Fresh Air

Yesterday it was a HEAT WAVE! Highs were 61 degrees in the afternoon. We all headed outside as a family for a walk and then came home and played in the yard for awhile. Ellie put on her green frog rain boots...and had a blast in the mud. I tried to get a picture, but my camera was dead. I will for sure next time.
It was just what we needed. I felt so refreshed after our time outside and I could tell that the kids moods were lifted as well. After our walk they rode around in the garage. Ellie in her "car" as she calls it and Owen on his Big Wheel, both of which I got at a garage sale last summer for $3 each!! I hope to find some more cheap outside toys at garage sales this spring for the kids to enjoy.
Bring on Spring!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! I know that not everyone shares the same love for this "holiday" that I do, but I just don't care. :) We had such a great day! Sunday evening I sat down with Ellie and helped her write her name on all of her Valentines. Jeremy kept busy cutting up veggies to bring to daycare for their party (cookies and cupcakes were already taken).

This morning when Ellie woke up, she was very excited for her Valentine Party at daycare. She got dressed with her little heart leggings and skirt, let me do her hair (which is a battle lately) and was all ready for the day. Owen was not as excited but he did sport a little red shirt and brought in some Valentines for his teachers, such a sweet little guy.

Ellie learned a new tune last week at daycare: "Oh Valentine, Oh Valentine, You Are So Special To Me"

I love it!



Checking out her loot from daycare

Examaning his Valentine from his buddy Emerick

Flowers from Jeremy :)

I-O-W-A Wrestling Meet

Jeremy and I went to the Iowa Vs Michigan Wrestling meet on Sunday 2/13 for a pre-Valentine's Day Date. Rachel and Eric also attended the meet, so we sat with them and caught up with eachothers lives.
We go every year to at least one meet. They are cheap, great seats, and fun! We talked this year that it might be the last time we come alone. I think that the kids are at an age where they can join us. We also grabbed lunch at the Olive Garden beforehand using a gift card from Nolan and Sam (Thanks again!). Jamie watched the kids and we had a fun time together.

Lazy Weekend

Jeremy worked this past weekend and that left the kiddos and I at home. On Saturday we headed out in morning to run some errands. We went to Target to get milk, Valentines, and a snack (Ellie would not let me forget the last item on our list :). First up we grabbed 4 gallons of milk, yes 4!!!, we go through milk like crazy in our house. I think Jeremy drinks 2 gallons a week on his own, and the kids and I finish off the rest. Next on the list was Valentines for daycare. Ellie narrowed it down to two choices, Tinkerbell and Monkey Valentines with tattoos. She chose the Monkey's in the end, but quickly decided that Owen should get the Tinkerbell. After explaining that Owen is not handing out Valentines and putting them back we headed off to pick out a snack. M&Ms it was and off we went. Ellie is a great shopper (always has been), Owen on the other hand can be a bit difficult. He does NOT want to sit still! He insists on standing up in the cart. After telling him to sit down for the millionth time I finally picked him up and carried him while pushing the cart. Hopefully he will grow out of that. We headed home, ate lunch, napped, watched Cinderella, played, made dinner and then daddy was home! 

Shooting hoops

Watching Nick Jr's music videos on the computer

Sunday was a bit painful as we did not leave the house at all! We did a lot of cooking, which Ellie loves to help with, watched more movies, played for hours, napped and took baths. Owen LOVES to take a bath and hates getting out. We always get Ellie out first and then try to get Owen out he says "No" and turns his head away from us as if we cannot see him if he can't see us. I always drain the tub, take all the toys our and then pry him out of the tub :) Sunday night was topped off with pizza, and watching the Super Bowl with Daddy when he got home from work. Ellie asked to watch a movie in our bedroom instead of the football game, but did come out during the half time show to dance with the Black Eye Peas :)

All in all great lazy weekend at home!

Eating pizza...mmmmm

He is a garbage disposal...eats whatever he can get his hands on :)

Snow Day :)

On Tuesday the 1st of February school was let out early for the impending Blizzard. I picked up the kids early from daycare and headed home to hibernate. The snow started to fall around 1:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday and did not stop until Wednesday morning. In the end Cedar Rapids ended up with over a foot of snow. Needless to say that school was cancelled on Wednesday and the entire family was home for the day.

Ellie painted all morning, she loved it and thought she was so cool while painting her picture. She had to put it up to the window a few times to show daddy her art work while he snow blowed. Owen colored for a little bit while I got food in the crock pot for dinner that night. He mostly enjoyed watching daddy snow blow outside. Owen loves to stand at the window and shout at the dogs :)

Ellie and I made cookies, and watched Snow White while Owen napped. We then enjoyed a warm dinner together. Jeremy and I even got in a movie night after the kids went to bed. I woke up to a 2 hour delay Thursday morning :) All in all it was a great Snow Day at home!

Chicago

Jeremy and I headed to Chicago this weekend for some quality time together! I originally planned on going to Chicago for my roommate Carissa's baby shower. Jeremy and I then decided it would be fun for us to both go and spend the night downtown. I attended Carissa's shower on Saturday, and then we headed in to Chicago Saturday afternoon.

We stayed at the River Hotel, right on Michigan Avenue.

Our first stop was the Billy Goat Tavern. We both enjoyed a beer and hoped to have some fries, but were told "No fries, just chips" :) so we finished our beer and headed to Pizzeria Uno for an appetizer, pizza and a few more drinks. The pizza was AWESOME! After dinner we went to a piano bar called "Howl at the Moon" we were shocked by the $10 cover, but were pleased with the entertainment and atmosphere.

It was a great weekend in the city, we had so much fun! Although we were happy to get home to Ellie and Owen!

Graduation

It is official...I'm a Master Teacher! :) Not sure about that, but I did graduate with my Masters in Collaborative Education this past weekend!

It was a long two years, with a few bumps in the road (bed rest, NICU, etc) but I made it! I feel very accomplished and proud of my end project. This past summer we started writing our thesis as our final requirement for graduation. My thesis was: The Effects of Self Monitoring Academic Goals of 6th Grade Level I Students in order to Improve Academic Achievement, (mouth full). Throughout the process of writing my thesis I was pushed to the limit many times, cried a few times, and wanted to give up once :), but I'm very proud of my end project and happy to say I did it!

Here are a few pics of the ceremony:



Joel speaking on behalf of our class



Receiving my "Hood" and degree

 



 

The whole fam came to celebrate

My mom and dad came to help celebrate and took us out to dinner. I also bought a Kindle with money from my generous family, something not expected at all!