Snow Fun and Bird Feeders

In the summer I am in a hurry to get the kids outside. Hey, I get a bit of a tan and they burn some serious energy. But, in the winter, it is another story. I have been glad for the past few years that my kids were not fond of the snow. That is all beginning to change. Ethan really likes the snow now. So, I have to bundle up more often than I want. On Sat. we headed over to Brad and April's to try to sled. The kids were pumped until they realized how hard it was to climb a hill and how much snow flew in their face on the way down. We did have some fun just playing in the snow, though. Aaron caught a mouse scurrying across and under the snow. He made a mini fort with a tunnel, which lasted about 1 minute before it was destroyed. I had to suffer through being in the snow with my brother, who is still like he was when we were kids. He constantly tried to knock me down and get my face in the snow. I held my own pretty, well, though. I am much stronger than I used to be!


I do think the daddies had the most fun, though. Aaron was doing flips and the boys covered Brad in snow. He though he would burst out of the snow when I came back with the cameras, but I was smart to it, and used my camera as my protection. He'd never take me down and run the risk of ruining my camera!



We went to see my Grandma this weekend to give her her Christmas gift. While there we noticed a nice bird feeder outside her kitchen window and a variety of birds coming to eat. It was very neat to watch. So, Aaron made a bird feeder with the boys yesterday. While they napped he did much of the prep work, and when they woke they were ready to go use some power tools. I could not get those kids to come back inside. It was pretty warm out there, but our fingers were cold. But even still, they wanted to stay out in the garage. Such little men!

Random Events

Friday I must have been feeling crafty. I think it happened because we made our table runners at Mom's Group the night before. The boys and I made various cookies and then we made a homemade ornament. Using pipe cleaners, I shaped the ornament into a star. The boys then pushed small beads onto the cleaners. When they started I wondered if it would require fine motor skills that were too unrefined, but they succeeded. Emmett really wanted to give his to Uncle Jeff.




While they napped that day, I made a shirt for my niece, Lily. Inspired by Merranda's freezer paper stenciled and fabric patch shirts and by my new found abilities on the sewing machine while making our runners, I picked up some girly fabric I've had my eye on for a while and a cheap shirt and gave it a try. It really ended up turning out pretty cute. I did have to rip out seams here and there, especially when I sewed the front of the shirt to the back of the shirt! Now, with the extra fabric I'll have to make one for my niece, Kennedy, and some of Aaron's baby girl cousins. Or, Tabitha, if you want some I'll pass it on to you.




Finally, this morning Aaron took the boys to All American to make a gift for me. Afterward, he took them to work with him to make a few strings. He even let Emmett push buttons and Ethan watched Transformers on his computer. Then, after lunch, they left again to go to Menard's. We were watching my brother's kids, too, so Aaron took Brayden along. Half way home they all zonked out in the car. I can't imagine HOW that happened since they usually all have SO much to say. What a good dad he is, though. He had kids all day doing things that required much patience. Why am I sitting here and not giving him some much needed babying?

Fall Fire

After arriving home from the pumpkin patch, we went to work at planting an ornamental grass garden by our garage. My brother is on a hunting trip, so I called my sister-in-law and told her to bring the boys over to "help" us dig and she could go for a run. When she arrived back the sun was setting quickly and the boys got the idea in their heads to have a fire in the trail.

Aaron, once again, told one of his fireside tales. This one was about the boys being washed ashore a deserted island after a shipwreck to find no food in sight other than a lone apple high in a tree. In this tall tale the children also found nourishment in centipedes, worms, and beetles creating belly laughs from all the kids.

I must say, Aaron is the best storyteller. I don't know how he comes up with the settings for his stories, and he really grips the attention of the boys. For example, he told a story once that went on and on and pretty much was about a stairwell and Ethan kept going down and down and down to a door and then down and down and down to another door. That was the bulk of the story. I can't remember the ending, but Ethan listened intently to the end. What a great dad!