Dress up

Or-- in Libby's case-- age three.

What began as changing her clothes an average of seven times a day has morphed into a nonstop fashion show, complete with complementary characters and activities.

"Daddy," she sang, spinning out of bed after naptime one day. "I'm ready for my ballet!"

"Great, sweetie," Scott chuckled.

She started at him, hands on her hips. "I need my princess crown..."

"Right, of course."

 Her rotating list of characters keeps us on our toes.

Ballerina Libby, Cowgirl Libby, and Princess Libby look pretty much the same (though Ballerina Libby tends to dance more than the others).

Pirate Libby visits a few times a week. She wears a hat and a sneer.

Monkey Libby scurries up her canopy bed and swings from the bars, giving me a slight heart attack.

Ninja Turtle Libby always stops the bad guys. And sometimes Leo.

 

 Lately, even her stuffed animals dress up when she does (yep, that's Pirate Libby sans hat).

This little lady just bubbles with imagination and personality.

Seven teeth down

A big milestone for Little T

Travis came home from preschool on Monday with a book.

His class has been practicing phonics. This week, they brought home books to begin the basics of reading. 

Travis eagerly pulled his book out of his backpack, slowly sounded out the words...

...and read the whole book by himself!

His face beamed with pride.

We sure are proud, too.

March 1st campout

We rang in March with a back yard campout.

Libby helped set up... with her usual snazzy style.

 

After dinner, we roasted marshmallows.

 

Then we piled into the tent, read stories, and settled in.

Around 2 in the morning, Travis started whimpering that he was cold and needed to use the bathroom. As I escorted him outside, I noticed that there was frost on our tent. It was 10 degrees colder than it was supposed to get that night! Our sleeping bags were nice and warm (they're rated for 0 degrees), but Travis was ice cold from the waist up because he had rolled out of his bag. So the two of us "camped" inside for the rest of the night.

Two hours later, the chill got to Scott, and he brought the other kids in with him.

All in all, it was a fun night. We're excited for more campouts... once it gets a bit warmer.

Frozen Lake Lowell

One Saturday late in February, we trekked around Lake Lowell. The water was frozen and the air was brisk. We had a blast skipping rocks, bounding over the hills (Benjamin), sliding down the trails (Benjamin & Libby), dunking our hands in the frigid water (Travis), trying to keep Leo off the ice, exploring, all while rocking one crazy outfit (Libby).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presidents' Day

The Willis crew came up for the weekend. Scott & I hadn't seen them in almost a year, and our kids very much needed to meet their adorable son, Burton.

We played games, sliced insane amounts of vegetables & cheese & bread, vowed to never bowl in Boise again after two hilariously bad experiences, went to dinner instead, lounged, laughed, learned all about Mario & whales, and caught up.

Thanks for visiting, guys! It was so good to see you again.

Valentine's Day 2013

The kids woke up to their valentines from Scott & me-- chocolates and secret messages. They eagerly decoded (and eventually had a proper breakfast):

 

Their day was a whirlwind of school parties, crafts, valentines, candy, and games.

Travis' valentine for us:

Libby's "gift" for me:

 

Benjamin's valentine box we made for school:

Scott left for work at 5:45 in the morning (as usual) and had a long day due to meetings. Knowing that, we opted to keep it simple-- which suits our style better, anyway-- by enjoying a relaxing evening together once the little ones went to bed. 

My valentines are the best. But I may be a smidge biased.