Candy, Please...

After the kids ate their lunch today, we headed into Maddie & Will's room to pick up toys (so they could take their naps). I promised candy to anyone who would help me pick up. In the end Katie & Alex were the only ones who got candy. I gave them their piece of candy and Maddie says, "candy?" to me...looking for hers. I tell her that she didn't help clean up so she doesn't get candy. I change Will's diaper and walk into their room a minute later to find Maddie playing with all of the trains on the train table (about 30 pieces). I soon realize that she isn't playing though when I see that she is hurriedly putting them back in the drawer. As she puts the last train back in the drawer, she looks up with a smile and says "Candy??". It brought a smile to my face when I thought of her creativity and persistance...but it brought a tear to hers when I told her no!

Sledding

We took advantage of the snow fall that we had yesterday...even if it wasn't a huge amount. We realize that our chances for sledding are getting slim as (HOPEFULLY!) Spring is around the corner! As we were driving to our destination, we were seeing less snow on the ground than we anticipated. Luckily, Camden Park hill did have enough snow to sled on. The girls got very excited when they looked in the back of the van and saw their sleds...They hopped out and couldn't wait to hit the hill! We had decided earlier that it would just be the girls and Matt since it was still pretty cold. It's a pretty good size hill and we didn't care to carry Maddie & Will up each time! We were so proud of Katie & Alex, they marched (even ran!) back up this hill many times without complaining once.

Bug-a-Boo's First Carve!

Alex aka Bug-a-Boo, has been asking me for some time now as to when she could carve her own stamp . . . like Katie.

Today was the day for my Alex!

I transferred the image to the PZ Kut, then a little instructional on how to hold the Exacto Knife. Then, line by line, I would draw on the image with a pen & she would cut on the line I just drew.

This was a very ambitious first carve for a 4 year old -- Oh, sorry, almost 5 year old!!

Alex did great!! I asked if she wanted me to carve "Alex's First Stamp" in the image and she was thrilled with the idea. The only 2 places where I literally held her hand while we carved was around the eye & the beak.

We did have a little incident when the blade popped out of the PZ Kut & hit Alex in her thumb. A little blood was all, I explained that I've done the same thing. Her biggest trepidation was that it was her "sucking thumb" she hit.

So, next time you meet Bug-a-Boo at a gathering, she will be more than willing to share her stamp with you.

Valentine's Day Date (one day late!)

As promised, Matt & I took the girls to the IMAX theater to watch the Dolphin Movie. However, once we arrived, we looked at the show times and decided to see "Under the Sea". Under the Sea is a documentary about the corral reef triangle - filmed off the shores of Papua New Guinea. Katie loved that fact since we have been praying for Michael & Monica from the Yembi Yembi Tribe. The girls had never seen a movie in 3D and in the end, I think they enjoyed it. At one point Katie was on my lap and Alex was on Matt's. I guess Alex jumped on his lap and ended up with her arms around the back of his neck! There were a few "scary" scenes with camaflouged fish jumping out to eat other fish. They really enjoyed the sea lions and giggled as one came up to the camera and gave it a kiss. All of the kids in the theater could be seen "popping" the bubbles that were floating on the screen during the closing credits.

After the movie, we headed to TGI Fridays to eat lunch. It was a wonderful time of good food & good company. We enjoyed talking about the movie while we ate.

Our last stop was Target where the girls got to spend their Valentine's Day money. They got a package of miniature Smurf characters...yes...the Smurfs are back and the girls LOVE them. Katie loves to play Grouchy Smurf and Alex loves to be Jokey Smurf. It is fun to listen to them "playing".

All in all, a fun date was had by all!

Here are some "after the new roof" shots of the house. We need to get another batch of pictures taken now that the dumpster is gone from the driveway. It will have to wait a day or two though since there is snow on the ground...again...and on the roof. I can't wait to see green grass and flowers in my flower bed!

We celebrated Valentines Day with a heart shaped pizza, which the kids thought was very cool. Matt & I will be taking the girls to the IMAX theater for the Dolphins movie as well as lunch and shopping tomorrow. We are looking forward to our date with them.

Our New Roof

We have been listening to the thuds and bumps of a crew of roofers today. After some issues with our roof this past year, we decided that now was the time to get it taken care of...thanks to Uncle Sam and his tax refund! Here are some before shots...

Heart Night

The girls had Heart Night at Awana last night. They both got special heart candy from their leaders, but Katie came away with the prize candy for having the most hearts (just what we need - pure sugar!!). You may see it on her dress...every "dot" is actually a heart. She even got sticker hearts to put on her shoes and stockings. We were able to find a few barrettes with hearts also.

I was thinking though that I should be the one to get the special prize as the dress was mine when I was little...and then I thought that I would have to share it with Mom since she made this dress. : ) We will have to see if this dress gets passed on to all 3 girls. Alex is my fashion child...I am assuming that this dress will be too "old" for her. : )

Playing at the Mall

After I dropped Alex off at preschool one day last week, I took the other 3 kids to the mall to play in the play area. We were the only ones there since the mall wasn't open yet. The kids enjoyed the play time and I enjoyed the (somewhat) quiet time. At one point, Katie had the camera and took about 250 pictures! I had to clear the card twice for her!!

Birthday Ice Cream

Mom & I took the twins to Red Robin for their free birthday meal last weekend. The wait staff brought out a sundae for each of them and sang Happy Birthday to them. The twins wouldn't share their treat with us!