Snow sledding and Valentine's Day

 Maggie finally decided she wanted to play outside with the boys.

It took me about 15 minutes to bundle her up, but she went out there and did some sledding with dad and LOVED it!  She even went down by herself one time...

All ready to play

 The "track" Brian made for sledding

 On their way

 So much fun!

She only stayed out there for about 20 minutes, but had a great time.

I think she'll definitely be out there again for the next snow fall.

And typical Midwest weather...its supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow...and now we all know why we are sick with runny noses and coughs...

But, today was Valentine's Day, and it was a lovely day.

The kids were off school so Memaw watched them for us.

We went out to dinner (all 5 of us) to On The Border and had a great dinner.

Brian and the kids got Memaw and I some flowers, and I also got some homemade chocolate covered strawberries.  They were DELICIOUS!

 The kids got a couple treats from us, but only 2, because they each brought home candy from Valentine's Day parties at school.  Too much sugar in our house is never a good idea!

My yummy strawberries!

I am so blessed to have a lot of Valentine's in my life.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!

A couple of snow days

We did end up getting almost a foot of snow here in Parkville.

The kids were off school for 3 days (2 for the snowfall and 1 because of crazy cold temperatures - like -10 degrees without windchills).  

We spent our time hanging out and catching up on some movies.

We also made some chocolate chip cookies (which were totally gone after 2.5 days)

 The kids LOVE helping these days

 We spent A LOT of time in the bounce house - and the kids got really creative on using it - like pretending to sleep in it.  I got called in for the important duty of making sure the blanket totally covered their feet.

Colin and Brian spent a lot of time outside clearing the driveway and making ramps to sled over.  I'm still not sure who was having more fun out there, I think Brian had a blast making their snow trails...

Maggie refused to go outside, and I don't really blame her, it was COLD!

 This was after a few hours of snow, but we still had at least that much more coming the next 1/2 day.

 The best pic I could get of my boys through our front door (where I was standing inside, staying warm)

 Each day Colin would come in with super red cheeks - we started slapping on Vaseline, which helped immensely!

 He opted to take off the face warmer so that he could eat some snow.

That kid!

 Brian has gotten some good use out of the snow blower I got him for Christmas.  

I think the meteorologists are calling for a pretty cold and snowy February, so we'd better keep it handy!

While the boys were outside, Maggie and I were perfecting the bounce house - jump and slide!

Please excuse the chocolate chip cookie face

 She's started picking out her outfits lately... I think she might have a slightly crazy fashion sense!

The kids are back to school tomorrow and I am a few days behind on my comp exams...

But, we had some great days at home and we're ready to get back on schedule (just in time for the weekend!)  :)

Rain boots and snow boots

Maggie has been pretty excited to wear these rain boots lately.  They are about 2 sizes too big, but she loves them.  We got them from a family friend who's little girl is a year older than Maggie.

Anyway, she wore them to the grocery store the other day and an older gentleman commented on how pretty they were, so now I'm certain they will be a hit around our house for a while.

 My crazy girl, showing off her rain boots

 So cute!

My little twinkies.

Oh, and we are all home today because of anticipated snow fall.

We are supposed to get around 8-10 inches throughout the day.  I am so glad to work for a place that values their employees and patients enough to not put them in danger driving around in inclement weather.

I'm sure I'll have some fun snow pictures to post soon, but until then, we will be baking cookies and watching some movies.

Baby Parks is HERE!!!

While we have been laying low this January, my sister has been toughing it out.

I got a call this morning from Chad, Tiff had the baby early this morning (around 8 ish) after a whirlwind labor process.  They barely made it to the hospital it time, her water broke at home.

Crazy how quickly us Dudley gals have those babies.  

Anyway, we headed to the hospital tonight after church, the kids were so excited to meet their new cousin!

HE'S STINKIN' ADORABLE!

Came in at 8 lbs 8 ozs and 20 inches long.

Perfectly healthy, and I think he looks so much like Tiff.

 Mags LOVED holding him, Colin was pretty shy and hesitant at first...

 Such a cute baby, he made the sweetest little noises when we were there

 I love this pic of Tiff and I - she did great!

 Maggie was showing Baby how to make a silly fishy face!

 Maggie and Colin really wanted to see his feet - but you know how it goes, he's a baby burrito!

We are so proud of you Tiff!

Welcome to the family!

Laying low in January

We love to be home-bodies in winter.

Not much is going on these days, Maggie is battling another ear infection (she just had one right after Christmas and now another one).  She actually came home from school yesterday, told me her ear hurt, asked to go to the doctor to get medicine so she could feel better.  That girl cracks me up.

 Maggie wanted a back rub the other day, she's such a princess...

Oh, and Brian and I started a long-over-due project this morning.

Finally painting our master bedroom.  We are pretty excited with how its turning out, plus, this really reminded us how much we wanted to get rid of the off-white paint that is covering our walls in our house.

The kids did a pretty good job of staying out of our hair so we could paint, and Brian just has a little more rolling to do.  I can't wait to have our bedroom back together (if you know me, you know I hate feeling unorganized!)

It's supposed to be a nice day tomorrow, so we are planning on doing some grilling for dinner.  Can't wait to see some sunshine and play outside with the kids.

Christmas at Memaw's

We finally had Christmas with the Dudley side of the family this past weekend.  The kids, of course, were thrilled to continue to get presents, so they didn't mind waiting until after New Years!

We got some wonderful and thoughtful presents, the kids got some cute clothes, books, toys, movies, and whatever else Memaw could get her hands on.

Tiff and Chad did the Blue Crew gift (a kids club for the KC Royals baseball team) and books, which have been a hit at night.

There was one particular present, a singing chicken, that Memaw got the kids..

slightly annoying, but lots of fun!

 The chicken sings the "chicken dance" and you toss it around, like a hot potato, and then the buzzer goes off randomly to decide the winner.  The chicken is big enough that anyone can catch it and Colin LOVES this thing.  Too bad that song gets stuck in your head really quickly!

 We moved the bounce house upstairs because it was just easier to watch the kids while getting dinner around and such.  The chicken joined in the fun...

And finally, here is a picture of our new sectional, an awesome Christmas present from Memaw.

We have been wanting to increase our seating in our main room for quite some time (pretty much since we've gotten married), but never took the leap.  We finally did and we love it!

Both ends recline, plus more of the sections in the middle also recline.  

We've watched lots of our new movies out there and next on our list..a new rug (one that hasn't been to college with Brian!)

Our first day back at Pre-K has been canceled for tomorrow. 

The temps are going to be well below freezing, with wind chills in the minus 30's.

I definitely don't mind one more day of NOT packing lunches, though :)

Welcome to winter!

2013 year end video

I used the Flipagram app on my phone to create this short 30 second video of some of my favorite pictures from 2013.

I hope you enjoy it!