Sledding and Gaming

When I was kid one of the best surprises was when my mother would wake me up in the morning and tell me it was a snow day.  I would look out my window and see 3-5 inches or so and remember thinking it was the best day ever. 

Today, I got to surprise my children with snow outside.  It was already a canceled day of school and our 4th day off, but my little ones didn't know it was supposed to snow.  And I had no idea it was going to snow 6+ inches.

The snow was a powdery mix and perfect for sledding.  This was our first sledding adventure and we had a perfect time.  

 Brent had a great time.  He had a hard time getting back up the hill at first, but when he finally figured it out, he would be so proud and say I made it to the top!  Check out his snow covered gloves.  He didn't care.  He didn't complain not one time!

 Here is Caitlyn and a friend sledding down a hill.  We had a number of sledding apparatus's (sp?) and each one was so much fun!

 We brought the top of our recycling container and I was a bit worried about how it would work.  It was the fastest and one of the top in demand to slide down the hill!

 Caitlyn and I are getting ready to go down the hill. 

 Here we are at the bottom!

 At one point, my best friend Jenn went down on the same lid and was going so fast she almost wiped out Brent but instead picked up Brent, threw him in her lap and they continued to the bottom.  Thank goodness for her fast moving and thinking.  Wish I could have gotten that on camera!

 To get up the hill took a lot of work.  The snow was packed down very good and it was very slick!

 Brent also enjoyed running and jumping in the snow!

 I love how they love each other so much!  Even after 4 days of togetherness!!!

 Down, down, down!

 Here goes mom, fast first!  That green floaty, was super fast and I went so fast right into all those bushes!  Awesome.

I was kind of dreading bundling up the kids and getting out in the cold.  I mean it is a lot of work.  But I had just as much fun as the kids and I did get to wear my snow boots!  I am ready to go again tomorrow.

 When we aren't playing in the snow, we are playing board games. 

 Brent has gotten very good at this Thomas the Tank Engine game.  It helps him recognize dots on a dice without counting them, numerals to 4 and matching.  Not to mention, waiting his turn and being happy for others when they win.  Oh yes, Caitlyn can still work on that too.

This is what I call a good time and what memories are made of. 

Maverick Maniacs!

Jeff took Caitlyn to the Mavericks game for her birthday.  They got our dear friends seats and were able to sit court side. It was easy to spot her on tv with her red hair and purple outfit.  Jeff said she enjoyed dancing!  This is one of her typical new poses, which is actually better than one of her other poses, not smiling.  Unfortunately later this night/early the next morning she got sick with a stomach bug and we had to cancel postpone her birthday party.

We took the kids to the Mavs game on Monday night.  We had seats in the nosebleeds fthis time.  This was Brent's first time and he couldn't wait to get into the arena.  I tried to get a cute picture of the two of them with no success, no smile and blurry. 

Here was our view.  Much different from Caitlyn's view the other night (which was her first time to the game).

Our dear friends decided at the last minute not to use their floor seats so Jeff and Brent got to use the court side seats.  Brent was pumped up!  Or should I say, Jeff was pumped up!  Brent was really into the game.  He cheered when the right team made a basket, knew when to yell defense and was into the game the entire time. 

 Jeff bought him the jersey the other night when he brought Caitlyn.  Brent was so proud of it and wanted to wear it the entire weekend.  We would only let him wear it to school and he was telling all of his teachers about the game.  When Jeff picked him up from school, he ran out saying, "I'm so excited!"  Caitlyn would have nothing to do with the jerseys, they were for boys!

At half time the girls kicked the boys out of the court side seats.  Even far away from the court Brent loved the game and was into every bit of it.  Jeff loves that his boy loves football, baseball, basketball and of course hunting!  I guess he will have to get into pedicures real fast too!

 Caitlyn of course loved dancing and making silly faces on the camera!

She is so silly!  It was a fun night and we planned a late night out perfectly because we had the next day off of school to sleep in.

Random: A Dog, puppy and a wolf

Jeff was so proud of Caitlyn's drawing of her dog.  I love this picture of Caitlyn too!

Cali, our yellow lab, does not our new puppy Sadie.  Cali is 11 years old and enjoys sleeping all day, so any bother in her world is quite upsetting. This picture is priceless and dated (oops!)

Check out this cute little wolf.  I love these slippers that his daddy got for him.  They have been an essential these past couple days plus they howl!!

Six Wonderful Years

 Caitlyn Faith turned 6 last week.  Every birthday I say the same thing, "It is so hard to believe!"   The years have flown by so quickly.

Cailtyn is such a fun loving girl.  She absolutely adores her brother.  She loves to dress up and dance.  She loves to play Barbies, write cards to everyone, color and make crafts.  She is a pro at the computer and my cell phone!  She is picking up very fast on reading and loves to do homework (which she doesn't have but makes up).  She will play football with her daddy and Brent and she can still tackle Brent just about every time.  She is pretty responsible for a 6 year old and I am so proud of her!

She has made these past 6 years the best years of my life. 

A Few New Things

We've had some opportunities that we'd rather not have had.  We just had to buy a new hot water heater and now a new garage door.  UGH!  Oh well.  At least we were able to get this door replaced the day before the temperatures plummeted into the teens.  And on the plus side our new door is much quieter!

Teddy Bear Sleepover

 Caitlyn has been studying about bears in Kindergarten.  They invited all the kindergartners back to school last Thursday for a Teddy Bear Sleepover. 

Jeff took Caitlyn.  First they measured their teddy bears.

 They drew pictures of their bears (or in her case her dog).  Jeff took that picture on his phone.  She did a really good job so imagine that in your head!  They estimated how many gummy bears in a jar on their table.  They ate teddy bear cookies.

 They wrote their teddy bear a note.  Caitlyn's said, Bear don't be scare of night.

 Their teacher read them a bedtime story.

 And then they put their beds to bed.  The next morning they had to go to the gym first so they wouldn't wake their bears. 

 But the bears had other plans!  They didn't sleep.  When the kids walked in the music was blaring and I've never seen kids so quiet and in such awe!!!

 Caitlyn told her Mimi later that the bears ordered pizza and had popcorn.

 They obviously made a wreck of the room.

 Caitlyn's bear/dog was on top of the cabinet.  Her dog told her that he didn't make any of the mess but that he just got of there and watched. 

 There were bears hanging from the ceiling too.

The kids got had to clean up after their bears. Caitlyn loved it and will have memories for years! 

Great Wolf Lodge 2011

We took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge a couple weekends ago and boy did we have fun. It was amazing to realize though that the last time we were there we had to have a play pin and high chair for Brent. This time he slept in a bunk bed, ate in a regular chair and didn't even wear a life jacket. Caitlyn was even tall enough for some of the big slides with inter tubes and she loved it!

 Caitlyn and Brent loved every minute of it!  Slides, splashing and tons of swimming.

 Caitlyn even loved the hot tub - to which I said, "yes!!!!"

 Both of children are becoming quite comfortable with under water swimming!  And I must say that it is nice not having Caitlyn cling to me anymore in the pool.

 When I asked Brent what his favorite part of the water park was he said it was going underwater!

 This was Caitlyn and Daddy after going down one of the bigger water slides.  After I talked her into going down one the first day, her first words when we finished were - let's go again!!!

 Brent loved running and jumping in the wave pool!

 Daddy thought it would be fun to treat Caitlyn to getting her nails done.  I love that he is so thoughtful!

Brent found out 2 things.  Going down on his tummy was fun.  Getting a running start was not so good.