Valentine's 2014

We had a great Valentine's Day! The morning started with our annual scavenger hunt tradition for the boys. They were quite excited to find their clues and their little gifts.








While Jack and I were at swimming lessons last night, Henry and Nathan went on a secret mission to get me flowers, and ice cream from McDonald's. Another Valentine's highlight was Jack's scavenger hunt for me. He drew a map and left little Jack signs throughout the house at each stop on the map. At the end of the map was a sweet card.


Henry also made a card for Jack and "gave" him a truck from the basement.


This morning the boys and I made our valentine's cake. They were a little wild while we were icing the cake. As in Henry sticking his whole hand in the icing and leaning over to take a bite of the cake while we were icing it.


Tonight we had a fancy candlelight supper of spaghetti and chocolate covered strawberries and bananas. We even used the china. We think it was the second time we've used it in 10 years... the other time was one of our first Valentine's Days. Nathan had strep throat and we ate pizza on china plates while we sat on the couch and watched TV. Happy Valentine's Day!

A Brief History of the Crib

I’ll be the first to say I shed a few tears when Nathan took the crib down. And so, as I am emotional about this milestone marking the baby years gone by, here’s a brief history of the crib… in pictures. First, let’s not forget a few of the infamous crib moments… Jack cutting the inside of his lip when he was a baby and bleeding all over the place, Henry biting almost all the way through his tongue when he was a baby and bleeding all over the place, Jack throwing up in the middle of night when he was almost 2, the crib being recalled twice (which accounts for the change in color) and both of them chewing on the paint and coming away with little black paint chips around their mouths much to my dismay. I have loved checking on sleeping babies and almost big boys every night for the past almost 6 years, snug in their beat up and well-loved crib.

Henry’s Big Boy Bed

Henry is doing a great job with his new bed. He was very excited the first time he got to sleep in it. He’s doing pretty well staying in his room at bedtime and naptime and waits for me to come and get him in the morning. Such a big boy!

Snow Days!

Yesterday was our first big snowstorm of the winter! That means Jack and Nathan have been home for two days, and Jack is out of school again tomorrow. We love snow days! So far, we have:

Built a fort


Played in the snow 3 times so far














Done a workout video because we can't get to the gym. Henry's weights are soup cans.


And made snow ice cream.





After naptime we are taking down Henry's crib and putting up his big boy bed (and taking all toys out of his room until he gets used to it). He's going to be pretty excited!

Uncle Will's Visit

The past two weeks have been great because Uncle Will has been around... he stayed with us for a couple of days a week ago and then we got to see him some more last week and this weekend. Now he is back in Ohio, getting everything ready to leave for his one-year tour in South Korea.

We loved spending time with him. Highlights included a trip to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art with both boys. They were both irrationally afraid of the mummy, but had a good time other than that. Pizza at the Godfather's Buffet was another favorite; specifically cinnamon streusel pizza. It was great to just have time to hang out around the house and let the boys have time to play with Will. Yesterday Mom and Dad had a big brunch for all the family to say goodbye. Jack's favorite part was eating three of Aunt Sherry's enormous cinnamon rolls. Sadly, Henry and Nathan missed out because Henry was sick. We managed to finally take some pictures yesterday. We love you Will!

Sick Henry

Poor Henry has pnemonia! He woke up sick yesterday morning and has a nasty cough, so I took him in this morning. Despite not feeling that great, he polished off a chocolate cupcake after lunch.


Jack decorated the cupcakes for our Super Bowl party (which we had to cancel because Henry is sick). He was very proud of his football cupcakes. We used white icing on some others and Jack drew either a B for the Broncos or an S for the Seahawks.






They also had a fun weekend of wild playing with Daddy.