this and that....

Jack's school performance at the mall. He sang his little heart out :)

stealing kisses from my little man before a night out

moaaaaaom!

Jack's outdoor parking garage 

Sorry for the lull in blog posts lately, truth be told, I haven't been taking any pictures lately.  There hasn't been a whole lot of excitement going on here lately with the frigid winter we've been having.  Winter routines are getting old and my energy is low, there's been too much time spent indoors and lacking in sunshine.  Spring we are so ready for you! 

Happy Valentine's

We opted for a family night in this Valentine's day, complete with a heart shaped pizza, mustache straws and a picnic blanket on the living room floor.  

The best gift of all....the homemade cards from the kids (and the massage gift certificate wasn't too bad either, thanks honey!)

The Polar Vortex

You know it's been cold when the first thing your child thinks to build with play dough is a snowman, ha!  Jack has been enjoying talking about, or rather just using the term, polar vortex. Likewise he also thinks he's pretty cool telling people that it was colder here than the North Pole and the South Pole. 

There have been four days of school cancelled this month due to the subzero temps and way too many days where it's been too cold to go outside to play.   We have been doing our best to keep ourselves entertained with art projects,  play dough, fort building, and riding our bikes in circles in the basement.

Little Picassos

And in case you were wondering, Stella has decided that she does not want to wear pants while we are at home.  Makes perfect sense with the weather we have been having that our three year old would decide this is a good time to rebel against pants.

The Taj Mahal of forts

Stay warm everyone!

Happy 3?!#!? Birthday to Our Daddy

We celebrated our Daddy's birthday this week and the kids insisted on a "birthday party."  So we shuffled through some of the things stored away from their past birthday parties and found just the right stuff for Daddy's party.  

Some party hats, horns, a few decorations, and we were set!

It was so much fun enjoying the kids enthusiasm over a birthday.  They were a little concerned because we didn't invite any of Dad's friends, but I managed to convince them Daddy preferred a family party.

The best gift......Stella picked out a Ken doll so her Daddy can play Barbie's with her.

My boys....I am so proud and blessed to have these men in my life.
Happy Friday all!

It's Winter in WI

We're in the thick of it, this long, cold season of winter.  Somehow having a five year old that loves everything winter has changed my attitude about it and I have been embracing it.  All the snow really is beautiful & we're going to sign the kids up for some ski lessons, so hopefully that will give us another reason to enjoy winter!

Jack is outside shoveling the minute he sees snow and when he gets home from school he changes into his snow pants and boots in the car, he doesn't even want to come inside, in order to maximize his outdoor play time.  The kid seriously loves winter!

Stella isn't such a fan however, she doesn't like to be cold.  She told me the other day that the cold wind on her cheeks feels like "shots." 

we're still here......

..........blogging has taken a back seat this week to getting all the Christmas things put away and getting this house organized.  Once I start organizing, look out, I get a bit carried away and can't stop myself.  This week I have put away all the Christmas things (all packed away in a new and improved systematic way), reorganized the kids games, Stella's doll toys, Jack's race tracks, the kids arts and crafts things and cleaned out both kids bedrooms including going through Stella's closet and dresser of clothes, whew!  On my shopping list for tomorrow is a new cartridge for my label maker :)  I am sure I am not the only one of you out there that gets this urge come January!  Anyhow, I'm starting to feel better about things around here so I will make blogging more of a priority this week.  

Here are a few photos of our trip to the Rotary Lights display here in town and trip to the sledding hill.

I will back more this week, I promise, so stay tuned...

Christmas Photo Bomb #2

the many faces of our family....

the kids putting our the "reindeer food"

he still fits, it's s tight squeeze, but our Jack still fits into the laundry basket.  Makes me feel good that he's not too big for this yet!

Christmas morning........Santa came!!!

we love our Daddy

Stella and Grandma in matching PJ's

we had a great Christmas,enjoying church on Christmas Eve and a big dinner afterward, and then family presents by the glow of the tree.  The kids put out reindeer food and milk and cookies for Santa, the adults played a intense game of Farkle (my new favorite game) and we called it a night.  Christmas day we enjoyed opening all of Santa's presents (he was way too good to Jack and Stella again this year), more food, got out to see a movie and enjoyed relaxing in each other's company.  I absolutely love the holiday season, but it's always nice to get back to everyday life too. And needless to say I have a lot of toys to sort through and organize!

Happy 2014 everyone, thanks for stopping by and keeping up with the Vogel's.  

Cheers to a brand new year!