Change of Plans

The weekend that Darren went ice fishing the girls and I were jammed packed. We had Tonja, Claire, Carli, and my mom on Friday through Saturday, The Blast and a movie Saturday night, then we were supposed to meet Melissa, Landon, and Peyton in Rochester Sunday through Monday to stay at the Ramada Inn and do some swimming. Of course, we were hit with another huge snowfall so our plans had to change. I talked to Melissa early Sunday morning and they had already gotten a few inches of snow. It hadn't started snowing here yet so when I talked to Jen that same morning we decided it would be much more fun if we hunkered down together for the snowfall.

The girls were just about to hop in the bathtub when Jen and Claire arrived so Claire thought she better hop in with them.
After baths we thought the girls would have fun playing out on the deck in the freshly fallen snow. Brynn and Cara thought it was a great idea, but...

Claire decided she would rather stay in where it was warm and have a snack.

After coming in from playing it was time to play a little dress up. Claire put on her favorite dress again.

There was plenty of time to play chase around the kitchen while I was trying to make dinner. The squeals were too adorable to kick them out!

After playing chase the girls thought they would get out of our hair and play upstairs for a bit. This is where Jen found them...piling all our pillows off the bed by the window to try and see the snow. Pretty creative if you ask me!

They come up with the silliest games!

Jen and Brynn put together her much beloved Dora puzzle.

All the while Cara and Claire played catch in the kitchen.

Not quite sure what they are doing here...

After the ladies put their pajamas on we made some popcorn and watched 101 Dalmations...for the second night in a row-the only movie other than Finding Nemo that we own...and Finding Nemo is too scary. (We just happened to come across these two when our video store in town was closing. Brynn was sick so I rented a couple movies for her. Since we rarely rent movies I forgot about them and they didn't get back before they closed. Oh, well!)

Mommy's girl! Don't take your eyes off the T.V. okay Brynn!

Claire loves Ollie!

Two peas in a pod...not always a good pod either :) You just never know what you'll find these two doing.

Trying out this game again.

A little late evening music. Quite the treat for Cara. Normally she is asked not to play the registers.

And brushing the teeth before bed.

I am happy to report Claire napped and slept at our house without any problems. Looks like we are in the clear for many, many more sleepovers!

The Blast

Grandma Debbie had to leave Saturday after lunch to go watch Nolan and Tonja and the girls left shortly after two. Both girls took fantastic ( 3 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours) naps so I thought it would be fun to take them out. I had heard about The Blast at the Eagan Community Center (an indoor playground) from my sister so I thought we would try it out. They didn't get up until almost 5 so we had a quick snack then we headed to Eagan. I thought since it was dinner time it wouldn't be busy. Man, was I wrong! It couldn't have been busier. Apparently (because another dad told me) the two other gyms were housing basketball tournaments that are usually used to entertain the older kids. EVERYONE was in the one little area. Brynn was quite overwhelmed by all the kids and nervous to go too far from me. Cara wanted nothing to do with the tunnels, instead she enjoyed jumping on the rubbery floors.

Brynn really, really wanted to go down the big twisty purple slide but was nervous to crawl up there with all the kids. I tried to take one for the team and crawl up there with her and Cara, but some how she was separated from Cara and me. It took much longer than expected for Cara and I to find our way out because she wouldn't let me touch/help her as every time I did I would shock her. By the time we got out she was a mess and so was Brynn because she thought I had left her.

We were there all of 25 minutes (at the very most) and this is how we left. Poor girls. I don't think we will be going to The Blast any time soon.
Upon arriving home we put in a little One Hundred One Dalmations (the only movie that isn't too scary for Brynn) and made some popcorn.

The end of the night ended much better than I thought it was going to.

Claire and Carli come to visit!

This past weekend was Darren's annual fishing trip with his high school buddies. The girls and I certainly made the most of Dad being gone. Friday night my aunt Tonja and her daughters, my cousins, Claire and Carli came to visit making this our second annual little girls weekend...and Henry, even Grandma Debbie came after work on Friday. We had so much fun! For at least two weeks before their arrival Brynn would ask if tonight was the night Claire and Carli were going to have a sleepover. Claire and Carli are SUCH good playmates for the girls. Before dinner they played for the longest time in the big open room and playroom and after dinner they had quite the game of hide and seek going.

Cara even got into hide and seek!
Friday morning on our way to Lynn's Brynn asked if her frog jammies still fit. I told her they probably would then she asked if I thought Claire would bring her frog jammies again this year. Her memory really surprises me. I don't remember what happened yesterday and she is remembering what pajamas she and Claire wore the year before! She also was pretty excited to play hide and seek just like last year. I need to start telling her what we need when we go to Target. Inevitably I forget at least one thing when I'm at Target

"I foun ooh." Cara would say each and every time!

The girlies all ready for bed.

They even let Ollie cuddle with them after Brynn and Cara went to bed. If only they lived closer!

I didn't take any pictures Saturday, but that could be because we were all in our jammies until almost noon! Thanks, ladies, for making the trip up. We can't wait until next February!

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day took on a whole new look this year since Darren had a Union meeting until well past dinner time. Once Kate caught wind of this she invited herself and Henry over to make heart shaped pizzas since Tommy is almost always out of town on weeknights.

Before dinner the three hoodlums played on the deck for a bit. ALWAYS a good time :)
Can't quite remember what happened here, but her face makes me giggle every time I look at it!

Beaner!

The idea was to let the kids help make the pizzas. Well...it didn't work out like I had it planned in my head. When I made pizzas with Brynn, Cara, and Claire it was better than a dream so I figured one more adult and this shouldn't be a problem. BUT Henry is a very over zealous little boy and was flinging sauce and dough every where and we JUST washed the floors the day before. Ufda--those of you that know me well can still see me cringing! So, instead of all the kids helping Kate and Brynn made some pretty awesome pizzas. The were delicious. This will definitely make our menu more often.

Mmm, mmm, good!

The Valentine's crew minus myself.

The over-zealous boy himself! His personality sure takes after his dad!

Gorgeous Minnesota Days!

Last week, before we received an additional 15 inches of snow, it was B-E-A-U-TIFUL. There is truly nothing better than a warm winter day, and by warm I mean 50s. Almost unheard of in Minnesota in February. We spent plenty of time outdoors last week mostly in coats and boots. However, the girls were giddy to be playing on the deck in their stocking feet without coats. Can you blame them?!?

Where's Cara?

Any time Cara isn't within eyesight and it's quiet this is where we find her. Huddled in the corner of her room looking through books. She has a basket full of books and she knows many of them by heart. When we go check on her we can often hear her saying a phrase or two from a page in a book. Man, that girl is cute!

Father Daughter Dance

Friday night Darren took Brynn to a Father Daughter dance put on by Rosemount Community Education. Brynn's good buddy Miranda and her dad were going and invited Brynn and Darren to join them. Darren was not excited in the least to go, but he'll do just about any thing for his girls. They left the house at 4:30 to have dinner before heading to the dance at 5:30. Lucky for Darren there were a ton of arts and crafts to do as well as dancing. Brynn LOVES crafty activities and was in her glory. They only danced to three songs: The Chicken Dance, the Hokey Pokey, and the Macarena. Although they went with Scott and Miranda they didn't see much of them because Miranda was on the dance floor all night!

Happy 6th Birthday, Wally!

Oliver celebrated his 6th birthday on February 9th, He was oh so patient waiting for us to finish singing "Happy Birthday" to him while he stared down the girls' cupcakes wishing his wasn't covered in fire.

What a great dog he is! We love you, Oliver Pedro!!

Super Bowl Sunday

Since we didn't have any plans this year for the Super Bowl the girls got a special treat of eating dinner in the living room while watching the game. Brynn was giddy when I told her she could. She kept rephrasing the question to see if I would give her the same response. Sure enough I did!

Yes, you do see corn dogs on their plates. Darren does the grocery shopping at our house and every now and then he will slip something in the cart that wasn't on the master (Jennie approved) list. I must say, even though I know how terrible corn dogs are for us, they were mighty tasty!

Buddies!

The girls are becoming such good buddies. I love watching their relationship change from being roommates that could take or leave each other to truly enjoying each other's company and wanting to know what the other is doing. Knowing how much I love having a sister, I am so excited they get to be in this 'club' too.

Super Bowl Sunday Morning

Darren worked late the Saturday before the super bowl so the girls and I went sledding Sunday morning to get out of the house so he could sleep without being woken by little girly squeals. It really sounded like a good idea. However, carrying a 19 month old while pulling an almost 4 year old up a very steep hill was A LOT of work. It only took 4 trips back up the hill before I convinced Brynn she had to walk it herself. She was a trooper and did so many times. The next time we all go sledding Darren will definitely be joining us!

Here's a quick video. It's terrible because Cara was strapped in her sled right next to me and of course Brynn was coming right at us. Luckily she just missed us.

Treat

Brynn and I were at Target and Darren called and asked to bring a treat home. After walking through the ice cream aisle for quite some time Brynn settled on fruit sicles. After dinner she and Cara both had one. Brynn was a huge fan. Cara took one bite, looked as if she just got a cold headache, finally came to again and said, "Told" or cold as the rest of us call it. She wanted nothing more to do with her fruit sicle after that. Poor girl. I guess I should have warned her before she took a big bite.

Playdate with Claire Bear

Jen had her work Christmas party last weekend so the girls and I went up to hang out the Claire while she and Pete went out to dinner with her co-workers. We had a great time making home made pizzas, playing with ALL of Claire's toys, jumping off the steps, and finally playing with Pete when they got home. We had so much fun. We'll do it any time, Jen!

A quick snack of shredded cheese while we waited for the pizza to cook. Boy, that didn't make a mess at all! Thank goodness Riley was there to clean it all up for us :)

Dinner was a hit!

Cara giving Claire a buck on Claire's new trike.

This was Jen's house when she was little. It is definitely Brynn's favorite toy to play with when we visit.

After we had jammies on the girls made up a game of jumping off the step. Apparently it was super fun because it kept them entertained for at least 35 minutes...then Pete came home and my job was done!

I am pretty sure Pete likes playing with them more than they like playing with him :)

Here's a quick video of them jumping. SUPER fun game ;)