Brushing Teeth

Kate's toothbrush got left somewhere at Mimi and Papa's. So, last night, she used Daddy's instead... probably not the best idea, but what are ya gonna do?

She's WAY into brushing her teeth right now. All we have to do is mention it and she runs to the bathroom sink.

She LOVES to taste the toothpaste and then put her toothbrush under the running water.

Ignore that mess in the background. All of my cleaning supplies were still out from the weekend before!

She's getting so big. She just picks up on everything so fast.

Have I mentioned lately that I could just eat her up??? 'Cause I totally could!

Snow Day #1

***Disclaimer: All of these pictures were taken with my iphone since my photographer husband was at work. The quality stinks, but somebody's gotta document all of this!***

I am on my second day off of school this week. It's great! We knew a storm was coming on Monday night and we always come out to my parent's for our weekly Monday night get together with everyone. We decided we would just spend the night since we knew Mark had to be at work the next day and I knew chances were, that school would be called off. Mark has a 50 minute drive to work every morning from our house, but from my parent's, it's only about 20. So, we figured that was our best bet.

Then, we heard that the storm was probably going to be worse than we thought, so I threw a bunch more clothes in our suitcase, and we've been here ever since! It has worked out really well, though. I am thinking we will have school tomorrow, so we'll be back home.

This picture pretty much sums up Kate's time in the snow.

She got this sled for Christmas and we decided to use it yesterday. She hated her hat and her mittens (notice she doesn't have them on in this picture). I grabbed a towel and threw it in there with her and tried to make sure she kept her hands under there.

See her trying to pull them off? I thought it would be hard with mittens on, but she managed to get them off.

She actually liked it when she was being pulled through the yard.

Then, we pulled out the big guns and went to a little slope in the backyard. Her first time down the hill was fine. Her second time down the hill was fine. Then, I decided to take her to another little hill and as I was pulling her sled in a different direction, it tipped over backwards and she was in the snow (granted, her sled has a seatbelt in it). For like two seconds, but it did her in. She cried the whole way as I pulled her back to the front yard.

After that, Kate went down for a nap and we got the brainiac idea to go out to lunch. Everyone's cars were pulled in the driveway (the police came the night before and told us we had to get them all off the street so the plows could come through), but we forgot to get Mark's keys to his car since he took my mom's four wheel drive Explorer to work.

So, his keys were in his coat pocket at work. His car was behind my car in the driveway, and I won't tell you who's idea it was (not mine!) to try to circle around in the yard to get out. In the end, this is what happened:



We were stuck, majorly.

Someone had to go inside and get my dad, who was putting Kate to sleep, and when he came out, he was less than thrilled with us.

We thought maybe he could pull us back up onto the driveway.








There's Brad and his girlfriend, Vicky .

Here's Mom and me enjoying the chaos. I would like to title this picture "Double Chin Central".

(Me, not you, Mom!)

In the end, he never could get the car out and a tow truck had to come. Crazy!!! And, we never went to lunch!

Here's to Snow Day #2...may it be better than Snow Day #1!!!

Cooking with my girl

Last weekend, I wanted to make this. From the Pioneer Woman, of course. I'm sure I have linked it on here before, because oh my goodness... be still my heart... it. is. incredible. I always make it with blueberries because I'm not a fan of blackberries. Too seedy or something.

So, seriously, go make it. Like, now. And then go run on the treadmill for three hours! OK, there's my Pioneer Woman plug for the day (literally, it happens daily!).

Kate wanted to see what exactly I was doing up there, so I plopped her up on the counter thinking she would be more of a bother than anything else. Nice Mom, right??

But, she got so into the pouring and stirring that it ended up being so much fun having her help me!

She did stop for some kisses along the way, though.

Sky Zone

Mark's company has a New Year's party instead of a Christmas party. It was last Tuesday at Sky Zone. If you're not familiar with Sky Zone, it's a big rec center type place made up of trampolines.

The party was catered and I had a great time meeting everyone he works with. There was a little "Toddler Area" for kids two and under. Kate is a pretty rough and tumble kinda girl, so we knew she would love getting bounced around on the trampolines.

It took her awhile to get warmed up, but when she did... she was all over the place. And, when other kids got on there and bounced her little body all over the place, she was more than thrilled!

Her favorite was when I would chase her all around the trampolines.







See how her buttons are undone on her overalls?

That's how hard she was playing. Buttons were popping all over the place!



It took awhile to get her off of there. She kept running away and then looking back, smiling.



Once we finally caught her and took her off, she screamed, cried, arched her back, and ran away from us. Tantrums like this are an everyday occurrence these days. She got so mad today that she picked up the remote and BIT it!! What point that proved? I'm not sure. But, I'm sure it made sense in her head.

But, then, you see a picture like this...



... and you forget all about those yucky tantrums.

Crazy Hair

THIS is what her hair looks like after the pigtails come out!!

Late Night Partyin'

On Sunday nights, our home church group comes over and as much as we try to stay as close to bedtime as possible, it's hard. Kate is a party animal and likes to be right in the middle of the action. She has a hard time going to bed knowing we still have company out in the living room and she is missing it. So, on nights like this, we let her stay up a little late.

I know, I know... not the safest place for a toddler to be. Daddy was right there, though, I promise!

And don't look in my cabinets!

I mean it! I said DON'T look in my cabinets.

They need a little "reorganization"! (like everything else around here)

Now this... this warrants staying up until 9:30. Coloring with one of her best buddies, Ryan.

I mean, does it get any better than this?

Kate and her chair

Kate got a rocking chair for Christmas from her Mimi and Papa. She loves the thing! We have it in our living room by the french doors to the deck, so she likes to sit in the chair, "read her books" and contemplate life. :)

I put a little basket next to her chair with a bunch of books and an old remote control. Add a sippy cup to the mix, and she's set!

She is still trying to figure out how exactly to climb into her chair with all of this stuff in her hands. It's so fun to watch her figure it out and problem solve.

She has recently realized that it is a helpful boost for her to reach no-no things around that area.


Showing us that she is "one".

Tonight, she scooted her chair over to the coffee table, climbed on the chair, and from there, climbed onto the coffee table... just to sit. She cried when we made her get off. I know I've said it before, but she's a wild one!

But, I gotta say, watching that wild one rock in her chair all on her own looking at Guess How Much I Love You... mmmm... priceless.