The Riley Family

Luckily there is a big play room where Kate takes taekwondo.

We have some crocuses peaking their heads up and the past two days have found us playing outside despite the low 30s. Spring will be here soon.

The girl loves to try her luck at roller blading. She is getting better :).

Kate and Jack had their second violin lesson and they can actually play a couple of notes now :).

Kate loves the Little House books, and they often curl Mary and Laura's hair when they are going to town.  We finally curled K's hair.  She didn't complain too much about having the rollers in all night.

Kate and Jack both start violin lessons next week! We picked out our violins yesterday from a great shop, Sapp Violins. Kate is starting on a 1/4 violin, and Jack a 1/8. They are both thrilled! Lessons will follow the Suzuki method, so they will be learning by ear to start. No sheet music or books for awhile, which is why we are having J start too. Kate will continue piano as well, and Jack will start piano next year mid-way through kindergarten.

In the past 24 hours, despite the croup, Tom has gone from pulling up to standing at just 2 or three select locations to now anywhere he can get his little hands. His pediatrician saw him yesterday and was impressed. Personally, I am more worried. And he has found his tongue :).

Tom's eyes are still hazel, not brown. but they are definitely dark!

Well, it has been over two months since Tom has been sick, but it is after 1am, and croup seems to be the word of the day. T also tends to have some bronchilitis when he gets sick, so we unpacked the nubulizer too. Thinking coffee will be useful today.

Yikes, where did the little baby go?? Tom can now stand up, and thinks it is great fun to pull him self to standing where ever he can. Which, thankfully, is only a handful of places at the moment, but more are sure to come.

You've guessed it, Tom's favorite, and only, word is Dada! He just blabs along all day :).

Here are some pictures from Jack's star day , and some other cute pics of Tom.

Here are pics of the cause of our two snow days last week.

Here are pictures from Will's 3rd birthday.

Here are pictures from Paul's London trip last month.

There is more snow here than we have ever seen. It has to be close to two feet. The plows have been working non-stop, and still haven't made it to our court. It was amazing to see everyone working together to clear the driveways, sidewalk, and even our court. No school again tomorrow since some areas are still not plowed, and now the temps are dropping to dangerous lows. Pics soon.

Tom is already 7 months old! I can't believe how quickly he is growing. Still quite big - I think close to 23 lbs now. He already wears 12-18 month clothes. Kate wasn't even 20 lbs by the time she was 1!! T still loves to smile at everyone while we are out; he is quite a flirt!

While Paul was gone last week we were very busy with Girl Scout cookies, school work, and other things, but we did find a couple of hours to update the kitchen chairs. The kids helped me with the project. Ah, the things you can do with a staple gun!!

Tom is now crawling, and has also started pulling up on things to his knees. He is very good-natured about his moving, and isn't trying to get in too much trouble yet. Maybe he just doesn't move fast enough :). He likes to move, look for reassurance, and laugh & smile. He skipped any army crawling and went to regular hands and knees.

We are supposed to get 21 inches of snow starting this afternoon!! Everyone is thrilled with the idea of a snow day. The kids are giddy with thoughts of igloos. We will see what happens!

Paul spent the all last week in London for work. He had a good time, but the weather was cold and cloudy. Pics soon.

Happy Birthday Will Will turned 3 last week! We had a great time celebrating his birthday with lunch at Choo Choo Johnny's (yes, a train delivers your food) and then a party at Airtastic . Pics soon.