February 2014: This and That...

So far, February has proven to be a [yet again] freezing month, where we find ourselves searching for things to do to keep us busy when we can't get outside (and keep us from going stir-crazy too!).  So far, I think we've managed pretty well...

We took Adelyn & Olivya to their first real movie, Disney's FROZEN (fitting, really...). Both girls did great for the first hour or so, and then started to get a little bit restless. One perk of a small town theater is that we could go out of the theater and stand in the back, the girls could play on the ground, and still semi-watch the movie. Needless to say, it was a cute movie, but I think we'll wait for a little bit before we go to another one with all of us...

Last weekend, Michael and I went to the ELCA Youth Worker's Extravaganza in St. Louis WITHOUT kids!! Yes, it was for work, but we did manage to get some time for the two of us (HUGE thanks to my amazing parents for watching the girls for this long weekend for us!!). We spent our weekend going to seminars and sessions, touring around St. Louis a bit, and hanging out with some friends from Brainerd that are also work with youth in ministry settings. We made the most of it, that's for sure!

(Yes, that's a shake with bacon in it...)

We even took a day and found the St. Louis Bascillica via public transportation...what an incredible building!! Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long because there was a boy scout ceremony of some sort going on, but the architecture was incredible!

This also happened to be over Superbowl Sunday, and luckily for us, the conference had a Super Bowl party complete with drinks, big screens, and lots of people!

And of course, I couldn't go the whole weekend without talking to the babes. Thank goodness for technology!!

And we've also been into cooking/baking lately. We (and by "we", I mean Michael) have started making our own bread (something I've been wanting to do for a long time) and I've also been trying my hand at some new Pinterest recipes lately (chicken gnocchi soup - yum! and Peanut butter Thai chicken - also yum!) so we have a great little helper who loves to be in the kitchen, and is so darn cute in her new apron that her Grandma Carmack sent her in the mail;) 

And these two are just growing so fast and are so fun to watch. Though Adelyn still has some "pushing spells" (when she tells Olivya to do something, and Olivya doesn't do what she says, she pushes her over...), for the most part, they play together amazingly. Adelyn LOVES to help take care of Olivya and she always makes sure that Olivya is involved in whatever we are doing! (the last picture is when I caught Adelyn red handed giving Olivya some of her "chocolate milk" aka her nutritional shake after I had directly told her not to...And she waited until I went into the kitchen to do it too! And of course, Olivya wasn't about to object...) STINKERS!! 

Oh geez...I can see the trouble that these two are going to get into already! 

Well, there you have it. That's what we've been up to this cold, cold month!