High Five for Friday

I've decided to add another element to my High Five for Friday:  my five favorite pictures from the week.  I take A LOT of pictures with my phone and this way I can share at least my favorites from the week:)

Our sleeping beauty

Snuggles in the morning

A perfectly lazy weekend afternoon

Snuggles after church

Love the smile on my boy's face
while playing Disney Hedbandz

High Fives for the Week:

1. We had Luke's second conference for first grade this week.  He's doing great academically and is still a little chatty with the friends at his table when it's work time.  His teacher challenged him to raise his hand more in class because she knows he understand the material, he's just shy about participating.  We're very proud of our boy and love that he loves school:)  
2. The final delivery of our flooring came yesterday!  We're anticipating it will be installed next week. I'm very ready for the final installation and for the project to be completely done since it's been a month since it the original delivery in January.  
3. We won the Powerball this week!  Ok, only $100, but I'll take it!  We hardly ever buy a ticket, but last weekend on our way to friend's house for the Super Bowl, we drove by the Powerball sign and noticed the jackpot was high.  We had to stop to pick something up for the Super Bowl at Kwik Trip, so I thought I'd grab a ticket.  Yesterday when I checked the numbers, I was very surprised to have matched three numbers and the Powerball!  
4. Luke has been very into reading Shel Silverstein books recently, which has been a lot of fun for me since they the books we have are the copies I had as a kid.  Luke loves the silly poems and they are a good challenge for his reading with new words he doesn't typically read.  
5. Last weekend, we finally got some snow to cover up the brown, frozen Minnesota terrain.  We happened to be out each evening when the snow was falling (we had three evenings in a row).  It is absolutely beautiful watching the fluffy flakes fall under the street lights and there is an added peace in the air.  

Married to the Bachelor???

Now that sounds like a contradiction:)  

Recently my husband has been told several times that he looks like the "new" bachelor, from the ABC show, The Bachelor.  When he heard this and when he told me, we both had to look up this new bachelor to see if we agreed (we're not much for The Bachelor-type TV:))

You be the judge...

My man (no longer a bachelor)

The Bachelor, Sean Lowe

 I guess I see it in the hair, eye color, and overall coloring.  

But only one of them has this lady's heart:)

Nora's Favorite Song

As I mentioned in my High Five for Friday, Nora has a favorite song and I got a video last night while she was full of energy before bed:)  

Step by Step

Step by step, we are putting our upstairs living space back together after the installation of the laminate hardwood floors in January (which still has a few steps remaining until it is completed).  

Today, we brought in the rug we finally agreed on and we're very happy with how the colors in the rug work with the colors in the room and how it brings in new colors to play with as more details get added (think couch pillows)

The kids already broke in the carpet (which has been here for all of three hours):  Nora spit up on it and Luke walked on it with his snowy shoes:)  See why we didn't want to spend too much money on a rug???

When the Weather Outside is Frightful...

You'll see me wearing this coat:

If I'm not wrong, I have had this coat since before I was married and I love it!  

Owning this coat really is a catch 22: I love the coat, but I only wear it when the weather is very cold (I'm talking below zero). I wouldn't chose below zero temps, but I also love having a reason to wear my coat.  

Why don't you just wear the coat to stay extra toasty during those Minnesota winters you ask?  Well, there is a reason this coat is so warm:  it is real leather and weights nearly 5 lbs by itself!  My shoulders actually get tired from wearing it if I wear it shopping/walking around for an extended period of time.  

This coat always makes me think of my parents and Texas.  Funny, right?;)  Well, my parents bought it for me at a Wilson Leather Outlet store in Texas:)   

(I have no idea who in Texas would ever need a coat this warm???)  

I'm sure you'll see me wearing it for years to come.  

It is a nice quality and has worn very well for the past 10ish years.  

Cutest Baby Born in 2012???

We'll leave that up to you to decide:)

Cast your votes today!
(And every day through February 10 until the contest ends)

High Five for Friday

1. I reached another milestone in my weight loss:  Down 25 lbs!  Again, I attribute the weight loss mainly to breastfeeding as I've not been following Weight Watchers much.  I don't remember the exact weight I was when I began pregnancy with Nora, but I'm thinking I'm pretty close to it now.  I still have a little ways to go to get to my ultimate goal (which I've reached two other times with Weight Watchers)...I know that will require me to follow the program more closely and to be creative fitting exercise into my life.  
2. It's February!  After the busiest January (probably in my entire life), I'm just glad to turn the calendar to a new month:)  February brings Valentine's dates, Luke's birthday celebrations, family birthday celebrations, and hopefully a fully completed flooring project!
3. I enjoyed some very nice quality time with Luke this week.  Nothing planned or even intentional, but special nonetheless.  It is certainly a balance having more than one child (God bless you with more than 2...I don't know how you do it!).  During this first year of Nora's life, I've felt like Luke and I don't always connect as much as I'd like.  This week we enjoyed snuggles, reading, baking, dancing, and lots of giggles:)   
4. Speaking of dancing...we love to dance at our house:)  We subscribe to Rhapsody, which gives us access to any music for a flat monthly fee.  We love it and we have created many playlists through the years.  It's especially fun to introduce the kids to songs we liked when we were younger (for instance, I'm listening to an old Shania Twain album as I write:)).  This week, Brent added RUN-DMC to Luke's latest dance list.  Luke and Nora both loved it.  Nora jumps and gets all excited when "It's Tricky" comes on:)  So adorable and I need to get a video of it:)
5. We don't get official "snow days" any more as adults, but sometimes we declare them ourselves on days off or when life circumstances present them.  On Sunday, we got a lot of rain and ice so we declared our own snow day and did not leave the house all day.  It was glorious!  Now, today, Brent's car stalled on his way to work.  Unfortunately that did not mean a "snow day" for Brent, but it does make a stay at home day for Nora and I since we don't have a car:)  I'm without a doubt a home body, and sometimes it's just nice to know that I simply can't be out and about.  On a freezing day like today, I'll gladly stay inside:)