February Visitors

1st group - THE CHENEYS

The girls got to meet Cinderella and the prince after the show.
A gothic interpretation of losong the glass slipper.

Positioning Cinderella Barbies in a hug.

Re-enactment of the barbies.


2nd group - THE CHAPMAN-SMITH FAMILY

Brooke and her Rachel. Every girl needs a crown!

The 4 musketeers!

Doug, Lisa, Me, and Matt

3rd Group - THE KILBYS

Austin chipped a tooth and Brooke lost a tooth within about one minute of each other.

The most theatrical dance I have ever seen!

Holding down the fort.

We "kind of" got to eat in peace.

Are they all related or what?

Trying to teach the kids some facts about the presidents as they indulge.

4th group - BETH AND JACOB JONES

Jacob, Beth, me, and Luke

Target practice.

Always working on a Lego creation! This time it is a Harry Potter village.

One thing Matt and I love is having people come visit us. I thouroughly enjoy having friends and family I love stay at our house and spending time with them. Well, February was our lucky month as we had guests every weekend. It began with our neighbors from our first Ohio house, The Cheney's. Missy and I took Brooke and Julia to see Cinderella at the ballet and Matt and Kyle took Joey, Andrew, and Luke to Dave and Busters. Brooke and Julia loved getting dressed up and they had the chance to meet the stars of the show afterwards. We wish we were still neighbors!!! Unfortunately, we have no pics of the adults.

The second set were the Chapman-Smiths, also neighbors from our first Ohio house. The grown-ups were able to enjoy a nice dinner out at McCormick and Schmick's while Rachel babysat the crew. We spent the rest of the weekend indulging in our favorite activities, which consists of shopping and eating for the girls, and video games and air soft gun wars for the boys. We also wish they were still neighbors!

Our third set were the Kilby's (Matt's cousin and family) from St. Louis. It was so nice to be able to have three days together with them as our time is usually brief and divided. Although we got off to a rocky start on the first day with temporarily losing Jacob on a bike ride home from the park, and then Austin and Macy collided heads resulting in a chipped front tooth for Austin...yikes!...we had the best time and the kids had a blast. We were even able to celebrate President's Day with a themed menu. Presidential chipotle steak chili (most Presidents ate beef stew, but I thought chili was a little more interesting), Spiro Agnew crab cakes, Jimmy Carter peanut dip, Ronald Reagan jellybeans, Geroge Washington cherry pie, and Presidential cupcakes.

We love you Kilby's!

Our final set of visitors were Beth and Jacob Jones. Luke and Jacob have been best buddies ever since 1st grade. They were in class together every year and Luke has definitely missed him this year. They share the same passions - legos, air soft guns, and anything having to do with the military. We took the boys to the Lego Store at Easton and then they just played at the house. It is so nice only being two hours away from Copley so that our kids can keep these friendships going. I have a feeling they will always be friends!!

Skiing in New York

Peak N Peak New York
The boys looking fast!

Luke coming out of the trees on his "Wipeout Zone"

The Bendicks and the Milligans

Doing a little night skiing.

Matt giving Brooke a push.

Audrey and Andrew texting each other as they stand beside each other. It would be too much work to open their mouths and form the words!

We went skiing in New York at Peak N Peak resort with our good friends from Copley, the Milligans. We had the BEST time!! The snow was great and it was good practice for our big trip out West someday. We even got to do some night skiing which was great!! The boys are at the age where they wanted to go off on their own and be cool. We stayed together, but tried to give them enough space to feel independent. Luke renamed one of the runs 'His Wipeout Zone' as he tried to make it down over and over again without falling. The boys also enjoyed going through the tree trails and I did, too! I pretended I was 16 years old again skiing the run 'Pinball' at Monarch in Colorado which was my favorite tree trail. The day we left we had to drag them off the mountain. Luke told us that he wanted to live there. They are going to go nuts when they ski Colorado. I can't wait!!!

New Year's Eve

Getting ready to toast to 2011 with the Strandbergs. We managed to sneak the girls to bed!
Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo.

The kids goofing off. They are all livid right now because they are starving and we made them pose for another picture.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to be more timely with my blogging. Hmmmmm.... it is Feb. 9th and I am just now posting new Year's Eve. I just don't think it is going to happen.

New Year's Eve was spent with our friends, the Strandberg's from Copley. It was unseasonably warm so we visited Wildlights at the zoo. The adults enjoyed it and the kids complained (well at least our kids did) about being hungry the whole time. So we skipped out early, headed to City BBQ for dinner, and then back to our house for games. The kids had a great time acting crazy while the adults could hardly keep our eyes open for Ryan Seacrest to ring in the New Year. I have never liked New Year's Eve very much. It was nice when the kids were younger and didn't know what it meant to be able to stay up until midnight. We could celebrate at ten and be done. Those days are long gone.

Christmas 2010

Taking the dog for a Christmas Day walk.
All cozy and watching the Sound of Music - BEST movie on Earth!!

The 3 layer birthday cake for Jesus made in the Easy Bake Oven. I could have made a REAL triple layer cake faster than it took to put together this lovely (and so tasty!) creation!!

Brooke and I getting ready to break in the Easy(NOT!) Bake Oven! Now I understand why I never got one as a child even though I am stilled a little scarred by it! Thanks Mom:(

Luke trying out his new bow and arrow.

Andrew with his gift of an Etrade account. Every 11 year olds dream, right? Ha! Ha! A dream for Andrew. After much research he decided to invest in Cisco Systems.

The long wait on the staircase as we all get our cameras ready. Yes, there are pink streaks in Brooke's hair. She made me put them in when she woke up. Don't ask - I have no idea why!

Dad getting ready to read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Brooke holding up her new sister's gifts.

THE LOOT. For Luke - a bow and arrow and a new game for his DS.
For Andrew - Robert Griffin III Baylor jersey (which he wore the entire break)and the computer game Civilization.

For Brooke - Easy Bake Oven and a pink DS.

For all three - a new Wii game

Trying to capture how beautiful this church was but my camera is not good enough.

Baking with the girls.

OSU stadium

Game faces.

Outside at Schmidt's - so yummy!

It was our first Christmas in our new house and it was wonderful. It was also a white Christmas which always makes it more festive! My parents came to visit and we spent another season making fun memories. Some of our activities included going to an Ohio State basketball game, eating at Schmidt's (a German restaurant we love) in German Village, ice skating, playing games, going to see "Tangled," cooking and eating great food, watching football, attending Christmas Eve services at a BEAUTIFUL church built by the Amish constructed to look like a barn, opening presents, enjoying each other's company, and did I mention eating! Most importantly, we loved celebrating the birth of our Savior.

This year the boys wanted cell phones and an Xbox. They got neither!!!! I told them well ahead of time I will never make Christmas about buying the ridiculously expensive latest and greatest in electronics. I will have to say that they are offended by rabid materialism at Christmastime, but it doesn't stop them from wanting to participate! And I want to start a movement against buying kids cell phones in elementary school - ridiculous!! They still made out ok in their opinions. The highlight for us was watching Andrew's face when he opened up the book on money management for kids and then finding in its pages an envelope that detailed his Etrade account Matt set up for him. (And yes, this is what he wanted for Christmas!!!) It was priceless! He spent much of the day researching stocks to invest in and much of the break reading the Wall Street Journal. I can't say I have met another 11 year old like him!

Ice Skating

Macy getting in on the action.
Brooke taking her ballet moves to the ice.

Andrew taking a shot.

Luke looking professional.

Matt so happy to be playing hockey with his boys.

Brian taking the girls on a spin.

Brooke and Kate getting ready to ride.

It started snowing mid December and stayed well below freezing long enough for the pond in our neighborhood to freeze over. The pond backs up to a family with five kids who all play hockey. So we were in for a treat since they shovel the snow off, test the ice to make sure it is safe, and keep it smooth for skating and playing hockey. They even set up spotlights at night! Matt bought the kids skates and they had the best time skating and playing hockey over Christmas break. I haven't found skates in my size yet, but had fun sliding around. One of our neighbors even got his four wheeler out, hooked up a sled to the back and took the kids on rides. I LOVE having free, fun, and physical entertainment right (almost) in our backyard!! It makes winter so much more fun and enjoyable!!

Video of the pond.

Cats

Our old neighbors from Copley came up for the weekend and Elizabeth and I took the girls to see the musical "Cats." The girls had fun getting dressed up and going to the theater. So did I! It was Brooke's first big theater production and she did great! I played the music for her each night before she went to bed and that seemed to help her understand the story. I am looking forward to our next theater trip to see the ballet, "Cinderella."