Joanna's Birthday Party Blizzard

So...get used to it, January Birthday Girl...you might just have a blizzard try to ruin your party! It seriously decided to snow about a foot today...but did that stop our super rager from happening?? No way, Jose! We just moved it to our basement instead! We headed over to the community clubhouse (Nemetz Gazebo) around two and there was just no way it was going to work out there. They didn't plow the parking lot like they said they would and it just wasn't worth getting stuck out there. So, last minute, we made an executive; sensible parent-type decision to move the festivities to our basement. Luckily, we caught everyone in time and they all still made it over. (My poor neighbors, though...) The kids had a blast in the jumpy-house (that thing is going to be SO cool for future rainy, cold, snowy, if-you-don't-get-out-some-energy-now-I'm-going-to-pull-my-hair-out type days! Hooray!) and I just absolutely adore every one of Joanna's new friends. Paxton, Daylan and Logan were the ones that made it from Joanna's school...what little sweethearts. Paxton actually got Nate a little present, too! His mom said he thought of it himself, isn't that so sweet?? (I actually think the fact that his mom wouldn't let him get Joanna a helocopter might have had something to do with it.) We also had Graham, Katriauna, Faith, Elena, Alexis and Isabelle. It was a little hectic at first because since we had to move it to our basement, it was not at all set up when everyone got there, but once we worked some kinks out (Terry and Ray ran up to MWR and got us a big table and a bunch of chairs) we had a lot of fun. Phew, I'm exhausted! :)

Yay Birthday Girl!

Make a wish!
Aw, party's over
Brother, help me!
Paxton
Daylan
Present time!
My new helocopter from Paxton!

Happy Birthday, Joanna Hope!!

I can't believe she's 5!! That's big-time! She had a good day. We took some brownies to school and they had a little party there for her. All the kids signed a card for her, it is so cute. Paxton drew her a picture of a helocopter and Logan drew her a picture of a Transformer. She opened presents and then we went to the pizza parlor for dinner, where we met up with The Smiths and the Baileys. Ate some pizza and ice cream...all good stuff. All in all, I would say it was a very good day...every January 25th is always a very good day.

Yay, presents!

Isn't Brother such a good helper? Birthday hugs

Stayin' Alive

I totally copied (I mean I was inspired by) Christie, but I love this song and had to make a video of the kids dancing to it.

Duck Feathers

Nerd Alert!

I (finally) got my new glasses. I can see! Wow, I can't believe I went this long without them. By "this long" I mean since I sat on my old ones in Green Bay! Why did I torture myself for that long? When I drove home from town today I was amazed at how much quicker I was able to read road signs. This is a good thing! HA! So...on another note, the weather is pretty nice here, today. By "nice" I mean upper 30's and clear skies. It makes me want to go outside! The ice is melting, but it's still pretty slick out there. We went and got some paint sample cards today...I'm going to paint a wall in my dining room green. This house needs some color. Not too much going on...I guess that's all for now! :)

Our Busy Saturday

We had a very busy Saturday. First off, I got up early and went to water aerobics with my friend Sonia at 8:30. It seriously felt like I was going at 3:00 a.m. because it was still so dark! Then Joanna had her first swimming lesson at 11:00. She's in level 2 and did GREAT! She was excited because level 2 kids go in the big pool and not the kiddie one. I brought the camera, but the batteries were dead. Totally lame. Oh well, there's always next week! After that, we went to WalMart to get new bedding for a certain birthday-girl we know and a little-big-boy who wanted McQueen pillows for his new big-boy bed! Joanna picked out Ariel comforter/sheets and (of course) Nate picked McQueen. We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening moving the crib out (*SNIFF*) and setting up the new bed(s). It's a 3-day weekend, so who knows what we'll be up to next! (Go Packers tomorrow!!!)

Nate in his new McQueen bed.

Joanna enjoying her new Under the Sea motif.

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

We played Hungry, Hungry Hippos tonight before the kids went to bed. It was super fun, and Nate was cracking us up with the funny faces he was making. He kept saying "Aw...I not win!" when he lost the round and "Ya...I win, you not beat me!" when he would win. It was pretty funny. Here are some pictures I took of all the fun. (I'm not in them because I'm taking the pictures.)

An intense round...

Go Nate!
Joanna counting her marbles.

Our Outing for the Day

We went to the library today with Christie and Graham. The kids had fun playing with puzzles and other toys. The library here actually has a surprisingly well-stocked kids section. Christie and I reminisced about books we loved as children. We have eerily similar taste in a lot of things, but that's a subject that deserves it's own post! :) Here's some pictures I snapped during our outing.

Joanna and Graham doing puzzles.

Nate being his cute self.
The three of us.
Joanna at the McDonalds playground slide.
Nate's turn!
The Three Amigos!

Yesterday...

Yesterday we went to our friend Elena's 1st Birthday party. It was so cute, and it reminded me of when Joanna and Nathan were that little. We didn't have our digital camera when Joanna turned one (I know, isn't it weird to think there was a time when we didn't have a digital camera?), but here are some of the first pictures I ever took of her after we got it. She was 14 months old.

Walking in the pink Cowgirl boots in front of the townhouse in Eureka.

The first picture we took after we bought our digital camera. Look at her hair! Why didn't I at least brush it out of her eyes?? I bet Jake took this picture. I would have brushed her hair out of her face. :)

Nate opening presents on his 1st birthday.

Going for the cupcake!

Do you want to know what it looks like here today?

It's cold, somewhat clear and the sun just came up about 40 minutes ago. (Yes, the sun rises here at around 10:00 a.m.) Joanna's going to school at noon and I'm going to take Nate over to Graham's house to play for a while. We were going to go to the pool before school, but that just did not happen. I swear, some days it's so hard to be motivated to do anything out of the house before noon. Don't worry, it does happen, but today was just not one of those days. :P

So cute...

Brother didn't want to take a nap the other day, so Jake said, "Come on and take a nap with Daddy". This is the result...I couldn't help but snap a picture. :)

picture test

This is a test

of the emergency blogging system.