Happy New Year!

Sometimes having young kids changes how your New Year's Eve is spent, but it can be such a wonderful and special evening to spend together at home.  The girls and I were very happy to have Jeremy home with us tonight!  Happy New Year from our crazy girls!!  We are looking forward to a wonderful 2017 together as a family.

This is an actual, genuine Audrey belly laugh caught just at the right moment.  I love it!

Merry Christmas!

Our wishes of "Merry Christmas" are coming a little late this year.  Overnight on Christmas night, much of my side of the family was struck with a terrible stomach bug, including Audrey, Kate, and me.  Luckily, the wonderful husband/dad of our family kept everything going for those 18 hours I was sidelined.  We are cautiously optimistic it is moving past our family now, as we are officially sick-free for 16 hours now! :)

Up until that point, we had a wonderful Christmas Eve spent in Elkader and Christmas Day spent in Dyersville.  Thank you to family for their generosity with the girls, and I will post some pictures of the girls with their presents now that we are all off the couch and out of bed!

Merry Christmas!!

Gingerbread House

For her birthday, Audrey received a gingerbread kit from her great-aunt Kris.  It was such a perfect gift for the girls because they love anything crafty.  A couple of weeks ago we spent a Friday night creating our house, and we had a great time.  The only problem came when the directions said to wait ten minutes two different times for something to dry.  Kate would wander off and find something to do until the timer beeped, but Audrey spent her time moaning, groaning, and waiting for time to pass slowly.  The end of a school week is when Audrey's normally low patience level is at its lowest. :)  It was a fun project, though!  Thanks, Kris!

For some reason, Kate wasn't immediately smiling for pictures, but Audrey's initial enthusiasm for the project quickly caught on...

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Our dear, sweet Kate...how can you be three already?  It's hard to believe how quickly time passes.  Your sweet, calm, agreeable nature adds such a loving element to our family.  We love your smiles, your giggles, and your funny thoughts.  Over the past year, your vocabulary has expanded, which does help you to insert your ideas and thoughts into Audrey's games.  It makes it harder for Audrey to always be in charge, but we love seeing your imagination at play, too.  You grew to love coloring and, if possible, are even more in love with reading books than you were when you turned two.  Thank you for all the love you add to our family.  We love you, Kate P.!

Here are Kate's answers to her interview questions:

Favorite Food: Noodles
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn: Girls
Favorite Color: Orange
Best Friend: Aud
Favorite Game to Play: Pop the Pig
Favorite Books to Read: Little Blue Truck
Favorite TV Show: Paw Patrol
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
Things I Do Well: Playing Pop the Pig
Favorite Place to Go: Lefty’s
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play a game
Favorite Thing about House:  The rocks on the outside
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Riding in the sled
Favorite Chore: Read books
Least Favorite Chore:  Cutting
Favorite Song:  All About the Bass
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Someone who helps mothers
Place I Want to Visit:  Grandma’s
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Playing games
Favorite Drink:  Milk and Water
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Soccer
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  My Letters….Letters are good for you.
Best Part of Your Family:  Mom and Dad and Aud

Sometimes...

Sometimes it's hard to tell who is having more fun when it's time to play in the snow.  Is it the little kids in the sled, or the big kid who has finally been reunited with his 4-wheeler?

Yeah, Aud!

Today Audrey was honored in her classroom with an award for displaying positive character traits.  Each grade's teachers had to pick seven students from the entire grade who display one of our P.I.R.A.T.E.S. traits of good character.  Audrey was chosen in the first round of awards for displaying good teamwork with her peers.  Since her class is the morning session, they won't be there for our school-wide assembly tomorrow afternoon.  Instead, our principal and guidance counselor went into their room today to honor the three children chosen from her class.  I was out of the building for a conference today, but Jeremy popped in to surprise Audrey and take her picture.  We are so proud of how hard she is working at school!  We love you, Audrey!

SNOW!!

Both girls were very excited to wake up Sunday morning and see our grass was covered in SNOW!  Audrey was ready to go outside at 6:50 in the morning, but we held her off for a couple of hours.  It was the perfect first snow of the year---enough to cover things, perfectly packable, and the day had warm temperatures.  After last year's love-hate relationship with snow, Kate declared, "I love snow, Mama!"  Audrey was shocked (and saddened) to see so much gone by the end of today, but I assured her more would be on the way soon enough.  Here are a few dark pictures of their fun!

Please note Audrey is kissing her snowman in both pictures!