Inside days

We have been spending most of our days indoors with the weather being so cold and Ayla with the massive runny nose (She is still cute with shiny cheeks and snot though!). We have been busy getting ready for Grammy Roxanne and Aunt Danielle and Cousin Aiden, as they are coming tomorrow. The house is still a mess and we really don't have a lot of food in the house (other than deer meat) but we will make due. We have been coloring alot and I have been knitting up a storm trying to finish another baby "sleeping bag" for our family friend Jody. It turned out quite nice and actually in the Seahawk (or Mariner) colors; but that is okay, Jody lives in Seattle :) Colton picked out the colors. All in all we are all well, and just loving the snow and contemplating life.

Kids busy "fixing" the tractors. They both fight over the screwdrivers to "fix" them. So cute!

Colton very concentrated on his drawing... he is getting quite good.

Playing in the toybox. Oh, the things they find.

This is the sleeping bag for baby... I love the texture and colors! And it only took all my spare time for 3 days! Hope she likes it.

Too cool

The kids had such a good weekend... just being silly. Here is a couple sunglasses pictures... they really lie to "perform" for the camera when given the chance! We made it to JuJu Bee's one of the days, and the other Colton and Tyler spent some boy time together and went to run some errands. Sunday night we had our wonderful neighbors, Shana and Justin (and little Mia) over for some "Scene it" ... good times!



How cute! Trying to hold each other's hands.

Inauguration, kitties, and puzzles

Colton is completely obsessed with puzzles! And he is amazingly good at them... he did the one below all by himself, and he has a couple others that he does over and over and over and over and over again! What fun!

No, this is not cruel and unusual punishment... he climbed in there himself, and I think that Ayla closed the door, so Tyler decided to take a picture... Jack is a kitty that likes to climb into anything, so we really have to watch it! (and Sofa just watches!)

While we watched history take place today, Ayla sat almost still on my lap mesmorized for 20ish minutes with President Barack Obama... it was amazing! I can't believe how important this day is for our Country and I am so excited and nervous with the changes that I believe will come. Granted they won't come tomorrow, but I do believe that they will come and they will be mostly positive. Obama seems to encourage hope in the darkest of our midst... amazing....

Oh, and today, we had our first homevisit for our upcoming certification for foster care. We actually could be licensed this week and get a call for some kiddoes in need! We just needed to get a fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide detector, and we did today at the Home Depot... so we are all set! Exciting, but I am full of nervousness too. It will be a daunting task, but I believe it is a very worthwhile one. Wish us well!

10 things I love today

Where do I start? There are so many things to be loving and appreciating right now... let me see.

1. The meatballs that I made the other night, and then had again last night! They were so yummy and pretty healthy, actually!


2. JuJu Bee's, this great indoor playhouse (the only one in the Flathead) that the kids love and actually ask to go to! My friend Jill and I bought a monthly pass and have been frequenting quite regularly.
3. Coffee! How on earth have I become so addicted to coffee? I blame it all on Tyler, due to his inability to wake up in the morning without it!
4. The fact that the kids let us sleep in until 9am this morning! Of course Ayla was in bed with us since 7:30, but who cares!
5. The clear roads that allow for a quick walk during the day, when it isn't too cold or windy
6. The prospect of acupuncture actually helping my back!
7. Ayla learning new words everyday! She is so amazing and seems to be smarter than me already!
8. How Colton is learning problem solving, example: He asked for juice the other morning, and I said "you always have milk for breakfast. After you drink your milk, you can have some juice" so Tyler got out the milk and started to pour and Colton told him very politely "only little bit, Daddy. Only little bit." Then he drank his little bit of milk, holds the cup out to me and says, "Juice, Mommy, Please." What a stinker!


9. My back's weird way of telling me to slow down and enjoy the little things... funny how that works!
10. The new leg warmers that I am half way done with for Ayla! They are so tiny!

New bikes courtesy of Craigslist

I was perusing Craigslist, as I do almost everyday, and I came across and ad for a Skuut bike (Colton's). It is a bike that has no pedals or training wheels, but instead lets the child learn to balance first and then eventually they should be able to ride a bike without training wheels. So far, it is kind of big for Colton, but I figured a way to make it a little shorter, and he tries to ride it a couple times a day (and hates when Ayla tries!) When we went to pick it up, the seller also had this little bike (for Ayla) and said we could have it. So they each got a new bike, which makes it easier! Tomorrow: 10 things I love right now!

Kiddies loving kitties

Ayla has a special love for our cat Sofa. She will go and lay on him and he is such a loving and maybe slightly lazy cat, so he just lets her. Our other cat, Jack will have no part in it and keeps out of the kids way. This morning, Sofa decided he would cuddle with Ayla's baby, and then the kids decided to cuddle too. Just thought I would share. Hope you are having a great Tuesday;
we are!

Choosing Simplicity

So my friend Jill lent me a book to read that she though I might be interested in. It is called Choosing Simplicity by Linda Breene Pierce. I have just started reading it, but am already seeing that this is exactly what I have been looking for. Simplicity is so simple, yet seems so out of reach. We are always trying to get more and more and our society says less is not best. But is it? I am leaning towards the answer being yes.
Choosing to live simply is a big step though, and I am not sure that Tyler and the kids would be fully on board. But maybe it's worth a try. I believe that we already live towards "simple". We don't spend extravagantly; we don't have a lot of debt other than our house and car; we don't go out to eat too much; etc. However, there is a lot more we could do. Such as: walk more places; not waste so much food; grow a vegetable garden with stuff we know we will eat or gift; think about everything we do buy and ask ourselves if we really need it; pay off the debt we have now; save some for later; etc...
One decision I made last night as I was reading was to NOT get the gym membership that I have been wanting to get. I got a trial membership to the gym and really like it; however, I now realize that I can buy a couple workout videos, watch them on our TV and dance around with the kids when I need a workout, instead of spending about $30 a month on a gym membership. When we move to our next duty station and if we live near the base, I will have a free gym membership! Yeah! Anyways, that is just one thing.
I am going to give it six months.
I'll let you know how it is going!
In other news, I FINALLY finished my second knitting project, and I am SO happy with the final results. It is a kicking bag for infants, or as Colton calls it, a sleeping bag. Just slip the baby in it instead of using a blanket. I got the idea from the Soulemama blog (located in my favorite blogs) and signed up for the pattern... turned out wonderful. I might modify, so it doesn't take quite so long (chunkier yarn) who knows.



Here are just a few random pictures from the last couple of days... tractor pancakes from this morning; Ayla with her first barrette in her hair (didn't last long) and the kids playing in a box from Costco (which kept them entertained for at least half an hour!)

Gamenight with neighbors

We really enjoy having people over for gamenight lately! It all started with our neighbors Justin and Shana coming over with their newborn baby, Mia.
We have continued to invite some friends over every couple weeks to play games such as Pictionary, Clue, Farkle and Sorry to name a few! It is always fun with the kids there running around trying to get our attention. This picture is from last weekend where Justin, Shana and Mia came over along with Ben and Jill and their 3 kids: Josiah, Eve, and Isaac.
It was a great time and we hope to continue it!

Ayla thought it would be fun to try on Colton's "protective gear".

Our New Years weekend

So we started our new year off on a bad foot for little Colton... on New Year's Eve we had some neighbors over and when Tyler and I took the kids upstairs to go to bed, I was dragging Colton up the last step and he started crying about his arm... so he refused to move it for 2 days and we put it up in a sling (a playsilk from Aunt Danielle) which worked great! So he is better as of now, and seems to have forgotten the ordeal!

How cute is he in the sling though?
Today (Saturday) we took the kids sledding in the neighborhood. We each went down once, and then Tyler took both kids down... bad idea! They went in the powder and got snow everywhere on their little faces! They began to cry and it was time to go home.. but that is okay, it was worth a try! I got a chance to go snowshoeing yesterday with my good friend Jill and that was a blast! We hiked up through at least a foot of snow to the top of Lone Pine in our backyard... it was definitely worth it!

Ayla loves the snow and has such a good time trudging around. Her new boots keep her feet warm and dry.