Easter 2014

They took me for a joy ride through the field.  Their giggles of delight were priceless!

Three egg hunts, lots of family time and most importantly, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus!

Mother of the Year Moment

A broken arm...that happened last Tuesday and didn't get x-rayed and cast until Friday.  

Four weeks in his blue cast that is now covered in autographs from school, Julia's and from family! 

February Snow

 

Thoughts by Brody

We were talking about animals on our way to school today and our animal loving Brody really wants a dog or a goat or a guinea pig.  I learned their age limits on when you can get animals though...

His words: "Mama, you have to be six to get a goat.  And I would like a baby goat that I can milk.  Oh wait, I mean feed bottles of milk."

I asked him how old you have to be to get a dog...

"You have to be four so we are behind!"

Day Seven Disney 2014: The Journey Home

The goons waiting for the shuttle to the airport...hyped up on chocolate milk and juice!!The shuttle to the airport picked us up early in the morning.  Riley couldn't take the excitement of the bus ride so he settled in on my lap for a 30 minute snooze.  

To pass the time, B grabbed my phone and documented our travel time!  

And before we knew it our vacation was over and we had to go brave the snow again to get home...

Four hours in the car after an early start time to our day, sitting in the airport and a 2+ hour plane ride, made us all thankful for our own space at home.  We all went our separate ways at our house and reconvened for some dinner an hour or so later.  I used my time to unpack, start laundry and clean the fridge!  And thankfully we had the weekend to go out and enjoy some sledding and build some snow tunnels before returning to work and school.  

Day Six: Disney 2014: Last Day

 Our last day in the parks was COLD...55 degreess with a 15-20 mph wind.  Brody was determined to wear shorts everyday and this breezy day didn't stop him.  We did the whole hop off and hop back on their favorite rides in the morning.  Brody couldn't get enough of Goofy's Barnstormer... a zippy roller coaster that Riley hated!  My favorite picture of the whole trip is the one above of Kurt and Brody on Goofy's Barnstormer..PURE FUN on their faces!  

 Meeting Buzz was a pretty exciting event for two boys.  Buzz stamps his name in autograph books, but he got a Sharpie from his caretaker and wrote his name on Riley's hat.  Talk about a moment of excitment for a little boy learning his letters!  

 A visit with Chip-N-Dale to show their Great-Grandpa, who might be their biggest fan.  

We ended the day with a trip to Downtown Disney.  Brody sat at the building tables at the Lego store for over an hour building.  He asked for my camera to take pictures of his masterpiece and then was ready to move on.  And then we had to head back and finish packing our bags for our early morning flight...

Day Five: Disney 2014 - Animal Kingdom

The highlight of the day was meeting Dug and Russell from Up, or if you are Riley, you would say Upic.  

The Wilderness Must Be Explored - Caw-Caw, Caw-Caw - RAWR!

Day Four: Disney 2014 - Hollywood Studios

DayThree: Disney 2014

We covered lots of rides at the Magic Kindgom this day.  We were there as the park opened and were able to hop on and off rides in the first hour of the day prior to dining at the castle.  Meeting Sheriff Woody was a highlight to their day as well.  

The boys LOVE the Electrical Parade.  Riley will watch video after video on You Tube of the parade.  You have to secure your seat early because the streets become lined with people, but thankfully they were so excited they didn't mind the wait.  Riley's hand was constantly in the air waving at everyone passing by.  A fun way to end the day!

And just like that he graduated from training wheels....

Day Two: Disney 2014

A perfect end to the day...swimming!

Day One: Disney 2014

Another Note: We arrived to an overcast and drizzly Orlando, but it was 50 degrees warmer than what we left so we didn't complain! It was comical to see the native Floridians all bundled up because it was only 60 degrees and there we were shedding layers faster than fast! 

The rest of December

Tuesday, December 24th - Christmas Eve

We spent the day at Grammy and Grampy's.  The little's were all ready to open gifts, but we had to wait for all the food prep to be finished before the craziness could start.  To keep this pair busy, I gave them a last minute gift to wrap.  I believe I took this picture too soon because they used more ribbon than that, but it kept them busy for a good 30-45 minutes and that is a win in my book!

The reindeer came out better than Santa this year.  Brody was certain Santa's reindeer would like oats just like the reindeer at the reindeer ranch!  By the looks of the table in the morning, I believe he was right.

Wednesday, December 25th - Christmas Day

He only wanted a couple things for Christmas.  The Jones' took care of the John Deere wiggly tractor and Santa brought the ginormous John Deere combine and a Bruder man to put in it. After receiving a 1/16 the scale machine shed the day before, lots of equipment had a shed to park in and really his world was complete.

By this point Brody was getting a little greedy...he had opened gifts 5 of the last 6 days and he only wanted more and was definitely not thankful for what he had received.  We have had lots of talks since so hopefully we do not have a repeat of that not so pleasant behavior next year.

Right before the mad dash to get ready for church...they weren't so happy then because they were rushed out of their jammies!

Grampy and Grammy came to play in the new machine shed...it's rather large and in charge!!

And now somehow I have lost the pictures from Christmas night through New Year's.  We spent Christmas night at Grandma and Grandpa Yakey's racing the remote control trucks that Grandpa and Grandma gifted them.  We attended Jones' Christmas and Kurt's maternal side's Christmas as well, which was a smorgasbord of yummy treats!!  The boys spent most of their Christmas break in pajamas or cozy pants and didn't like having to put real clothes on at all.   

Tuesday, December 31st - New Year's Eve
We rang in the New Year with the Jones' and lots of games with a little playtime in the basement mixed in there just for fun!  We did not make it to midnight, but that was really okay with me.

After playing cards with Merna and Kurt, I think I learned a few new words.  Wowsers were they rambunctious card players.

And that, my friends, was the end of 2013.

Just for FUN!

A new app that converts pictures to water color drawings.  

We have been on vacation

 A trip recap coming at a later date...
Their smiles are painfully fake, but we really did have fun!!

Harper's 2nd Birthday

Back in January, we helped Harper Rose celebrate her 2nd birthday in Where's Waldo style!!  Due to sickness and traveling we haven't seen them since.  Riley told me just the other day that he sometimes misses Howie...Howie is one of Harper's nicknames.  So everyone be healthy and the weather be fit so we can see the whole gang next weekend!!

Time for a haircut!

"Riley, you be the mom and I will be the dad."