Date night!

Last night was date night with the kiddos! How much fun to have just one child to focus all your attention on for a couple hours! Keith took Isaac for "boys night out" and Samy and I stayed home and had "girls night in" :) When Keith asked him what he wanted to eat, Isaac quickly replied, "Hot dog sandwich!" (which just means a hot dog on a bun) One of our favorite places to take the kids out to eat is Five Guys Burgers, which is where Isaac always gets a hot dog sandwich and Samy eats ketchup :) she's in the right family to love condiments! Keith said Isaac ate the entire hot dog (it's gotta be a quarter pound!) and tons of fries and peanuts. He said he was super excited about the peanuts :) Then they went to a pet store and looked at all the animals. Isaac's least favorite part, "I don't like the stinky dogs!" but he really liked the fish. And he does a great impression of the little birds in there!
No cameras allowed at boys night out, but Samy and I got a few pics :)

We had our little dinner, then got all dressed up for a princess tea party! She picked out my bridesmaid dress from my sister-in-law's wedding for me. We got on our tiaras and necklaces, and "glass slippers" to finish the look of course! Then we had tea (though she didn't like it) and ice cream (which she loved). And what princess party is complete without dancing and singing to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack? I got my work out holding her and skipping and twirling around the house, a few breathless song lyrics thrown in :) She kept begging for more, but i could hardly breathe!


tea and ice cream!like a true princess, getting every last lick!

Sparkles

Keith found some super old sparklers in the garage last weekend so we just had to burn them!


Samy acted like the fairy godmother: "Bippity, boppity, boo!"

Hiking & PJs

Two weekends ago it was absolutely gorgeous outside AND Bruster's had their "free ice cream if you wear your PJs" day, which made for the perfect combo :)
We headed to a little hiking/biking trail not far from home that runs along a little stream and had a lovely time enjoying the sun and throwing rocks and sticks in the water. The kids were bribed the entire way with promises of ice cream afterwards :) They actually did enjoy "hiding" as they called it.
We got back in the car, ate our lunch on the way to Bruster's and their changed into our PJs (or partial PJs actually). We all enjoyed our treat very much as is evident by the ice cream faces!!

Beauty and the Beast

Samy's current favorite princess is Belle and she's been wearing out my old "Beauty and the Beast" soundtrack. As soon as she's done with breakfast she's in her Belle dress and asking to turn on "Booty and de Beast" (I love her little voice!). She just twirls around in circles for half the day! Here she's enlisted her brother and Cinderella doll in the spinning:

And the few times they've watched the whole movie, neither one wants to see the Beast. "He's scarwy!"

Sunshine shining on me!

I have never been so grateful to see 50 degrees as I was this week :) After all the snow and cold and winds (and sickies), we were all SO ready to get outside in the sun! Saturday was supposed to be warmer, but was still so windy that it felt cold. We braved it briefly for a ride around the hood. But yesterday was truly fabulous and warm (comparatively speaking) with a bright shining sun! We went to the "big playground" and took a long walk. There was another family from our church there and one of their dear girls took some pictures of the kids:

Today was another beautiful day so we were out again. I just find it humorous that they still want to play in the snow :)

He remembers we are dust

We made it through one very unpleasant week around here. All four of us came down with one icky stomach bug. God was merciful in so many ways even through something so nasty as this! Isaac started things off last Saturday, and we're not really sure where he got it, maybe our Thursday gym time? Who knows! He wasn't so bad, only got sick a few times (after he ate). Then Keith started Monday night and it just knocked him out all day Tuesday with body aches and such. Tuesday night I went to check on Samy when Keith and I were headed for bed and she rolled over and got sick. God was so kind to wait until that moment! She was so disoriented and confused. I was so glad to be there and calm her down immediately and run her to the bathroom. I started just a couple hours later. It was a sleepless night. Samy was such a trooper though! I've never seen someone be so chipper after getting sick! Her aunt Michelle would be impressed :) We made her a little bed on our floor and Keith got her some soda. Her reaction, "Yummy! I like it so much!" She was thrilled to be sleeping in our room and you would not have guessed she had a stomach flu!
Wednesday was one of the most miserable days of my life. Worst than child birth b/c it was so constant and nothing good at the end :) But we're all on the mend now!
God was so merciful to keep us from all getting it at the same time! And He was so merciful in giving the kids grace for the day I couldn't move--they played perfectly by themselves all day!! Samy even cuddled up with me for a while to watch "Wives and Daughters." She was pointing out every lady with a dress on, which is all of them :) She is a hoot!
And God is certainly having mercy on my grocery budget! None of us have eaten much of anything the whole week.
"As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:13-14

What a compassionate God we have! I'm grateful to be able to praise Him even in the midst of sickness!