The 4 Schu's

Love: an intense feeling of deep affection

The month of February brought snow, which led to two snow days in one week. This was the first one--we headed to Baristas to get out of the house. We had fun playing Uno and making silly faces:)

The second snow day consisted of cleaning and some lazy time on the couch!

February also was the end to my first year coaching freshman girls basketball for Grand Island Senior High. I decided to have them over for an end of the year pizza party. They enjoyed some Just Dance on the Wii! They truly were a good group of girls who provided me with some extra stress this year:)

Reeve insisted on carrying out the heavy bag of groceries one day at HyVee :)

February also of course involves Valentine's Day. We are typically pretty simple and don't do anything too crazy. Mike got me some Crown Maple (it was yummy, but I truly am not a regular crown drinker, so I am thinking he really wanted it:), he also got me a date night with each child. Reeve and I have a nail date and Joden and I have a date for bowling and arcade games! Thought it was pretty thoughtful and I greatly appreciated it!

My nieces came over so we made some heart pizza for dinner!

Anyone who knows Reeve well knows that she sure has quite the personality. Having an older brother also does not help matters any. So, one day while doing something in the kitchen she comes out and explains that she is Hulk. *Notice the light saber hanging from her undies!

My sister and sister-in-law love coming down to Grand Island every year for the state dance and cheer competition. So, of course Reeve and I tag along. She had a blast and re-enacted the dances at the gym when we went for a shoot around with the basketball girls :) They thought it was hilarious.

Since we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like we decided to go have girl night at the Chocolate Bar. I had a moscow mule and it was delicious!

My sisters and I <3

Mike's sister and I <3

Came home from practice one night to find my diploma in the mail! This truly made me feel that this journey has finally come to an end! Such a relief!

Joden and I at my schools family night! We enjoyed our date together:)

Ordered Miss Reeve a headband and the gal that did them had some scraps so she sent one for Reeve's baby. If you can't tell she loves them:)

Due to wanting to have a Saturday birthday party for Joden we decided to have it a tad before his birthday (his actual birthday is March 9th). He really wanted to go to the Big Apple Fun Center, but since it was in Kearney we allowed him to only take 3 friends. He chose some friends from Gates! Also, since Reeve got to come, she invited her friend Ellie. The boys played in the Ballocity area, did laser tag, had cookies, and finished in the arcade. They all had a blast! It is kind of nice to get it done before his birthday!

Ballocity

Here are his kindergarten friends, Cooper, Nelson, and Elijah!

Cookie time!

Love these two so much!

Gift time!

Love this family of mine and the memories we create together! Gods blessings to all:)

January shenanigans!!

New Year's Eve we went over to the Kasten's house, which are in our dinner group. As you can tell we had some great laughs playing the headband game:)

Never fails that there is some wrestling going on in our living room!

This was the perfect day for sledding because the temperature was just right and there was not any wind! The kids had a blast!

Taking the kids to a few Husker women's basketball games was so much fun for all of us! I am thankful for the opportunity to do so this year:) I am sure there will be many more down the road.

I know I am probably biased, but I think Joden is a pretty awesome drawer. His aunts and Mike are pretty artistic, so I am thinking he gets it from Mike's side of the family. This is a Christmas tree that he drew at church one day:) For whatever reason I just LOVE it! It seems so unique.

Mike's family stayed with us on their way to Kansas for Mike's grandpas funeral. We had 15 total people sleeping in our house that night! When we gather we love to crowd around and talk, laugh, eat, drink, and be merry:) I sure love both my Schumacher family and my Hiers family!

Mike with our niece Piper--isn't she sweet?

The next day we made it to Kansas! We all got to stay in a hotel together. This is Reeve going through and organizing Aunt Lisa's products:)

The celebration of Grandpa Jack's life was wonderful! Everyone had such amazing things to say about him and while listening I often thought of how much the descriptions sound similar to Mike :) It brought tears to my eyes. Although a tough day, it was also a great day celebrating such an unforgettable man!

Reeve thought it would be awesome to take her shirt partially off on the drive home :)

When we got back home I had another Birchbox waiting for me. My sister in law got this for me for Christmas. What it is is a sample of products to try out. She got me this for 3 months. It is super fun and exciting to know that something is coming in the mail! Thanks Lisa for such a cool gift!

Sick day...video game day...me getting to work on the couch! Not too bad:)

He truly was not that sick, but they made him put on a mask in the waiting room because so many kids were sick with strep at the time.

We had Christmas with Mike's family this year, so we got our gifts from my parents in mid January. Therefore, one Saturday morning they got to have another mini Christmas. Thanks so much mom and dad for the gifts--of course the kids loved them!

Watching Mike read with the kids at night while they snuggle in is one of my favorite things <3 So thankful for these 3!!!!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO is how I feel! No more studying forever!!!!! Finally, my doctoral journey has come to an end and I will be graduating with a doctoral degree in K-12 Studies in March in Washington DC. My initial thought was to teach at the college level or either become a curriculum administrator. For now I will continue being a Learning Facilitator, but am so thankful to have another degree to pursue when the time is right! Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way, and especially to my husband Mike for all the time he put in being a single parent while I was studying! Love you so much:)

Took Joden with me to Concordia one night for a team builder with our GISH girls basketball team. Let's just say he was not doing such a good job of listening, therefore he spent some time in timeout!

While coaching, Reeve captured a snapshot of one of our varsity games. I love this picture because it shows how much taller and beefier one of the Omaha Benson girls was than our girls. We are in black and she is in white. They are the number 1 team in the state in Class A. They are good!

Dinner group kiddos! We have 9 total kids now: Chloe is 7, Addie and Kaydence are 6, Joden is 5, Reeve and Ellie are 3, Quinn and Brynlee are 2, and Gage is 1. So when we have dinner group it is crazy fun and loud, but we of course love it!

Family night at Howard brightened our lunchroom....love it!

So my good friend Rachel had her first baby and I told her I wanted to know when I would get to babysit:) So Korben came over recently for a date night with us! I LOVED every minute of it!

Reeve got to go on the bus with me to a game in Omaha and we were trying to pass the time:) She had a blast!

Then on the way home she crashed! It was such a great day with her and I am so incredibly thankful for Coach Michel and his willingness to let me coach and still spend time with my kids:)

January has been a wonderful start to 2015 and we look forward to the many wonderful memories that lie ahead. As always we are so thankful for the blessings we have and pray that we are always reminded of God's presence each and every day!