CHESS

So back in December, Olivia had four teeth pulled by her dentist. (Small mouth, big teeth, hello braces...) She really was a champ at the appointment and the dentist rewarded her kindly with a $25.00 gift card to Target. Yeah, I know. Gone are the days of little rubber bouncy balls and flavored dental floss.

We headed to Target and I figured she would spend it all on gum, mechanical pencils and weird little stuff that kids love. But she has been very wise in her purchases. Her first and biggest purchase was this chess set. It came with all kinds of other games too and she was pretty excited to only have spent $11.00 on it. She has been begging me to play but I haven't a clue what that game is about. Tonight she got Chris into a game the second he walked in the door:

It was really fun to watch the two of them playing together. Chris narrowly won. Apparently Liv is a pretty decent chess player. His comment to me after the game was, "Don't ever play her. She will kill you...."

SUNBEAM

Today was Ben's first Sunday in the Sunbeam class at church and he was SO excited to be going to Primary with Nick. In fact, they held hands all the way down the hall on their way to the meeting room. And he wore the "CTR" necklace he colored in class the rest of the afternoon.....

 Early morning church services had us scrambling this morning. The kids were a little grumpy and not too sure what the heck was going on but I am sure we will be used to it in a few weeks. It is so nice to go at 9am and then have the afternoon to relax at home!

I love this picture! Ben wasn't thrilled in the least about mom pulling out the camera. He didn't care about the toothpaste dribbles on his pants/hair and he certainly wasn't going to tuck in his shirt or pull down the sleeves of his sweater to make himself a little more presentable.  I managed to get this giggle by going against everything I know to be right when I said to him, "Hey Ben, I think Nick tooted..." The things we do sometimes......

SNOW DAYS

I have lost count of how many snow days the kids have had in the last month. Maybe six? Seven? I know it's been enough to cut spring break short by three days, Easter break by one day and to add a couple more days to the last week of school. I think Missourians are crazy/wimpy, but that's only because I come from a place where winter is nine months long. I have to admit, it has been fun having them home. We (I) got caught off guard the first time around, and had to come up with stuff to keep them busy while they were home. We organized their school boxes, cleaned up their rooms, watched movies and played the wii. And it was nice enough outside that they spent a lot of time in the snow.

Every serious sledder wears ski goggles...

The second storm was a dakota-style blizzard. But we were ready. Groceries? Check. Hot cocoa with marshmellows? Check. Library books refreshed? Check. Craft projects? Check.  We did Valentines for the upcoming school parties and painted big brother/sister shirts for when the baby arrives. We read books by the fire and consumed large amounts of hot chocolate. And it was wonderful. So wonderful that I was a tiny bit sad when the three days were over...

I love watching Ben write his name...

I love these little rascals! Thanks for hanging out with me, guys! XOXOXOX

NEW YEARS EVE

The day before New Years Eve, we headed to Omaha to see some of our favorite friends from Chris' graduate school days at Creighton. The Eichmanns are (now) a fabulous family of seven who, dispite all of our moves, we have managed to see at least every year since we all parted ways. Last year they visited us for New Years and it was so much fun we decided it should be an annual thing. This trip, we really wanted to get to the temple so we dropped the kiddies off as soon as we got into town and flew then to the temple, making it just in time for the early session.

Winter Quarters Temple

Afterwards, the kids play beautifully so the big people laughed for hours over old memories and take-out fish from "The Dell." These are the kind of friends we just hang out with. No big complicated plans or running around, just hanging out. This year, the boys watched football and Becky and I were so immersed in "catch-up" conversation that we didn't get out of our pjs until 5pm! Once the moms were dressed, the party really got started. Our other friends, The Sorensen's stopped by for a bit and it was so great to see them, too. After lots of pizza, soda, and yummy snacks, we rang in the New Year with all the kids at 9:00pm...let's just say they needed to get to bed earlier than they had the night before!

The adults managed to keep each other awake until midnight, but barely. Things have changed since the rockin New Years parties we had back in school....wild games, late night friends and sleeping babies are long gone. (Seriously, we are getting old....!) After a few quick New Years kisses, it was lights out for the old folks too. 

Is it obvious that I really get into the whole New Years kissing thing?!

The next morning we packed up and headed home. It was such a fun few days catching up with great friends! Thanks guys! HAPPY NEW YEAR!