Time For A Little Big City

We couldn't resist heading into Chicago for a couple of days. We started out with a birthday dinner for Allison and then got a birthday treat at the Ghiradeli Store...scrumptious ice cream. We also spent time at Navy Pier, the Childrens Museum, the bean statue, the American Girl doll Store, and of course a little shopping.

Yeah Visitors!

We got a special treat and got to have an early spring break and visit with my sisters and their kids, and my mom. Since Haylie just got home from her mission, we all wanted to spend time with her, so we decided to meet here in "the middle." Mostly we just hung out and chatted and the kiddos played and played and played. I am sure the neighbors thought we were crazy because even though it was spring, we were having a little cold spell and it was pretty cold, but the kids loved playing outside. We also got to have FHE together, we did a little bowling, a little mini golfing and a couple of rides on the go karts. It was so fun to visit and catch up and hear about Haylie's mission experiences.

This is one of my favorites! What good friends! (most of the time) :)

Crazy

Parker's hair does some pretty crazy things when he is out jumpin on the tramp.

Observation Day

At the girls' dance studio they don't have "recitals," so at the end of the year the parents get to go into their class for an observation day. It is fun to get to see them so up close and see how much they have learned in such a short amount of time.

Yeah, the boys weren't too thrilled about observation day.

Gotta Get Away

During Matt's 1 week spring break, I got to take a little break of my own. I spent a couple of days in this quaint little Amish town that is pretty close by. And I know that some of you might be asking what in the world did I do by myself for two days in a very small town? The beauty of it is that I didn't HAVE to do anything, but I got to do a lot of uninterrupted blogging, window shopping, lesson planning and reflecting. I don't know, maybe I should feel guilty for needing a little time away and maybe only mom's will understand; but it was a refreshing reprieve from the mundane daily tasks that we mom's are faced with and the never ending needs of our sweet little ones. In all honesty I think I came back a better mom...a little more patient, a little more grateful. So maybe in the end I shouldn't feel guilty for needing a littler recharge--a chance to fill my bucket, every once in a while. In the end I think it truly makes giving (what mom's do best) easier and helps keep life in perspective.

Parking for the Amish.

These buggy's were everywhere and shared the road with all the cars. Some even were decked out with headlights.

This was my "motel." Yes, you should be scared. :)

Welcome Home, Haylie!

It is amazing how fast 18 months go by. It is already time for my sister Haylie to come home from serving in the New York, Rochester mission. My parents went to pick her up and spend some time in the area and getting to meet some of the people she served, and lucky for us, my dad was able to book a flight back home that had a 6 hour lay-over in Chicago. So we drove up to the airport and were able to get to spend a little time with her before she headed back to Utah. It was so neat to be able to see her and how much she has grown. We are so glad you served well and made it home safe and sound. We Love You Hay!

They came down a completely different escalator, so they saw us before we saw them.

Parker was just a baby when Haylie left, so a couple of weeks before she came home I put her picture up on the kitchen cupboard so he would know who she was and wouldn't be shy around her. I was so happy it worked, this was so sweet.

The kids were so proud of their sign, they all helped make it, even Parker added his artistic touch/scribbles.

Sweet Sundays

One of the reasons I love Sundays is this: it is one day a week that for the most part our kids get along (for the most part). One Sunday we noticed it was pretty quiet and went upstairs to investigate. We found all the kids playing with with those color changing cars in the bath tub with bubbles, and even though they weren't IN the tub, they were all drenched like they were.

Boys Will Be Boys

These pictures are just so typical of my little guys.

Wrestling, what they LOVE to do.

Some of Parker's favorite things.

Happy Heart Day

This year we got a special treat and Grandma and Grandpa Jeppsen got to visit us over Valentine's Day. They guys let us girls go and get pedicures and it was Caitlyn and Emma's first time. Other than being extremely tickelish they loved it, especially since they got to pick out and take home their own bottle of nail polish. Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Sunday this year, but we were still able to celebrate and have our traditional heart shaped pizza dinner by candlelight (even though it was during the middle of the afternoon) and chocolate fountain. Happy Valentine's Day!

PS...Sorry for the bad quality of pictures, I am not sure what was wrong with my camera, or probably the lady taken the pictures. :)

The Luck of the Irish

The family life center had a little meet and greet for the kids. They got to meet the ND cheerleaders and the official Leprachaun mascot.

Boys and Baseball

Brandon wanted to dress Parker up in his old baseball uniform, and Parker was just loving it. I am sure we will have many more pictures like this in the not so distant future. Parker is counting down the years until he can play baseball, or soccer, or football--just like his big brother Brandon.

Murphy the Monkey

Caitlyn's kindergarten class has a special friend Murphy the Monkey that gets to go home one weekend with each of the kids. They get to READ to him and basically he gets to go anywhere and do anything that they do that weekend. The kicker is that the kids get to scrapbook a page about all their fun activities, so we had to make sure Murphy had a great time. The activities Caitlyn wanted to do that weekend included baking her favorite cookies, snickerdoodles, going swimming at the ND rec center, a play date at our friend's house, reading, and of course a trip to primary.

Everyone Needs One of These

We had to ship some of our Christmas presents home because we couldn't fit everything in our suitcases and when the box finally arrived the kids were very happy to see their new treasures. BUT, they were equally ecstatic to get to play in the big box that those treasures came in and it kept them entertained not just for hours, but for days. Love the box.

New Years Day

2010 started out with yummy colored pancakes and then finished up with a little bowling.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was great, lots of fun games and of course, lots of good food. Something extra fun the kids got to do was to make a time capsule. Each one had a picture of them and a paper they filled out with lots of questions about what is going on in the world and what their favorite things are.