Madgie and Patch Weekend #2

After Madgie and Patch spent a cold, but beautiful, week in Yellowstone they came back to Chicago to have some more fun before returning to the warmth of FL! We picked them up from the airport and went out to eat for Ben's family birthday dinner. Ben's birthday was still a week away, but we decided to celebrate early since we had family in town. Ben's choice was to go to Benihana, which is always a fun time!  Nice hat Abbey!

As a member of the birthday club, Ben got a free drink in this cool ninja cup complete with its own sword!

Our group - apparently Abbey couldn't put the ice cream down long enough for a picture!

The next morning we played in the snow again!  Ben and Abbey got to work making a snow fort.

Here's one of my snow angels...

Looks like Daddy had some fun while making the snow man!

Madgie and the girls worked on making the snow man's head...turns out it was a snow princess with a Dora crown!

Patch and Juju with the snow princess...

What a cute picture!

Look at that attention to detail...eyebrows and everything!

Juju and I worked on getting the arms to stay in...

Meanwhile, Ben was busy preparing for an epic snow ball fight...he looks ready!

Finished product...

Patch got into the snow ball fight!

Who exactly is this snow ball fight between?

Ben helped Daddy prepare snow balls by bringin in extra snow.

Juju did not want to join the snow ball fight.  She preferred instead to continue accessorizing the snow princess.

Abbey helped Patch collect snow, but the only problem is that she would then get upset if he actually tried to use her snow to throw.  So it was sort of like she was helping, but not really!

Just some cute shots.

 

 After some hot chocolate to warm us up, we had some inside fun too.  Madgie and Patch gave Ben an awesome lego batman set and they all had a great time working on it!

Patch playing battleship with the girls...

While Madgie and Ben continue to work on the legos.

Don't worry, the girls made sure there was also plenty of doll playing with Madgie!

We had a great time with Madgie and Patch...thanks for visiting and playing in the snow with us!

Madgie and Patch visit!

For some odd reason, Madgie and Patch decided that they wanted to visit Yellowstone in the winter (remember, they live in FL and perhaps wanted to see snow?). Luckily for us, they had to fly through Chicago so they extended their trip and stayed with us both the weekends before and after their trip. Of course as soon as they got here the kids put them to work. Here is Madgie reading a new book of interesting facts to Ben...he is clearly intrigued!

Then we had a family movie night...who knew we could fit so many butts on this couch!

Well, it just so happened that right before Madgie and Patch came to visit we got our first good snow of the year.  So, we had to go sledding!  

Madgie and Juju were up first!

Wheee!  I am sure it has been quite a while since Madgie and Patch have been sledding and they seemed to enjoy it!

Love this kid!

Pure joy on his face!

Abbey loved going, but she preferred to cover her face to keep snow from getting in it!

This was the first year that Juliette got really into it.  Last year she would cry to be carried up the hill and would go down but was never that enthusiastic about it.  This year was different though.  She marched up the hill each time ready to go again and again and again!  She wouldn't go down by herself, but that was ok because there were plenty of people who were happy to go down with her!

Abbey covering her face again...

There's her face!  And what a great expression!  I am sure this was her expression each time behind her mittens too!

 

Madgie and Patch took a turn together...Madgie looks petrified, but I think this was when she was yelling "Watch Out, Watch Out, Watch Out!!!!" to the kid walking up the middle of the hill!  It was pretty hilarious to watch!

 

OK, there is her smile!

Back to covering her face again...

I just thought this picture was so cute...Juju looks thrilled - YAY!!!!

 

Paul got to sled some too, but then our camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get many shots of him.  You can't really see him in this picture, but it captures the way he would go down the hill with both girls on his lap - so cute!

We came home and made some hot chocolate.  I think everyone had a fun day!  Then Madgie and Patch flew off to Yellowstone for the week!

Tiger Scout Camp In

In January, the Tiger Scouts went on a Camp-In! It was at a place with cabins, but there were a lot of really great organized activities that the boys really enjoyed. Daddy and Ben went on this one alone. The girls and I stayed home and had some friends over instead! So I don't exactly know everything that happened, but I have picked out some of my favorite pictures and will try to shed some light on what they did.  They went on some hikes...you can pick out Ben by his bright orange coat!

I just thought this was a cute picture of Ben...he looks contemplative...

There was some sort of ropes activity...

Group shot!

Of course, a camp fire!

They had to build an emergency shelter - I think it looks great and Ben seems comfy enough in it!

Plenty of time hanging out with friends!

They built a volcano.

And luckily for them, it happened to snow just a touch the day before so they were able to go sledding!

Perhaps we have a snow boarder in our future...

They had a really great time!  Everything sounded like a lot of fun!

Dance

After Christmas we jumped back into our regular routine, which included dance class! We had a nice surprise when we got back...the girls' recital costumes had come in! Now, the recital isn't until May, but they had to try on the costumes to ensure they fit and I could not resist taking a few pictures. They are SO excited!

I am hoping they do not need to wear the gloves as they are a bit too big for Juju!

Abbey looking beautiful in her costume - she was very happy to get a flowy pink costume...it is perfect for her!

Such pretty girls...can't wait for the recital!!

After Christmas Catch-Up

OK, so it may be mid-February, but let's back up to a few days after New Year's...once we left Mama Kay and Papa's house, we stopped in Cincinnati to drop off some boxes to Aunt Ginny and Uncle Chris. It was a perfect mid-point stop on our trip home from TN and Aunt Ginny prepared a wonderful breakfast for us, which was very nice! The kids got to stretch their legs and get a nice break from the car too, so it worked out perfectly! Plus, we all wanted a bit more Baby Brendan time...

 

Ben thought that Baby Brendan might want to listen to a book...one of personal favorites too!

I think Brendan really enjoyed it.  Looks like Abbey did too :)

Juju's turn with Brendan!

Then it was back to home to get ready for the National Championship game!  Now, seeing as how we know how this game turned out, I contemplated not even mentioning it in the blog, but I did want to someday look back and remember that we at least made it to the Championship game in an undefeated season!  That morning we were full of excitement and hope though so Daddy played the Fight Song to wake everyone up and made bagels with green cream cheese!   Even if the game didn't go well, we had fun celebrating anyway!

And we were back to our soccer class.  Aren't these kids cute all ready for soccer?

The place they take soccer is so big that there are two giant fields in separate, but attached, buildings.  Unfortunately, Ben and Juliette are in one building and Abbey is in another.  Luckily, Ben is very responsible when it comes to his baby sister.  He carefully gets her after class, holds her hand, and they walk over to the other building where I am trying my best to hurry Abbey along to get to them too (not an easy task mind you!).  So far it has worked out fine though.

And speaking of those two, Ben had the opportunity to read to Juliette's preschool class as a guest reader.  It was very cute.  They were both so excited about it.