Grand Central Station

First of all, this guy is Five Months Old!!! He has a tooth and he enjoys rolling over from his tummy to his back. Hi! I'm a big guy!

Check out that pearly white!

So,  our house has been like Grand Central Station lately. First, Aunt Joyce was here for a week over Valentine's day. She and Frederick got along like great old pals. 

We were able to go to Clara's school for a visit on Valentine's day. 

And later I was able to go to Henry's school to help with the party. 

And we made and decorated cookies, of course. Frederick may have snuck a lick while we were getting this picture, but he wasn't talking. 

We also took advantage of having Joyce in town to go to Henry's parent-teacher conference and I had the chance to volunteer at the school book fair a couple of days. Then Pete and I were able to go out to a nice dinner on Valentine's day. After dinner we went to the restaurant where our friend/neighbor Ed works and sat at the bar to watch the Hawkeye game. It was a very nice night. I love my Valentine!

Before Joyce had to leave, we went down to meet Pete for lunch at our favorite Thai place. Henry had the day off school, and Clara was with us- but sitting on my side, so not in this picture. 

The day Joyce left the kids and I, along with Anna, went to a community theater production of Snow White. It was totally corny, but the kids had fun. Originally we were going to go with Joyce the previous weekend, but Clara had gotten sick that day, so we exchanged our tickets. 

Sunday Rob and Carrie and the girls showed up to spend the night. Rob was doing some work downtown, so on Monday Carrie and I took the 5 kids down to the Museum of Science and Industry. Being Presidents' Day, it was a bit crowded, but we had fun.

I especially enjoyed the Charles Shultz exhibit, for which it was the last day.

The next day Carrie and the girls came back (after staying at the hotel with Rob). Clara was excited to see her cousin in the car when we picked her up from school. The girls were having twin-dress day as well. We made some special Rice Krispy treats that afternoon.

Penny enjoyed playing with all the little guys and my old dollhouse. 

 She and Frederick hung out a bit. Both of them had a little bit of a stuffy nose and red cheeks.

 The next Saturday Mom came to town on her way back from Great Aunt Jean's in California. Sunday Pete left for a few days of work in New Jersey. Is your head spinning yet?
It was very helpful having Mom here those few days while Pete was gone. Especially with the snow! The kids loved it, since we've had so little snow this winter. Mom and I took turns shoveling.

 That brings us to today. Mom left around noon, Pete got home around 2. We love the visitors, but are also going to enjoy a few days of our standard family unit as well.