Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Our first measurable snow fall- almost 4"
We had a really cold, fun winter this year. We had 3 really good snows this year and the kids loved it! We had all of our gear ready to go when the first snowfall was forecasted. The only problem was that we didn't have any sleds. I called every store I could think of to find a sled and they were all sold out. I finally talked to Ace Hardware and they said they were getting another shipment in the next morning. We got to Ace at 9:00 and they had already sold out! They said they might get another shipment later that day. I called about 15 times to find out when it was in. Finally at 3:00, they had a new shipment in. The lady said they only had about 12 left. I threw the kids in the car, with no jackets and raced over there to get our limit of two sleds! The kids thought I was totally crazy, but they were totally excited to have their very own sleds!
As excited as they were to go sledding, I don't think the kids enjoyed their first sled rides. I was inside getting Brower ready and came out just in time to see Kate flying down the street with Chad running after her! Chad put Kate on the sled and just pushed her down our huge hill, not realizing how fast she was going to go. She got stuck in the gutter and was turning in circles all the way down. The only thing that stopped her was the gutter at the very end of the street. She was not too excited to sledding again.
Chad hooked Sophie's leash to Brower's sled. He put Brower in the sled and pulled him for his first sled ride. Brower wasn't quite ready and wasn't holding on and did a face plant in the snow. He was ready to go in for a snack and hot chocolate after that.
We had a great time playing in the snow this winter. I think the kids favorite part was playing on the playset in the snow and drinking hot chocolate- that was my favorite part too!

Watching the first snowfall the night before

Checking out how much snow we got
Kate and Emma on their sled rides

Kate, Emma and Brower being pulled by their daddies

Kate helping Brower go for his first sled ride

Our little gymnast

Kate has started taking gymnastics at Sonshine Gymnastics and loves it! The child is so strong and weighs next to nothing, so she is really good! Of course I am her mom and very bias, but she really is good! One day her teacher, Miss Julia, had the girls climb a rope. Kate almost made it to the top- I was amazed!

These are pictures from Kate's first "meet" called Winter Fest.

Boy Names

So, we are still undecided on what to name this sweet little guy. Chad and I cannot come up with names that we like and if we do, we like them for a few days and change our minds. Chad and Kate were out one day and Chad asked Kate what she thought we should name the baby. Her response was "Daddy, I have two names picked out, Buster and Browser." So, we may have a Buster or a Browser. I think we may need some more input than from a 2 and 5 year old!!

"Decorating" the House

Kate and Brower apparently don't think that their mom is doing a very good job decorating our house. While I was cooking dinner, the kids decided they needed to help me out and decorate our basement. I called the kids up for dinner and Brower came up with glitter all over his hands. Kate came up and told me, very proudly, how they had decorated the basement with glitter. The kids got into Chad's fly-tying glitter, which is very small, fine glitter- 5 bottles of it and sprinkled it all over the basement, literally, ALL OVER the basement...on all the furniture, in all of the toys, on the train table, in the sink, toilet, trash can, shower....everywhere!! They were both so proud of themselves. Chad and I spent an hour and a half vacuuming and cleaning the basement before we finally realized that we will never get it all up and will always have glitter in our basement. It was honestly hard to keep a straight face while discipling the kids!

It's A....

BOY!!! We had our ultrasound this morning and got to see our healthy, and very active little boy. We brought Kate and Brower with us so they could see the first pictures of their little brother. Brower was excited it was a boy. Kate really wanted a little sister, but I think she will realize soon enough that being the only girl has a lot of advantages. We are so excited to meet this little guy. Now we have to figure out what to name him. We had girls names narrowed down, but have no idea on boy names!

Christmas Caroling (redneck style)

We have made a tradition of goes Christmas Caroling on Christmas Eve. Papa thought it would be fun to take the kids in his tractor. So, we decided that if they were going in the tractor, it needed to be decorated and we were going to go all out- coke cans and all! The kids loved decorating the tractor to ride in. We even had a sign that said "Will sing for treats!"...and treats they got! Nonna and Papa told their neighbors the kids would be coming and they were all ready. The kids thought it was Halloween! They got some kind of treat at every house- candy canes, cookies, candy, chocolate, M&M's...all of their favorite things. Needless to say, they love Christmas Caroling! It was a really fun day.

Sprinkling reindoor food for Santa's reindeer

Sledding at Papa and Nonna's

When we got to Nonna and Papa's house, we were so excited to see snow! This is our very first White Christmas and we had so much fun! The kids spent a few hours sledding with Papa before all of their cousins got there.

Sophie may be an old dog, but she loves the snow and the lake!