Cell Phone Photo Dump (winter edition)

If you know me, you know I despise Winter. I mean there is nothing more painful and torturous than Winter. And this seems like the longest  I don't like to be cold. I don't like to be inside all the time. Stuff dies. My skin gets bad. I eat too much and exercise too little. I really could go on and on...  Am I killing your joy right now? That's about how I feel about Winter. And to make it worse my birthday is in Winter...even more insult to injury, my birthday is on Groundhog Day where Punxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of Winter every.single.year about 99.9999% of the time. I need to be medicated, or at least need a tropical island, for this time of the year.

Speaking of my birthday, we ended up going out to dinner with the Malones for pizza and margaritas. Stacey got me some awesome lipstick (I can always count on her for my makeup fixes!) and a new Yoga mat (which I am super excited about because my other one is falling apart). We had a great time and then went back to my house to pile up in my love seat together and solve the world's problems over another margarita. 

Check out our kids at supper. Isn't this hilarious?!! I promise, we do not encourage this or use the terms "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" with these kids...but they love each other and it is so sweet.

SO, because I hate Winter and everything that comes with it, I have a hard time getting motivated for ANYTHING. (you should see my house right now...) Taking pictures and blogging has really taken a back seat...and so you are now faced with random pictures on my cell phone.

Nearly two weeks ago we got almost a foot of snow, then it rained and then the temp dropped well below freezing. And it has stayed there. (that might be the main reason for my Debbie Downer intro) The first day was kind of neat, a break from the monotony, exciting to be "snowed in." So the kids and I a fun time playing in the snow.

But then reality hit and when Josh got home he couldn't get his truck up the driveway. He had to get the neighbor to help him get his truck off the tree in our yard:

And the snow kept falling. We got another 2 inches the next day. Then the temp dropped to "feels like" temps of -11! In case you didn't catch that, I said MINUS ELEVEN. Youch. So our days of playing outside were over. The state was declared a state of emergency. We literally were snowed in. The kids just went back to school yesterday, they were out 7 school days! And we still have snow and ice everywhere. So while the kids and I were snowed in I ate, and online shopped, and ate, and broke up fights, and we watched a lot of movies, and we tried to be constructive but that's hard when there is zero motivation.

Check out the cute little bitty bandaged hand...love that he still reached for me even with his burnt hand.

I promise I didn't feed them candy for breakfast. They just never got out of their jammies! Check out these goodballs, gorging themselves on Valentine's candy from Grandma!

This child. Oh me, he is sweet. And super funny!

Keagan drew some airplanes to show Grandpa! He was super proud of them, as you can tell!

So I tried to work out during our snow dayS. But most of my workouts were interrupted by two littles who wanted to help, wanted to see me, wanted to hold me, or constantly needed something. One day I tried to work out while the boys napped (instead of snuggling in for a nap myself) and it backfired: I ended up holding a 35lb Finley for squats and lunges. And then the next time I worked out Finn wanted to be held for the entire 30 minute leg workout. It was kind of fun, and kind of not. Super difficult.

Maybe spring-like temperatures and Spring will come soon and bring the renewing that I need. Until then I leave you with this picture I snapped yesterday. Keagan miraculously fell asleep on my bed, Finn woke up too early from his nap. But he just loves his big brother and had to snuggle him.

Cocktail Party! (i.e. grown-up prom)

At the end of January we had the opportunity to go to a fundraiser for the Marshall County Exceptional School put on by the Benton Women's Club. The best part: it was cocktail attire!! We bought a table as four couples (us, the Malones, the Harrods, and the Robinsons) and then started the preparations! New dress, shoes, and jewelry for the girls; new suits for the boys. It was like a grown-up prom! And Josh and I even met at Stacey's so her dad could take pictures of us!

I had to re-enact the awkwardness of high school dances:

A couple glasses of wine....   (and I have no idea where to look in selfie pictures, as you can tell!)

...and this sort of thing happens:

Our handsome husbands in their new suits!

 

Check out our fancy shoes!!! 

Our table and great group of friends: Stacey and Jarrett Malone, me and Josh, Billy and Chasity Harrod, ad Paul and Paula Robinson. I clearly didn't get the memo that our table was wearing black.

Really, it looks like we were supposed to wear black to the event...but this is not the case. Just everyone I was pictured with that night wore black! These lovely ladies are all in our Sunday School class!

I think this picture is hilarious...because you don't have to be in the 16-18 range to goof off in a women's restroom! We may be in our thirties...but we are fun! Stacey and I were the first and the last people on the dance floor. It was such a great time!

We really did have such a great time and enjoyed the company of our good friends...but the best part is the event raised more than $10,000 for the Exceptional School! Love being a part of a good cause.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ah Valentine's Day! Who doesn't love this holiday?! (DO NOT answer that!...because it is a holiday, it is worth celebrating, in my opinion) Celebrations began for Keagan on Wednesday the 11th, when his school had their Valentine Tea Party. Keagan wanted to wear his (favorite) Ninja Turtle shirt, because, you know, it is super Valentine-y. I convinced him that this wasn't really what his teachers had in mind when they said "dress your in your best tea attire" and that he would look smashing in his suit. He reluctantly allowed me to dress him up. And man, was he smashing! He had a great time at his party, and had his picture made with a sweet little girl (whose name he didn't know at first...  We are working on this).

Valentine's Day brought lots of goodies for the boys from us and then an exciting get together with Stacey, Jarrett, and Annie to go bowling and out to dinner (Mexican food!). I suppose this Valentine's Day wasn't really romantic...but it was certainly fun! Having children changes things...

Keagan really got into the Valentine's gifting thing this year and wanted to get Annie a present. So we perused the Valentine aisles at Walmart and he picked out a bunch of stuff. I had to keep his gifting to a minimum because he was all-about it and would have picked one of everything from the shelves if I let him (you're welcome, Stacey!). Other than paying for it, Keagan did it all and was so excited to give Annie her present Saturday. I would say she was equally as excited!

Finn loves Annie, too..but as you can see in this picture, and several others in this post, he is more like the third wheel! Bless him. It IS kind of awkward being the third wheel and I think he can feel it already. Haha! Is this what teenage years will look like?!

Now onto BOWLING fun! This was the kids' first time bowling, and it was really fun watching them be super excited about it. Keagan and Finn kept saying "this is awesome!" and now ask us nearly daily if we can go bowling. One thing we will have to work on is getting the ball down the lane in a more timely manner...I felt like I could have gone to Walmart and back by the time the ball got down the lane. :)

 

(third wheel....!)

"Romance" is in the air at the bowling ally...ha. ha. ha. 

(third wheel...! I swear, I felt like we were chaperoning a date all night...even at supper)

My Funny Valentines...more than one man has stolen my heart. I am a lucky girl!

Finley got a Sven (from the movie Frozen) for Valentine's day and this poor reindeer has become the favorite toy. If he "loses" Sven in the middle of the night, we have to wake up and search the covers for him. 

After supper I was looking through my phone and realized Annie and Keagan (who had my phone the whole time) had taken several selfies, videos, and horrible pictures of the adults. Here are some of the selfies Keagan and Annie took. I am telling you, it was like we were chaperoning a date. Let me remind you that they are 4 and 3 years old! Oh Me.

 

 

You probably noticed in the bowling pictures that Finn had a big ol' bandage on his hand. Well...the reason was the week prior he decided to put his open hand on the hot eye of the stove. I was standing right there. He was sitting up on the counter with me, as he does every single time I am in the kitchen. And I think curiosity got the best of him. Needless to say, my poor baby sustained some pretty nasty second degree burns. And of course it was the weekend Josh had to work. But we made it thru the evening, and I managed to get Finn settled down. Bless this baby: he is gripping the towel that is wrapped around his hand and the ice pack. It makes me sick to see this picture and remember how it was. My poor baby.

 His hand the next day:

His hand on Valentine's Day...all blisters nearly drained and lovely pink skin underneath. Healing good! 

This little boy is a super champ, let me tell you. He took it like a man. I shed a million tears and we all lost a lot of sleep, but here we are two weeks out and his hand looks tremendously better. It isn't completely healed yet, and he still isn't using it (it is his dominant hand) so we are doing a lot of encouraging. But he isn't as painful and it looks like we have managed to keep it clean and the new skin safe and healthy. I do think he (we?) has learned his lesson. He still likes to help me in the kitchen, up on the counter even, but he says every time that he won't touch the stove!