January - Part 1

I'm going to try to get caught up in two big posts!!!

January was R.O.U.G.H. The kids were sick, a lot. It was cold. It was LONG, I'm talking the longest month in the history of the world!!!! Well, okay in reality it only lasted for 31 days, but those were the longest days ever. I wasn't sure that we were going to survive...but, Praise be to God, it ended!!!! And we're still here!!! And (knock on wood) no one is sick!!!!

Here are a few pictures of what we did, in between being sick.

We cuddled.

And cuddled some more.
(notice the cords to the nebulizer...G did lots of breathing treatments)

We visited our friends in Grimes.
My friend, Anna, and I were taking turns running errands/watching kids. It worked out SO well, the kids played and the moms got to go to Target (or wherever) ALONE!!!!!!!!!!
(her hubby is deployed too)
BUT, then everyone got sick, so we only got to do it a couple times...it WILL happen again.

We played dress up.

We went sledding at our house. G loves it, B not so much.

We played with snow IN the house...with cousin Owen.

We had friends over and made a snow man.
My friend, Anna, went to CO and her girls stayed with us for the weekend.
It was fun, but I'm glad I don't have two 4 yr olds and two 2/almost 2 year olds EVERY day :)

We went to military night at the Y.
Free pizza and fun bouncy stuff to play in/on.
(Grant is in the gray shirt, climbing UP the slide)

Brynna's eye got swollen from a sinus infection.
We eventually had to do eye drops because they got all crusty. Poor baby...the drops and cleaning her eye lashes bothered her more than the crusty/matted eyes.

We wore cute dresses to church.
We are now avoiding the nursery...trying to stay healthy!


And we got all tired out.
Doesn't he look huge!?!?!

Okay, that's all for tonight. Part 2 coming, hopefully sooner rather than later.


Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, especially to my dear husband, Lee. Thank you for all you do for our family and our country. I am blessed beyond words to have a man who will bravely stand up for what is right when so many sit quietly. Lovingly holding down the fort while you are serving our great nation, Your devoted wife, J.

Super Bowl

We had a Super Bowl party last night!!!

Papa, Unlce Matt, Aunt T, and Owen came over to watch the game, commercials and eat junk food!!! For some reason the kids decided it was a great time to wear costumes :)
Here are a few pictures.

Also, a BIG thank you to Tiffany for helping me (ok, doing it all herself) take the wall paper down from our bedroom. I'm redoing our bedroom and was frustrated with the wall paper...
Tiff says she ENJOYS doing projects like this!?!?!? All the bedroom furniture is moved to the center of the room, now I need to get motivated to paint!!!!!!!!!!!

Army Wives night out

I know, I am not yet caught up with January...however I'm going to post this anyway.

A group of Army wives went out to dinner on Saturday night. We at at Gino's West Glen and then ended up across the street at Blue Moon Piano Bar. We were treated well at both places, a free round of drinks at Gino's and free cover at Blue Moon.

While at Blue Moon, we saw Ed Wilson the WHO TV weather guy. I walked up and asked if he would take a picture with a group of Army wives.
So, his wife took the picture for us...and we ended up on his blog!!!

He was very nice and seemed genuine that night and his blog post brought tears to my eyes.
I think I'll make sure to watch Channel 13 from now on.

***Update, he also showed this picture on the news***

Grant's ATV!!!

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet!!!

Most of you probably know that Lee's hunting buddies from "Drop Tine Lodge" went together and bought Grant a 4-wheeler for Christmas!!!! Ryan Rasmussen is an old college roommate of Lee's, who also happens to have a farm (aka Drop Tine Lodge) about 10 minutes from our house. This was above and beyond what we ever expected...although, I can't help but wonder if this is some sort of "insurance policy" to make sure Lee gets in LOTS of hunting time next year????

Rass (aka Ryan) came over with the ATV while the kids were napping. He unloaded it, parked it in the garage, "decorated" it, made sure it started...then we set up the video camera and planned exactly how we'd surprise Grant. We waited and waited for Grant to wake up (they always sleep FOREVER when you DON'T want them to)...I finally had to wake him up. He was a little groggy and grumpy and said, I'm going to sleep more...WHAT!?!?! He NEVER says that. I finally got him upstairs and then outside. His reaction was not at all what I expected...he was a little shy b/c he hadn't seen Rass for awhile and I had a camera in his face, and he didn't quite know what to think! He warmed up, a little, listened as Ryan explained everything to him and then they rode it for awhile. There was no crazy excitement, but I think it took awhile to sink in.

He asks almost every day if he can ride it, but is pretty good about accepting the fact that it just can't happen much right now between the snow and ONE parent home.

I'm a little worried about it, but he loves it and seems to be learning how to ride it.
It will be nice when Lee is home and can spend more time teaching him.

Tricks!?!?!?

Watching Grant ride.
(Now she wants to ride every time he does...YES, we've all THREE been on it)


***Ryan brought the ATV out a couple days before Christmas, so this post is out of order***

NYE

I had plans to hang out with some Army wives for New Year's Eve...but the weather wasn't great and I just felt like staying home. So, this is what we did instead.

Made snow man cookies.

Ate "party" food; little smokies, pizza, spinach artichoke dip...on fun paper plates :)

Played the Wii.

Yes, she HAS to do everything he does.

Vandewater Christmas

We were supposed to go to Ames on Christmas Eve day to celebrate with the Vandewater's. The weather got cruddy AND I was having vehicle issues, so we didn't make it up until the week after Christmas. Thank you, Vandewater family for getting together a second time for us.

Grandpa Brian reading the Christmas story.

Brynna decided Ed should help with the paper...she handed him each little piece she pulled off.

CHEESEBALLS!!!
This has become a tradition from Grandpa Brian.
I'm sure glad we don't have FOUR kids, like Jon and Heather :)

The box may have been more fun then the gift :)

This is the best "in front of the tree" picture I could get.

Dessert...cookies AND ice cream!

Christmas Day

I'm back!!!

Here are some more pictures from Christmas Day.
Papa, Uncle Wade, Aunt Stephanie, Whitney, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tiffany, and Owen were all here for the afternoon/evening.
We somehow forgot to get a group picture, even though we do it EVERY year!?!?!?!

This was the extent of our front porch decorating. We usually have garland up too, but it didn't make it out of the tote this year. I did hang the wreaths over the lights on the house/garage.

Getting ready to cook Christmas Dinner...
barefoot and in the kitchen, at least I'm NOT pregnant!!!

Hanging out in Grant's room. Uncle Wade helped him set up his train set...then helped him keep the little ones from knocking it all down!

The finished product!
Thanks Uncle Wade.

The mirror.



My new Nativity set from my grandma...I LOVE it!!!

The tree with the yellow ribbon tied around it.
We REALLY missed you, Lee.