Winter happenings

Thankfully we haven't had as much snow as last year.  But we've still had plenty to keep us busy!  This year Erin has enjoyed being out in the snow and going sledding.  And the boys are finally old enough they can go sledding by themselves.  So when Erin is done playing outside we go in to the sunroom and watch the boys sled down the hill until they wear out or I tell them they have to come in too. 

I tackled painting the basement the past month or two.  I painted the same green-gray that's in my kitchen down in the walkout part of the basement that serves as our crafty area.  I also used the green on one wall behind the tv, but otherwise I used the same khaki color that is upstairs.   In the meantime, Alex lost one of his front teeth.  And then a few weeks later, the other one came out too.  So he has a bit of a lisp these days and a goofy grin. :)

basement living area - before paint

one tooth missing

after paint

Princess Erin

I took the kids up to the lake one weekend since Andy had to work long hours.  It was not long after Mom and Dad had gotten a foot of snow and it was suppose to be warm while we were there.  So not only did they get to play with Papa, but they had lots of fun in the snow too.   We made the hike to the lake and had a snowball fight on the frozen lake.  (There was so much snow that sledding didn't really work very well!) And later, we built snow forts in the back of the house and the snowball fight continued!  Erin was out too, but not as long.  She mainly wanted to build a snowman but got caught in the cross fire, so she didn't last too long.

reading with Papa

missing TWO front teeth!

Dec 2014

December was a busy time of getting ready for Christmas.  While I addressed envelopes for Christmas cards, Alex was working at school on his Christmas program.  And Adam and Erin helped me bake lots of cookies!  Before we knew it, we were up north celebrating Alex's 7th birthday and Christmas with the Rummel side.   It was a quick and to-the-point Christmas this year.... Pete and Kelli were late to come since Case came down with a fever the day they were to leave.  And then once they did make it, Erin had a fever too!  'Tis the season.... 
We drove to Jackson's for a day or two to play (we waited til New Years to do Christmas so Phil and Chelsey could be there) and then headed home.  It was our first year home for Christmas.  It felt so good to be home after being gone for 5 days!  The kids loved playing with toys, watching DVDs and just staying home.  I can't wait for next year!

Erin's room is now purple-pink!

Rummel Christmas

Erin in pj's with skirt and new backpack

Christmas at home!

Thanksgiving

I seem to be way behind in my blogging.   So I will make this short, since you are mostly interested in the pictures. :)
They finally harvested the field in front of our house!  However we couldn't watch very well since they worked their way towards us from the far side.  But when they did get right in front of us, we were ready!
Erin turned 3 at the beginning of Nov.  She wanted a donut instead of a cake!  :)

Thanksgiving.....well cant remember much of it actually.  But the main thing we accomplished was Kelli taking family pictures for us.  And once again, they turned out great!  I only put a few of each on here since it's so hard to choose!  Donna also dressed the kids up for a nativity picture.  Alot of you probably saw it on our Christmas card, but below you will find the one with Case in it too.  So cute! 

Rummel Family

Nat and Jeremy

Alex - Case - Erin - Adam

Harvest time

Finally Adam's favorite time of year is here!  He's been waiting all year to see the combines come out.  We headed up north for the boys' fall break.  First stop was to the Jackson's, although Andy was out of town for work.  The boys first got a taste of driving a tractor on Papa's lawn tractor.   Then we moved on to ones a bit bigger. :)  Creighton Brothers was harvesting corn and we went to watch.  They have a lot of acres to work, so they use some pretty big equipment.  The boys really enjoyed seeing two combines work a field at the same time.  They kept 2 or 3 wagons busy loading and unloading corn as well as multiple grain trucks.  The boys even got to go for a couple rides in the combine.  Adam could have rode for hours-----in fact, he did once we got to Pop's house! 
Once Andy made it north, we drove to Mimi and Pop's house.  The boys and Andy became farmers for the weekend.  And boy, were they busy!  On Saturday, they spent hours chisel plowing a couple fields to get it ready so Pop could plant with the seed drill.  The boys thought the plow was pretty dirty, so they spent time on Sunday afternoon cleaning it off. :)  However, Pop informed them they'd have to plow a little more because he still had seed left.  Alex exclaimed, "But we just cleaned it!" So Monday morning they plowed some more.  Erin even got to go for a ride and drive!  Then after lunch they headed back out to the tractor and hitched up the chopper.  They headed to the hay field and chopped hay so Pop could finish filling a silo and a bag of silage.   By the grace of God, nothing broke all weekend and they finished planting and chopping hay before it rained!  Pop still has to harvest his beans and corn, but that can wait for a different day.  The boys got to spend hours in a tractor and they loved every minute of it!  Erin enjoyed playing inside with whatever she wanted!  Nobody was there to take it away! :)
Oh and in the middle of all that work, the kids dressed up and went Truck-or-Treating at a church in town.  It was a beautiful day and it was a nice break. 

Princess Sophia - Robin - Batman