Seahawks Rock the Superbowl

 We spent Super Bowl Sunday with our friends, the Darlings and loved cheering our favorite NFL team on to victory. The hubs rocked his Lynch jersey courtesy of his favorite brother-in-law and since the shirt I bought was way too big I donned the Seahawks green & blue colors to show my support.

 My friend Erin & I are football watching wives, the best kind in my opinion. 

 After the Seahawks kicked some Bronco booty, Erin and Nate did an awesome victory dance to celebrate, which I cleverly caught on camera. *Please don't be mad, Erin Jo. Love you. 

Ella loves playing with her best buddy and they got cuddly in pajamas as the night wore on.

Jeff made this metal Seattle Seahawk emblem at work the Friday before the big game and awarded it to Nathan who had waited for his team to win the big game for many, many years. Isn't my husband talented?! I can't imagine cutting steel can be easy. 

 Yay Hawks! Your 12th men (and women) love you!!

Jeff turns Thirty-Two

 Jeff celebrated 32 years of life on January 29th. He started the morning with a few essentials from yours truly: Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, a six-pack of Dead Man Ale (to be consumed that evening), warm socks, and a birthday card from the three of us. He wanted a simple birthday celebration the day of and requested cheeseburgers for dinner and a blizzard for his birthday dessert. We stuck a candle in the blizzard and sang "Happy birthday" to him. 

I am very, very blessed to be married to such an amazing man who dedicates so much of his time and love to us. He's so warm, generous, and loving...I honestly could not imagine my life without him. Cheers to 32 years, honey!

 Then on Friday night (a couple of days later), we celebrated in style at McMinimans Edgefield with Jeff's co-workers. The Columbia Shop (where Jeff's works) got a special safety award and dinner. So I got dressed up, we got a babysitter for the kids, and Jeff & I headed out for the evening. 

We had a fun night out with Jeff's work buddies and their wives. We've attended so many Kiewit events lately that I feel like I have formed some great friendships with so many people. Jeff's friend took this photo of us in the Power Station Game Room & Bar and although it's a bit dark and blurry, I like it. 

 Then the next evening, we went to my folks' place for a dinner celebration with them. We were happily surprised to see my adorable niece, Vivien, was there too. My mom & dad watched her while her parents were at work. Ella was over the moon to see her cousin who she love, love, loves so much!

Gramme posed for a few photos with her two granddaughters. I love this last photo where Vivi cannot take her eyes off her big cousin. It's so cute!

Then Vivi & Gramme spent some time chatting and playing with Nicholas. Nicholas absolutely loves babies, especially his sweet little cousin. 

Happy birthday Jeffrey Justin Gustafson!! We all love you so much!

Tonsillitis

Our sweet little munchkin went from her silly, fun-loving self...

to sleepy, feverish misery. 

It all started last Wednesday when Ella was running a low-grade fever. The fever continued for a couple more days with lots of naps, a lot less playing, and periods of lethargy combined with a loss of appetite. 

On Sunday morning we went to mass and Sunday school, and Ella barely made it through either. So we came home and I cuddled with her in our bed all afternoon. I kept her hydrated and lowered her fever but she slept ALL day. The next morning I phoned the kids' pediatrician's office upon waking. 

The nurse thought that her fever had gone on for too long, so she scheduled an appointment and I took her in. The doctor took one look at her throat and declared it "angry-bright-red with one swollen tonsil covered with pus." He also noted her swollen glands and performed a throat culture thinking that she might have strep, but that came back negative, so her final diagnosis is tonsillitis. 

There were a lot of ill children to be seen yesterday, which meant that our wait was longer than usual. When  the nurse took her temperature it had spiked to 104.4 and Ella was feeling pretty crummy. Because we had to wait both to be seen and then for the strep culture, Ella fell asleep both in the waiting room and in our examination room. 

The doctor prescribed antibiotics which have helped some. What seemed to make her feel better today was a Pedia Lite pop and a lukewarm bath which broke another 104 degree fever. 

Hopefully our munchkin can kick this tonsillitis to the curb and start feeling better as soon as possible. I miss my spunky, feisty, spirited little girl and my heart hurts to see her so ill. 

 Please pray that she feels better by the week's end. 

January Catch-Up

 2014 is off to a great start! I have been severely neglecting this blog, however, so be prepared for a long(ish) post with lots of photos. 

I have been wearing this lovely gold feather necklace given to my by my best friend since Christmas. I love it and have received so many compliments on it!

Winter means creativity in the kitchen. I have been making soups and roasting lots of these yummy brussel sprouts with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and pepper. Mmmm. I could seriously eat them everyday. I think all veggies are better roasted. 

Jeff's aunt and uncle got Ella this Leap Frog pencil that she loves for Christmas. We downloaded the letter tracing app and she's been practicing her letters during school hours. 

This is her "I am so proud of myself" face. 

One afternoon after staying up way too late the night before, Nicholas and I spent the day cuddling on the sofa while Ella spent the afternoon with my mom. We watched movies, sang songs, read books, did some school lessons, and took a few selfies:

 The we pretended to be asleep. I really wanted to be asleep, but spending time quality time with my guy was much more fun!

The kids got this space light projector for Christmas so we turned it into an astronomy lesson. They loved turning off the lights and watching the planets, stars, and asteroids light up the ceiling.

We spent two different weekends cheering on the Seattle Seahawks (who are now in the Superbowl, woohoo!) with the Darling family. Ella adores her best friend, Bella. They have so much fun playing together!

 I have been on the hunt for little home updates because after putting away Christmas decorations, I always feel like our house could use some love. Take this ottoman/bench. I found it at Target a few weeks ago and it's the perfect little seating space for under a beautiful photo collage of our family. Then I found this gorgeous kiln pillowcase to put on an unused bolster pillow and it became a darling addition to our living room space. As you can see, Ella gravitates there for reading. But its more of a sit down and tie my shoes space for me. 

Last week I was driving to work and the sunset just about took my breath away. I pulled off the highway and walked down to the marina to capture the beautiful sky at dusk. 

And speaking of work, I feel so blessed to work in such an amazing place with such amazing people. Sadly, the priest that I have worked with for the past five years will be moving to another parish in June and he will be so missed. This was likely change some of my job responsibilities so I am trying to plan and prepare for a more intensive workload and possibly additional hours to my work week. 

But this is the view I see every evening when I leave work. Beautiful, right?

Ella has been dressing in her dress-up clothes a lot these past few weeks. Part of me thinks she really does believe she's a princess. I kind of love it. 

Last Friday I took the kids out to see Disney's Frozen in the theatre. We all enjoyed it and there we pretty much had the whole theatre to ourselves, which was wonderful because Ella got out of her seat and danced to every musical number. Lol!

Ella is continuing her tumbling/tap/ballet classes and is improving with each week. My sweet mother comes to our house on Ella's dance practice days to watch Nicholas so he can stay home and avoid any cold/flu germs that he might be exposed to in the dance academy waiting room. She often takes Ella with her when we return for an afternoon together. 

I found this art and knew I needed it for our living room. It's my favorite quote and I say it all the time. Plus it's distressed and vintage looking which makes it even more lovely. 

We got Nicholas' new Tobii eye gaze computer a couple of weeks ago and our boy is so thrilled to be doing some independent learning and games. It has really opened up his world and we are so grateful!