Snow "Cones"

Many thanks to Lucy for giving me the idea of having snow cones with the snow that we had. Honestly, I don't think the thought would have occurred to me. Pretty sad, I know. We were treated to snow cones at our friends house with the last big snow. This time, we made our own. The boys really enjoyed their green "snow cones". I think we still have some snow in the freezer. Maybe today would be a good day for another one!

p.s. Check our Micah's outfit. He loves to layer his pajamas. Sometimes he will go around all morning with long sleeve/long pant jammies, layered with short sleeve/shorts jammies. He cracks me up!

Last weekend

We woke up a week ago to snow...again. I could hardly believe it. It was lightly snowing when we went to bed and I honestly thought that there wouldn't be much on the ground when we woke up in the morning. The boys had a blast playing in it, though it was a wet snow. I had to post the pic of Micah with such a funny expression. He is usually very tolerant of the pictures I take, but in this moment he was NOT. :) The best part about the snow was that it was gone in just over 24 hours!

Random Pics

Just some random pics that I thought the grandparents would enjoy! There is another shot of Micah trying on Joshua's helmet; Joshua on the rope swing; Micah and Neil in the giga ball! Enjoy!

Oh, boy!

Joshua got a skateboard for his birthday. He's been asking for one for months, for reasons unknown to me. :) We hesitated, but finally decided to go ahead and do it. He's slowly learning, but hopefully it will be awhile before he's good enough to be trying tricks and such. Micah isn't interested in the board, but really likes Joshua's new helmet!

I love this picture!

The boys and I have great days together. And we have some days that are a struggle. That's why I love this picture so much. It reminds of the great days and helps me with my outlook during those days that feel like such a battle. It helps me so much to remember that we all fail, make mistakes, and have days that we wish we could do over. I truly want to strive for excellence in the mundane life things like doing laundry, cleaning house, teaching the boys to help with chores, and so much more. The list is endless! When it comes down to it, I hope that my boys are destined for great things. But, like me, they first have to learn how to do the little things with their best effort and a joyful attitude! Only God can help me with such a lofty goal!

They bring a smile to my face!!

These boys crack me up. One day, a couple of weeks ago, Joshua got dressed and came out like this...sweater, shorts, backpack, hat, and flip flops. It was cold outside, by the way. :) He was getting ready to go somewhere, but only he knows where. Micah was being cozy with his blanket. He certainly loves his blanket, and we'll be in deep trouble if we ever loose it. He has a blue and white stuffed TY puppy that he also absolutely loves (not pictured). Last weekend after Joshua's party, it disappeared. We searched high and low for it. In fact, I was about to email everyone who came to the party to see if they had perhaps seen it. I found it Thursday afternoon in a seldom opened kitchen cabinet. Micah was probably playing some game with it and decided to stick it there. Funny boy.

Speaking of Insulation

I mentioned in my last blog about blowing in insulation last weekend. Here is a hole in the ceiling that resulted from that. Neil stepped on a board, which he thought was plywood but turned out to be particle board. He ended up falling through, which was a big bummer. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt, the hole is in the garage, and is easily fixable! Also, the boys played on the big bags of insulation during our breaks. They moved them around, built forts, and made a 'track' that they had races on. We used a type of insulation called GreenFiber which is made of 85% recycled paper fibers. I think that's pretty cool. In the pictures of the boys and I, we're sitting on the mound of insulation. There was so much of it that Neil had to rent a truck to bring it all home. Good times. :)

The Rope Swing

So much has happened in the span of a week that it's hard to keep it all straight. Last weekend, Neil and I kept busy with blowing in insulation. He also replaced both toilets and did several other small projects that needed attention. Whew. Busy weekend. One other thing that he did do was hang a rope in one of our trees. So, we now have a rope swing. He has since added a seat in hopes that it would be easier for little ones to ride on. Neil and I have even enjoyed the swing. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours Joshua spent this past week swinging back and forth, back and forth...

On another note, Joshua's birthday party was today and was so much fun. We're thankful to everyone who could come (and missed everyone who were unable to make it). I'll get pictures up soon!

Happy Birthday, Joshua!!

Our big boy is 5 today! We can hardly believe it! These past five years have gone by very fast. He has lived in 7 houses, the current one hopefully being the last for awhile. :) This picture was taken today and captures his fun-loving personality perfectly! Happy Birthday, Joshua! We love you so much and you've been an incredible blessing to us since before you were born. (For the record, he was born at 8:51 p.m., eastern time, after a very LONG, HARD labor.)