking it.....
A new year does mean a new deductible and with Ellas upcoming surgery we are going to be maxing ours out. Joey had this cyst growing out of his neck and really started to bother him. It was infected and sore. Of course I messed around with it poking it with a needle and then even a razor blade when we had no success with the needle. This was very HARD and actually pretty big under the skin. I eventually made Joey an appointment and he ended up with a decent sized incision on his neck.
Also, I wanted to finish a couple of the minor projects I wanted done around the house. I finally got the pantry painted. It was so bad to start with and I thought about a pop of color since my kitchen paint is so neutral. The finished is nice and we also have a new stainless steal trash can too.
More Christmas chaos as we had Eli's christmas program at school. It was a bit like herding cats, but they are 3 and actually, Eli didn't do to bad. Not sure he sang a ton, but he was so happy when he saw us there to watch him. His face just LIT up when he finally found us in the crowd.
John Deere had their annual christmas party that includes seeing Santa. What a great picture! They all finally love Santa!
They also have treats and crafts for the kiddos. Eli got to hang out with his best friend Will! The girls were just interested in their snacks and treats. All in all it's good time!
For Christmas, we traveled to Ohio to celebrate wtih family and play with cousin Lexie. We hadn't seen her in a year. She had fun with her cousins and I'm not sure she grew much ;) and Eli is taller than her!
I also got see one of best friends and meet her new family. She just adopted a little boy and is hopefully adopting his sister in February. We went to the Toledo Museum of Art that had an awesome kid center so the kids could ART and we could visit. Followed in up with lunch and then nap time and home. So glad I got to see them!
We went to Christmas Eve mass and that is when Josie started feeling sick. We did have sickness in our travels which wasn't fun, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. Eli had croup- barky cough, temp but that lasted about 2 days and Josie had some high fevers and she was down and out on the couch but nothing really else for symptoms. Hers hung on a bit, about 5 days. I was worried the drive back to Iowa would be rough but she did great.
Santa didn't arrive in Ohio for us so we assumed he had left presents for when we returned. Sure enough, he did!!! The kids were ready but we had talked first that if he arrived we had to wait to open presents until after the car was unloaded. We had TONS of help unloading this time! I don't know how that santa did it!
And the aftermath! After a 10 hour drive and opening presents and Josie still not feeling great everyone went to bed pretty early. I was surprised and figured it would be a late night but it wasn't. It worked out great and then when everyone woke up in the morning we had all day to play with our new toys! I hope every one had a merry and blessed christmas like we did!
They are 7! I just don't understand how that can be. It seems like yesterday....as I say every year.
At 7, Josie does swimming, loves friends and is more my social butterfly. She loves makeup, hair and all things girly. She is still mama bear and the leader but oh so kind and tender hearted. Her favorite subject in school is math. I get all good reports from her teacher. She is just about into size 7 clothes, wears a size 1 shoe and weighs about 53lbs. Her last cuspid tooth she lost still hasn't come in yet and that is how people tell them apart. Especially thier swim coach who only sees their heads out of the water both wearing goggles and swim caps. Josie is very insquisitive and asks tons of questions. Sometimes that isn't a good thing, like when she asked me if St. Nick is just me putting stuff in their shoes.
Ella at 7 is still smaller than Josie. She is not as social, but I wouldn't say shy. She seems to make friends with more of the quiet students in her class. She doesn't care about maekup and hair, but does like to read, make notes and cards for people and crafting. Her favorite subject in school is "math, science, art, reading, but not typing" So she loves them all! She is 44lbs (stop growing for just a tiny bit until after surgery), wears size 6 in clothes and shoe size in a 12. Ella seems to cry more lately about when she doesn't get her way or when mom teases her or when she's mad. Mostly I think she's just tired. She is in swimming and she does not want to do basketball. I think she wants to stay home eat snacks and play with the neighbors.
For thier birthday, we didn't do much as we normally don't. They took cupcakes to school and they both decided they wanted to see Frozen 2 the movie in the theatre instead of going out to eat for dinner this year. So all 5 of us went to the movie. It was ok, the girls liked it and I'm positive Joey loved it!! They did get a few gifts from god mothers, and uncles that they opened but their cake and presents from us will be in June like we normally do.
Here is a little lunchbox note I stuck in their lunch bags. One got HAPPY and the other got BIRTHDAY! :)
At Ella's last appointment in November, her doctor said to stop the braces with her and I said we would we wean her off to be ulitimately done by her birthday. So here she is going to bed with out her braces on!!! This girl was soo happy! It was a big day for her and she'd been couting down knowing she wouldn't wear them on her birthday.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!!! We love you very much and hope you continue to make us proud!!!
