Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

We have had a lot of snow the last couple of days. You shovel your driveway, and you wonder why, because the snow just keeps piling up on it.
Today with all the beautiful snow falling, and we had no where to go, (Ryan's meetings were cancelled), it was a beautiful day to make a big pot of soup and curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace. So what did we do?
We had the time of our lives. We went sledding. We met our friends Jonathan and Rollie out at the hill and enjoyed the powdery fun snow. It was so neat as you were going down the hill and the powder would just be spraying everywhere. Olivia doesn't appreciate sleds. Luke on the other hand is out looking for any jump he can find. Luke took a big spill after one jump he hit, and then he jumped up and did the stick and stretch gymnastic move to let us know that all was well. I crashed so hard into powder it ripped my hat off my head and completely covered my face and head with snow. I came up spitting snow out of my mouth. I've never done that before.
We all had fun, when we were done, we went back out to the parking lot and had hot chocolate and donuts. It was a fun day.

All bundled up.

Family Fun.

WARNING: Potty Talk

What a cutie. Livvy is currently potty training. I took her to the store and let her pick out a baby doll she wanted, and then we brought it home and put it on the shelf above the toilet. When she left a special present in the potty she earned the doll. Luke was so excited for her he had to run grab the camera and take a picture of her. He wanted to take a picture of the special treasure in the toilet, but I told him I wouldn't post that. Since Livvy had this great success 2 days ago, she hasn't had an accident yet. She is doing great and she gets upset when I put diapers on her for bedtime. She even woke up last night to go, and the night before woke up dry. Yea Livvy.

My Idaho Spuds

Livvy loves to help me mash the potatoes. I usually scoop some out and put them in a small bowl for her and then I give her the extra potato masher. She goes to town mashing and eating as much as she can. Luke did not want to miss the photo op, so he joined in with her tonight too. They had a lot of fun, and we had some yummy potatoes.
Mashing potatoes with my dad was a fun thing for me to do, so it's fun to share it with my kids too.

Dessert time

While we were concluding Family Home Evening with a prayer, Ryan said, "please bless the refreshments." After the Amen, I asked him if he made the refreshments, he hadn't and neither had I. I've been potty training. That was a full time job on Monday.
As I searched the cupboards, fridge, and freezer, (all were looking quite bare due to being out of town and recovering from a job loss) the only thing I came up with was some frozen blueberries, and some bananas. I decided to make something nostalgic from my childhood. I defrosted the blueberries, poured them in little bowls, topped them with milk, then added a sprinkle of sugar. We did the same with the bananas slicing them and eating them in milk.
You would have thought I had made the best gourmet dessert ever. Everyone LOVED them, and slurped everything up to the last drop of milk. It was fun to think that something so simple, so healthy, and so easily repeated was so loved.

It's a Girl!

Meet Sarah Joy.

Last week our new niece/cousin made an early entrance into the world on New Year's Eve. On New Year's day, since Luke was out of school, and Ryan kind of had work off, (he did computer work there) we left for Ohio to go help out. We had fun spending time with family and especially getting to see Sarah Joy. She is adorable, she has a good set of lungs on her, and she is very loved by her big sisters. Congratulations Eric and Angella, she's beautiful.

Olivia's First Bubble Bath

Olivia received some Bubble Bath from Santa too, she's never had a bubble bath before as they aren't really recommended for a little girl's health. But since Santa brought her some we decided we'd give it a try and see what she thought.

Olivia loved the bubbles and had a fun time plastering her face with bubbles. She didn't even eat too many bubbles, and that is saying a lot with Livs.

Isn't her hair beautiful?

I like the lighting in the bathroom for the pictures.

My Bubbles

The boy loves bubbles! Luke was very excited to get bubbles in his stocking from Santa this year.

This picture was taken of Luke when he was 4. He LOVES bubbles.

Awwwwww!

Luke was sitting on the floor playing the Wii, and Livvy went over and sat next to him and snuggled up. Who could resist taking this picture?

Christmas time is here

Christmas time is here,

happiness and cheer,

fun for all that children call their favorite time of year.

Snowflakes in the air,

carols everywhere,


olden times and ancient rhymes
and love and dreams to share.

Sleigh bells in the air;

beauty every where;

yuletide by the fireside

and joyful memories there.

Christmas time is here;

we'll be drawing near;

oh that we could always see

such spirit through the year,

such spirit through the year.

I love the music for the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. We had a great Christmas. Luke said over and over that it was his best Christmas ever. He got a Air Hog helicopter from Santa and flies it very well. Mom and Dad got him and Air Hog Zero Gravity Micro Racer. You'll notice it behind him on the walls in some of the pictures. It runs on the walls and the ceilings. It is really cool. He also got Madden 09 Football and was so excited.

Olivia was spoiled with many dresses and clothes. She was in heaven. I think she had changed outfits 10 times in the first 10 minutes she found them. When she found the dresses Santa brought her, she said "oh, pretty dresses!" and proceeded to change right then and there. She got some fun games too, and she loves to play them. And don't forget the candy, she was very happy to find that.

Mom and Dad had a fun Christmas because the kids were so excited and thankful. Luke kept running and giving us hugs because he was so happy.

We hope you all had a wonderful and merry Christmas. May the spirit of Christmas follow you throughout the year and next.

'Twas the night before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas...

And all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a mouse.

The children were tucked all snug in their beds,

While visions of Sugar Plums danced in their heads....

We've had a fun day, and the kids are so excited for Santa to bring them presents. Well, Luke was, Livvy didn't want to go to bed because she thought Santa would come into her room and scare her. We let the kids go to bed in our bed so she wouldn't be afraid. Livvy had the time of her life rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes for the cookies.

We let the kids open their presents to each other tonight to try to make it more memorable for them, or at least an attempt to help them remember what they gave to and received from each other. Luke gave Livvy Tinkerbell the movie, (she had it, but broke it- what a sad day that was). She was so excited. Livvy gave Luke a rocket set that you build and then you can shoot them off. Luke was so excited he wanted to go and shoot them right away. He decided that a good way he could shoot them off and be warm at the same time would be to cut a hole in the roof and light them in here. That didn't fly so well with the parents.

And then of course the kids opened their Christmas PJ's. Well I better be off to bed so Santa can make the rounds.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Sand Art

So I hope you realize that I have been sick, and my daughter is taking full advantage of my slowness and grogginess. Today while I was just a few short steps away from my her, I could hear this sand against the linoleum sound and knew instantly what it was. And boy was I right. I came around the corner and she was just as happy as could be playing the the dry Cream of Wheat she had dumped on the ground.

Can I tell you that there are some days I love nap time. And yes, I still love the 2 year old stage. And yes, I usually do her hair, just not in time for any of the pictures.

Sick days

Here's my poor boy on Monday. He was so sick, all he could do was just lay down and sleep. When he started throwing up, he cried and cried because he wanted to go to his friend Tiana's party. He tried to act like he was healthy enough to go, but when we told him we would get together with Tiana another day, he finally collapsed and fell asleep for most of the day. He's such a good boy, and he rarely gets sick, when he does it really wipes him out. It was really nice to see him "need" me again, but I'd rather have him healthy and independent.

I didn't lighten the picture, so you can barely see Olivia laying there with him wanting to be close to him. I figured she's already been exposed so I let her. She has not started with it yet, but we're still watching and waiting.

Oh Baby

This cute little doll Livvy is holding caused me to have an "Aha" moment. This dress the doll is wearing is a dress that my friend Lisa sewed for Olivia when she was a Preemie, because the Preemie clothes were too big for her. When I saw my baby's doll wearing a dress that she wore when she was a brand spankin' new born, it just made me sick to remember how small she really was. Boy, I can't even believe from where she started to where she's at now. What a blessing.

I'll try to find the picture of Olivia wearing the dress.

Little helper

My sweet little helper. I said that I needed to vacuum, and Livvy disappeared and showed up a few minutes later with her vacuum to help. She's such a good girl.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Here are a couple of shots of Luke and Livvy decorating the tree. Luke was so excited to show Olivia how to decorate. It was so fun to see them working together on this project.