March/April

March and April are flying by!  We have had a few warm days, but we are still looking forward to more spring-like weather.  Three days ago it was 80, but we woke up to snow this morning.  We spent Alex's spring break just visiting our parents.  The kids were very happy to stay a few days at each grandparent's house.  I've been giving Alex piano lessons somewhat inconstantly since the weather has turned a bit warmer.  Whenever I play, Erin crawls in my lap and either plays with me or has me play Old McDonald over and over and over.  We had baby kittens born on April 1st.  Four were born but two died in the thunderstorm that hit one of our trees in the back.  You can see the bare wood of the tree in the picture below.  Bark and wood chunks were thrown all the way to the play set!

The weather finally got warm enough to have a load of topsoil brought last week.  I am pretty sure Adam spent a good 8 hours on that dirt pile on the first day.   He loves playing it dirt!   Andy and I got most of it spread over the old circle drive.  I still have to smooth it out and plant grass seed, but it could be a while if it keeps snowing! 

We needed something to go under the play set so it wasn't so muddy. We knew grass wouldn't grow very well, so we decided on rubber mulch (chewed up old tires).  They shipped it to us for free and it came in bags, so it was easy to haul to the back.  So far it's terrific!  Even after it rains the top is dry.  Hopefully it will hold up well in the years to come.

Erin with dirt all over her face!

Spreading dirt

Swing set with rubber mulch

Jan and Feb 2014

What can I say about Jan and Feb this year....  Well, two words.  Cold and Snow.  We are thankful for our new house that has lots of room to run and play.  However, even then the days get long and we are all looking for other things to do.  As you see below, Adam takes to brushing a doll's hair!  We are missing our electric furnace from the old house a bit.  We are on propane here at the new one.  And while we believe it's pretty efficient (hard to know when you've never had gas before), we have the heat set to a chilly 65 degrees.  At $6.30/gallon we are trying to use as little as possible! 

To keep busy, the kids play with beans in the kitchen and I've painted a couple rooms.  When it's warm enough, we go outside and play.  One day we had a heat wave --32 degrees!-- and after Alex got home from school we all bundled up and played in the snow.  We also went for a walk, went swinging, down the slide, and even jumped on the trampoline!  Yes, everything was covered in snow, but hey, it felt good to get out of the house. 

Last week we had a piano moved into our sunroom.  A friend from church needed a place to keep his piano for a couple years and we were more than happy to help.  The outside has seen better days, but it seems to play pretty well.  I'm getting it tuned and checked out next week, so hopefully it wont take much to get it just right.  But we play it everyday and Kelli graciously let me borrow some piano lesson books so I can start teaching the boys a few things.  But after looking at the books, I realized I have to give myself a refresher before I start teaching anybody anything!  Hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since I really played the piano. 

Thankfully we did have a break in the snow enough to make it north to the Rummel's to celebrate Casen's first birthday.  The boys and Erin were counting down the days until it was time to go to Mimi's house.  Erin couldn't wait to see Casen and watch him walk all over the place.  The Doll side came over on Saturday to have a birthday party.  The kids had fun with the cousins and Casen seemed to enjoy his cupcake, although he wasn't over enthused either.  :)    Later that night the boys went outside to light a chinese lantern --- those paper ones that you light a candle inside and they float away.  Well, someone was wrong about which way the wind was going and it went straight into the tree!  It's still hanging there as far as I know, but the candle did burn out after a few minutes.  Good thing there's another one and we can try again next time. :)

this used to be the hot pink room

This room will stay brightly colored...a good fit for a toy room.

Playing beans

a guest in our dog house

Sun room -- before

Sun room -- after    Yes it's basically the same color as before!

Andy's new ride.

Had to paint the room before the piano came!

Dirty keys

Clean keys!  yes, some ivory is missing though.

Casen

Grandma Doll with most of the grandkids.

Mary (in green) made quilts for some family members.

Grandma's quilt from Mary.

Lantern in tree.

Christmas 2013

If you were to ask how our Christmas was this year, I would have to say I've had better.  I was so excited to finally be over the flu after Thanksgiving.  And then Erin got sick a few days before Christmas and I was only a few hours behind.  Ugh.   When the fevers set in we really didn't do much except wish we were home.  The boys eventually got it too, but not until we made it home Christmas day.  So thankfully they still enjoyed alot of the activities!  It was good to see everyone and Erin loved being around Casen.  We took the boys bowling for the first time.  They play on the Wii all the time and so were thrilled to try it for real.   In fact, they didn't want to leave!  (Since then we have taken them bowling here at home and they still loved it!  It just might have to be a regular thing.)

We stayed at the Rummels for Christmas morning so Santa could come. :)  The boys were excited but Erin was still feeling the after effects of the fever and didn't care too much.  But after some food  she perked up a little and the boys were more than happy to help her with her gifts. :)   

It's always nice to see everyone for Christmas, but this time it really felt good to get home.  :)

Hmm...seems to be more eating than frosting going on here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erin was not too sure about Nate, but Dustin she liked!

presents from Rummel side

presents from Rummel side

Erin just woke up from nap...and is starting to really not feel well

Christmas morning!

Later in the morning Erin finally felt up to opening some gifts.

There's a smile we hadn't seen in a few days!

The Jacksons came over to our house the weekend after Christmas.  Phil and Chelsey hadn't seen our new house yet, so it was fun to show them around.  I dont really have many pictures, but we just spent time playing mostly. :)