Rockstar Chad

Chad has had lots of success lately and I couldn't be prouder.  First - he passed another CPA exam with an 82! I got his favorite candies and left him a little message on the counter -

 He also got another job offer and used that to negotiate a great raise!  That entire process spurred a lot of conversations between him and the partners where he got lots of positive feedback about his performance and the got us excited about the future he may have at his current company.  We love where he works so it's great to know they love him too.

Busy season is in full swing for Chad.  We're all coping fairly well but every once in awhile we just miss Dad and he misses us.  The other day Keller wanted to send Dad a picture so we went this -

Chad sent this back to him -

I just love it! I know it's just a silly picture but it represents so much of what I love about him.  I'm so proud of everything he's accomplished lately.  The future looks bright!!!

Celebration Continues

Vance didn't want a lot of presents. Instead he wanted to do a lot of things so that's just what we did! First up was a trip to Skyzone - his favorite! Sorry for the picture overload but his favorite part is making sure I take lots of pictures of his tricks :)

 Next up was the drive-in movies to see The Lego Movie and Frozen.  He fell asleep during Frozen but he had fun up until then :)

We took a trip to play at the park and I pushed him on the swing A LOT (something I don't usually love to do). Once we had done plenty of swinging the boys had fun going down the slide together.

He also had THREE sleepovers with Colton, rented a Wii game from Redbox, stayed up late, went to McDonalds, and ate pizza.  Hope you had fun celebrating buddy!

Happy Valentine's Day

We kept Valentine's day more mellow this year.  We got each of the boys a new outfit.  Keller got a pair of shoes that he needed and Vance got a new hat.

 Each one of them got a puzzle I made with a little love note written on it!

 Everyone also got three Valentine's with a coupon for something attached to an M&M.  Keller got: ice cream, sleep with mom and dad, jump on the trampoline.  Vance got: stay up late, have a sleepover, Redbox a game/movie.  I also gave Chad some and Vance made me some.

 Since Chad and I went out the weekend before we had a nice dinner at home with the kiddos - candlelight and everything :)

 While we waited for Daddy to get home from work they made Valentine's pictures that are now hanging up on the fridge.

 Of course the theme for everything was red, pink, hearts, etc.  We started out with some bruschetta.  I thought the kids wouldn't touch it but I was wrong. They gobbled it up!

 For dinner we had red heart raviolis with a vodka sauce and sautéed zucchini.  It's hard to tell in the picture but the raviolis were super cute. 

 For dessert we had strawberry shortcake and creme puffs.

 Then we played a few games together.  Chad led us all in a Valentine's inspired spin-off of simon says.  It was called "X's and O's." The boys loved it!

 

I was actually pretty sick on Valentine's so after that I just crashed and Chad helped get the kids to bed. Not so romantic but I sure felt loved!

Our Maiden Voyage

We couldn't wait until summer to take the boat out so we took a little fishing trip last weekend.  We were all so excited we were pretty much smiling the whole time.

 Vance was pretty excited he got a turn to drive the boat.

 At first Keller wasn't sure about the wind in his face but he finally snuggles with Grandma and gave me a few smiles :)

 Fishing with the little ones is always quite an experience.  It's usually fun for about 10 seconds for Keller and maybe 2-3 minutes for Vance.  Chad is a good sport and doesn't let that take away from the fun.

 Aren't my parents the cutest?!

 I love the way Keller holds his fishing pole…he's an innovator.  Who knows - maybe this will be the next big thing in fishing?!

 Vance is all serious.  He will not let a fish get away from him!

 Keller probably had the most fun "driving" the boat (whether we were going or not).

 Is my man sexy or what?! I will always think of Chad as the kind of guy with windblown hair wearing a pair of board shorts. :)

 It was pretty cold when we were moving so I did my best to cuddle Vance to keep us both warm.  Of course he wanted to sit in the very front so he didn't miss a thing!

 I got one quick picture of me and my dad.  This is the guy who taught me (and our entire family) to love the great outdoors. Of course my mom put in lots of work to make it all happen but Dad is the one who really got her to love the outdoors too.  They both gave me so many opportunities to have new adventures and create amazing memories.  I hope one day our kids will say the same thing about me and Chad!

The countdown to summer begins!