Spring has sprung...sort of

Temps were rising and snow was melting!... time to get out those boots and play in the mud!!

Ben got his own seat this year and he couldn't be happier about it!

Taking a load off after a quick round of basketball ...

...and the start of a long summer of this happening.

John said he turned around and found him like this - and in case you were wondering, he is facing the street.  Thank goodness Avery has accepted that girls can only go potty inside and hasn't attempted to prove us wrong...yet.

I See Something Green...

 

The week of St. Patrick's Day is always a fun one at our house! 

We start out the festivities with Papa Gary's birthday...

Shoes!  Imagine that.

This cracks me up.  Avery stood there so quiet, just waiting for someone to notice... 

The St. Patrick's Day parade is a big event in Springfield.  The crowd is usually huge and everyone gets dressed in their craziest green outfits... our kids were no different :)

John had to work this year, BUT he was driving the truck in the parade... huge bonus for us because we were able to ride in the truck with him!

Rudy was able to sit with him during the parade route...

...total admiration :)

Me and Bubbers hung out in the back seat with Avery.  She mostly sat back and ate candy.  Ben leaned over the window and I had to work hard to keep him from climbing out!  I can't tell you how many times I heard or saw, "Look at that baby!"

Cheese!

Avery had a turn up front with Dad, too :)

Afterwards, we hung around the firehouse and the kids loaded their pockets with any extra candy they could get their hands on.  Avery was cracking us up.  Most kids or people would get back and start to shed the green.  Not Avery.  Every single piece she kept on and pranced around in it.  When I brought the kids home, Avery literally cried when she had to take it all off.  She's a crazy one! 

Walsher Clemons

 

 

 

Late February we were lucky enough to get to go see my cousin and his band, Walsher Clemons, perform at the Chicago House of Blues.  We invited lots of friends to go and most of my family was able to go, too.  It was SUCH a fun night and felt so good to get away for a little bit... we had had a long six months! 

The show was AWESOME!  And (shameless plug), if you haven't heard of Walsher Clemons, check them out on iTunes asap! (album coming soon!!)

Snow Days

What a view... the pictures really don't do it justice!  We LOVED waking up to this view every morning - or even better, falling asleep while watching the snow drift down... so peaceful

And the kids loved playing in it!  

We had a very cold and white winter this year! 

Miss Avery all bundled up, helping me stock up for a storm on the way (frozen pizzas are always a must-have item!)

But we didn't mind!  We had lots of fires and snuggled up together at HOME :)

And when the forecase showed that it would be warming up and the snow would be gone, I surprised the kids and brought the snow inside! 

It was quite a treat!

With the house about done and nothing major on our schedules, we were also able to get back into a routine of going to mass together on Sundays and joining the Alloteys for lunch afterwards... what a crew :)

NINE Months Old

Oh my bubbers, where does the time go?!

After taking this picture my mom said how much he reminded her of a picture of me when I was about the same age.  I knew just which one she was talking about, "the one of me in the red and white outfit??  I thought the same thing!"

So she dug it out and sent me the picture... we were wrong :)



Ben is WAY cuter, in fact, he may just be the cutest baby ever!