Happy Birthday Gunnar!!!

Hey!  Gunnar turned 6 today!  We can’t believe it.  Really, why is he getting so big so fast?  Gunnar has blossomed over the past year and is about to wrap up Kindergarten.  He is learning what he really enjoys and what he doesn’t.  You can’t keep the kid away from a good LEGO building session but as for soccer and Tai Kwon Do, he has learned he will let his brother enjoy those without him.  Baseball seems to be a hit and he can make a mean pancake and/or blueberry muffins.  Gunnar has a sweet side that charms the neighbor girls, picks flowers for me and often plays with or watches after his little sister.  Don’t ask the sweet side to come out when playing with his brother although he idolizes Zach and will do just about anything for him.  If you have a household project to complete....Gunnar is your guy.  He loves to be a helper!  His teacher says he does this in school too.  

Anyway, we celebrated yesterday with cousins and today with just our family.  Presents, LEGOs, ice cream and IHOP pancakes!  Next weekend we will top it off with a LEGO party with friends.

 My middlebug makes my heart bigger with each year.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUNNAR!!!

Is Spring Here Yet?

This winter has been busy!  We had some super cold temps and managed to end up with a lot of travel between work and fun.  The boys have been fully loaded with school activities and an introduction into Boy Scouts plus Zach took a math class at Northwestern.  Hazel went along for everything she gets dragged to but is usually a pretty good sport.  She just wants to do everything the boys do.

Here’s a quick recap of our year/winter thus far!

Rich and I started the year in Costa Rica for the second time.  It was great and I really want to take the kids at some point.

The boys have joined Boy Scouts and made pinewood derby cars while Hazel has begun to master the game of dress up.






We got to visit our friends in Kansas City over Presidents’ Day weekend.  Somehow we didn’t get a picture of the whole group together but we all had a lot of fun.  We played in the snow, had nerf gun battles, played games and laughed a lot.

My job took me to Colorado for a few days where I got to ski and catch up with a few old friends after I shipped my clients back off to Chicago.  It’s still pretty darn beautiful out there!

We miss the Yu gang in Chicago but they are tried and true Coloradans




And this crew welcomed me back like a day hadn’t passed

When I flew home my littles welcomed me back with this amazing bacon bouquet.  Rich knows me all too well.

Did I mention scouts?  This is my favorite Eagle Scout turned Scout Master!

For Mom/Nana’s Christmas present she got a trip to Waco!  She was nice enough to take me along and better yet, we met up on March 1st.  I think Mamaw would have approved!  We had a great weekend.  I think she should get a weekend getaway trip for Christmas every year.  Wink wink....nudge nudge....Boppa Bill.  (Sorry mom....I had to post a couple photos)















Oh, and Zach worked on his dress up game while I was gone.  I hope I can remember to put this in his senior yearbook.

March became the month of crazy travel for Rich.  He has been to Berlin, New York and we just left him in Austin, TX after our spring break trip (I’ll do another post with all the spring break photos).  Anyway, Rich and I some how coordinated all our travels so we would depart/arrive on the same days so we never saw each other in passing but perfected leaving a car behind for another to pick up at the airport and drive home.  This month I think we will only see each other for 7 or 8 days.  That being said the kids and I have been trying to keep it all together and finding some fun along the way.

Kids were back to school today.  Stay tuned for a post with our spring break trip to Austin!

Frozen Tundra

So I’m guessing you have all heard the news or are living through it like us but it is COLD here!  Record low temps!  I mean the high yesterday was -22 but of course felt like -50.  I never thought I would experience temps of Antarctica or Mt Everest but now I at least can take those two locations off my bucket list.  In all honesty....I had a work trip in Atlanta so after several delays due to frozen aircraft I was able to get out of town and avoid the worst of it.  Rich and the kiddos on the other hand worked from home and stayed home from school.  This will definitely be something we all remember.

Our local news.....

A local weather forecast....


Train tracks on fire to keep them warm and trains running...

The view from my office at the start of the week as the river began to freeze.

And a fun experiment the kids did with Rich.  Boiling water to steam in the blink of an eye.

Anyone want to come visit?!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you are all having a fun filled Christmas.  We have been playing with hot wheels, having nerf gun wars, enjoying princess castles and baking cookies, building forts and building lots of Legos.  Santa sure was good to us.  

I hope you and all the kiddos in your families are enjoying the magic of the holiday.  We are loving our time spent with family.

Merry Christmas!!

8 is Great!

Hey....my posts seem to finally be going through!  Zach turned 8 earlier this week and it was amazing.  I’m in such awe of the boy he has grown into.  He is super smart, kind, willing to help and sometimes even shows all of those aspects of his character to his siblings.  Zach loves Legos currently and is strong in math.  We spent his birthday celebrating with a birthday party with friends and s family dinner topped off by a chocolate piñata.  

I love that we have been parents for 8 years but it makes me sad at the same time because time is moving too fast.  If anyone knows how to keep them small please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Looks like this didn’t post last week.  Here goes another try.....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We hope you are all having a great day with family and friends.  We are having fun in NC and soaking up the sunshine and warmer weather.  We took a quick trip to Greenville, SC (Falls Park wins me over every time) have gone to Lazy Five Ranch, gone shooting and have fed the ducks.  Fall in the south is pretty nice!

Lazy Five....

Falls Park....

Shooting Range..... this was Gunnar’s first time!

Ducks at the park...

And the week isn’t even over yet!  We can’t wait to see our family in VA tomorrow.  

Happy Turkey Day!!