Super Bowl Festival

The Wednesday before Super Bowl we ventured downtown to check out the super bowl live events. It was pretty exciting having the super-bowl in our own town and we didn't want to miss out on this opportunity to experience it. 

Our kiddos have an early bedtime, since Isaac is on the bus before 7 am, so it was mainly an in-and-out operation. We had dinner at home then got everyone bundled up and left for downtown, a whopping 4 miles away. We weren't sure how parking was going to be but we were SO lucky and got street parking two blocks down and it was FREE after 6! YAH! 

Viking jersey in ice & the fun photo op snow globe (which we didn't wait in line for)

There were actually a lot of long lines for a bunch of fun stuff we had heard about, but we didn't want to dedicate that much time to the adventure and instead just wondered the few blocks. Here we got to watch a drum line for a bit.

Isaac led us into this little booth where they had a few games while advertising their company (which I can't remember what it was) but they each got a little bag, score! Super Bowl paraphernalia for free!

Then we wondered down to an area they had built up with snow for a skiing track. It went up over 9th street acting as a little hill. The skiers were cross country skiing down, up the hill, down the other side circling around and came back to where they started. The kids enjoyed watching a few runs of that.

There was ice sculptures and this is about the point we stopped walking down, cut through the IDS tower  and made our way back to the van. It had started to snow and it was very pretty. Minnesota had it's way of showing off for all our guest the week before super bowl. It almost snowed everyday and stayed nice and cold so the guests could really experience the bold north, haha!

Isaac's Activities (Basketball, Skating, & Sledding)

Isaac is in basketball this winter. He wasn't sure about it and we had to persuade him to do it, but he is really enjoying it. And we knew he would. He's very tall for his age so he has a real advantage here, we want to set him up for success :-) 

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Last friday we finally got to go sledding. It's not an easy task with all four kids. Isaac was out of school for a teacher work day and the girls were in preschool. So we met up with some friends just me and the boys. I was wearing Thomas, not the easiest thing to do and help push him down the hill, lol.
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And Saturday he's in skating lessons. (yes we are very busy!) We waiting a little long to do this, he's prob the oldest and biggest in his class. But he was asking to and really wanted to learn so we got him signed up last minute.

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OH! And lastly, he participated in his school's talent show. It was so sweet, he wanted to count to 100 by 5's. Pretty brave to get up on stage. Me and the kids made it to watch him. (video)

Grandma Judy's Visit

I started this blog a few weeks ago but didn't get it finished. Sorry for the delay. Grandma Judy came to visit the beginning of January. The plan was for her to fly in to help out while Kyle traveled to Bangkok. But last minute issues at the airport caused Kyle's trip to not happen. It was still great having grandma here because we're always out numbered and will take any help we can get :-) 

Monday while the girls were in school we got to run a few errands. One being to the craft store, where Thomas got to sit in the shopping cart for the very first time! 

Emma saying "I see Grandma's feet, what is she doing in there?" lol.

Lots of reading

Wednesday we took a trip over to Como Conservatory and walked around inside. It was fun to get out of the house.

We even went out to eat for lunch. Thomas is such a happy boy!

It was really nice having help at Isaac's basketball on Thursday evening. Grandma kept the girls occupied with a craft in the lobby.

Six Months!

Can't believe this little butterball is already half a year old. He is the sweetest little guy. He is so patient having to wait and be brought to everything. He loves mama snuggles and just started solid foods which he is a HUGE fan of!

He loves to sit up and pretty much has it down, not enough to be left with out a spotter, but soon. We were thinking there were teeth on the way as he had a fussy period with lots of drool. He is still chomping on any and everything but no sign of one yet. Emma got her first tooth at 7 months so maybe it'll come soon. Isaac's first tooth was 9 months and Mary's was 14 months, interested to see where lil T will fall. He loves his jumper and watching his siblings run around. He still hates the car seat, especially at night. He actually does fairly well during the day, but in the evening he will scream the entire time until he's let out.

His six month stats were:
27 inches long
16.3 pounds

His sisters still love him, although he's getting bigger and bigger to hold :-D

Munching on an apple.


He went to his first movie, 'Co-Co' on his 6th month bday.

And while grandma Judy was here he sat in a shopping cart for the first time.

This was at his check up, he went with Isaac who got his 6 year check up.

Not going to be able to use the rock-n-play for much longer. Actually I haven't put him in it recently because he just rolls around. If he's tired or relaxed enough he'll sit in it to watch me cook, but instead I've just put him on his play mat in the kitchen and he seems to prefer that.

Sitting up!

Don't be fooled, he looks like he's happy in the car seat, but when it's in the van - NOT A FAN!

I thought maybe we were done using the swing but I was able to get him to sleep in it on MLK day, long enough for me to take the other kids outside while I shoveled snow. I tried to use it again later that day or maybe the next and he ended up flipping over while swaddled. Ooops, might be done with the swing soon.

Sitting by the fire, playing with some trucks.

Happy baby, happy food. Eating a banana.

I had to go through Isaac's old clothes to find some more for him to wear. He's wearing 9 months but almost into 12 months. Only problem is most of the clothes are summer :-/ Found this hat which is almost too small. And more food, an orange!

He has started to get up on all fours and rock. Just in the last week. He's rolling every where and covering ground.

 

He was playing on the play-mat in the kitchen on the rug and scooted himself backward over to this spot.