Sleigh ride

Again this year there was a sleigh ride around the loop at the cabin. It was a little chilly out, but well worth it! The kids loved it...and Hailey even got to "drive" which she loved as well. We stopped for hot cocoa 1/2 way around the loop and then had a chance to thank the horses. Look at the beautiful sky, mountains and trees. Amazing! :) It doesn't get too much better than this! :)

Welcome back!

Well, it is 2011 already...time for me to just not worry about updating the blog and start fresh in the new year. I missed posting, but once I get a month behind it is hard to update. Then, 2 months behind. Then, well, you know how it goes! I cannot promise I will update as much as I did in 2009, but it should be more than 2010! :)

We had an AMAZING weekend at the cabin. We went up there on Thursday afternoon, and didn't get home until late Sunday afternoon. What did we do!??! Ummm...one word...RELAX! :) I cannot tell you how many games we played, but it was FUN! The kids LOVE Sorry Sliders, Qwirkle, Farkle, Yahtzee, Pass the Pigs, and so many other games. We didn't even watch that many movies we were too busy playing games!

Hailey also read THREE books while we were up there, and was using her timer to see how long it took her to finish the book (right around an hour a book) and would write a book report about it as well. She thought it was FUN...and I did too! :)

I will post a few pictures when I figure out how to get them off my NEW camera!!! :) Don't get too excited....it is a little point and shoot camera that I can carry in my purse. I got a new scrapbook I wanted last year, but didn't get to it, so this is the year. One picture every day...and a little caption about it. Not much. I am very excited to do it! It will showcase our LIFE...not just the big events of it. I want the kids to remember the little things...trips to Costco, playing with the cats, warming up their scented animals in the microwave before bed, what a mess the entry way looks like the night before school starts, etc. It is the little things that matter, and that is what I will focus on with this album. ;) I hope this excitement continues for the entire year! :)

I wish you all a happy 2011, and thanks for waiting for the posting to begin again. Please leave comments...I love knowing who is looking at the blog! :) Wish me luck!! :)

Tooth #6 GONE

I know it has been a long time, and I will update this someday, but Hailey wanted to share that she lost ANOTHER TOOTH last night! :) The second front one is now gone, thanks to Grandma and Daddy! :) Six gone....and another one getting ready to come out too! She is loving this (but Ryan is NOT...he wants the tooth fairy to bring HIM money too!) :)

Skiing...again

This weekend we were able to get back up to the cabin. It has been 4 weeks since we had been up there, so it was great to get there and focus on the family again. Saturday morning we were up early again and headed to the mountain. We knew it would be a crazy day there since it was "Winter Carnival" at the mountain...and it WAS! Combine a fun weekend full of activities with 15" of new snow....crazy! Hailey was very nervous and didn't want to use her poles, but by lunch time her instructor got her to use them and she LOVED IT! And I was so happy to hear that she was LEADING the class down the mogul runs! They were going down all blue runs by the afternoon. Her teacher had so much good stuff to say about her and we were SO PROUD of our little girl!! Way to go Hailey. Her closing statement...."I want to be in the Olympics someday!" Oh no!

Ryan had lessons again too. He is loving it and keeps asking when he can try snowboarding. He thinks you have to be 12, and I like letting him believe that for right now. Not sure if he will be okay with staying on Miami Beach for his remaining 2 days of lessons or not, but next year he will for sure be ready to hit the rest of the mountain.

Valentine's Day 2010

It was so nice to have all day Valentine's Day with the kiddos!!! :) Of course I had to make the food fun today and it was a special day for all of us!!!

Here are my cute kids with their kitties. Look at how big Rosie and Daisy are getting!! Gone are the "kittens" and now we have CATS! :(

The kids each got a card, a rose, and a few little treats for Valentine's day. Then we had our breakfast....pink pancakes shaped as hearts with pink apple juice! :) YUM!

After Sunday School we had to go to Kohl's and then made it home for lunch. The kids wanted to have the heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's so we had that for lunch. Then we just relaxed at home (Chris got to go to ice fishing!!) and then went over to Grandma and Papa's for supper. We supplied the noodles.....pink and normal-colored heart shaped pasta. It was actually good too!!!

I *HEART* my family!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Ironwood Hill sledding

The kids have really been enjoying having snow at home and the cabin (most of the time it is only at the cabin!). On Saturday, Feb 13 they took me to the Ironwood hill to have a try at the hill. There was a storm coming in, but we got down the hill a few times!!! :) Hailey LOVES it....and Ryan does too (even though he complains A LOT about walking back up!).

Here is Ryan watching Chris going over the jump, and going down on Chris' back!! :)

And, here is the crazy girl taking a rest on the tube and then going down spinning around! She is C.R.A.Z.Y!!! :)

Pre-Valentine's Day

Today both Ryan and Hailey have their Valentine's parties at school. It only seemed appropriate for them to wear their Valentine's shirts (this will get an extra day out of them!!). They were both so excited to go to school and have their parties...and get their valentine's and candy too! Hailey's class is having ice cream sundaes (YUM!) and Ryan gets to go on a field trip for preschool!! They both wanted to bring their lunch today and requested macaroni and cheese. I "spiced" it up a little with some red food coloring so they will have PINK MAC & CHEESE for lunch (they were both excited!!!). I love how these little things make their days!!!

Here are my cute kiddos before going to school today!

If you notice, Ryan's shirt says "The Ladies Love Me." I almost fainted when I saw that!!! Remember when he would say that and wave his arms?? I will have to find it and post the link here. It was just PERFECT for him this year! :) And, Hailey's is pink and pretty....just right for her too! :)

UPDATE : I found it....watch this video from March last year -> Ryan

Another Ryan funny

We were in the car this morning (going to the dentist for cavity #2 for Hailey), and Ryan was talking about how he wanted to kill coyotes and tigers, etc. Hailey of course yelled at him that the are just animals and that is part of nature that those animals kill others (very true Hailey!!!). We somehow got on the topic that humans have to kill cows, chickens, etc to eat. Hailey was okay with that (thankfully). Ryan had another idea. Here is what he suggested.....

"We should just make a hole in the cow, grab the meat out, and then put a band-aid on it so we don't have to kill them."

Oh Ryan.

In Good Glazes

Tonight for Girls Scouts Hailey was invited to the store "In Good Glazes." Since Chris is out of town, I decided to let Ryan participate as well! :) They each picked out a piece of pottery and got to paint it however they wanted! They both enjoyed this very much. For some reason I think we will be going back there again! :) They didn't like leaving their masterpieces at the store, but it sure will be fun for them to pick them up next Tuesday!!

Here they are busy painting....


And their finished pieces! Hailey's is a plate with a flower and rainbow on it. Ryan did a mug with his name and stripes painted on it. Then he decided to paint the inside brown. Not sure why, but he thought it was a good decision! :)

The first Valentine's Box

First grade has been a lot of fun for Hailey. She is enjoying school, and is learning so much. I love having her read to me for a change!! :) First grade is still bringing a few "firsts" to our house. This week...it is the first Valentine's box. It was Hailey's homework for this week and at first she just wanted to take plain white paper and draw on it. Nothing wrong with that....and she does a great job at it....but I presented a few ideas to her on how we could be more creative! :) Poor little girl had no idea what she was getting into.

She decided she wanted to make a crayon box since it was for school. I was okay with that!!! So, we started covering the box, and before we knew it....it was done and looked amazing. Thanks to some of my scrapbooking tools, it was a "work of art!" :) She is so excited to take the box to school tomorrow!!! :)