let's catch up

Life hasn't really slowed down at all around here since the holidays, but you wouldn't know it from my lack of blogging. Let's catch up, shall we?

A couple of weeks ago Josh went to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl with some of his oldest, dearest pals. I didn't tell Noah where he was going until a few hours before the game, and as I suspected he wasn't happy with his daddy for leaving him behind. But he enjoyed watching the game and pausing the TV every time there was a shot of the crowd. He would scan every single face looking for Josh. It was too cute! We had fun cheering the Hogs on to victory!

The day of the game we had an unusually warm January day, and the boys & I went to the park after naps. They were completely eating it up. It was heavenly to be outside playing!

We've spent plenty of evenings at home playing with cars. Believe it or not, each of these are a little bit different, and Noah certainly knows the difference. Don't dare give him the Rusteez Lightning McQueen when what he wants is the World Grand Prix Lightning McQueen!

Naps have been a bit of a battle with Noah lately. Although he puts up a pretty good fight, sleep usually wins, as it did on this day. Really, he does a great job all in all. He will play in his room for a long time and then eventually lay down in bed and go to sleep. Usually. 

This past weekend Josh and I got to go with the students from church to Winter Chill, the annual student retreat. It was such a special time with our small groups and all the students! It was fun and, yes, exhausting, but what a privilege to spend time with "our" girls and guys having great conversations, learning more about the Lord, worshiping together, playing, laughing, and having a blast! My girls are pretty fabulous

There was free time on Saturday for playing on parts of the ropes course. The kids had fun flying high, but I stayed firmly on the ground!

Great times! I rode there and back on the boys bus, and let me just say that was an eye-opening experience :) It gave me some insight into what I have to look forward to in about 10 years or so. I better start preparing myself now, ha!

Yesterday the boys & I made a Target run (nothing new there). I decided to get them some popcorn and it made the experience much easier!

At Target we got Noah his new big-boy booster seat! I seriously can't believe he is big enough for this thing--sniff, sniff :( But really, once I found out that he could get one already I kind of jumped at the opportunity. He was way too big for his carseat and was so uncomfortable all the time. Look at him wearing the real seatbelt! He is beyond proud. 

Now that our weekend trips are behind us, things are going to slow down just a bit for the next few months. I am so happy to be back in the regular weekly routine of Bible study & mother's day out (both started back up last week) and I can tell that the boys are, too. It helps us to have a little structure in our lives! But we have nothing big on the horizon as far as trips or big events. Although Noah turns FOUR on April 10 so I guess I better get on the party planning! He has a theme in mind so I've been hunting for original ideas. I do love to have a project :)