Spring!!!

Wow!! I'm in disbelief about the incredible weather we've had lately.  We were all in shorts and flip flops yesterday.  We spent all morning at the park and had a picnic with our friends.  We walked to Isabella's school so that I could pick up her registration packet for kindergarten and walked home.  I love that her elementary school is in walking distance from our house.

Clark is especially loving the warm weather.  He wakes up each morning, comes downstairs, knocks on the door and outside he goes.  He loves jumping on the trampoline.  I also love that at the end of each day he is muddy and super dirty.  He knows how to play hard. 

We ended our evening last night with drumsticks.  So fun!!  Can't wait for many more days and nights hanging out outside.

Spring cleaning

We're undergoing yet another renovation, luckily this is a smaller project.

We're stealing space from our garage to create a large mudroom. I can't wait for the extra storage space.



Before:

After Day 1:

Below is my inspiration for the space...

other design

a little catching up

Sometimes I wish I had more time to take pictures of the kids and blog about every detail of our lives. Lately, the hours in the day just fly by and before I know it, I'm fast asleep and at it again the next day.

What's been happening lately:

Isabella and Olivia are taking swim lessons again this year. This time they are taking group lessons and I hope that a little peer pressure might do them some good in the water.
Isabella loves her new preschool. It is a Catholic school run by Polish nuns. She's adjusted very well and looks forward to her time there. Her teacher says that she is just a "delight."
Olivia also loves her time 2 days/week at Ms. Mindy's house. She's wonderful with her little brother and looks after him while they are there.
Clark is still a fireball and full of energy. Although, lately it seems like he's had his fair share of sickness in the family, poor guy....nothing major, just bad colds with the occasional fever.

I'm still moving along with school. This semester seems like it's dragging along, but at least the material is still interesting. Although, I'm dreading another 15 page paper that is due in 2 weeks. I have a little blog idea that I'm brewing over so when I'm tired of thinking about my schoolwork, I dream about the day I'll make it big in blogland :)

Jason recently got bit by the P90X bug so we're getting up at 5:30 and enjoying the workouts. They are super intense, but so far my lame knee is holding up. I hope to strengthen it so that I can start running again in the Spring, fingers crossed.

That about sums up the last couple of weeks. Nothing too exciting, just life as usual. Hopefully I'll get my camera out soon and start taking pics again.

crunch time

Just in case you're wondering what I've been up to lately....

Yum!

Obviously, the girls loved making this dessert....and so did I.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day did not go as planned.

The kids have had their fair share of sickness this winter. On Saturday, I took Clark to the local urgent care center to have him seen for a green goopy eye, decreased appetite and a lot of nasty congestion. He was diagnosed with bacterial conjunctivitis and an ear infection, poor guy. He's on antibiotics and is doing better.

Isabella had a fever and cough last night and slept in until 9:30 this morning. Today was supposed to be her first day at a wonderful and highly recommended preschool, but alas, she didn't go. She also awoke with a red and slightly goopy eye. So, instead of both of us going to school (Tues I'm in class) we went to the Dr. Even though Isabella was sick and missed out on her much anticipated Valentine's Day party at her new school, she had such a wonderful attitude anyway. We thoroughly enjoyed our day together. I can't remember the last time that it was just the two of us. She is such a joy.

Jason came home late tonight and the girls couldn't wait to open their Vday presents (socks and bubbles). I love the expression on Olivia's face.

Spanish class

I signed the girls up for a Spanish class this semester.

I was really getting lazy about speaking to them in Spanish. Mostly, because every time I did, Olivia became very upset. "Mom, talk English!!!!" She would demand it in a stern voice and then if I continued it ended in her either crying or screaming.

I thought that if the girls saw other kids speaking the language that they'd be more open to it.....the plan worked! They absolutely love it! Last Saturday morning on the way to class, Isabella said, "I wish we could go to Spanish class everyday." Ahh....music to my ears.

Now, instead of Olivia getting upset when I speak Spanish, she welcomes it. She frequently asks, "How do you say ___ in Spanish?" So, now I'm trying to speak only Spanish to them all morning and then we do English the rest of the day. The other day I overheard them trying to converse in Spanish while they played.

I'm so happy that they seem to be embracing the language!