Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all my sweethearts ~ Michaela, Katherine, Eric, Joshie, Annika, Dom, Nickles, Maximo and, last but certainly not least, Shannon!

Shannon and I used to go on a date for Valentine's Day.  A quiet dinner out alone has been replaced with a fancy dinner together with all our sweethearts ~ the fruit of our love for one another.  
I love it.
It's so much more fulfilling than going out to a restaurant with every other couple that may or may not be all that "in love."  

Joshie made a poster to decorate the dining room wall as a surprise for all of us.

Eric hanging with Max while some danced and others made dinner ~

Dinner is served ~ shrimp, steak, salad, Katherine's twice-baked potatoes, and Italian sodas,

accompanied by Shannon's romantic iTunes playlist. 

And the pièce de résistance ~

Annika's chocolate cake and raspberries....mmmmm.

My favorite making a Sunday morning latte for me.

This guy hates coffee.  

He'd rather drink mud and could care less about a fancy schmancy latte.

But he had Katherine teach him how to make them, froth and all, just for me.

I must confess, I walked in on "the lesson" one morning while I was supposed to be sleeping in.

It was absolutely priceless!

One more reason to love him ~

Newsie Catch Up

Holy buckets.  During the day I often think about what I want to record here on this little ole blog, but by the time the kiddos are in bed, I'm headed that direction too.  The nights I don't head to bed, Shannon and I have been youtubing Chris Stefanik and Fr. Mike Schmitz.  Following Michaela's return from the SEEK conference, we have been enjoying these two speakers immensely.
Wow!
All I can say is WOW!
I know they are targeting the youth, but it has stirred something in my soul that definitely needed a reawakening.  Besides, I still consider myself a youth ;o)

Now that I've gotten excuses out of the way here are a few pics from the past weeks.

Michaela's gonna love me for this one!

She wanted her hair low lighted, so we tried it.

It actually turned out pretty darn good and for waaaay less than the salon!

Dom's first tooth ~ he and I were heading to town when he noticed it was loose.

He wiggled it throughout each and every errand we did ~

Then, YANK! out it came on our drive home.  

 Max's nemesis is our Roomba vacuum ~

He watches it spin around, but only from a safe distance and through a cracked door.  

One of my favorite ever baby poses ~

He is into Everything. Always. 

I'm not entirely certain how we are going to keep the house 

clean enough to show when we list it this summer.

Shopping for dresses with the girls ~

"I think you would look good in that one, Michaela."

The child that they warned was at risk of having coordination issues ~

For Dom's math he set up a store ~ in my pantry of course.

He named it Dom's Grocery and practiced selling us food. 

His best customer ~ Max. 

Actually, "customer" may be a stretch.

He was more of a burglar.

An afternoon with Anya & Colette.

We introduced them to redneck hot tubbin' ~

We had to whip up a batch of cookies too.  

And finally, Max again, because I just find this so hilarious.

Once, the Roomba escaped the confines of the laundry room,

caught his highchair, and bounced around the room, carrying the highchair along with it. 

Max was trapped in the kitchen at the time.

It may have scarred him for life if his blood curdling scream was any indication.    

    

Ski Pics ~

Our skiing seems to have fizzled for the year.  With 60 degree days and all, the slopes are icy and not super enjoyable to ski on, not to mention a little dangerous.  We're hoping for a couple good dumps in the upcoming weeks, but may need to take a trip to higher elevations to at least get a few more runs in before spring.  

That being said, the few times we have been out have been fun. Maximo even piggy backed with me for a few runs, although he was happier running around the lodge.

January Funnies

Nicholas was watching a "make-him-smarter" movie in my bedroom one morning during school time. When I peeked in to check on him, he was lying on the bed eating peanut M&M's. When I asked him what in the heck he was doing, not missing a beat (or M&M), he replied, "Oh, these make me smarter." 

Dom lost his Christmas gifts a few days after Christmas due to some sort of misbehavior.  Since then, he has been earning them back with good deeds.  Only one gift remains to be earned back ~ his fishing rod.
*a side note, my boys have been on probation with their father in order to earn skiing this year. 
I asked Dom when he was going to get his rod back.  He contemplated this for a couple minutes before responding, "Well, I think I'll earn the next two ski days, then work on the rod."  

Apparently, only so much good behavior can be expected from a seven-year-old.

Dominic to Max, "Max, you're a good boy.  Not intentionally good, but good."

While I was talking to Annika about what strategies she could employ to kick her nail biting habit she said, "I could buy some chocolate bars and nibble on those all day instead of my nails."
I'd say she is her father's daughter.

While reading with Eric he asks, "What's the difference between a flamingo and a Philipino?"

And my favorite.  I asked Dom why he stayed home with me instead of going to watch the Super Bowl.  He stated matter-of-factly, "1. I don't like football. 2. I don't understand football. 3. I don't want to understand it." 

                                 Bizarre pictures of my girls are never discovered on my iPad! 

Happy Birthday Nicholas ~ Now You Are 5!

Happy Birthday to you ~
Happy Birthday to you ~
Happy Birthday, dear Nicholas!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

Nickles, you entered the world in a most dramatic fashion and you simply haven't changed. You are always full of crazy surprises, yet you have such a soft spot for Mommy, Daddy and Maximo.  The rest of your siblings are your competitors, however!  You enjoy your assigned chores, but your favorite is putting away toilet paper ~ you love filling the grocery cart with it, hauling it to the car, and stacking it all up on the appropriate shelves when we arrive home.  It's all quite hilarious.
While we were skiing the other day, after every crash you popped up with a smile....even if it was through a faceful of snow.

And that pretty much sums you up ~ you always pop up with a smile.

I love you, Nicholas.

Love,
Mom

Intimidation!

A treasure box for all my junk!

Make a wish, Nicholas ~

He informed us later that he wished for sandwiches.  

At least he dreams in reality!

  

Happy 7th Birthday Dom ~

Happy Birthday to you ~
Happy Birthday to you ~
Happy Birthday, dear Dominic!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A little boy
Full of spunk and amazing stories!

Dom ~ you are growing up for sure.  You have some of the most amazing "what if" stories we have ever heard.  You imagination runs absolutely wild as you search for ways to make jobs easier. Sometimes this impairs your ability to actually complete a task as you think of a million ways to build something, forgetting to actually get the job done.
Daddy is on board with your recent idea of taming a baby elk, though.  He thinks it would be AWESOME to ride into a herd of wild elk, thus being able to sneak up on them easier.

I love you.

Love,
Mom

You awoke on birthday absolutely certain the snow was sent just for you.

School was cancelled because you were afraid it would all melt by the next day.

A monster truck cake ~

The truck was all that really mattered!

Now you are 7!

December Funnies

While coloring one morning Nickles asked,  "Could I get a tattoo on my back? And could it say, 'I wub Mom'?"

Why certainly.  I'm not sure why I haven't thought of that before! 

I almost caved to a Sharpie tat, but decided against it when I thought about what I'd be promoting. 

At the dinner table, again with some of Michaela's friends, Nickles kept saying, "Lipstick taser!" 

Unfortunately it sounded like, "Zip it, sister."  

Nickles was playing with two cars which, naturally, were talking to one another.    

"Are you going to kill me?!?"

"Why yes I am," followed by a gunshot sound that only boys seem to perfect.

St. Nick was at Target while Eric, Nickles and Max and I were shopping the other night.  He asked if Nickles wanted to sit on his lap.  Nickles flatly refused.  Shortly thereafter Nickles informed Eric and I that that St. Nick wasn't the real Santa.
When we asked him how he knew that, he replied, "Because his sled wasn't parked outside." 

Well, duh.

Eric's voice is changing and he is kinda enjoying the sound of his own voice now more than previously.  The rest of us aren't appreciating it quite as much as he is.  One day after being asked to stop singing he announced, "Well, it's hard to stop singing when you have such a good voice."
Humble, that boy.

Upon waking one morning Annika states, "Mom, I had the worst dream last night."
Thinking it must have been awful, I asked her what her dream was.
"It was terrible, Mom.  You threw all the teacups away."
I'm not sure whether I'm disturbed by the fact that she thought that was an awful dream, or that clearly she sees me as someone who randomly throws her stuff away. 

Nickles informed me he could not clean his room because he needed to reassemble his skidsteer which was scattered across the living room.  Kath told him to get moving, she would put it back together for him.  Nickles told her she couldn't do it because she didn't know how.  

Kath replied, "I'm a contractor's daughter, I can put almost anything back together."

While eating out the other night, our waiter hit it off with Nickles.  He rigged up a long straw, along with Nickles' own pitcher of strawberry lemonade so he wouldn't need to ask for any more refills.  

And, yes, I let it happen.