Omaha Trip!

Last weekend we spent the weekend with friends from church in Omaha. We stayed all together in a huge cabin. It was so fun to let the kids play together, cook together and laugh together. We split up meals, brought games and had a blast! Dan and I took Friday off to go to the zoo. It seemed like the only nice day of the weekend and it was! Courtney and Ryan had a great day and both were champs! 

This was Ryan's first time walking in big boy shoes! 

8 kids eating breakfast in their jambes. Adorable. 

 On Saturday, we went to Lincoln (only half hour away) to their children's museum. It was awesome!

And then this is how we ended our weekend. On Sunday morning it started to snow. I didn't realize we were in for a blizzard. We were trying to time our departure so Ryan would be able to take his afternoon nap in the car. We had to leave earlier than expected and ended up driving into the blizzard. We spent a long time in Omaha, but ended up having Ryan take a longer nap than ever and made a safe trip home! 

We had SO much fun and at two years in a row, I think we have a fun tradition started! 

Courtney is so funny!

Yesterday courtney watched Snow White. When she was done she cme up from the basement and had this conversation: courtney: "mom! After the movie they were talking about Disney parks And how when you go there all your dreams come true!"
Me: fun! I'm so excited to Go there with you!
C: No! They said all your dreams will come true and I had this one bad dream about a monster in my room!
Me: Only your good dreams will come true sweet girl!

Every night we play school. Tonight we were going over some sight words and as I was helping her on one I said "it doesn't follow the rules". She said "it will have to go in time out! Hahaha"

Snow day again!

Another snow day! After a busy weekend last weekend and not having Presidents' Day off while my kids were at home I am so happy to be snowed in with them for four days! Ryan went sledding f for the first time today! I know he will cherish that memory forever. Or he doesn't even k ow we went. Whatever. It's still fun to see him and Courtney do things together!

Playing sweetly this morning. 

I'm sure Ryan was thrilled under that big puffy coat!

Courtney and daddy!

Ryan literally couldn't move in this outfit. It was hilarious!

She requested hot chocolate as soon as she came in.

Nail painting! We chose spring pink instead of the winter red we've been using!

Dan found Courtney making special forts for the princesses to play in this morning! 

Snow Day!

We had our second snow day today! Yay! Yeah, yeah, yeah, as a teacher I get summers off blah, blah, blah. It is still super exciting to know I am getting a snow day! Dan and I always treat it special. Knowing it was going to be a big storm, we stocked up and were prepared! We had a fun day with the kids and did a bunch of "extra" fun things (mainly so Courtney wouldn't go insane). We got around 10 inches of snow (with more in the forecast!) The best part of the day was our Hicks family Harlem Shake video - snow day style!

My boot came off! 

Courtney wanted to immediately go outside! She ended up going out three times before noon! It was COLD so none of her trips outside lasted long. She has some fascination with wanting to eat snow...

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A picnic lunch!

I set out a bowl in the morning to fill up with snow. That didn't take long! This kept BOTH kids busy for about a half hour! We will be doing this again! 

Lots of play time!

And of course there were snacks! First up - puppy chow. Courtney was excited!

Making snow ice cream! My friend Debbie from church posted her recipe on Facebook and we've used it for a few years. She suggests setting a bowl outside to fill up so you know you are getting fresh clean snow.
1 gallon of fresh snow
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla (I add a little more)
Mix and eat immediately!

YUM!

Valentines Day

This was Ryan's first Valentines day and Courtney's first class party! She was able to decorate her box at school (which a lite hard for this crafty mom) but I knew she would love it! We both ended up with a TON of treats.

Dan surprised me at school with flowers and read a sweet poem he wrote! Wow!

Eleven Months

One. More. Month. Whoa! I can't believe Ryan will be ONE in a month. If you know me, party planig has been in full swing for months. He is still so babyish and tiny but also reaching so many milestones at the same time. He got his second tooth this month and STARTED WALKING! It has so adorable to watch him walk around. We have had to do extra baby proofing. Ryan is super strong and we can't seem to keep a gate in one spot for long. He loves to eat, but seems to be a funny eater. I am also certain he is finnicky about textures. He loves all baby food veggies but won't even pick them up in their finger-food form. We have to put limited food on his tray at a time (or it all gets scooped up and ends up in his little lap). When his tray is empty I hear "mama mama mama" until I bring more! So sweet. Here's my big boy! 

I have two toofies now!  

Cheerios are the ONLY reason these monthly photo shoots happen!