It's been several weeks since my last blog post, so this one will be quite long, but will catch y'all up on everything that's happened between Christmas and now.
This was one of my favorite Christmas gifts from my dear friend, Erin. I have been wanting to decorate with some G's for our living room and this one starts our collection.
This is a photo of Ella on Christmas day that my sister-in-law, Tina took. I am so excited to share that Tina & my brother, Eric, are expecting a baby in early June!! Next week we will find out if the baby will be a niece or a nephew. Nicholas thinks girl and Ella says it's a boy :) Either way, I cannot wait to snuggle up with the new member of the family!
Sometimes Ella likes to channel her inner cowgirl by wearing mommy's boots and summer hat.
I enjoyed an evening out with my friends, Leslie and Erin, a few days before New Year's Eve. Cheers to a wonderful 2013!
We got together again a few nights later with our kids at Erin & Nathan's house and rang in the New Year playing games. I wish I would have got a photo of all the kids in their cute New Year's Eve hats, but, unfortunately, I didn't. Our two munchkins made it past midnight, happily playing and watching cartoons with their friends. They conked out as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
Little Miss Ella has been getting in touch with her musical side these last few weeks. She loves the bells Gramme & Grandpa got her for Christmas.
A few weeks ago I made these yummy sweet apples to go with my crock pot pork chops. They were heavenly!
Lately Nicholas has been obsessed with his doggie toy that his Grandma Joni & Grandpa Randy got him for Christmas a few years ago. Jeff wants to get him a real dog, but I vetoed that idea since taking care of another living being is not exactly something I have time to do these days.
Ella crashed the other evening at 4:00 p.m. we had to wake her up after an hour for fear she wouldn't go to bed that night.
You know you're a mommy when the only band-aids to be found have Hello Kitty on them :)
Kris & Jami invited us and some other friends over for a poker night a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and I took second place overall!
Jeff is a mechanic for Kiewit and every year the have the District Meeting here. This is the first year Jeff has been invited to attend, so the next few photos show all the fun we had in the evenings last week...
I bought new shoes and a new lace bolero for our fancy over-nighter on Friday.
Thursday evening, Kiewit rented out Big Al's where we spent the evening bowling and playing arcade games with the kids. They had a blast and Nicholas beat us all at every single game!
None of my photos of Kiewit's Friday night events turned out very well, but Jeff & I had an absolute blast! Jeff's sister, Jami, stayed with our kids overnight so we got to kick up our heels and enjoy a fun night out. We honestly haven't spent a night away since Kris & Jami's Vegas wedding in 2009.
We ate an amazing dinner, complete with a potato bar, and then watched a video Kiewit prepared on all the jobs they are working on right now. Jeff got a safety award for no accidents while he was foreman of the night shift a few months back. I am so proud of my hard-working hubby!
Later we played poker, Blackjack and a few other casino games. I am happy to say I was the big winner at the poker table we played at!
These photos are dark & blurry because we were on the dance floor, but they are of a couple of Jeff's co-workers and their wives.
The music was so fun and upbeat and we enjoyed dancing the night away, and it was nice that Kiewit had pizza delivered later in the evening.
At the end of the night, we caught a cab to a local hotel and stayed in a posh suite for the night. Honestly, it felt as if we got the royal treatment! It was a great night and what's more, the kids did great for their Aunt Jami, sleeping through the night and being so good for her!
Ella has been twirling her hair into these awful knots that are absolutely impossible to get out. I had to cut this gnarly knot out and then trim up the rest of her hair so it wouldn't look weird.
My co-worker, Derek, and his wife, Christie had a baby right before Christmas so we had a baby shower for little Olivia last week to welcome her. I just love this photo of Father Mitchell holding her.
We have three roses that have been in bloom since late fall and are sticking around despite the 20-30 degree temperatures at night.
I doubt you can see the snow in this photo, but last week the kids and I sat by the window simply mesmerized by the slow falling, fluffy flakes. None of it stuck, but it was magical to watch the several hours it lasted.
Ella & Nicholas were absolutely spoiled by the Yeomans family for Christmas...PJ's, toys, food, finger tattoos, they love it all! Thank you Keith, Lyndsey, and Henry!
We have begun "formally" potty training Ella. She is familiar with her potty as we've had it for several months now, but she is wearing "big-girl panties" during the day and we have been encouraging her to visit the potty often. She had one accident today, but is starting to get the hang of it, we hope.
Whew! So that's it for now. Happy 2013 everyone!!
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