So . . . I'm just a wee bit behind on the blog -- oops.  So -- here are just a few pics of regular, normal life stuff from the last couple of months!

Kayla -- making brownies -- BY HERSELF!  The only tricky part . . . figuring out how to set the oven temp.  Everything else she has down!  Score for Mommy!

Kayla's school concert from December got rescheduled -- so it was a January "holiday" concert:)

Here are the Valentine boxes for this year -- it's pretty easy to tell that Mommy helped the older two, and Daddy engineered the Batmobile box for Tyler:)

Our traditional heart meal for Valentines Day -- so fun/helpful that the kids can help now with putting toppings on the pizza, cutting the heart jugglers, etc!

Joshua and Tyler have been playing basketball this year.  This is the FIRST winter in 3 years that Joshua has actually been able to play the entire season and not be sidelined with asthma junk.  So grateful to be working with a doctor who helps us stay on top of all of these winter colds.

This is Tyler's first basketball experience -- and his proficiency is definitely defense:)  He is still working on learning that when your team has the ball, you don't have to continue guarding your man!  

Go #15!

Post game huddle

This is the "before" picture of Joshua's room when we moved in last year.  

And although it's still not done, done . . .here is the after.  The shelves are actually made from old doors we got from my grandparent's house before it was torn down.  My husband was an absolute gem on this project!  I had it all figured out in my mind . . .and then Bryan burst my bubble when he informed me the anchor points on the shelves were not located on studs . . . (is that important????) so we had to go back to the drawing board on how to construct.  Finally finished making the crates below that holds all kinds of "treasures!"

And here is my beloved husband cutting the boards for those beloved crates.  Yes, it might have been the middle of January and yes, it might have required 40 cuts in very, very cold weather.  Like I said...he was a gem!

And . .  speaking of projects, this was the AWANA grand prix car in the works.  

Trying to get the wheels just right:)  When it was all said and done, Joshua ended up 4th out of 25 . . . just one spot shy of a trophy:(

Tyler hanging with his friends at the Grand Prix!

Tyler was the Character Kid for her class in January.  Way to go bud!

Everyone in Tyler's Kindergarten class had to bring an article of clothing that featured 100 things in honor of the 100th day of school this year.  So -- I whipped up a quick cape, and Tyler got to work putting 100 "T"s on it.  

SUPER TYLER!

 And, just because it does this mama's heart good . . . a while ago Joshua was working on some music theory in conjunction with his piano lesson and it occurred to me that my son was working on his first harmonic dictation exercise.  BE STILL MY HEART! (Well . .  I'm not sure he would say that!)

Several weeks ago, my sister's family hung out overnight and it was super fun just to chill with them! It's delightful having "little ones" around again!

At the last minute, we decided to go to Union Station -- and there were PLENTY of trains to look at! Jordy was in his glory!  And lots of wide open space to roam!

Kayla had fun pushing Miss Kennedy in the stroller -- she is gonna make a super good baby sitter in a  few years!

So, Tyler was fairly determined that he needed the Lego Batman 1 game for the Wii, so on his very own initiative (or maybe desperation), he decided to write a letter to Grandma.  "Grandpa, Please buy a Lego Batman 1 Game at a store. Tyler"  BTW, he doesn't know this, but we have totally been putting him off, because his birthday is just around the corner:)

Joshua's music ensemble from school, "Treble Makers" performed the National Anthem and half time program at a home basketball game.   It was a big deal for him to sit with his friends during the game -- and not be with mom and dad:)

Kayla's newest addition . . . glasses!  This girl wanted glasses SO, SO, SO bad -- so she was absolutely elated when the optometrist said it glasses would help her.

She had purchased glasses for her doll last year, and now they REALLY match!

The boys after their eye appointments!

So, several weeks ago, we took advantage of a Friday that the kids had off from school, and we planned a "mystery" trip.  We told them it would involved more than one form of transportation, but we were staying in Missouri.  Initially Tyler guessed that we would be going on a submarine (!), but they pretty much had it figured out by the time we pulled into Union Station.

We boarded at Union Station and just went about 90 minutes down the track to Warrensburg, MO.  In order to get the full train experience, we let them get a few snacks from the dining car on the way there.  Wowza . . . nothing like $5 candy bars!!!!!

 Since we've never flown as a family, it was the kid's first time to see the pull down tray tables -- they were pretty enamored with them:)

So we got to Warrensburg at about 6 pm, took a cab to a hotel, spent the whole evening swimming, eating pizza, and eating popcorn!  The next morning, we swam a little more (we never did see anyone in the pool the entire time!), grabbed a quick lunch, and then took a cab back to the train station.

The return trip was quite an experience.  Since the train was EXTREMELY full, the conductor offered to let us sit in the dining car so we could be together.  Great idea . . . except there was a bachelor party en route from St. Louis to KC, and they had set up shop in the dining car.  Let's just say, but the time we joined them 4 hours into their journey on the train, they all had consumed a lot of alcohol, and our kids weren't quite sure what to think of it all:)  

It was a really fun, short family get away!  And now, we can mark "train travel" off of our bucket list!  So thankful for these moments of time to just enjoy hanging as a family!  

So, several weeks ago, Kayla got on this kick that she wanted me to teach her how to sew.  So, after stalling her for several days, we finally worked together on a pillow case.  There's a lot to teach someone about sewing that you just automatically do!  Our next project is a bag for her AWANA book -- just waiting for a trip to the fabric store!

And speaking of Kayla -- last time we were at my parents, she ran across some old shoes that my sister had from "back in the day!"  My sister has tiny feet, and Kayla was delighted that she was able to wear them!

I went with Kayla's class on a field trip several weeks ago to the Coterie Theatre at Crown Plaza.  

Just waiting for the play to start!  (and hoping that the time would go quickly because there were some very energetic 2nd graders under my supervision!)

Joshua's 4th grade music program.

My dad had a big milestone last week -- his 60th birthday!  We compiled a book of 60 things about Dad -- funny, memories, things only dad says, etc. It was fun to read through it!

Tyler and I went on a "date" last week -- he wanted to give the games at Chuck E. Cheese a whirl . ..  and wouldn't you know, the boy actually hit the jackpot on the first try of this game!  100 tickets!  After the initial spin, he couldn't get more than 2 tickets!  

And that's a peak into our family's life the last 2 months!