Awesome

Can I just say how awesome it is to have kids in the neighborhood? This is snow day number 3 for us in the past week and Chris is in the backyard playing with 3 older girls (two that are 8 and one who is 10) and I am sitting inside once again, relaxing after some good shoveling. This is great! And Lahna and Liam are able to come over today since their street was plowed so they are on their way over as well. Party at the Woglom's!

A new snow fort

Kansas City got hit with another round of snow last night and this morning. Obviously, we had to go out and make another snow fort! I shoveled just a small section of our driveway and added to a previously existing  snow plow pile to make a 5 1/2 foot mound of snow. Then we dug into it with my shovel and Christopher's hands and created a little hiding spot for him. 

The snow was beautiful and heavy and wet so everything was sticking to the trees. Here are some pictures of our street and house in the pretty snow! Notice that our street was already plowed...

Snow day (The Sequel)

This was the scene we woke up to this morning. It's hard to tell from the picture but the snow is wet and sticking to everything and it looks so pretty! It's always nice to look at the snow from our warm and toasty house. I'm sure we'll be back out in it later in the day so we will keep you updated as we go. There's probably about 6 inches so far and more to come. Obviously music and soccer are cancelled today so time to find some fun indoor activities until it is clear to go outside!

Meet Fred

This is Fred. He's about 40 inches tall, a little round (hasn't had enough green juice) and bundled up for winter. He prefers staying outside despite the cold temperatures and he's a very nice addition to our family. Thanks to Aunt Jamie for the snowman kit she sent for Christmas. We weren't sure if we'd be able to use it but we could have built a hundred snowmen with all this snow!

On our third outing of the day, we also added an addition to our already expansive snow fort. The snow was getting crustier as the day got colder so we weren't able to add the extra tunnel that Chris wanted. Instead we improvised and added a couch for relaxing. Here is CJ on the couch and also a picture of the addition...

And here is the long view of the entire snow fort compound:

Construction of the fort

Here are some pictures of the fort-making process. These just show some parts of the fort and you can see the finished product on the video in the previous post. As you can see, even Kasey enjoyed the fort (and helped dig a little!). And right now I am blogging from the kitchen as Christopher is thoroughly entertained with his friend Molly from next door. Think I'll brew myself a little coffee and read the Times while I'm at it...

Coolest snow fort ever

So we built possibly the coolest snow fort in Kansas this morning. After getting a little over a foot of snow yesterday, we made the most of it and built an extended fort complete with tunnels. Construction pictures will follow later but here is a video of our fort in use...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK_kbFXFFnU

Check back later for more building pics!

King of the Mountain

It's hard to tell from this picture but Chris is standing on a four foot snow pile that resulted from my shoveling efforts (aka, my workout for the day). He was most excited about being able to touch the tree he can't normally reach! The snow came down really fast today and we had about 6 inches in the first two hours. We attempted some shoveling this morning but it was really not worth the effort so we came inside to warm up. Because we were lacking hot chocolate, we popped in "Cars" and made popcorn, having a movie morning at 10AM. After lunch we went out for a couple more hours as the snow had pretty much stopped. I shoveled a bunch but then the landscaping guys across the street said they would plow the driveway for us and I was not going to turn down that offer! Anyway, the snow is so pretty and deep enough that I had to shovel a path for Kasey in the backyard. I will now enjoy the snow from the warmth of my cozy house!

Daddy's back!

We were very happy to have Daddy back with us after he was in New York for a week and we enjoyed the morning with some physical activity. While Daddy got in a workout on the bike and Mommy made green juice, Chris decided to practice his yoga moves...

Later we went over to Loose Park to enjoy yet another unseasonably beautiful winter day. This picture shows Chris stealing the ball from Daddy...

And then the boys got on the swings to see who could go higher while Kasey and I watched from the side...

And on a side note, we took some time today to rearrange things in Christopher's room in preparation for getting him some new furniture (finally!) and setting it up as we have wanted to do since May. Maybe it is because we made our offer on this house a year ago this weekend that I am feeling motivated to get going on things! Either way, when it all comes together we will put pictures up for you to see.

The Evolution of a Smile

Chris is a man of many faces. Most of his faces are smiley ones. Here is how his smile evolved this morning as the energy from his breakfast kicked in...

First, the toothless grin:

Then the "pose" smile:

And finally, the "I'm pretending to be a lion" smile:

We love them all!

Valentine's Party

I volunteered at Christopher's school Valentine's Day party today and it was so fun to be in his classroom for a little bit! My job was to run the craft where the kids made hearts with little tissue paper decorations on them. Here is Chris at his table hard at work...

After the craft, the kids played a couple games. One was a heart toss and then they played a mailman guessing game...

And, of course, the end of the party was the best part where the kids got to enjoy some yummy Valentine treats!

It was just fun to see Chris in action in his classroom (and it brought me back to my preschool teaching days!). Watching him interact with these kids that he always talks about was interesting too. This one little girl, Bella, wanted Chris to sit next to her all the time and wanted to read with him too. And then another little girl, Chase, really enjoys playing with him too. It was so cute to see!

The afternoon

This afternoon we met Luca at the Parkside Cafe and the boys rode bikes and scooters for awhile. After Luca left, Chris and I stayed a bit longer and by then, there were no other kids in the gym. Obviously, this called for a little mother-son basketball. Now, I definitely have the height advantage but Christopher is a master at defense. Check out his "hand in your face" technique!

While I was making dinner later on, Chris wanted to listen to some fun songs and one of his favorites is "Beautiful" by One Direction. We listen to this song in the car quite a bit where he sings it pretty well. Here he is singing along. As much as he loves singing I think that the job of "singer in a boy band" is probably out. He wants to be a dog walker anyway...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBJFFC2RYs

Soccer

Chris got to have a buddy in the car today on the way to soccer and he was excited! Ms. Amy taught Christopher's music class today and had to teach another after it so we drove Aidan to practice. At soccer, Chris even got to learn how to head the ball which he thought was pretty cool. It was fun to have his friend Aidan there with him!

Tristan's 6th Birthday

Today was Tristan's 6th birthday party! We can't believe how big he's getting. Chris had a ton of fun playing on Tristan's big birthday present--a swing set!

Then, of course, he was thrilled to enjoy some pizza and cupcakes with the boys!

And Mia had a wonderful time at her big brother's birthday. I had a lot of baby holding time as well! Look at her awesome cheeks!!!

Breakfast...

Since we get to have Daddy home for one extra day, we celebrated with heart shaped pancakes for breakfast... with chocolate chips of course!

New stuff!

No we didn't get a new drum set, but we did go play at our neighbor's house this afternoon. John, a little boy who is 5, lives a couple houses down with his two little sisters so I'm sure he was glad to have another boy to play with. Chris enjoyed checking out their toys including this fabulous drum set. He took it very seriously! Here he is playing a song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAKLCf3sxXk

Chris had a ton of fun over at John's (as well as with his friend, Nate, from school and a surprise visit from Daddy for lunch!). When we got home, there was a surprise on our doorstep-- Christopher's first big boy booster seat!  He wanted to try it out in the living room before we put it in the car...

I think it suits him well! And attention all grandmas, we will test this seat out for awhile before getting you your own seats for your respective cars. This seat symbolizes freedom for us when we travel--yay! No more lugging the 25 pound carseat through the airport and no more spending time installing the stinkin' carseat after flying for hours. Woohoo! Even better: the car seat=$250, the booster=$40.

Twins and more twins

So we let Chris babysit Ari and Asher today and Miss Debbie and I went out... Just kidding, we did no such thing but Chris and I had a great time with not one but two sets of twins! Sam and Noah are Christopher's age and their baby brothers are about 3 1/2 months old. The last few times we saw them, they were just tiny little guys but now they are growing and doing more baby-like things. Asher gave me the biggest and best smile, toothless of course! Here they are in their Bumbo seats...

After the bigger boys went out to play in more unseasonably beautiful weather, they all came in to hang with the little men. Here are all four Beznovsky boys...

And then Chris joined them...

We had a lovely afternoon and will see them all again soon!

Dr. Wogs

At school this week, Chris and his class are talking about how to keep their bodies healthy. One of those ways, of course, involves regular check-ups at the doctor so they made these cute little doctor kits to bring home. Notice that we now have an MD in the family...

The inside was filled with everything a young doctor would need. So when I bumped my arm on the door this morning, Dr. Woglom did the obvious and took out the tongue depressor to check my throat. I guess med school is more important than I thought!

Later in the day, Chris informed me that when he grows up, he wants to be a dog walker, which will at least save him from college loans.

Happy 8th Birthday Snuggles!

It is that time of year again today, that time when we celebrate the birth of our fabulous, amazing, and adorable dog, Kasey the Moe Woglom! We celebrated in style with her. Chris requested that we get Kasey a special doggie cookie from Brookside Barkery, our local pet store. Chris thinks these cookies look good enough for him to eat but I think he would be surprised at the taste! The cookie above is what I came home with. Kasey also received a new collar and leash for her birthday, the first one in 7 years and Chris added his own special necklace for her:

We gave Kasey a little part of her cookie dipped in peanut butter after singing "Happy Birthday" to her.  She was happy about the peanut butter but as usual, she is suspicious of all new large treats and it took her a little while to wolf down the cookie. Here is Chris giving her the first piece (sorry for the color and blurriness!)...

We are so honored to have Kasey in our life and we are thankful for our furry child every day!

Super Bowl

The Eakins came over for the Super Bowl last night and above is a pic of Tristan and Chris dancing to Beyonce. Chris is definitely busting a move!