Valentine's Day

Honestly, Valentine's Day was a little anticlimatic this year.  Troy and I enjoyed a lunch date on Monday, thanks to Babi watching the kids.

I actually got creative with the boys' Valentine bags this year:

 I don't know what this look is for.

 My attempt at a fun, V-day snack.

A camping party

Reef's best friend, Ethan, decided on a camping party this year.  Reef (and Jonas) were pretty excited about this all boy time together.  Troy wasn't super excited that the weather turned cold just in time for the party, but they made the best of it.

Apparently, Reef was an archer in a past life.

No camping trip is complete without smores!

In the tent, where pretty much no sleep happened!

 

Troy said they were exhausted but had a great time!  Thanks for inviting us, Ethan!

Trip to Conroe

Lachlan, Poppy, and I took a quick trip to Conroe while the big boys went to a camping party with their friends and their daddy.  It was kind of fun being with just the "littles".  Lachlan was excited ALL week, and Poppy mimicked him everytime with "Gigi!"

The ride went great for Lachlan, especially considering I forgot his dramamine.  Poppy, unfortunately, threw up at the halfway mark.  We made great time after a quick stop to change clothes and clean that carseat the best we could.  Boy, was I ready to be out of the car!

Saturday morning was an early one, and we enjoyed a Cracker Barrel breakfast with my dad, Mr. Jerry.

Then we headed to the mall for a little playing, shopping, and lunch with Gigi. 

These guys really enjoyed the play area; it was the perfect size for their ages!

 Trust me when I tell you these were happy faces.

 Oh, a baby!  My favorite!  Poppy was pretty excited to see cousin Lila.

 He loved the carousel.

 A rare moment when Jacob stops moving long enough for a picture!  Poppy, by the way, wanted nothing to do with that cow.

 

After nap, we played until we headed to dinner with the whole clan, except Aunt Cathy who we missed.

On Sunday, we packed up early and met Joe and Lisa for breakfast at Panera Bread.

The ride home went perfectly!  Poppy and Lachlan both did great, stayed awake, and, most importantly, did NOT throw up!  It was a fast and furious trip, but we loved spending time together and with our family!

Zoo Trip!

It's been 2 years since we had a zoo pass.  I decided to put the kids' Christmas gift cards from aunt towards a new pass.  Our first trip with the Torres's went great!

My clan on the lions.

 The best I could get of all 5; Eli stayed in the stroller.

 We ran into lots of docents on this trip, all eager to share information the kids.
We learned about tarantulas...

 and this Australian stick bug.  Poppy, by the way, wanted to take this home.

Checking out the crocodile.

The usual elephant statue photo.

 She was a fan.

 These guys had an argument about who got to be in the front.  They still weren't quite ready to be friends again yet here.

 He was trying to smile!

  I was shocked she got this close to this pig!

 The giant anteater.  He was been much sought after for a couple of years and finally made an appearance for my kids!

 

We had a great time!  Who wants to go with us next time?

Dates for January

For Christmas, the kids got an envelope full of "date" cards in their stockings. 

Forgive this picture.  Like I said, the camera and I aren't friends right now!

 Each envelope has 6 dates with Mom and 6 dates with Dad.  They're for stuff like trips to the park, bike rides, ice cream, etc.  Each week, the assigned child gets to pick out their date for the month.  This is our attempt to be intentional about giving each child time alone with each parent.
Reef got to choose first for January, and he picked IHOP with Daddy.  Troy came home at 7:00am one day and whisked him away.

No kids meal for this guy.  He went for the cinnamon roll pancakes!  He was nice enough to bring some home to share with his brothers and sister.

The next week was Jonas's turn.  What do you think he chose?

Yep, IHOP with Daddy, just like Reef.

 Jonas also went for the cinnamon roll pancakes (are you sensing a theme here?), but, unlike Reef, he ate every bite!

Lachlan planned all month that he would be going on a date with Mommy.  He stayed true to his word and picked a park date with me.

We started off with a special banana-M&M-pretzel snack, courtesy of Pinterest.

My attempt at a picture together. My arm wasn't quite long enough and he wasn't in the mood for another try.

The park was actually CRAZY crowded, so we headed to the library instead.  He really enjoyed getting to pick out books with just me.

 Poppy's date was supposed to be to the bookstore, but life got busy.  So, we headed to her friend Lyla's house to pick up a box of clothes.  She liked it, but wouldn't tolerate a picture until we got home.

Troy and I really enjoyed our one-on-one time and can't wait till the next round of dates!

Gymnastics

Back in the Fall, we told Reef he could try out a few activities to see what he liked.  We really wanted to get him some extra socialization in.  He tried cub scouts, but we didn't love it.  He also tried Tae Kwon Do once, which he did enjoy.  His third option was gymnastics, but the fall got crazy, so he didn't get to try it until last week, though he nagged about it weekly until then.

He walked in after his class, which he calls his "try out", and declared that this was the one!  His trial class was a private lesson, but his usual class has 3 other boys in it.

His coach says he's a natural!

Troy snapped these on his phone since I stayed home with the others:

On the pommel horse.

 Upside down on the rings.

If you know what a monkey this child is, then you know this is right up his alley!  He's been practicing rolls, handstands, cartwheels, and backbends all week and has the best splits in his class!

Family visits in January

In January, both my dad and my mom came to visit! 

My dad (Mr. Jerry) came just afer New Years.  The kids were so excited to see him and show off all their toys.  We celebrated his visit with a trip to Fuddruckers, my favorite restaurant as a little girl.  Only Reef shares my love of the cheese sauce, though!  My dad brought Poppy my cabbage patch doll from 25 years ago; she was in love!  Lachlan was pretty sick while Mr. Jerry was here and even fell asleep at the restaurant!  This is the first time he's stayed the night, and we all enjoyed the extended visit.

A couple weeks later, Gigi and Mr. Don came to town!  The kids are always excited to see them.  The boys lured Mr. Don into the lego room and we weren't sure he would ever make it out.  We spent Saturday hanging out, eating at Chick Fil A, and, of course, reading books!

 

I was so thankful they all got to visit!  Hopefully we'll be seeing Aunt Taylor and Grandma soon, too!

Mini Me

Oh, this girl is in the "imitation" phase!  She is frequently found copying things she's seen the other members of our family doing:

Carrying my wallet.

 Coming in from shopping.

Wearing big boy undies and socks.

What, you don't wear yours over your clothes?
She definitely marches to a different beat!

More Christmas Day fun

I realize that it is now February (!), but I'm still catching up on December!  Oh, well...Shouldn't take long to do January anyway since my camera and I were not friends.

After breakfast on Christmas morning, we headed to a park with a nice sidewalk for some scooter-ing.

The playscape actually got more love than the scooters.

 But Jonas and Reef did make a few loops.

After fun at the park, we headed to the Redbox.  Troy and I decided to treat the kids to a double feature Christmas:  Brave and Madagascar 3.

It felt weird, but we spent Christmas evening on our own this year.  Usually we're with the Torres's or out of town, I guess.
Our extravagant menu included: pizza puffs, pigs in a blanket, fried pickles and chicken wings.

Not our healthiest meal, I admit.

We ate all that fabulousness (plus some veggies) while watching the second movie in our 2-movie-Christmas: Madagascar 3.

What a great day it was!