Trampoline

Every year for Christmas, my parents send us money and we've always tried to use it to buy something fun for the family that we wouldn't buy otherwise. This year, we bought the trampoline that our kids have been requesting for the past several years. We just put it up and I was dubious as to how much use it would get at the end of January in Chicago. IT IS FREEZING, but they are still jumping. Crazy kids.

They decided to start putting gloves on their feet to try to keep them warm while they jump.

In case you were wondering, Carter IS only wearing a sweatshirt and not a coat. He is anti-coat right now, but I'm a little perplexed how he manages to stay outside for so long (and he is also the only one without gloves on his feet).

T-shirt quilt

Ever since Chris' mom made him a quilt out of his t-shirts, Carter has been saving his and asking me to make one for him. I've said that I would-I figured when he was 30 I could do it. However, a woman in our ward kick started my project. I was amazed that Carter already had 30 t-shirts that he had saved, so I made him the quilt (didn't that just sound like I whipped it out? It took a lot longer than that). I must say, I am not a sewer or a quilter so this was a big project for me. I just finished and my favorite part is that my 10 year old LOVES it, in spite of it's many flaws. That is success!

The most coveted spot

In the midst of winter, my children's favorite spot is a heating vent in our kitchen. Every time the furnace turns on, someone runs over to it to sit on it to get warm. None of the other vents is as good as this one, so sometimes we have territory wars. Luckily, this morning Hailey and Grant decided to share the vent and both brought their cereal over to eat while getting warm. Keep in mind that the vent is only 12 inches long. Cute kids.

Legoland

On Friday, we had the day off of school and decided to go check out Legoland. We've never been, so it was a new experience and worth the visit. The Birds came with us and it was definitely more fun with friends. I think it was also a worthwhile venture seeing as how my kids have been building with Legos ever since we got home. Double benefit!

Huge spider-gross.

The jungle area had tons of cool animals and even a full size Indiana Jones.

Alyssa was even in on the fun.

These two sweet girls look a little intimidating in this picture. They can sure hold their own.

This was the first exhibit, and probably my favorite. It was the city of Chicago all made out of Legos. They had the Sears (aka Willis) Tower, Buckingham fountain, the Art Institute, Wrigley building, Navy Pier, and tons of other cool buildings and people.

UNBELIEVABLE!!

I went into Carter's room to vacuum today and stumbled upon this mess. I've moved his bed so that I could capture all of the trash that he's been stashing back there. Apparently, he's been eating in bed while he reads and throwing his trash down behind his bed so that I wouldn't know about his late night eating. BUSTED. I can't wait until he comes home from school.

Piano girl

Alyssa loves to play the piano. Sometimes she sings and plays softly. Other times she is rockin' out and pounding away. I can only hope that she has her father's talent rather than my lack of one.

New Game

It's a little cold here in Naperville, so we've been trying to find fun indoor activities that also get rid of some energy. My 3 older kids can all scale the doorways in our house, so they made up the tunnel game. Two of them will scale the doorways next to each other while the other kids run under them. We have a new rule to yell "falling" right before they drop (any idea what might have initiated that rule??). They were running and having so much fun. They were all worn out and I actually was able to make dinner.