Staying Warm and Having Fun!

January sure has been a busy month!!! I have been a bit pre-occupied from blogging and other typical tasks on my end due to a hectic weekend schedule. I spent last weekend with my spectacular sorority sisters in Grand Rapids celebrating Maria's baby shower! We showered her with PINK in excitement for the March due date of her baby girl. It is so fun to watch my friends prepare for motherhood. It brings back a slew of feelings...anticipation, anxiety, eagerness, etc. As much as I loved pregnancy and bringing my babies home, I am SO GLAD it's in the past!!!

I am truly loving life these days! Russell and Sloane amaze me everyday with the their imaginations and conversations. I can't remember a day that I didn't laugh about something they said. I took the kids for their first "7-11 Slurpee run" the other day after getting shots at the doctor (I figured they deserved a good reward for being brave)...anyway, upon arriving home, Russell says to Aron, "are you jealous Dad? We got Slurpees and you didn't." Russell is always thinking and asking questions. I swear you can actually see the wheels turning in his head! I was so proud of him yesterday. While Aron was gone and Sloane was sleeping, I slipped and fell down our staircase. Russell came running. He asked if I was o.k. then brought me the phone to call 9-1-1. I explained that I was fine, but needed a "boo, boo, buddy." He quickly brought me an ice pack and stayed by my side until all was well. Thankfully, I have no lasting effects from the fall! I am also so happy to know that my emergency role playing has worked! The hilarious part is that before grabbing the phone, he ran to his room to put on his fireman's hat! I guess he relates emergency situations to the fire department! What a kid!!! He's my hero!

Sloane is becoming quite the little lady. She prances around all day holding tea parties, caring for her babies, and asking for privacy while using the bathroom. She goes into the bathroom, announces a need for "privacy", then shuts the door and takes care of her business! I must say that I LOVE having a DIAPER FREE household!!! She is constantly trying to keep up with her older brother and is anxiously awaiting her third birthday! I don't know how she is going to make it 3 more months. She asks almost daily if it is "Aipwell twetty four?" Needless to say she is very excited for a "Dowa party with Dowa cupcakes." What would the world be like without Dora the Explorer?!?! I think I sing "We did it! We did it? We did it! Hurray!" in my sleep!

Yesterday we went to a pajama themed birthday party for our neighbor friends Zeke and Casey!

A picture of the kids taken today while pretending to be "camping out."

Keeping Busy in 2010!

2010 has been off to a busy start for our family! I headed back to work on January 4th after a glorious and restful break. I am very fortunate to have a student teacher in my classroom for 12 weeks this winter. She is a wonderful addition! Both my students and myself are benefiting from her enthusiasm and hard work in the classroom.

In addition to keeping busy at work and at home with the kids, I have decided to run a 25K race in May with two of my friends. So...my running dedication is holding strong with 5 mile runs throughout the week and a longer run on the weekend. Let's hope I can keep up the training over the next few months in order to be fully prepared for race day on May 8th!

Aron and I just returned yesterday from a fun-filled trip to Cleveland. My parents watched the kids for the weekend in order for us to get some time away without the little ones! Thank you Mom and Dad!!! While in Cleveland, we visited the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame where we enjoyed a Motown exhibit as well as exhibits for Michael Jackson, Elvis, Bruce Springsteen, and MORE! It was an awesome place to see! We also ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse or "Churrascaria" similar to the one we visited 6 years ago while vacationing in Brazil. It was fun drinking and eating true Brazilian delicacies. It brought back terrific memories!

Some other fun January events are shown in the pictures below:

My mom made new blankets for the Russell and Sloane. They LOVE them and snuggle up every night with these warm and adorable blankets!

Last weekend we went to a neighbors house for a spaghetti cook-off! Aron made our sauce using my Grandmother's yummy recipe. He took 2nd place! While the adults were busy sampling sauce, the kids played hard with all their neighborhood pals.
Mmmmmm...spaghetti!
I had today off for MLK Day so I met the other neighborhood moms and kids at the zoo! We bundled up and were ready for animal fun. Thankfully most of the animals are inside during the winter so we had a lot of opportunities to warm up in the animal houses.

Lunch break with the boys!

Checking out the polar bears.

The girls take-off!

Aaaahhhhh...Vacation!!!!

This is the life! I love vacation!!!

As you can tell from the picture above, we all enjoyed a very nice and relaxing week at home. We spent time cleaning the house, playing games, building snowmen, celebrating the new year, making a cake for Aron's birthday, having dinner with friends, and play dates with the neighbors. It was great to not be on a schedule and just go with the flow of life! Would you believe I hardly took any pictures. Here are just a couple to share:

Russell and Sloane were busy painting their thank you cards.

Two of Russell's favorite gifts: Batman pajamas and a head lamp!

Christmas Around Michigan

We returned to Royal Oak yesterday after a fun-filled five days traveling around the state visiting family. We began in St. Joseph where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Aron's family. Russell and Sloane had a ball hanging out at Uncle Bob and Aunt Judy's house for Christmas Eve. Their favorite event was chasing cousin Laura's cat around the house. Luckily, the cat also loved this event and teased and taunted the kids into several games of hide-and-seek! Christmas day was spent at Grammy Carlson's house where the kids awoke to find plenty of gifts left by Santa Claus. I don't think they will need another toy until next Christmas!!! Russell and Sloane gave Aron and I a wonderful gift of sleeping in! Would you believe that they did not wake up until 8:00 a.m.!!! Maybe we should purchase a cat for them to chase...seems it did the trick to exhaust all their bundled up Christmas energy! Both kids spent the rest of Christmas day playing with their new toys while the adults were in the kitchen preparing a delicious dinner. It was a glorious day!!! On Saturday, we hopped in the car and headed north to spend two days with my family. The kids arrived at Grammy and Papa's and quickly realized that Santa left full stockings at their house too! So...another round of gift-giving took place. We also had the opportunity to spend some time outdoors in the snow. Since we did not have snow when we left home, the kids were thrilled with the idea of playing in the cold white stuff! Russell had fun riding snowmobiles with Uncle Keith while Sloane enjoyed leisurely rides on the sled. We are truly blessed!!! What a wonderful Christmas filled with loads of memory making! Now that we are home, the kids continue to find lots of uses for their new toys while I am enjoying catching up on some "me" time! I posted a digital scrapbook below for everyone to view our memory making!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Starts Early!

Russell and Sloane were treated with a few surprises this week. On Thursday, Santa visited daycare and presented each child with a present. They were very excited and thankful for their new toy, but a bit confused as to why Santa didn't give them the gift they asked him for when visiting him last week. I carefully explained that it wasn't Christmas yet and Santa was still working hard checking his list before bringing children their favorite gift. However, Santa knows which toys they will have fun with and he chose carefully when passing out the gifts. Both kids were pleased with this explanation and went to bed that night sleeping with their new toy. Oh how fun Christmas morning will be!!!

On Saturday, my parents arrived! Aron and I had a Christmas party to attend so my parents were gracious enough to drive down to babysit! They also brought PRESENTS!!! Since we won't have enough room in our car to bring back all the gifts after Christmas, they decided to treat the kids to early gift giving. Russell was thrilled with his new art center while Sloane was delighted with a table and chair set along with dishes for her make believe fun! Aron and I were also beyond thrilled with the opportunity to get out for the night!!! Yippeeeee!!! We had a marvelous time catching up with old friends and sipping some excellent cocktails! Thank you Mom and Dad for spoiling us all!!!!!!!

Russell gets his gift from Santa...a Buzz Light Year figure.

Sloane thanks Santa for her new Dora toy.Waiting for Grammy and Papa to arrive. "Mom, how many more minutes?"

Presents!!!

Sloane plays "tea party" at her new table.

Russell is busy with his new art center.

Russell graciously lets Sloane have a turn at the art center.

Memories, Tears, Laughter, and Family

Following Russell's Christmas musical Wednesday evening, we hopped into our already packed car and headed across the state to St. Joseph. We needed to arrive there by Thursday in order to attend Aunt Karen's visitation and funeral. Unfortunately the weather changed from cold, to rain, to snow, to wind, to BLIZZARD! Although the drive was frightening, we arrived safely in St. Jo at midnight! It was a whirlwind weekend. Thursday and Friday were extremely emotional days. We shared our memories, had many laughs, and said our tearful goodbyes. Aunt Karen will live on through all of her nieces and nephews!!!

On Saturday, Aron and I decided to take the kids downtown St. Jo to visit with Santa and check out the gorgeous light display along the bluff of Lake Michigan. We ended up meeting up with an old friend of Aron's and having dinner with his family. Our kids got along great and we all had fun eating pizza and catching up! We are back home now...tired, cranky, and NOT ready for Monday!!! 7 more school days until Christmas Break! Yeah!!!

The Grinch was downtown St. Jo!

So was Elvis!!!

Knock, knock, Santa! Can we come in?

Have you been a good little boy this year?

How about you? Have you been a good girl?

Frosty lives on!!!