Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Flacks! Since we had no school again due to the snow, everyone got to have a lazy day today. Charlie and Lucy woke up around 6:30 and Lucy went out to the couch and laid down. Obviously, she wasn't fully awake because she didn't even notice the Valentine's gifts that were waiting for her! But when she did . . . .

We gave Lucy an Elsa ice palace. It came with an Elsa doll and an Olaf and then we got an Anna doll to play with too. Lucy LOVES the movie Frozen and while this is bigger than what I would normally do for Valentine's Day, this was a big hit. She has played with it ALL day! And she said several times today, "Mommy and Daddy, thank you so much!! I love it!!"  You can see her excitement in this picture below.. . 

The first thing Charlie noticed when he saw everything was the animal crackers from Aunt Nae for him and Alex. He picked it up and said, "Cookies!" He carried it back and forth across the room for quite a while!

We finally got him to notice his gift - a magna doodle. He has a love affair with his sister's and has been trying unsuccessfully to steal it from her room each morning. So now he has his own!

We also got the boys a box of Teensy Fruits (since they can't eat any type of typical Chocolate Valentine's candy . . .something I guess we'll have to deal with once they begin school .. .. sigh . . .) Here you can see how upset Charlie is once he realized he ate all of his already!

Lucy played with her Elsa castle for a good 15 minutes before she realized that there were a few other things for her. Aunt Nae had sent her the new Sofia the First CD. We have heard it for most of the day as well. Her favorite songs are "Good Little Witch" and "Ride of Your Life." How do we know they are her favorites? Well, whenever they come up on the CD, she begins belting them out at the top of her lungs! :)

 Oh, the cookie jar! :) Who knew how much fun it could be?

Charlie finally realized he had a Valentine's gift from Grammy and Poppa! He has had a good time with his puzzle today. He knows where each one of the shapes goes, but taking them time to line them up so they fit back in the right space? Well, it's much more fun to bang it against the bottom in the place where the animal shape is supposed to go . ..it makes a fun noise!

Lucy got an Elsa wand that plays "Let it Go" from Grammy and Poppa for Valentine's day. She loves it so much that she took it with her when we took Alex to the Dr's office this afternoon (more on that in a minute). We got to hear "Let it Go" at least 500 times! ;)

 Alex finally woke up and what was the first thing he went for when he came in the room? Why the cookie jar, of course!!

And then, he found the Teensy Fruits! At least his appetite is coming back . . .

Eating his teensy fruits while looking at his book from Grammy and Poppa

Alex had a good time playing with his brother's magna doodle. We got him a Fisher Price zoo from the WeeRuns consignment sale (it's so cute - the little animals make sounds!). However, he didn't want anything to do with it. Sigh, I should have just gotten two magna doodles! He did eventually come around to play with it - hopefully he will enjoy it!

It was a fun morning. Lucy eventually had to take her toys to her room so that her brothers wouldn't "help" her play! The boys spent the morning playing with/fighting over the cookie jar. Did they want to eat the cookies? Nope . . . just play with the little bear! Alex would talk to it and Charlie would drum on the lid. They would stack their milk cups on top and then knock them off and laugh. Why even bother having toys, right? For the whole day, the bear was never out of arms length of one of them. . . 

We took Alex to the pediatrician this afternoon. He has been sick all week and even though he is definitely a little perkier than he has been, he still will come and cuddle up and lay in your lap instead of playing. He has been crying a lot for no apparent reason and his appetite has been lousy. Now, while he is my sweet boy who enjoys his snuggles, this has been completely out of character for him. I wanted to make sure that he was ok going into the weekend. Of course, it's what I thought - another ear infection . . in his left ear. The doctor wasn't sure if it was an ear infection that was near the beginning or near the end (my guess after this week? Near the end!) but she gave him an antibiotic because he's been so miserable. Hopefully, he will be back to his normal self soon!

All in all, it was a nice day full of family time together. Even though life with three little ones can be so crazy sometimes, I wouldn't change anything about it. I am so thankful for my many blessings. I have a wonderful, supportive husband who is such an amazing father. I have a precious little girl who is so smart and funny and brightens up every day. I have a little boy who is silly and makes me laugh all the time. I have another little boy with the sweetest heart who loves to give kisses and hugs. Even though there are some days where I may be counting down the minutes until bedtime starting at noon, I am grateful that my life is so full. Tonight while we were watching Mickey Mouse before bed, Alex walked over and stood next to me, took hold of my hand, and just stood there, watching Mickey and holding my hand. What precious moments - my heart is so full. Happy Valentine's Day!

SNOW!!!

It began snowing here around 1:00 yesterday and finally quit snowing around 2:30 this afternoon. At last measurement we had about 7 inches fall at our house. It has definitely been beautiful! Charlie, Lucy and I got out and played in the snow a little this afternoon (Alex is sick). Here are some snow pictures for you to enjoy!!

Lucy, measuring the snow yesterday afternoon - already at 3 inches and counting!

 We started our morning with some hot chocolate and watching the snow fall out the window. 

Let's go play in the snow!

 Charlie was fascinated with the snow . . .he couldn't seem to figure out what was going on!

 Snow angels!

Running all around in the yard

This was the best we could do with a picture of the two of them. Every time Lucy sat down next to Charlie, he jumped up and sat down somewhere else.I guess he didn't want his sister playing with his snow!

Catching snowflakes . . .they're February snowflakes, so that's ok! ;)

Having the best time playing!

My little snowman! :)

After about 10 minutes, Charlie decided he had played enough, so he headed back inside.

Lucy and I getting ready to go for a walk down the street.. . 

After our walk, we came back and Lucy said she wanted to build a snowman. We got the base of the snowman halfway done when she decided that it was just too much work. So instead, we made snowballs and threw them at each other . . .until Lucy decided it was more fun to eat the snowballs than to throw them! She made a few more snow angels and then decided she was done. We came back inside and got dried off and then she was ready to play Doc McStuffins for the afternoon!

And what did Alex do while we all played in the snow? Lounged around and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, of course!!

What we've been up to lately . . .

2014 started out with ear infections for all three Flack children. Let's just say, that having a sick kid is not fun, but having THREE at one time . . . oh my!  Once we got over all of that, things have just been so busy!! We've had snow days for the past two days now though and will have another one tomorrow, so I finally have a chance to catch up a little bit. So here goes!

Lucy decided that she wanted a haircut. We had said we just needed to get her bangs trimmed, but she said she wanted it shorter. Here's the before:

And here's the after!

 Her haircut just fits her so well. I was afraid that she would miss having her long hair because she always would talk about princesses' long hair. But she loves it! In fact, she has been quite the trendsetter. Two other little girls in her class got their haircut after Lucy came and showed hers off at school! :)

We went to see Gramma at school that day to show her Lucy's hair. The boys had the best time playing instruments!

The boys are climbing on everything these days. It seems like all we do these days is chase them back and forth, keeping them from jumping or falling off something. Of course, we have to start our day by watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They wake up saying, "Mickey, Mickey!"

We had a few snow days in January and while it was pretty, we all got a little stir crazy. We then had a really warm day, in the mid 60's so even with snow on the ground, we went to the park to play. The kids had lots of fun and I'm sure we will be spending a lot of time there in the spring, getting some energy out!

While cooking dinner the other night, the boys managed to get passed the gate from the living room to the kitchen. Of course, they went straight to the pantry, and helped themselves!

I came home from school the other day and needed a snack. I sat down with my apple and all of a sudden . . .

Yes, Alex loves eating apples, whether they belong to him or not! Good thing he's a cute kid! :)

Michael and Lucy had Daddy Daughter Date night this past Tuesday. :)

They went to Chili's. . . Lucy was very excited, especially about their dessert!! :)

In case you don't know, these boys are a big fan of cards. Here they are with their Valentines . . .they spent an hour, watching Mickey and playing with these!

And here's Lucy, dressed up to run errands before our big snow this week!!