My Birthday:)

So Saturday was the big 35 for me. Yep, officially in my mid-thirties. It was a great birthday and we all had a nice day:) Michael spoiled me by getting the kids ready and downstairs while I SHOWERED. Yep, that's right, I showered in the morning. I was clean and my hair looked decent, not the typical stringy bedheady thrown in clips look that I usually sport. In the afternoon Skyler and I baked my birthday cake. He told me what to do, decorated some of it himself, and it came out interesting looking but sooooo yummy. Since then, my poor sweet boy has been so sick with a fever and nasty cough. I hope he will start coming out of it soon! Here are some pics from Saturday!

He was waiting for this part allllll morning. Licking the frosting off of the spoon!

My cake....it's a blurry pic cause Sadie was freaking out for some cake, but you get the idea.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Think she liked it?

Making sure there is nothing left on her fork....

Walking off our sugar highs! Love this pic...especially their shadow.

Family Fun

We had dinner, and then we had FUN!! I was cleaning up the kitchen when I heard all of the laughing and craziness outside. I abandoned the dishes and headed out with my camera...and this is what I found....the only thing missing is a soundtrack of the belly laughs:)

Off to war with her water gun!

SO HAPPY! Tackling his daddy...

I have missed seeing these pink cheeks that only come with warm weather!

The humans weren't the only ones having a blast....here is Madison waiting for her yellow ball to be kicked:)

She was banned from playing inside the box, so she played outside!

Aren't they BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Madison loves Skyler....

And Sadie.....

It's Friday!

This has been a crazy, busy, and very fast week. We are all exhausted! I can't even really remember what we have been doing, but it feels like we haven't stopped. What I can remember? Skyler has new shoes...I can't believe how BIG his feet are! His shoes are almost the same size as mine, well not quite, but it feels that way. He actually had a chance to pick a shoe he liked, and he went for the light up shoes. They make his feet very, very, happy. He had purim this week at school and it was full of fun, arts, and crafts. But on a personal note, every single time I walk into that school, I feel like I have been thrown back into high school...except worse because it's mostly all woman. The dads are either super friendly or mind their own business, which I love. It feels like a huge effort to try to socialize and then I wonder if I said the right things or what exactly I'm being judged on at that moment. Talk about making me insecure! I thought I left that whole deal behind years ago....But the important part is that Skyler loves school....That's what I keep telling myself!

Sadie had her 18 month appointment on Wednesday. She passed with flying colors, despite the fact that she still has NO TEETH! Yep, 18 months and only a corner of a tooth trying to pop through. Hopefully she will have a full set by the time she's in kindergarten;) She has a huge vocabulary and has started to string the words together into sentences, sings, and counts to 6.

It's 73 degrees today...YEY!!! It's a fluke but it makes us all happy:)

Here are some pics...once again, I have no time to play with them, but they still make me smile.

We finally cleaned out the sandbox, but haven't put any sand back in. She plays with the small pile that fell out during the cleaning...deprived child:)

Happy girl!

They love this ball...can you tell? It's in so many pics. Too bad we found it deflated in the middle of the yard yesterday.

Happy Boy:)

New shoes!

Oh, and this is Madison...just in case you didn't recognize her after her prior life as a sheepdog:)

Could it be Spring???

I feel it....I am almost positive....Spring is ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!! We are having more warmer days than cold ones. And now, with the time change leaving us with more light at the end of the day, it totally feels like spring. YEY! The only problem is the time change is affecting bed time a bit. Sadie can't seem to settle down. I'm watching her in the monitor stand, talk, sit, lay down, roll around, and repeating the whole deal. But they will adjust...eventually:)

We had a fun day today. We actually went out to eat for breakfast. Skyler was in shock! I have refused to go out to eat, declaring that it's more work than it's worth. And it is a lot of work, and I hardly get to actually taste the food I'm eating between taking care of the kids. But they LOVED it! Skyler was in heaven eating his pancakes. Sadie had fun smearing them all over her hair and face. She didn't love to eat them as much as her brother, but the experience itself was fun. But, it probably won't be repeated for a few weeks.... Then they played outside in the turned off fountain, we went to the bookstore, food shopping, and then home. A taste of what's to come with the warmer weather.

Here are some pics from an afternoon walk and some afternoon outside play time. The picture I wish I took was the one of Michael's face when he discovered a recent Madison poop in the yard. He looked funny, so I went to check it out. It was smooshed with a very distinct hand print. We looked at each other, then looked at Sadie sucking her thumb. Um, GROSS! We grabbed the kids super fast and washed their hands. But no need to be too grossed out...we discovered it was Madison who had stepped in her own poop. The kids were in the clear:) Anyway, I don't have the energy to lightroom them now and don't see any time in the future, SO, here they are in the raw...

Off for our walk!

Love her face here...she kept yelling "NO" to Michael when he went to hold her hand. Well, OK then Miss Independent:)

I'm always taking the pics, so here is one of Skyler and me:)

My family:)

Silly boy

A boy and his dog.

Good thing she is such a good dog, he often forgot he was in charge of her and would just drop her leash and keep walking:)

Discovering a bird's nest!

SPRING!!!!!! So excited to see these guys poking up from the ground.

I love everything about this picture.

Madison or a sheep dog...hard to tell.

I love him.

Catch up!

So, what's been happening?? I have to catch up...last week Michael went on a fairly last minute trip to Afghanistan for the weekend, yep, just a little trip:) He was the Dr. for some congress-people that were checking out what is happening over there. This time the trip was A LOT shorter and a bit more luxurious. I dare say he even enjoyed it. But there is still a form of stress and anxiety that goes hand-in-hand with the word 'Afghanistan', so I packed the kiddos up and we headed up to NJ for a long weekend. It actually was a great decision. The kids weren't dwelling on the fact that Michael wasn't around and we had a CHANGE IN SCENERY! Always good after being home for so long. Kind of refreshes everything when we head home. They love being at Nana and Papa's house. The only problem was that we have all been sick for about three weeks, and of course we germed up Nana and Papa...sorry bout that! Winter is definitely leaving us with a bang and we can't wait until sick season is OVER! Give us back our noses and energy:)

What's new? Skyler is coming into a stage where he is beginning to learn that not everything revolves around him. It's tough. I'm sure it will take time. I feel badly but tend to get a little annoyed when I can't carry on a conversation with anyone without his feeling the need to turn the attention back to HIM...oy...that's all I have to say:) But he is continuing to amaze us with the things he knows and wants to know. Today he found a coin and told me he wanted to weigh it. Than, Michael handed Skyler his tron figures and Skyler asked what he was supposed to do with these 'characters'. What?? I couldn't get second graders to figure out what a character was! It makes me feel confident that moving him to a montessori school is a good decision. And of course he continues to make me laugh every day...especially when he calls me 'dude' when I do something annoying....or when he makes a real joke that makes sense...or when I turn around and find him in a crazy position on the couch....or when he tells me to look at his triangle and he has managed to contort his body into, or the fact he keeps tilting his head and leaning in for a kiss on the lips because that's what he saw in a wedding picture at school...what??? I've tried explaining that he will do that with a girl friend when he is a teenager, not with his MOM! He is soooo patient with Sadie when she takes his toys or knocks down his building. He works so hard to 'trade' something to get his toy back...sometimes he has to go through ten toys until he finally interests Sadie enough to switch. I think most brothers would have just snatched it back. He is the first one to make her laugh and the first one to kiss her good night before bed. I LOVE HIM!!!!!

Sadie...sweet sweet Sadie...reminding me how amazing it is to watch my children grow. I wish I recorded so much more with Skyler. Sadie talks and talks and talks. Her vocabulary has exploded and sometimes she will ask me something and I'll think it's Skyler, but turn around to see her sweet little face looking at me. Yesterday, she walked over with paper and said, "mommy, in garbage." She is definitely going to want to do karate. She used to just sit in her stroller and watch. Well, now I take off her shoes and she walks around the edge of the mat watching her brother intently. She does the stretches with Mr. Daniel and throws in her 'Hiya's" and kicks, claps and yey's for Skyler when he does something.

Ok, enough! On to the pictures that I have gathered from the week....

Monday was bubble day! Never too old for bubbles....

She was pure happiness watching those bubbles...

BALL!

Holy bubble batman:)

She's growing up so quickly.