VALENTINE’S LOVE

We all had pretty great Valentine’s celebrations!

We made Tyler’s Yoda Valentine’s box and the boys made out their Valentine’s when we were home on the snow day on the 2nd.  Tyler was pretty happy with the outcome of the box!

They both had a great time at their Valentine’s parties at school on Friday.  And I’m lucky enough to be at school with them each day and I was able to stop in to both of their parties to see them having fun!

Brady won at musical chairs in his classroom party.  As you can see, he was VERY excited about it!  This picture just cracks me up.  I love it!!!

The boys and I Friday night hanging out.

We didn’t have any special plans on Sunday for Valentine’s Day.  They got to have heart shaped raspberry pancakes for breakfast, I made red velvet puppy chow, and red velvet cinnamon rolls.  Everything was delicious!

They each got 2 new books, a Star Wars mug, candy, pens, and pencils in their Valentine’s bag.  They were pretty thankful.

Beginning February 1st they got to wake up each morning and read a new heart, taped to their bedroom door, with a reason why I love them.  There are a million reasons why I love them and a million things that I love about them, but I tried to think of the top 14 to share with them.  I know it put a smile on their face each morning and I received plenty of hugs and kisses from each of them.

BROTHERS

Even though Brady can now read, this particular book was just a bit too difficult for him, so his brother offered to read it to him.  How sweet!  I am so very thankful for these moments!

SOME WINTER WARMTH

Sunday, February 7th was such a nice day!  Brady even felt the need to hang outside for awhile with shorts and no shirt on!  Silly boy!  But, that sun did feel amazing!

FIRST BLACK EYE

Tyler got his first black eye from his basketball game last weekend on the 6th.  He was elbowed and handled it like a champ….That is until he came over to talk to me at half.  But, then he went back out and played his little heart out.  These pictures don’t do it justice.  It actually got pretty ugly throughout the week.  The first of many!

SLUMBER PARTY

These boys love to have sleepovers with each other!  It’s so sweet! 

And after a busy day last Saturday, after basketball and Climb Iowa, they fell right to sleep in Tyler’s bed.

ROCK CLIMBING AT CLIMB IOWA

For not having anything planned for last Saturday, the 6th, we sure had a fun-filled day!

We left the house a little before 8:00 AM to go to Tyler’s basketball game.  Grandma Mary came to our house on Friday night so that she could see the boys play basketball on Saturday.  She had told Tyler that if he had a good game, that we could go do something fun.  Well, he scored the first 4 points!  So, after his game, we made a quick stop back home and then headed into Des Moines to take the kids to Climb Iowa for some rock climbing.

On the way there, Mom had talked to Judy who was babysitting Natalie’s boys.  Judy and the boys ended up meeting us at Climb Iowa for some fun!

The boys and I love this place!  This was Lee’s first time and he loved it, too!

After Climb Iowa we went for lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery and then made a couple quick stops for Valentine’s presents before driving back home.

And then Brady had basketball at 4:30.

It turned out to be a busy, fun day!

When we weren’t helping our own children, we helped a lot with Nolan and Nile.

Tyler, Nolan, Brady, and Nile.

5th HARRY POTTER BOOK COMPLETE!

Tyler came home from school on Wednesday, Feb. 3rd and so badly wanted to finish his book.  He was so close to the end.  He came home from school, sat on the couch, and read.  Which he never does!  I did make him stop to eat dinner and then go to church.  When he got home from church he read some more.  At about 7:30, he had one chapter left.  I told him he better not read it that night, that he could finish it in the morning and then take the quiz before school.  And that’s exactly what he did.  He woke up and had the last chapter finished by right at 7:00 AM.  He then sat down to take the quiz.  And…got 100%!  What an awesome accomplishment for anyone, let alone a 2nd grader/eight-year-old.  This is the longest of the Harry Potter books, at 870 pages long, so he is relieved to have this one now behind him. 

We got to celebrate after school with a trip through Culver’s drive-in for some ice-cream and then we got to watch that Harry Potter movie that next night when Lee got home from work.

Now he’s going to take a little break from Harry Potter world and read some less serious books with much less pages for a while.

We are so very proud of him!

PICKLE JUICE!

These boys love to drink pickle juice from the jar just as much as I did when I was a kid!  I love it!

100th DAY OF SCHOOL!

The boys and I had our 100th day of school on Wednesday, February 3rd.  It was supposed to be on Tuesday, but we got a snow day instead!

They had a great time celebrating in their classrooms and both dressed special for the day!

Tyler dressed up as a 100 year old man and I made Brady a 100th day of School T-shirt with 100 tally marks on it. 

Before school in the morning.  Excited for the day!

In 2nd grade we dress up like we’re 100.  Tyler and I look old, right?!?

Now the boys are 100 days smarter and I have another 100 days put into teaching.  :)

SNOW DAY!

The boys and I had a snow day on Tuesday, February 2nd.  It actually turned out to be a pretty great day!

The weather was not the best in the morning, for school travel, but the afternoon turned out nice and made it easy to play out in the snow!  We only ended up getting about an inch, but it was forecast for us to get 6-9.  So, we got a day off from school and had a fun day at home getting things done inside and having fun playing outside!

The boys and I had a snow ball fight and made a snow man.  Perfect day at home with my boys!

2nd ANNUAL REYNOLDS BACONFEST!

We had another terrific Baconfest at our house again this year.  It was filled with LOTS of bacon, laughter, fun, and best of all, friends!

Everyone arrived around 11 and left around 9 o’clock that night.  It was a long day, but a fun one!

Chantelle brought these bacon roses!

The kids got to play outside for awhile.  They had a great day playing!

Cheers to Baconfest and our friendship!

Chantelle, Darcey, Heidi, Megan, and Lindy.

The gang.  The Phelps’ were in attendance as well, but they left early to put their kiddos down for a nap.

I’m so glad I have these two!

And the evening ended with dancing in the kitchen!  :)

Until next year….