Snow Much Fun

Before we went to IL for the Holidays we hadn't gotten any substantial amounts of snow here in Missouri!  It flurried a few times but there was not enough to play in, so we packed Aiden's snow pants, boots, and some extra warm clothes intending to let him play in ALL the snow that had fallen in the Quad Cities.  Once we got there, it snowed even more and the Sunday after Christmas we helped Aiden get all layered up and we headed out to play.  Aiden was a little hesitant at first but after a few minutes he was having a blast.  Unfortunately, it was so cold that we weren't out for very long but Aiden was able to make his first snow angel before heading in.  Playing in the snow + Time with family = "Snow" Much Fun!!

When we returned home to Mo early in January, we finally had snow here!! A couple more inches fell the first week we were back and although its all gone now, I did get  few pictures of Aiden the day he braved going out to help mommy shovel!

It was so cold on this day that when Aiden's nose started to run, the snot froze to his face and onto the zipper of his coat! At this point, it was time to go in!!

Since, we've had some warm weather.  Last week it was in the 40's and 50's...but it it didn't hang around long.  Its only about 30 degrees again today.  I realize that its still January and its supposed to be cold, but once we were teased with a little bit of spring like weather its hard to adjust back to the cold!  We are very anxious for spring and warmer weather as we are ready to enjoy our new deck and yard!

More Holiday Rewind

There are about a hundred million things I could be doing right now, but I'd rather blog.  Lucky you!  Probably because it bothers me to be so far behind...if I let it go you'd be looking at our pictures from Christmas sometime after Easter!! Everything else has still needed to be done for a while now, I promise you it will still be there waiting for me when I finish this!! Here are some more pictures from the holidays...mostly of family Christmases while we were in Illinois!

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen

Christmas Morning and at the Farm

Christmas at Nana & Kevin's

Christmas at Papa & Gigi's

Oh...Christmas memories!

(This is Aunt Honkey...she is special...we ♥ her!)

Christmas at Grandma's

Whheeew....That's a lot of presents!!  And a whole lot of good memories and time with our family!  I'm exhausted again just looking at all the fun we had!  Believe it or not, there were more pictures taken and even a lot of times that I didn't even take pictures because I decided to enjoy the moment rather than spend it behind the camera trying to capture it!  And this STILL doesn't mean I'm all caught up...but I'm getting there...between the loads of laundry, the gallons of paint, the running errands, etc...  The weekend is near so if I'm not back before then, hope you have a good one!

Holiday Rewind

It doesn't seem like it has already been over two weeks since we were back home in IL for the holidays!! The beginning of 2010 is going by so fast...Here are some pictures from last year (technically!) of the recent holidays!

A week before we went to IL to visit, Nana decided she wanted to come see us!  She was only here for the weekend, but we did lots of fun things in that short time. First, we went to the local farm store to see Santa and his reindeer Dasher.

The Next morning Aiden was thrilled to find that Nana was still at his house, so they spent some time playing and dancing.

And later that day we all went to Saint Louis Mills, to the big Cabela's store.  What a great weekend!

Before we left for our trip we also got a visit from someone at the North Pole!  I don't think it was Santa because it was a few days early, but he must've known we wouldn't be home on Christmas morning so he sent a sneaky elf to our house to leave Aiden's presents! Please excuse our tree, all the ornaments were at the top where little Mr. Busy hands couldn't reach, so in the pictures it looks bare!  Santa didn't didn't bring too much again this year since he knows Aiden still doesn't really have the concept.  Aiden was excited to get a tool bench and and tools though, he works with them almost daily still!  He also got a couple books, a movie, a doodle pad and a "pet" dinosaur from mom & dad! It was another first Christmas in our new home and it was a good day!  We spent the rest of the day enjoying time together and preparing for our trip!

Full House

Looks like Trouble!!  (Check out Aiden's shirt!)

Right now at our house there are 2 dogs, 2 puppies, 2 toddlers and a partridge in a pear tree!  Ok, not the partridge in the pear tree, but hey! Why not??  I'm back to babysitting this week and we're also doggie-sitting.  Aiden likes having someone other than mom-mom to play with again and Lilly and Rosie like having their BFF's here as well...But boy it makes for a very busy house!  Rosie has gotten really good at at being poor little Rosie who's not like the rest, since the other three dogs are boxers.  While we were in IL for the holidays, our dogs stayed at Nora and Allie's house and Rosie ended up with stitches!  No one knows what actually happened, but we're pretty certain that she was being nasty and deserved what she got.  The stitches, there were 4 right under her eye and were pink!  She got them out yesterday afternoon and the vet said it healed very well.  We're hoping to not make any return visits to the vet while they're together!!  Our new furniture finally go delivered and is being broke in very lovingly, especially when Adam gets home from work at night.  They all pile on his lap when he sits down to watch tv and he's learned that there's really not a good way to get all of them to fit there.  Most nights its been quite humorous! In no way am I complaining about any of this, I think its been a great week!!  It's nice to open our home and make it feel a little less lonely.  If we lived closer to our family and friends, our home would be such a great place to gather and I like having that atmosphere.  Unfortunately right now, there are very few times that everyone is able to gather at our home.  So for now, we are enjoying the full house that we have and the friends that we've made!

Rosie the morning after stitches and a night at the vet...

And again right before getting the stitches out!

Oh Deer!!

Oh Deer, I just realized that I some how forgot to blog about something very exciting back in November!! In the event that Adam were to ever stop by here and blog himself, there's no way that this major event would have ever gotten missed.  For those of you that don't know, Adam has become quite the outdoorsman.  Since we've moved to Missouri Adam had spent time enjoying fishing and hunting.  In '08, Adam got a doe with his new bow that ended up being the only deer he got last season.  Last year, he tried turkey hunting but wasn't able to get one, instead he only got a squirrel!!  When deer season started again he shot a doe but when she turned to run, she ran into a tree breaking off the arrow and shoving it in deep enough to not leave a blood trail.  After spending a few hours looking for her and no luck, he came home and ended up getting a phone call a few days later from the guy whose property he was hunting saying that he found her.  Unfortunately, by that time it had been too long and the weather was still too warm for us to still process the meat.  Bummer!!  But, the happy ending to this story comes opening day of gun season.  Adam had just bought a new rifle, the rut had begun, and he was only in the tree about a half hour when HE, yes HE came walking out of the trees and Adam got his first buck!!  My favorite thing about hunting season, other than the obvious of filling the freezer, is getting the phone call right after he gets his shot!!  That morning it came early and Aiden and I were both still in bed!  I knew that we had about an hour before daddy would be getting home with the big buck, so I got Aiden up and ready for the arrival.  Aiden was unsure at first, but finally warmed up to the fact that daddy had a big "Duhr" in his truck! He even helped daddy measure its antlers!  We have already enjoyed meat from the big guy and in March we will be getting the mount back.  Adam has already picked out a special place for him on the living room wall!!  

                                                  

Aw Shoot, We're Cute!

So I didn't make it back for more blogging yesterday, but here I am again and as promised with new pictures!!  With moving during the holidays, things got pretty busy for us and all of a sudden it hit me that I should probably think about putting some sort of Christmas card together to get sent out.  We surely didn't have the time to set up and appointment somewhere to get them done and most of our clothes were packed up anyway...so why not just have a picture taken as we usually are!  Adam and Aiden typically wear plain white t's for under shirts and just around the house and recently we've all been wearing our boots quite a bit.  So here's a few pictures of the fun we had trying to get a good family shot!

Aww Aiden waved...how cute...except he's covering his face!!

And this is the only one with the dogs...they lost interest quickly!

Hmm...if only Aiden's hand wasn't in my shirt!!

And the final product...

2009

Back At It

 Now that the holidays are over, we are back at it around here.  Adam is back to work and I will be next week, so this week I'm enjoying the quiet house and getting as much done as I can.  All of the Christmas stuff made its way up to the attic and I'm heading back up there today to see what I can find for Valentines Day Deco!!  Aiden and I made it back to the gym this morning and although two weeks doesn't seem like that long to be away, I could tell that it was!  It was a little rough but I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped back on the scale and found that I'm still right about where I want to be.  Now I just need to get back to working hard on toning!  It took Aiden a few minutes to warm back up to his friends this morning but when I checked in on him, he seemed to be having fun as usual.  After a couple very busy weeks, he's enjoying being back home again with all of his new things and all of the things he hadn't played with that seem new again! I'm hopeful that he will soon shake the nasty congestion, cough and runny nose he's had since before Christmas.  We had a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter, friends and family. As usual though, there's just not enough time with everyone. We have been so blessed in the last year, that I just don't know how it will be topped this year. Just as we did in 2008 we added a member to the family, bought a new house, and bought a new vehicle again in 2009!  We have decided to take 2010 off!!  But we do still have a few things to look forward to so remember to check in!


As the new year approached, I decided that my resolution this year was to not make a resolution I wouldn't keep as in many years past.  I have decided to continue working on goals that still need accomplished.  We have plans to start getting the house painted and decorated the way we want, soon! (The painting process is scheduled to start this week, fingers crossed!)  I would really like to get back to scrapbooking.  In the last house we just didn't have the space, but now that we do I'm excited to get an area all set up to be creative! I also want to blog more, even though I'm unsure that friends and family are coming regularly to check in on us, I know that I'm making an effort to stay connected with the ones we love! And most importantly I plan to maintain and improve my family's healthy lifestyle.  Im excited for the weather to warm up and for us to get out an enjoy our new yard.  I'm learning now how important it is for me to do things for myself as it helps me to be a better wife and mom.  I am hoping to have another post for today as I have new pictures to share...the weather is supposed to turn VERY wintery here this afternoon so we plan on staying in where its warm!


Much Love...♥