Family Flashback- Will’s Birth Day 1997

Here are some super cute shots of the day Will was born and his brother’s came to meet him for the very first time! But first Grandma had them practice holding babies…

Then they got to hold a real baby…

Zack got to go first and hold Will all by himself!

 

Then it was Andy’s turn. I love the look on his face that says, “Yeah, now it’s my turn.”

Zack and Andy also brought presents for Will that they picked out themselves. 

You can totally tell they how they are checking them out that they really want to open the sweet toys they just bought for Will! LOL

Grandpa and Grandma Ide came to see Will, too.

  Then Momma & Will got to enjoy some alone time…

Happy Birthday Will! I can’t believe how fast it’s gone! I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun!!! Thanks for all the fun! 

Family Flashback- First Snow

It is hard to believe that the same boy that got up at 6:30 this morning and played out in the snow for 3 hours didn’t always like the snow…

Zack was so excited when he woke up that morning in 1994 and saw snow out the window! He put on all his snow gear and we headed out to Grandpa and Grandma’s to play with Uncle Frank and Aunt Theresa.

wearing his new hat that Aunt Amy sent him from Euro Disney

Unfortunately, he wasn’t nearly as excited about being out in the snow…

He did NOT want me to put him down! (oh, and check out the sweet giant video camera…)

But just like all good parents who meet with some resistance when we want our children to do things that we know they’ll like if they just give it a chance (much like eating veggies), we didn’t give in…

He cried every time his boots hit the snow…

Uncle Frank felt sorry for him and held him while we went next door to cut our Christmas tree.

notice the “I’m still not happy” face

Not to be deterred, we finally found something he liked…

    Well, at least he stopped crying…

Then we decided to kick it up a notch…

We knew he’d like it eventually… But don’t go too fast, Daddy! Don’t worry… they were barely moving but poor Uncle Frank got tired of pulling them both around the yard! :o) 

Snowpocalypse

The snow officially made its appearance on Sunday but wasn’t a very impressive show. At only 369 feet, we didn’t get much. Although it continued to snow off and on for three days, we didn’t have that much, it would just melt in between the very short snow showers.

But last night was forecasted to be the “Big One”. While it did start snowing at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon and didn’t stop, we still didn’t have any snow on the driveway or on our garbage cans when we went to bed…

I had lost hope completely and wasn’t holding my breath on school being cancelled for Zack and Andy in the morning. The forecast was calling for rain by 8am and 40 degrees before noon.:o(

I woke up at about 6:10am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I figured I might as well take a peek out the window and see if it had stopped yet…

Nope! I hadn’t stopped yet!!! So I figured if it was still supposed to rain by 8:00, everybody had better get up and see this school or no school.

It is amazing how quickly even teenage boys get out of bed when you open their door and say, “Look outside. It’s snowing!”

What happened to my planters???

   

It’s like a candle made out of snow

It was just too beautiful and enticing to not enjoy! Despite the dark and early hour, we all donned our snow gear and headed out to play in the snow!

the front yard looked pretty much like the back yard

  

the van had a bit of snow on it…

 

this is the snow that accumulated on the rear wiper of the van

making snow angels in the driveway

 

the garbage can was bare when we went to bed

 

perfect packing snow make a big snowball FAST

it barely SQUEEZED between the cars

started the next one on the uphill side of the street

even so, it wasn’t long before he needed help pushing

our house from across the street

the house looks so pretty in the snow!

our quiet peaceful street

Watching the sun come up doesn’t seem so bad when you’re out in the snow! ;o)

About the time the sun came up, the rain started… Just a light rain though.

It looks like a lot of snow, even in the light!

the deck steps disappeared

the chicken coop looks so much better in the snow!

the snowman eventually needed a ladder

Snowman sentry #1

Snowman sentry #2

Unfortunately, our poor woodshed couldn’t take the weight of all the snow and the water… The boys thought a car crashed into something or a firework went off.

After all the playing, and building and shoveling and clearing we came in for hot cocoa and warm homemade sticky buns for breakfast! I love snow days!!!

Happy January Birthdays

In our family, we group birthdays and celebrate together. We have done it that way ever since I was a little kid and I’m so glad it’s a tradition we haven’t quit!

The kids play upstairs while waiting for dinner

January is Andy, Amy, Theresa and Will’s birthdays. This year we celebrated on Amy’s actual birthday!

This year we had waffles from my parents’ new professional Belgian waffle-maker. They were delicious and I have decided that we NEED one!!! ;o)

Elsie had applesauce for her dinner,but I think she enjoyed it! Look at those chubby pink cheeks! She is so sweet!

We also opened gifts, which is always fun!

Legos! Always a good choice!

  What could be in such a huge box?

  

It is a very flat drum bag… So why the huge box? Who knows??? But it made for a pretty impressive gift!

It also made for a super fun toy for the kids! Thanks, Amazon!

Will is excited about this one and he doesn’t even know what it is…

Will got a light box for taking pictures! He must have known it was something he was gonna really like…

His first light box picture… a Lego, of course!

Even after all that playing and opening we were still pretty full. But it was time for birthday cake anyway…

After all the candles are in, we light ‘em…

I love how Stella did the candles in Amy’s pie! She made sure they were in there really good! LOL

“Happy Birthday to You…”