Over the River and through the Woods

To Grandmother's house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
In white and drifted snow. Oh!

We spent Christmas with the Olferts in a cabin in Minnesota. It was a warm, cozy place with a real fireplace and TONS of snow.

We went on a sleigh ride while at the cabin. The whole time I felt like we were in Narnia.

The hat. I know. The hat. But it kept me warm.

Carl and Jet, two students who came with the Olferts.
The sleigh ride really created romantic feelings. :)





The dog made a very stinky mess.

Here's what the dog's master was doing.

Hmmm...who is she married to?
Aaaahh, him.

Julie and Jerusalem both were able to soothe Juliana.

Learning about Ethiopia...
The boys snowmobiled all day Christmas Eve and this is the product of that.
Hadden.
In deep conversation:

Story time with GramO!
Please note the book my man is reading.
Mah sista!!
The kids started off the weekend with a little twister.

narf narf

I don't have much to say so I'll let ya just look at the pics. We've been enjoying life around home.

Reading that birth order book.... :)






The sewing machine at work. Thank you PapO and GramO!


We went on a fun little outing as a family to a pizza place we had a groupon for. Turns out this place has 2 tables and a counter seat with 5 chairs. They mostly do delivery and carryout. We were able to get a table though, ordered our pizza and really had a good time together.


This is peek-a-boo. :)

ConLai, concerning her dolls, "They wanna go to Montana."


ConLai and Mommy were dancing, so Nana decided she wanted to, too. She was hanging onto the chair with one hand and the other hand was up with her palm facing in, just holding it there.

ConLai: "Loudy! Loudy!" Meaning - turn up the music.

The other day as ConLai was coloring she said unexpectedly, "I need Jesus to help me be kind to Nana."

We went on a bike ride to the library and this is what happened on the way back.

When Daddy comes home, all three females go a little nutty. ConLai runs and hides. Jules starts screeching and flapping her arms. And Mommy, well Mommy's just plain happy to see him.

For Perspective

For a little bit of perspective to those who have a very unrealistic view of our family based off of the fun, smiley pictures normally posted on the blog. Today was not that kind of a day. One child woke up a chocolate kiss; the other one woke up a ball of sauerkraut dipped in vinegar. And Mommy was more like the sauerkraut, too. So the sauerkrauts battled throughout a lot of the morning and some of the afternoon arrows of whining, yelling, conviction, apologizing, whining, frustration, time-out, whining were thrown.

Then Daddy called. Daddy gave sauerkraut his first talking-to over the phone. And sauerkraut became chocolate. Then Daddy came home. And within minutes chocolate giggles were heard within the bedroom.

Now as I am writing this I am more like chocolate only because of God's continuous grace and a faithful, loving husband.

Life

Life is precious. It is a privilege to watch these two girls grow up. We went on an adventure last weekend to Delevan Lake, Wisconsin. We took the train to visit Daddy at work. There were several people along the way who assisted a mommy with 2 young 'uns. Miss Val dropped us off at the depot and we hopped aboard. ConLai was captivated for much longer than I thought she would be, nothing like her cousins Diek and Hadden would have been, but her enamor lasted for about 1 1/2 hours. A gentleman showed us to the back seat and another gentleman showed us how to turn it around to make a big double seat.



Then we got to get off and see Daddy. We found a cute Italian place.



It was special to be with Daddy and it was wonderful for him to sleep in the next morning and not be on the road. We went to an animal farm and shopping the next day while he was at work and then came home again.


To dancing. :)

We had the opportunity to hang out with Matthias a couple days this week while Mama was at school. ConLai and him get along very well. I think it's because he allows ConLai to Mama him.

Some tidbits about Nana:
*She is standing very well on her own. (I wish I had her quads.)
*Her sister is still the most amusing to her.
*Smiles are not worked for but given freely.
*She gets very excited to see Daddy.
*She acts shy sometimes and buries her face in whoever or whatever is holding her.
*She says "Mama" even though Daddy worked really hard for Dada.
*Her hair has a reddish tint.

An Important Day

Let me tell you why October 21, 2010 is an important day in our family history. ConLai woke up that morning and decided she wanted to go potty. Now this has happened before and she has proceeded to sit for awhile on the toilet with no results, but THIS was a DIFFERENT day. The first try was a no-go, but we put underwear on and hoped for the best. Then as she was playing she suddenly shouted, "I have to go potty!" She ran to the restroom and WENT POTTY IN THE TOILET!!! I was so excited, I almost cried. Since then she has been going without diapers during waking hours with a few messes here and there, but overall trained! Actually I won't even call it trained. Because I didn't do a thing. So please don't call me asking how to train a child. I still don't have a clue.

Anthony has a job!

Many of you have prayed for Anthony and I as we are determining our next step and your/our prayers have been answered for the time being. Anthony is working for a general contractor that John Toliver (the cousin we went to visit, her husband) is working for. Right now the job is in Wisconsin so Daddy is on the road a lot leaving ConLai, Nana, and I at home to play and go a little loopy.

Fall...it's grow'n on me.

This time of year is growing on me. Or maybe I'm just starting to grow up. Here are some things that can only be done during fall because during spring/summer...it's just not the same.

Apple Cider

A friend shared this recipe with me and it turned me into a cider lover from a cider abstainer.
1/3 cranberry juice
2/3 apple cider
mulling spices (the whole kind not the crushed)
Heat on stove till warm, not boiling.

Pumpkin Carving

I tried carving a pumpkin with ConLai and Matthias (our neighbor boy whom I watch on Tuesdays). I opened it up; they saw the inside and said, "Dirty!". Needless to say I did the whole pumpkin myself. And boy did I have fun.

Caramel Apple Dipping

My mom had a caramel apple dipping party for my sister's birthday. I thought it was such a great idea, I did that for ConLai's birthday. All the candy and caramel is probably what makes it so fun. Here's what my mom researched online and found. My apples still all puddled up at the bottom though with caramel.

1. Pour boiling water over apples to take wax off.
2. Chill apples. Put popsicle sticks in apples.
3. Make caramel: Unwrap bag of caramels. Add a couple Tbsp each of marshmallow creme and milk. Melt caramel in microwave.
4. Dip apples in caramel. Holding apples, rotate until caramel begins to harden (10 minutes). Or just put back in fridge for 5-10 minutes.
5. Dip carameled apples in candy. Chill.
6. EAT 'EM!

Raking Leaves and Jumping in Them

Ask mother before jumping off the roof into them. If you have no trees you probably have a hay bale and those are just as fun. (Be sure to cut the strings and loosen up the hay before jumping.)

Flannel Sheets

I'm finding out it is fun to curl up under flannel sheets and a blanket and hide from children. It doubles as a hideout and a warm place.

Pumpkin Bars

A friend just shared some pumpkin bars made up of cake mix, pumpkin and nuts. It was delicious!

Pumpkin Bread

Another friend has shared pumpkin bread in the past and it is yummy and once I made it I figured out why. It has a ton of sugar!