Birthday Party Mania

We've had birthday parties each of the past 3 weekends and all with neighbor kids.  Here are a few pics from the parties - Hayden's "sleeping beauty" princess party, Aiden's party at Pump-it-Up & Lilly's "Belle" princess party.  Fun, fun, fun!

Hayden turns "3"

Aiden turns "4"

Lilly French turns "4"

So excited to see Belle, she couldn't even get through the door!

The handsome prince :)

The b-day girl

Weekend w/ Daddy

I went to KC a few weekends ago without the kids.  They of course had a great time with Daddy - going to the Science Center, out for dinner downtown & swimming at the Y.  They probably never wanted me to come home!!

Eating in an old elevator @ Spaghetti Works

Snow Day!

Well, winter finally arrived here in Des Moines!  It snowed ALL DAY on Saturday and we ended up getting 7 inches!  It was pretty warm out, so the snow was beautiful and perfect for playing in!  

The calm before the storm!  The day before!

We grilled out and enjoyed time with the neighbors!

Having some fun indoors while the snow came down

Let the snow fly!

The Little Gym

Having a great time at the Little Gym with Moms Club!

Monday's @ the Y

We have a great Monday morning routine going - spend most of the morning at the Waukee YMCA.  Sam has Tiny Tumblers, Mia has swim lessons and then I get to work out!  I discovered this "open gym" option for child care, for kids 2+.  Rather than going to a "nursery" type of setting, the kids can go to the gym and blow off some steam!  Sam isn't quite 2, but since he can hang, they've let him participate.  It's a win-win -- exercise for me, exercise for the kids!

Mia is doing great in her swimming lessons and she loves it!  We did private lessons over the summer and it really helped to overcome her fear of the water.  These lessons are with 4 kids, so it is not as advanced or intense, but I think it is helping to keep her acclimated to the water during these long winter months!  

My biggest challenge is trying to keep Sam out of the pool while watching Mia.  He stands on the side and yells "sissy, sissy" about a hundred times!  

Unfortunately Sam would rather be in the open gym with the adults shooting hoops - I think he has basketball in his blood, like his father!

Sam can really dribble the ball well!

Little bro watching on

The kids are obsessed with stickers!