Dixie dog

January 31, 2011
Dixie is in the house most of the winter since it is so cold, snowy and icy outside. She is very tolerant of the kids and usually gets plenty of snacks (Matthew dropping food). In other pictures I have taken of her, she is moving too much, laying all the way down or her eyes are red with the flash. But today, she was in the den looking at something (probably waiting for Matthew to drop goldfish) and I captured our true "Big dog". Dixie turned 9 years old last week and she has been the best dog in the world for us. She is part of our family and we can't imagine life without her. :)

Fun in the snow

January 30, 2011
I will admit, I could not pick one picture today. It was nice enough outside so the kids could go out and play in the snow without freezing - and Matthew wore gloves this time. We let them sled down the little hill in the front yard. It was Matthew's first time sledding with Lizzie and they had so much fun! I have so many pictures of them both laughing as hard as they can. Although they are 5 years apart in age, they love playing together and sometimes one is lost without the other - we are so blessed. :)

Ice Fest

January 29, 2011
Every year, Chambersburg has Ice Fest - its a weekend of various activities and strolling around downtown looking at ice sculptures. Most of the restaurants and stores have different sculptures displayed in front of their businesses. It could be a tree, horse, cross, diamond ring, and many more. The most popular for the kids is the ice slide and big ice chair as seen here. We walked around for a little while and then went home and had pancakes for supper! :)

Paper Swan

January 28, 2011
Lizzie loves making things out of paper - usually it involves drawing, coloring, cutting, taping, pasting - the normal stuff kids do with paper. Well, we should know by now that Lizzie is not exactly "normal" sometimes! She got into her head that she wanted to make Alana a paper swan for her birthday - not sure why, but anyway. Mike has shown Lizzie the awesomeness of Google and she loves looking up stuff on the computer lately. One day, we thought she was playing a computer game. It turns out that she Googled "how to make a paper swan" and found a video instruction. She called Mike in the office and they watched the video and made this - we thought is was cool! :)

Covered with snow

January 27, 2011
I just thought this was a cool picture. It is one of Matthew's trucks and sidewalk chalk that is usually on the porch for the kids to play with. The snow blew in on the porch and covered everything yesterday. We are expecting more this weekend! :)

Snow Blower

January 26, 2011
Mike broke down and bought a snow blower! Last year, he shoveled our 1/4 mile path after 20+ inches of snow and he was determined not to do that again. We got our first decent snow today and he fired up the snow blower so that I could get a picture. We ended up getting 6-8 inches total from this storm, so it wasn't the "big one" but he is still happy not to shovel the entire path. :)

Flash cards

January 25, 2011
Well, I wasn't sure what to capture today. Looking at flash cards is one of Matthew's favorite things to do (it was also Lizzie's when she was his age). He finds them and brings them to us all of the time. What's really funny is that Matthew has figured out how to get what he wants around here. Sometimes I tell him no if I am doing something else like washing dishes. If Lizzie is home, he takes them straight to her, and of course, she will stop anything to do them with him. Smart kid! :)

Just like daddy

January 24, 2011
Matthew has come to love truck magazines, just like his daddy. Mike now buys magazines just for him. Tonight, Matthew crawled up on the couch, sat back and started looking at this magazine - it was like having a mini Mike!

Roller Skating

January 23, 2011
The PTA at Lizzie's school sponsored a skating party at Red Bridge Roller Rink. It was the first time Lizzie had ever been roller skating and she was very excited! I was a little nervous that she would get frustrated and not want to stay out there. But, she was determined and by the end of the evening, she was skating by herself without holding on to the wall. We had a great turnout and the kids and adults had a great time! I skated for the first time in many, many years and it all came back to me. Well, I did fall one time, but it wasn't even out on the rink - just running my mouth as usual! :)

Kitchen Re-do

January 22, 2011
Mike is finally on board with getting new kitchen floors and countertops (and a tax refund is helping)! I am soooo happy about getting rid of the beige everything that we have. Today, we went to Lowes to get samples. On the right, is the countertop color that we are thinking about (and I am pretty sure its the same one we put in the house in NC - Mike disagrees about that!) On the left is a couple of options for flooring - we are not totally sure about that yet and need to look at more. I can't wait! :)

Our Home

January 21, 2011
Well, I was sick this day and honestly did not take a picture! But, I wanted to post something and I took this one last week and thought it would be ok. :) I love our home - its down a farm path and we like having privacy and the space for Lizzie, Matthew and Dixie to explore. Mike and I would love to have many acres of land and hope it works out someday. We know that this will probably not be the "forever house", but for now it suits me just fine. It is not perfect and it is not always as clean as I would like, but I can honestly say it is always full of three things: faith, laughter, and love....

Snow fun

January 20, 2011
We still have a little snow on the ground and Lizzie loves to sled. Mike takes her down the big hills in the back, but he was not here. I made her stay on the little hill in the front yard since I had to keep up with Matthew. She made the best of it and had a great time! At one point, she fell off and was laughing and I snapped this picture - it is Lizzie in her element.

The Rosary

January 19, 2011
One night a month, the Catholic Moms Club has a family potluck and Rosary at the Parish Center. Mike was out of town this week, so I took both the kids myself. Matthew was very tired and not in a good mood, so we left after the meal this time. Lizzie was very upset that we were not staying for the Rosary and she asked if we could say the prayer at home. So, before bedtime we all sat on the couch and Lizzie and I said one decade of the Rosary while Matthew played with my beads. It was one of those moments that I will always remember and it inspired me to take this picture of our Rosary beads.

Snow day

January 18, 2011
No school today because of ice. While Matthew was taking a nap, me and Lizzie played in the snow - she made this snowman by herself! Mike is out of town, but he would be so proud -she rolled the snow just like he taught her. Lizzie came in and had a cup of hot chocolate (well, its usually cool chocolate with her!) while I had my afternoon coffee break. :)

I am excited - I am caught up with posting pics! Now all I have to do is post each day.....we will see how that goes!

More cars

January 17, 2011
Did I mention that Matthew loves cars? :)

My boys

January 16, 2011
Still in NC - all of the men were out in the field running their dogs and the kids wanted to see what was going on. Matthew completely enjoyed running around the Boykin's farm picking up old corn stalks. He was showing Mike one here...I love my boys.

Men & their birds

January 15, 2011
While we were in NC, Mike was able to swan hunt with his old crew. They got up at 3am to drive 2 plus hours to hunt - at least it was worth it! They had a great time and Mike was so happy to be back with his hunting buddies. There is a lot of testosterone going on here.....

Lizzie & Jake

January 14, 2011
We went to NC for a weekend visit and stayed with our good friends - Kim, Steve and Jake. We all had a wonderful time and the kids played very well together for an entire weekend. Lizzie and Jake got married a few times and even went on a honeymoon! To them, a honeymoon is where you go after you get married to relax (thank you, God, thats all it means to them at this point). They were so cute walking around holding hands and kissing on the cheek. I think they even went looking for houses! :)

Blue eyes

January 13, 2011
So, I try to take pictures of stuff other than the kids, but they are what I love the most. Seeing their smiles are what make my world a better place. And I can't resist his blue eyes....

Snow scene

January 12, 2011
I love our back yard view. The snow creates such a pretty scene on the hills - hopefully we wil get enough so we can have a sledding party soon!

My girl

January 11, 2011
Lizzie loves to pose for pics - at least this time she doesn't have her hands on her hips acting like a teenager!

Dogpiling

January 10, 2011
Poor Mike, the kids love to dogpile on him. Lizzie is usually screaming as Matthew tries to do a flying double flip and lands on his head! I thought she had no fear - he is an emergency room visit waiting to happen!
(and yes, I totally posted yesterday and today's pics as separate days, but they were taken the same day - it will be alright! :)

Books

January 9, 2011
My kids love books! Matthew is showing Lizzie his favorite book that he got for Christmas. He looks at this book at least 100 times a day - its Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go". Lizzie loves reading to him and he loves pointing out the cars!

Girls

January 8, 2011
Cindy and the kids came over one night to eat and play. Lizzie and Alana were so cute, I had to take a picture! They are such great friends and have the best time together.

Its cold

January 7, 2011
Matthew and Lizzie went out to play in the snow. It was Matthew's first time in a snowsuit and boots. He wasn't too thrilled in the house, but was ok outside. The only bad thing is he will not wear mittens yet and wanted to pick up the snow - it was really cold after a few minutes! Hopefully, we will have better luck next time...