Air and Space Museum

Brian took Tuesday off, so we decided to do something fun with the kids and take them to Ashland to the Air and Space Museum. They LOVED it! We may have some boys who will become astronauts or pilots when they grow up! They've been especially fascinated with space lately, as they've been reading a lot about it in the "fact book" (kids' encyclopedia from christmas) and other books from the library. There were several hands-on things they could touch, old plane consoles and such. They enjoyed looking at all the missiles and rockets around. We even watched a short movie about a airplane dog fight from the Korean war, which they were oddly fascinated with. We ate lunch in Gretna at McDonald's, then walked around the outlet mall for a bit (which made me happy!) so, everyone had a great morning!

Children's Museum

There was no pre-school on Friday, so we invited Aunt Lisa, Carter, Callan, and Camden to go to the museum and play. It wasn't too busy, the weather was decent, and we had a really nice time! I took some pictures, because I've been so bad at it lately! That started off a fun, low-key weekend for us. The kids had their piano lessons in the afternoon, and Grace left early to go to her first birthday party WITHOUT the boys. A little girl, Mia, from her preschool class invited all the girls to Lost In Fun (indoor playground) for her birthday. According to Mia's mom, all the girls (Grace included) had a great time. They played hard, ate pizza and birthday cookie. I don't think Grace missed the boys at all. The boys didn't really feel too badly about it, they just told Grace they wanted to know everything she did when she got home. But, not to leave the boys out, Brian and I took them to McDonald's for dinner and to play in the PlayPlace. They had fun, so they didn't mind Grace was at a party without them. We didn't get home from all those things until 7:30 on Friday night, and we had some tired kids after playing so hard that day.

Saturday, we laid low during the day, and last minute decided to go to the mall with mom, Kara and Sebastian. We decided on a whim to eat at Grisanti's for dinner. Well, long story short, we got there at 6:00, weren't seated until 7:15 and didn't leave the restaurant until 8:15. It was terrible! The service was terrible, the food was only OK and we had some antsy kids. Kara and Sebastian ended up leaving before our food came because Sebastian had had enough of sitting, and who could blame him? We had usual church activities on Sunday morning, then spent Sunday evening swimming at the Y. The pool was a little cold, but the kids had a lot of fun. Everyone slept very well on Sunday night!

Today (Monday) is another no school day for both me and the kids, so we are just sticking close to home, getting work done and playing. Brian had several days he needed to take off before the end of March, so he has Tuesday off. We are taking the kids up to the SAC Air and Space museum for the morning. We thought they would enjoy that, for something different. I'll post pictures of that later this week. That's about all for now. Thanks!

A little girl in love!

Grace is in love........with her new dance class. She has gone twice and talks about it constantly. It is on Thursday mornings (at the Y), so she counts the days until Thursday comes around again. She really likes it. I think she mostly loves her outfit, but I truly do believe she likes dancing and moving around. (It is a creative movement class with beginning ballet techniques). I was a little afraid she might be shy and not do some things, as she does when the boys aren't around, but she jumped right in on the first day and has fully participated ever since. This class lasts throughout the semester and ends with a recital in late April! I don't know where this will lead us in the future, if it will mean serious dance classes at a studio, or what, but for now she loves it!

The boys are taking swimming lessons and are doing well. They love their teacher and from what I watched, it seems like Xander is really close to passing and Will is even less afraid than he used to be. It's amazing how even a few months of growing/maturing really make a difference over last session's swimming lessons. We are still looking for other activities for the boys to do by themselves, since Grace has dance. We still haven't scheduled anything, so if anyone has suggestions, I would take them!

The kids had a touch of a cold last week, which they passed on to Brian (and it's hanging on a long time for him!) and gave Grace a sinus infection. So, we are all on the mend and I hope can enjoy the warmer weather coming up next week! Really, this is about all our news. Nothing new is happening, and we've just been going about our regular schedule. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to report next week, until then, have a good weekend all!

Snow Days!

So, we're on our second snow day this week (4th overall!) and it's a challenge to keep everyone occupied. Our bored-ness has been compounded by the fact that Xander and Grace have been sick (Xander didn't go to preschool on Monday!) so they don't feel good and they're cooped up. Our main things to pass the time have been playing "camping" in the living room (see picture 1). We got out the Crayola Glow Dome that they got for Christmas (see picture 2). We colored a fire on it and used it to roast marshmallows and hot dogs while camping. They've since spent hours coloring various scenes on  it. It really is fun, it lights up and spins, sort of animating your drawings. We've also watched some movies (picture3) and done TONS of movement CD's I have collected over the years (see picture4). I think everyone is on the mend. Hopefully activities will be back to normal on Thursday, because it is supposed to be Grace's 1st dance class and the boys' first swimming lessons.

We had a big weekend last weekend. I went scrapbooking for Fri, Sat and Sun, so Dadd was in charge of the kids. He took them to the winter carnival at Messiah on Friday night. They had a good time playing games and doing activities. Saturday evening, Brian and I went out to dinner and to the Lied for Blue Man Group and Grandma and Grandpa Niebuhr took the kids. They had tickets to a Husker Women's basketball game. The kids enjoyed themselves, as it was their first time doing something like that. They spent the night with the Niebuhrs and came home the next morning. Unfortunately, that is when Xander started getting sick. He ended up staying with me on Monday morning, which was a super icy morning and it took us forever to get around town. We ended up sitting in the car most of the morning, he even fell asleep once, because he didn't feel good. Everyone should be back to normal tomorrow and Friday, which is a good thing! That's about all. We're going to stay home, rest and be warm! Thanks for checking on us.

Sledding

Here's a few pictures from sledding a couple of weeks ago at Wagon Train Lake by Kara and Wes' house. Sebastian even went down the hill a few times. It was super cold this day, so we didn't stay more than a half an hour. But, the kids were able to walk up the hill with the sleds themselves, then we just gave them a push down. So much less work for us this time! We usually have to pull them up the hill. They took a great nap after we got home from here!