Two Weeks Of Love

As we all know Valentines Day is closing in quickly.  I wanted to try to figure out a way to make Tom feel extra special loved and appreciated this year for all that he does for our family.  I came up with an idea of having the kids do something special for him each day for the whole first 2 weeks of February.  I looked up crafts for Preschoolers online and took the girls to Michael's today to pick up all the supplies.  And as a bonus we found this cute foam mailbox and the foam heart stickers so the kids could decorate Daddy's "lovebox".  Tonight when Tom gets home he'll have a note in his lovebox that tells him that each day he comes home from work over the next two weeks he can look in his lovebox for his Valentines from all three women in his life.  As the weeks go by I'll be posting pictures of the crafts we've made so the girls can look back and remember Valentine's month 2011.  Most importantly, I hope this makes Tom feel love, charished and respected for everything he does in and for our home.  Happy Valentine's Month!

First Gymnastics Classes!

Here are some pictures of the girls doing one of thier first gymnastics classes.  They both love it and I love it too.  One of the coolest things for me is that they do a song called "Going to the Zoo" by Peter, Paul and Mary that I used to do at gymnastics when I was kid.  They run around in a huge circle, act like the animals in the song, pretend to sleep and then jump up to finish the song with another trip to the zoo.  I love my job as a wife and stay at home mom.  I can't imagine missing out on these things!

Waiting patiently for thier classes to start. 

By far Sedona's favorite piece of equipment. 

Lelia doing Going to the Zoo. 

Sedona doing Going to the Zoo.

Sarah's Birthday Party

My friend and previous roomate, Sarah Solorzano, had a birthday party while she was home on furlough from her work in El Salvador.  Her husband was here with her too and they decided to share with some of her friends Jorge's last night which was also Sarah's birthday.

We sat down to a beautiful dinner that he mom made for all of us. 

Jorge and Sarah shared a little bit about thier lives and thier love for God and each other. 

And all of a sudden a Mariachi band walked into her mom's house and serenaded Sarah and the rest of us.  We learned later that this is a tradition between Sarah and Jorge that they hire Mariachi bands for special occassions for one another.  Jorge said that finding one here was a huge task...very fun for all of us. 

Port Discovery

We finally made it to Port Discovery in Baltimore the other day with some friends of ours who took us along on thier yearly membership pass.  It was so much fun to watch all of the kids enjoy themselves.  I even ran into a friend from Annapolis!  Here are some pics..

Car to play in outside of the grocery store where the kids could go shopping. 

 

The kids loved the domino area. 

Train.

I think this might have been everyone's favorite (with the exception of the water area and my camera batteries had run out!)  It was a diner where the kids to cook the food, wash dishes, serve the adults, pass out menus, etc...They LOVED it!

Life Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

We had enough snow on the ground to play in this morning.  The girls and I set out on a walk and had so much fun in the snow.  I love hearing the swishing sound that thier snow pants when they run in the snow.    We have been reading the book The Snowy Day this week and did all the fun things Peter does in the book like making different kinds of tracks in the snow, making snow angles and smacking snow off of trees with a stick.  It's so neat to see how much they enjoy reading and applying what they've learned, eventhough at this point application is simply copying the characters or words.  And, we had to follow-up the play in the with hot chocolate and marshmallows.  I just so happened to have some sugar cookie dough in the fridge and threw some of that in the oven to make the snack extra healthy, haha!  What a fun morning!  I am so enjoying my kids these days and feel so fortunate to be able to stay at home with them.  I'm not sure why God chose to bless me with these little miracles but I'm glad He did!  I'm pretty sure life doesn't get any better than it was this morning!

Baby Shower

Our small group threw a baby shower for 2 of our 3 pregnant women who currently attend group.  One had her baby a few days before the planned surprise shower and one had her baby a few days later.  Both babies were 2 weeks early!!  Congrats to Bradd and Megan Gott and Matt and Amy Holley!!

Jumping Jacks

Mmmm...toothpaste and potty training chocolates!

I was working on the computer today and realized that it had gotten very quiet with the exception of the bathroom door opening and closing a few times.  I went in to find both girls squished into thier sink eating toothpaste and potty training chocolates.  It was impossible to punish them because it was so cute!!

Mommy's New Boots

One word - stunning!

Christmas ICE Exhibit at National Harbor

Lelia had a blast! 

 This was a slide made out of ice.  Sedona got stuck and didn't like that so much.



We went to the Gaylord for an annual Christmas themed ice exhibit.  This year the theme was The Grinch.  All of the rooms were filled with huge ice sculptures of scenes from the book.  It was 9 degrees inside the tent so they give you extra heavy parkas to wear while you are inside.  Sedona wasn't so fond of the cold so we only lasted inside about 15 - 20 minutes.

Chirstmas tree made entirely out of Peeps. 

We took a ride on a train inside the Gaylord hotel.  Daddy and Sedona sat together and Lelia and I sat together.  It was a sweet time with her. 

 We had ice cream at Ben & Jerry's BEFORE lunch.

Our Visit with the Solorzanos

My friend Sarah Meehan Solorzano is back in the states on furlough from her missions work in El Salvador where she met her husband, Jorge.  Once again I didn't take great pics but here are a few from our dinner.

Oops, Jorge's eyes are shut...should have taken more pics!! 

The kids were taking pictures with Sarah's camera all night. 

New Years Eve

We had such a great time on New Years Eve this year.  We went to the Gotts' house and had finger food as well as a chocolate fountain with fruit and other goodies for dipping.  I'm pretty sure that was the hit of the night.  It was also exciting because the Theils had never seen or played a Wii before.  It was hillarious and such fun for all of us!  We feel so blessed to have the friends we have.

 The game started very modestly, on the couch with little movement.

The game quickly got more serious. 

They were really getting into it.  I think Theil actually won.  Beginners luck? 

Rose, who is very laid back and very reserved didn't want to play.  We finally convinced her and not only did she get really into it, she beat everyone! 

Here's Megan with Thomas Theil and her son Preston.  You can't see it but she is 8 months pregnant and still playing with the kids and hosting parties at her house.  She's awesome! 

Lelia playing in thier playroom.