It's COLD outside!

It's been a month! A month of cold weather and computer woes.  So let's see...

Tia Veronika was in town in January and the kids had a blast with her.  She barely recovered from her red-eye before they made her drive to the climbing wall.  On Saturday they suffered through dental day with her in exchange for another trip to a different climbing wall.  The next day they made her sit through hours of watching their sports practice. 2 hours of soccer and 2.5 hours of baseball. That's a lot of watching!

The big Taft family news is that Seth and Kristen had twin baby boys.  Their twins were the same size of Charlie and Diego combined. WOW.  I'm so amazed.  They are super cute, burrito brothers:

Carlos spent a weekend away and came back much more zen.  I'm not sure that sleeping on the floor in a house full of 15 guys was very restful, but he still seemed better rested. The kids and I actually had a great time while he was gone as there were a handful of other moms with husbands gone so we banded together with playdates, dinners and fun activities.  We went to a trampoline place in the suburbs which the kids loved and was way better than I anticipated.  Charlie and Ian played dodgeball while Sofia showed no fear in sliding and jumping on the trampoline.  At one point I dove to try to catch and prevent her from doing flips down a trampoline slide, but failed miserably ending up belly flopping unceremoniously among 4 year olds as she did do flips.  She just giggled as I picked my various pulled muscles up off the trampoline.

To combat the cold we have been frequenting museums, trying to sled and enjoying fires which the boys seem to enjoy as much as me.  They line up every pillow, cushion, blanket and other cozy item they can find along in the living room and we huddle up. Another favorite winter activity is having a dance party. Here is Charlie dancing to Uptown Funk: http://youtu.be/mY8doC1HpEw

 
Of course we also have a construction project going on! Carlos and the boys are building loft beds.  Charlie and Diego have been fascinated by the project and insist on helping.

Carlos might not be the most proactive Valentines person, but Charlie makes up for it.  When I woke up I found him working hard on cards to both of us and a message made from playdoh, along with my coffee and oatmeal.