February Fabulousness

The end of February marked our first full month in Bloomington. It still doesn't feel like home, but it's getting more like it everyday! Having us all back together and discovering our new surroundings together has made for a bunch of great memories! Here are a few more for your enjoyment!!!
One morning, Tori and Garrett were unusually quiet in their room- which typically is not a good thing. When I went in to investigate, Tori announced that they had made their beds all by themselves for me! One of the very best gifts I have ever been given!!!

Our cute girl is getting so grown up!

We had our amazing friends Amanda and Amber over for dinner one evening. Amber took a job in Nevada and we wanted to have one more Regina Reunion before she left! As always, the meal was yummy, the conversation was entertaining, and the company was the absolute best!

I love it when they play nicely with Tori's Nabi!

We had a short break in all our crazy winter weather- hurrah!

Garrett and Prince loved running all over the field behind our apartment!

Garrett even checked out the jungle gym!

Charlie and Sumner came over for our very first play date in Bloomington! Charlie and Tori played dress-ups and Sumner and Garrett played cars and trains- it was perfect!!!

Tori and all her friends like to get dressed up and have "pretend birthday parties"- they have so many of them, they must be great parties!

Tori is quite a pro at making pizza- especially putting on the pepperoni. So, naturally Garrett wanted to learn how to do it too!

Sometimes, especially when it is cold in the mornings, it's just so much better to snuggle and stay cozy in Mommy and Daddy's bed!

All ready for church and looking way too grown up!

A few weeks ago, we introduced Anna, Fox, Silver, and Lucky to their new home! All 4 fish did great, which was a slight miracle since Garrett jumped on their bag right after we brought them home!

Tori and Garrett introducing our fish- they were so excited!

We finally tried rag curls on Tori's hair- it turned out so cute!

Another fun new hair style!

Garrett is just so busy these days that I barely even get a hug in anymore. I am so glad Tori captured this rare moment of cuddling with him- I'll take it whenever I can get it!

Tori and Garrett love Olaf from Frozen. We found a short clip on YouTube where Olaf runs into the screen while trying to give you a hug. Here is the reaction we get every time!!!

Here's to the end of a great February and on to a hopefully much warmer March!!!

Family Game Night

We inherited many new games for Christmas this year. And we already had a whole closet full of them. So, we are starting family game nights in an attempt to learn how to play all of our games! Jared and I are especially excited to see which games Tori and Garrett really end up loving! For our first game night we started off with Yahtzee, Jr - the Toy Story version!!!

Garrett loved his turns! 

Although, his shaking did get a bit crazy!

He was a natural!

Now for Tori's turn!

She liked trying to get her dice to roll really far!

Daddy showed us all how it was done!

Mommy's turn- I have no idea why I looked so nervous! (Tori took this picture- she did such a great job!)

Another picture courtesy of Tori- we were all loving our game of Yahtzee!!!

Hurrah for Family Game Night- here's to many more!!!

Disco Party!

This evening as we were driving home from our Institute class, Tori asked if we could have a disco party when we got home! Jared and I were a little taken aback- we didn't know she even knew what disco was. But, sure, why not- so we had a disco party when we got home!
Tori started us off with some Princess-ish disco music! (It cracked us up that she said she was wearing her disco jammies!!!)

Then Daddy kicked it up a notch and found us some real disco music! 

Things got really crazy when the Princess and Daddy's disco music were combined!!!

Tori took the minimalist approach and Garrett finally got in on the dancing!

Garrett's grand finale- we love watching this kid dance!!!

I think our first ever Allen Family Disco Party was a huge success! Hopefully there will be many more down the road!!!

Valentine's Day Festivities!!!

At this point in our family's history, our celebrating of Valentine's Dad is pretty low-key, which works just great for us! While Daddy was at school, the kids and I made his Valentine's card! Tori was so excited to give it to him- she handed it to Jared as soon as he walked in the door!

Tori and Garrett did a great job helping me make Daddy's frog prince!

Garrett's picture for Daddy!

And Tori's picture for Daddy!

Next, Tori, Garrett, and Daddy each gave me a box of candy!

Tori gave me the Darkside Skittles- because she adds so much color to our lives, but occasionally can add a little dark side! I received the SweeTarts from Garrett- because he is typically very sweet but can also be a bit tart! And Jared gave me the Nerds- for supporting him in his "nerdy" quest for his PhD! (Although, I don't think it's nerdy at all!)

For dinner we had homemade pizza- Tori did such a great job putting on the pepperoni!

They turned out pretty festive!

We gave the kids their Valentine's before they went to bed!

Garrett loved having Daddy read his note to him!

Tori thought her note was the best ever!

Our Ward's Valentine's dance was postponed until tonight due to a yucky storm yesterday. Tori and Garrett were excited for all the dancing, making Valentine's, and yummy treats!!!

Tori's new moves are great!

 This kid is a dancer!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We hope that you had a great day remembering and being with those you love!!!

Sledding all the Way

In our old house we didn't have a convenient spot to go sledding, so we just never bothered getting a sled. Our new apartment has an awesome hill right out our back door, so we are finally the proud owners of our first sled! We planned on breaking in our sled for FHE and talked about it all weekend. But when we finally made it to Monday evening, Tori said she didn't want to. So, Garrett, Jared, and I went sledding anyways!

Getting all ready to take off!

First run down our gentle slope!

Daddy was so nice and carried Garrett back up the hill!

But after run number two, Daddy introduced Garrett to the long walk back up the hill!

So cute!

Garrett was pretty much done after his second time down the hill. The two of us came inside to get warm, while Daddy went sledding a bit longer! Garrett loved watching Daddy!

This afternoon it started snowing again, and Tori was all for sledding! On went all our snow gear! Tori had a whole list of things to do outside in the snow!!!

Getting in a little practice!

Daddy showed us all how it is done!

Tori was up next!

She's a natural!

Garrett's first solo run- he did great!!!

Tori loved being out in the snow!

The first exploration of our jungle gym!

 Even though it was cold, it was so nice to get out of our apartment and enjoy some time outside!!!

Artists in Residence

Tori has been a big fan of coloring, drawing, and generally making things for quite some time now. And I am very pleased to announce that Garrett has finally jumped on the coloring band wagon. We could get to him to color things, but only for a minute or so and then he was done. But over the past few weeks, he will sit and color as long as we will let him! Garrett currently likes to draw circles, big circles, dolphins, whales, and Diego! Tori is now starting to tell stories with her pictures and she is getting so good at writing her name!!!

Two kids hard at work creating!

This is a picture of  Daddy and Tori cleaning up bird poop! (It's so funny to see what she decides to draw!)

I love how intent he is on his coloring!

A fabulous creation by Garrett!

 It's so fun watching the two of them!

Another piece by Garrett!

So, I have been totally putting off introducing painting. I think I was afraid of the possible mess and then the need to clean it up. But, we finally pulled out the paints and let Tori go to town!

Tori's first painting was fantastic!!!

Let the creative juices flow!

Garrett's masterpiece thus far!!!

I love how Tori draws her people and how she writes her name. After she wrote her name on this picture, I pointed out that she was missing a letter. She said, "oh, I forgot how to make and 'r' so I left it out!" (We have some practicing to do!)

This is my Mother's Day card from Tori! A few fun facts about this awesome creation-the Belle sticker is the stamp, she cut around all the edges, and then asked for tape to hook everything back together!

I love watching our kids learn and grow! We have two awesome budding artists on our hands!!!