April Updates

It is tough to believe that we are this far into the year!  Here is an update on everything going on at our house:

 This boy keep us laughing and on our toes!  He is doing so good in school and I often hearing him counting or identifying letters.  It is hard for me to believe he is the same boy who two years ago didn't talk.  It is rare that he is not talking now.  He loves superheros - reading about them, watching them, playing with superhero toys, and mostly pretending to be a superhero.  He is happy for the warmer weather so he can play outside with Bosco and sissy.  He loves his primary class, loves working out with Daddy (see above picture of him doing yoga), and still loves to snuggle his momma!

This girl is growing too fast for me.  She is a reading fool and checks out chapter books from the library.  She LOVES to scrapbook and went with mom to a crop on Saturday.  She is very fashionable and puts thought into her outfits, hair and earrings.  She loves school, but is excited for summer.  She started tumbling class and loves it so far.  She is going to take tennis lessons again this summer.  She loves playing with her brother and the two of them have a great imagination.  They play school, house, pirates, detectives, you name it!  She is such a big help to me.
 

This guy has so much dedication!  It is only the middle of April and he has already logged over 500 miles on his bike.  He has his first ride of the season coming up in a couple weeks - 62 miles.  He is doing P90X (see yoga day above).  He is registered for summer school and excited to be continuing in his Adult and Organizational Leadership Masters program at U of I.  He is such a wonderful Dad and the kids have so much fun with him.  I am so happy he is mine. 

 

I have been busy!  This semester has been flying by.  I can hardly believe there are only 4 weeks left!  Right after Spring Break I left for Las Vegas to present at a conference with some other faculty members at my school.  We presented on training teachers to teach online.  Our presentation went great.  I am registered to take a graduate course in educational technology this summer and am quite excited about it.  If it goes well, I am going to work on a graduate certificate in educational technology.  (In my spare time, ha!)  I am soooo looking forward to summer.  For the first summer since I was 14 years old (22 year ago, ack) I am not working and I can hardly wait.  The kids and I have lots of fun stuff planned!  I told them we could do fun stuff everyday ... after we sleep in.  :)

I love being their mom.

(Only 10 days late) March is in the books!

I am still moving right along on my picture of the day project.  I feel like this is the year I am going to make it all the way through the year!!  It has been a lot of fun!  Here is our March in pictures!

I've got everything that I need, right in front of me ...

We have become quite the Muppet lovers at house since the new Muppet movie came out.  We rarely take the kids to new releases (we are a dollar movie kind of family) but splurged on that one - and were quite delighted by it.  We then got the soundtrack and it has been playing in the van for months.  I'm not going to lie - my kids pretty much know the words to all the songs.  Hearing the two of them sing "The Rainbow Connection" is about the sweetest thing ever.  Hearing Blakey sing "Are You a Man or a Muppet" is about the funniest thing ever.

Earlier this week, my friend Melissa mentioned to me that they had Kermit and Miss Piggy at Build-a-Bear.  I tried to resist, it lasted nearly 24 hours, but in the end it was futile.  I gave in.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going, just that we had to run an errand at the mall.  When we walked in Build-a-Bear and they saw Kermit and Miss Piggy - well it was one of those moments when it is really fun to be able to surprise your kids with something that they love.

(Yes, Blake is wearing his Halloween costume at the mall.)

Of course, we had to doll Miss Piggy up - she is all about fashion.  As Mylie pointed out earlier in the week, after she watched the Muppets for the first time and saw Miss Piggy, she became very fashionable herself - ironically, when I thought about when we saw the movie, she is right!  She has been much more aware of her hair and outfits since then.

I asked Blakey if he wanted to get Kermit a shirt - because of course they had Kermit the Frog shirts for Kermit the Frog.  Blake looked at me like I was an idiot and reminded me that frogs don't wear clothes.  Duh.  And phew!  $7 saved.  Blake was more concerned with bathing Kermit (one of the things you get to do when making your animal).  Blake was really concerned Kermit may have toe jam.

Toe jam be gone!

Kermit and Miss Piggy have not been out of the sight since yesterday.  And now when the kids sing songs from the Muppets - Kermit and Miss Piggy are singing along too (because these Muppets are also puppets).  The theme song from the movie has the following lines:

I've got everything that I need right in front of me,                                  Nothing's stopping me, nothing I can't be with you right here next to me.  

That kind of sums it up.   We may be kind of dorky driving around in our mini-van, belting out Muppet lyrics, but I love these dorks.  :)

More Spring Break...

A beautiful 65 degree day at the park today with friends!

This might be one of my new favorites.  I just love her blue eyes!

Jump Mylie!

Helen

Daniel

Lillian

This is his "Stop picturing me face!!"

Spring Break!

I am soooo happy that spring break is finally here!  Saturday morning we took off for SLC for a long weekend.  We met my parent's for lunch at Maddox to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday.  Mom and Dad surprised us by bringing Max, Mylie and Blake were in heaven!  After lunch we went to Bailey's and then (cue angels singing) went to IKEA.  IKEA just makes me happy!  Sunday we went to the zoo and then spent some time with Bailey that afternoon.  We took the kids swimming and it totally wore them out.  They slept like rocks!  Today we did some shopping and leisurely made our way home.  Today's weather was crazy - but Saturday and Sunday were beautiful.  We had a great trip!

Love these kiddos - right after our train ride. 

I love this baby elephant.  I could watch the elephants for hours. 

This is our traditional Hogle Zoo pose.  :)

February

So I realize it is March 4th - but it has been a busy last few days.  I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping up on my picture of the day project.  I'm 64 days in!!  Whoo hoo.  Here is a peek into our February.

You can follow my calendar at http://www.shuttercal.com/calendar/myliesmom/2012/2/.