So Florida was just what we needed. The boys were driving me crazy at home being cooped up in the house. They needed to just get out and run! And thankfully, we had perfect weather and went to the beach twice a day most days. So they got lots of sun and sand-playing. We even made a trip to Sanibel Island one day. The beach is totally shells and little sand. So Alex had a great time looking for shells (he's not picky). :) Adam still played in the sand, which is what he liked to do best.

We found these on the beach...

looks like an aligator skull and a crab arm.

Ft. Myers Beach

Alex decided he needed a break.

Alex thought it was his job to keep the birds away.

They didn't bother us at all, but it was fun to watch him chase them!

Yea! Mimi's here!

Andy's mom got to come for part of the week we were there.

So nice to have an extra pair of hands around.

Ok so Alex is afraid of pools, and Adam is not.

So while Adam played in the pool Alex was reading up on the instructions to Adam's pool toy.

Alex is going to be a runner. He loved to just run on the beach.

Boat ride!

This time the boat was not scary to the boys; they loved it!

Dolphins!

Wait. Is this Alex in the pool? It is!!

After see how much fun Adam was having, we eventually got Alex in the pool!

And more than one day too. :)

So these last few are just of the boys all wet from the hose.

Eddie was watering the plants at the house and they thought it was great fun to run under (and through) the water.

February has been pretty quiet, yet we've kept busy. A week ago or more we decided to tear up the tile that was our front door entrance. It's been falling apart ever since we installed it (we had no idea what we were doing and did it incorrectly). Alex decided to jump start the project for us one day while I was at work. Andy took a shower and Alex informed him that they were 'working'. Andy came out after his shower to find all the grout around one tile out and all over the living room while the boys were working their hardest to pry up a tile. Since it was done inproperly, it really was quite easy to pry up all the tiles and grout. Dad came one day and helped screw down some underlayment so I could finish it a later day. As you can imagine, Alex was all too willing to help. :)

Finished floor!

One of my many other projects is a quilt. I started it...hmm...either the spring or summer last year. I can't quite remember. But anyway, it's a scrap quilt that is mostly applique and embroidery. So here's a preview of what it will kinda look like. I haven't done any of the embroidery part yet, and this isn't even half of the blocks I need to make. Soooo....it'll be a few years 'til it's done. :)

Answer to prayer

If you haven't heard, the midwest got a little snow and ice this week. In fact, not many people went to work the past couple days. Andy, however, did have to work. So our Explorer was parked at the bottom of our driveway (which is a hill) so he could get to and from work without getting stuck in our driveway. Since the wind stopped, today during nap time would be the first chance we (I) have had to shovel the driveway. So during my quiet time (which is as soon as both boys are down for nap) one of my prayer requests was "Lord, Please help me get the driveway cleared before Sunday!? Not only do I want Andy to be able to get up to the garage, but we're having a superbowl party on Sunday at our house. So naturally, the driveway is a concern. So after I prayed for awhile, I bundled up and went to work. Using a snow shovel and a regular shovel, I could chip apart large sections of extremely hard snow. They were too big to throw with a shovel (up to my shoulders if I stood them up), so I bend down and picked them up and tossed them to the side. Now don't get me wrong, I would break them into managable sizes. But it was going to take forever and it was hard work. My back is still killing me. But God decided to answer this particular prayer quickly. A backhoe happened to be driving by and I didnt think much of it. They are building a new road near us and large equipment is going by all the time. The boys love it. :) But this one turned around and drove up our drive and plowed the whole thing right out! Now we still have some work to do, but he saved me days of labor! I'm am so thankful right now I could dance, and I dont even know the guy's name! God is so awesome! The only regret is I wish the boys could have seen it.....they would have loooved it! :)

California in January

Mom and I took the boys to California for a week to visit my grandparents. We didnt' do anything special....just spent time playing inside and going for wagon rides to the playground, weather permitting. It was probably the coldest I've ever seen Redwood City, but it's still warmer than Indiana! :) The boys enjoyed getting to go outside and run around---although they did a lot of running around in the house too. :) Uncle Johnie even made the trip to us (thanks again!) on Sunday and spent a couple hours playing. It was almost like having Papa there to play!

Adam enjoyed being so close to the road to watch traffic go by the house. But the highlight of the week was garabage day. We have garbage trucks in Indiana, too. But not like these! For one, you can't see ours from the house very well. But their garbage man doesn't even have to get out of the fancy trucks. He just uses a robotic arm that reaches out and grabs the garbage cans and dumps them in his truck! So yes, we followed one poor fellow for a good 45 minutes. The boys were facinated. He was slow because people put their trash cans too close so the guy had to keep getting out and moving them apart before he could grab them with his truck. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to keep up with him. :)

Johnie and the boys

Grandma and Adam


Adam and the cast-iron play kitchen

Uncle Bruce and Alex

Alex watching TV

watching for trucks

driving Grandpa's old truck

Birthday and Christmas

Alex turned 3 a few days before Christmas. It's quite a fun week for the boys since they both get to open presents (Mimi makes sure Adam gets a present or two for Alex's bday). Alex got Lincoln Logs for his birthday, and he loves playing with them. He even hurried to take a bath one night so he could build a house with out little brother ruining it. :)

We drove up to Nappanee for Christmas. The boys opened gifts on Christmas Eve morning (they dont know the difference from one day to the next!) so that Andy's family could all be there. They did pretty good about keeping on task and opening gift after gift. However, when Adam got to a particular present that was a Thomas the Train toy and book, he ignored every other gift. So that was his show stopper. Alex, on the other hand, would have opened everybody's gifts it we'd let him. The things he uses the most are his vacuum, the Nerf guns, kitchen stuff, and tools. I made the boys matching aprons and oven mits. Alex wont cook unless he's wearing the apron. And he calls himself a "cooker" instead of a chef. Alex always wants Adam to wear his apron too, so I put an apron on Adam to humor Alex. But usually Adam just plays with his trucks instead of cooking. :)

On Christmas Eve evening, the Rummel side always has their family get-together.

Adam was just taken with Cailin, who is 3 months old.

He was very interested in the baby and would stare and grin at her for quite a while.

On Christmas day, we made the short trip from Nappanee to Mentone.

At home using the new food and aprons.

The boys were so happy to get home! They really enjoyed their time at both grandparent's, but there's no place like home. :)

Lately, Alex has been saying things like: "I snorted, Mom!" "Dad snorted loud." "I just had little snort." It didn't take too long before I realized his "snort" was really breaking wind. :)

Alex likes to read books to the kittens and dog. Here's a quick clip of him reading to the cats.