Staycation

I bought a night stay and tickets to Legoland and SeaLife through a fundraising auction for our company's foundation.  We had lots of fun playing at LegoLand, seeing the fish, and visiting the trains at Union Station.  At LegoLand we learned that Ellie has no fear as she already mastered the tunnel slide.  Brady who I would not consider a cautious kid by any means had a thing about tunnel slides and didn't go down one until he was almost 4.  She climbed up the cushioned stairs (while another mom kept making comments about the baby being in the slide eluding to it not being safe) and went right down.  After she went down once she wanted to go over and over.  I think she went down the slide 20 times.  It wasn't a huge slide, but I was still impressed.   The weekend stay also reminded us the importance of staying only in hotels with two separate rooms.   I don't think any one slept well.  Brady was still recovering from a cough so that didn't help.      

Park in January

It has been miserably cold.  This weekend's weather was a welcome change.  Unfortunately shortly after taking these pics Brady feel victim to a stomach bug.  Hurry up spring!!

Lovies and Babies

Ellie can't get enough of her lovies and babies.   She is our little hoarder and below is proof.  In the top pic you'll also notice that she loves licking her lips and face.  Poor thing constantly has a rash as she won't stop licking.

2013 Recap

So how did we do on our 2013 resolutions?  We didn't knock it out of the park, but it wasn't a total bust.  

• Make my bed MOST days - C.  I probably should add this to my 2014 list.  Could we make one of Brady's chores to make all family member's beds?
• Eat PBJ sandwiches for dinner one time a week or less - B-, still a fair amount of PBJ happenings, but have added a few new variations to the quick and easy menu.
• Take at least one, maybe two adult only vacations -  A, we spent a weekend in Chicago and took a week long trip to London.  
• Teach Brady to read - B-, lost focus on this one, but are going to spend more time on it this year. He does well with sight works and simple books, but not to the curling up in bed and reading a book for an hour point.
• Find balance - C.  Still feel like we're living in the fast lane most days, but I guess that's ok.

I will give Cory props as he set a goal to recycle glass and did an awesome job with it.  Our trash company does not allow glass in the recycle bin so it takes little extra effort to recycle it.

I haven't thought about 2014 resolutions so I'm giving myself until the end of the quarter to come up with the new plan.  It's been a pretty good 2013 and looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings.

Christmas 2013

For the first time ever we spent Christmas Eve at our house.  I know our family probably doesn't want to hear this, but it was really nice.  We went to church, had a steak dinner and opened presents.  We celebrated with Cory's side of the family the weekend before Christmas and then drove down to Wichita on Christmas day to celebrate with my side of the family.  We enjoyed spending time with our family and getting some downtime from work.  Both Ellie and Brady loved opening gifts and all the other festivities.

Weekend before Christmas

Christmas Eve/Morning

Christmas Day with my family

Let it snow

First measurable snow of the season.   Brady loves it!  I convinced Ellie that the girls should stay inside.

Orange Crush

Brady played in a 8 week indoor soccer league.  He loved it and thought it was awesome that they had goalies.  The league was for Kindergarten - 2nd grade so he was playing with a little older kids than normal, but he did great.  He scored a goal almost every game and his last game of the season he scored three goals.  Brady would play soccer every night of the week if he could.   Great job Orange Crush.