More Bedroom Makeovers

Since we re-arranged the bunk beds and Owen's toddler bed, Mike and I knew it was only a matter of time before we needed to buy a real bed for Savannah. She didn't complain about her smaller bed but we noticed that she wasn't sleeping as well and we kept hearing her body slamming into the plastic during the night :) So this weekend we went bed shopping!

We only bought one new bed but we also pulled out the box spring and frame to the other bed so it looks like a whole new room!

Kate got the new bed and a new bed skirt

Savannah got Kate's old bed and a new bed skirt too!

Because we have less space now with the bigger beds, we decided to donate the girls' toy organizer and replace them with an individual box for each girl to put her stuff in. They were happy to have their own!! They aren't really into sharing lately :)

 

Savannah's box

Kate's box



And we had to get one for Owen too! We tried to tell him no, but the little lip and watery eyes did us in!

Otherwise his room still looks the same!

In cleaning out the girls room I realized we have substantially less toys than we used to have so we were able to condense what didn't fit in their boxes into these drawers. They now have a little corner in the dining room.

And these are now at the local kids consignment shop! Yay!
 

It feels so good to be cleaning out the "baby" stuff and investing in some things that will hopefully last a little longer! And now when we have overnight guests, they won't have to choose between the couch, a toddler bed, or a bunk bed! :)

Major Meltdowns

Lately I have been recognizing that Owen doesn't like to be told no. A lot of time it's just me and Owen and it's easy for us to get along. But recently there have been a few times where I have had to tell him no and it's led to a few shall I say....meltdowns!

Check out the most recent one!

I had to take Kate to see her endocrinologist and we have to park in a parking garage, get a ticket, have it validated in the clinic, and then hand it back to the guy at the exit gate. Well Owen wanted to hand the guy the ticket but his window in the van doesn't roll down. So while I was trying to explain this to him, he lost his composure! Big Time!!!

He started out kicking the door!

Then after various threats he took to hiding his face and howling!

For a few mins he calmed down and just whimpered while making sure to hide his face from Kate!

And then went right back to yelling!

The really impressive thing was the sheer time span of the tantrum! It went on for a solid 15 minutes. By the end he couldn't remember why he was so sad! It was definitely the biggest fit he's thrown to date. I think he was just really tired (it had been a busy weekend followed by an early morning) but still, I was a little shocked! I didn't know he had it in him!

Lately

Now that we're finally getting to the end of all these snow days and wintry weather....life feels a little more settled and routine. We haven't been up to a whole lot, but here are a few random pics of our life lately!

It appears someone forgot to close the lid on the sandbox after the weather got a little warmer! It rained and then froze!!! Wooops....looks like we're gonna need new sand this spring!

There is the lid!

Owen has been very into legos lately! We even went to see the new Lego movie last week!

He likes to make tall tall towers!

 

 

We have all been feeling under the weather the last two weeks! It always freaks us out when she's sick though because it reminds us that she is human.

Pirate and Princess Adventure!

On Sunday after Valentine's Day we were so excited to finally go to Disney Live's Pirate and Princess Adventure! I actually thought it was pretty cool that they had both girl and boy themes. There was a Sophia the First number and then a break and then Jake and the Neverland Pirate part. The girls have never seen Sophia the First, but it wasn't hard to get the gist :)

This lovely Jake hair and bandana came with our cotton candy! He was so into it!

And my girls didn't even utter one complaint about not getting a tiara for themselves! But they did eat the lion's share of the cotton candy! :)

The show was really cute and entertaining and all my kids did great! We had one small meltdown from Owen in the bathroom (he was highly offended that I went into the stall with him!) but overall everyone was fantastic! This is probably the last time we will all go to one of these show's again so I am glad it was fun for us all!

Owen's Favorite Friend!

Back in September Owen met Riley....and she is absolutely his favorite friend!

Thankfully for us, she went to his pre-school so he saw her all day twice a week!

But then January rolled around and Riley's mom got a new job and Riley stopped coming to pre-school! Owen handled it pretty good at first but then slowly it dawned on him that Riley wasn't coming back! So we made arrangements to hang out with her again on one of our snow days!!

At Chuck E Cheese!

They rode in that Jeep together for ages!! It was so sweet to see them have fun together! It made for a great few hours :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's Day was quite different than years past. First of all it was still snowing and the kids actually got released early from school unexpectedly so it was a little bit of a chaotic day! Secondly we had all been sick the entire week with colds (pretty much the first time all 5 of us were sick at the same time) so we weren't feeling all that festive! And both girls wear uniforms to school so no cute Valentine shirts :(

But we made the best of it!

I got mini roses! A first I think for Valentine's Day!

This year we splurged a little and bought tickets to Disney Live's Pirate and Princess Adventure! This is the first time I have seen boy and girl themes in one show and probably the last year we will all enjoy it! Kate is getting so big and "tweeny"

Kate made this for me with nail polish, lip gloss, and beads! Pretty creative I think :)

This was from Savannah....I love the fact that she thinks I am a diamond :)

 

 

And as a fun treat, the day before Valentine's Day the kids all got cards in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa John! Man were they excited!

 

Crazy girl.....crazy eyes

Yay! Money!

Whoooo Hoooo

I guess it's hard being a kid on Valentine's Day because he was pooped after all the festivities! :) He fell asleep about 10 mins into his RedBox movie.

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!



Lowe's Build and Grow

I have been wanting to attend one of the Lowe's Build and Grow Workshops for a while now but just haven't gotten around to signing up! Until now...

They built a Love Note Holder....wondering why it's not called a Valentine's Card Holder....is that not PC anymore either? Whatever...it was cute :)

He was very focused...and enjoyed hammering or as he calls it "booming"

I registered all three kiddos but only these two made the cut....seriously need to pull out The Strong Willed Child again cuz she's a doozy!

Smiling at the finished product! And he only "boomed" my finger one time so I was smiling too!

She whipped hers out pretty quick considering she did it completely on her own

 

After the workshop we ran over to the library for some books and he was pooped on the way home! I think he's so cute when he's asleep! Hope he's not coming down with something....:)

Superman!

I was really hoping to be sharing pictures of Kate on her way to her school's Valentine's Dance! However due to yet another snow fall on Friday it was cancelled! Bummer!

This isn't a bad runner up though...Friday morning Owen and I braved the nasty weather to go to Wal-Mart and get a few things for the weekend. And Owen got to buy these cute little Superman p.j.'s! As soon as we got home he insisted on stripping down naked and begging to have them on. Then he began the jumping and flying! It provided hours of entertainment for him!

Bedroom Make Overs

During our snow day on Monday, I recruited Mike (with a lot of pestering!) to help me do a necessary bedroom make over for the kids.

As we had come to find out after being assembled, disassembled, reassembled, and then used by Owen as a jungle gym, the bunk beds were less than safe! They had to go!

Strong Men!

Owen was Daddy's helper

Making progress

Owen decided that he wanted the bottom bedframe that was still intact...and his sweet little face persuaded us!

 

I think it's really sweet but I am not sure if I am happy that he's in a big boy bed now!

Savannah decided that she wanted Owen's bed for a while and Kate's mattress is on the floor until we can get the box spring and frame down from the attic.

Arctic Assult!

Yep, another one! I feel like I am at war with the weather right now! We have no sense of normalcy or routine and as much as I like to think I am flexible and go with the flow....I am just not! This makes 8 snow days!

Yes, those are Christmas lights still wrapped on my porch....why? Cuz it's cold!

 

 

A Nice Break from the Cold

Saturday was a very excited day around here! It was in the mid 50's and sunny. We decided that we needed to get out of the house and enjoy the weather because we were due for another "polar vortex!" I am not sure where these saying come from, but they are very dramatic. So Mike suggested we head up to the Cincinnati Zoo. He had discovered that the zoo was half-priced in the months of Jan and Feb and he didn't get to go with us last time. So off we went!

Yep...that is still snow on the ground!

We got a see a lot of animals up close since there were very few people there and the animals were quite active.

Sassy Kate....she loves her new hat!

Owen spent a lot of time jumping into snow piles!

When the tiger walked right in front of him, Owen yelped! It was a little eerie to be THAT close!

This one he wanted to touch!

Gorillas!

When we walked out of the restaurant after eating lunch, this is what we literally almost walked into! Peacock! He was just sort of wandering the area.

Wild Child in the Spider Web!

Not as graceful!

Watching the penguin parade

So close!!! I literally had to hold Savannah back from walking right up to it :)

In the Insect House...getting a little tired

We really enjoyed the day together! We even took a little detour to IKEA before heading home! I can't say we're ready for the next artic assault but it was really nice to be outside for the day! I think we are all looking forward to the Spring.