The long short month

So, I hate February.  Like really hate.  It's cold, no super fun things to look forward to, yuck.  But, since I know this about myself, I selfishly look to fill the void that is February by adding in some fun things to do.  So far, so good and it's...  February 5th.  Sigh.  We have been enjoying our karaoke machine that Bamma gave us for Christmas.

 We went to see Moana with Bamma on a fun Friday with no school!

 Sam celebrated his half birthday and was Student of the Week in Kindergarten.  He was able to bring home Wally, the class mascot, and we took him out for ice cream.

 Isaac helped me do a deep clean of the oven.  Dr. Isaac, paging Dr. Isaac!

 Ellie turned 11 and celebrated with her usual, nap on the couch with tongue hanging out!

 Noah was able to go to a birthday party at Rockin Jump (local trampoline park) and had fun dueling with our neighbor Deven.

 Noah also recently had his purple belt testing in karate.

 Success, good job dude!

 He celebrated by finally using a giant glowstick light saber he had won in a raffle back in October.  It stayed lit for almost 2 whole days!

 100th day of school!

 Noah has had some fun exploring Google slides lately, and created a pug presentation.  Just for fun with his buddy Marko.

 We decided the cold weather called for a joint trip to Rockin Jump, this time with all the brothers.

 Today (Sunday) we braved Chinatown for Chinese New Years.  It was packed, but a lot of fun!  Sam was a pro with the chopsticks and ate everything!  Noah was awesome and tried everything too.  Isaac was just happy I brought a Cliff bar for him!

 Waiting for the parade with FULL sized packs of skittles from Bamma (winner!).

 It was a cold, but beautiful day!

 Isaac became delirious and at one point was jabbering away to me about the "friendly spice aliens" (no, not SPACE aliens mom, SPICE aliens).

 The parade did not disappoint, but it was SO crowded!

 There was a lot of this action today by myself and Uncle Josh, we'll be needing ice packs for the backs later as we watch the Super Bowl!  But the boys did a great job of proving they can handle even busy outings without meltdowns, woohoo!

Holiday recap!

 What can I say about the holidays, other than they were great!  We were blessed with lots of relaxing time together with our small family as well as lots of crazy time with our large, extended family!  We did some face swapping (results are horrifying to be sure!)...

 There was plenty of time for projects, like Sam's dino tail/hat.

 We kicked off the winter break from school with the "Illumination" event at Morton Arboretum with my parents.  It was a late night, but beautiful!

 Dinner out at the mall after shopping, Mike got into the spirit with a holiday shirt we gave him!

 Christmas Eve with the Rodriguez/Mioni/Klein crew.  Xavier LOVES his green beans!

 The boys, as usual, were spoiled rotten by the relatives!

 Christmas morning at the Hewes house!

Candy Canes at 8am?  Why not!

 Noah loved his Griffindor scarf from Santa!

 Sam enjoyed his new gloves!

 The Monday after Christmas was the day of the Benhart cookoff/game night.  I brought a "drinking" game to play with the kids.  It was "can you guess the beverage" with choices like pineapple juice or lemon juice.  Hilarious!

 We agreed, Adeline's "Grandma B's Lasagna" dish was a winner!

 My cousins Dan and Brian had created an official Family Feud game, complete with working buzzers!

 The outlaw team huddles together!

 The next couple days were spent crafting and playing together with the cousins.  My kids are so lucky to have so many helpful, older cousins!

We also hit the pool at the hotel where the adults were staying!

 And celebrated some December/January birthdays!

Of course we had to go see the new Star Wars too!

 And we joined in some reindeer games!

 While the tablecloth graffiti was an unplanned activity, it turned out to be awesome!

 After a whirlwind of 4 nights away from home, we returned on Wednesday to finally enjoy all the awesome gifts!

 The highlight of Noah's week was his new Skylanders Imaginators game!

 Sam and I tested out the new Wet Head game.  Santa must be a real hoot, giving us this one!

 Long story short, it works...I lost!

 Isaac will tell you his favorite thing is his new gumball machine from Bamma!

 Sam enjoyed lounging in his PJs most days, snuggled up in whatever spot he found cozy!

 This week has brought the return to school for the boys (I have another week off!).  We are so wiped out that we can nap even with the sun shining right on our faces!  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  On to 2017!!!