My Kids are Cute.

There. I said it. My kids are cute. Seriously adorable. Want proof?  Here goes:

They love to play "Don't Break The Ice" on the table

Making cookies can be quite the mess!

Swimming at Cottonmill

Smores at Cottonmill!

Sweet shades we found while cleaning out
Grandpa Jigger's old truck

OOoops-- how did that make it on the blog?
(Sorry Daddy!)

Every morning he comes into my bed and snuggles me
for about 30 minutes. best. time. ever.

Driving home from Omaha!

Not only are they cute, they are
SUPER smart, too!

He loves when she reads to him

Just like Uncle Doug!

School is her favorite time of day!

...no, wait... storytime with Daddy is their favorite time of day

Her sentence with the word "again".
and then a good 'ol "congratulations" to herself!

They love to read.
Her favorite: any "new" book
His favorite: the Bible

She LOVES quiet time!

Nursing her twins

Oh boy! Another one?
He SERIOUSLY loves shoes!

"why so serious?"
                                          ...because beet juice stains

Her shades after getting her eyes dilated

Matching girls!

He enjoys helping mama bake.

Thanksgiving Day 2013

Thanksgiving Day 2013

Fell asleep holding my hand

The Buffalo County Fair
is some serious business!

Look out!!

Our mountain men after climbing a mountain
to eat lunch at the top!

His new backpack!!

Nearly every day she falls asleep with books all around
(and, apparently, a wooden spoon on this particular day)

He got stuck in the Styrofoam from my bread maker!

The goggles might be a wee bit tight

... there you have it. Adorable. Loveable. Smart. Mine. :-)

Brinley's Birthday Party

On December 7th, our little girl turned 4. 

Yes, four. 

 F . O . U . R .

 We can't believe it, either. Seems like just yesterday we were announcing her birth. Apparently everyone was right-- the years seem to fly by!

Brinley wanted a "Movie Party" with her friends. She wanted to have it at Mommy's work. So, thanks to the generous owners of the building, we did. Thanks to Grandma Cindy for taking pictures of the party!

She also requested a donut cake. :-)

We watched "Merry Larry"--
the new Veggie Tales movie

Brinley and Addi

Brinley had such a fun time at her party. Thanks to everyone who attended!! :-D

Thoughts of Summer

As the wind begins to gain a chill and the snow begins to fall I can't help but think of Summer time. We had such a fun Summer this year. One thing that aided in our fun was our "Summer Fun List". At the beginning of Summer, Brinley and I sat down and made a list of all the fun things we want to do during summertime. Here's what we came up with:

Our full list: 
Make fresh lemonade, root beer floats, make a bird feeder, softball game, play in the mud, slip 'n slide, glow-in-the-dark bubbles, feed ducks, dance in the rain, sno cones, summer party, zoo, big pool, swim in a lake, play with sparklers, ride a horse, homemade ice cream, hold a new baby, waterblob, whipped cream fight, wash the car, catch a frog, fly kite, sunflower field, movie party, ride a tractor, parade, swan boats, bowling, fireworks, smores, tour a fire station, bike ride to cupcake shop, fireworks, petting zoo, tie die, mini golf, picnic, farmer's market, ride on a boat, climb to the top of Yanney tower, hose fight, catch 2 fireflies, county/state fair, shadow puppet night, glow stick bath, and camping.
We were able to accomplish EVERY one of them! Here are some highlights:

We had a blast marking things off of our Summer Fun List. Hope you enjoyed seeing our highlights on this cold day! :-)

Omaha Zoo!

The Henry Doorly Zoo has been on my "wanna do that" list for quite a while. We finally got to it after Thanksgiving. We took Roger's Uncle Roger (yes, two Rogers) (his dad's name is Roger, too, if you want to make it more confusing!) back to Council Bluffs, IA and decided to make a quick trip to the zoo. Here's what we saw:

Wow-- nothing like having a football stance. or is that a pregnancy stance?

Autumn.

i. love. autumn.

there is nothing sweeter than kids playing in the leaves with the warm sun shining down. nothing better than pumpkin bread and apple cider. nothing cozier than sweaters and knee-high boots.

i. seriously. love. autumn.

so when someone calls to invite us to play in their leaves we say "on our way!". and thank you.

we normally don't have many leaves in our yard due to our tiny trees that refuse to drop their leaves. this year, though, we had a small pile. pretty small. but that didn't matter to us. i raked them all from the sidewalk to the yard and we played. and played. and played.

thank you, Lord, for autumn.