3.2 Decades Old!

For my birthday breakfast I requested waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. I think Nixon enjoyed it more than I did!

 I had a visit from this crazy bunch at work

 After a wonderful dinner the kids helped me eat open some presents

 Yummy wrapping paper!

 I didn't feel like cake this year, so I requested brownies (with mint chocolate chip ice cream of course)

I had more than enough help blowing out the candles. Thanks for the fun birthday!

 Sometimes I can't believe how grown up Lyza is looking, but then she says or does something that reminds me of her actual age ;) 

 I think the shirt says it all...

 Setting up her dinosaur city

 Nixon waspracticing pen control this week and was pretty frustrated. He is acting like an impatient perfectionist...when he isn't perfectly on the lines he gets really frustrated. Hopefully this will help teach him patience!

 Mason loved putting each piece of food from the play kitchen in his mouth

 He also rode in the shopping cart for the first time. Isn't he looking so big?

 The kids got these dinosaur feet slippers and when I got home from work I was really scared

 Lyza and Nixon worked on making a bag and a box for their valentines

 I made an extra shelf for our linen closet yesterday, which meant that I had to take out a bunch of towels and blankets that were in there. I took the opportunity to show the kids my beautiful mission quilt that my even more beautiful wife made me. That was a lot of fun!

 It was been nice and warm and we still have lots of snow, so it was a perfect time to play outside together yesterday

 Snow cave...(I think Nixon is intentionally trying to make it collapse on me)

If you ever need a lesson on pronouncing dinosaur names, look no further than Mr. Nixon

Speaking of dangerous animals

I will finish of this week's post with some morning Mason tickles, take care

Lots of costume changes

Last post I wished for an early spring, which must have jinxed us here. But more on that later.

Mason and I were excited to go to church together a couple of weeks ago

The kids asked to play outside and found the only place in the yard that isn't covered in snow 

 Reading with Mom is the best!

Sometimes with Mason we aren't sure if he is happy or about to melt down

This girl has some pretty awesome moves

She can also be really helpful. She had lots of fun learning how to sweep the floor 

 We have been playing a lot of superheros here

 Right now it is rare to see either of our older kids without a costume on. Even right before church. It is still a struggle to explain why we can't wear Spider Man costumes to church...

 Or Minnie Mouse ears with an owl purse/necklace...

 Nixon and I were matching for church last week

 But we don't always match...honestly ;)

Mason is 7 months old! We love him a lot! 

 He loves his fox

 He loves to stick out his tongue right now

Mason also loves to dance

He is pretty ridiculous when he is falling asleep. This is the sound he makes

We are lucky to have Batman clean our table after dinner 

 The park is a very different place under a couple feet of snow. Suddenly those horses are not so high off the ground

 The slide is still fun

 So is climbing up a big hill and sliding down, if you are smart enough to slide down the flat part and not the part that is super bumpy

Nixon didn't really understand that he should like down the smooth part, he can be pretty stubborn

The river is super low

 Nixon loves dressing up in costumes, regardless of the intended gender

Too bad he doesn't like performing for the camera, this American has talent!

Being a snow queen is exhausting

The preschool gang and their completed floor puzzle 

 Even dragons get owies

This is Nixon while eating a single Oreo. Not too much mess. 

This is his older sister Lyza after eating a SINGLE Oreo. So messy! 

One of the preschool days this week was about habitats 

 They had a yummy treat that was supposed to be like dirt with groundhogs (teddy grahams) in it for Groundhogs Day. Notice how messy her face is with only a single bite? 

 For Groundhog day they made little groundhogs that would come out of their burrows

This little guy is so sweet (most of the time)

He has also been teething, so he has his not-so-sweet moments 

  The older kids went to the dentist this week

 Nixon held Lyza's hand to help her feel safe, until it was his time to get into the chair and then he needed to be held by his mamma because he is not as brave as he thought

 Kim and I both got colds so we had a relaxing movie night on Friday with some snacks and cuddles

 After the kids went to bed Kim and I played some Mario Kart and Donkey Kong. Lots of fun!

 We have gotten another 12 inches of snow over the last day and a half :(

I guess that is what I get for thinking we would get an early spring.

We like to help our widowed neighbor with shoveling her snow and yesterday I borrowed her little snow thrower and did both her driveway and ours. It isn't the most powerful little machine, but it sure beats lifting all of the snow

 Lyza and I helped clean the church yesterday morning and it was an awesome experience. She was so happy to be helping and taking pride in our church building

 On a day with too much snow and runny noses we found some fun activities to do inside, like painting

And jenga

And puzzles

 1 o'clock church has been better than I thought. It has been nice to have lazy mornings together

Nixon is the drill sergeant in the house and gets himself all dressed for church by 9am  

That is it for now. Take care