A Friendly Visit (and...the snow is gone)!!

It seems much earlier this year than last, but the snow has all disappeared!! We had some days in the 40's last week with lots of rain that accelerated the melting process, I suppose. Today was super windy, but the sun was shining and the kids were crabby indoors, so we went out for a couple of hours this afternoon. We walked to a nearby park and hung out. Twas glorious. Owen is in a completely different life-stage than the last time we walked to that park (7+ months ago), so it was fun to watch him explore on this own two feet. He loved it. Ava had a sudden need to go potty, so we headed over to the park restroom facilities with fingers and toes crossed, hoping it would be open this early in the year. It was. whew. Crisis averted.
I also wanted to share some pics from the Hartke's visit last month. It was such a wonderful blessing to have them here. Coop and I felt refreshed and encouraged by our dear friends. : ) We had some outings and lots of food. Seriously--I didn't have to cook for a week after they left because there were so many leftovers. I planned some meals ahead and had the groceries on hand--which is funny because their family also came up last winter, and I don't recall planning any meals whatsoever. Owen was in his "I-will-never-ever-sleep-longer-than-45-minutes phase" and I was in survival mode, so it did not occur to me to feed our guests. I honestly don't know what the poor Hartke's lived on last year while they were here...but I guess it worked out because they came back! Here's the gang suited up and ready to go sledding. We'd been hoping and praying for good sledding conditions, and it worked out! I stayed back with Owen, who was feeling a bit under the weather, but all reported back that much fun was had. Ava got super brave on this outing and decided that she wanted to go down the hill in the saucer sled by herself. And she wanted it to spin. This was certainly a new development! Since I did not go...there are no pictures. ha! Meanwhile, back at the homestead, this was Owen's excitement for the morning. He makes the motor noises as he works Thomas around the track. Love. it.
On Sunday we all went to the Domes and it was a splendid outing. We toured through the tropical dome and the desert dome first, then had a sack lunch picnic, and then moved on to the showcase dome with the model trains exhibit. It was SO great because it was warm, sunny, no wind, and smelled like a spring garden. Ahhh.... A little bit of heaven! Plus, the kids were super entertained by the elaborate trains whizzing through the flower beds. Here's all the munchkins taking in the trains. Even Owen got in on the action. This is near the mission control shed for the trains. Aren't they so cute all lined up at the railing? Ava was getting a good look at the waterfall and fish swimming beneath the bridge in the tropical dome. And here's Coop getting a good look at the miniature village square. Yes, he was on his belly on the ground. The babies were happy little lambs on this trip. In fact, baby Wah slept through most of the touring. Amazing. Wish O-Boy would do that!
Ava was also happy. In case you were wondering. Or in case you couldn't tell from this face!
We spent the rest of the day making making and eating food for the "Big Game" and watching the commercials. We had some bacon-wrapped, smothered-in-brown-sugar little smokies. y-u-m. Wowsers those were delish! Thank you Mama J for that recipe! The smokies were lovely, but the crowning dish of the night was hand-tossed pizza! The Hartkes brought up pizza dough from our favorite pizzeria in St. Louis, and we made our own pizzas! He could really toss it like a pro! Here's a picture of a sweet little moment when Dan started playing the guitar. My little ones were awestruck...they never hear that from Coop or myself!! Ava and O-boy were drawn to the music and sat, entranced, while listening to a serenade. It was cute.
The weekend together was great, and it really got me thinking that some form of community living situation could be beneficial. We're so isolated in our culture. I miss the community you could experience at college or on a sports team. You would certainly want to be picky about who you would partner with on something like that, but as a stay-at-home mom with young children, it would be so great to have another mom with you throughout the day. Diving chores, cooking together, encouraging each other, offering support and accountability. It would be lovely. I think. Well, the novelty would probably wear off pretty quickly if the set-up wasn't a good one, but even if you lived next door to each other and had meals together 3-4 times a week with a time of fellowship afterwards, that would be a big improvement! Anyone want to move to Colorado together? : )

It's already March!

I'm a bit behind on the blog! (Again!) I've had trouble organizing/finding my photos on the new little mac, so until I could get that bit of my life together, I've postponed the updates here. Iphoto and I don't see eye to eye on things. Or would that be i to eye? At any rate, we've had a long string of fun events in our little family! Over the last 8 weeks or so we've had a family vacation to the dells, the Hartke's came for a long weekend, we traveled back to Saint Louis, I attended a conference in Chicago, and we took in an Admirals game. So much to post about and so little time!
So here's some pictures from out trip to the Wisconsin Dells. Traveling to the Dells is sort of like traveling to Branson. Everything is very family-friendly and there lots of activities to do. But better than Branson, the Dells have a bunch of huge, indoor waterparks. The place where we stayed had 4 indoor waterparks attached to the hotel/condos, so we never had to bundle up in coats, mittens, and hats. We could just put the swimsuits on and walk down the hall to the attractions. It was delightful.
This is the indoor wave pool at our hotel. We LOVED all the natural sunlight coming into the building! Sunbathing is such a rare experience in January in Wisconsin!
Ava is EXCITED to get into the pool!
So is Owen!
He's a big fan of the water! Coop an O-boy had buckets of fun in the water together.
Here is Ava conferencing with the men of the family.
There was also a huge, indoor dry playground at the hotel. It had a nice little toddler area on the side, plus a big, 3-story play structure for the bigger kids. Ava loved it. Here's Owen weaving through the playground obstacles.
Poor little Ava got sick the 2nd day we were there. Such a bummer! She didn't get to do any swimming after that, but we checked a kid movie out at the front desk and watched it in the room. She thought that was pretty special. Even though she was sick, it was still nice to be away and in a different location for a long weekend. Plus, we've had a very healthy winter overall, so that's a blessing!

Also happening: March through the New Testament!
This is an opportunity presented to our students to read through the New Testament in the month of March. This requires reading about 8-9 chapters a day. Coop and I doing this together, and it's already been a blessing. : ) The students seem excited for it, and we're praying for their time in the word to draw their hearts and minds closer to Jesus.

frosty

Here's some pics from our backyard this past week!









Frostelina Jolie. She is a bit creepy, but we were trying to use things for her face that Callie wouldn't eat. So we ended up with tomatoes, a carrot, and a slice of red bell pepper. Now, looking at this picture, I know that this is just wrong.

Sledding

It was a bit warmer out last weekend, so we went to check out a nearby sledding hill. It was such a great place to go. It resembled a nice, wide, green run at a ski resort.The conditions turned out to be perfect. It was in the upper 20's with no wind and no crowds, so no one got cold and no one got clobbered. It was nice for all of us to get outside and do something fun! Here are some pics from the afternoon:




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Christmas

Christmas was wonderful. Steve's family came up for the week around Christmas, including Robyn and Cory, and it was so fun to have everyone here. Cory had to fly out on Christmas morning for work, but it was nice to see him for the time he could stay!
They got in the Wednesday afternoon before Christmas, just in time for us all to load up and go to Cabellas. There's one located about 25 minutes from our house that we'd never been to, so we took the opportunity to finish out Christmas shopping and let the kids look at all the stuffed animals there. Ava even went hunting with Papa. Good times. After we arrived home and put the babies to bed, we had a wrap-a-thon to get ready for Christmas morning. Go team!
The next day was Christmas Eve, and we had a full day, starting with Jan's Creme Brulee French Toast. Wowsers. That thing is awesome. We also woke up to a lot of new snow on the ground, so the boys jumped into action with snow shovels and the new love of Steve's life: the snow blower. Something about the chore of clearing snow from the driveway with a loud, two-stage snow blower really appeals to males. Which is great, because then I don't have to do it.
So that day we also baked a couple of pies, decorated a ginger bread house (Thank you, Robyn!) and delivered cards and mulling spices to the neighbors. I love that smell!


We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church that afternoon, then came home and took a family pic with Robyn's camera while everyone looked presentable.

Next came a big christmas dinner, complete with china and stemware. The hunk of meat we roasted in the oven turned out ok despite a faulty meat thermometer. I'm glad we didn't ruin things on our first turn to host a holiday meal!


Owen is missing from these photos because he went to bed about 10 minutes into the meal. So it was quiet. More quiet than comfortable, actually, because if we got too loud he'd wake up and start crying.
After dinner, Ava opened one present (pajamas), had some pie (about a tablespoon amount!) and went to bed.

Well, Ava went to bed after she sprinkled the Reindeer Glitter on the front lawn, which consisted of oats and glitter, you know, to lure the reindeer to our house.
The grownups wanted to go to bed too, but we still had a lot of work to do. Dishes, eating more pie, hanging stockings, and setting out the presents. The men built the ginormous electric train that Papa Cooper brought for the kids, setting it up around the base of the tree. Very fun. Owen loved it the next morning. So did Uncle Cory.
Christmas day was so fun. For starters, I go to sleep in a little bit. yes, it's true. When I woke up, there were several grown ups downstairs with Owen, who was sitting next to the train, mesmerized. Uncle Cory was making sure he didn't go Godzilla on the tracks.

Once Ava woke up, things started moving along, starting with the stockings. The St. Louis Coopers brought up all the family stockings, and it was fun to see them all together on the fireplace. Here's Owen digging in.

After stockings, we had to take a break to eat Robyn's famous, homemade cinnamon rolls.

My Goodness. Those things are sick. In a good way.

Then comes the homemade icing on top, which I think consists of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and more powdered sugar. Oh, baby. I will admit that two weeks later, I ate one of the leftover cinnamon rolls hiding in the back of the fridge. It was still good.
When the feasting ended, we dragged our sugar-coma selves back to the living room to finish gifts. Uncle Cory had to finish his up quickly because he had a flight out in the early afternoon, Boo. But the kids had fun opening the presents and it was nice to lay low all day. Here are some more pics from Christmas.

I love the dress-up phase!!

Papa Cooper got this flashing nose in his stocking and owen was fascinated, so Papa helped him wear it.
Guy time on the sofa.
Snuggle time with Moots!
Steve's gift from me was a batch of homemade buckeyes. These are his all-time favorite treat, so I thought he would appreciate being married to a wife who knew how to make them. He was excited. : )