whobody froze their toes?

I have a confession.

i.

love.

snow.

I really do. I know that there are others like me, but most people think I am c.r.a.z.y.

I do love the snow.  I love how fresh it makes everything look outside...and how cozy it makes being inside feel.  (You may notice that most of these pictures were taken from my doorways.)  I don't love snow because I like to play in it... :) but, my kids do.

So...I just added all of my pictures from the last month....and put all of the snow ones into one post.  We  are having a 'lazy' day of cartoons and napping around our house.  The youngest 3 are down with the stomach flu. :(  Today is one of those days of motherhood when I feel very much 

"in the trenches'. 

Today we have 

given lots of baths 

enjoyed lots of snuggles

washed many loads of laundry

ran the dishwasher at least 3 times (and it is only 2:00 p.m.)

had the t.v. on all day (that never happens)

did a quick clean of the kitchen bathroom & entry area

and banished Keaton to his room and downstairs

and, now, everyone is napping....

and I am going to sit here for a few minutes and try to catch up.

So....as I said, the past month we have had a lot of snow...and my kids love to play in the snow.  The nice thing about this year compared to previous years is that they are now comfortable being out there by themselves!  (and, only Nash needs help getting dressed in his snowpants...)  So, they have spent lots of time outside.

Most of the time that there is a late start for school, the kids will go out an hour before the bus comes, and play until they go to school. They also go out and play a lot on snow days and weekends! 

The first thing I should mention is that Keaton is a CHAMP at shoveling our driveway.  If it needs it, he will always offer to go out and do it. He loves it! 

As you can tell by the different coat...this is a different day, and still, shoveling.

and as you can tell by the 2 feet of snow...this is ALSO a different day! 

(Fluffy also loves it when the kids play in the snow!)

Nash tries to help too...(sometimes...) 

he is more interested in just using whichever tool Keaton wants to use....

On this day, Lola picked up some snow that she had stepped in, and was amazed by her boot print. 

She wanted to save it forever.

On late start days, Jason started a 'thing' of giving the kids apple slices on late start days to snack on while they are waiting for the bus or on the bus. 

(Lola actually found a week old baggie of apples...from this day pictured below....in her coat pocket on Thursday.)

Getting a few snuggles in with Fluff-ball before the bus comes.

Then after the bus leaves, Nash usually plays outside for a bit by himself!  

Here he wanted me to take a picture of him making a snow angel!

The kids also love to ride their bikes on the snow.....

I think it is mostly because when they fall, it doesn't hurt so much. 

Lola had just wiped out here...

Then, Nash (on purpose) tipped over too.

smart kids.

Notice Nash climbing on the TOP of the tunnel.

And, of course, most of the time, the snow play is ended with hot chocolate.  

Here...you can see Nash's chocolate mustache.

Looking at these pictures almost makes ME want to go play in the snow. 

whobody lost their first tooth?

So...this actually happened a month ago...but Lola lost her first tooth!!!

The crazy thing is this: we don't have a cute picture of Lola with her tooth missing because...

her permanent one was growing in 

behind the baby one!!!

(and now the same thing is happening with the other bottom tooth!)

So she lost her tooth...but didn't want to give it up to the tooth fairy right away...so, as any kid would do, she wrote the tooth fairy a letter.

Too cute.

So she took it to show the class :) and then came home and left it for the tooth fairy!

She got a dollar bill that was folded into a paper airplane!

She was pretty excited.

whobody had a family fun day?

SO.  Things have been super busy around here. (Funny, I usually look forward to winter because it is supposed to be the slow time of year!) I totally, honestly, truthfully, really forgot about my blog!!!  Things have just been very busy around here. BUT now I will hopefully make it a point to take a few minutes out of every day to keep up with it.

These pictures are actually from over a month ago.  We took a little family field trip to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque.  We saw that Curious George was going to be there, so we surprised the kids with a little road trip.

Lola and Nash both got their faces painted. This was something that we had to PREP Lola for...because she tends to really be heart broken whenever we have to wash anything like this off of her face! After lots of promises not to flip out when it was time to take it off....we stood in line to get their faces painted. :) They were both extremely proud when it was all done!!!

The artist said that she was making Nash a 

"River prince"

and Lola...an 

"Ice Princess"

Then it was finally time for Dan Wardell's story time. The kids were able to score a seat right up front! (you can just see half of Lola in front of the Harley coat...and Keaton and Nash to her right).  I just realized that I have no pictures of Cruz on this day... he was there...but he pretty much just stayed in his stroller :).  The kids loved the story that Dan Wardell read...and felt like they are next to a movie star!

Then the real movie star came out... 

Curious George.

We then headed to the other building and enjoyed the rest of the fun stuff! The kids' favorite 2 things are the huge fish tank.....

 ...and of course, the water play area!

(I swear that I didn't let Nash steal his barge...in fact, it was Nash's barge that was being stolen.

We really had a great time! 

I'd love to write more...but I better just keep at it and get more pictures out here!

whobody made me dinner?

One of Nash's favorite things to do is play with play-doh.

Lucky for Nash, Santa brought lots of new containers of play-doh for Christmas.

(our old stuff was getting pretty hard, and turning brown...

from colors being mixed together. )

So, here is what Nash did the first time he played with it:

 I guess I wasn't watching him very closely.... 

So much for having different colors of play-doh. At least he had fun!!!

whobody is walking?

So..now Cruzie has been walking for over a month...

and boy...

his personality has 

blossomed!

He is SO funny, and has really turned into quite the 

troublemaker and entertainer!

He is suddenly reminding us of Nash...  

He has always been a very happy little boy, but he is suddenly a whole new kind of happy!

He struts around saying/shouting his favorite nonsense phrase

"tcgke-tcgke-tcgke-tcgke...."

(this actually sounds something like either tickle tickle tickle or kitty kitty kitty...)

the words that he actually tries to say and says are the two biggies:

milk

&

night-night

When he gets tired, he will just walk around saying 

"ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni"

(and he is such a good boy, that we then just have to take him to his room, give him his little blankie, give him his binkie, and lay him down.)

Now that he is walking, he seems to have also reached a whole new level in playing.

He sometimes gets very busy, and will play with the same toy for quite a while.

But his FAVORITE new trick is dancing. 

He LOVES to dance. 

(Luckily, so do Keaton, Nash, and especially Lola.) 

His favorite move is to lean to one side, 

walk around in circles 

and swing his arms. 

Sometimes one, sometimes two.

(I have tried to load videos on here, but can't seem to get them to work.)

You will have to just imagine it.

But trust me, it is ADORABLE.

I forgot how much I LOVE this age.  He is so enjoyable, and really pretty easy to take care of too! I know that the dreaded 18 month age is coming (for some reason, that one is always my struggle).  Cruzie is really a joy to have around.

And now, I am going to leave you with some nakie pictures! 

(I brought my camera into the bathroom when he was getting ready for his bath.)

In case you haven't noticed...Cruz has a few dimples and rolls. 

Soon, he will grow out of these 

(along with all of his clothes)....

and I am once again reminded that kids grow SO FAST!!!

I hope you enjoyed your little snapshot of Cruz!