A Little Bit of This a Little Bit of That

This title reflects my very random post today. We have kept pretty busy the last week or so. Saturday my wonderful husband kept the kids(or so I thought) so my friend Heather and I could go shopping for a fun filled day without the constant interruptions of the little ones for my birthday. I left Saturday morning and went to Heathers house and we spent a lot of time bargain hunting(I love Clearance Sales!) and went out to eat. It was great getting away without the kiddos. When I arrived home Gabe met me at the front entry with news of a surprise for me in the kitchen. I went in and saw that while I was gone Carl had sent the kids over to my mom and dads and had Brian from work come over and they started the tile on our backsplash in the kitchen, this had been a long time coming and I was not so subtly dropping hints to Carl for awhile that I would love it to get done, it has since been completed and looks awesome! That was a great surprise. That night Heather and Mike were also going to watch our kids so we could go out to eat for my birthday so we got to their house in Huxley and I walked in with Ty and there was almost everyone from our connection group plus some friends waiting to surprise me, and I was definately surprised! Heather and Kate had made soup and bread and it was so much fun just hanging out with everyone and spending a great evening with friends. When we got home late that night I came out of the bathroom to find a Tiffany's box on my pillow with a great necklace inside, that was a BIG surprise too! The next morning we had church and met my mom and dad at Hickory Park and the "boys" surprised me with a book set. It was a great birthday and I realized how blessed I am at all of our wonderful friends and family! This week we have been enjoying the much warmer weather and actually getting out of the house. We started D6 again last night and Gabe was so proud of this crown he made. He has been wearing it a lot of the day today too. This morning we all made cookies and I'm not sure what I would do without my "helpers"(probably have a lot less mess and more cookies) Ty had his first taste of cookie dough, I think he is a fan just like big brother. I think that about sums up my random thoughts for now:)

Who knew...

a plastic storage tub could be so much fun! Even Brenna got in on the fun.

Pizza and Piano Pals

The winter days can get long around here so today Gabe and his friend Brady became pizza chefs. They were actually very good chefs, they smooshed the biscuits down for the crust and then even added the sauce and cheese themselves without very much mess at all, I was impressed. I turned the oven light on so they could watch them bake. It was funny to see them both bent over in front of the oven watching their lunch cook. While the boys were cooking Bree and Ty provided entertainment on the paino I mean piano.

Basketball Game and a Special Message for Grandma Nancy

We have had a busy week. We finished up our last two Christmas's and we took in an Iowa State Basketball game. New Years Eve we walked over to Hilton with Andrea, Alan and Clark and watched the mens game. Ty had been to one game last year when he was a baby so we weren't sure how he would do just sitting there. We were pleasantly surprised. He loved looking around at everything and would clap when the crown clapped and even yell a little. He has taken a liking to kettle corn just like big brother and did very well most of the game. He got a little restless towards the end but for the most part he did great. On New Years day we celebrated Christmas with the Mawdsleys and on Saturday Christmas with the Angus' The boys(and Mom and Dad) were spoiled with all the wonderful gifts they received. Thanks so much to everyone! We are back into routine today and it will be good to get back into the swing of things. I think Gabe will be disappointed the next time he goes to my mom and dads and discovers that their tree did not regenerate more presents this time as it had been doing nearly every time we have gone in the past few weeks. We took our Christmas decorations down yesterday and Gabe has asked several times where our trees have gone. He is already talking about next year:) On a final note Gabe and Ty have a special message for Grandma Nancy whose birthday is today.