MLK Day Letterboxing

On MLK Day we were planning on going up to the river and watching the eagles fish in the river. It has been in the 50's this past weekend and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to get outside in the fresh air.  However, a bunch of us got sick with a cold and so we decided to sleep in a bit and go letterboxing instead. For those who do not know what letterboxing is, you can read about it here. We highly recommend it! It is something we can do as a family, that is cheap, and gets us exercising. We had a great time and discovered a new park to go birding at, Dad.

 

12 Year Anniversary

David and I celebrated our twelve year anniversary on January 16th. For some reason I kept thinking that it was 13 years, don't ask me why, but David quickly remedied that by buying me a dozen red roses. What a guy!!! They are beautiful on my dining room table and remind me every day how lucky I am to have married the man that I did. David, you are incredible and I love you!

For part of the celebration, we went to see "Unbroken" at the 5 Star Lounge Movie Theater. It was Awesome! The movie, I thought, was well done. I read the book and thought they did a good job portraying it. The best part though, was the lounge. It had heated leather seats that recline like a Lay-z-boy. Each seat is complete with a swiveling table and a button to push to call a waiter. You can order anything off the menu at anytime during the show (assuming you want to pay for it) and they will bring it to you. What a life! I couldn't help but notice the startling contrast as I sat there eating my chicken strips watching the characters in the movie starve in a Japanese war camp. Sheesh.

Anyway, we did the movie thing about a week before our actual anniversary, so on the actual day, we took the whole fam to Chick-fil-A to celebrate the anniversary of the start of our family. The kids had fun and loved being included.

 

January

It's been another extremely cold January. I was so grateful that they didn't end up cancelling school and extending the boys' Christmas vacation again this year. That was pure "you know what" last year! We have been doing a bunch of things to keep busy. One thing we actually did in December, right before Christmas. We adopted a new kitty from the St. Louis Pet Rescue. His name is Einstein and he is very fat, fluffy, and sweet. We like him. Isn't he handsome?

Here is a picture of the shoe shelf that David made me for Christmas. I love it! It makes me excited to see all my pretty shoes all lined up in a row. I did let David put a few shoes on there too. Aren't I nice? 

I was called to the Primary Chorister calling last November and have spent a few weeks getting myself organized for the year. I was so excited to find this wonderful planner on Etsy that I sent to Office Max and had printed and spiral bound. It has already helped a ton and I was able to plan all the songs for the entire year, including games and ideas for review. I also had all my flip charts for the year printed on card stock and organized them in an accordion folder so I don't have to carry everything and the kitchen sink to church every Sunday. I feel a lot better about this calling now that I am prepared.

Caleb and I went down to the river yesterday and took some pictures of the ice. It was a lot of fun to hang out together and we got some really cool shots. Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

I made a banana pudding cake that I found on Pinterest. Um, it was large and had a lot of sugar in it! Caleb is now in a sugar coma and I will be soon. 

New Year's Eve 2014

We continued our tradition of ordering Chinese food on New Year's Eve. We look forward to it all year long! The kids are getting pretty good with their chopsticks and even Emmy can get some food in her mouth with the "stabbing" method! We spent the day shopping and exchanging gifts and then came home and watched Maleficent with some popcorn and chocolate. We played a few rousing games of Skip-Bo and then ate dinner. We put Jacob and Emmy to bed after scripture time and let Caleb stay up late with us to watch Fellowship of the Ring. He has just finished reading the trilogy and was so excited! I am not a huge fan of the movie (like the story, HATE the orcs) and I was worried Caleb would have nightmares, because it can get pretty gory. On his way up to bed he told David, "Dad, it really wasn't that gross". There you have it.

 

 

After that, we sent Caleb to bed and watched an episode of Blue Bloods, our new favorite show. We rang in the new year with a quick kiss and then went to bed. We are such party animals.