From the Phone

Sometimes, mostly with the use twitter and instagram, I forget to update the blog if we haven't done an activity or gone somewhere special.  But then I take a look at all the pictures I have on my phone and realize how many great pictures I have of our daily musings to share.  While some of you may have seen many of these already, there might be a new snapshot or two you haven't.  So, here's what we've been up to this January.

Since there's no snow by us, we went to
the snow.  High knees to get to their house.

He's all about the shoes - no matter whose.

Dug, scooped, and dumped the bowl of rice on a day
that wasn't too cold for January.

Made a get well card for a sick
second cousin.

Played at the park (finally!!) when it was in the 40s -
very windy but manageable.   

Decorated cookies with Packer colored
sprinkles we got in the mail from Gram

Gave kisses while grocery shopping.

Started a new session on church class.
Myles is officially a member of the class
this time.  

Gambled. Then had a fish fry in a bar
in the middle of a corn field.

Celebrated this man's 93rd birthday!
Love you, Grandpa.

Made and threw snowballs.

Tried (and failed) to color pasta to play with.

Sampled the food coloring while mom
was distracted (but standing right next to him)

Asked to take a picture with Guy.

Looked simply adorable first thing in the
morning.

Painted on paper with brushes

then fingers and hands....

then herself while I was cleaning brushes.
Hilarious. Clearly.

Checked herself out in the mirror.

Posed because it was still hilarious.  

Then took baths and played with
shaving cream.

Just like Daddy.

Went "night-night" together in Myles' crib.
(I asked him to close his eyes - he did and pointed
to his eyes to say "eyes".)

Celebrated this guy at his graduation party.

Then he smothered Nora with hugs and
kisses.  Probably one of my favorite picture
in a while.  Love these two more than anything.

Eighteen Months

On his 18 month birthday, we got the most snow we've seen all season.  Despite the fact we could still see the grass, Nora was amazed at "all that snow!" so we bundled up and did some shoveling.  

Mr. Helper grabbed a shovel and
pushed snow all around.

Love those eyes and that
mischievous grin.

Grandpa

My Grandpa is turning 93 at the end of the month so our entire family went out for a celebratory lunch.  It was especially nice for me to see him since we weren't there for Christmas.  

Man of Honor at the head of the table.

My mom was really thinking.  She brought stamps and
different things for the kids to do while waiting at the
restaurant.  Kept him busy for a while - until he figured
out he could run into the women's bathroom!

The other end of the table.

With his cake.

I figured the cake would be a good distraction to get Myles
up on Grandpa's lap and get a good picture of the kids
with Grandpa Grandpa.

Myles hopped down after the picture, looked at him and
ran back to give him a hug then said, "up!".
Grandpa was thrilled.  I think it made his day.
They had a little time together as Myles inspected his
glasses and something else he had around his neck.

Daddy-daughter hugs!

Classic picture of Grandpa Grandpa with his
great grandchildren.  Always have to have at least one of
the children crying, one smiling, and most not looking :)
That's how it goes with multiple children under three!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!  We all love you.

Signed Up!

I signed Nora up for preschool today. She was quite excited as we were walking up to the school. "This will be my school? I will go to Sunday school too? Look Mom, a little bench! It's perfect for me."

She was asking about Sunday school since I leave the house without them on Sunday mornings to teach it and meet them at church. Plus she can start coming to Sunday school when she's three so we've been talking a lot about that too lately. The bench... Well... You do know Nora don't you? Hasn't seen a bench she doesn't want to sit on... Ever. And this one was a little lower so very easy for her to climb onto.

We chose to sign her up for Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons (12:30-3:00). I went back-and-forth whether to sign her up for morning or afternoon preschool but I ultimately decided afternoon because she rarely naps anyways. And if she'll need a nap she can always take one on Tuesday and Friday.

Still can't quite believe that my little girl is old enough for preschool. I'm glad I still have eight more months with her until the first day. I will have to pack some tissues - for myself, that is.

Where There's Snow, We'll Go

Greg's graduation party was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  But Dan had an idea.  We'll go to the snow so the kids can have some winter fun.  I'm sure we'll eventually get our fair share of snow, but we're breaking records for longest time between measurable snowfall down here... we were anxious to take the kids sledding.  So, we traveled up on Friday night so we could have all day Saturday to go sledding and do other things.  

When it was finally time to go sledding, we went to the hill near my former elementary school.  I remember having the occasional sledding day at school where everyone would come dressed in boots and snow pants and go sledding at some point throughout the day - big deal when you're in school.  

First up, Dan and Nora!

Aaaand, there they go!!

Then, me and Myles!

We're all at the bottom of the hill.
Nora is crying - she didn't like the snow flying up
in her face as they were coming down.  Myles is whining
because he didn't like it either. 

Then Dan convinced Myles (basically just took him since
he's littler) to go down on the cardboard because that's
much slower.  He didn't love it but didn't mind it either. 

Nora was intrigued.     

And despite her trepidation, she agreed to try it again.
She said she liked it better but still didn't want to
go down the hill again.  

We let Rusty off leash while we were there and he
loved every single minute.  He chased us down the hill
and went crazy dog.  If you click on this picture, it will
become bigger and you can see his big open mouth -
it's the most joy you can see on a dog's face.

Then Dan did some running with him - Rusty's favorite.

Even Gram took a turn down the hill.  She laughed the
entire way down and Rusty ran right along with her. 

Maybe next year the kiddos will enjoy sledding more.  But before then, we'll have to get new sleds because we cracked both of them on the first (and only) run down.  If it ever snows here this winter, maybe we'll buy them then and give sledding a go on the very small hill behind our fence to get them used to it.  That's more their size.  Fun memory regardless of how much they did or didn't like it.

Oh, and here's a picture of the graduate with his God-daughter at the party.

Congratulations, Greg!

Welcome 2013

Just like everyone else's, our 2012 came and went with a flash.

When I look back at some of the year's blog posts, I'm amazed at what's happened in one short year.  Myles went from learning to sit to running us ragged.  We took our first camping trip and our first road trip.  Celebrated the first birthday of a boy who has captured our hearts with his devious giggle and SO much more.

Here's how Dan and I welcomed 2013 -

We made dinner reservations for six at a new restaurant called Lincoln Whiskey Kitchen.  Early in the day, we dropped down to four - the Kojak's sitter caught the infamous bug and had to cancel.  Later in the afternoon, Jeff and Katie had to bow out due to a nasty cold Katie had caught.

Our smaller table -- the others were there with us in spirit
but it was also nice to have a rare date night as well.

Food was delish - and free!  We didn't notice the delay but
the waitress apologized for the long wait between our apps
and entrees and told us we would be compensated for them.
They took both of our entrees entirely off the bill.
Happy New Years! 

Then we headed over to the Improv comedy club to ring in the new year and see comedian Tammy Pescatelli.  She was very funny.  Laughed a lot at her and her opener (which we later found out was her husband - imagine what family events are like!)

Just a few minutes until 2013.
Tammy is second from the left.  

Along with the show came noise makers,
hats, balloon drop (which was directly over
our heads) and champagne toast.

The kids enjoyed playing with our goodies
the following day.  Somehow the noise-
makers ended up in the trash... I wonder
how that happened. 

I'm excited to see what 2013 has in store for us.