We started our 2017 in Indiana with Dave’s family.

The kids were thrilled when we let them “swim” in the giant tub. They thought it was even better when Dave added bubbles.

Adam was so excited to turn in his reading marshmallows. He was supposed to earn 10 marshmallows over Christmas break (each marshmallow equals 20 minutes of reading). He ended up with 25 marshmallows!

Unfortunately, shortly after that marshmallow picture was taken, Adam started to feel really crummy.

Luke was able to go back to school on schedule, at least until he got sick too.

All three kids ended up with the flu (Influenza B to be exact).

Adam ended up missing five days of school and Luke missed four. It was rough around here, but they’re all healthy again now (thankfully).

Maggie had a make-up gymnastics class and I got to go into the gym with her.

The kids used some of their Christmas money to buy luggage. They each picked out their own colors/pattern. I feel like we need to plan a vacation now so we can test them out.

Maggie was thrilled to transfer her ballet shoes and tutus to her new dancing bag.

Adam’s class has started working on cursive. I’m so glad his school still teaches it.

Okay, so that’s pretty much what we’ve been up to so far this year (the boys are both playing basketball too – but no pictures of that yet). The week or so of dealing with the flu really threw us all for a loop – it was not a fun start to 2017. We’re working on getting back into a routine around here.

When choosing a piñata for your class holiday party, you should definitely bypass all traditional piñatas, snowmen, stars,  etc, and go with a Christmas turtle. (Also, you should have your dad take you shopping, because he probably wouldn’t have vetoed the Darth Vader piñata.)

On Tuesday morning when I walked the boys to the bus stop, there wasn’t a snowflake to be seen. Three hours later, when Maggie and I went to her Art & Music Class, the ground was covered and it was snowing like crazy.

Maggie was so excited; she’d been hoping for snow. She stomped around outside for a while when we got home, making tracks.

The boys played outside for a bit after school as well. Luke’s a big fan of making snow angels.

Maggie’s dance class performed in a Christmas program this past weekend. She is wearing a black leotard and standing near the tree (just look for a little girl that starts dancing before everyone else). If you listen, at about 35 seconds in to the dance, you can hear her exclaim, “Look at me kids, and Lukey, and Daddy! I doin’ it!” She was so excited that we all came to watch her dance.

I took the kids to see Santa at the mall today. Maggie was so excited. She ran right up to him and started chattering away. She told him she wants a dollhouse (news to me) and that she’s “getting bigger and bigger”. Luke asked for a video game and Adam asked for some matchbox cars and a Lego set.

Luke insisted that Santa would like his shirt, because “Santa likes fancy things, and my shirt is fancy.”

I probably should have waited for a different day, the kids all look tired in the pictures and Maggie looks especially pained when asked to smile on command. But despite the less than amazing pictures (I confess, I have unrealistic expectations when it comes to photographing three young children), they were so excited to go see Santa – so it was totally worth it.

Here’s a recap for you of our past eight Halloweens.

I don’t know how many more years I’ll be able to get away with the kids having themed costumes – but I’m going to take advantage of it for as long as it lasts.

Thanks again Mom, for suggesting this year’s costumes. I think they looked super cute (though giving Luke a whistle may not have been one of my wisest parenting decisions).

It was gorgeous last Tuesday during Maggie’s art and music class. So the teacher had us go on a scavenger hunt to find leaves and other fun things.

When we came back in from our “hike” (as Maggie called it), we made collages with our findings.

Maggie insisted that we make an owl, and I think it turned out pretty well.

After making our owl, it was time for music and dancing. Maggie’s favorite instrument is the triangle.

I can’t wait to see what they have us make tomorrow.

Adam is pretty proud of his new gymnastics skill,

and rightfully so.

I signed the boys up for a pumpkin science event Saturday morning at the nature center near our house.

Their first task was to find pumpkins that had been hidden outside.

Then they went inside and learned about their pumpkins. They measured and weighed them, learned all about the different parts of a pumpkin, and decorated them too.

Luke loved seeing a pumpkin cut in half. Adam was surprised to learn that pumpkins float.

While Dave and the boys did their pumpkin experiments, Maggie and I hung out on the playground.

When the boys were done, they joined us.

It was a lot of fun, and I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open for other events held there.

The boys had their last games of rec league soccer on Thursday. They’ll start back up in the spring.

Luke does really well, when he remembers to stay focused. He is easily distracted by airplanes, other kids he knows (Luke’s pretty popular), imaginary bad guys, and the uncontrollable urge to do the chicken dance on the field. He is very entertaining to watch though.

They both ended up on the lemon colored teams this year. Those super bright jerseys are really easy to find in the laundry basket.

Adam also played on a select soccer team this year. It kept us very busy. Between the two teams, Adam was playing or practicing four or five days each week.

All that hard work definitely paid off though. Adam has gotten a lot better over the past couple months.

He was in a tournament this weekend. They played three games. His team tied two of the games (the first game was one to one, with Adam scoring the lone goal for his team), and then unfortunately lost the third.

He’s got his last meeting for the select league on Friday. Then we’ll have a break from soccer for a while.