In our efforts to cut down as many trees as possible from our yard, Matt spent the weekend getting rid of a tree in the front yard. His parents came for the day and his dad helped him with the tree while his mom helped me with the kids! It was a beautiful sunny day...perfect tree cutting weather!
Laurel and Levi put on their hard hats and wanted to help. Levi even got out his little plastic saw to help his dad.
Watching from a safe distance while Matt gets the ropes set up to help direct the branches into our yard and not the neighbor's yard or house
Very thrilling work
I left to get set up for a dinner at church and when I came back three hours later, this was all that was left of the tree! Matt did a great job cutting it down safely and efficiently!
The kids dug up some new worms and made a little worm city on the sidewalk
Joe's main job was to hold the rope and direct the limbs into our yard
All done with cutting! Then the guys loaded the branches into the trailer and took them to a local mill that recycles them. The clean up took a few hours and Matt finished the rest Sunday afternoon. It is really nice to have a bit more vision and light in our front yard now!
Laurel and I went to a local grocery store on a field trip with her preschool class. We had a great time visiting each department, getting samples from each department, and talking with the hilarious lady who does the floral arrangements! Laurel liked the bakery and the floral department the best. We also saw how they prepare and wrap the meats, the big freezers where the ice cream is kept, and the hallway of stock waiting to go on a shelf. It was a great field trip!
Valentines Day is creeping up on my list of favorite holidays. I love showing the kids how much we love them and celebrating our family on that day! The night before, Matt and I made a bunch of little hearts to hang outside the kids doors so they had little love notes when they woke up. The notes said things like, "You are a good brother", "Too cute", "You are a great student", "We are proud of you". Being the only reader, Erika liked reading her hearts and then reading the other hearts for Laurel and Levi.
The kids got new sock monkeys
A sample of the kids special Valentines Day lunch
My little loves!
I made a strawberry cake to eat after dinner
After dropping off Erika at school, Laurel, Levi and I drove to Aunt Sarah's school to surprise her with a Valentines present. She loved seeing the kids at her school, as did most of her students! It was so much fun to really surprise her! After we picked up Erika from school, we drove up to Grandma Parnell's house to deliver her Valentines presents the kids made. Finally, we went on our dates. Some good friends of mine have told me that they use Valentines Day as a day to "date" their kids. I loved the idea and told Matt that our new tradition is to date our kids on Valentines Day. So, Matt gave his little girls a flower and took them to eat at Burgerville (Laurel's choice...Erika went along with it). Levi and I headed out to McDonalds (his choice) where we had a great date and scintillating conversation such as "Do chickens poop?" and "Frogs tongues are pink". I am hoping for a more refined restaurant choice and dinner conversation as Levi gets older!
A week ago, Saturday, the weather was beautiful with the promise of spring in the air. The girls and I went on a run, Matt cut down a tree in the front yard, and the kids got to play in Daddy's truck in short sleeves.
Then, Thursday morning, the snow started coming down. And didn't stop until Saturday afternoon.
We were so very excited! Erika was released from school early on Thursday afternoon and we got into our snow gear as soon as she came home. Thursday evening was spent just playing in the backyard. I pulled the kids around in circles on this metal disc that we have. Matt left work at 12:30 and finally made it home at 4:30. It was crazy slow with most businesses in Portland letting their employees go home before the snow got too deep.
By Thursday night, we knew that Erika didn't have school the next day and Matt's office was also closed. So we made plans to go sledding at Erika's elementary school (4 blocks from our house).
The kids loved being pulled in the sled. They were especially thrilled that they got to sled in the street!
At the school, the little hill behind the playground was full of kids. Erika found some classmates and started to play with them. We all had a fun time sledding....even Matt and I! It was a great workout because Erika was the only kid who would bring their sled back up the hill once they went down. Laurel and Levi would slide down the hill then turn around and start walking back up, leaving the sled at the bottom of the hill! So Matt and I walked up and down the hill approximately 170 times!
On Saturday morning, Matt drove up to the airport to fly to Florida for a work conference, missing most of the snow day fun! The kids and I headed back to the school for more sledding. And more walking up and down the hill for me. It was even better the second day! More snow, more friends, and faster hills.
Wyatt was less than thrilled with having to walk through the ice outside.
We spent the rest of Saturday in the house. On Sunday, my mom and sister were tired of being housebound themselves so they came to our house for a slumber party! Fun fact, the news reported that we get big snowstorms like this once every 5-ish years. Five years ago, we indeed had another big snowstorm. I was days away from giving birth to Laurel and our family came up from Corvallis to help us clean up our house that we just bought and the snow started. They had to get out of town quickly before they were stuck. And, Sarah did get stuck at our house and spent the night because she couldn't drive up the hill to her place. I guess every 5 years, she and I are determined to have a snow slumber party!
School was closed again on Monday due to the slushy/icy roads. I drove Sarah to her school to get her car, which was stuck in the snow since she left work early on Thursday. Now, we are back to our regular schedule and most of the snow is gone thanks to really warm temperatures and rain. It was a fun snow weekend! Looking forward to the next one in 5 years!
Last Friday, there was no school so we went to Pump It Up with Grandma Parnell and Aunt Sarah. The girls had been before with Aunt Sarah, but this was Levi's first time. What a great idea! A huge warehouse with 4 inflatable slides, a bounce house with basketball inside, an inflatable obstacle course and another inflatable bounce house. The kids had a great time! And adults were also invited to play so I got to slide and play basketball too!
And, there is no better way to end a day of bouncing than with Dairy Queen!
