a boston trip...

rene took me out in boston as my Christmas present...

this is a chocolate factory!!

so stinking cool!

cacao beans.  

the finished product!

all made here... it was so yummy!

and a little cider brewery!

it was fun to have a whole day without kids.  and see (and taste) new things in boston.  and trek through the city...

kicking and screaming!

he wanted me to take a pic of him kicking...

the literacy luau

showing off his writing.

reading to us...  

my little valentine!

playing on the wii.  the ONLY time, for about 5 minutes, that he sat.  

he had been jumping and dancing while he played...

can you see his rattail?  time to get his hair cut!!!

a valentine's bouquet from a friend.  

snugs with my baby.  before i left him for the weekend.  

my cute valentine.  

man, it feels good to be back on a schedule.  between snow days and vacation, it feels good.  we had a great week of vacation.  we went to great wolf lodge and then my parents came.  we didn't do much, and it was so nice!!!  having fun!!!  can't wait to post the great wolf lodge pics!!!

playing...

playing axis and allies with my hubs.  

snuggling with her sweet brother...

auntie rebecca came to visit and had such a fun craft for the kids!

this girl took center stage.  (well, slightly to the left!)  but she did amazing!

lunch with his friend.  so thankful for his friends!

this mouth full of teeth.  eight of them.  and he LOVES to bite!  he pulled himself up next to my leg the other day and then started biting.

a new shirt.  cause it makes me think of spring!

this little boy.  i love him so much.  we have so much fun!!!

life stays busy with 4 kids.  i keep waiting for it to slow down.  but, i don't think it will!  nora has started on a competitive gymnastics team.  and has her first competition on sunday.  she's nervous about it.  and she hasn't practiced much with the team.  i told her that her first competition is going to be a learning curve.  and that she might as well get it out of the way when she know she won't do great!  

anyway...  i was talking to my mom and dad this week about priorities.  and how to manage them.  and realizing that the busyness might just be a time of life right now!!!

surviving winter...

getting ready for MOPS a few weeks ago...

my boys and their spiky hair!

signing the paperwork on our new house!

footballer #1.

footballer #2.

my littlest!  

his new chew toy...  i was carrying it upstairs, and he took it!

and brought it in to the bath...  loves chewing!!

we had another snow day yesterday.  and kids were shocked when they had to go back to school today.  it's sad how used to snow days we are now!  (and we haven't had near what Boston has had!!) we haven't done as much playing in the snow as i would have expected, but it's still been fun!!

all dressed up.

ready to go...

trying out snow cream...

he preferred straight snow.  with some li'hing on it.  (hawaiian seasoning!)

it ended up being his dinner.  with a side of broccoli.  

playing with daddy.  

she's ready, too!!!

playing in the drifts.  the other side of the house, you could see the grass...  it was the weirdest snow storm!!!

this kid.  

we had the blizzard of 2015 last week.  kids and d were off school for two days.  it was so much fun! the kids had a blast outside and we didn't get out of our jammies for one whole day.  they built a snow tunnel and enjoyed the crazy weird storm we had.  all told, we probably got less than a foot, but in some places the drifts were 3+ feet, some you could see the grass.  there were lines in the snow of the wind.  so crazy!