unlimited fun

at basketball yesterday,
ben's teammate and friend,
AND our old neighbors and soon to be new neighbors,
invited us to the mall of america -
they had a few promotional wristbands that needed to be used
and the thinking was that our kids would have fun using them together.

WELL...
that thinking was right on.



unfortunately,
MANY other people had similar thinking
and nickelodeon universe was even more of a zoo than it normally is on a weekend

BUT ...
it was cold and snowy out
we had nothing better to do
AND
they didn't seem to care that they were waiting in long lines ...
SO
we let them have their fun.

drew was SO pumped to have a partner for the rock bottom plunge



typically i will go on any roller coaster with him -
but i've been dragging my feet with this one
and kendrick saved me
while ben and isaac waited on the sidelines ...



and in my opinion got the better end of the deal.
starbucks vs. a 97 degree drop ?!
hmmmmm ... no question.

they all joined back up for the pepsi ripsaw
i'm sure this has a new name now but i have NO idea what that is
twice.
and then for the log chute as well

'lots' of rides meant lots of waiting
BUT
that gave us the perfect chance to get the little guys on a few rides

alex surprised me and wanted to go on the cars ALL BY HIMSELF



and then the flyboat/frog hopper as well!!

TOTALLY not normal
and THEN
to top that off ...
ben surprised me by going on a few rides he NEVER wants to go one
peer pressure can be a good thing ... maybe?!



they were both SO brave!!

ben even went on the splat-o-sphere
which is the tower in the middle of the park with a 60 foot drop!!!

i was shocked!!
made me think it's time for a disney trip
* wink wink *

i typically would NEVER go to the mall on a weekend
and i SURELY wouldn't go there on a weekend with the intention of putting the kids on rides
it stresses me out even thinking about it ;)
BUT
it ended up being a really fun day!

thanks again rachel, kendrick, and isaac!!

the rules at preschool

according to alex:



1. no kissing
2. no hugging
3. no smelling foots
4. no sniffing butts

SO glad he's learning the basic rules to a functioning classroom ...
kindergarten should be a breeze

february wonderland

for the past few days the meteorologists in the cities have been busy...
busy predictiong, estimating, and forecasting.

so yesterday we woke up to NO snow and i started to wonder what was up.
noon came ... we still had no snow.
3 o'clock came ... BARELY a dusting.
then FINALLY around 5ish it started to pick up.
AND
this morning we woke up to a wonderland ...
it was BEAUTIFUL!

the older two boys had been sleeping at friends houses
SO
that left 3 of us ...
and a good for nothing plow that got stuck in our circle ...
to do the work :)



ok ...
really stacey did most of the work ;)
and alex, chewy and i just played ...

but that's what we have a snowblower for ...
right? ;)

and how could i turn down this face when he had been missing his brothers like crazy?!

THANKFULLY ...
his playmates returned by the afternoon
and there was still PLENTY of time for some snow fun

it's been a while since we've had fluffy snow
WITHOUT freezing temperatures ...
so we took full advantage



i even joined them on the hill for a bit

although i lost most of the races ...
being the official pusher comes with SERIOUS disadvantages!!

considering today was already a day off from school
it worked out PERFECTLY!
i even kind of wish they could stay home and enjoy it tomorrow as well!
BUT ...
i'm sure by the time the bus comes tomorrow morning i will have changed my mind ;)
SO ...
after school will have to do!

HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY!
how many weeks until summer?!

chilly morning perfection

you know it's been a busy morning ...



and that alex played really hard ...

when this is my view at target ...

yes he is REALLY asleep

a perfect morning for both of us ...

;)

in the market

earlier this week alex informed me that he was looking for someone to marry
we were headed to the y
and he thought that seemed like a good place to start

BUT ...
as of this morning he told me he hasn't found anyone
so he has decided that maybe he just won't get married.



little alex
don't be discouraged.
i know the perfect girl is out there for you somewhere!
thankfully ...
you're only 4
and you have LOTS of time!

for now,
let's just stick to the little things ...
like getting your helmet on right ;)
and tomorrow ...
or the next day ...
or maybe 20 years from now ;)
THEN
we can talk about girls :)

one hundred of what ???

yesterday marked the 100th day of school

SO ...
naturally the classes celebrated with various 100 activities

in ben's class she had them fill out a sheet with all questions relating to 100 of different things.

one question:

what would you never want 100 of?

ben's first thought ...
which yes, he wrote down

ball sacs

after realizing that MAYBE that was just a LITTLE inappropriate ...
he erased it and changed his answer to

brothers

seriously, ben.
you only have 2 brothers and look at the trouble they get you into.
for more than one reason ...
i'm very glad you changed your answer.

family fun night

alex's preschool was having a family fun night tonight
SO ...
we figured it would be a fun way to spend the night
and a great way to tire the boys out ;)



SO ...
we started out in the craft room
where alex
who couldn't decide what room he really wanted to be in
because there was just so much fun in all of the rooms
made a WAY cool visor ...
;)



i am pretty sure from there all 3 boys would've stayed and played foos ball in the hallway all night
BUT ...
we got them moving and made our way around the preschool before
FINALLY finding the spot we stayed for the rest of the night ...

THE DANCE ROOM!!

they had a DJ and we danced to a TON of different songs
i love rock n roll ...
cotton eyed joe ...
the bunny hop ...
the chicken dance sung in italian ...
not even kidding ;)
and the always a favorite
YMCA ...

i spent most of the time dancing with the boys

but there might have been just one song ...
the macarena ...

where the moms, older sisters, and teachers JUST MIGHT have gotten a little more into it than the little guys ;)
but ...
drew TOTALLY had it down
and absolutely ROCKED it!
and ...
thankfully all of the little kids still had fun trying!

the dancing completely wore them out
and thankfully the 4 icee pops that they EACH had didn't take effect before they hit their beds

mission accomplished.

happy valentines day

from our house



to yours

faith of a preschooler

today was preschool sunday at the church where alex goes to preschool

the preschool kids were performing during the service



so we got to all go as a family and watch them do their thing



as with any preschool program ...
SO cute
SO random
and
thankfully alex only ALMOST fell off the back of the risers one time ;)

HOWEVER ...
the rest of the service was quite interesting.
now ...
i LOVE his preschool.
i love the teachers, i love the director,
i even go to MOPS there.
but we had never been to a sunday service there

it is a lutheran church,
and more contemporary than others i have been to
BUT ...
still very different from what we are used to.
the part i enjoyed was the few hymns that we sang ...
there is something about old familiar hymns that i love
the rest of it ...
well ...
it was a LOOOOOOONG service
and a LOOOOOOOONG sermon ;)
and ...
i have a new appreciation for good kids ministry ...

you see ...
our kids have never sat with us in church
and today ... they did ;)
and ...
not that they were loud or rude ...
but ...
i can honestly not remember anything that was said
and
was very relieved when it ended and we didn't have any body noises come from our row ;)

it makes me appreciate the fact that typically while i am learning
and being challenged on things that are relevant to my life
so are my kids.
they're worshipping and learning at their level.
and although it is good for them to see other churches
and to have these experiences
because it leads to great discussion ...
i am SO thankful for the church we have to return to ;)
AND
also thankful that preschool sunday is a once a year event ;)

: : :

earlier in the week the preschoolers were asked things they know about God
and based on that they created a Preschooler's Affirmation of Faith
as i listened to it i was reminded of what it means to have the faith of a child
and wanted to share it -

I believe in God ...
God gives us our food.
He made all people.
He gets us older.
God gave me my mom and dad.
He gave us our oven back.
He even gives us toys.
He made all the legos.
He lets it snow.
He made me.
He made boys and girls.
He gave us all the kids.
He made the sun, plants, my pets, the ocean, our hands, and our playground.
I love you God.

I like Jesus.
Jesus teaches us things.
He loves all children.
He takes away our sins.
He died and rose again.
Jesus comes alive.
He wants us to be His friends.
He is my best friend forever.
I love you Jesus!

If I was going to see Jesus ... I would run to Him.
If people told me to stay away, I wouldn't care.
I would want to see Jesus.

God does powerful things.
Jesus makes people feel better.
God finds you when you are dead.
When I die I'm going up to heaven.
God makes people come to life.

He gives us our teachers.
He watches over us.
He saves us from fire.
(one of the families in the preschool lost their home to fire this fall ...
their little girl said that one)

God spends time with me.
I like to pray to Him.
He is with me when I go to bed.
God takes care of us.

God loves everybody even mean people.
God wants us to be kind.
God gave us the world.

I love Him.

the big league

last night ben's basketball team got to be part of the SLP high school game

they started out the varsity game
by offering some help from the little guys ...

and then were given the chance
to get their own game going during halftime

you could tell they all loved playing on 'the big court'

but the 10 foot hoops ...
not so much ;)

know when to hold 'em

at last night's basketball practice i got a glimpse into my future ...
or rather ben's future ...
and it made me JUST a bit nervous ;)

the kid has NO inhibitions.

they were playing around the world.
for those of you unfamiliar with this basketball game -
quick rundown -
around the hoop there are 5 different spots to shoot from.
if you make the shot you move on to the next 'station'
if you miss the shot,
you can stay until your next turn OR you have the opportunity to 'chance it' -
BUT if you miss your chance shot you go all the way back to the beginning.
the goal is to make it all the way around the world and back -
so a total of 10 shots.

so ...
the kids took turns making and missing their shots.
for the first few times ben bounced back and forth between spots 1, 2 and 3
on the times that he didn't make it,
he always chanced it and ended up back at spot #1.
THEN ...
he had a break through and made the first 2,
he missed the 3rd - chanced it - made it
made the 4th
missed the 5th - chanced it - made it
this started his trip back
he made the 6th and 7th shots
and was on shot #8.
first place.
noone within 2 spots of him.
he shot.
missed it.
and immediately laughed and said
'chancing it'.

he never even took a second to think
'maybe i should stay'

he just took his chance shot.
missed it.
and went back to spot #1 ...
laughing the entire way.

ben ...
i am SO glad that you aren't overly competitive ...
and that you let things roll off your shoulders
i LOVE your fun personality ...
and
i LOVE that you don't let other people make decisions for you ...

BUT ...
seriously???
chancing it when you're in first place with only 2 shots between you and the win?!?!
if i never send you to the casino with my money ...
you'll know why;)

baking day, it's baking day

today was baking day in alex's class ...

SO
i got to go in



and spend most of the day with them!



part of the morning was spent making pigs in a blanket



appetizing, right ;)

and the rest of the morning i just got to observe what a typical morning is like.

to set the tone ...
i'll say just imagine 11 boys and 4 girls
(and then remember that 2 boys and 1 girl were absent)

we started with announcing the star of the day ...

the star of the day was the little boy who
has brown hair
has brown eyes
had gray, red, and white sketchers,
and had a gray shirt on ;)



the star of the day was ...
ALEX!

he was pretty excited that he got to be the star
AND
have me there with him!



we also did the alphabet macarena ...

danced the jerk, the twist, and the pony ...

made 3 little pig masks ...

practiced for this sunday's church performance ...

and
MOST IMPORTANTLY
got to enjoy our pigs in a blanket ...



or at least they enjoyed their pigs in a blanket -
i decided i didn't want to spoil my lunch ;)

i am so thankful for having this preschool!
to see how much alex is learning,
to see how much fun he is having,
and to see how they are teaching him about Jesus through it all
is SO fun!

as always,
i loved being a part of it ...
and wish i could be a fly on the wall more often ;)

tonight's gonna be a good night

tonight was an AMAZINGLY fun night!

with the packers in the superbowl
we wanted to have a little fun

we invited some friends ...



made some treats ...
ok LOTS of treats

and even came up with some contests ...
with REALLY high stakes ;)



in sticking with the green and gold theme
we even toasted with some lucky key lime pie martinis
seriously one of the best drinks EVER

my favorite commercial had to be the volkswagen darth vader commercial ...

i thought lea michele did an amazing job at kicking everything off ...

i feel just a little bad for christina
and hope that in reality she does know the words to the national anthem ;)

i LOVED the black eyed peas!!!
ok ... LOVED LOVED LOVED the black eyed peas!!!

i don't care how they sounded ...
they put on an amazing show ...
they are GREAT performers ...
and we ALL love them!

and by the end of the night ...
we were even able to brainwash a few vikings fans ...

ok ...
so maybe we set a few ground rules before the game started
and told them there would be no talk of the vikings ...

but ...
they followed directions well
AND
were GREAT sports about it all!

and just in case she doesn't remember being so compliant ...
i made sure we got LOTS of proof ;)

the boys were SO excited that the packers won ...



and they weren't alone ...



NICE WIN, PACKERS!!!

you made us a little nervous ..
BUT ...
you pulled it off
and gave us a REALLY fun night!

WaY tO gO!!