weekend wrap-up

not much to wrap up this week...

sunday started out like this:

the little lady loves her toast and jam.

(no use giving her a bath till she's had it, we've discovered!)

the littles took turns giving each other their cups

my guess is they're practicing for when the baby's here and they get to "help" with the little guy's bottle (which won't be that often)

in any case, it was cute, and there were lots of giggles involved!

daddy and cole decided to break out the lincoln logs and be constructive.

more accurately, the pieces were already well-strewn about; it was a hunt-and-gather effort made fun.

see? totally fun!

this weekend was the city's winter whirl- crafts, activities, a used book sale at the library, and best of all, snowmobile races!

kelvin couldn't resist taking cole, and since it snowed during the night and he had to get the four-wheeler out to plow, they took it down the block instead of jumping into the truck.

mr cole, all bundled up and ready to go!

at first, i could see that cole wasn't too happy about taking the four-wheeler (he doesn't like cold air currents on his skin. spd thing, unfortunately), but from what i was told, he had an absolute blast in no time!

madi was pretty put out that she didn't get to go with.

she pouted.

she laid on the floor and sobbed.

she kicked a little for good measure.

she survived and forgot all about it in five minutes.

typical, hahahaha!

we had a quiet morning together- she played with her toys while i had a sudden nesting urge, cleaning up all the clutter that i've been too exhausted to even think of taking care of for the last few months, cleaning out the laundry room, stuff like that. if i had a day or two (or three, just to be sure) to put that urge to work, the house would be in good order in no time. but timing that with time away from the kids is hit or miss.

usually miss.

but that's ok- at least i have the ambition in my head!

*

one of our traditions when we expand our family is to shop for a coming-home outfit for the newest member. this time, our due date falls in spring, when it could be 75* or still freezing. makes it a little more challenging, but i figured we'd know when we saw "the" outfit.

on friday, kelvin worked a half day because he'd gotten his hours in, so the kids and i met him down in appleton mid-morning. the plan was to go to our cell provider and get a new plan, meaning i had to finally cave in and get a smart phone. but that's another story...

on a whim, we stopped at old navy and happened to find "the" outfit!

it's sweet, little boy-ish, has a slightly vintage feel...

and we can't wait to see him in it!!

(the red stitching on the tiny little jeans just melts my heart...)

spa day/play day

while elissa, logan and the boys were here, us girls got together, left the kids with logan and my dad and had a spa day!

cole was excited to play with his cousins again...

... sharing the "house box" with special cousins is more fun!!

cole seems to understand that he can't play as roughly with bentley.

good- maybe he'll be super gentle with his little brother in a few months too :)

bentley got the giggles playing with grandpa

uncle logan made pancakes for the guys for lunch- yum!!

i think they were a hit- who doesn't love pancakes?

mom, elissa, sarah and i walked over to the apartment for our spa time while the boys were having their pancakes. we took madi with us- she might be small, but she can still enjoy "girl time"!

our little get-away...

... and spa stuff.

everything was natural- in fact, there was nothing in any of the masks, scrubs or toners that couldn't be safely ingested.

what's a spa without a little ambiance?

madison helped auntie sarah get some mood music going.

(we went with enya, in case anyone's wondering)

we had a delicious lunch of swiss cheese quiche, fruit/yogurt salad and sparkling cider.

it was SO yummy- great job on the quiche, elissa!

opening our pores with a lemon-mint steam

followed by a sweet treat.

(mom's exclamation of "ooooh, fudge!" will forever get a laugh out of all four of us. you'd had to have been there...)

masks!

yup, definitely edible :)

miss madi didn't get in on the beauty routine, but she occupied herself so nicely, stopping every now and again to give us an odd look (after all, the concept of purposely smearing food ingredients all over your face is familiar to toddlers, but adults doing it is a whole different story...)

madi and grandma playing with the mirror

sticky cheeks!!

auntie sarah indulged madi in her sudden interest in headbands... the little princess was pretty proud of herself, wearing her auntie's headband like a royal tiara.

we had some awesome bonding time, got to relax AND feel pretty all at the same time- there's nothing like a good, thorough facial routine to make a girl feel rejuvenated.

it was a special day for sure!

girls' day in

it's just madi and i for most of the day today... kelvin took cole to levi's to do some work on the fourwheeler.

(not repairs, thank goodness... just wiring some stuff up.)

some of the things i was hoping to get done were to sort through the toy cabinet (to pack away the things they're "too old" for, rotate what's readily available, etc), start moving the stuff out of the spare room so we can start getting it ready for cole (yes, he's going to have his own room!) and do some general reorganizing and whatnot. i'm afraid i'm more ambitious in my mind than i am in real life... after 2 hours of sleep last night and NO energy left after taking madison outside, some of that's going to have to wait.

we got madi's boots and snowpants at the beginning of december, and i'm ashamed to say that she's not been in them until today!

not that she really minded, since she'd never played out in the snow before.
obviously, since she was fascinated by all the fluffy white stuff on the ground!

"brr, mama... tee-lleeee!!"
(that's her version of "chilly")

i had a wonderful little helper... yes, i used the shovel. it was only a skiff of snow, so it was light enough to not send me into a day's worth of intense braxton-hicks. our little princess pranced along side me, "helping" push snow. and she even stayed on the sidewalk and out of the road! i only had to tell her once to stay next to me.

now it's off to nap (madi for sure, maybe i'll sneak one in too...) while it's still nice and peaceful. i miss my boys, but it's really nice to have a little break too. every girl needs some alone time with her mommy; i'm looking forward to a few years from now when we can go to the mall or something on our girls' days!

happy birthday, madison!

to our dear sweet madison:

in two years, you've changed our lives like no one else ever could.

from the moment you arrived, you've been a unique and spirited little person- you were literally born with your eyes wide open and ever since, you've been curious about the world around you!
your exhuberance gives us the giggles...
and sometimes makes us roll our eyes (but still smile!).

today you turn two, and you begin another wonder-filled year.

thank you for being ours, for filling our lives and hearts with such endless joy.

we love you so very much, sweet princess!

love,

daddy, mommy, cole and baby brother.

*

we did have a small family party for madi today- it was so wonderful to spend time with everyone! she had a blast (as did the rest of us)... and i took entirely too many photos.

over 400.

ridiculous.

(but i should say that a: i'm "practicing" on new equipment and b: a certain lovely sister manned the shutter too, so it wasn't ALL me!)

thank you for sharing madison's special day- we love you all!

the day the cousins came

it was a cold friday night, very late, that the cousins came to town (er, the state) on an airplane all the way from montana.

after all that sitting and traveling, they rode in grandma and grandpa's car for another hour so they could get to grandma and grandpa's house.

then, they fell asleep for awhile!

later in the morning, we went to see the cousins...

and everyone was SO excited to be there!!

auntie sarah and cousin coy played on the "laptop" for a little while

(there were lots of 'new' people, so the smaller beings were a little ovewhelmed)

the cousins bonded over trains, cars, legos and a cowboy backpack (?!)

then more cousins, aunts, uncles and relatives came for lunch.

there was a rousing game of bridge.

no, not cards... in this version, grandpa's the bridge!

there was a minor collision...

... but nobody got hurt and there were plenty of giggles.

then it was time for a nap

(daddy's missed this- can you tell he's soaking up the quiet time with his princess?)

eventually a game of round-robin was organized for the adults

mr bentley had a cold, so he wasn't feeling too perky, but the cute factor wasn't affected at all!

after a few assorted naps (kind of...), the cousins colored nicely together.

all was quiet for just a little bit.

it was back to the laptop for cousin coy... he and bob the builder spent some time learning numbers and colors.

after a long, exciting, nap-less day of running around and having so much fun with his cousins, someone's bound to get a little cranky

hiding from the camera

but still curious enough to peek...

yup, auntie elissa's still taking photos!

grandpa cuddled with bentley...

and then we went home to rest up before another day with cousins!

sunday we stayed for lunch, and in the afternoon, auntie sarah made some awesome caramel popcorn!

cole could hardly contain himself- helping in the kitchen is exciting enough for him, but when the popcorn started popping, it seemed he might explode as well.

oh, it was sooooo good!!

cole will attest to that... it was definitely worth the wait.

some of the grown-ups played farkle...

.... and madison helped grandma keep score.

yes, we were playing with all six dice... one escaped the camera.

bentley still wasn't feeling too hot, but managed a few smiles.

(just not for the camera)

cousin hugs!!

don't ask... hahahaha!

*

yes, the first few days of having everyone together again was definitely awesome... all four of us kids, our spouses, our own little ones, all under mom and dad's roof again- that's pretty special.

each time we go back home, cole exclaims, "i want my cousins!!!". i think he loves them :)