December 2014

December.
Puzzles. Concert. Cuddles.
 Parades. Surprises. Memories.
Counting. Writing. Reading. Sickness.
Teaching. Basketball. More Sickness.
Christmas Parties. Cookies. Bowling.
Christmas Eve. Yummy Dinners. Helper.
Checkers. Board Games. Cuddles.

Day 335 of 365. Puzzle time.

Day 336 of 365. "You better not pout!" Jennifer had her Kindergarten Christmas concert tonight  :) (She is in the front row in the first o of photography) 

Day 337 of 365. They are totally enamored with 'The Santa Clause 3' <3

Day 338 of 365. For whatever reason I could not stop looking at their legs and feet and thinking how big they are! It is a myriad of emotions!

Day 339 of 365. Ryan took us to see the Christmas lights parade :)

Day 340 of 365. Last night we surprised the girls with Disney Princesses on Ice! At last count, the number to times "AMAZING" came out of their mouth was 37 :D

Day 341 of 365. Making Christmas ornaments, memories and messes :) 

Maybe the Mom's had wine after ;) <3

Day 342 of 365. Jenni asked for a "pony barn", Daddy got right to work!

Day 343 of 365. Grace just started teaching Jenni how to count by 5's, it was really awesome! <3

Day 344 of 365. I don't know when Jenni started dotting her i's with <3 's but it is kind of really cute :)

Day 345 of 365. One of our favorite places :) Can you see Grace?
 

Day 346 of 365. She came home from school yesterday with a fever. I kept her home today, just to be safe! This was the only 10 minutes where she wasn't bouncing off of the walls ;)
 

 Day 347 of 365. While teaching them to share, germs were not what I had in mind :/

Day 348 of 365. The Tylenol is working :) So, Grace decided to help Jenni learn some of her sight words <3

Day 349 of 365. Today the girls have gone viral The meds are kicking in and they are feeling better already!  

Day 350 of 365. Our last basketball practice of the season.

Day 351 of 365. The girls got me sick :( Then I got a phone call from school about Grace not feeling well :( Grace and I busted out the air mattress and watched movies all day! These germs can leave now!! :/

 Day 352 of 365. I am still not feeling well so the girls know whatever they ask for they will pretty much get it :/ This is one of my many Mommy truths!

Day 353 of 365. A twofer! This morning I got to hang out with Jenni and her pajama party, then later, with Grace to parrrrrrtttyyyyy  :)

Day 354 of 365. Today completed Graces first season of basketball!! She learned so much and I can't wait to watch her grow into an amazing athlete :D  **She is the one that looks like she has not pants on  ;)

 Day 355 of 365. We spent the day celebrating Christmas with the Hellebuyck's and making memories :)

Day 356 of 365. Santa's cookies have been rolled, cut, baked and frosted. Now, let's hope we don't eat them before the big man comes  :)

Day 357 of 365. Four years ago we just wanted to send Grace to preschool. Both girls have since graduated and we all have some really amazing friends :)

 Day 358 of 365. Our Christmas Eve night traditions: Chinese food for dinner, open new pj's, drive around looking at Christmas lights, sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn and setting out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer! Christmas is magical with kids <3

 Day 359 of 365. I can't even imagine anywhere I would rather be!

 Day 360 of 365. Daddy is home on vacation for a few days so we get to eat good, as he likes to cook all kinds of yummy dinners :)

 Day 361 of 365. "Girls, what are you doing?" "It's a feet war!" WHAT THE?!?!?!?

 Day 362 of 365. Jenni just wanted to help!

Day 363 of 365. Two on one?

Day 364 of 365.  New Year's eve tradition in our house includes board games, so we picked
out a new one :)

Day 365 of 365.  I wanted to end the project the way we end every night :). We all snuggle in for the last hour or so of every night I think we need to check into getting a bigger bed! ;)

BONUS PHOTOS:

Obviously they realized I was taking photos and decided to pose for me!

Then Grace decided to give her Dad bunny ears ;)

SO, WHILE I WAS SETTING UP LIGHTING FOR OUR LAST 365 PHOTO I ASKED GRACE TO BE MY TEST SHOT.  LATER JENNI ASKED HELP ME SET UP.  BELOW ARE THOSE TEST SHOTS :)

November 2014.

November
Grandma got a new place.
Time change. Half days of school. Location scouting.
Work station. Carrots. Ice cream at Grandmas.
READING! Conferences. Pizza and movie night.
Battleship. Creativeness. Chores.
Snow. Collaborative work.
Dancing. Morning snuggles.
Cousins. Christmas readiness!

Day 306 of 365. Having a snack on Grandma's fancy table ;)

Day 307 of 365. They girls found the ice in Uncle Dave's truck to be more fun then moving some boxes :/

Day 308 of 365. Socks, as soon as they get home they fly off of their feet :/ They also wore the same outfit today <3

Day 309 of 365. Kids do not care about the time change :( She passed out at 7pm and then up and playing legos at 5:30am :/

Day 310 of 365. A half day of school means a full afternoon of Monopoly :)

Day 311 (YESSSSS!!!! 311! If you know me, you know all about this!) of 365. I have been down for the count with a nasty cold for about 3 days :( The girls have been so amazing in letting me rest and getting me anything if I need it. They are absolute rock stars!! I did catch them in our closet playing on the kindle in the dark, I don't know why this is fun, but they love it :)

Day 312 of 365. I have a photo shoot tomorrow so the girls helped me location scout! They found lots of nooks and cute spots! They are learning the art :)

Day 313 of 365. It was about 30-45 seconds after I took this shot when I said "I told you so, Jennifer!"

Day 314 of 365. She setup a work station and went to town on her new house. It even had a rug to wipe your feet on after you enter the door. :)

Day 315 of 365. "Mom, did you know carrots are good for your eyes? Yep, they help you see!"

Day 315 of 365. A poopy iphone photo (because I didn't bring my camera in from the car) of Grace getting caught eating ice cream while at Grandmas :)

Day 316 of 365. SHE IS READING!!!!! LIKE FOR REAL!!! True to Jenni form, she reads in weird places <3

Day 317 of 365. CONFERENCES! For the first time in the same building :) Both girls got amazing reports! We are super proud of their hard work and the good choices they continue to make <3

Day 318 of 365. Friday night pizza and a movie Maleficent is now showing!

Day 319 of 365. This was an INTENSE game of battleship, she ended up beating me by ONE hit :(

 

Day 320 of 365. They are supposed to be cleaning their rooms and getting ready for the new week ahead! Really though, who am I to say "no" to doing something creative ;)

Day 321 of 365. She has been like this for about 15 minutes, so I guess its a comfy spot?!? 

Day 322 of 365. You wake up with coffee. I wake up to an enthusiastic 5 year old who can read 'Green Eggs and Ham' :)

Day 323 of 365. All on her own she grabbed dishes from the dishwasher to help me put them away :) I ended up giving her money to put toward her legos! <3

Day 324 of 365. Jenni needed music to skate to....big sister to the rescue!

Day 325 of 365. A half day of school means spending the rest of the day in the cold then hot chocolate :)

Day 326 of 365. A collaborative piece titled "Bear Finds Berries". By collaborative I mean that Jenni told the story and grace typed it out for her :)

Day 327 of 365. Birthday cards have some very danceable music so Daddy just had to ask "how does that move go?"

Day 328 of 365. Look!! No hands!!

Day 329 of 365. With the week off of school this is how I get woken up every morning! I love some early morning snuggles :)

Day 330 of 365. Making some silly sentences and seeing who can make the silliest of all :)

Day 331 of 365. We had a great Thanksgiving full of love, laughter and cousins. However, I am not entirely sure who is entertaining who here?!?!

Day 332 of 365. Creating beautiful Christmas art while relaxing at Grandma's new place :)

 Day 333 of 365. They are ready! We made snowflakes and guessed where buddy the elf will end up this year :)

Day 334 of 365. My favorite Christmas decoration (tree skirt) has this years addition completed :) <3 <3

Bonus: