Frosty

On Saturday Jack and I made a little friend for our front yard. It was Jack's first snowman and he thought it was SO FUN putting the face on him: blueberry eyes, a raisin smile, and, of course, a carrot nose.

Christmas Night

Christmas Night we had the Netherland/Swihart side of the family (Nancy's side) at our house! I was in charge of making Potato Soup. Devin was in charge of Adult Beverages.

 Josie and Grandma

 Jack and his second cousins: Elliot and Eliza. They had a blast running around the house!

 We attempted to get a picture of all of the kids - but that was wishful thinking.

 Josie was pretty excited about her new dump truck!

And Grandpa Denny was pretty excited about Jack's new Super Hero costumes!

Ryan and Kim got some new gangsta sweatshirts!

Baby Grant made his debut! He is Elliot and Eliza's new baby brother. New cousin Margaret was here - but slept the night away in the guest room. Christmas will be pure craziness as the years go on and the babies get older!

It was fun having everyone here to celebrate in our house! One of the many benefits of living by our families...

Jingle Bells - Jack Style

Never a dull moment with this kid. Here is his rendition of Jingle Bells - at the top of his lungs, during dinner. {Don't mind the towel in the corner - we have snow and a dog that loves to be outside in it}

Christmas Morning

Santa didn't disappoint this year (well, maybe he disappointed Josie…). He made a stop at our house and delivered plenty of boy toys! Plenty.

He did throw in a big box of diapers for Josie (because he must know how much I spend on them) and he left a special message for Jack. Jack didn't find it funny.

 This is the picture I caught of Jack coming down the stairs. Classic. Doesn't he look absolutely thrilled that it's Christmas morning? The funny thing is - he wakes up SO DANG early every.single.day. But on Christmas Day (when Tyson and I were both up and expecting him to be up) he slept in until 8am.

Like a typical one year old, Josie was excited to play with some boxes and wrapping paper. She also found Tucker pretty irresistible.

Santa fed into Jack's current obsession - Power Rangers.

Jack also found a BIG ol' "monster truck" - as he calls it - waiting for him in the basement. Tucker almost got run over and Josie may have had whiplash, but Jack is a pretty decent driver. He will love it this summer when he can drive his "monster truck" around the cul-de-sac with the neighbor boys.

Christmas Eve

I'm back. After four days of feeling pretty awful - I finally feel like myself again. And it's nice. Maybe I can enjoy the rest of my break.

We spent Christmas Eve in Warsaw with my family. My mom made a delicious meal and we all stuffed ourselves. Then it was time to open presents. Jack was pretty sure they were all for him… A lot of them were.

 Arrrrgh. Jack got a pirate outfit and pirate boots.

 Josie's favorite part was the whipped cream and pumpkin pie.

 Matching IU sweatshirts for everyone! Go HOOSIERS!

 When we got home we put on our Christmas PJ's and got ready for Santa to come.

Jack put out some homemade chocolate chip cookies for the Big Man and some carrots for his reindeer.

…but then he snuck a few carrots for himself.

Down for the count...

The flu hit me Saturday and I've been down for the count. Holy moly. After 12 hours of throwing up...and missing the Becker Family Christmas...I'm starting to feel a little better. Hope no one else gets this! It's pretty horrible!

Welcome, Baby Louise!

We are SO excited to welcome Molly's new baby sister, Louise! She arrived TODAY (one day before her due date!) at 1:13pm! She's 7lb 5oz of pure perfection and we can't wait to meet her! Enjoy your first blizzard, Louise! Congrats, Mikkel, Brooke, & Molly!!!

Sidenote & Random Fact: Louise was delivered by Dr. Paula Fishbaugh (aka: my favorite doctor ever). Which makes the Becker/Jakobsen baby count: 4/4 for deliveries with Dr. Fishbaugh.

Jack's Purse

 Jack decided that Josie's new purse was a pretty convenient way to carry around his toys. He's not going to like this picture in about 10 years...

And while I was taking pictures of Jack - Josie snatched my phone. She was trying to text her Aunt Gina...I think it said, "Hey, can you get my brother a purse for Christmas? He's been stealing mine. #annoying" I have no idea how she learned to text...let alone use a hashtag.

Pinterest-ing

Our kitchen was in some serious need of decor. It's been on my To-Do List for a while now...but then life & work always seem to get in the way of me doing anything about it.

This weekend, however, I put my shopping/wrapping/work on the back burner for an hour and made some art! I got the idea from a pin my friend, Brooke, pinned and decided it was the perfect addition to our kitchen. Not only is it meaningful to us, but it's also symbolic of how far Tyson & I have been together. Not to mention - a fun conversation piece.

It's all of the places we've lived - mostly TOGETHER... obviously when we studied abroad we didn't live together, but those times (in London & Perugia) were meaningful and helped shape our future as a couple. Aside from our Study Abroad Homes we also have Antigua, Guatemala; Cleveland, Bloomington, Royal Oak, and Fort Wayne represented.

It was fun & easy...and pretty cheap! Hoping I get more time for creativity during my break!

Jack and Josephine

I don't want to say too much about the tragedy that occurred on Friday. I will say that it has changed my outlook on education, changed my perspective on parenting, and made me realize the blessings I have both at home & at school. I love my own children TO DEATH. Like any other parent I know - I would give my life for my kids without hesitation. But I also love my students TO DEATH...and like the teachers on Friday and the people I am lucky enough to teach with - I would give my life for my students, too. It is our job to teach them, but it is also our job to protect them. I pray we never face another event so devastating. I will go school today with a heavy heart and remind my students that school is a safe place...because it is.

I will never forget what happened on Friday. Ever. I will never forget the sweet faces of those 20 kids. Two of them with the same names as my own children: Jack & Josephine. God bless all of them and their grieving families.

Clevenger Christmas

We had a fun (and exhausting) day in Plymouth today for Clevenger Family Christmas. My grandparents do an amazing job hosting all of us...even with the chaos of 5 little people running/crawling through their house! Josie is cutting some new teeth and is, therefore, miserable. She was grumpy all day - which isn't like her.

Jack on the other hand was in his element. He and Elliott were a match made in toddler heaven. They had a blast together! Of course, Ada and Owen were great babysitters role models!

Believe it or not, the kids had a very special visitor! Santa came by to check in on them and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. Jack surprised us all with his response: "A Turtle." Interesting. Santa said that was "a new one for the year."

Which reminds me  of this little gem:

Good Morning!

 Jack & Josie only have 4 more days of "school" before Christmas Break. Their mommy has 6...not that I'm counting or anything...

Jack & Josie Do Christmas

One of our family pictures taken this weekend…

As you can imagine - pictures are SUPER easy with a one year old 

and an almost three year old.

Super easy.

Josie's New Words

Josie is changing SO much! Lately she has been telling us so much! On Friday night before I put her to bed we had a nice little chat...

Family Picture Day

We had our family pictures taken today. I saw a sneak peak and we got some cute ones…despite the uncooperative 3 year old we had to deal with. Josie was super cooperative. She even tilted her head while smiling. After pictures we ventured to Fort Wayne's famous Coney Island. Jack and I looked at the Big Santa. He was impressed.

Picture taking wore Josie out. It's tiring smiling and looking cute for every shot.

Weekends Rock

We are rocking it this weekend…with some family movie night action, family pictures, and IU basketball!

We are also sending "labor vibes" (those are real) to Brooke in Michigan because Baby Jakobsen needs to make her debut ASAP, so I can meet her over my Christmas break… Hurry up, baby girl!!!

Ho ho ho

Jack and Josie's picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus. No tears, just matching scratches on their noses.

Sorry - I'm not sure why it was only showing Jos…Jack was there too!

Santa's Reindeer

Jack got to meet Rudolph's girlfriend, Jingle Belle! She had Christmas ornaments on her antlers. Josie was intrigued (but not pictured).

Jose did cooperate for a picture by the Christmas tree…while her brother wander off. Typical.

Happy birthday to Uncle Joe! We get to eat dinner with him tonight to celebrate!

Mommy's School

Sometimes when I drop Jack off at daycare he asks me where I'm going and I always tell him that I'm going to "Mommy's school." It's not an easy thing for him to understand and he always wants to come to "mommy's school" instead of his school.

Saturday my school had a Santa breakfast, so Jack and Josie got to come! They posed for a picture with Santa, ate some pancakes, met some of my awesome kiddos, and then burnt off some energy on the playground.

I'm excited to see how the Santa picture turns out! Neither of them cried for it, so there's hope!

Polka Dot Party

I didn't really do a theme for Josie's birthday party…other than polka dots & bright colors! She invited her family and her invites went out Tuesday. Oops. Fortunately (almost) everyone could make it and for that - Josie was HAPPY!

 So much LOVE for our sweet Josephine! Uncle Devin & Aunt Kristin joined us for singing via iPhone from Idaho…and Uncle Jon called in during presents from Chicago. Josie is one lucky little girl!

 Jack was definitely interested in helping out with the cake. And opening the presents….even if they were "girlie." Somehow he managed to snag a few gifts of his own…for being such a good BIG brother for a whole year!

Our little family…with two kids on a sugar high.