MONTH REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY

yet again we have had another great month. time goes by so fast and the kids are getting so big! we had a very eventful month of guitar lessons, basketball banquets, boy scout blue and gold banquet, a birthday and so much more that i'm sure i am forgetting. the kids did not have school on monday so me and some friends decided to take our kids to the indoor water park to help pass the time. it was a brilliant idea except for the fact that the actual water park did not open until 3:00, but lucky for us the kids were happy to play in the lap pool!

another exciting thing that is happening at our house is all the wonderful murals mysteriously being left on our walls and furniture! sofia is such a busy little, sneaky little munch-kin.  she is very aware that she is being naughty, but the act of making art is so much fun that she doesn't care. if you can't see the beautiful black markings all over the dresser, that is why i have a picture of this up. this is her latest masterpiece.... luckily the magic eraser made it disappear!

we live on about 2 1/2 acres and the boys are very curious as to what else might be living on the land with us! so with rob's help, they set out a trap only to catch an ugly, disgusting opossum! this thing was hissing and on alert the whole time we were observing it. the boys were so proud and nico even gave it a name. unfortunately we released it back into the yard and the boys were a little disappointed. apparently the opossum is harmless and is as scared of us as we are of them.
the kids got a surprising visit from uncle ben (my brother). the girls were so excited to have him spend the night and jump on the trampoline and do everything they told him to. nico made it his job to tell ben the dangers of smoking and anything else pertaining to the word of wisdom. jakob and ollie were just happy to see uncle ben and to play with them!

to finish up the month we of course had rob's birthday.... which was fun and exciting and the kids had so much fun planning for it. we also took the kids out of school on tuesday and took a road trip to alabama to say goodbye to my papa. it was so good to see my cousins and visit with family i hadn't seen in a while. my papa looked so nice and the service was just how he would have wanted it. unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and made for a very cold and wet day! the kids were all very curious as to what was in the wooden box in the room. so annelies being very brave, walked up to take a peak and came back quickly to report that she saw papa murphy in the box! it was quite funny how she said it. they all did very well and nico even kept his composure, which was surprising to both rob and i. 

all in all it was a great month and we did a lot of fun things! 

HE'S GETTING OLDER and GRUMPIER

hiding for dad's surprise

waiting for dad at his surprise party

rob's cheesecake that annelies made for him

well i am not too good at the birthday thing. rob is one to get himself whatever he wants whenever he wants it! (in moderation of course) so this birthday, just like every other birthday, fathers day and anniversary, i was clueless as too what he might want. i picked up on little hints now and then as to what he might need so i got those things..... like a new pair of jeans or a fondue kit to do with the kids, etc.... well those were apparently not what he wanted. oh, well. other than gifts, i think rob had a pretty good birthday. the kids and i woke up early and decorated the kitchen for a surprise party and made him his favorite applesauce cookies! the kids had been so excited to have a surprise party for him, so the night before they made a happy birthday banner and they each made a personal card for him. he was thrilled and enjoyed that the kids put such an effort into making his birthday special. Jakob was not too thrilled that it was somebody's birthday other than his own, but after some convincing and some "calming down" he was okay with it. that night rob and i went to dinner with friends and had a fun night chatting with them. i hope rob had a good birthday..... it didn't compare to mine, but all in all it think it was nice and relaxing!

AN ODE TO MY PAPA!

we have had a lot of things happen this week like the boys catching a possum in their trap or rob's 34th birthday, which i will post all about very soon. but i wanted to dedicate this post to my papa murphy. he is such a stubborn old man with the greatest since of humor. he loved my kids and ate them up every time we would visit. he loved taking annelies riding on his wheel chair or sharing his snacks with the kids. he was so excited to see us on our random visits. he loved visitors!!! my last visit was just me and my sister and i will never forget it. i am so grateful for this experience. i got to see a more tender side of my papa when they were visited by the local pastor. he shared with us scripture and sang my papa's favorite hymn..... which i regretfully forget, but will make an effort to find out. i got to see my papa touched by the spirit and the knowledge that death was coming filled his face with tears of sadness and joy. i loved my papa. he always looked out for our well being and even made an attempt to stop me from joining the church. he loves the Lord and on February 23rd my papa passed away and is back with family and friends and Heavenly Father. i will miss him, but i look forward to the day that we will meet again!! 

PICTURES FROM V-DAY

the menu

the chef hard at work

the waiters

my little sweetheart!

VALENTINE'S DAY

mommy's little helper!

licking there spoons and enjoying every minute.

we do not ever make a big deal about valentine's day. usually we get a little treat for the kids and have a nice dinner. this year was completely unexpected. first of all me and the girls made our favorite treat. CUPCAKES! the girls love baking with me and they especially love licking the spoons afterwards. they got really creative this year with decorating the cupcakes. we used hot pink icing and they got to sprinkle each cupcake. 

later in the day rob and nico came home with a beautiful vase of tulips (yellow and red).  they also announced that i would not be making dinner that evening. me and the girls were to dress up and get ready for dinner while rob and the boys decorated the dining room like a restaurant and served us girls a fabulous dinner. i got to sit down with two beautiful little girls and watch them act like little ladies. nico and jakob were so cute waiting on us and taking our orders. jakob would come to me every 5 minutes asking me what i want and then giving me a great big kiss once i told him. we were later served our steak, potatoes and fresh garden veggies. the cutest part was annelies' prayer to bless the food where she said..."heavenly father, please bless the food to make us strong, grateful for this beautiful restaurant and help us to always be a princess! amen."  the whole night was so cute and even included a lovely dance number from the boys. for dessert we were served a tray of cheesecake that eventually got dropped on the floor by nico who was trying so hard to balance it like a true waiter. it was a wonderful night and rob is so sweet to put something so special together for us girls. i know it will be something that his daughters and me will always remember. i think the boys enjoyed it just as much!

SOFIA IN GYMNASTICS

obviously not happy about gymnastics

sofia is begging to get out 

and ollie really wants to get in

so rob and i decided that sofia would be PERFECT for gymnastics. she has the perfect little body and lots of energy and loves to tumble and bounce around. lucky for us there is the gwinnett gymnastics center right around the corner from us. i immediately signed her up and she had her first class this past tuesday. i did not take into account her huge fear of being left, so needless to say she SCREAMED the entire 45 minutes of class. the teacher assured me that she would warm up eventually. i hope she is right!

DATE NIGHT

me shooting rob's gun

mandy's turn

rob and joe checking out our shooting abilities

rob and i met up with friends of ours to go out last friday night. we had a good time. the boys took us to the shooting range and let us girls have a try at shooting rob's gun. i was not happy with that gun. it was too heavy and the kick back was too strong not to mention the amo would often come back and hit me and mandy in the head and leave gun powder all over us. i think the next time i shoot, rob will have to get me a cute little gun that is more my size. did i mention i broke a nail!! it was a fun night and after all the shooting, we ate at a yummy brazilian restaraunt and then finished the night with brusters ice cream (YUM!!) and lots of fun stories from Joe.