A Fantastic FHE

A Monday that started like every other.. .

 Cars in the cornmeal doing some serious construction. The taped off zone should be the whole kitchen. The blast radius of some of those cars is dangerous.

Of the two of us, Josh has the calm spirit. Hence when kiddos won't nap and he's around, he gets to help. And of course they sleep soundly for hours... Afternoon=SUCESS

 And the finale of the day was our Plan of Salvation FHE. If nothing else Tate now knows we are aiming for the Sun.

 Ian revisited it all week long adding more details to our mural. It was so fun and the kids loved it.

 Just for fun: Tate wanted to read Ian a book. Such a sweet older brother. I think his only problem was he couldn't reach the book or see the book to read it.

A Frozen February

When temperatures plummet and refuse to rise, so does my drive to be productive. Without the reprieve of escaping my house each day, due to winds that threaten to blow my children away and leave us all breathless, my evenings are spent in a trancelike lazy state as I contemplate staying home again tomorrow. Oh how I don't love the bitter cold. I would settle for snow that isn't as hard as a rock and temperatures above 30 so we can all bundle up and venture outdoors. Our house is in serious need of some Vitamin D, outdoor adventures, and warmth not generated by a heater. Despite the cold my kiddos are still little rays of sunshine most of the time and we have many wonderful moments:

 Tate was so proud to get in all by himself and he even got dressed without health. Notice the print on his back. This has become the new fashion fad recently and he finds himself hilarious. Almost as funny as changing his clothes several times a day and occasionally being dressed in the morning when I go in to release the kiddos before 6 a.m.  He also has levels of funny and tells me if I should laugh small, medium, or big and sometimes requests giggles. Clothing has

 We caught a beautiful sunset on our last date with our favorite babysitter before she left for her preceptorship this week. It was the most beautiful one we have seen in our Iowan days.

 My little music man. To make this kiddo happy all he needs is his own piece of technology that plays music. He carries it around, dances when the rhythm matches his fancy, pushes its buttons, and keeps it handy while he plays and reads. The only down is when I decide his technology time should come to an end.

 Our last Friday of Fun with the whole crew before the Bredthauers move on to graduated life.

 My 16 month old... Oh how I love this little man and his cheeser. It is more easily shared when I share something sweet with him.

 They love each other. It shows maybe 50% of waking hours. We are improving.

My little monkey is getting so big. He has almost mastered our wooden stairs. He is down to only 4 reminders to turn around per flight. It's amazing how much these little people learn so quick, even when it's so cold.

Snowed In

Over the weekend we enjoyed a couple quiet days at home in a white winter world. It was truly beautiful, but freezing and both the boys and I were ready to escape by day three. So thankful the plow finally arrived and that public works has a phone number.

 We have a friend who frequents who utilizes the baby toys. My kids seem to enjoy them even more now too and on snowy days they added much fun.

Shoveling for the second third time in 24 hours.

 Tate was climbing the mountain. Notice he had to wear his dinosaur hat, not his warm winter one. The battles I lose.

 Ian running away. So glad he never makes it very far.

 Snow was made for this kind of beauty I think. I struggle to find to many other redeeming qualities.

Family photo op... Can't you tell everyone loves these. Someday I'll find a photographer to get a solid one for me.