Our Small Straight

In my last year of college, I played Yahtzee once a week with a great group of friends. I still love the game. Well - to reference Yahtzee - I wanted to show you our small straight. We had the Newman kids over to give Jess a well-deserved break to work, and we realized their ages: Tate - 4, Avery - 3, Jack - 2, and Beckett - 1. Hence, our small straight.

They had so much fun, as they always do together. And kept cracking us up. Here, they are looking for sharks on the floor...

Our little twins, apparently. Beckett had these jammies packed, and Jack insisted he wear his matching pair.

And finally settled down for a long coloring session.

Thanks for sharing the night with us, guys! Pretty soon you'll be old enough to be tortured to play Yahtzee with Aunt Rach!

A Late Holiday

So we've started a tradition...every year around the Holidays, we meet with my girlfriends and their husbands (the local ones anyway) for a night out. We had SUCH a great time. We ate dinner as a group, and then went to comedy.

Here are the girls (a few had left already by the time we got a group picture):

The two of us

And a few of the guys

We are so lucky to have such great friends...we only wish we could see them in a big group like this more often!

Sunday we spent a few hours at Ikea. We've decided we're going to stay in our condo for a couple (or few...) more years, so now it's time to make it over to fit us better. It should be exciting, but time-consuming too. We had so much fun deciding what we wanted to do and what we could change to make it better. Who knew having a "looking day" could be so much fun!

I'll be sure to update with the changes we make.

Happy Monday!

Look what we found...

In an effort to get Jacks to bed early, we read stories for over a half hour, and I told him he could quietly play in his room for a while before he fell asleep. NOT the right thing to say, apparently. When we walked in there 30 minutes later, this is what we found......

Almost all of his toys on the floor....

And a little streaker! I tried to get him to cover his "privates", but still thought I should block it out so it wasn't inappropriate. Standing on top of his changing table, sans pajamas and a diaper....man this kid cracks me up.

On a side note - he is no longer asked to smile in pictures....he simply SEES the camera, and CHEESE!

Ahhhh....weekends like this.

We had such a great weekend. Friday night started with a great date.  We went to dinner (and I finally ate REAL food, no mashed potatoes or eggs for me!) and a movie...which is rare for us!  Typically it's one or the other.

Since it has been so cold out, we decided it was time to do something fun Saturday morning out of the house. We went to one of the best places for Jack - Edinborough Park. He played and climbed his little heart out for two hours. It isn't easy to wear this kid out, but he was TIRED and fell asleep on the way home.

I was definitely missing my camera for the action shots.  For those of you who DON'T know, I broke it on NYE...which is why there has yet to be a cute post from that night.  Darcy promised pictures to me, but in true Darcy fashion...I have yet to actually see them :)

After that, my sister Kasey and Mom picked me up for some fun prom dress shopping.  My Dad stayed with Brad and Jack (I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate the FUN we had at the mall!)  She found a really cute one - but seriously we were DYING at some of the styles they had out right now....Look at this! Can you believe they actually have a dress like this on the rack? Hilarious.  Helloooooooo early 90's.

Saturday night we watched the Newman kids, which is always a hoot. Jack decided to stay up with us until 11:15, and when he woke up at 5:00, it was a long morning on Sunday. I met my girlfriend Jazz for coffee, and when I got back - he was asleep....for a 3+ hour nap!!

I LOVE weekends like this...

REALLY!?

I'm typically not one to talk about the weather. HOWEVER...on a day like today, I'm glad I'm working from home. The temp in Chaska is -23, but on the Today show, they said it feels like -47 in the cities. REALLY!? Why do we live here? Oh yeah, I love the fall. Talk to me in the fall, and I will have forgotten all about this winter.

I had my wisdom teeth out yesterday, and I'm feeling SO much better today. I've moved to Advil, and still feeling OK. Back to work tomorrow! (And no - I am NOT posting a picture of me, I mean Alvin the Chipmunk!)

Stay warm!!!

Christmas Up North

Last weekend, we took a trip up north to Brad's Dad's house for a small Christmas. The boys got to play outside (even though it was FREEZING!)

Not to mention, play a little cowboys...that was the best part of the weekend...lots of time with Jayden.

And don't forget Miss Miya...who gets as many hugs and kisses as she can stand from Mr. Jackson.

Doesn't Jayden look just thrilled to have me taking more pictures of him? He maybe knows me too well already :)

Sunday we rushed out to head to Hector for Christmas at Grandma Lois' house. We're officially done with the holidays....I don't think our house can hold any more toys anyway!

Computer man...now and circa 2006

I took this picture of Jack trying to hack into Brad's computer last night...

When I was looking at it today...it totally reminded me of this, almost 2 years ago to the date. Funny how some things never change, huh?

One, Two, Three STREPS we're out...

It's official...our entire family is now on medication for strep throat. I happened to have my camera with me, so I took a picture of Jacks at his doctor visit. The last of us to be told the news :(  He's been to the doctor so many times, he knows the drill.

In true Jack fashion, it didn't slow him down! As soon as we got home, he was ready to play football.

This one cracks me up - ready to take one in the face.

I'm hoping we're done with the sickies for the winter? We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Baby D

On New Year's Day Darcy, Carissa, and I took a trip to Milwaukee to finally meet little baby Donovan. He was SO adorable, cute, and snugly - it definitely solidified the fact that we're all itchin' for a babe! Alyssa drove up from Chicago, too...so it was nice to see the girls (even though I think we all know the real reason we were there...we even set a timer so that everyone got to hold him the same amount of time at first!)

Oohing and Aahing over every little thing he did.

Darcy, Me, Gina, Donovan, Carissa, and Alyssa

Isn't he just adorable? I don't know how it works, but he is three shades darker than the rest of us...combine that and the dark hair - and Brad said "Nope - he'll never be mistaken for a Hove!" Isn't that the truth :)

Thanks to Julie and Brian (Darcy's parents) for letting us stay, and cooking us wonderful food all weekend.  We had so much fun!