The Baranko Family

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A WI Valentine's

Luke had a bit of an accident at his playdate on Friday and ended up giving himself a frenectomy - which means he tore the skin that attaches between his two front teeth and under his top lip. He had a huge fat lip and a loose front tooth. It looked really bad the first day, but as soon as the next day he looked much better. We're told from Dr. Joe that he'll make a full recovery, his tooth will even stop being loose! The kid is pretty tough - he was wanting to chew food already that same night.

We went to WI to visit Mom and Dad over the weekend, and were so psyched to get a visit with the Yttre's in and Great-Aunt Barbara. Fun, fun!

Josie and Luke have a nice bond, they play so well together

Claire had so much fun with all the girls!

Eloise, Josie and Isabelle with their awesome Mommy

Making Valentine's cookies with Grandma

Happy Valentine's Day!! Mom made a yummy beef stroganoff dinner for us.

Two little kitty cats perching on the sides of the couch

Aunt Barbara is my Grandma Kurz's baby sister. She has so many similarities to my Grandma that it was so fun spending time with her at her house.

Luke liked playing in the empty hot tub in her basement - I remember taking a dip in that hot tub when I was a little girl

I love the wallpaper beach scene - really helps the basement feel more tropical when you're hot tubbing down there.

Aunt Barbara has a big toy box for visiting kiddos

I took Claire to music class on Monday which was very fun. She is such a ham - she loves to sing and dance - she has some pretty cool moves. She pops her hip and sticks out her little butt, it is hilarious.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Sledding

Weekend 'o birthday parties in an otherwise uneventful week.

Another sweet ballerina pic

Hop on pop

Luke's friend Robert's birthday party was at a real fire station

Sunday we went to WI for Orrin's sledding birthday party. Such a cute idea for a winter birthday.

Claire continues to HATE the cold - we ended up spending much of our time there in the car with her.

Jackson enjoying his hot cocoa

Luke actually sledded only a couple times

Everyone else was having a blast!

Cute Lila. I didn't even get a pic of the bd boy

Dentist appointment for Claire this week. Interesting pose little lady.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

5th Largest Snow Storm

Chicagoland enjoyed the 5th largest snow storm in its history this past week. It was a lot of snow! Matt snowblowed the driveway, roof raked the roof joints and shoveled the front/back walkways THREE times in one day just to keep up with it. I told Luke we could go sledding at a nearby hill on the day of the snow storm (before I realized we were in the midst of setting a snow record) and besides almost getting the car stuck in the snow, the howling, swirling winds and freezing cold blowing snow made for a not-fun sledding trip. Plus the snow was too deep to sled, we didn't go anywhere, and that was after we schlepped our way up to the top of the hill. We tried for like 5 minutes before Luke shouted to me over the wind "MOM! I think we should head back!" Smart kid.

I spent the weekend at home and other than that short sledding fail, I didn't even leave the house from Friday night to Monday morning. Claire started running a 102 degree fever Friday night, so we cancelled our plans for Saturday and stayed home, then the snowstorm was all day Sunday and into Monday. My work was even delayed until 10am (that never happens) and of course all the schools were cancelled. It was kind of fun being home that long, but I once again was able to have a new appreciation for at home Moms who have to find ways to entertain their kids every hour of every day, day after day. Being in my pajamas until evening trying to remember if I ever brushed my teeth that day, while wracking my brain for things to do with the kids as we entered hour 8 of playtime (internal self-talk the whole time "Do NOT turn on shows Kelly, you can do it!") - let's just say it was very different than our normal weekends. It didn't help that Claire was still sick so a little whinier than usual. All in all it was a cozy weekend and the snow was fun! It felt like we were going to go the whole winter without snow, so it was nice to see the white stuff. Meanwhile, my parents were vacationing in Punta Cana, rubbing in their gorgeous weather and vacation fun with frequent pic texts:) Jealous!!

Snow Patrol

Luke helping shovel

Matt buried the top and bottom of our dog crate in the snow for Luke to use as caves

Sledding pic

Isolene& the kids are displaying their "art" on the sliding doors. Luke made that sign on the top "Luke & Claire's Art Show". They are so proud of their art. Claire especially points to each one and tells me who created each one. Of course, as many great artists do, she refers to herself in the third person.