Sunshine and Superheros

Maddie lost another tooth the night before Valentine's Day. Wow, whatta mouth.

She made a necklace with the loom bands she got for V-day, and the kids could stretch it from the front wall of the house to the back!

Ella Bella has been reading up a storm! She has really taken off and loves to read.

Most afternoons that she doesn't have preschool she chooses to draw me pictures of Elsa in her ice castle. I am getting to have quite the collection.

Ty thinks it's pretty cool to have learning time with mom. We did D for dinosaur last week. He helped me cut the spikes and glue everything.

We've had a surge of dressing up around here, most likely thanks to teacher appreciation week, which was themed super heros. Maddie and Ella wanted to be Incredibles and Ty was happy to be Donald. He even wore it to run errands. 

We had friends over and everybody donned a costume. Ty loves to wear capes and even wore one to bed!

Speaking of capes, we broke out the new Angry Birds kids cape Grandpa gave us and gave Ty a haircut. The cape and a Netflix show were a winning combo for a happy haircut.

The weather has been amaaaaaazing this weekend and we soaked up lots and lots of rays! My kids and their buds from next door cracked me up with their slide trains and dog piles at the end. Gosh, that brings back good memories from my school days on the playground.

We had a picnic on the deck after church, and then the girls and I sprawled out and read on a blanket. There is nothing much better than feeling drowsy in the warm sun.

The kids have renewed their love of the game Fox and the Pie. We are looking forward to a fun year outside... although I'm sure spring is still just teasing. 

Jake at 10 months

All I can say is this boy is busy.

Ty is all boy, but he wasn't this BUSY! Jake wants what he wants and he is going to get it! He has figured out how to pull himself up on everything and explore the new level. He is still so very sweet, but I can already tell he's going to give me a run for my money.  So here are some new hangouts over the last few weeks...

Sister secret.

 

 Oopsie Daisy!

He was really proud of himself on this one. 

 

 Wood chips, mmmm!

Look at that little foot already trying to climb! Mike's mom always tells me Mike climbed everything (from the cupboards to the roof) and I think we may be headed that direction.

Jakee also got another tooth, one of his big front ones, so he is looking snaggly! I seriously can't believe he is growing up so fast.

My Little Sweeties

Valentine's Day was sweet at our house!

Maybe I should take this opportunity to share more widely a choice I have made. In my quest to fight disease and to have healthy futures for all of my family, we are cutting out sugar. This is kind of the 'icing on the cake' so to speak of transforming our diets to eat mostly organic, whole foods. I have been avoiding this step for a long time since I have a super strong sweet tooth, but I am learning that there are other ways to find sweetness in life!

It's okay if you think I'm the lame mom, but my girls took Valentines to school without a treat. Instead we found little ruler bookmarks they loved and found a printable that said "You Rule." They were excited about them, and they had good reviews from friends.

We still found fun ways to celebrate. We had strawberry 'milkshakes' for breakfast, and the kids each got a little gift with their kisses.

My favorite part of the day was opening the handmade Valentine's my girls have been working on for weeks! They were to thoughtful and imaginative.

Believe me, they still came home loaded up with bags of Valentine's and sugar, but I didn't want to add to that load at home. They requested their favorite tradition of heart pizza by candle light for dinner (which I loaded with kale and mushrooms under the cheese! :)

I like to say I eat sugar on my own terms. It has to be worth it. I tried a new recipe for dessert with sucanat, which comes from sugar cane but is unrefined. I know, it's still sugar but it made me feel a little better. :) The whipped cream was made from coconut milk and the raspberries made it so yummy!

Mike and I took the kids to our babysitting group, and came home for an Olympic date to watch Noelle Pikus-Pace win a silver! We are Olympic junkies around here.

Low-key as it was, I was still full to the brim with sweetness by the end of the day. I love my family!

Pajama Party

We have been spending exorbitant amounts of time in our pajamas. It is hard to say why... we are lazy? It's cold and our jammies are fuzzy and warm? We don't get out much? Ty and I have had some sickies this week, so that's my excuse. I love jammies on babies, and they are just more comfortable, so Jake lives in them. And as soon as the girls get home from school, they want their princess "footies" from Christmas.

Our days have been pretty quiet, but here are a few fun memories. I started working on letters with Ty as he is showing interest right now. First is T for TY and he announced, Y for Cougars!

Jake is a little monkey all the sudden! He learned how to pull himself up and now he can't stop!

It gets him into all sorts of weird places and positions... this baby is more of an explorer than I remember my others. 

Jake wouldn't look at the camera, but we all love snuggle time on the couch.

Ty is thrilled that his steering wheel in his red car is fixed! It was broken and even though it doesn't actually steer, it's hard to drive without a wheel to hold onto. This morning he said, "I'm so happy it's fixed!"

The girls ventured outside yesterday afternoon... in their pajamas. They played they were groundhogs with the neighbor kids. For some reason, I am not too sad this year that there are 6 more weeks of winter. We need the snow!

Jake spied the open door and bee lined it over. It is going to be interesting this spring to have a curious baby outside with me!

Although we are cooped up a little bit, sometimes I enjoy the messes the kids make as they entertain themselves.

Ella is obsessed with Frozen (what kid isn't right now?!?) and she likes the blue rooms so she can pretend she is in Elsa's castle. And then she built a block ice castle. 

Maddie has been experimenting with freezing bowls of water to make ice. Yesterday she said, "Mom, I made fractals!"

Most of the time I have a Frozen song stuck in my head. I guess it's our life theme right now. Which I why I am wearing my warm and fuzzy pajamas.