The Schmidt House

Joey's Giraffe Presentation (Oaks 1st grade)

Joey and his entire 1st grade class at the Oaks Academy were required to pick an animal from Africa, research it, and prepare a tri-fold board explaining what they learned. Joey chose the giraffe. We went and researched and observed at our Indianapolis Zoo. (Joey took the photo of the giraffes).

It was his idea to make the background of the board yellow with brown spots (like a giraffe). ALL the kids helped him paint.

He used photos that Joe and I took while we were in South Africa, photos from his zoo expedition, and photos we scanned from library books.

Sadly, on the day he was to stand up and present in front of the whole class (along with the other kids in his class), he got sick the night before and had to miss school. He was so upset that he could not go to school that day. Luckily, he just presented the next day, but he was bummed to miss everyone else's presentations too. We have his "practice" presentation on video - he spoke about his board to his Bammie and Bampie. It was something to see!

Playing outside in the "winter"!

I was told by my dear friend Lisa early on, when winter had just started, that it was a "La Nina" year. Having lived in Indiana for over 10 years, I can remember wearing shorts one day and then it snowing on my birthday (in mid-April), so I was just WAITING for the bad weather to hit...surely it couldn't stay this sunny, this pleasant, this easy ALL WINTER! Well, let's just say, my kids wore their snow gear ONCE this winter - and it was barely enough to build a small snowman.

How different from LAST winter where we were virtually trapped in our home for 4 days due to freezing ice and below zero temps (the same 4 days the Super Bowl was held here in Indy this year and it was 70 degrees!)

THANK YOU LA NINA! You are welcome anytime!

So here are a few out door photos that I've taken throughout February and March
(*note the short sleeves, green grass, flowers even!)

Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis!

So, Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl this year...
The town rocked it!
We made the genious (my idea) decision to experience "Super Bowl Village" on a Tuesday Night prior to the weekend of the big game...over a million visitors walked the streets in those 7 days prior and on game day - but as far as I was concerned, we picked the best night!

It was crowded, but not insane. We pushed a stroller, went right after we ate dinner (at 5pm) and spent a total of $20 for parking (which also was a deal and in a great location!)

We had a super fun night "experiencing" all that our family needed to...there were lots of activities, even a whole facility for the super huge football fans (that was $20 a ticket), a zip line that ran 400 yards down Capitol Street...but we just SAW the sites...

I know the weekends were SUPER busy and as the game drew closer, out of towners arrived to experience everything too...so we (thankfully) missed the true chaos and just gingerly walked around downtown that night. We were even home in time for very easy bedtimes too!

It was also our gift to my brother Ryan, who was staying with us for the week, so we were heading down for everyone to make memories. It was an awesome night.

It was phenomenal for our city and we're so proud of how well the Super Bowl went! We love Indy!

Valentine's Day Fun!

Valentine's Day - a day to use Pinterest to the fullest! How cute are these photos of the boys? (Morgan wanted Hello Kitty) You can see what came of these photos as you scroll down - LOTS of compliments and smiles from this year's cards!