Stickers and Being Together

They always choose to be together, side by side, sometimes quiet, sometimes not.  I think they realize they not only love being together, but they need each other.  Today they chose these sticker books for a while.  All Norah wanted to do was grab the paper and eat or squeeze it, so we sat nearby reading instead and everything was calm for a bit.  Bennett worked on his for over 45 minutes.  He generally has a long attention span and is so content building/piecing things together which I am so glad we learned early on.  Bryn didn't last quite as long and instead sat with her animals, singing and clapping as our entertainment. So thankful for three little loves who love each other so much.

Go Hawks!

Norah's little hands and feet are cheering for the Hawks! 
Her teacher is the sweetest, and a Seahawks fan to boot! 
She was so cute to have Norah make this for us! Andrew loves it of course!

Caught Them Snuggling

Library Treasures

Our trip to the library this morning yielded us some great reading treasures, which made our "reading picnic" even better. 

He's Always Building, Always Thinking

Be Happy

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

Cookies in the Cold

It was like the tundra outside, so inside we baked cookies! 

You have to on a day like this!  They were the healthy kind, and egg-free, so I let the kids have a little extra batter too (ok I would have anyway)! We've been sticking strictly to 'real' food over here (except for my weakness for Mini Eggs, cookies, and all things chocolate), especially the kiddos, who probably appreciated the treat since they rarely get much sugar at all lately. 

Stay warm all of our MN folks!

Family Moment

I've been taking a family portrait like this every week (where we get whatever the pic captures in the moment).  So thankful for these happy smiles! We are so blessed!

Hanging Out

We had a full day of errands to run so having some relaxing time in the tent for the kiddos worked out great tonight.  Bennett read a little bit of How To Catch A Star to the girls while Bryn was not in the mood to sit still and kept kissing and pulling on her little sis.  Happy Saturday Night!

This One

She even reads to her dog before bed, then insists on being buried in a ton of blankets before "one more big smooch!" (again and again), and tons and tons of giggles.  Our one and only Bryn. 

Born Readers

As you have seen before, this is one of their favorite places to read together.  Tonight as we were waiting on company to arrive, these two took it upon themselves to relax and read.  I had nothing to do with it and they sat like this and read for 25 minutes straight (true! i timed it!), chatting and giggling here and there and (in my opinion) being as sweet as could be! So thankful they are book lovers!

Norah Is Eight Months Old!

This one is so very loved! I look forward to someday telling her the stories of how Bennett and Bryn would swoon over her, how she is the first one they ask for upon waking, how they kiss her and tickle her toes and sing songs over and over to her every single morning.  Norah continues to be the sweetest, most precious little darling.  She is calm yet very, very curious, very determined, so patient, and we have a hunch she may be a little jokester by the way she laughs and tries to be funny all the time.  She is happiest among the chaos that of course exists under our roof, loves to cheer, chat, explore, and cuddle.  I've sure enjoyed every moment of the past 8 months with her - she is the greatest!

One Lucky Mom

They have the biggest hearts and the biggest hugs - how did I get so lucky?

Go Fish

Hey buddy - I can see your cards! He loves this game!

Kisses, Kisses

I caught Bryn stealing kisses from Norah all morning....they can't get enough of each other over here. 

The Golden Team Band

The kids started a rock-n-roll band this morning and Bennett named them "The Golden Team Band."  I have video too, but can assure you they were quite loud, quite funny, and very entertaining!

He Always Says Yes

Bryn loves fruit and will happily peel her own oranges as she pleases, but when she just doesn't want to, and she asks big brother to do it; he always says yes.  Tonight he even gave her two kisses during their orange snack session and I happened to catch this one.  He told me he was being a "gentleman" - they are so sweet together. 

More Sunday Snuggles

Our latest tradition: we always make a hearty, healthy batch of something in the crockpot on Sunday nights in winter (tonight it was ham and bean soup), then we have leftovers for dinner tomorrow night when we need a quick meal and get home late after swim lessons.  Then for bedtime reading, we all get cozy in our big bed (versus a kids' room where we would normally read), snuggle in tight, and read an extra, extra large stack of books together to wind down our weekend.  I love every second.

More Winter Fun

It warmed up so nicely today so we made a couple trips out to the snow covered yard.  This morning there was endless laughter as Andrew and I ran and pulled the kiddos on sleds.  It was hilarious when I took a big spill and got covered in snow because Bennett and Bryn had the biggest belly laughs - definitely something to always hold on to.  No matter how many times they rolled off the sled or fell down in the snow, they got right back up and kept on their ways.  So fun!