Go Dayton!

Jay's Alma mater is in the Sweet Sixteen - Go Dayton!!!!  (It's possible the girls just like the shirts because they are pink....Dad was smart when he picked those out on his last trip to Ohio.  This time he flew into Dayton instead of Cinci for work because he needed a flag.  I'm sure you'll see that in a post coming soon to a screen near you!)

The Cake

I celebrated my 37th birthday yesterday (I actually thought it was 38 but Jay convinced me I was wrong), and Jay took on the impressive task of making a cake from scratch!  He spent 3-4 hours in the kitchen mixing and baking and even creating his own frosting on the eve of said birthday, while I took the kids to the park to play (still in snow pants of course, it's not exactly spring in Milwaukee yet) and got everyone ready for bed.  Almost 24 hrs later it was time to eat the cake, and let's just say Jay and I had a good laugh.  It wasn't a bad cake, it tasted ok and it was quite festively decorated, but the comments around the table from the kids started with Leah's first bite.  "I don't like this cake, I'm just going to eat ice cream" followed by Hannah's "Can I just have more ice cream?" and Joseph's assessment which began with "This is a very hard cake.  Why would anyone want such a hard cake?"  At some point Jay asked Hannah if she wanted him to make a cake for her birthday and without hesitation she said a very simple and unfiltered "NO".  We laughed, and it actually says a lot that no one cried (a very common occurrence at the dinner table at our house)   I still enjoyed the cake and ice cream and of course appreciate all the trouble Jay went to.  Maybe next time he can grill one (that is a JOKE.  I do not want a grilled cake when I do actually turn 38.  Baskin Robbins or Betty Crocker would be just fine!). 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

We went to the Milwaukee St Patrick's Day Parade for the first time this weekend.  It was a warm 36 degrees (considering we've spent most of this winter closer to 0) but the kids were cold and wrapped in blankets. Until.....people in the parade started throwing candy!  Leah flew out of her chair and stayed on her feet as soon as the candy came out and the Irish dancers swung by.  Most of the parade was city officials in in cars or on horses, followed by radio personalities and of course bagpipers and dancers.  Joseph loved the whole thing, and sported his stache for several hours!

Photo Shoot

The girls have been doing photo shoots lately, Friday was princesses and today we had bathing suits followed by super heroes.  (very well rounded)  Joseph of course joined in for super heroes, but had no interest in the other two.  They are all getting ready for a sleepover in Joseph's room tonight.  It's a costume themed party, obviously.

Lady Girls

Lady girls.  They are an interesting breed!  They love to sing, dance, dress-up, splash around in the tub like mermaids, have their nails painted, and wear colored chapstick (aka lipstick).  They are more like the adult version of me than the kid version of me, though I don't really sing and dance or splash around like a mermaid.  (Right now they are playing with their Barbie mermaids and telling each other how adorable they are)  And they LOVE arts and crafts (which they don't get from me either!).  They had fun at their first zoo class a few weeks ago, where they made peacock costumes and learned about rainforest animals.  They frequently strike a pose, with Leah looking like more of an 80s queen (or dork) like me and Hannah like a professional model (scary).  And they are both princesses.  Leah spent 10 minutes at dinner last night telling us if she had one wish it would be to have wings and be able to fly around the house, using her fairy dust.  Clearly picturing herself as Tinkerbell in that moment, as opposed to Elsa from Frozen.  Both girls have now moved on from mermaids, and are currently singing "Let it Go" in their room, a song frequently performed at our house and others, sometimes with microphones or guitars, but always with great hand gestures and strong off key notes.  They are still in dance class, and seem to want to stick with that.  We have their performance to attend in early April, and probably many more to come for these little ladies....in our dining room and on stage!

Olympic Spirit

We've all got the Olympic spirit and still enjoying winter activities (if it weren't for the Olympics I'd be just about done with it.  Another 5 inches of snow today and another epic energy bill from all the freezing temps, but that's what happens when your kitchen is a three season porch!)  I went cross country skiing for the first time in years, fell a few times on the same hill but I can still do it. (amazing what skills stay with you...thanks Mom and Dad!)  I stuck with the classic style, and after seeing how fast the skate style folks were going I'm glad I made that choice. Though I would like to try it...maybe next year.  I haven't decided to take up shooting but who knows, I could be the next big biathlete (NOT).  Joseph and Jay both got hockey sticks so that they could practice outside of class.  We went downtown to red arrow park on a morning when no one was there and they got to pass the puck around for quite a while since Leah and I had to drive back to our house to get one of her skates.  (yes, I packed the bag up with all of our gear ahead of time and still somehow managed to leave one skate behind.  Good thing we only live 15 min away).  Hannah wants to know when she gets white ice skates (because that's what all the girls on tv wear), and she and Leah call who gets which dance outfit each time the girls go onto the ice to compete.  They do the same thing with books and movies, and there have been some pretty big arguments over the two of them both trying to be Elsa (Frozen) or Goldilocks.  Even watching skiing and snowboarding they call "I'm red" and 'I'm green", and Joseph and Hannah have asked when they can learn to go down hills.  I told Jay I thought we could take them next year, either try a lesson at one of the ski hills nearby or just take them cross country on our own at a state park, and he looked at me like I had two heads and three eyeballs.   I guess they won't be biathletes either. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day Off

Joseph had off school today so I decided to join him, and take all the kids to the Milwaukee Public Museum.  It was Hannah and Leah's first time visiting, and Joseph I think had been there once before, but it had been a while.  I think he was remembering the dinosaurs and mummies from the Chicago Field Museum so at first he was disappointed, and all of them were more afraid of the real butterfly exhibit than excited, but as we explored more areas and saw more things (and less dark spaces) they got more into it.  I asked after we left what everyone thought about the museum and the responses were in order: Hannah "Fake" Leah "Good.  Especially the Policeman with his gun." Joseph "Cool".  I probably need to explain the gun comment.  The parking garage for the museum is also the garage for the court and other city buildings, I've parked there before for jury duty and other events and it's not in a bad neighborhood or anything like that, but something was amiss as we were leaving.  The kids were pleased with themselves that they remembered we parked in row 8 and right as we walked up the aisle I spotted a policeman with a gun at the end of the aisle looking for something (someone I presume).  So I made everyone get into the car very fast and was rushing them more than normal to get their buckles on so we could leave, and on the drive out we passed by a sheriff keeping guard at the museum entrance we had just come out of, and another policeman with a HUGE gun pointed down towards the lower level tunnel who was going back and forth between watching the tunnel and watching the cars passed by (I swear he looked scared).  This is what Leah refers to as "Especially the Policeman with his gun".  I'm probably making things sound much more dramatic than they were, but I am very curious to know what that was all about!  We then went to McDonalds for a lunch of olympic champions, and mainly because the happy meals come with lego movie cups.  I was disappointed to learn they no longer have the hot mustard nugget sauce.  Apparently I was the only person that liked the chicken wings they had for a limited time and I'm also one of a few that only likes one nugget sauce (hot mustard).  After that we went home and in a rare turn of events, everyone was motivated to "do chores" for quarters.  Hannah cleaned up the art table, Joseph and Leah wiped tables, Joseph put his laundry into the washer and got it started, and then they all cleaned their rooms and made their beds (at Joseph's direction, meaning his idea!).  Leah quietly sang "I got twently dollars in my pocket" as she collected her change. (definitely my daughter)  The ladies then took a nap and Joseph and I rested on the couch and watched the first Harry Potter movie (Joseph's first time, it's much less scary than the later ones and he's been wanting to see it for a while.  I of course have seen them all, and more than once).  Jay came home early to make valentine's day dinner, which is steaks, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.  (will our children eat this?  NO  But they'll enjoy the hot dogs, tator tots and green beens served on the side).  And of course we plan to watch the Olympics, I record it every night in hopes of being able to see it all, but I usually end up falling asleep before it's over.  I make fun of Jay for going to bed early, but apparently that's the difference between someone who's happy full of sunshine in the morning....and me!  

Typical Scenes

Joseph has been jealous that the girls don't go to school, and has enjoyed his many days off due to cold still at school but in the after / daycare program.  I'm assuming the difference is that he has more play time and doesn't need to be quiet for such long intervals, but that's just a guess.  Joseph likes structure but would prefer it be his structure (I can of course sympathize).  He has been spending a lot of time reading lately (he'd much rather read a book when he wakes up than brush his teeth or get dressed) and most weekends he spends some of his time constructing something with Legos.  We've stopped karate, because like getting ready in the morning, it was just too many battles to fight getting him to rush to class and he wanted to do other things instead.  But he is still into Hockey, and he and Jay just got hockey sticks and a puck last night so they could start playing on their own after class.  The girls still skate for fun whenever we go down the hill to Hart Park or over to Petit, and even though they don't have preschool until the fall, they keep amused with writing, coloring, painting, dancing and especially singing.  And in particular, "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen.  We've seen many "Let It Go" performances in our dining room and have every intention of getting this movie from Netflix as soon as it comes out (in March!)  In the mean time, the girls have a class next week at the zoo to learn about the Rainforest and they are preparing for their spring dance recital.  Their reaction (said with a smile and much expression) to the zoo class was "Oh no, I am not going to pick up any animal poop.  There had better not be poop there."  We have convinced them there will in fact not be any poop work required as part of this class. This morning however Leah called Jay into the bathroom just because she wanted him to smell her poop.  She really cracked herself up with her big stink and getting him to fall into her trap.  But onto other subjects...the girls have been asking a lot of what does that mean questions with words, like today playing hide and seek I told Hannah she was clever by hiding behind something and covering herself up with a blanket, and she said "what is clever?"  I told her it means a combination of smart and creative, to which she asked "what does smart mean?"  Each question gets a bit more difficult to answer and I had no desire to keep the question game going so I diverted by starting to count again.  Later in the day we couldn't agree on what to do so I suggested the one thing I knew they'd say yes to that would also cause them to sit in one spot for 20 minutes...painting finger nails!  Red and blue for Hannah and pink and blue for Leah, after which we put on colored burt's bees lip balm, a princess costume, and our aprons to help dad make pizza for dinner.  Typical attire for a typical night!  

Monster Jam Milwaukee

We went to Monster Jam in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center this weekend with Sara, Patrick and Oliver and it was super fun!  (We missed you Grandma, but glad you are feeling better now!)  I wasn't sure how it was going to go with the noise but that wasn't a problem at all, we had ear plugs for everyone and a pair of head phones to share.  When Hannah and Leah both were crying in the beginning I thought we might be headed for a long afternoon but they snapped out of it quickly (the kids each had snow cones that as it turned out, no one liked at all.  So until Uncle Patrick got cotton candy everyone was a little disappointed)  Everyone enjoyed watching Grave Digger, Man of Steel, Bounty Hunter, Barbarians, Outlaw and the rest of the trucks but the favorite was team WI vs team MN in mini-motor cross races followed by the motor cross stunt team.  Well, our favorite at the show that is.  I am pretty sure everyone had fun dressing up in costumes this morning and hide and seek may have one out as the "best thing" this weekend.  Joseph stayed hidden for at least 15 minutes and everyone was still looking for him as I was putting away bathroom towels and happened upon him in the linen closet in the kid's bathroom.  Definitely one of the sneakiest hiding spots we've had!

Winter Wonderland or Arctic Freeze?

We see it as more of a winter wonderland, but we'll see how I feel after our high of -12 degrees on Monday.  School has been cancelled for most cities/states getting this "Arctic Blast".  Lately less than 10 degrees and even 0 has pretty much been the norm, but we've still found time to sled, ice skate and build snowmen.  The past two mornings when taking Joseph to school I let the girls play in the snow on the playground for 20 minutes and the other night when we had a few inches of snow they helped me shovel the sidewalk (it was close to 5 degrees, and they were dressed like Randy from A Christmas Story).  You might think I'm crazy, but they were dying to play outside and desperately needed out of the house.  Today is going to be really warm, close to 30, so we're thinking about setting up the kiddie pool and getting out the water guns.

Wonderful Winter Break

We tried to cram as much fun into the end of 2013 as we could, with family holiday celebrations in Illinois and trips to our favorite places around Milwaukee.  My dad set up his old Lionel train set and the kids (and Jay and I) had fun building a lego and lincoln log village around it.  We also played battleship, uno, chess, guesstures, and yuker for the first time in a lonnnnggggg time, and watched a few new movies as well as an old favorite....Mary Poppins.  Of course the Feast of the Seven Fishes for xmas eve is always a personal favorite of my own, but this year we discovered that Hannah and Leah also love a good crab leg or two.  And all of the kids enjoyed the visit from Santa that night (as did the adults!).  We woke up Christmas morning at our house, and the kids were pretty excited with what they saw under the tree (though it was a bit of a delayed reaction, and Hannah just stood there and quietly said, "is that mine? is this for me? along with quite a few "just what i wished for" after opening a few gifts.  Leah on the other hand upon seeing the Weaving Loom underneath the wrapping paper of a present said "this is NOT what I dreamed of!".  Classic Leah!)  The girls enjoyed being princesses for the day and I think Leah did about five outfit changes, whereas Joseph got to work on legos, Wii games, and other fun toys he was excited to try out.  And I think he was just as excited for new pajamas, as he's stayed in them as much as possible over the break and also enjoyed staying up late (until 8:30) to read with his new flashlight and darth vader head lamp.  (we'll see how the conversation goes on Jan 2 when we have to start waking up early and getting dressed right away in the morning).  We swung by Discovery World one day, spent another morning at the Country Springs Water Park (ok, so maybe not the best idea to go on the coldest day of the year when it's 0 outside, but the water at least was warm even though the air was cool inside and the kids had a fantastic time going down the slides and playing in the basketball pool), and swung by Yo Mama for some tasty treats (again, on another freezing day but the kids didn't care!).  And in keeping with the cold theme, I took the girls to see Frozen while Jay and Joseph played Lego Batman and Skylanders Giants at home.  It was a pretty good movie, the girls of course argued over who was which princess, and since it was so crowded I decided to wait at the end until everyone left before we exited the theater and called in to order some dinner to pick up on the way home.  And as I was ordering I realized that Hannah was crawling around on the floor eating all of the leftover popcorn she could get her hands on (and no, none of it was ours, as we didn't have any popcorn).  Not my proudest mom moment, but not my worst either.  And aside from the short bursts of chaos or crying, it's been really fun to have this time together as a family relaxing, playing, celebrating and doing the things we love most.  Besides, even the chaos turns into funny memories later.  Well, at least most of it does!