Bowling.

J's preschool class went on a field trip to the bowling alley. It was really fun. It was his first time bowling (if you don't count Wii bowling with Blake). We had a great time. I haven't bowled in ages. I learned that this would be a fun family activity! So here's how it went...he's got a pretty cute little system...

First, he pick his ball. J liked this green one.

Then he gave it all he's got and chucked it down the lane holding this pose as he watched it roll....

Sometimes it did take a while to get all the way down to the pins.While he waited for his ball to return, he figured out that there's a little fan there. I guess it's to dry your fingers??? He thought it was very important.
2nd roll....still holding this pose.

Celebrate!! He did really good. His final score was 89 and he got a strike.
(I only got 102, with those little kiddie bumpers)
One of J's very best friends, Blake, is in another class at the school and was a few lanes down from us. We wished we could have bowled together...maybe next time.

Later that day, J and Em sat and ate a quesadilla together.
Ahh, good times!

Valentine's Day

With the help of a sweet little babysitting swap, we were able to go out and celebrate Valentine's Day this year. Friday we watched "the girls" and then on Saturday we got to go out while they watched our kids. Pretty sweet deal that saved us enough babysitting money to justify a nice little Valentine's Day Margarita at dinner! Nice!

Ryan and the kids got me flowers. My favorite...tulips. These look exactly like the tulips in my bridal bouquet nearly 1o years ago.

This a sort of confused Em giving C her blanket, which looks very much like Em's own "B" (as we call it around our house) She could tell the difference though, particularly when she smelled it and realized something wasn't right.

I love it that the girls are big enough now that J can really play with them and not just sort of lead them around. It makes it a lot more fun for him. This was a nice action shot of Jbean, and you've gotta love JP back there is hamming it up with a thumbs up!

Em loved sitting in these miniature chairs. I'm sure it made her feel like big stuff.
That was all Friday. On Saturday we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, On The Border, and pigged out!! Who wouldn't pig out after waiting for 45 minutes! And I already mentioned the nice little Valentine's Day margarita...yum. We figured out that this was our 14th Valentine's Day together...how the time flies!

Dancing Queen

Em loves to dance to the music. Here she is getting down with her guitar.

Little sister managed to get brother's shoes on her feet....quite an accomplishment. She certainly was proud of herself.

We are currently enjoying a pocket of unseasonably warm weather, but I'm sure we'll get more snow. This is J with the huge snowball he made in the back yard. All that snow is gone for now.

She used to just shut her eyes when she saw the camera pointed at her...now she puts her hands up like this and says, "cheese!" Precious.

J loves to go out with daddy while he shovels the snow.

Snow!

Not a good day to be a dog! Ha.

We got to go to a birthday party for a princess friend of ours...at a fire station. J had a lot of fun looking at the big fire truck. It was also very educational for me to hear some tips on fire safety at home. What a great idea for a kids birthday party!

J with the fireman's gear.

J and Em on the front of the truck.

J and one of his best friends, E.

Sitting in the cab of the big fire truck.

All the kids got fireman hats.

Fireman Pat put on all his gear to help the kids see what he wears when he fights a fire. Also, he helped them see that they don't have to be afraid if they ever need a fireman's help.

Fireman Pat crawled around and gave everyone a high five...Even Em gave him five!

Climbing on the fire engine with his cousins.

Back at the Princess' house we had cake and ice cream. Em played with the ball and fed Dan some Teddy Grahams.

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A little bonus....Em giving J a kiss...so sweet.

If It's going to snow...let's at least play in it!

When J saw that it was snowing, really snowing, he got really excited! I got him some new Light-Up Spider Man snow boots at Once Upon A Child (love that store!) and he's been anxious to try them out. So last night after dinner we let him go out while Ryan did a little shoveling....

Here he is at dinner already geared up to play in the snow....and yes, he spent the whole day in his pjs...he did wear more clothes to go outside.

I love how my camera captured the falling snow in this one. And J's face says it all...

I thought this bird was crazy...why are you here bird?? Fly South! Anyway, it seemed content to sit on our patio chair, so I took a picture.

Still counting down the days until Spring. Winter just isn't my time of year!