More Snow (Yaaaay.....)

That "yay" was said with sarcasm by the way. We had ANOTHER round of snow (to the point where I was almost not interested in bringing my camera out again.) But I'm glad I did! This was their first time in the sled together and it was cute to get a few good ones from that! They still like their shovels and helped Daddy shovel off the deck a little. It was a little tough to take pictures while they were moving, since Alex was pulling them, but they weren't going super fast. I took some videos, too, since it was so cute to hear them laugh! (Also I think this winter has officially become the snowiest on record...just want to have that little piece of history marked down here...sigh.)

The last one is a random. Tried to get some pictures of them reading books together, but this one was the only one that turned out. Still having trouble with lighting in my house in the evenings. But I'm sure I'll have more chances to get pictures of reading books! :)

 

Snowpocalypse 2014

We had a huge snowstorm in early January. It snowed a ton on the 5th, and then was super cold the day after. On Sunday the 5th, it wasn't so cold, so we were able to go outside and play/shovel a little. The boys got snow shovels for Christmas, and they've gotten a lot of use! Alex does an amazing job keeping our driveway clear all the time, so it was pretty cute to see the boys out there with him (and I think they actually did move a little snow around). 

A lot of people lost power that day as well, and the temperatures were dropping fast. Our friends Laura and Jacob lost power, and didn't want to stay at their house with their baby, Cecelia, in the cold and dark. So the boys and Cece had their first sleepover! It was kind of fun having them there, even though it was a bad situation! We have a futon and they had a pack 'n play for Cece, so it worked out fine. They came over in the evening, so the kids all went to bed pretty soon, then we just got to hang out and play Wii. Alex made muffins in the morning, and we watched some kids TV. The power had come back on, so they were anxious to get back home, but I got a few cute pictures of the kids playing together in the morning and of Cece hanging out!

We didn't leave the house the rest of the day! Alex had the day off of work, and our neighbors Ashley and Brad were home as well, so they came over during the boys' nap and we played cards. It felt very much like a holiday! Too cold to go out so we just hung out in our house. I'm glad we got to see so many friends, though, otherwise I think we would have gone a little crazy. :) I didn't go to work on Tuesday, either, but Alex did go in that day. With the freezing cold (below zero) temps and the non-melting snow, most of my teacher friends didn't work all week! It was crazy to think schoolkids got an extra WEEK of winter break. Ashley and I made a trip out to Target later in the week, and the roads were still icy and pretty bad. 

So that was our "Snowpocalypse" as they called it! I tried to take some pictures of all the crazy snow in our yard. (That is our Christmas tree on our deck, Alex just moved it outside when we took the ornaments off.) Last winter was so mild, and this one is shaping up to be massive amounts of snow! 

Winter Break Fun

We've tried our best to have some fun inside lately! Alex had some days off, and we had enough snow and cold to keep us inside. I surprised myself by letting the boys get crafty! I don't usually like getting paint and stuff like that out, since it's a mess and they usually do it for 10 minutes. But they got a stamp set for Christmas, so I let them use that one afternoon. It went well! Coloring is always fun, and they got some Play-doh toys from a friend. It's nice that as they're getting older and a little more mature, we can start doing more of these crafty activities and they can handle following directions. 

We also took a family trip to the Children's Museum! I forced Alex to go with us...I think it was his first time there since we've had the membership! I really love the Jolly Days exhibit, but it was definitely a crowded, crazy day to go. (I think we went New Year's Eve in the morning.) But they love the kitchen and baking area, and Henry loves to brush the reindeer, so it was worth it! They even got to play in the ice castle area and go down the slide. (It was sooo many kids I don't know how kids don't get hurt on the slide! Henry and Holden are kinda slow about it, and the older kids would just push around them and go down!)


My mom gave Lanore some toys she had at her house, so Henry and Holden enjoyed taking all of those away from her...sigh. It's hard for them to be as active as they want inside our house! But they love to run around the table and couch, and it's a bonus if someone or Lanore chases after them. We're also building our dinosaur collection, so I loved these shots of Henry playing with some in his room. So wish us luck that we don't go too crazy indoors this winter! It's only January and we have a long way to go! We need to get back to the Children's Museum soon! (Side note: I remember going to the zoo at the end of January last year because it was so mild out...I can hope that happens again!!!)

Teamwork! It lasted for about 5 seconds...

"I think you got it wrong, Lanore. These are really for us."

Christmas 2013 Part 1

We had a great Christmas this year. I don't feel like we went overboard, so it was nice and low-key. We did visit Santa, and everyone talked to the boys about him, but I'm still not sure how much they understood the concept. Everyone kept asking me if they were excited, but I don't think that'll be for another year or so when they can understand and anticipate that it's coming up. I definitely enjoyed all the other stuff, like decorating the tree and making cookies, etc, so that was fun to create those memories.

The boys' main present from us was a train table. We'd had a starter set of tracks, so I bought some extra trains and tracks and the table for their big gift. It has an awesome drawer, too, so the tracks can be all put away and we use it for a Lego table too! We got several DVDs since we don't have cable, and some books. I got them a stamp set, some puzzles, a few new dinosaurs, and a new set of hat and gloves. (Along with a few other little odds and ends. Opening stockings was rough since I had put a lot of treats in there that they wanted to eat right away!) Lanore got a new toy to chew up, which she really enjoyed as long as the boys weren't taking it away from her! Poor pup.

We went to my parents' house Christmas evening, after nap. Presents there were more of the same, lots of DVDs and books, and just a few toys. I feel like we already have so many toys for this age, so books are always good! It was really cute to see them opening their own presents, and passing out presents to everyone and "helping" them open, as well! We had our yummy lasagna dinner and just enjoyed time with the family. Definitely a nice Christmas! We are lucky to have both families so close and not have any major travel plans.

The Henry and Holden ornaments that I make each year