Family Fun

Well, the kids got their first pets. 😂  Clara's kindergarten curriculum bundle came with an ant hill.  A few weeks ago we ordered ants through the mail (ha!) and they arrived this week.  They've been a big hit and everyone has enjoyed watching them dig tunnels in the sand.

Clara and Davey never want Emma to miss out. 💕

Old McDonald had a farm!

Clara has been giving Emma rides on the pony. 😊

Clara loves playing with her real dolly and getting her all snuggled in and cozy with their stuffed animal friends.

We went to Journey to Space at the Wells Fargo CineDome today!  Such a cool experience.  We had never been in the CineDome before.  Love that the educational videos are included with our Washington Pavilion membership!

We had lunch downtown at MacKenzie River.  Tic-tac-toe for these two besties while we wait for our food!

And the other side of the table! 

I had to snap a picture of the girls in their matching pants.  Clara loved matching with her sister. 💜

Back to the Pavilion for some more playing!

Clara had Girl Scouts this afternoon which she loved.  Michael and I watched Minimalism on Netflix and now Michael is going through his side of the closet, ha!  Timely though because yesterday we started going through things to get more organized and get rid of excess.  I have been craving a good spring cleaning of our home, so we're getting a jump start even though spring is technically three weeks away. 😉

Have a great week everyone!

Carpool Book Club {02/23/17}

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm joining Narci to talk about the books we've read this month.  My Goodreads account is full of books I want to read, so I'm glad I can check two of them off.

I told you guys how I gave Audible a try for the first time last month.  Well, we've had The Total Money Makeover sitting on our bookshelf for over a year now, so I decided to go ahead and just listen to it.  I listen to Davey Ramsey's podcast sometimes and actually really enjoy it.  His advice is always spot on and he's pretty funny as well.  Between a previous book of his I read, Financial Peace, going through Financial Peace University, and listening to his podcasts on and off for a few years, there wasn't a lot that I hadn't heard him say before.  However, it's always motivating to listen to him as we work to reach our financial goals.  Michael is listening to this book now as well.

My brother Billy got me Nicholas Sparks' new book Two By Two for Christmas.  I have read all of his books and was excited to finally get started on his latest.  It usually doesn't take me long to get sucked in to the point where I can barely put his books down.  For this book though, I was almost a third of the way through before I started feeling like that.  It's a fairly long book (almost 500 pages), and there were a few times where I felt like the storyline was moving along rather slowly.  That being said, I still really liked it overall and am a bit sad to be finished with it.  Also, the last several chapters are not what I predicted them to be largely about as I was reading the first part of the book!

Have a great day everyone!

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Valentine's Day, Hockey & 10 Months

Power Ranger poses! ;)  We loved having Brecken come play last week.

We met our Little Explorer friends at The Outdoor Campus on Valentine's Day.

Look at all those Little Explorers and mamas!  Love each one of them!  Such a fun group!

sharing Valentine's Day treats with friends

I'm so thankful for my little loves.  I'll never get over the fact that I get to be their mama.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Trolls themed Operation was on sale and it came with a free Trolls watch at Target a few weeks ago.  Now we just need to see the Trolls movie one of these days! ;)

We have been playing lots of Operation this past week!

tulips from my sweet hubby

I helped Clara make a fun craft for Valentine's Day.  We went through our crayons and pulled out the broken ones and then used a crayon sharpener to turn them into shavings.  Clara then designed them on some wax paper.  We put another piece of wax paper on top.  Then I placed a plain piece of paper on top of it all and quickly ran the iron over it a few times.  After letting them cool we cut out hearts and put them up in her window as sun catchers.  Next time I'll advise Clara to use less crayon shavings so the crayon layer will be thinner and allow more light through.  Fun way to use up broken crayons!

Michael and Clara went grocery shopping the next day after dance class and one of the HyVee employees gave Clara this huge Valentine's Day balloon as they were checking out.  On the car ride home I guess she kept saying, "I can't believe that just happened." 💜

two thumbs up from Clara

Davey loves his baby Emma time.

Clara and I (and Davey, too) got haircuts the end of last week.  Isn't that such a great feeling?!

We had tacos and game night with friends on Friday night and had the best time!

Grandpa and Grandma Ellingson gave Clara a gingerbread house when they were here last weekend and she put 99% of it together by herself. 😊

My sweet baby is pulling herself up on everything.  She's going to have so much fun outside this spring and summer!

Clara read Emma a whole stack of books the other day and it was just as sweet as can be.  So blessed to have each other.

Michael's company provided us with Stampede hockey tickets Saturday night so the kiddos all got to stay up late and we made it through 2 of the 3 periods.  We had great seats!  Overall they really liked it, but the blaring noise when they scored was a bit too much.

Emma wasn't quite sure what to think of it all.

Clara and Davey have had so much fun playing outside and exploring with Michael the past several days.

Emma turned 10 months on Saturday and I finally snapped a few pictures of her today.  Oh my goodness, I couldn't love this cute little squishy baby more.

She has 4 teeth now!

Sweet beauty.

Emma and I joined Daddy and the big kids outside for a bit this afternoon.  It's so fun to watch Emma.  Everything is so new and she was just wide eyed taking the world in.  Clara and Davey wanted her to sit on the little tricycle. 😉

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Friday Favorites

Hello Friday!  Today I'm joining Erika, Narci, and Andrea to share our Friday Favorites!

Michael Bublé's latest music video I Believe in You was released last Friday and I love it so much!  And Derek Hough directed it and starred in it, so bonus!  This song is from Michael Bublé's latest album Nobody But Me, which is definitely a favorite!

Another long time favorite of mine is The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey podcast!  I started listening when she was only on episode 2 and now she has 128 hour long episodes, plus today she'll release her 25th Happy Half Hour episode.  And I've listened to every. single. one.  I absolutely love Jamie and all of the amazing guests she's had on her show.  I finish each episode feeling inspired.  I love listening to podcasts while I'm folding laundry, cleaning or just getting ready for the day.

My favorite little Girl Scout has been selling cookies for two weeks now and it's been precious to watch her gain confidence asking family, friends, and even a few strangers if they'd like to buy some Girl Scout cookies.  She's been advising on favorite kinds, taking orders, initially handling the money, and making deliveries.  I've just been her trusty sidekick and facilitator.  Clara is loving Girl Scouts!

I mean, This Is Us being a fantastic show is probably news to hardly anyone at this point, but it's definitely been a favorite for Michael and me.  We've been watching it together and loving it!  I'm thinking it will end up being one of my all time favorites along with Gilmore Girls and Parenthood.

I reintroduced the four loves of my life for Show and Tell Tuesday.  You can read all about my favorite people HERE.  They each have my whole heart.

My Erin Condren planners are always my favorite.  I love how I'm able to customize the cover and the inside is just happy with color and inspiration.  It helps me stay organized and keep our family of five's schedule straight.  Their planners and calendars are 30% off through the end of the month!  Wahoo!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!  It's suppose to be in the high 50's and low 60's here this weekend.  For mid-February in South Dakota?  We'll take it!

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