Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh, how times change after children! Thanks to Maria staying with the boys, Donovan and I did take a small amount of time by ourselves. We ran errands, but we were together and able to speak without 1,538,354 interruptions. We were home in time for a Valentine's dinner with the boys, though.

We had a heart-shaped pizza and a yummy chocolate dessert with strawberries. Yep, that's how we roll here at the Nelson house.

Here is Brighton making sure he gets every last bit of his dessert.

After dinner, my boys worked on putting together Brighton's new puzzle.

Making Valentines

We have yet another snow day today, so we decided to take advantage of being inside by making Valentine's cards.

Brrrrr - Playing in the Snow

Daddy came home early today because the boys have really been wanting to jump in the big snow piles outside. I think it took more time to get the boys bundled up so they'd stay warm then they actually played outside; they had fun, though.

Rigley liked making and throwing big snowballs.

Daddy built a snow tunnel. Brighton loved crawling through it!

Rigley went through once and he was done! :)

They tried to make snow angels, but the snow was a bit too hard on top.

Valentine's Tea

Every year at Brighton's preschool, they host a Valentine's Tea for the moms and grandmas. They put on a little program with songs and such and then we have snacks.
There are only 2 boys (including Brighton) in Bright's class and they did not sing the songs or do the motions! They left that to the girls.

Blizzard - Day 2

To help break up the monotony of being snowed in, we decided to build a fort. We built a fort under the dining room table, complete with blankets, lots of stuffed animals, and a DVD player for movie time.

Blizzard - Day 1

We were under a blizzard warning and they were right. It snowed and snowed and the wind blew until our windows rattled. That meant Daddy got to join us at home for a snow day!

Daddy collected some clean, fresh snow and we made snow ice cream.
Brighton & Rigley took turns stirring.

They both loved eating it!

Since it was too cold and windy to get outside, the boys built their snowmen inside.

Indian Summer?

After painting pottery, we decided to take advantage of the unusually warm January weather and play outside. Here are some pictures of the boys having fun in the warmth.

Rigley's flower

Brighton's flower

Brotherly love

Painting Pottery

We went to a pottery painting place with some friends from Luna Moms Club this morning. I decided that I would let the boys paint however they wanted. We chose plates so that they could eat off of them and enjoy their artwork.

Winter Zoo Day!

The weather took a beautiful turn and it was warm enough to head out to the zoo! Unfortunately, we only had 45 minutes to take in all the animals. I told the boys that we would go as soon as we picked Brighton up from school. Then, I checked the hours - oops! We made it and I think the only animals we didn't go see since they were a bit out of the way were the zebras, warthogs, and the reptile house inhabitants.
We didn't get many pictures because we didn't have time to pose and take them!

We still had some time after the zoo closed before we needed to head home, so we played at the park outside the gates for a while.

A visit to Dr. Dobbs

Rigley has beautifully corrected feet and our family is very thankful for Dr. Dobbs, Kristina, and the staff at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Rigley wears his brace at night for 12-14 hours and we go for a check every 3 months. He loves Dr. Dobbs and Miss Kristina, but is often shy once we get there. Brighton loves the toys in the waiting area and eating in the hospital cafeteria! :)

It was time for another check-up, so we headed out on our one day trip to St. Louis and back. It makes for a long day, but we are so blessed to be close enough to drive to one of the world's top doctors for clubfoot treatment. Rigley's feet look great and we head back in 4 months for our next check and to get new "shoes."

Brighton's Notes

Brighton has really started doing well with his handwriting. It's still mostly all caps, but he's doing such a good job at writing and sounding out his words to spell. He got a notebook for Christmas and likes to write notes to people (things) in it.
He has written ones to Mommy, Daddy, Dog-Dog, and the one below is to the snowman Rigley, Daddy, and Brighton made.

It reads, "To Frostey Brighton and Rigleys snow man we love you and baby loves you to"

Frosty the Snowman

The boys were very excited to head outside with Daddy today and build a snowman. The snow had started to melt, but they found enough to make a good one!

They both really liked helping pack the snow on the snowman.

The finished product - they named him Frosty.

We found enough snow that both Brighton and Rigley could make a snow angel.

First snow of the year

We got our first snow on Monday, but it has been SO cold here, I haven't let the boys go out and play in it. Today, we brought the snow inside to play.

Play time!

Our first Luna Moms Club playgroup of 2011 was at an open gym in a gymnastics center. The boys had a great time running, jumping, and playing with their friends.