Random Photo Dump

Here are a bunch of random pictures and happenings from the past week

Liv's been working on a book diorama for her class.  

I get to play Bingo with Liv in her class every Monday.

I help in Cole's class every Monday also with the spelling groups. I don't have a picture, but I have lots of fun.

Ethan doesn't want me to help in his class.  He told me the other day that I am "not so cool anymore".  

Ethan had one of his art pieces chosen for an exhibit at the school district.  It was there for several months and he just barely got it back.  It is of our summer vacation on the San Diego beach.

Liv also had an art piece chosen for the annual Barnes and Noble Art Fair.

Ethan and Cole advance to the purple belt in Tae Kwon Do.  

I took them out to dinner to celebrate.

Here is Liv climbing the rope in gymnastics.  She climbs all the way to the top and it scares me every time.

Ethan advanced in the scouting program and received his Bear recently.  We had the Blue and Gold Banquet this past week.  He got a few new belt loops, participated in a few skits, and got to lead to flag ceremony.

I think that is it for now.

Snow Day

My phone rang at 5:50 this morning.  It was the school letting us know school was cancelled for the day.  It was officially a snow day!!  Shawn went into the boys rooms and turned off their alarms in hopes that we could all sleep in a little.  But Ethan got up and showered and then came running into our room at 7:40 screaming that we all needed to get up because we were going to be late for school.  He didn't believe Shawn and I when we told him school was cancelled.  It took a good hour for the reality to actually sink in.  We had a super lazy day.  We played outside in the snow for hours making snowman and throwing snowballs.

Board Break-a-thon

The boys Tae Kwon Do studio does a fundraiser every year to raise money for the Children's Hospital and for childhood cancer.  The boys have been raising money and preparing for the big finale which was held on Saturday at the mall called the Board Break-a-thon.  Ethan and Cole each earned enough money to break 5 boards.

Thanks to all our sponsors who helped the boys earn money.  It was a great morning!

Valentines and Fast Cars

We had a fun valentines week complete with hearts stuck all over the house, pink cookies, valentines package from my mom, chocolates, heart mailboxes with daily valentines surprises, and a special lunch date with my sweetheart. We couldn't go out to dinner because we celebrated that evening at parent teaching conference :)  All 3 kids got great reviews, which we weren't really expecting, but were pleasantly surprised.

Friday the kids were off school so we continued our celebrations all the way down to Chicago.  All the boys in my family LOVE cars and we couldn't resist an opportunity to head to the Chicago Auto Show.  The kids each chose their favorite dream cars and we climbed in and tested out as many as we could.  The kids particularly loved climbing in the big trucks.  There was even a jeep climbing hill you could drive up, a race track, and a rock wall for the kids.  We spent a lot of time testing out which SUV's have a good third row.  Shawn's hoping he can convince me to get rid of the mini van soon (he's not a fan).

After the show we stopped at Ed Debevic's for lunch.  It's a fun Chicago restaurant with a 50s style dinner.  The food wasn't great, but the service and entertainment were.  Dancing to YMCA while the waitresses stand on tables dancing.  The servers also make jokes (sometimes a little mean) to make everyone laugh.  

Saturday morning we headed to a baptism at our church and then Shawn and I took the boys rock climbing while Liv was at a fun birthday party.

The weather has been cold and crazy lately.  Lots of rain, snow, and ice.  We are definitely looking forward to our next winter in Arizona.  My windows are covered with these beautiful ice designs in the mornings.

#1

This past week Children's Hospital ratings for the top 10 Children's Hospitals were released by Parents Magazine.  Shawn's hospital (Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin) was rated number 4 in the nation.  BUT, the very cool and exciting thing is that they also rate each individual area in the hospital.  They rated all the NICU's in the United States and the #1 NICU is........Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.  That is Shawn's NICU.  He is excited to be part of the #1 neonatal intestine care unit in the nation.  Here is the video clip from the TODAY show.

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Snow Sculpture Contest

We drove to Lake Geneva Saturday afternoon to attend Winterfest and the Annual U.S. Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition.  It was held at the beautiful Riviera Ballroom right on the lake.  The lake was frozen over and we were able to walk out and watch all the people out ice fishing.  They also had helicopter rides over the lake.

Then we went and walked through all the snow sculptures.