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... he asks you to fix his hair before school!!! All the sudden, Kaden decided he needs to look 'cool' now... like a rockstar, he says. Yikes... Sky didn't care about his hair until just a few years ago... when he informed me 'the girls like the curls.' Aren't they just a riot?? 
The front of our house at 8am.
All through church, Kaden & Kaleb could hardly contain themselves... they were SOOOO excited to go play in the snow. By the time church was out, the ground was completely covered!! If you look closely, you can see both Kaden & Kaleb sticking their tongues out trying to catch snowflakes. Sky was pouting because I made them all take a photo before I let them into the car to go home. Our California boy HATES the cold!!! (And no, that isn't a giant snowball on Donnie's head... it's a snowflake falling in front of my camera.=)
When we got home, we saw the snow wasn't sticking like it had at church... at least not for a little while.
The front of our house at 3pm.
I think we only got about an inch or so... and it melted hours later. But it was so wet, it made for perfect snowballs!! Kaden & Kaleb stayed outside until their fingers and toes were completely numb! They obviously don't have snowboots, so they bundled up with soccer socks... but even those get wet after a while. It was only the boys' second time ever playing in snow... and they both kept saying how they wished it snowed down here more often. As for me, after moving down here from Chicago, I was quite happy to see the snow completely melt away after a fun day of play. When the boys came inside they warmed up with a cup of hot cocoa... with extra marshmallows.
A few weeks ago, Donnie went overseas and was lucky to be able to stop in Rota, Spain. They were there a few days and were able to take in a few sites. One of those stops was at the beach, of course. The trip was unnecessarily prolonged, a few days trip turned into a week and a half. Luckily, this little stop in Spain made it all worthwhile!
Would it make me sound jealous if I were to add, while Donnie was at the beach that day I was at the doctor's office with Skyler, who had progressed bronchitis and a sinus infection... AND was overwhelmed with writing three papers that week? Okay... forget about sounding jealous... I admit it, I am. But, who wouldn't be??
We were driving home from church today, and Donnie did the craziest thing... he pulled into a new subdivision just down the road from our house. I was a bit confused when he pulled over and asked me to get out of the passenger's seat and sit in the back, where Sky was sitting. Next thing I know... Sky is getting into the driver's seat of my car... and I could tell by his disposition it WASN'T the first time either!! Apparently, Dad has been giving him lessons over the last few days!! So, Sky begins driving down a road where construction hasn't begun yet. He does a perfect 3-point turnaround and proceeds back to our house. He pulls perfectly up the driveway and alongside Donnie's truck. It wasn't until after he put the car in park, I realized I'd been holding my breath!!! Phew!!!!! I'm not quite sure how I feel about this... it's REALLY hitting me hard that he turns 15 this summer... but this whole driving thing?? I'm DEFINITELY not ready for this yet!!!!
I love Valentine's Day... any day where you step back and recognize the ones you love, is a day worth celebrating. Unfortunately, it can be ruined just a bit by the 2-hour wait at even the most casual restaurant. So, Donnie & I decided to go out on Friday night to avoid the crowds. We did the typical dinner and a movie... but we had a GREAT time!!
I felt really spoiled this year... my amazing sister-in-law sent a surprise box from Sephora, which was really fun to get!! Donnie showered me with roses, Godiva chocolates and a little something from Victoria's Secret (G rated =)... but I was just thankful he was home this year. I also received cards from the boys, and was especially touched to read this one with Kaleb's signature. Gosh, he's getting so big!!
Since Donnie & I went out Friday night, we spent Valentine's Day at home with the boys. After dinner, Donnie gave them the Wii that was supposed to be their Christmas present and we all played for a few hours. They thought it was the best Valentine's Day ever!!!
We just had the best weekend ever up in Atlanta visiting Donnie's sister, Ursula, and her hubby, Keith. They are both big into motocross... in fact, Keith was a youth champion. So now all three of our boys have the motocross bug... and Donnie & I have caught it pretty bad as well.
Urs & Keith decided it would be best to start us out on the mini bikes, and gradually work us up to the bigger bikes. Even though they were small, they were pretty quick and took a little getting used to.
Kaleb just couldn't go fast enough!!!! Here he is with his Aunt Ursula.
Here's Mom, getting ready to give Kaleb a ride.
Keith is pretty ruthless on these bikes... but kept it pretty slow riding Kaleb... even though Kaleb BEGGED for him to go FASTER!!!!
Kaden and Ursula
Kaden had just as much fun riding as Kaleb did!!!
It turns out Sky is quite a natural on the bike... it didn't take him long as all to get used to it on the trail, taking some pretty tight turns. However, it'll be a while until he's able to give Uncle Keith a run for his money!! =) Sky loved riding SO much, he was outside riding in the dark on the trail behind their house for hours... long after the rest of us went inside.
It was REALLY cold on Saturday... it actually SNOWED on us, so we all had to bundle up!! But we had SO much fun!!! 
Saturday night, we celebrated Keith's birthday. Ursula cooked the YUMMIEST roast and we totally pigged out!! Of course we saved room for birthday cake and loaded sundaes... yum!! Urs also got these really fun poppers... you pull on the sides until they pop, and out come cute little novelties. Each of them had a crown, the boys thought it was SO fun!!!
Here's Kaden & Kaleb playing on the seesaw in Urs & Keith's backyard. They thought it was so cool, that we needed to get one too! It was a lot warmer on Sunday, so we spent quite a few hours playing outside in the backyard, at the park kicking around the soccer ball... and of COURSE, some more riding!! In fact, Donnie, Sky & I rode until our rears were literally sore!! AND... we've decided to get some bikes!!
Ursula & I have gotten REALLY close... it's SO great to have them so close by!!
We didn't get home until Monday afternoon... as we were packing up, the younger two boys were literally crying because they didn't want to go home!! They can't wait for Urs & Keith to come down in a few weeks for their visit. Of COURSE, they're bringing their bikes so we can hit some trails down here. =)
When Urs walked through our door... our younger two boys literally ran to her, threw their arms around her, yelling 'Aunt Ursula!' It was SO cute... and of course she LOVED it!!!!
Since we had to reschedule our Christmas weekend... Urs decided to bring all her gifts down for New Year's Day. We all were quite spoiled!! The boys received some really great books and games... and Sky got a 5x5 Rubik's Cube. He had 2 sides solved by the time Urs left that evening!
Urs brought Donnie a really cool wooden Mind Benders game... which him & Skyler played with for quite a while.
As for me... I got QUITE pampered! Urs is now retired... but has done hair for over 20 years. So I got the royal treatment... complete with a gift bag full of salon hair products! We're working on putting platinum blonde highlights in my hair, to really brighten it up... but today, we needed to put some medium ash blonde low lights in it too.
It looks a lot shorter in this photo... but she cut only 2 inches off the back, and gave me a lot more layers. I LOVE it!!!
We had SO much fun visiting with Urs today... the boys can't WAIT to spend the weekend at her & Uncle Keith's house and ride dirt bikes (neither can Donnie & I =) !!!!
