A Surprise Trip

When my sister was home over the holidays I realized how much I miss her. So I decided that I was going to take a short trip to Chicago and...SURPRISE her! Although it was tough to leave my babes at home (all three of them), I knew that I wanted and needed to go and spend time with Erin and just be an aunt and play with Will and Emerson. I hate flying, but I jumped on a plane and then took a cab from the airport to her house- also not a fan of riding in cabs. My motion sickness tends to get the best of me. When I got to her place I rang the buzzer and in my deep man voice said, "UPS". I never thought she would buy it, but sure enough the door buzzed and I was on my way up the elevator. When I knocked on the door and she opened it, I got the reaction I was hoping for- SPEECHLESS! It was so great to spend time with Erin and her family. I got a chance to spend time with Will and Emerson playing play dough, coloring, dancing and so much more. Erin and I were able to get out and have lunch and do a bit of shopping. Jayson made a yummy dinner and we played a few games. It was a perfect trip. I was sad to leave, but anxious to get home and see my kids. Jackson and Aubrin had a great time at home with dad and he sure did keep them busy, but I think they were both a little happy to see me too!

A Day with Grandpa

Today Jackson had two special treats. He had a field trip with his class and Grandpa Olenech got to take him. Todd and I both had to work and it wasn't possible for either of us to take the morning off. So I asked my dad and he jumped at the chance to take Jackson to Indian Springs Nature Center. My dad picked Jackson up at our house and off they went. At the field trip they took a nature walk to look for different animal tracks in the snow. My dad said that he enjoyed watching Jackson interact with his friends and teachers. My dad usually sees Jackson at home, being silly. At school Jackson tends to be a bit more serious and very much a rule follower. After their nature walk they went inside and painted/stamped a t-shirt of all the different animal tracks they saw. They also had a chance to sit and listen about animals and then see a few that they had at the nature center. Jackson then sat with his friends and had a quick snack. One of the attractions at the park is an underground observation room under the small lake at the park. The tour guide said that the best time to see anything is in May and June. Not to much life was happening under the water in mid January. After the field trip gramps took Jackson out to lunch at the restaurant of his choice. McDonald's is always a four year old favorite and good treat. My dad stopped at my school after he dropped Jackson off at home and told me all about his day. When I got home from work, Jackson told me all about his day with grandpa. I'm not sure who had more fun. Jackson only had one request..."Do you think grandma can come next time too?"

Our Little Princess

A few weeks ago I got a flyer at work advertising for a princess party that was going to be thrown at the high school by the student council. I thought this would be perfect for Aubrin. The flyer said that little girls would get princess wands and little boys would get swords. I know Jackson would have had a great time, but it's very rare that Aubrin gets to do anything by herself. When I told Aubrin about the princess party she lit right up. She said that she was going to wear her Cinderella dress and all of her jewelry. Jackson seemed disappointed for a few minutes that he would not be going until he found out that he would be going to Aunt Krista and Uncle Mike's house instead. He was really excited to go over and play with the kids.

Today Aubrin woke up at 6:15am asking if it was time to get dressed and go to the party~just a bit excited. As the day went on she got more and more excited. She got her dress on and was ready to go. We dropped Jackson off and the Campau's to play and of course Aubrin wanted to go in and show everyone her pretty dress.

When we got to the party we met up with some of my friends from work and their little girls. All of the girls had a great time doing crafts, dancing, playing games and eating yummy treats. Some of the student council girls were dressed up at Disney Princesses, but most were dressed in long princess like dresses. Aubrin thought they were all beautiful and couldn't take her eyes off them.Of course before we left Aubrin said we had to get ice cream for Jackson and bring it home for him.
Todd picked Jackson up on his way home from baseball, so they were already home when we got there. Today Todd was having his coaching staff over to watch football and play cards. So when I walked downstairs I wasn't surprised to see Jackson with all of the guys, but I was a bit surprised to see him throwing dice and playing Craps with the guys. The last thing I thought I would ever hear out of my four year olds mouth is, "Do we need double 5's dad?" At least he has a head start on doing math for kindergarten! Aubrin was thrilled to see Uncle Scott and Uncle Kyle over as well. She is always so silly with them.

Basketball, ABC's and Happy Birthday...

It has been so cold lately. The snow looks so beautiful and I wish we could play outside, but Jackson and Aubrin have both had colds. They were both at the doctors this week. I think they are both on their way to good health. If Aubrin is outside in the cold for 5 minutes or 20 minutes, she will be sick for a week with a cough and runny nose.

Last night we took the kids to the high school basketball game. Todd usually takes the kids to a game during the week and they love it. It was fun that they had a Friday night home game. One of their favorite parts of going to the game is to watch warm up and listen and dance to the music. Their least favorite part is the mascot- the Lakeland Eagle. The eagle walks around cheering during the game. Aubrin would like that "seagull" to stay away from her and stay on the other side of the gym. I love that something so simple as going to a high school basketball game can be such a fun family night out.

This morning, once again, it was too cold to go outside and play. We played games and both kids did a few letter activities.

While Aubrin was napping, Jackson spent his time making a birthday card for Great Grandma Doughty. We had plans to go to dinner later in the day to celebrate her 86th birthday. Jackson wanted to make her a special card . He worked hard and it came out great. Once Aubrin woke up and Todd got home from baseball, we met my mom, dad and grandma at dinner. After dinner we went back to my grandma's for cake and ice cream. The kids were excited to help her open her presents and blow out her candles. I was so happy that it worked out for us all to be together for my grams birthday. She is a very special little lady. At 86 she is still busy, full of life and always has a story to share that brings back many memories of growing up and spending time with her and my grandpa. I feel very blessed to have my grandma be such a big part of my life and in Jackson and Aubrin's.

Aubrin and her baby

Aubrin has a love...her baby dolls. In the summer Aubrin was outside busy as can be trying to keep up with Jackson. She was playing soccer, baseball, not paying to much attention to the baby dolls that sat quietly in her room. Now that we are spending most of our days inside playing, Aubrin has loved dressing her baby doll, feeding her and pushing her around the house in her stroller. So you can only imagine how excited Aubrin was when she got new PJ's that matched her baby. Too cute!

Bird feeders

Last week Jackson asked me where animals get their food during the winter. He said that they must really be hungry and seemed a bit concerned. So this weekend we decided to make bird feeders. We got out the peanut butter, pine cones and birdseed and started to make tons of bird feeders. Jackson did a great job making his all by himself, but Aubrin needed a bit of help putting the peanut butter on the pine cone. I had to run upstairs for a minute and when I came back Aubrin was licking all of the peanut butter off her fingers...and the birdseed. UGH!

As the kids were making the feeders they were making a list of all the people we needed to give them to as gifts. Jackson said, " Mom, can you go and get some of those plastic bags you have and some pretty ribbon so we can wrap them for presents to give to people?" When we were finished we left them out to sit for a while then put them in bags, and wrapped them with ribbon.

It was so cold on Saturday so we were not able to go out and hang them. Today was a bit warmer so we went outside and hung them in trees and from our play set. Both of the kids sat by the window waiting for the birds to stop by for a quick nibble. They both seemed proud of what they made and also that they were going to share them with others.

Keeping busy over break

It was so nice that Todd and I both had two full weeks home with the kids over Christmas. We had many days filled with activites and play dates, but we also lounged around the house and had quiet days just playing. Right before Christmas we loaded into the car one night to go and see Christmas light. Jackson thought so many of the houses looked like gingerbread houses. Both Jackson and Aubrin had colds for much of the two weeks, but Jackson was able to get outside and play a few times with Todd. They had a great
time sledding down the hills in the backyard. Aubrin loved playing in all of her new princess dresses and shoes...but Jackson loved them just as much (check out his feet in the picture).
We took the kids bowling for the first time. Jackson was amazed by the ball return and thought it was "magic". Aubrin had a good time, but thought it was more fun finding all of the gum stuck under all the tables.

We also went to Preschool Play Time at Bounce. Jackson and Aubrin had so much fun play on the balance beams, trampolines and the parchute.

Happy New Year

For the past three years we have spent New Year's Eve at Krista and Mike's house having a pajama party. This year most of Todd's siblings were there, as well as family friends of Krista and Mike's. Krista put together a yummy casual dinner for us and then had snacks for us to eat throughout the night. Speaking of things to eat, Jackson made a yummy dessert to take with us. He really thought he needed to make something for Aunt Krista. Although it wasn't the best tasting treat, everyone still tried it and made Jackson feel great about his baking project. The kids had a great time playing together. Jackson is happy playing dolls with the little girls or some type of sports game in the basement with the boys. Aubrin and Tessa were having a great time playing together and being silly. Although Aubrin would be just as happy sitting on my lap these days. She is always concerned where I am and what I'm doing. The kids also brought their sleeping bags and watched a movie that was projected very large onto the wall. Jackson said he felt like he was at the movie theater. Around 10:30 both kids were getting very tired. At around 11:00 we decided it was time to pack it up and head home. They made it a half hour longer than they did last year. Once we got home we all crawled into our bed to watch the ball drop. The kids were both sleeping within 10 minutes and missed midnight. Sleeping or not, it was a great way to bring in the new year laying all snuggled in my bed with my little loves.