Valentine's Day

We usually don't do much to celebrate Valentine's Day because Bill does not believe in the holiday.  However, he was on board with making the girls a special Valentine's morning breakfast of heart shaped pancakes.  They were really excited to have their little breakfast and get the movie Peter Pan as a Valentine's Day gift.  The rest of the day was fun but  had it's share of whining, tantrums and sugar highs which left a very exhausted Mommy.   Bill and I ended the night with a light dinner (we were full from Sweet Frog), half  a glass of wine and both of us falling asleep on the couch. Here are some photos from our Valentine's Day:

We love Disney movies so this was a good excuse to buy the girls Peter Pan

Cupcakes from Nana and Pop

Preschool Party

Madelyn made a cute bug box to hold all of her Valentine's from her class

Ellie loves going to Madelyn's parties at school because they let her participate in all the activities.  She feels like she is in preschool and loves every second of it!

Bill and I promised the girls Sweet Frog for a Valentine's Day dinner.  If I had know how much sugar they were going to eat throughout the day, I would have never promised this treat.  It was a fun outing anyway!

Wizard of Oz

Thanks to a friend of mine in my MOMS group, we were able to get tickets to see Wizard of Oz last weekend by CYT (Christian Youth Theatre).  It was a fabulous show and I highly recommend going to a CYT show.  Dorothy and one of the ballerinas go to our church so it was fun to see them in the production.  Madelyn and Ellie love the movie (thanks to Cousin Jack) so they sat at the edge of their seat during the entire show and we were there for almost 3 hours.  Bill, Nana and I were amazed at the talent of these CYT kids.  Here are some photos from our afternoon at Wizard of Oz:

Madelyn and Ellie had to bring their Toto and Dorothy. Ellie wore her ruby red slippers!

Lainey, Ana and Cora joined in on the fun too!

Cora, Madelyn and Ellie  marched right up to the witch after the show!

Dorothy was also a favorite!

Nana and I loved the scarecrow.  He was so talented!

Ellie's favorite was the flying monkey!

The girls loved Glinda!

Madelyn loved the munchkin ballerina.  Olivia goes to our church!

Spirited Art

Madelyn went to Spirited Art with a friend today and was so excited about the Valentine's Day canvas painting she made.  Madelyn just loves art so this was right up her alley.   I've never been to Spirited Art but I have heard that they have a design picked out and they guide and help each kid paint on the canvas.  It's really cool because each kid comes home with a really nice piece of art and they are all really good.  Here are some pictures from Madelyn's afternoon:

Madelyn saw some of our good friends at the class.  Thanks Allison Schmitt for taking such a great photo!

Our Little Artist

Bye Bye Crib and Pacifier

Last weekend was a very big weekend for Miss Ellie.  We converted her crib to a toddler bed and the Paci Fairy took all the pacifiers during the night.  I was a little hesitant about taking away the pacis the same night as the crib but Bill and Ellie both thought it was a good idea so we gave it a try.  She has done awesome at night except for waking up a little earlier than usual the past two mornings.  Naptime, on the other hand, has been a disaster.  She will stay in her bed for the most part but she will not fall asleep.  The last couple of afternoons have been pretty rough but I am determined to get Ellie napping again because I know she needs it. Hopefully we will have all of this ironed out before our trip to Texas next week.  Fingers Crossed.   All in all, Ellie is so excited about her toddler bed and really feels like a Big Girl now!

Great Wolf Lodge

Aunt Amy was on vacation last week so she invited us to go to Great Wolf Lodge for a night for a Girl's Getaway (Gotta love groupons).  The kids absolutely loved the water park, especially the water slides.  They also enjoyed listening to a bedtime story in the lobby of the hotel and having a sleepover with their Cousin Cora.  I'm not sure what I expected from Great Wolf but I did not realize it was going to be so exhausting, especially without the husbands.  To our surprise, the kids loved the really high water slides and we had to carry Ellie up lots of stairs to go on the ride.  Let me say, I got a workout on our trip and my body is still sore.  It is also impossible not to get drenched at Great Wolf so it was a little bit out of my element at first but I must admit the slides were a lot of fun.  It was really nice to get away for a night in the middle of winter and the girls loved going on a little "mini vacation" with Cora!

All ready to check out the water park!

Madelyn testing out the Kiddie water slide!

I love this place Mom!

Madelyn and Cora loved racing on the blue and orange slides!

Ellie could have played in these fountains all afternoon!

Ellie's first water slide!

Hanging out in the lobby waiting for the story to be read by the wolf.  Can you tell we are exhausted?

The girls with Wally the Wolf (I think that is is name)

Nana gave each girl $10 to spend on a souvenir.  Madelyn picked out a wolf mask and stuffed animal wolf.  Ellie bought the same thing.

Cora and Madelyn in a king size bed.  Ellie was in a pack n play at the foot of the bed.  We were amazed they fell asleep pretty quickly!

Blurry photo of Madelyn and Cora in bed.  So sweet!

Ready for round #2 at the water park

This was Ellie's favorite ride. It was pretty wild and kind of scary but they loved it!

Posing in the lobby

Sweet Madelyn

Basketball and Football

This past weekend was filled with sports games and it was a nice change of scenery.  On Saturday, we went to the UR Basketball game with some families from our church.  It was a lot of fun and the girls loved seeing Spidey as always.  It flurried off and on all weekend and the girls especially loved going to the basketball game in the snow.  For Superbowl Sunday, we went over to the Moore's house for appetizers and watched the first half of the game.  It's always a good time at their house because the kids love to play together, the wine is always flowing, we eat our favorite appetizers and have lots of laughs. It was a good weekend all around!

On another note, Ellie has really come out of her shell and seems to be really growing up.   We've  had some separation anxiety with Ellie the last year, especially when it comes to the church nursery (it really started when Madelyn became too old to go).  I got tired of the tears and have been taking her to mass because she actually does awesome sitting through the service.  However, on Sunday she decided that she wants to start going to the nursery again.  She marched right in the room and never looked back.  The lady running the nursery said she has never heard Ellie talk much in her life.  It was a big step in the right direction for Ellie and we are definitely ready for preschool to start in the Fall.  She will go 3 days a week and we are all very excited!

I also posted a couple of pictures from Madelyn's preschool.  They have a little Valentine's Day heart posted in front of her classroom that says "Love is....".  I thought it was so cute that she said Love is "Hugging Her Dog" and "Loving Her Sister".  It just melts my heart!

Ellie is definitely a Daddy's girl

Madelyn brought her toy spider to the game!

More fun with Daddy

It was a packed game and UR won.  Go Spiders!

Superbowl Sunday with the Moore boys!

The kids were hyped up that night not because of the game but because they were so  happy to play together!

Silly Faces

Fenway has definitely become their best furry friend!

So sweet!