One Exhausted Mama

Having 2 sick kiddos last week (Cooper had croup and Madison had a sinus infection and upper respiratory infection) meant that

Mommy was exhausted!

Glad to have everyone on the mend. 

Movie night with Nana

When Papa and Daddy are away, the girls will play.

With warm, full tummies (we had taco casserole) and large snugly blankets,we assembled in the living room for movie night.

Now playing, TANGLED!

We finished the evening with Chocolate delight (a chocolate chip cookie/Oreo/brownie dessert) and ice cream and then headed to bed.

Sweet dreams.

Children's Museum Fun

As a last hurrah before returning to school from Christmas break, the kids went to the Children's Museum with Nana and Papa.

 It was the last weekend before the end of the Jolly Holidays exhibits.

 Skating in Winter Fun land

 Spins and twirls

 Lillian Moose Ears

 The girls were THRILLED to participate in the snowball fight (we have never been there at the right time)

 Lillian scoping it all out (and hoarding a few snowballs for later). After a bit of observing, she joined right in. I guess she was just establishing her strategy.

 Heading to see more exhibits.

 The latest (and newest) exhibit is the Frogs. The girls thought they were AWESOME.

 Waiting for the Jolly Holiday Slide

 Racing to the bottom

 (Papa wanted to race too)

 A final ride on the carousal before one more exhibit and then home. Lillian is so excited to be old enough to ride and Up and Down pony

 Barbie exhibit is an all time favorite for the girls. Here they are answering calls, just like Mommy (who was stuck at work while the kids played at the museum)

 then on to the run way. Fashion diva Madison and photographer Lillian (I love there facial expressions)

Another successful adventure.

Polka Dot Princesses

I am so excited that it is getting easier to find matching outfits for the girls (with a 6 year age gap it has been next to impossible).

I love my Sparkles!

6 Months Old

Cooper is 6 months old and growing strong.
He is so proud to sit up on his own.

 He loves looking at his sisters and always keeps a close eye on what they are up to.

 Taking a break to wrestle with Goober- he loves his bear.

 Taking a moment to chat with his furry friend.

 Just chilling with Goober

 "Hello friend"

 One happy boy.

Nana Blankets

Hawk Shirts

Each year Nana gets the kids matching Decatur Hawk shirts to wear when they come to visit her at school.

Stud Puffin

Mommy's little Stud Puffin's favorite time of day... DINNER!

 I love those pudgy cheeks.

 Ready and smiling.

 First bite is always the toughest... he has to remember that he likes what he is eating.

 Oatmeal and apple sauce, one of his favorites.

 Almost done, just a few more bites

 Clean face

 Time for an after dinner nap.

Sitting and playing with toys

One evening, I asked the girls to be in the nursery with Cooper while I finished cleaning the bathrooms. This is what I discovered...
Cooper sitting (all by himself) and playing with his cars. He was sharing with his friends Goober and Lion while Big sisters Madison and Lillian sat close by to watch.

 Ready to race

 "Hey Madi, who won?"

Taking a break from playing cars and just sitting with his sisters, and hanging out in his room.

Now for a game of hide and go seek... Guess who was supposed to hide?

 Where did Lillian go?

 "Awww man, they found me!"

Oh the happy memories my three sparkles were making together.

2012: Happy New Year

2 months ago on Halloween my husband surprised me with reservations for New Years Eve.
This was HUGE deal, as he typically is not a planner (or so he claims).
We would be renting...

 a cabin in...

(Right outside of Brown County, in southern Indiana).

We would be joining our good friends Ron and Janet and Niki and Kevin to play a live game of CLUE!

Dinner by candlight at the

 Inn's restaurant, promptly at 5pm.

We gathered with the other players for a gourmet feast.

The game was simple, just like Parker Brothers board game (of course with a Hopwood twist).

Part 1:
With your team of 4, solve the 16 riddles to locate bags and envelopes that contained a certain number of coins (1-3). The coins would then be exchange in Part II for clues to solve the mystery.
(Very much like the Amazing Race).
(This was probably my favorite part, I liked racing around the grounds- even in the dark and the mud, and solving the riddles.)

At the call of GAME ON we race around (in the dark) hunting for the bags.
There were 2 bags per location and each team could only take one. It was a matter speed and strategy.

Rob and I raced around the grounds, having chosen to divide our riddle list in half with our teammates.

 We managed to find 5 clue bags to add to our teams collection.

In just under 2 hours, all 32 bags and envelopes had been collected, all riddles correctly solved and it was time to reconvene in the main cabin for Part II.

Part II
 It was time to solve the mystery of WHO, STOLE WHAT, from WHERE.

In the end, our team prevailed and took home the victory. (Over 2 hours with several helpful hints at the end)

It was a lot of fun.

We toasted the new year together (the game having finished only a few minutes before midnight) and then returned to our cabin and our children. (It was so wonderful to have our children close by. A babysitter stayed in our cabin with ALL the children while the adults played. It was a great set up).

After a quick breakfast at McDonalds, a short stop at the outlet mall, we returned home to De-Christmas our house and to tackled another mountain of laundry before beginning our week at work and school.

It was a wonderful weekend and a great way to celebrate with friends.

Just keep a close eye on your DIAMOND RING, if MRS.GREEN visits you in the DURANGO ROOM.