All we need is Love...and Dancing!

So I lied. Here are some more pictures, and its not even Zacks birthday yet. See how lucky you are!

First up: Valentines Day.

The kids awoke to just a little bucket of love, filled with a flower planting kit, bubbles, toys and of course what every woman needs to feel loved... CHOCOLATE! (Note: not all items included in each bucket...except for the CHOCOLATE of course!) The kids were pretty surprised and of course the next question that came was,

" I wonder who brought the buckets for us?"

A valid question from a 7 year old who has it all figured out, from Santa to the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. So who does that leave for Valentines? Cupid? No, I get the credit for this one! Gotta love that!

Zack was the lucky winner of the bubbles, along with a new bouncy ball, which he was clearly happy about.
And that left the flowers to the girls.

Brylee went straight for the CHOCOLATE. Thats my girl. She also got a frog and some Valentine socks.

Her first experience with bubbles, not quite sure what to think yet...especially when they pop in her face!

After the goodies came some pink heart pancakes, or at least an attempt at hearts. Guess which one they all wanted. It of course turned into an argument which wasnt making me feel so much love. We'll re-think the strategy on that one next year.

Still happy to have the finished product, even if they were a little lop sided!

Eat your heart out!

Following breakfast included another round of bubbles. Ryan continued his attempt to warm Brylee up to them.

It worked!

Finally, we got to enjoy the highlight of the day, my favorite...grocery shopping! Not really, but it couldnt be that bad when it ended with a purchase of not one, but two boxes of CHOCOLATES. Why? They were on sale of course, 1/2 price. Why get one when you could have two for the normal price? I'll let you guess how long it took me to ingest the 2 boxes.

Next up: Daddy Daughter Dance.

This is the second year Madi and Katelin were able to go to their school sponsored dance. Alissa of course, was upset again, but next year she will get to join in. Wont that be fun for Ryan to get to take all three of them!?

Off they go!

They were just as excited as last year, but what Katelin really had her eye on...was a prize! They came so close last time to winning the dance contest, that this year, she was not going to walk away empty...winned? They actually didnt get a prize, but the title is enough to be proud of.

Raise the roof...

and boogie woogie!

But no dancing win this time.

Ryan was down to his last option at pleasing his daughter...the hoola hooping contest.

The problem here is...Ryan cant actually hoola hoop. (Notice how its around his neck?) So instead of winning it the traditional way, he decided to be...creative.

How about letting the hoop hoola you? Run around...and around...and around! Are you picturing this?

Or you can always do it around your arm...

or leg.

Needless to say, after many different forms of hoola hooping...except for the correct way of course, Ryan actually won the contest! Leave it up to a group of young screaming (and chanting) girls! Ryan actually felt bad for the Dads who were actually doing it correctly and didnt get any support. But I think he liked the 2 minutes of fame. And Katelins prize? One sweaty Dad! Enough to make a daughter proud!

A blog fix

It was brought to my attention recently that I havent been blogging as much lately. Actually its been about once a week...hmmm. But there hasnt been any pictures since Christmas, so Im assuming thats what you are really missing (you know who you are). Im going to chalk it up to my mental hibernation I have thrown myself into to get through the winter. And possibly due to the fact that there just isnt as much going on with us during the winter time. So I just ramble on and on, kinda like right now, in hopes to keep you posted on current events. But lets face it...you really just want pictures, not to read my drawn out posts on recent personal discoveries. So here is a little Brylee fix for you!

I was going to wait until she actually took her first independent steps, but I guess she is close enough. It started out as sort of a head stand with what I can only assume was an attempt to stand up, but this is as far as she made it...

Hows the view from down there!?

Anyone up for a little "London Bridges"?

It only took her a month from that point to figure out how to do this...

No, she isnt walking, but as you can see, she can now stand up on her own and remain there un-supported for a good few seconds. Impressive right.
In case you lost track, she is now 14 months old, making her by far the longest one of our kids to take those first steps. Im not complaining the least bit. She already gets into enough stuff just crawling around. Im not looking forward to her being able to reach more things! And after all, if shes happy...

then we are all happy too!

Doesnt she just make you smile?

There, hows that? Hopefully good enough to get you picture addicts by for a few weeks anyway...possibly until Zacks upcoming birthday. But who knows? If Brylee decides to walk before then, you could get lucky!

Happy hibernating!