St. Valentine's Day parties

 Teresa & I went to school for the afternoon to be a part of all the fun in Andrew & Rebecca's classrooms.  We hopped back & forth between parties. 

Here are the Kindergartners in an intense game of Valentine BINGO.

The 2nd graders decorated their own cookies & then turned their water pink with drink mix before devouring.  Nice face, Andrew.

 We tried some Minute to Win It games with them.  They balanced lemons on a spoon to race, stacked candy hearts, & this one where they had to move conversation hearts from one plate to the other using chopsticks.  These ladies were really working on technique!  Some of the others just slid the plates closer together & "swept" them over.  Those problem-solving skills are fun to see!

 Speaking of problem-solving, watching the Kindergartners play "Heart Lava" was hysterical!  They had to use two hearts to move across the room without falling off & stepping in "the lava".  Some had a very concise & quick pattern moving in small hops across the room.  Others would whip that heart like a frisbee, taking a flying leap to get there, & then have to stretch out on the floor to get the other one.  Hilarious!

 Cheering on their teammate

 Dancing to Rockin' Robin

 After they danced for a while, they had to line up according to the number on their heart necklace.  They counted by fives all the way to 100!

 The last game we tried with the big kids involved smearing their nose with vaseline & then throwing a fuzzy pompom up in the air to try & catch it on the vaseline.  Lots of giggling involved.

So much fun... so much sugar... so many great friends!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Fancy schmancy

Rebecca:  Mommy, you & Mary are my favorite moms ever!

***

Teresa singing in the grocery store:  She's real fine my 409... (repeat 100 times)

Dressed to a T

Teresa latches on so quickly to anything musical.  I find her singing all day long.  She has my affinity for mixing up lyrics as well (mostly unintentional).  Here's my favorite as of late:

"Jeeeeee-sus, Jeeeee-sus,

Jesus in the noontime

Jesus in the sunshine

Jeeeeee-sus, Love Him

Love Him when the sun goes down."

Catholic Schools Week #4 & 5

 By Thursday morning the snow cleared enough for another fun day at school.  The kids dressed up for Husker Day, brought donations for the soup kitchen, & lots of other fun activities.

 That evening they hosted an Open House at the school.  I forgot to take any pictures in Andrew's classroom where the special guest was Chevy the dog, a golden lab who they get to read to once a week!  They had snowman decorations everywhere, too.  Here's Rebecca trying to get a picture in front of her picture as it cycled through the SmartBoard... instead have a background of her sweet little friend Gianna.

 Showing us her journal

 Playing in the "house" area & seriously wishing SHE was a Kindergartner

Rebecca with her teacher Mrs. R

Friday kicked off with a special Mass with the Bishop!  That was a great way to start the day.  The 2nd graders then headed out to a field trip & the rest of the kiddos enjoyed a movie morning at school.  When I picked them up at noon, they were all smiles!  Apparently, they had done some sort of St. Valentine's Day poem in Kindergarten which led to Rebecca getting but not finishing two suckers.  So, when we emptied out her bookbag at home, she only thought it logical to enjoy them both at once!

 

We love our Catholic School!

Catholic Schools Week #3

It seems to have become a Catholic Schools Week tradition to get snowed in at least one day!  This year was no different.  Wednesday was supposed to be pajama day at school, so instead we stayed home & played in our pjs (sometimes with snowpants over the top) almost all day. 

We read books, played in the snow, cleaned out some closets, & started our valentines.  Rebecca created these flowerpots & butterflies (with a lollipop for the body).  Andrew had me take his photo in his Darth Vader costume & we added a glow stick in place of each light saber.  They turned out so cool!

That night for dessert we made our first ever snow ice cream.  So easy & so yummy!

-big bowl of snow

-can of condensed milk

-teaspoon of vanilla

Mix & enjoy immediately!

Catholic Schools Week #2

COSTUME DAY

 Rebecca as St. Zita "the Little Cook"

 Andrew as Darth Vader

 not so saintly

 Teresa as Angelina Ballerina dancing with our latest hand-me-down toy... so cute!  Thanks, Kim.

Catholic Schools Week #1

 Happy Crazy Day!

 

 Spreading the giggles & joy

Guess what?

Want to guess why we made pink cookies?

 It's a girl!  Baby is 18 weeks along & looking beautiful.  Amazingly, I've been feeling her kick for a  couple of weeks already!  Makes me smile every time.  Can't wait to meet her.

Peek-a-boo!

Trivia Night

 The Big Kahunas

 

My favorite category was all word games:  Thinkety Pinkety. 

 Not the highest scoring group in the bunch overall, but goodness we had fun!

Nebraska Walk for Life 2013

 On the most beautiful Saturday in January I can remember for the decades that I've been attending, our family bundled up & headed to the Walk for Life.

It's another one of those events that feels like a big reunion.  Such a gift to be surrounded by people who also love & respect all life!  Especially love those ladies in blue.  :)

 Spent the rest of the morning at the Birthright table spreading the word about how we can help women struggling with pregnancy, early motherhood, or who just need someone who will actually listen.  It's a beautiful & fulfilling ministry!

Pinewood Derby 2013

 With the exception of the actual cutting, Andrew did pretty much everything.  He designed, sanded, painted, glittered, mod podged, & tested.  So proud of him!

Our silly girl

 Teresa is in a phase where she changes her clothes a minimum of ten times a day.  It's hilarious.  It's messy.  Keeps me laughing & humble whenever we have to leave the house!  Here she is imitating Mommy.

 Just her standard grocery store attire

Being INTENTIONALLY crazy for Crazy Day at school

Happy New Year

We spent the day celebrating together & decorating the kitchen for our party.  We made sure to have our own hip hip hooray before we put the kids to bed & headed out to another celebration.  Thanks, Amber & Kelly!

Our second amaryllis opened just in time for the new year!