Catching Up...

1.  Welcome Home Brian:  The girls and I were very happy to have Brian home from the Dominican Republic where he was for 5 days for a wedding.  I think it's safe to say that we held our own pretty well while he was gone, but being a single-parent for a week made me appreciate how much Brian does!  Brian had a great and hot trip while we got five inches of snow and had a late start one day because the morning temperature was -20...you can imagine that I didn't feel too sorry for him when he emailed saying his feet were sore because he had sunburned them!  The girls loved watching on a flight-tracker website Brian's plane get closer to home, and I woke up the next morning to the three of them playing Touble downstairs in the basement...it was 6:00am - I took that as a definite sign that they were glad to have Brian home!  :)

2.  Valentine's Day:  The girls were excited for Valentine's Day this year!  Liv got to have her party on the 13th and was pumped to bring the cookies we had made to share with her friends at school.  Grace, unfortunately, still hasn't had her party...thank you very much cold and snow.  Ugh - when is it going to end?!?  Grady had on a very cute little outfit from Auntie Beth that lasted until about noon before it was covered in too much spit-up to tolerate - still need to get a good picture of it!  There was no school on Valentine's Day (4-day weekend), so we all headed over to a friend's house for some play/craft time and treats; it was a good day!

3.  Staying Home:  I continue to enjoy staying home with the kiddos.  Sometimes I get a little stressed out with how perpetually messy everything seems to be, but then I remind myself that that's a good thing; I really wouldn't have it any other way...well, maybe I'd like it if I could keep things a touch cleaner!  :)  Anyways, it's been wonderful to be home with Grady, and I feel like I've been able to soak up his baby-hood.  I've also enjoyed spending the days with Grace playing games, dolls, blocks, and dress up with her.  Grace is a pretty independent girl, so we parallel "play" a lot - her playing is legitimate whereas mine often means folding laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, or something of that ilk!  I'm definitely looking forward to warmer weather and getting these two kiddos out to the park and on walks while Liv is at school.  Speaking of, I love being home when Liv gets off the bus - it's fun going through her school bag together and sometimes having some alone time if Grady and Grace are still sleeping.  Lastly, at night, I am so enjoying being stress-free.  It's really nice to not have to do anything once the kids are in bed and to be able to sit and watch TV with Brian or read a book; I think dealing with grading in the evenings is going to be one of the toughest parts of going back to school next fall.  But, as next fall is a while away, I'm not going to think about it and am just going to enjoy what I've got!

 

4.  Watching Miss Ivy Anne:  Last Monday and Wednesday the girls and I got to spend some quality time with Ivy (the girls' cousin).  Beth and family were in Canada checking out the town they'll be moving to in late May (Edmonton).  We had lots of fun together playing, dressing up, jumping on the trampoline, painting, and reading books.  It was so sweet to see Ivy playing with the girls (Liv was home Monday too enjoying the last day of the 4-day weekend), and I loved hearing Ivy request for them to come with her upstairs, and downstairs, and upstairs, and downstairs!  Even better...the girls were willing to do all of it with her!  Ivy was coming down with a cold, and later Monday I got to enjoy a few cuddles because of it.  My favorite...Manda, can I hold you?  Translation:  Amanda, can you hold me?  :)  Ivy also liked holding Grady - but she couldn't quite remember to say "Can I hold him?" and liked to say her instead!  Tuesday, Grandpa Roger stayed home with Ivy even making a trip to the doctor for some medicine, but by Wednesday morning, Pat reported that she was asking for Liv and Grace again!  I'm very glad we got to spend some quality time with Ivy - we're certainly going to miss her and the rest of the Hoden family when they move!