2nd Annual Carl-Haub Day

Today we celebrated our 2nd annual Carl Haub day with our family friends, the Carlsons. We created this last year as a substitute for adding to the insanity of Christmas gift buying. Instead, we wait till February to hold a "friendship" day of our own, where the kids exchange gifts and we have a slower, more enjoyable way of sharing our time together.

I have been friends with Colleen longer than Mike. She lived across the hall from me my first year at Drake. She and Mike got to know each other through pharmacy school, and the three of us have remained friends ever since. Now Mike and Colleen work together at Hy-Vee, and our families remain close. We had our first children together, just 3 months apart, both boys. Here's to 12 years of friendship and counting!

Eating homemade pizza


Jack (5 and a half), Benj (3 and 3/4), Caleb (5 and 1/3), Maggie (20 months), and Gavin (2 1/2)








You know it's been a long day when the kids start stripping their clothes and running around crazy

Zombified

With Mike working today, I racked my brain for something to get out and do with the kiddos. I decided on the Botanical Center since we haven't been there in ages. We drove downtown and discovered parked cars up and down the street. I couldn't find one spot to park, much less did I want to brave the masses with my 3 on my own. Hmm, maybe there was a wedding or garden show? So I found myself downtown wondering what to do with them. No ice skating....did science center a couple days ago... well, it was lunch time, so how about...Zombie Burger? I'm crazy, yes. But I ONLY braved that joint because I drove by and saw several empty tables in the carry-out side. (For those who aren't from DSM, this is the newest hip spot, and 2 hour waits are standard). The boys did relatively well, until Gavin through his spoon across the room. Still, we made it work. In hindsight, though, the Botantical Center would've been better. Eating out with these 3 isn't ever a cinch, and with only 1 adult to manage the chaos, I will admit I left pretty frazzled. Still got to eat some super fattening yumminess, though!

winter visit to the zoo

We don't typically utilize our zoo membership in the winter, but I decided that there's really no reason not to when the weather is in the mid-40s. It was a nice little outing. Not as many animals out, of course, but was SO not busy. Very leisurely and fun as a family outing. We got to see the new and completed seal/sea lion area, which is going to be lots of fun in the summertime. We saw the sea lions do their daily tricks for fish, too, which is always fun. I was actually surprised at how many animals were still out in the cooler weather. We got to hear all four kookaburras do their witch cackle crow, which was totally zany. Good stuff!


This is an interesting way of using a trash can...









My favorite, favorite animal at the zoo is the red panda. Ooh, I just want to snuggle his little squishy face.


For three days in a row now, we have been out doing sidewalk chalk. Our driveway is very colorful. Our typical mid-afternoon "outing" this week starts with suiting up in snow boots and coats, tromping to get the mail down the street, and then stopping several times on the walk back to jump in puddles. Then we end up in the driveway doing sidewalk chalk. Finally, we move into the garage where they strip off their muddy, chalky, wet clothes and run up to the bath (at 4pm). Let's here it for routine!

surrounded by super heroes

just another day amongst some terribly courageous souls

three cheers...

...for encouraging my boys to learn to take on their own responsibilities.

vision board

i'm not a crafty person. i'm really, really not. and i don't consider myself creative, either. so when my wisdom circle group chose to do vision boards last month, i went a little begrudgingly. because i like chatting with women, over wine, about things that matter. but i'm not nearly as stoked about crafting [about things that matter]. still, it was useful. and this is what i now stare at every morning while i shower:



i'm not sure i really finished it, but it works. obviously i'm very focused this year on taking a relaxing trip with my husband for our 10th anniversary :) we are hoping to make this happen after gavy turns three, so that the chances of him having potty-trained ...and consistently sleeping through the night... will be high enough that all grandparents will agree to tandem baby-sit while we leave. we're shooting for october or november, so that should give them time to warm up to the idea....right?? of course i love fall and hate to leave during it, even for a child-free trip to a beach. but it'd be great if this happened in 2012 so that it still counted four our 10th anniversary.

we've given up on some of the big plans of before, like fiji, or hawaii, or ireland, because of the travel time. chances are our parents won't agree to an extended trip, so 5 days may be all we get. mike is pretty into the idea of a beach resort, though, so we may still go international. maybe caribbean (and island i *haven't* been to, please) or central america. i think i need to look up what airlines take direct flights from des moines to these types of places. ideally we need something where we could leave early morning and arrive by early afternoon, so we wouldn't have to spend 2 full vacation days traveling. anyone have ideas? i would love costa rica or belize, but i'm guessing there will be no "quick" flights from des moines. anyone have favorite places not too far from home?

A smattering of fun

Usually I dread Wednesdays since Mike works all evening, thus it's the Mommy Show all day long. But today the weather was in the mid-40's, so we got out to kill the winter blues and had a little creative fun.




Who knew sidewalk chalk could add so much to a snow man? We're calling it the polka-dotted pig.


The fun continued in the driveway. Here Jack drew himself with his brothers, and it reads "Jack, Benja, Gavin."


And, because I have neglected the kiTTies a bit since the kiDDies war born, here is a shot of Lucy in the kitchen sink, where she apparently was trying to drink from the faucet.

Heartfelt Valentines Greetings

We started making valentines back in early January. I knew it would take that long to get enough made for everyone in each of the older boys' preschool classes, plus for non-preschool friends and family. The kids were super excited for the first several days about cutting the hearts, gluing the smaller hearts, and writing out the names. But eagerness faded when we hit week #2 and still had a lot to do. At least 50 homemade valentines have been produced thus far at our dining room table, so I'm overjoyed at the incredible cuteness that abounds in our kitchen right now, but totally understanding of the fact that they are OVER IT at this point :)


Jack experimented with cutting his own hair at this little crafting period


We enjoyed making and decorating valentine's cookies at the house of the Giles family. Ann Marie is expecting boy #4 in a couple months. I expect to feel a lot less stressed about the level of chaos at our house after I visit their house this summer.




Cute little Joseph used every decorating tool we had available to embellish his cookie.



We had a valentine's brunch at my parents house this weekend and I got creative with my pastries:

Gavin found and tried on my old cowboy boots. He was singing "Heart Breaker, Dream Maker!" (a la his shirt):

Earlier this week my mom and I took a class at a local bead store on "cold connection" jewelry riveting. We made the earrings we are wearing here. Mine required the use of both a hammer and fire. Who can beat that?



Jack loves using the camera. I discovered dozens of photos on the camera, taken all over my parents' house. Toilet, hand towel, bed, shelf, cat, and so on. I saved a few with people in them :) ....