Winter Enjoyment

The warm weather is gone, for now. It snowed and snowed and blew and blew. The wind was really blowing today but the kids braved it, for a little while. I took pictures of Ben and Xiomara playing together before we had lunch. Emily and Marissa went out after lunch but I didn't get pictures of them. I went out to clear the driveway and didn't get pictures of that either. Kemiah came out for a little bit, without a hat or gloves, and just wanted to tell me that one of our toys wasn't working. Silly girl. Anyway, Ben made a tunnel through a drift in our neighbor's yard - between our houses. Pretty cool. I'm so glad they can enjoy playing outside, even when it is really cold out there.

A stitch in time...

Keeping with tradition, Ben sewed on his Wolf patch. He also sewed on his gold arrow point but needs to work on the silver ones. There's something to be said about a boy who does his own sewing... You figure out what that something is but I think it's pretty great. Good job, Ben!

Officially crawling

She is really doing it! It started on Monday and by Thursday she was really getting around. Now she's going wherever she wants to go and I'm not sure I'm prepared for this. It's exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. She is so happy with herself and just keeps going and going.

The snow is melting!

It really warmed up around here so the kids took advantage of that and got their bikes out! The first day they got wet and dirty because of all the puddles and some mud. The second time they went out I was more opinionated and gave instructions because I had washed all their stuff after the first time and didn't want to do laundry again. Fortunately, most of the puddles were gone so they could just enjoy themselves. It was really fun to watch the kids ride around the driveway together. You'll notice many different clothing choices on the various kids. That added to my enjoyment of the moment.

Kemiah wore a hat and boots, but no gloves, coat or snow pants.


Xiomara wore a coat, snow pants, and boots, but no gloves.


I think we need a bigger driveway! That's a lot of traffic!

Emily wore a coat and boots.


Marissa wore snow pants, boots, and a scarf.


Benjamin wore a coat, boots, and shorts.


Domonique slept through the entire event. She likes her arms down but not covered so if I cover them she will eventually get them uncovered, even if she is asleep when I put her down.

I did finally find a baby snowsuit so maybe next time I'll dress Domonique up and put her in the stroller so she can watch everyone and enjoy the outside air. That is, if we have another warm front come through and it's not freezing cold outside again.

Parachute Pose

No, she is not training to be a sky diver. This is what she does when she wants me to pick her up. It is one of my favorite things and I thought I had missed my opportunity to get a picture of it once she started crawling but I was able to get it. It was challenging though because if I gt down on the floor then she starts to crawl to me - she doesn't have to wait for me. I'm glad I was able to record this memory.

7 months old...

Kevin's memere (so Domonique's grand-memere) gave us this outfit and it's one of my favorites because I think she looks so cute in purple. Our little baby is growing up and we are lovin' every bit of her!

Just the other day...

On Sunday, Emily said she wanted me to pull out her loose tooth. Since the last one came out so easily I was ready to do it. I got the floss and toothpick, just like last time. It took two tries, and several tugs but it finally came out!



Later, at dinner, Ben said he wanted his loose tooth pulled, too, because it was hard to eat and he didn't want to swallow it. We got the floss again and it came right out. He had a much easier time eating without that loose thing hangin' around.


This whole tooth pulling stuff is getting much easier, but watching them wiggle the tooth still makes me cringe.

Snow Festival, Second Year for us

Back on January 28th, Tamara went with us to Frankenmuth for their annual Snow Fesitval. We went to it last year and it was freezeing! This year I made the kids wear all their winter gear and I wore some, too. It is always amazing to me to see what people can sculpt out of snow and ice. So here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

I'm not sure why but the kids really liked this thing. Each of them wanted their picture taken.

I finally walked away after taking Emily's but then realized she wasn't behind me. I turned around to see a stranger helping her get down. Her foot had gotten stuck and she couldn't get down. Her impatient mother just walked off and left her there. I wonder if she started to worry?

It was warmer this year so we were all more comfortable. We went on Friday and the judging happens on Saturday so the sculptures weren't done yet. Maybe one year we'll wait and deal with the hords of people to go on Saturday so we can see the final products. They've got to be better than the works in progress.

First Pinewood Derby and Wolf Complete

Way back on January 26th, the Cub Scouts had their annual Pinewood Derby race. It was also a pack meeting so Ben recieved his wolf badge, a couple belt loops, a gold arrow point and three silver arrow points. His car didn't win but he had fun with his friends. Maybe this summer we'll spend some time making the next derby car so that we don't have to work out in the garage during the winter next year.

Ben's car is in the middle.

One of the pre-derby games was a kind of three way tug of war. The boys held onto the rope and when the leader said go, they were supposed to try to grab an object and pull the other boys with him. Ben is smaller than all the other boys so he was always pulled away from his object. Fortunately he laughed about it and just had fun.