Darby's Car

One of the challenges of going outside is having Darby, who wants to crawl and move but can't walk yet. I have put her in the stroller before but I recently discovered that she is perfect for this car. (Our neighbor gave it to us when her girls got too big. Brad wanted to get rid of it at first but I'm so glad we have kept it) 

This has been the perfect solution to taking Darby outside.  She LOVES it! 

 

She is buckled in but she seems so unstable.  It must be her strong core that keeps her upright, unless she spots something on the ground that she wants to pick up. 

The Big 40!

Brad had a poker tournament so I took the kids down to my parents.   My parents anniversary was on February 3rd and this year marks 40 years of being married.  They continue to be an amazing example to me, Brad and so many others.   

(unfortunately I forgot my camera and my sister took this picture with her phone)

Brad and I are SO thankful both our parents are wonderful examples of what a committed, loving, lasting relationship looks like. 

It's been too long

It's been a long time since we have been to Krispy Kreme.  It's always fun to have family outings.

Peek-A-Boo

We were playing Peek-A-Boo with Darby. 

Once I got the camera out she just wanted the camera.

Friends

Brody was invited to his friends house a couple of weeks ago. We were excited to have Ben over to our house. I think Ben was a little overwhelmed with all the younger siblings around. 

Crazy Hair Day

Brody's school had crazy hair day. Since Brad is the hair guy in our family he fixed Brody's crazy hair. We barely made it to the bus stop on time. 

 

January Date Nights

Similar to last January I made a "resolution" to go on a date night once a week for the month of January. We had to be a little more creative trying to find someone to watch all 4 kids for us. We did it! 5 dates in the 5 weeks of January. I only managed to get one picture but here are a few recaps of our dates. 

Our friends from church, the Hodos, watched all 4 kids on the first Saturday of the month.  They have 3 kids of their own so it was a busy house.  The kids love playing over there so we knew they were in good hands.   Brad and I went to see Les Miserables.   We both loved the movie and Brad thinks it may even be his favorite movie of all time.  

The 2nd week I asked my parents to watch the boys on a Saturday.  It was a cold clear day so I had the great idea of going to Alki and going for a walk.   We lasted about 10 minutes. 

Then we went here. 

And worked on a crossword puzzle.  

It sounds dull but so nice to relax and do something like that with my best friend. 

For date #3 we sent the boys to Grammy & Fafa's for the weekend.  We still had Darby so my friend Deanna watched her for one evening.  We took the opportunity to go see Lincoln.  We also enjoyed this movie.  It is too difficult to compare this with Les Mis because they are both so different.  Since we only had to get back to one kid (who we knew was already sleeping) we took our time to hang out with a Starbucks and watched people walk around the mall.

Date #4 - My parents watched the kids again and we went to IFLY.  

Lots of Fun

We squeezed in our last date on the last day of the month.  (Brad wanted to push it until next week but that would be breaking my rules and my reason for this idea.)  My friend, Jen, who watched the kids for date #1 watched Colt, Ollie & Darby for a little over an hour.   We simply went to Starbucks and took a little walk.  It was nothing fancy but another reminder of the importance of finding time for just us two.  

I'm thankful for all of those who helped us out with these dates.  I'm already looking forward to next January. 

(Between Sounders games, high school auctions and first date anniversaries there will be no shortage of other dates in our year.  But it is a little more challenging with 4 kids)