February Fun!

Here's what we have been up to for the past month...

We went to an Ohio State wrestling meet.

They beat the Gophers!

Brooks has officially decided that he wants to be a doctor! :)

We had a really nice day so the kids spent some time outdoors blowing bubbles.

We tried a play cafe in town called Firefly.

Kylie has stopped sucking her thumb.

As a reward, she got to pick out a toy and she chose this Sheriff Callie costume.

The kids have been spending snipets of time playing well together.

I love when they love each other.

These two love crafts...especially when paint is involved.

We had lunch at Chick Fil A!

It doesn't matter how cold it is outside, Kylie always chooses to trade her toy for an ice cream treat.

We had a discussion about getting a dog someday.

I told the kids we could get one in about 10 years.

They spent a large portion of the day researching dog breeds.

We also went to COSI which is the science museum in town.

Brooks loved the "Gadgets" area. 

He played with the balls for-ever.

Here is my official Valentine's present from Jon.

Yay! A new pair of running shoes in my favorite color!

And we had our first real (by Minnesota standards) snowfall in Columbus.

We had about 6-8 inches on a warm Saturday.

 We spent a couple of hours shoveling, snow blowing, and playing.

Brooks isn't a huge fan of the snow yet, but the rest of us had a blast!

Happy Hearts!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Barlow Family! 

We are infinitely blessed with love and sweetness!

Valentine's Day crafts!

 Writing out her Valentine cards for her friends!

Valentine's date night.

We had Jeni's ice cream (a Columbus staple) and saw American Sniper.

Opening Valentine's presents.

I love Brooks' expression!

Jon was on call on Valentine's Day so we headed over to the mall play area!

Roses and a card from my love!

A Whole Lot of Nothing...

Besides our usual routine of preschool, music class, gymnastics, and bible study, there is not much going on over here. We are stuck inside most days, and I think we are all longing for the warm, sunny days of spring and summer when we can just meander outside without coats, hats, and mittens. But they'll be here soon enough, right? Anyway, here are some pictures from our pretty boring days:

Just hanging out!

"What is your favorite bear or stuffed animal's name?"

Kylie said, "Snow."

She made that up! :)

Love this boy!

Kylie and Brooks have just recently started to play well together for short periods of time.

Above they are reading books together, and below they are coloring together.

This was the only picture I took of my birthday events, but I really did have a wonderful day/weekend!

On Friday night, I went out to dinner with some of my new girlfriends at the Wine Bistro.

On Saturday night, Jon and I went to dinner at Alana's and then to a movie.

We saw "Unbroken."

Sunday, we just took it easy, then Monday (my actual b-day), I cooked my favorite meal (corn and cheese chowder) and bought a pink Dairy Queen cake! YUM!

Browsing the West Elm catalog.

Kylie made this picture for Brooks.

Clearly she didn't put much effort into the coloring, but she did write his name for the first time.

It's actually the first time she has written anything other than her own name!

Kylie loves gymnastics and it makes my heart so happy!

V-sit.

This is another Badger quilt for another Badger baby arriving sometime this month!

And of course, we couldn't escape this winter without another round of illnesses.

Kylie has a nasty cough, fever, "tummy ache," and "eyes that hurt when she looks at things."

While I love this beautiful life, I really can't wait to enjoy it in the hot, hot sun in a few short months!

Wonderful Winter!

The month of January, and the year of 2015, has started out in an interesting fashion. It has been crazy and stressful, but slow and easy too if that makes sense. We started out with a week of illness and laying low. Then we had a week of snow and cold and cancelled school days. And last week, everything was back to normal as far as school and our routine, but it picked back up so fast that it has been a little overwhelming! I am grateful that we are all feeling well, and that we are back into a routine. Somehow this is month is flying by and I haven't taken many pictures. Here are the few that I have:

Snow Day!

Snow angels and shoveling!

Kylie made monsters.

She also started gymnastics again, and is loving it.

We cheered for The Ohio State as the won the National Championship!

Being silly.

Playing at Kylie's preschool open house.

Brooksie really really wants to go to school with Kylie!

This is Kylie's first family portrait

L to R: Me, Jon, Brooks, Kylie

Another Badger quilt for another Badger baby!

Merry Christmas 2014!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This blog post is a little late because we have been under the weather. We had a wonderful 9 day trip back to Minnesota and Wisconsin to see our families, but the day after we got back to Columbus Kylie caught a stomach bug. Then everyone else caught the stomach bug. So we have spent the past week either being sick, taking care of someone who was sick, or cleaning to avoid further sickness. I am so thankful for bleach, and I am praying that all of the germs are finally gone!

Now, on to our fun Christmas! We spent the first half of our vacay with the Barlow's in Hudson. We got to see a lot of our old friends, we spent a ton of quality time with Jon's family, and did a lot of fun activities together! We had a baking day, bowling, a dinner out without the kids, and Jon and I were even able to go to a late movie together! Of course, we also went to church on Christmas Eve, had an amazing home-cooked meal, and opened an extremely generous amount of gifts!

On Christmas Day, we headed down to Stewartville to spend the second half of our vacay with the King family. We celebrated three times with different portions of family, and it was so great to see most of my extended family! Most importantly, we got to hang out with my parents, grandma, brother, sister and their families quite a bit, which is always the best part!

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful holiday!
Merry Christmas to all!

 Barlow baking party!

Cousins!

Swimming Barlows!

 L to R: Brooks, Kylie, Elias, Espen

Barlow Boys!

Matching Christmas PJs.

"Cocoa Doggie."

 Checking out his gifts from Santa.

DeYoung second cousins.

L to R: Ayanna, Katy, Lydia, Addi, Brooks, Kylie, Charlie, AJ, and Emmit

There might have been a juggling demonstration...

Enjoying Christmas.

Looking skeptical.

 Having the Mayor of Stewtartville as your grandpa has it's perks....

...Private fire station tour!!!

Brooks was in heaven!

Enjoying some new toys on the way back to Columbus,

Back at home.

Wearing his new cute sweater from Auntie Mia!!