What a crazy couple of weeks!

It has been one crazy January and I am hoping that February brings a little bit of calm to the Balogh house. Once the kids FINALLY got back to school from the already discussed never-ending winter break, I hosted my seasonal Hannah Kate show that I rep. Let me just say, I am not very good at working and mommying and wifeing, all at the same time! So that week was CRAZY! That was followed by a sick week -- Virginia missed two days of school and Jeb missed all three days of his school, not to mention Jeb was on 3 days of steroids which resulted in absolutely horrible behavior by my normally sweet and adorable little boy (including biting a babysitter -- seriously, very embarrassing! . . . sorry Lander!). So then this week arrives. FINALLY, I think I am going to have a normal week of 3 days with kids in school and a few moments of quiet me time! It is not to be. On Tuesday, my mom was put in the hospital. Thankfully, she is doing ok and is back at home. It is hard to be away from my family at times like that -- very hard not to run home and hug my mom which was all I wanted to do! But I have three little people and one rather large person that need me here in St. Louis. And I think Brent is very happy I didn't leave (even though he offered countless times to handle things so I could go) because Virginia started throwing up around 5:30 last night. Ugh!

But -- we made the best of it and we had a great day together today. The good thing about the stomach bug is that it is generally very short-lived.

So, it never fails that when I already have a full plate, I decide it is time to do something crazy. Like dust off my sewing machine that has not been touched by me in 5 years other than to dart the occasional pair of pants for my kids! So here are some photos of my creativity (haha) and the other stuff that has been happening around here!

Virginia wears LOTS of headbands. I couldn't come up with a logical way to store our obnoxious collection of colorful head decorations. But finally, while looking around online, I saw ribbon headband holders similar to old fashioned bow holders. Virginia had an existing bow holder that had a hand painted top. I wondered if I couldn't just use ribbon and attach it to our existing cute "V" top -- and it worked! I even had the polka dot ribbon from an old project that never happened, so all I did was sew some loops, cut off the old bow ribbon and hot glue the new bow and headband holder ribbon . . . and ta da . . .

Then, I contemplated the fact that t-shirt dresses are so cute but so pricey. For years I have said I could make those and so I have never purchased one at a clothes show. Well, I finally did it. I found this cute pink flannel gingham in my fabric stash (thank goodness it hadn't rotted!) and I made a dress. The t-shirt is from Target and Virginia had gotten a stain on the tummy. It was a perfect experiment! You can't see the bottom but it has a white flannel ruffle at the hem. The dress is now being appliqued with a heart and a "V" and will be worn for Valentine's and many times thereafter! I'll post a picture of it on her when it returns! So easy I went and bought 2 for $10 t-shirts at Old Navy this week to do some summer t-shirt dresses! And stay tuned for some cute ribbon skirts too -- I have missed my sewing machine.
So, today, we needed a girl activity while Jeb was at school. I have seen lots of blogs on sewing things on stationery so I came up with this idea for Virginia's Valentines. I drew the hearts and she cut them all out. Then she sewed them on with my sewing machine in a "V" pattern. Sorry for the sideways view -- I forgot to flip the picture!
The other exciting thing for the week is my new knife storage. I had a large butcher block that was nice but took up way too much of my counter space -- and unfortunately, I don't have counter space to spare! So, I ordered this magnetic knife holder from Amazon and I am in LOVE!
And the final big news for the week is Chess . . . Ford's treat for his bravery at the dentist was a $6 chess set that was on clearance at the toy store. He has been wanting to learn to play for a year or so and Brent has been working with him for the last week. They have played at least once a day since he got it. Well, tonight was the night -- FORD BEAT BRENT AT CHESS!!!!!
So, here is to a slow, calm, uneventful, crafty, fun February! And if it happened to be sunny and warmer, that would be awesome too! :)

This is a MAJOR First -- ice skating Baloghs!!

Being from the Deep South has lots of perks -- for example, the temperature is generally a good 20 degrees warmer in Alabama in the winter than it is here in the Lou. But, the Midwest has its good points too! Virginia and Jeb are going to be the first Baloghs ever (to my knowledge!) and certainly the first on my side of the family, to ever, EVER take ice skating lessons! Now, ice skating is not easy breezy -- and as Virginia can tell you, it makes your boo-hiney hurt quite a bit! But we are giving it a try with the agreement that we won't give up until we can skate a lap around the rink without our bottom ever touching the ice!!!

There will be more pictures to come, but these were from our first lesson a couple of weeks ago. At this point, they were lacing skates and preparing for their first ever attempt at walking on ice . . . and they were actually smiling about it!

The pictures are terrible -- iPhone from a long distance doesn't work so well! But that is Jeb in the striped shirt and red helmet hanging on to the teacher for dear life!
And Virginia is the one in pink -- she is slow and steady and very brave. I'm so stinking proud of her!!!
By the way, people learning to ice skate fall A LOT! It makes for a very sore bottom and a little fear associated with the next lesson. But we will make it -- and their will be a video on her one day of Baloghs who can skate one lap around the Brentwood Ice Arena!!!

Cavities. Boo!

Cavities are bad. Very, very bad. But my sweet Ford is BRAVE, very, very BRAVE! He was a nervous wreck but he survived having 5 tiny cavities filled. I could not believe that 6 months ago he got a perfect dental report and then BAM! 5 cavities! WOW! So, new rule at the Balogh house, absolutely no Sprite or other sugary drinks at our house (for the kids anyway!!! This mama can not survive without her Coke -- no one would want to be around me!!!).

A Whirlwind of Basketball

Ford's basketball team played in a tournament this weekend and they came in 2nd. Here they are showing off their trophy! Go Panthers!!

Here's to 40 more!!

Saturday night we celebrated Brent's 40th birthday with a few friends. Burgers and beer at Red Lion and lots of funny and thoughtful gifts. Then on to the Jive and Wail (a dueling piano bar) for some music. The birthday boy made his way on stage thanks to our dear friend Alexis and her $20 tip and was serenaded with David Allen Coe's "Darling" and a bar full of revelers singing "Happy Birthday Brent". It was a GREAT night -- Friends, Food, Fun and Forty Years!!!

Our group at dinner . . . Alexis, Leslie, Rob, me, Elizabeth, Jacquie, Memory, Chism, Baxter, Brent, Christina, Andrew and Rob.

So the birthday celebrations are officially over and the birthday boy is officially over the hill! :)

ANOTHER snow day!

No pictures of snowy fun. FREEZING weather. Painful cold. The kind of cold where you would choose to cook all the random remaining food in your pantry rather than venture to the grocery or out to dinner.

My prayer for today: "Dear God, It is really, really cold down here. Could you turn the heat up just a little bit!!! Thanks!"

The never ending winter break . . . 17 days and counting.

Today was supposed to be the big day . . . the end of winter break. It isn't that I don't love having all three of my kids with me for 17 days, really, it isn't! It is more that I don't love my house after having my kids home with me for 17 days. 17 days where I do not believe the temperature rose above freezing the entire time! Today, the windchill was -2 at 3:30 in the afternoon -- seriously, that is South Dakota weather!!!! But alas, it was not meant to be. Today was not the day for my first run in months, or the day to make some returns for Christmas without my helpers, or enjoy a Starbuck's and 30 minutes of quiet reading time. No, instead, I got the call at 9:30 last night that the big kids school was closed. It was followed closely by a call from the preschool. Ugh! I was out of entertaining ideas for freezing days! We awoke to about 4 inches of snow. The kids were ecstatic and all I could think of was the mess of wet clothes and grimy floors . . . but it was fun, for a little while. But it was FREEZING! Tomorrow, the high is 10. The next day the high is 12. Seriously -- I'm really not sure I'm falling for the global warming theory.

Here are a few pictures of our fun day . . . it really ended up being pretty fun! We even all got to curl up on the couch and watch Cheaper by the Dozen while trying to catch up on the piles of laundry we have accumulated over our 17 days together.

Please, oh, please, let there be school tomorrow. I have a feeling the prayers of my children may cancel mine out tonight. Go snowplows go and clear and salt those roads -- we must escape the house tomorrow!!!

Oh No . . . Brent is now the big "4-0"!!!

At 1pm on January 5, 1970, a super guy entered the world flanked by two brothers -- one about 8 minutes before him and one about 1 minute after him. Identical triplets -- what are the chances!!?? Happy Birthday Brent! You are one amazing 40 year old!!! :)

The party started last night with a family dinner at Fuddruckers followed by ice cream at Oberweis -- what more could a guy want, right?
Then, thanks to some amazing co-workers, this is what Brent found when he arrived at work this morning . . .

The bank tellers at the bank were all in black with black veils, there were signs in the parking lot and around the bank, his office was filled with black helium filled balloons and assorted items needed by those entering this geriatric part of life -- Depends, fiber supplements, AARP enrollment forms, etc... Thank you bank friends for making the day a little more fun -- because I couldn't have gotten away with that!!!

While all that was going on at work, the kids made a huge Happy 40th banner for Brent and I baked my first ever angel food cake.

Happy Birthday Brent! Thanks for taking such good care of us! We love you!! Look at the fire on that cake . . . :)

A Year in Review . . .

Make a Smilebox slideshow