Stay-cation

Nothing exotic, expensive or super flashy about this past weekend but with Kenny out of town and Maggie spending the weekend with my sister and mom, we had the house back to the four of us this weekend and had a blast! We kicked off the weekend with tubing at Bear Creek Lodge with Jack's pre-school class families and decided on the spot we are going to go back every year! We might not be a big ski family (partially due to cost and time and having young kids) but we can be a snowshoeing/tubing family in the winter.  It was awesome! Secretly I almost peed my pants down the first run because it was crazy fast and took my breath away but slowly I learned to relax and had a blast.  The kids took less time to relax and were soon riding down the hill on their own in their own tubes.  I gave birth to dare devils I tell you!We left amongst tears from the boys and promises that we would return soon (and great parenting skills of distraction by promising a special treat on the way home). 

On Saturday morning we went to visit Big Grandma and Grandpa (Flo's grandparents) and had a great time visiting with them and the boys. I think we get too caught up in our daily lives and the GREAT GREAT distance from the valley to North side that we just don't go up there enough...that is going to change.  After seeing how much fun the boys had visiting, we definitely are going to make it a point to visit more often.

A weekend complete with church, playing outside, wrestling time and complete control of the remote! We decided to cap off the weekend and reward ourselves and our marriage and go out on a date night.  The kids had a blast with their sitter and we got to hold hands and eat our meal sans fights or diaper changes.  Happy boys, happy parents.  The Florence fab four had a great great weekend overall.

 Cooper learning to pedal - still a process!

 Testing out the swing set in the great weather and really improving on pumping his legs.

 Pre-tubing hug....

 At the top of the hill before we sent them on their first run by themselves...

 Walking back up to the tow line (notice the snowball in Jack's hand?) He was eating the snow the whole time!

 Cooper and Daddy riding up the tow line.

 Putting Daddy to work....

Littlest rider on the hill was going alone and yelling "weeeee" as he went down.  I wish we could have recorded it!

Watch out! We have a 4 year old on the loose!

Maybe its because he is finally talking more (like all the time) which we thought would never happen when he was still our little cave man at 2  and only grunting in different tones and lengths....or maybe its because he seems to have grown a ton in the last couple months and I was just ordering a few size 6 (I repeat size 6!) shirts for this summer....or maybe its because I just can't believe that the past 4 years has gone by and we now have a full fledged independent 4 year old on our hands

Oh yes, independent, opinionated, super helpful, quirky, silly, energetic4 year old - who is already telling people that next birthday he will be turning 5.  SLOW DOWN!

I remember when he was a tiny super chunk of a baby, and the nurses jokes that the next line-backer for the Denver Broncos was just born...

 Our first baseball game at the Rockies....

 his contagious laugh and silly smile that made Flo take a few more than a few half days so he could just spend some time with his little man....

 moving home with our little red tornado...

going on road trips....

 
 thinking that life doesn't get any simpler or better when he would do something funny or make a silly face....

 or be a clown (I'm convinced his picture will be next to "class clown" in his high school year book...

 continued to surprise us...

 We love this little guy so much!

 Here's to 4 years by and MANY MANY MANY more to come and celebrate with!

We love you Jackson David Florence! You are the best big brother and son two parents could ask for and today you can have all the ice cream you can eat, hall passes on a few slips in your manors and too many hugs to count from me!

Hippo birdie two eww Grandma!

Ch ch ch changes...

Our family as we know it was rocked a month ago with a few changes so I have been pretty busy trying to just take it all in and keep up with everything.  Maggie, my 15 year old sister, has come to live with us - which has added a very different dynamic than 2 toddler boys! We now have a teenager schedule to keep up, teenager emotions to deal with and another girl in the house to even things out a bit. Also, Kenny, my brother-in-law has moved back to Spokane and has been living with us for the past month while he looks for a job. 

So, aside from my family's stresses, and 2 more adults in the house, we have lots of laundry, lots of mouths to feed and lots of noise! We have been having guitars playing round the clock with amazing music, our living turned into a hockey rink, our hallway turned into a basketball gym, family movie nights and dinners and taking turns using the bathroom just like a family of 6! Did we once say we wanted 4 kids?  Through everything, the two little lights in our lives have kept me going and given me lots of little hugs that carry big punch. 

 Our Buzz lightyear and Sherriff Woody before bed time.

 God blessed us with another big snow fall and we took advantage by sledding for a few hours.

 Jack got the hang of it fast and was running while holding his board and then jumping on.

Shoveling our front yard to make a big mound to sled on.

 Our snowman, which Coops wanted to take inside.

Snow angels, snow wrestling, eating snow and sledding.  A perfect afternoon.

 Putting together a puzzle they got for christmas.

 Slam dunk contest.

 dance-a-thon.

 Hockey in the living room, now Jack says "when I get bigger I want to play baseball, football and hockey."

 Watch out! Cooper was dangerous with that thing!

 Maggie was the goalie.

 Family night just hanging out before death match at Just Dance 2!

 Cooper taking Buh on a shopping trip.

Jack was ready and willing to ring him up, although didn't want to give him the money to pay with yet!

Thanksgiving wrap up

Thanksgiving is about family and being thankful for the blessings that God has given us and we thought that this year we should grace Flo's family with our fearsome four since it has been a tough few months for everyone.  We just thought that going to Fargo would be the best, so that we could spend some time with those that need family the most right now.

And then 20 hours in the car later...we were starting to doubt ourselves! But, when we knocked on Barb and Mark's door to surprise them I think they almost peed their pants when they saw us standing there! Such a great surprise.

 Cooper playing on Uncle Kenny's key board. That kid has rhythm.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 Playing this funny game over and over again.  I could not beat the kids for the life of me!

 Kenny as the FSA mascot Snow Boy.

 Two old timers playing games - you should have seen them trying to read the catch phrase words!

 Riding the Ferris wheel at Scheels (my new favorite store!).

 This little piggy went to the market, this little piggy stayed home....

 Fargo force hockey game

We had a great visit and the kids did awesome in the car on the trip and were so excited to spend some more time with grandma and grandpa and uncle Kenny.  I will forever remember playing catch phrase and "Moby Dick" or "free willy" as Kenny called him!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

25 people, 8 pizzas, 6 orders of bread sticks, a huge bowl of Cesar salad, 3 1/2 gallons of ice cream and one monkey cake = one happy birthday party for Cooper who is two (although if you ask him, he will say five).

 He asked for a cake that looked like Ba his side kick monkey.

So many cousins that were ready and willing to help him blow out the candles...

Priceless face when he opened up his presents!

I still can't believe he's two!