February Wrap Up

Sometimes things happen and days turn into weeks around here. Have you noticed?

While I had the best of intentions to post birthday and Valentine's photos last week, a bad tummy bug hit a couple of us here. It's odd for me to get sick and then even though I was technically 'down' and had so much time on my hands, I still wasn't feeling well enough to even pick up a book to read.
So there goes any productivity, even on the sickbed. Sad and unfortunate.

Finally bouncing back and praying to the good Lord that the last three remain unscathed, I'll quickly try to attempt a wrap up via photos and we'll call February finished even if the calendar says it's not quite.


Two days of fun began with our homeschool group's annual sledding Valentine's party.

The big kids each made Valentines boxes for the exchange with the other kids. Each of them created their own themed box and used their unique creativity (and the help of Pinterest).

Lily went with the Frozen theme and did Elsa's castle in box form. Surprisingly, no other kids went with Frozen so hers was unique. 

Jonah is my super-creative, sometimes over the top, but has trouble putting his B-I-G ideas into action, child. He wanted to go with the Lego movie theme and created the Double Decker Valentines box. (click the photo to see the speech bubbles)

Another project knocked out of the park and completed on time. 

Again, another unique box among the others. 

The following day was Valentine's Day and our parish's annual Winter Carnival, an all afternoon and evening affair. The worst part was that the temperature was frigid cold and the actual lack of snow put a damper on some of the outdoor activities. 

There were indoor and outdoor games for the kids along with horse drawn wagon rides through town as well. The little kids especially enjoy the indoor games with prizes and the creation station activities. 

The kids warmed up by the bonfire outside during the scavenger hunt Reed put together. 

In the evening, our Bishop joined us for Mass and chili supper. A tradition our priest, Fr. M started last year was an evening movie with the kids. This year it was Big Hero 6. The kids think it's a pretty big deal to watch the movie with the priest and at church. 

Before Mass, we've also started the tradition of doing a pinata. 

You may remember Olaf from last year when we watched the Frozen movie?

This year one of the moms who helps plan the event made the cat from Big Hero 6, Mochi. It was pretty awesome and must have taken a lot of time. 

As with last year. another huge hit and another successful winter carnival.

The following two days were when Margaret got sick and I followed. Feeling like we'd both bounced back, Tuesday was Gianna's 4th birthday. No birthday post for my sweet girl because I hadn't had time to prepare it, but we did a little bit of celebrating. Since we'd already celebrated the two girls together, her birthday was simplified and my parents spent the day with us. 

I was still on the mend and hadn't any idea the next couple days that followed I'd relapse with the ickies. Please pardon the less than stellar family photo, but I guess they can't all be perfect. 

Now you know how we roll around here. 

With that, we survived the next few days and I had one more down for Thursday. 

How's your Lent going so far? Let's just say mine has started off with knocking me down and running me through the wringer. I joked with someone when I said I thought Ash Wednesday was perhaps my last. That evening I was pretty sure that the next 39 days of Lent were gonna be smooth after that ride. 

We had one or two days with temps in upper teens and then the cold blast is going to be here again. 

I guess we're getting the cold January weather in February instead. Crazy winter!

We took advantage of the sunshine and bundled up to at least get some fresh air. 

After last week being cooped up, I needed it.

The girls didn't want to come inside and instead looked at me through the door as I warmed up indoors. 

Poor girls, they just want to be outdoors running around like hooligans and riding trikes and bikes again. 

Heck, I do too. 

Here's to March around the corner and warmer days at my window. 

February Fun

It's that time of year again when we are just about ready to scream, put up the white surrender flag and give in to the winter blahs. The calendar tells us it's February and if you're a homeschool mom you know exactly how many days of school are left (ahem, that would be 74 for us).

Thankfully, this winter has been bearable. Besides that, God knew what He was doing when he blessed and surprised us with two sweethearts born this month. Just the idea of having two birthdays to celebrate, however low key and simplified we do them, they are still celebrations to look forward to. They are two very wonderful reasons to get my act together, stay on task with birthday planning/gift buying, and the days swirl by at rapid speed.

Last week we celebrated birthday #1 and enjoyed pink velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting, decorated with candy Olafs and snowflakes (thank you, clearance aisle). They were a hit!

So were her dress up clothes she received as a birthday gift from us. It seemed odd that she was even more excited over the Firefighter dress up clothes than the Elsa dress. 

She was one happy three year old, content with yummy cupcakes and gifts on her birthday day. 

This past weekend fell smack dab between the girls' birthdays and we celebrated their birthdays with a few family members. 

You better bet there was a Frozen cake!

I went with store bought and had them keep it decorated minimally with just snowflakes/sprinkles. I had found a set of Frozen character toys online that I thought would serve well as cake toppers and toys afterward.  Always thinking I am. 

They worked and the girls were happy to find out that they could play with them later. 

Don't even ask why they are on the counter posing with the cake. They insisted on it. 

Odd angle much?

These crazy girls, my Irish twins. They certainly are hard to capture lately with smiles and looking at mom with the camera. 

Silly Sisterly Love.

You know us, we'll celebrate at least one more time next week on Gianna's birthday day too. 

It falls on Mardi Gras this year, so there's sure to be more cupcakes and other treats to consume before Ash Wednesday.

In the meantime, this week is all about planning for Friday and Saturday.  Besides setting up/decorating and some cooking for our parish Winter Carnival, we're heading to our homeschool group Valentine's Day sledding party get together on Friday. 

Speaking of, are you looking for printable Frozen Valentines?

There are cute FREE ones over here.

How about Minecraft Valentines?

Scroll down to find them over here.

Saturday you'll find us at our church stirring the chili, snacking on munchies, playing games, hitting the pinata, having Mass with the Bishop, consuming the chili and watching Big Hero 6. 

We're celebrating Big before Lent hits next week.

What are your plans this week? Are you preparing for Lent? 

Let me know since I'm going to need a little help getting around to all that preparing. 

This Girl: She's Three Today

 This Girl. She's my Groundhog Day or my Feast of the Presentation baby.

Whichever I call her, she's one of my most favorite surprises. 

And she knows it.

This Girl. Is one of the sweetest, most hilarious little girls. 

Except when she isn't. And she gets a little grumpy.

This Girl. Will melt your heart with that girly voice, those eyelashes and her big hugs.

Except when she shrieks at the top of her lungs, makes your heart jump out of your chest and scares you half to death. Every day.

This Girl. She's crazy and silly, but can she can also be sensitive. 

She likes to tag along with her siblings, tries to be included in most everything we're doing and doesn't like to be left out. 

This Girl. Loves Olaf and in a way her sweetness and fun nature kind of make her our own little Olaf.

And so she'll get cupcakes with Olaf on them today to celebrate. 

This Girl. Had me at Hello, just like all the others.

Three years in and she certainly remains my gem. 

Happy Birthday to my Margaret Anne!

For two weeks I'll be the mom of "twins" once again with two three year olds in my household. 

It's kind of fun to say that each year. It makes me chuckle at what mighty plans God has that He delivers in the form of a baby, even when you least expect them. 

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Toddler Girls

Some days you capture them at just the right moment. There the moment is frozen in time. In that caught moment a mother's heart breaks just a little because she sees that her babies grew up. With hardly a glance back and without warning, they moved on.

In the midst of a still needy season, I often forget that these days will not always be here.

I wish those sweet cheeks could always stay mom-kissable.

These are the two I waited for. These are the girls that I thought may never come. These are the children God knew needed me most and He borrowed them to me.

This is the reminder I cling to today because these two are a bucketful of energy that zap every morsel of mine. 

But they are so.stinkin.cute.

She's Not A Baby Any More

Can you believe this girl turned TWO over the weekend?

You remember that day when I introduced her to you, right? You know, yesterday.

Except that yesterday was two years ago. 

Oh how we love this girl! We are celebrating a joint birthday for the little girls in a couple weeks, closer to Gianna's birthday. We still had to at least do a bit of celebrating to mark her entrance into this big world.

With a birthday on the Feast of the Presentation, how could we not eat and celebrate one way or another?

I prepared Breakfast Enchiladas for brunch after Mass. 

It was a HUGE hit and I highly recommend it as it's super duper easy!

Mommy and Daddy looking quite a bit different than two years ago. Maybe we've aged well. Perhaps.

Up until the last minute I really had no idea what I was going to do for her cake. 

Poor 4th child.

All I knew was that I had bought cake mix (again, bad mom) and a bag of Valentine colored M&Ms that I was somehow going to use. No, it was not going to be a very Pinterest-y birthday with theme and matching, but hopefully she doesn't care too much.

We ended up inviting Margaret's Godparents and their girls over for impromptu cake after brunch.

We'll catch the grandparents and maybe a few other family members in a couple weeks at the actual party for both Margaret and Gianna.

Do I sound like I'm feeling guilty at all here?

(Who gave this woman her Mom Badge? Clearly, not well earned in the bday dept.)

She looks like she enjoyed it, don't ya think?

I ended up feeling inspired (if you can call it that) and had Gianna help me separate the M&Ms by color before Mass. I then whipped up the Two Ingredient Buttercream Frosting that I now swear by and we had that cake all decorated by 8 am before shuffling off to Mass.

It was yummy, if I do say so myself.

The afternoon was pretty uneventful with only a quick nap for the Birthday Princess and her royal sister. 

The older kids were gone with dad snow tubing with their 4-H group, so it was just me and the girls holdin' down the fort.

What an afternoon to hang out in the kitchen and make a huge mess have a blast with Playdoh.

And now I have two TWO year olds in my house for the next 15 days. 

If the next two weeks are anything like the last month, they will be living up to their newly coined name:

The TWO Toddler Tornado Twins.

Yup, it will be gettin' real up in here.

Hang on mama.

Wordless Wednesday: So Lovable

Let's Hear It For The Girls

After the snowstorm last weekend ruined our birthday party plans, the big party finally happened this past weekend. Hooray!

The guests were limited compared to the original invite list due to the date change. None the less, we partied in all our pink and red, snowflakes and hearts any way.

This way we were able to celebrate on Gianna's actual birthday day, so it worked out well in the end.

The 2 year old Birthday Girl:

The 1 year old Birthday Girl:

Here are the tissue paper pom poms hanging over the dining room table:

Sunday morning, the kids helped me dip marshmallow pops. Super easy, cute and pretty darn tasty too.

Big hit with the kids!

All set up and ready for company. The snacks we served were Chex mix and homemade caramel corn that the guests put in the cones I'd made.

Red velvet cupcakes using a box cake mix, but made them to taste like the bakery version. 

Strawberry revel ice cream frozen in a sheet pan and then cut out with heart shaped cookie cutter.

There was singing....

(for some reason the big birthday girl insisted on her HUGE teddy bear sitting beside her and all of her blankets near her)

One Birthday Girl ate daintily with a fork and enjoyed her cake.

The other Birthday Girl preferred her cake well smashed, but enjoyed it just as much.

Thanks to family, friends and Pinterest, we enjoyed a very fun and girly birthday bash.

It was a good day to honor two very special little girls.

A very good day indeed.

I Won't Be Quitting My Day Job

I enjoy taking photos and of course my kids are my favorite victims subjects.

But you just never know what you're going to get when you set out for a Saturday morning photo shoot.

Oh heck, their cute. Just not perfect and easy to tease with the camera.

Two year old photo shoot Gianna style :

She was real eager to please, can't you tell? Stinker.

I wanted to try just a couple with the necklaces, but wouldn't you know she would not let me take them off. Of course.

Click, click, point, shoot, click, click. Maybe I'll get something that will work.

One of these may do it. 

Suddenly she's almost two going on seventeen. Good grief, what is it with these photos? 

Maybe it was the clean hair, the hair clip or maybe the necklaces.

My 'blonde-ish', blue eyed girl just grew up right in front of my camera.

I almost wept.

So I moved on to trying my hand at the one year old with a pretty puffy pink dress.

You can tell she *loved* that idea.

Every photo was caught with her and the TV remote in her hand. It was the lure to get her to have her photos, but of course we couldn't pry it out of her hands after that.

*sigh*

I don't think I'll worry about my photography business taking off any time soon.

I better just stick to the Mommy gig instead.

*Note: I promise one day you'll stop by here and not see a gratuitous photo post of my little girls. I really do have more things going on in my brain to write about, it's just that those posts take longer to compose. And again, lest you worry I've shipped my big kids off to college, they still live here. They just get a little more tired of me taking their pictures.

Almost Twins, But Not Quite

I currently have two one year olds living under my roof. 

My Irish twins are both one year old for about two weeks. 

This is how it will forever be. The little girls will always be the same age for two whole weeks. 

A year ago, that freaked me out.

This year, it's kind of funny.

Only God in his infinite wisdom (and Divine sense of humor) could have come up with something this good.

Several years ago, this would have only been a dream and never thought of as a reality.

Blessed we are, don't you think?

Blessed because we get to treasure precious birthdays two more times than we thought we would.

Blessed because we get to laugh at silly girly faces. Times two.

And watch as that baby wonders what on earth we are doing singing and putting fire in front of her.

Blessed that a big brother has another little sister to look up to him (although he doesn't think it's so great, right now at least).

Blessed for lots of birthdays and lots of cake that we'll consume times two, every February.

Who couldn't help but smile at that?