Playing Catch Up: Second Half of January

OK, people.  I said I was going to do a better job blogging this year.  And so far I have not done so well.  But after a couple gigantic catch up posts, I am really hoping I will do better.  Just stick with me, pretty please :)  Here we go with the second half of January!

January 14

This girl was ready for school!  And she was actually alright with me taking her picture this morning - I think she liked her outfit! 

Here we are headed down to the bus stop!  She was so excited because we had a dusting of snow!

Later that morning, I took Jack to his class at My Gym.  He absolutely loves going to his class there!

And then that night, I think Brad had a work dinner and Jill and the kids came over for dinner!  That naturally meant that we ended up with a few Elsas running around :) -- and Katie got into my makeup and used my mascara on her own.  And it actually looked fairly decent!  Oh me.

January 15

Another day, another Katie-before-school picture!

That night, I headed to Tae Bo.  Whew.  As usual, it was a doozy.

January 16

On this day, which happened to be a Friday, I got to go help in Katie's art class!  And I stuck around and ate lunch with her too.  It was so much fun!  And after that, I got my nails done.  What a great day - not to mention the weather was amazing!

January 17

I started the Saturday off with a Tae Bo class. 

And then we took advantage of the nice weather and went to the park!  It was so nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air!

That evening, I went out to eat with a friend.  Needless to say, after a shower and such, I was having a cute day - HA!  (I used to do that when I was growing up...I'd tell my mom that I was having a cute day and ask her to take my picture)

I got these earrings for Christmas and absolutely love them!  I took this to send my aunt and uncle and tell them thank you for them :)

And here is one of me and Ashley!  We had a great time eating and catching up.  And it just so happened that Luke Bryan and his wife showed up and sat right next to us for a little while.  I thought about saying hi and telling them that we go to the same preschool, but I thought that wasn't necessary :)

And a selfie! This one turned out much better than the ones we did the last time we went to dinner together :)

January 18

I actually got a picture of the kids all looking and cooperating (for the most part)!  This was a quick picture before we hopped into the car to go to church!

We don't like to take the wee ones to the nursery until they are 12 months old, so we just take him in with us and then take turns taking him out.  Since he is getting older, he doesn't last near as long in worship!  Basically when it gets quiet, he starts babbling.  So I took him out and played with him and listened to the sermon.  This was my view!

And the weather was still awesome, so we went home, changed clothes and had a snack, and then headed back to the park!  This time, we started at one park and took trails to another park, played on the playground, and then walked back.  It was so beautiful and so much fun!

And then that evening, we headed to our normal Sunday locale - Newk's!

After the kids went down, Brad got busy entering information for Katie's girl scout troop - he is the troop cookie daddy! :)

January 19

It was a holiday!  Long weekends together are fantastic! | One: I went to tae bo that morning and got my hiney kicked! | Two: I ran home and took a shower and used a gift certificate for a massage - amazing! | I met the crew at the same park and we walked different trails!  Notice I was able to wear short sleeves! | Four: After the walk, we stopped and let the kids (and Sadie) play in a field!  Katie had a blast rolling down the hill!

January 20

Just a cute picture of this little ham because I can :) I loved this outfit on Jack and it is neat that Ryan is wearing the same things at the same ages!

Jack has decided that he likes to have his picture made by this tree at mother's day out.  Like every day when we walk in, he stops and asks to have his picture made here.  Goofy guy.

January 21

Here she is before heading to school! :)

And I got to eat lunch with her - AND volunteer in her classroom!  Such fun! It is amazing how much the kids are learning and changing as the year goes on!

January 22

Early morning Tae Bo!  On mornings when I get up for the 5:30 class, I sleep in my workout clothes :)

And here's the wild man with the tree!  Told you he loves it!

January 23

The 100th day of school!  Here is my little old lady :)

And here's Jack at his class.  It is truly amazing I catch any pictures of him being still because he is nonstop at the class!  He loves trying out all the new things that they set up each week!

And Ryan was looking cute and doing a good job sitting up for me to get something done in the kitchen!

When Katie got home, we headed straight to her trampoline and tumble class - but of course the curlers had to come out.  And look what happened!  Love her hair with some curl - may have to do that more often!

January 24

We woke up to some snow!  Just enough to be pretty but not really cause issues on the roads!

This little man got to {quickly} experience his first snow!  He kept looking around trying to figure it out!  We didn't have time to get out early and play in it because we had a birthday party to go to!

And Elsa was there! :) Katie talked about seeing the "real Elsa" all day!

And here is Jack at the party :)

Olivia meant business when she blew out her candles!

This outfit made Katie seem even taller than she really is!

And the snow obviously melted - it warmed up enough for me to get out for a run that afternoon - which meant into the 50s!

And then Brad and I had a date night!  Nice dinner at Sperry's and then we went to see American Sniper - and it was all free thanks to gift certificates and such!  Even better! :)

January 25

Ryan had some nasty congestion, so we opted to steer clear of church that morning.  But the boys matched in their excavator shirts!  Yes, that is an excavator and not a bulldozer.  Having a kiddo that is obsessed with everything construction, I have learned a lot of technical terms :)

Jack got a bad boo boo that day.  This was at its worse.  It did go down and just had a bruise and scrape on it by that evening.

That afternoon, Katie and I went on a hike on one of the trails in our neighborhood!  She had gone on it with our neighbors, but it was my first time.  She felt pretty special being the trail guide :)  And we had to cut through some yards to make our way back to our house so we wouldn't get rained on. 

January 26
Monday = Tae Bo! Great way to start the week! 

And I made it home to shower and do the morning routine and get this girl to the bus stop on time!

Later that day, the boys and I headed for a lunch date (can it be called that with kids in tow?) with Brad!

And while I was taking the picture of Brad and myself, Jack said he wanted to be in it too - so here is the result :)

That afternoon, Ryan and Sadie had some bonding time together!  Sadie quickly remembers to lick him so he can't pull her hair or whiskers!

And that evening, I went to girl's night to eat and watch The Bachelor - such fun to get together with friends!

January 27
Cute girl ready for school!

And Jack was a ham that morning - and his boo boo was looking better!

That afternoon after school, they were both playing nicely together with the train table!  Amazing!

January 28
This shirt couldn't be more appropriate for this one - TROUBLE :)

And it was the day to head to class!  Just look that smile!

He always wants to sit next to Cal - love that they see each other and can play together!

That night, I went to dinner with some of the other moms of kids that were in the same class at mothers day out last year!  It was SO much fun to get together and celebrate Kim getting engaged and to laugh and get advice...oh, and trade items and money.  It was hilarious - most of this crew is on a local buy, sell, trade page, so we all brought things for another one of the moms and people were writing checks left and right.  Loved it :)  Here is one group picture.

And a selfie (horrible angle of me, but great picture of the group)!

January 29
If you see a sweaty picture of me, it means I have been to a tae bo class :)

And then a cute girl before heading down to the bus!  And another school day, another tree picture for this dude.  As for Ryan, love his cute outfit!

The weather was pretty mild, so we headed to the park after school and met one of Jack's friends!

He got a bad boo boo at the park - and this is what his face looked like that evening.  The cut from the stairs was looking better and it looked like his cheek was bruised and swollen.  Poor buddy.

January 30
Seeing these tae bo pictures makes me realize that I need to grab shirts from the bottom of the laundry pile rather than the top - I think I rotate the same two or three shirts! HA!

And this was how Jack's banged up face was looking the day after he slammed it down on the edge of a stair on the playground (where there happened to be a screw...he was literally pretending to be a monkey.  oh my.)...the beginnings of a black eye is what it appeared to be.

Ryan was ready to celebrate Valentine's Day before it was officially February! :)

The kids did some reading with Brad before we headed to Jonathan's for dinner (our Friday tradition)!

January 31
Wow - I changed up the shirt for tae bo - ha!  It was obviously a Saturday since there is day light in the picture.  And I look so sweaty and gross!

Day two of the black eye.  Looked awful and was still tender to the touch for him!

Annalane and Cal came over to play with the kids.  I hadn't told Katie they were coming, so when she went to the door, she was SO thrilled!  Goodness these girls look so grown up!

Jack and Cal had a great time playing with trains and jumping on the trampoline!

While Jack napped, Katie did her Ariel Lego set she had gotten for Christmas.  She really liked putting it together and wants to do another one!

That afternoon, my mom and brother came over to visit!  I love this picture -- Jack loves to climb up on Will's chair and hug him (and usually try to press buttons on his chair)!  Love that.

We definitely had a great start to 2015...and we clearly stay busy! Ha!  I have Ryan's 8 month post, as well as the first part of February coming up, so check back :)