Spring Snow

After dad was finished working, we took the kids to the sledding hill right next to our house. We have a BIG snow storm on the way. This year we have only had a small amount of snow the weekend of Thanksgiving. So we are super excited for this snow. We live in the perfect place to enjoy great winter weather. I hope we have more to write about this week. --emily

Weekend in Bloomington - Sunday

We flew home from our fun weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. Our flight was from Indiana to North Carolina and then home to Seattle. Yep, that is right we backtracked. It was a long flight but surprisingly upbeat. I got super close to finishing the book I'm reading! I hope to finish it this week. --emily

Weekend in Bloomington - Saturday

We woke up early in the morning and walked around campus before Kelly had any responsibilities with the school. It is such a beautiful and historic campus. The school was founded in 1820. The majority of the buildings are made from limestone. Walking around campus it feels royal with all the Gothic architecture. The buildings resemble castles and the campus has amazing giant old trees. They have a forest on campus called Dunn's Woods. Kelly saw fireflies for the first time in his life in this forest back in August 2009. We heard a legend that if they ever build in this forest the deed to IU's property goes to their biggest rival, Purdue! So it will never be built on :)

Here are The Sample Gates, the archway into the school.

Kelly's responsibilities began at the orientation desk. Kelly sat with the Student Advisory Board answering questions the new students may have. Next the students gathered in the Whittenberger auditorium for the 2011 Induction Ceremony. Kelly and Kenn ushered the new MBA students to their seats. Dan Smith, dean of the business school welcomed students and introduced some of the faculty, who where there for the event.

Here we are enjoying dinner with the new MBA students. We were all assigned a table to sit at so we had the opportunity to meet new people. At our table starting on the left Patrick from Utah, Jon from Malawi, Kelly and me, Clark from North Carolina, Professor Maines, and Jason from California. We had some fun and interesting conversations. It was a great dinner!

After dinner we walked over to the famous Nick's English Hut. This is the pup popular among graduate students and alumni. We enjoyed a nice cold soda and the last of the Indiana basketball game. Even though IU lost the game, it was a fun gathering place!

Here we are! Starting on the left Kenn, Jen, me, Kelly, some random joker from the next table, and Darren.

Sunday morning, Kelly spoke at an in-residence orientation meeting that was held in the Kelley School of Business building. It is a newly built building with amazing technology. Even though it is new, it was built to resemble all the old architecture. After this meeting we walked over to the Indiana University Art Museum. We didn't have much time so we had to go quickly and I didn't see everything I wanted to. But they have a amazing curator. They have original art from Picasso. It was my first time ever seeing a original Picasso. They had a bunch of plans for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work. They are the artists that hug the orange flags in central park in 2005. They also wrapped an entire island. He does very cool stuff. --emily

Weekend in Bloomington - Friday

Kelly has been attending Indiana University's Kelley School of Business for the past year and a half, getting his MBA. Since he is on the Student Advisory Board, they invited him to come out to help with the first couple days of the in-residence for the new MBA group. They asked him to join for the weekend of orientation and festivities. Kelly invited me to tag along! Yeah . . . here we go . . .

We started our fun weekend by flying into Denver and then catching a flight to Indiana. --emily

Family History

These buttons are my Grandma's. I wanted to preserve them in the best way I could think of--something modern yet still classic. So my quiet Sunday activity was making this! We all sat together in my big bed while Jacob and Andrew watched a movie and Kelly took a nap. It was the perfect quiet afternoon. I stitched stems and leaves then added heirloom buttons. This picture does not do them justice. They are beautiful pearl buttons that belonged to my grandma who is no longer with us. Maybe my mom will comment and add a story or a memory of her mother and her button collection! --emily

Who had a birthday?

My day began with a nice sleep-in thanks to my thoughtful husband and helpful boys. Life is always moving so quickly there is no time for a mommy to rest so this was the perfect gift from my little men.

We then had some cake and opened gifts in the afternoon.

The boys surprises me with some new bedding that I had mentioned a long time ago that I liked. I love fun surprises like that!

But my most favorite part of birthdays is the extra hugs and kisses mommy gets!

This is my new bedding. I love it and I love surprises. I am such a lucky girl; my boys take such good care of me. Cheers to another successful year filled with joy, happiness, health and so much love. --emily

Lego Guys

This morning the boys and I sat in the toy room and gathered up all the Lego guys we could find. When we play with Legos, mom spends most of the time looking for a specific guy's hat, hands or arms. So we gathered everyone's hands and hats and all the other parts that are removable. We then superglued the little guys together. It was a fun project! The boys had a great time searching for all the pieces. As you can see in the picture, not all of the parts were found. We glued what we had and when the other parts show up we will adhere them with a spot of glue. --emily

Groundhog Snack

We celebrated groundhogs day with this fun snacks.

A simple pudding cup, topped with crushed Nella crackers and a cute groundhog image i found online. The boys thought it was funny!

Also Happy Birthday Auntie Michelle! What a fun day to have a birthday. --emily

Family Fun

The February issue of family fun magazine has this great idea of turning old winter hats into fun monster hats. We had a great time gathering things from the craft closet that would work for this. The boys picked out the colors and shapes they wanted for their monster. They cut some of the shapes, and I cut the others. It was a fun project we did together and I think they turned out darling. Great job boys! Love, Yo . . . Momma

Mornings With Dad

Our boys are morning people just like their Dad. They like to join in on the things he is doing in the morning. The other day all three of them were shaving in the master bathroom while I was still in bed. I am not a morning person. I woke up to giggling and laughing. There is nothing better than the laughter of my own children. What a cute little family I have. I am so grateful for healthy happy sons and a great husband! I am so blessed. --emily