Sunday Dinner

Larry started a Pot Roast on the slow cooker this morning and I thought it would be nice to invite Adam and family over for dinner tonight. It was such a nice afternoon that the kids were able to play outside some. Olive was beyond tired and was running around like a little wild child, but she loves when Isabelle comes over and follows her everywhere. I think she knows she's a girl like herself. When she goes to the Raible's, she is surrounded by all boys, and only having a brother to hang out with, she enjoys being around girls. Somehow I don't count though,as she prefers Daddy over me any day.

I was able to get some cute shots of the kids. Lucien slept like an angel the entire time he was here. In fact, I had let him use Olive's old bouncy seat and Adam and Bev took it home with them. Evidently, he hasn't slept well in quite some time and the seat may be the cure. When your desperate, sleep deprived, you will try anything. I remember putting my kids in car seat carriers in the bed, in the crib, a bouncy in the bed. There comes a point when you are so tired, that you will do anything out of desperation in order to get the kid to sleep for just 2, maybe 3 hrs. straight. I remember with Spencer, I finally put him in another room, put earplugs in and said screw it.

Oh the good old days. I don't miss that part one bit, but I do miss having a sweet little baby to cudde with, but not enough to revisit those days again ;) I'm content with my 2 and thankful that they are good sleepers. And..Spence is my "best snuggler" after all, as he calls it. In fact, when he is upset about something, he uses it as leverage. He will say "well then I'll never be your best snuggler again...." It's his trump card....and it works. Normally he says it through tears, and it just breaks my heart. It breaks his heart too b/c he loves that more than anything. I will cry my eyes out the day he decides he's too big to snuggle with me anymore....unless he's like 15 obviously.

My Funny Valentines !!

When I woke up on Thursday, I had the best intentions of getting the kids dressed in their Valentine's outfits and getting some pictures. But, as usual, I was rushing, and it didn't happen. By the time I arrived home from work, the kids were already eating dinner....and spaghetti at that. Olive, who had on an adorable red/purple dress was covered in tomato sauce despite being a double bibber...Spence was at least salvageable.

Determined to get pictures for albums/videos (that I never finish), I cleaned them up as best as I could and took some snapshots. The one at the bottom left is of Spencer after going to sleep with wet hair the night before...this is a usual look for him on mornings after bath night and requires much hair gel to look halfway decent/presentable for school. The one of Olive in the box shows her favorite place to be...she climbs in, then out, then in, then out, then in,......

Recently, Spencer and I had been reading the book Charlie Brown's Valentine. In the story, Pigpen makes a special Crunchy Munchy Valentine Snack for the Peanuts' Gang. Spencer decided that he wanted to make the snack on V-day, so I picked up the ingredients for the crunchy munchies and we made them as soon as I got home. The main ingredient was marshmallows, which were a big hit with Olive (as seen above). I was also showered with wonderful Valentine gifts and cards from Larry and the kids. I received a Diamond heart necklace, a flower windchime and a cool ceramic wall clock/thermometer for the deck area..oh, and a whole bag of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolates. I can't wait until Spring to put out the clock and windchime!

Let it Snow!!

They are predicting anywhere from ...oh... 3 to 10 inches tonight. Who knows though....back in 1992, they predicted 1-2 inches of ice and we ended up with 22 inches of snow. The flakes began coming down around 4:30 this afternoon. Spencer was excited to go out and have a snowball fight. But...the snow was too icy and wouldn't cooperate. Olive made an appearance and liked walking on the slippery stuff too!! Hopefully there will be enough left tomorrow for the kids to ride the sled/saucer down the hill in the backyard...or at least build a snowman. I hope the Subaru comes through for me in the morning!!

Olive is walking!!

I haven't posted in a week. So much has happened, that I don't know where to begin. First off, the biggest news of the week is Baby Lucien entered the world on Jan 30th!! Mother/Father and baby are doing well. I will post some pics soon. Every time I go over to visit the little guy, I forget my camera.

As far as my crew, we have made it through another week, sickness-free! Although, Spence and I went to a birthday party yesterday at Gattiland, so that could all be ending soon. Say some prayers!!

This past week, the little Olive finally grew tired of crawling around and began taking steps....Watch Out World!!! She is growing up so fast now. I'm realizing how different boys and girls are. For example: Olive loves babies. She walks around the house babbling "baby baby baby". She carries any stuffed animal and loves on it. She also loves books. She brings me books to read to her. I used to have to literally hog-tie Spencer down to read him a book. Not Olive....she just sits patiently and then points to the pictures. She is a jealous little thing though, and doesn't like to share me with her brother. If I'm reading her a book and Spencer joins us, she hits him. Luckily, he is very easy going and thinks it's funny!