Playdough

 Jack got new play dough for his birthday - a perfect gift for the FREEZING cold temps we've had lately!

 Jack made a snowman and Josie kept busy putting all the play dough away.

Sometimes it's more fun to sit ON the table. (Under adult supervision, of course)

Josie's Favorite Room

You probably won't be too surprised to learn that Josie's favorite "room" in the house is the pantry. Here are a sequence of pictures to prove it:

Josie goes to her favorite room and tries to open the door...

 It's shut and she can't reach the handle. "Hello? Can someone help me, please?"

No one is helping. So she cries - big crocodile tears.

Eventually, I feel bad and open the door. She goes in and looks for her favorite snack.

She comes out HAPPY. And that's proof - Josie loves the pantry more than any other room in the house.

4 Adults, 4 kids, 3 dogs - One night at the Lake

We spent 22 hours at the Lake with the Jakobsens this weekend! It was SO awesome to see them, meet Baby Louise, and catch up! Jack and Molly picked up right where they left off and got along great…just the normal 3 year old stuff.

 It was relaxing…well, as relaxing as it could be with 4 children under 4…and three large dogs.

The lake was completely frozen. Jack and Molly had a blast running on it, crawling on it, and making snow angels! I think Molly even snuck a few bites of snow...

By 9pm all of the children were asleep - and the adults had a chance to have some fun! Adult beverages and a card game kept us up WAY past our normal bedtime. (the porch was freezing…if you can't tell by our blankets) It was NOT, however, sunny - but Tyson was celebrating the fact that Brooke found his long-lost sunglasses.

We learned (again) that we shouldn't have stayed up so late. The kids didn't have "SLEEP IN" on their agenda for today. Rough.

Lots of rides in the tractor!

And finally, an updated group picture! Last time we took this - Louise was in Brooke's belly. I'm pretty sure she thinks we're all too loud…and a tad crazy. She's right.

Always SO great to see our MI buddies! Jack is already asking, "When can I see Molly, Mom?"

Man of the Year

Right after my parents went back to Florida (after Christmas) we received an email letting us know that my Dad had been named "Man of the Year" for Kosciusko County. It's a great recognition for all of the time he has dedicated back to the community! Luckily, Dad was already coming back to Warsaw for work - so mom and I concocted a "white lie" to tell him so Mom could come home, too. We told him she was coming to a program for Jack & Josie at their school. Kind of a stretch, but it worked.

Last night we drove to Warsaw to see Dad win the award. He was pretty surprised and it was fun to be there with him!

A fellow Hanover College Alum was in attendance…you may have heard of him - Governor Mike Pence. I really wanted to pull him aside and say, "Hey, Mike - let's talk education…got a minute??" But I'm pretty sure he didn't… He was in and out pretty quickly.

And because I know the real reason you're here - a picture of Jack & Josie. Jack needs a haircut. Never good when you can rock a (TALL) mohawk in the bathtub.

Congrats, again, to my Dad! We are all so proud of you and - although you may not believe it - we know it is VERY much deserved!

Driver's ED

Temperatures on Saturday were in the 40's - and with FREEZING temps looming, we decided to let Jack take his new truck for a spin. It's nice to be on a quiet cul-de-sac for times like this...

Now I know how my parents felt when I was learning to drive. 

I was yelling things like:

• LOOK where you're going!!!
• BOTH hands on the wheel!!!
• You almost hit that (fill in the blank: tree, rock, mailbox, car)
• DO NOT run over your sister. Go THAT way (pointing in opposite direction).
• Reverse. REVERSE! REVERSE!!

Thank God we have 13 years before we have to deal with him behind the wheel of a real Ford F-150. Although, judging by the way he drives - we may need to buy him a tank.

My Secret: TpT

So I have had a Teachers Pay Teachers store since this summer. I figured if I was making things for my own classroom - I'd add it to the site and see what happens.

I sell things here and there…and it's fun. But I was pretty excited this morning when I woke up and saw that one of my products is featured as a FREE DOWNLOAD this week! Made my day. If you are a teacher - check it out! It's a fun "side job" - that I can do easily, since it goes along with what I do everyday - TEACH!

Josie's On the Move

Look out, World. Josie has decided that she's had enough crawling and she's on to bigger & better things - like walking. She's been "practicing" for a while now…but I believe she is finally official. Jack is still SO impressed and always yells, "Yook, Mom, Josie walking!" And then, in typical male fashion - he says, "But I can RUN!" Show off.

Birthday number 31

Ignore my messy desk. Fountas & Pinnell (reading assessment) exploded on it...

Yesterday was my 31st birthday.  Ten years ago - I was having a blast, drinking - legally - for the first time. Actually, to be more specific - I was at DePauw, during Winter Term (aka: no one on campus), at a hole-in-the-wall bar, getting a lap dance from two townies. It was gross. Luckily, my pseudo-boyfriend Tyson was there to rescue me. There were Strawberry Shortcake Shots and eventually some traditional 21st birthday puking. Stellar.

Fast forward TEN whole years and I spent my birthday teaching 5/6 year olds. Let me tell you - if you think birthdays "are just another day" - you need to celebrate with 22 Kindergarteners. They sang to me, gave me hugs ALL day, told me I'm "the bestest teacher EVER," and were well-behaved ALL day. It was awesome! One of my kiddos - who came to me in October and knew 9 letters - read me a (level B) book and I cried (joyful tears).

I cried again when the secretary called to tell me I had flowers waiting for me in the office. It seems my husband thought he should remind me that "birthdays are special." And the card attached was SUPER sweet. (Bonus Points to Tyson)

It was a great day. A day to be thankful for the things I have: a loving husband, healthy children, supportive family, amazing friends, stinky dogs, a job I'm passionate about, a limitless future...and being completely at peace with the fact that I will never again get a lap dance from two townies in a hole-in-the-wall bar, while taking Strawberry Shortcake Shots.

New Perspective...

Spider-Man Jack and his new perspective on reading…(Tyson and I have read this book NO LESS than 100 times…each).

24hr in Bloomington

 Tyson and I spent 24 hours in our favorite town - Bloomington, IN. We made it down for the Minnesota vs. IU game at noon and had a chance to watch it with Tyson's Aunt Linda & Uncle Bill. The first half was AMAZING - the second half, not so much. BUT - IU won and a "W" is a "W" - no matter how ugly. After the game we ate lunch with our DePauw friends - Blake and Kate. Always so fun to catch up with old friends.

We stayed at the Grant Street Inn. It's SUPER cute and is located really close to Kirkwood Ave (aka: where the fun happens).

After a nap and some football - we met up with our friends Matt & Julia (who were also down for the game!) at Nick's! Sink the Biz was in order. Julia and I thought our night was over...but the boys had other plans...

We had to make a stop at The Upstairs for a few AMF's. Our DD - Julia - took us out for tacos at 1:30am and we were in bed by 2am. FYI - That's incredibly late for us! We slept in, ate breakfast, and then made our way back to Fort Wayne.

Nancy and Denny were brave gracious enough to babysit for us! We had SO much fun! It's always nice to relive old memories...especially from our days in Btown. Back to reality...

OH - one last thing - The Kings FireCrackers preformed the Halftime Show at the game and they were pretty incredible! They are an elementary school Jump Rope Team from the north side of Cincy (where our friends Blake & Sarah live). Josie may be moving in with them when she's 9, so she can be a Kings FireCracker.

GO HERE and just watch the first video from their performance at a Wisconsin game. A-MAZING!