discovering snow

Yesterday it was lovely. It got up to a balmy 44 degrees and the sun was shining all day long! It felt and smelled like spring and some of the snow melted. It encouraged my heart that yes, indeed, spring will return, it is a couple months off, but all of those wonderful Spring time things will come.

It was the perfect day to introduce Hans to the snow. He hasn't been out, except to be carried to the car, in a long time. It was really fun to watch him discovering and enjoying the snow. He tried to taste it and found it to be cold:)

 

"What's the white stuff??"

Ethan shoveling where it is easiest:)

trucking down the sidewalk . . 

 . . . catching his balance . . . 

 . . oops!!

There he is!

One more!

This just in!!!

Some good friends of ours (Matt and Chrissy) just told us about a web site for kids. We checked it out and Ethan already loves it. It is created by Phil Vischer, who created Veggie Tales. This is his new venture and it is great!

Go check it out!

http://www.jellytelly.com/

I live in a Winter Wonderland

photos

Not to much going on lately. Just laying low and enjoying normal life. The weather helps encourage this:) Who wants to go out when it is in the teens, or worse, single digits, all day long! Just getting to the car is bone chilling! Fortunately it is warming up this week (it may reach freezing by the weekend) and then we may get out more:) 

Hans found Ethan's CLEAN underwear in the laundry basket and was trying to put them on. He knew where they were supposed to go! I helped him out and he strutted around for a little bit, quite pleased with himself. 

Event of the day: I have to go back to Saturday to start. Jeremiah filled and hung our new bird feeder on Saturday and today was the first day we got birds and we got a whole bunch! It was a delight to watch them. It really cheered up my morning. 

Our new dish washer!

Look! I fit!

2 kids fit!!

More dish washing. This was this morning and he got SOAKED! he kept drinking the water from the cups and spilling 90% of it down his shirt. 

Happy Days

Life is going along well. I feel like we have adjusted to being back home and we are settled into our routine again. Ahhh! It is snowing, and snowing and snowing some more. I am seeing more snow this winter than I think I ever saw in one winter in my life! It is still pretty, some days, but it isn't quite the same as it was before Christmas:)

Our latest success story is that Ethan is completely potty trained ( a fact he is happy to tell anyone, including the librarian yesterday:) It has been over a year in coming so it is a happy achievement. Yesterday we went to Tractor Supply to get his final reward for filling in his final chart. YEAH!! 

Hans' latest accomplishment is climbing . .  on anything! Ethan didn't climb that much so this is a new experience for me. Hans will even push a chair up to the kitchen counter and try to get things up there. NOTHING is safe. 

Needless to say, I stay busy. My hope for this winter is to gradually work on painting the house. Everything needs a fresh coat of paint. So hopefully me and my little paint brush can make some changes during nap time. I also have some side projects to work on, like an afghan (yes, I knit) and Christmas stockings (hey, if they are going to be done for next year I need to start now). 

Christmas with the Martins

The day after Christmas we drove south to Mom and Dad's house and spent nearly a week there soaking in family and Mom and being on vacation. The boys had a great time. Hans was Dad's little buddy. He even had a name for him that sounded a lot like daddy. It was so fun to watch. 

Ethan getting money from everybody to go in his new bank

Elizabeth, looking lovely

The new tractor

Ethan got to play outside with all of his new trucks. 

Roasting hot dogs in December!!! It was great. 

Christmas Day

Christmas Day Jeremiah's family came and joined us for the day. It was very fun to have everyone around. We had the traditional Miller Christmas breakfast of homemade waffles with ice cream and blueberry sauce! Mmmmmmm! Oh, and add a few breakfast sausages and bacon:) It was a lazy, play with the new toys and hang out kind of day. 

Earon

"Hmmm, which one is for me?"

Helping Grandma Ginny

Grandpa John and Uncle Sam "helping" Ethan with his new toys

Hans likes the new toys too!

Christmas Morning

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We had a great time. This was our first Christmas to be at home on Christmas day in five years. It was very pleasant and fun:) We had a good time with all of our family and all of our traveling went well. 

First boy up!

Ethan discovering his gum

Hans' first teddy bear, he loves to cuddle stuffed animals:)

Ethan's response: "What is it?"

Opening the BIG box:)

Direct quote: "Oh Daddy, you did really good! This is exactly what I always wanted!"