Daddy & Will

Here are two special moments that Matt & Will shared together over the weekend...

Dressing Alike

I have been able to find some good clearance deals the past few days...being someone that can't wait for surprises...I gave the girls their new things now. It didn't help that they were with me and saw what I bought!

Matching Princess Jammies...

Matching Red Robes...

"matching" dresses...

We headed to Clinton, IA yesterday to celebrate our friend's little boy's 5th birthday (Happy Birthday Collin!). The party was held in a children's museum...so the kids had LOTS of fun. We saw them only long enough to feed them cake and take them potty! Katie & Alex gravitated towards the one room schoolhouse to play Little House on the Prairie...but they soon saw the "hospital" and from there on out, Katie walked with the aid of crutches. She got rather good at it too!

Alex enjoyed the John Deere ride on tractor, car & baby doll. She played lots of things though as we saw her running back and forth (from one play area to another) most of the day.

Maddie is playing in the kitchen area here. She liked the little car too as well as the trains.

The favorite of all day (for Maddie & Will...and Matt!) was the air tubes. Watch the videos and you will see why. Wouldn't it be fun to have one of these in your house??

We are getting ready to head over to Mom & Dad's for pizza, cake & ice cream for Maddie & Will's birthday. It will be a small family affair. With the bad weather & stomach flu that we have been fighting the past few weeks, we decided to keep it small. I will post pictures / videos of the party in a day or two.

Oh yeah! We snagged a new letterbox in the Quad Cities! Thanks to Krispy for braving the cold to plant "Adopt me". It is an adorable carve!

Snow Day

Yet again, we have been hit with another snow storm. The city schools did not close, but Alex's preschool did. This meant that we ended up with a snow day. Most days, I continue schooling for Katie (we seem to have days off for illness and play days to make up for the other days in school!), but today I decided early on that she would not be doing any school work. We had an easy day of TV and playing. The girls also helped me make cookies this afternoon. I think everyone enjoyed tasting the cookies!

Will ready for his nap - reading his new book to Froggie.

Alex tasting her homemade pretzel - she made it at Awana.

Alex's Preschool Program

We attended Alex's Christmas Program for preschool - almost a month late. It was postponed due to bad weather just before their Christmas break. Here is a clip from the program. We were so proud of our "shy" little Alex. She didn't miss a beat! Sorry for the movement on the video...With being sick this week, I asked Matt to charge up the camcorder battery. One thing he forgot to check was to see if there was a tape...so, we ended taping the program on the camera and ditched the camcorder. Yes, it has been a LONG week...

Pizza Night

We tried something that we haven't done in a long time. A year or so ago I made some pizza dough and let everyone make their own pizzas. The girls have asked a few times when we can do it again and I decided tonight would be a good one.

Well...I was wrong. It has been a long week with most of us having the stomach flu at some point. This means crabbiness & little patience. At some point Alex lost it and screamed and cried during most of the "ordeal". Maddie & Will were being good - but need I remind you that they are 2??? Katie also did a good job...Maybe it was me that is short on sleep and patience.

The pizzas were good and I am glad that we gave it a try. Hopefully next time it will be a better experience for everyone. (notice Alex in the background in the 3rd picture)

Some side notes...

Maddie & Matt visited the ER today. Maddie fell yesterday while dancing in the kitchen and hit (we assume) her shoulder. She has screamed whenever we go to pick her up and she favored it when lifting things, etc. We felt that she didn't break anything so we let it go overnight and found this morning that she seemed the same if not worse. After a call to her dr, we decided to take her to the ER. The dr there found no break (after xrays) and couldn't find anything wrong. They did see that she favored that arm though. So, as of right now, we are pampering her arm and praying that it heals quickly.

Will gave us a scare last week. He was in the laundry room with me while I was doing laundry and I left - not realizing that he was still in there. I went back down to get something from the pantry a few minutes later. Will had shut the door and locked himself inside. There was no way to get him out!! I called my parents - who happened to be down the hill at the mall - and they came up to try to help. We soon realized that they only way to get him out was through a way. I am so thankful that my dad is a plasterer!!! He took a utility knife to the wall and punched the wall out! We then sent Alex in to unlock the door. She (and my dad) were the hero of the day! Thanks Dad!...and thanks for fixing the wall so quickly.