Yoda's hat and 2 snowmen

He got it for his birthday, he likes it.

 

Mimi at 9

Mimi wasn't feeling well and the next morning was her birthday...

Me, "how do you feel?"

Mimi, "9"

so cute!  

 

On her actual birthday her Nana, Grandpa and aunt came over and Mimi requested a heart-shaped cake. 

But for her friend party (we were so glad there was no snow!) she picked a camping theme.  We set up a tent and did camp-stuff.  I did dorky things like make chocolate-covered pretzels that looked like matches.  I could go on, but mostly the kiddos ran around. 

Happy birthday, Mimi!  

 

And since I'm feeling sentimental, here's some photos from her other birthdays...

 2006

 2007 (age 1)

 2008 (2)

 2009 (3)

 2010 (4)

 2011 (5)

 2012 (6)

 2013 (7)

 2014 (8)

Weather and the return of engines

(-7 degrees) + wind chill = no school.

Here's the thing... I love it.

On school days I have to be all, "finish your homework!", "practice your instrument!", and "clean that thing!".  On snow days I can say, "oh, stay in your jammies a little longer", "let's go get haircuts", and "let's go get a slice of pizza from Costco".  I feel like a good mom when the pressure is off.

Recently Yoda rediscovered the trains in the basement, and everyone fell right in line with playing with them.

Here's today...

Parker, Yoda and Mimi February 2015

And here's some engine photos from the past....

 Parker, February 2005

Parker, March 2006

Mimi and Parker, July 2006

Parker, May 2007

As Greg walked in the door one day from work...

...I started in with, "there's a leak in the bathroom sink"
...Yoda, "Dad, dad, dad, dad!"
...Parker, "Um, dad, I uh.."

Suddenly I realized that we had overwhelmed Greg is just a few moments of him walking in the door and it wasn't going well.

So I said, "um, maybe dad isn't ready for all this information."
immediately Greg said, "less talking, more wrestling!"
Parker, Mimi and Yoda, "Yeah!"

Pink

While driving and listening to the radio:

Yoda, "Who is singing?"

Me, "a singer named Pink"

Yoda, confused, "but that's a color?!"

__________

The Girl Scouts had a Father/Daughter Dance...

 Mimi, "I'm pretty in *Pink*!"

__________

What Mimi wore and a little photo-bomber...

Cleveland

While Aunt Sonya was here we ventured up to Cleveland just for the day to hit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (finally!)  

  Pizza first...

 This one's for you mom, there was a huge exhibit on Elvis!

And this awesome display of Bruce Springsteen.  Notebooks with pages of lyrics.  I was floored.  Sonya and I read them and discussed the various meanings behind his words. 

 Big exhibit on the Beatles

 and Jimi Hendrix.

 Lots of interactive stuff. 

Next time we won't go with the kids, so we can see more and read more. 

 

We never would have gone if Sonya wasn't here, I'm so glad she came to hang out with us! 

Bathroom Complete

It happened, the bathroom is complete


Here's the link to last post about the bathroom.


And here's photos of the bathroom today...

If you're curious here's a list of stuff we did to our little bathroom...
(work done by my dad, Greg, me, the plumber or the tile fitter)

New tile floor
Deep tub
Subway tile surround
Shampoo nooks
More flattering light fixture
Bead-board and baseboards
Painted walls and ceiling
Shelves
Art all around and styled shelves 
Stained the unfinished vanity
New vanity with a new top and faucet
Taller, elongated, water efficient toilet
Lots of hooks for lots of towels
Just the right mirror
Tip out drawers in vanity
Fresh, clean bathmat
Taller shower curtain for the taller shower
A long time ago my dad and Greg did all the outlets, light switches and door knobs in the house, so back then they did that in this room, too
We even got a new trash can, toothbrush holder, toilet paper holder and soap dispenser

So yeah, this whole room is new new new.  The only thing that's old is the shower curtain rod.  It's as old as Parker, heehee.  

I kind of used this bathroom as an inspiration...

 source 

Phew it's done!
Now on to our other bathroom, just few things to take care of there... don't hold your breath... 

Art

Aunt Sonya is here for a visit, so we visited a bunch of art around the city...

Exam Results!

Hooray!  Greg passed his exam! 

We're not totally sure what he'll do next (take the last exam, take a longer exam, take a break, plan to take an additional 3 more exams--I'm not kidding, or something else), but for now we're dancing! 

We haven't always had good news, thanks for sticking with us through the good and the not so good :)

so much coldness...

Good thing the kiddos scored with so many cool things to keep them busy with all this crazy weather.  Don't get me wrong, they get lots of screen time too...