U-S-A! U-S-A!

We are Olympics crazy here in our household! Elise has been playing "lympics" all week long. Her events are crazy dancing, snow jumping, and ice skating with too small slippers on. She wanted some medals like the athletes she sees on TV. So here Miss E is graciously accepting her gold & silver medals.

Elise wanted William to get in on the fun too...so William won a silver medal in Smiling Baby. (Although the Mommy Judge scored him a gold ;) )

Here are the two Olympians posing for the press:

Indoor Fun with the Fletch Family

Welcome to the Weekly ADM Blog Hop. Anyone can join in! Just blog on topic between now and next Monday, include the MckLinky code (below) in your post, and hop on over to your fellow bloggers!

This week's topic:

Here in the midwest we are snowed in but everywhere has days where cabin fever can creep in. What are your favorite indoor activities to do with your kids?

New baby + mom who is not a fan of cold weather = lots of indoor activities for our family. We have discovered a lot of gems in the area such as Chelsea Treehouse, Open Gymnastics, and our favorite the bounce house. However, with all the sickness going around our family we have discovered a lot of fun indoor at home activities to do too!

Board games are a fave amongst Elise. We love Cooties, Chutes and ladders, and Ants in the Pants. Also lots of puzzles. Then we have the electronic games such as rockband (E loves singing Beatles classics!)

However, hands down the favorite family activity (including William) is FAMILY DANCE PARTY! Where we bust a move to Single Ladies, Glee, Disney Classics & Mommy's late 90's rap (edited of course). Family Dance Party gets out all the energy and is just a fun time to let loose & have my dear husband make fun of my mad awesome dancing skills. (He is just jealous I can bust a move!)

So for now these activites will have to do until spring comes along...we can thank the groundhog for all this snow by the way... ;)

The never ending cycle of RSV

Our family has been buried in sickness. It started out with Mark 2 weeks ago with a sinus infection. Then Elise with RSV, spreading to Baby Will, and finally me. The RSV turned into double ear infections for both kids. Then we found out William is allergic to amoxacillin. It has been the longest 10 days in our life. Five doctors visits, 4 trips to pharmacies, & at least 6 kleenex boxes later...I *think* we are on the mend.

Oh spring where are you!?!?!

See how cute they are on antibotics? They are even holding hands spreading germs. Who says siblings don't share? :)

We are so bad we vacation in....

Detroit!

(Detroit doesn't look so scary now, does it? Actually it looks like a fun city, right?)

Mark had the brillant idea to go to Shiver on River at Belle Isle Aquarium. Belle Isle Aquarium has been closed since 2005 due to funding, but one day a year they open the Aquarium for the public to see. So on this beautiful sunny February Saturday, the 4 of us set out to venture into Detroit City Proper.

Belle Isle Aquarium was a lot of fun & even though there was a windchill of 9 degrees, Belle Isle looks like a blast come summertime.

There are really no more fish living at Belle Isle Aquarium, so they had local artists do displays.

The lone fish tank open. Koi Pond fish that were donated to the Aquarium for the event.

After walking around the Aquarium for about a half hour and  seeing the one fish tank, kept by dedicated volunteers, we decided to eat lunch at our favorite Mexican place in Detroit, Xochimilco.

Mark & I have been going to Mexican Town in Detroit for years. It has hands down the best Mexican food in the metro Detroit area. Elise always likes going and eating their chips. (Which are so addicting!)

All in all we had a fun day exploring the city of Detroit!! Who knew Detroit was such a diamond in the rough?

Parenting: Lauver Family Style

Welcome to the weekly Blog Hop! Anyone is free to join in. Simply enter your information in the MckLinky at the bottom of this post, repost the MckLinky code in your own post on the topic, and enjoy your fellow bloggers' posts. Remember to leave some Comment Love!

 

 

This week's topic: What aspects of your parents' parenting do you want to continue in parenting your own kid(s)?

Looking back, I had an awesome childhood filled with fun memories. My parents raised two successful, self efficient, beautiful daughters:

A few things I take from my own mom & dad and use them in my parenting tool box are the following:

• Unconditional Love: My parents loved both my sister & I no matter what shanigans we I got in to. My dad used to say, "I will love you 110% even if you burn the house down."
• Humor: My parents used a lot of humor in parenting both my sister and I. Let's face it kids are funny, situations are funny and if you don't laugh at them you will never survive parenthood.
• Responsibility: We had chores (and did not get paid to do them...gasp!) around the house starting from age 3. We had to take responsibility for our things as well as our actions. As far as the actions part, I remember getting detention in 7th grade for chewing gum. My mom had me write an apology letter to the teacher with instructions that I read the letter aloud in class.
• Strong Work Ethic: Both my sister & I had jobs from an early age. We were not given things on a silver platter. I worked & babysat so I could afford the Abercombie jeans & American Eagle outfits.
• Family Dinners: Even though K & I were involved in school activities as a family, we ate dinner together as a family at least 4X a week. This is where my parents would grill me on all the latest school gossip. (I have a big mouth)
• The love of the Cleveland Indians. This is directly from my dad. My dad had no sons and passed down his love of baseball to my sister & I. Baseball dates were more than just watching the hapless Cleveland Indians, they were a chance to talk to us girls about dating, life, and school. I hope to continue these baseball dates for my own children in remberance of my dad.

(A little side note to my parents)

Mom: Thanks for all the advice & letting me call you almost every day on what to do with Miss Drama & Mr. Party All the Time.

Dad: I know you are looking down on us and guiding me in the humor part. :) I miss you and I can see you in both of the kids.

Mom & Dad, thank you for being tough, loving, funny, and making me the woman/wife/mom I am today. I love you both.

William is 4 months old!!

Look who is 4 months old now! I am getting so big...I am 14lbs 5oz and 24 1/2". Sleep this month is overrated. I have been driving Mommy & Daddy bonkers with my sleeping patterns, basically I think the best place to sleep is in Mommy & Daddy's bed, not my crib.




I love to laugh, smile & "talk", I am trying to catch up to my big sister who talks all the time. She has roped me into playing campfire sleepover, where I get smothered with blankets and pillows while she reads me stories.



I am trying oh so hard to roll over, but just haven't gotten the hang of it yet.



Hope everyone is staying warm...Mommy & Elise thought it would be fun to go out in the snow, as you can see I am not a fan.



Love,

William

Next year's winner of the Grammy's!?!?