Just in case you are wondering

Our little fish is doing well at swim lessons!!

Tristan and Daddy made the newsletter for giving back!

My friend Christine (far left) is the one who made this happen

such a great turnout. I wish I could send you the intranet site... but I can't so I took snippets!

Here is Holtie and T on our intranet!!

wuhooooooo!  Love it!

Our weekend with the Steiners

Here is sweet Leah...I taught her how to play Angry Birds! 

this shot is from our indoor swimming pool adventure.  Those darn Chicago peeps thought it was warm.  We FROZE!!!!!!!

Saturday (and yes, I know I'm all over the place...) we rode bikes....

and I took fabulous pictures....

and Tristan hitched a ride!

cutie!!

Leah is teaching Tristan a thing or two...

snuggles for me!

ding dong - he shuts his eyes, says "lemme see" then we retake then he screams "Mama, I didin cwose my eyes!!"

he had popcorn... can you tell?

we had a jump fest Saturday... it was hysterical!

Deb and Seth swimming....

Tristan helping Leah eat some of her cereal... they were instant buds

and then of course... there was a TON of giggling.

A TON!

then yesterday we were off to an indoor jumping fest - called Monkey Island and boy oh boy -= they WERE monkeys!!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What a weekend adventure Tristan and I had with the Steiners!!

It was SO great to see Deb...much needed girl time and equally amazing to see our kids together.  Tristan and Leah were BFF's from the start... and by yesterday - Tristan and Seth were major buds and had a hard time saying goodbye.

Deb and I had two great dinners... one had THIS involved...

yup, I did it.... always wanted one but refused to do it until it meant something.  THAT date means more than "something" :)

I was also SO flattered yesterday.  We flew home and Tristan was fantastic.  He had a few moments where he and I had conversations about his behavior but overall, he was a sweet, respectful little man.  My bag wouldn't fit overhead (I was a pack mule... two suitcases, two carry-ons and blankie, puppy and my sweatshirt... I had my hands full) so they took it and checked it for me (for free I might add) so when we got off, I was just rolling T's suitcase and he said "Mommy, dat too hebby for you, I got it" and proceeded to take it and wheel it up the bridge.  My heart melted.

At the end, there was a lady that was quickly approaching.  She said "Excuse me, I sat in front of you on this flight (insert fear) and I just wanted to let you know that I'm a school teacher (insert more fear) and you are a PHENOMENAL mother.  The world would be a better place if parents spoke to their children the way you speak to your son.  You are kind, but firm, you are teaching him manners and he is such a polite little boy.  It was a pleasure to fly with you (insert WOW!!!!!!!!)  I couldn't believe it.  I was stunned.  I just stood there for a second and thanked HER for taking the time to wait for me and to tell me that.  As a Mom, there is NO greater gift that to complement your child AND complement your parenting.  If I were a peacock but feathers would have been spread!!!

Love you Nugg, Mommy is so proud of you.  Great with babysitters, great with new friends, great saying "Yes Ma'am" (as Daddy instructed) - best kid on the planet.

Deb, love you ... miss you and SO thankful that we took a weekend to be selfish and just be together!!!

Tuna time!

Hey Nugg - time to make some doggie treats!!

mixed up the flour, cornmeal, oil, egg and water... and rolled it out!

Cookie cutter time!

Mommy had to show T the ropes..

she's a pro!

Nugg just wants to push on the dough, forget the baking part - it's like edible play-doh!

Daddy pitched in big time

he was fine with it until we started the cat treats...

first batch of doggie treats in!

tuna time - tuna time!  Man oh man... it was stinky!

Hadley was going to try it out...but....

time to bag up the treats!

then off to Operation Kindness to deliver!

Inside we found that Saturday was a VERY busy day!

We saw this little puppy get adopted...

 and so many more that needed homes.  I saw two St. Bernards and was shocked.  Puppies, they were soooo cute.  Holt sent me there on my own with my wallet and two kids begging me for a pet.  That silly, silly man.  Thankfully I'm an adult and realize that I can't have any more animals.  :(

We all pet kitties... and they even took us to the secret special areas

where there were sick animals

this cat IS I swear my cat Takoni. I mean the spitting image.  I was really thinking it was him - even though I know it couldn't be but same markings, same paws - EVERYTHING.  It was sad... but I was happy to be reminded of the cat I loved so much.

then this little brave guy

and off to see the dog runs. They are building 3 more - and there are great walking trails.  It's pretty cool there.  It's a no kill shelter so always good to know that the animals will either be adopted or die there of old age, vs. being put down.

I was thankful to all those that volunteered and  realized that it's time for me to do the same.

Thank you Hadley for joining in and giving back WITH us.  It was a blast and we love you!!

February is be awesome to animals month!

Our service project for January was an animal shelter.  So I looked into ways we could help.

First of all, our Good Neighbor Program at the grocery store... 10% of all that money I spent goes back to them!  yeaaaah!

then I found recipes for cat and dog treats... but I needed some willing hands to help me!

I found some!!  Hadley came to stay with us for the weekend and she's going to help us with our service project.

So last night, we ran to Petsmart, gathered the last of our gifts (and food for our horses) and headed back home.

For a little bit of F-U-N!!!

yup, the flying monkeys

oh boy

and while there were a few small injuries

overall - it was just a whole-lotta-fun!

think he's happy that Hadley is here to visit?

Someone to "fly" with!!

Super Girl!

Here is all the stuff we put in our bucket

toys, treats and a whole lot of love!

That was our Friday night and it was greatness!