Happy Birthday, Ethan!

 Ethan turned 4 on Monday!  Since he and his Great Grandpa Glenn share a birthday, we celebrated together!

 We also celebrated at home, after Ethan spent a long weekend being sick with strep throat. 

On Monday, the big day, he wore his "Birthday Boy" shirt to school and brought cupcakes to share with his friends!  I can't believe my baby is 4 years old!

Family Band

 The kids have been having fun playing musical instruments lately.  They love it when daddy gets out his guitar and they can play along with him using their ukulele.

 They also like to get out the instruments and jam while watching The Wiggles - one of our top favorite movies since Macie got it for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa.  I actually enjoy the music, but Ethan rarely lets me enjoy it by singing or dancing along.  He just tells me, "Don't do that, mama."  Or, "Go in the kitchen, mama."  :(  I'm bummed that he doesn't appreciate my moves.

Eau Claire and La Crosse Children Museums

 With the cold weather lately, we've been busy taking in the local children's museums!  Over Christmas break we spent a morning at the one here in Eau Claire . . .

 Yesterday we took a road trip to LaCrosse to check out their larger museum.  We stopped at McDonald's on the way, for lunch.

 The kids had a fantastic time exploring the many exhibits there . . .

What a perfect way to spend a cold, winter Sunday afternoon!

Merry Christmas!

 Here are a few shots of our Christmas festivities . . .
*Christmas Eve at Grandma Sandy's House . . .

 *Christmas Morning!

 *Sunday morning at Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike's house . . .

 *Sledding at Grandma and Grandpa's house . . .

*Christmas Day with Grandpa Glenn and Uncle Tim and Aunt Rose . . .

 And  again at Grandma and Grandpa's house . . . .

Winter Wonderland

Happy Christmas Eve!!

The kids decided it looked fun to go out and play in the snow this morning, so I took them out for awhile.

Note to self:  When the kids ask to go play in the snow, what they really want to do is sit in a snow bank and eat their weight in snow.  I let them, but did give a very strong warning about avoiding the yellow stuff.

Ethan had fun pulling his sister in the sled!

This was just minutes before our outdoor adventure - Macie insisted on wearing only a diaper and her slipper-boots. 

Daddy was singing in the background:  "These Boots Were Made for Walking . . . "

Santa brought one gift early - a very cool easel!  The kids LOVE to paint on it!

Blizzard of 2010!

This weekend we got the snowstorm of the century!  We think we heard that the total for Eau Claire was 22 inches!  It snowed all day Saturday, and then Trav was lucky enough to have the job of shoveling us out on Sunday . . .

 Meanwhile, the kids and I stayed warm inside in our jammies, baking and eating muffins . . .

 and reading in the sunlight.

Ethan and I did go out and play for a bit on Sunday . . .

 Finally, on Monday mornning our road got plowed so we were able to leave the house.  We decided a visit to see Santa was in order.  The kids loved it and we got a cute picture taken by the professional photographer (not the one pictured below, although this one is OK as well . . . ) 

Back to work, school, and daycare tomorrow.  It was kind of nice to be snowed in for a few days :)



St. Nick's Day!

  It's a tradition in our family to celebrate St. Nick's Day.  Technically it's tomorrow, Dec. 6th, but St. Nick understood that it would be more convenient for us to celebrate during the weekend so he came last night. 

He filled our stockings with lots of goodies!