Team Photo

Here is the whole crew, Jack is way in the back behind someone else (not sure why we didn't help him out).  He is smiling really big, though, so I guess that's all that matters.

Cool Trophy

We have been pretty good at breaking every trophy both the kids have gotten since birth, but the one from this season looks pretty solid.  Hopefully it can withstand our wrath!  Way to go Jack!

Solid

Jack's defining character trait this was described as solid by basketball coach.  The kid really is solid.  He can be such a force on the court and was the only kid to have a bucket each game.  He finally was able to use his size and seemed to really get the game. 

Kyle got a portable hoop and the practice has been paying off, his team was the only undefeated one this season!  Go BULLS!

Adorable

I have caught this guy on a few occasions sitting in this same exact position reading a book.  I'm so glad I was able to get a picture, because when he is running around the house repeatedly, I can use this as a reminder that the child is still some of the time.

Bad Side

Ben threw a video game controller at Norah's face this week, and the poor thing had a black eye and a big old bump on the side of her face.  She was pretty hysterical about it, and hopefully this too will not leave a mark on her face.  She has been pretty lucky so far in the scar department considering how much trauma this one little body has had.

Good Side

Not sure what face Norah is making here, but whenever I snap a picture I promise myself I will either blog about it or delete it.  Now I've kept my promise.  I guess I just want to remember as much as I can, especially these sweet little faces.

Creative

Norah and Ben got some playdoh for party favors and took full advantage of Pluckers' hospitality and played dough the whole time we were there. It was very helpful, since for some reason everyone was being pretty crabby!

Serious Eater

I took Norah to a friend's birthday this morning and since we had the day off of school, Kyle took Jack and Ava to TopGolf for an hour.  Everyone loved their activities.  We met up afterwards at Pluckers for some wings.

1st Piece

While visiting Vienna, Kyle and I were really struck by the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt on display at the Secession.  We almost bought some prints while we were there, but transporting them would have been an issue and we still weren't even sure where to put them

Three months later and we have a small piece of the mural in our bedroom on a gallery wall I have been working on with Kyle for the past week.  I bought 8 pictures at Goodwill to use the frames for our gallery wall.  I figured out the positioning of the frames while Kyle and Ava were at the daddy daughter dance.  I used some wrapping paper to make the templates, hoping to make life easy on Kyle when nailing things into the wall.

Fishing with Friends

Since it was a half day of school and Valentine's Day, Ava and I decided to plan a party.  We also had some old friends moving into the ward and hoped to introduce their girls to Ava's new friends at the party.  Jack was allowed to have two friends over as well who would be playing video games upstairs during the party.

Well, everything sounded so wonderful, but in reality was way too much for me to handle.  The girls were a little louder than I anticipated and one of Jack's friends didn't want to lose at Mario Kart to Jack anymore.  I was pretty frazzled towards the end.

It was relatively nice outside earlier, so we went to the lake.  Fishing was not on the agenda until Jack's friend insisted and would not take NO for an answer.  At least Kyle came home and was able to offer some support by this time.

The girls started out battling with the boys for the only fishing pole, but ended up finding a dead duck head and having a serious funeral service for it.  They even had an opening prayer and song (I am a Duck of God).

I'm glad Ava and Norah had fun, but I sure was stressed and maybe Jack can learn to let his friends win once in awhile so they will actually play with him!

Class Parties

Not only was today Valentine's Day, meaning the kids' classes would all have parties (Norah had hers yesterday), it also happened to be a half day of school.  While Norah and Kyle were at the Frozen Sing-Along show I took Ben to Ava and Jack's school for their parties.  When Kyle left with Norah, Ben totally freaked out-the only thing that settled him down was this bag of m n m's and conversation hearts.

Jack had some fun activities in his room.  Plenty of treats and cards were also happening too.  We never got a picture of Ava, but while I was with her, she was smiling the whole time!

V-Day

I love my new necklace from Kyle for Valentine's Day.  It is a gold plated MRS bar.  I sent him a link when I first saw this-I'm so glad Kyle actually followed thru and got it for me.

Going to dinner the night before the holiday kind of takes the fun out of it a little bit, but we are always glad to save a few $$ and avoid the crowds.  We went to Seasons 52 and enjoyed a low-cal dinner and some dessert at home.

Photographer

I am constantly finding random pictures and videos taken by Norah.  Most of them are of a black screen, but once in awhile they are worth keeping and I am actually glad she was playing with my birthday present from Kyle, an IPhone 5S.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Kyle took our sweet Ava to a dance at school.  It was so cute to see them all dressed up for Valentine's Day!