February 5, 2010

The last two months have been busy ones. Busy is such a generic way to describe them really. We had a wonderful, magical Christmas. For starters, we had a blizzard on Christmas Eve, rare indeed in our state. I am sure the kids think this is what every Christmas for now on will be like, waking up to a foot of snow on Christmas morning. The kids are at the best age for Christmas time. Their anticipation and excitement leading up to Christmas was so fun to watch. They were happy and grateful about each and every gift! We had a wonderful time together and with family.
After Christmas it has seemed like the bubonic plague has hit our house. Someone has been sick almost incessantly. Rounds of antibiotics, runny noses, ear infections, coughs, colds, flu. We've had it all and we've had one frigid winter storm after another. Last Saturday Jack had a sledding injury with his Mimi that led to a trip to the ER, but thankfully without anything wrong, but a big bump on the head. Needless to say, we are dreaming about springtime! Above are a few photo highlights.

Proverbs 3:5

Psalm 23

Hayden and Jack have been working together on this for about month.  We are so proud of him!  Ellie also memorized Genesis 1:1 and Proverbs 3:5.  It's amazing what these little sponges can soak up, especially when motivated by promises of left-over halloween treats.

young naturalists

Fall is here and we are loving it. Some mornings, we wake up with no particular plan, but it is a beautiful day so we load up and head out. I love that we are at a point where we can do this now. We've driven out to the cabin for the day and gone to the farm and on a few hikes. On the weekend, we drove out to the Tallgrass Prairie. Ellie and Jack loved seeing the Buffalo, but my favorite part was watching them run and fall in the grass, laughing hysterically at each other. I'm shamelessly trying to raise little nature lovers. They have sharp little eyes that spot even the tiniest detail. Here are a few snapshots of the last couple of weeks.

last of summer...

Summer just flew by! We had lots of picnics, lots of swimming, and lots of time trying to avoid heat stroke! But, it's cooling off now, and looking back we've had such a wonderful summer. We went to the cabin with cousins, celebrated a big boy birthday, had a lemonade stand with Nana, and made a trip to the OKC Zoo, which by the way was so cool and way better than our local zoo. The kiddos are growing up so fast and we are having so much fun. We're excited for the Fall... my favorite time of year! Yay!

Fireplace Boulder Problem

While some parents may discourage this kind of behavior, we couldn't be more proud of him!

Wauhillau

What a wonderful weekend. We spent our mornings playing at the river looking for frogs, crawdads, and minnows. We spent our afternoons napping, sitting on the porch, and going to the river for more of the same. We had a wonderful Fourth of July with Mimi and our own fireworks show! Jack had a fabulous fourth birthday and spent hours riding his first bike around the volleyball court. We saw lots of deer and even a bald eagle! Quality family time for sure. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful place to share the best things of life together.

More Wauhillau

cabin

We are getting ready for a special weekend at the cabin. We're staying four days and we will be celebrating Jack's fourth birthday! Jack and Ellie are so excited. They've been pretending to be sleeping in the bunk beds and Ellie has been screeching with delight when we talk about leaving for the cabin tomorrow! Here are a few photos from our last weekend there.

super girl!

Ellie doesn't seem to mind at all wearing hand-me-down boy jammies. Truth be told, she loves them. These are her current favorites. She's so cute I just want to eat her up!

Big Fish

We had our Sunday School Class Picnic this weekend. We had a great time letting the kids run around and visiting with good friends. They also had a pond where the kids were able to fish. On his first cast, with the only available fishing pole, a pink Barbie one, Jack caught a Bass. It even jumped out of the water while he was reeling it in. It was the biggest fish caught that afternoon and the older boys were all impressed. I think he's hooked!

Little Miracles

Some things seem unfathomable when your kids are small. When Jack was a toddler, I just couldn't imagine that he would be able to pick out his own clothes and get himself dressed, but now he does everyday. Now another little miracle has amazed me. Ellie has potty trained! I'm very happy to say goodbye to the stinky diapers, but a little sad to see her take such a big step away from babyhood. Nevertheless, she is incredibly cute in her panties!