my apple fritter.

This is what I deal with on a daily basis:)

Not only does Addie throw food on the floor, occasionally she thinks it's amusing to put it on her head. This is a new one to me. But, getting Nathan to laugh is the best reward to Addie, so sometimes it calls for extreme measures. This is usually her go to action (or spitting).

"what's wrong, mom? why are you taking my picture? I'm just eating my lunch."

Sledding

It's been bitterly cold this winter (today we had negative double digits), so I admit that we haven't spent much if any time outdoors. Usually I greatly value the children playing outside, learning and exploring, so it's been kind of a drag. But, at the same time, who wants to freeze, and though the children are well bundled, I lack proper snow equipment.

But, this past week, we've gone out twice, both times when Matt was also home. My intolerance for the cold is actually outmatched by both Ella and Addie's. They can't help that they are girly and small. Here's Addie after about 5 minutes of being outside, and about 1 minute before we went in.

Ella is pulling Matt in the sled. Ok, so she couldn't actually pull him, but she enjoyed doing this just as much as sliding down the hill.

Nathan LOVES playing outside in the snow. He would stay out all day if we let him. Here he is going downhill in our backyard. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but there is a drainage ditch behind our house, and Matt and Nathan built up a snow ramp to make an even longer hill. It's nothing crazy steep, but perfect for Nathan and Ella.

He goes all out, struggling up to the top of the ramp, and then running and jumping onto his sled. He also prefers the blue sled because it's faster.

We start by all going out together and then 1 by people start to cry. I head in with Addie first, then about 10 minutes later Ella will come in crying because she's cold, and then about 30 minutes later I hollar to Matt and Nathan that they should come inside.

Here's a picture of Matt after the first day out. All of the children had come in, but Matt had to stay out and keep "working". He and Nathan were using shovels, buckets, and our plastic pool to haul snow and build up the ramp. Hopefully it will warm up a little, 20's are nice, and we can get lots of use out of it this winter.

No one puts baby in the corner.

For good measure, Princess Addie. Isn't she cute? (in a it's past noon and I haven't had a nap, my hair can't handle all this dry air, sort of way).

ella's Christmas tree.

I thought since I had posted about Nathan's mad reading skills, it would only be fair to post about something Ella has done as well. The weekend after Thanksgiving we had gone out to get our Christmas tree (sadly it was at Lewis Drug, not Linders or the Stacey Tree Farm like in the past), but as we were decorating, Nathan and Ella decided to take a break and do some drawing (or maybe more likely we told them to take a break and do some drawing:) Ella commonly likes to scribble or draw circular shapes, but this day, she drew this:

(My apologies for the dark photography).

Matt looked at it sort of surprised and asked what she was drawing. Without hesitation, "A Christmas tree!". Can you see it? It may be a fluke, but we thought it was amazing. We've always thought her talents may lie in art and music (but we'll see).

Quirkiness.

Ella is just plain silly, but definitely with a little quirky in there. She loves to dress up and is always dancing and making up silly songs. These photos portray her latest favorite accessory: hats.

This one taken from poor Santa Bear...also notice the chocolate all over her face.

This is one is from our diaper bag, very nice.

Reading.

Nathan has always been a pretty quick learner. At 20 months I remember him singing his ABC's and telling me the numbers and letters on licence plates as we were driving in the car. When he was 3 he knew the sounds that the letters make and how to spell common, simple words like his name or cat, dog, etc. So, just before he turned 4, we decided he was ready to learn how to read. A friend recommended this book:

We set some goals, and would do 2-4 lessons a week. This decemeber he was getting towards the end of the book, so we set a goal to finish before the end of the year. The prize: movie night with his cousins (Nathan loves most anything on t.v., and a full-length movie is pretty much the biggest motivator for him). On December 30 he completed lesson 100! He is now an excellent reader and can read almost anything it seems. Teaching him and watching him learn has been one of my biggest joys of parenting so far. What a blessing to be a part of...we're so proud of him!

As promised, movie night followed. Nathan's choice, Toy Story 3.

baby bears.

All year round, but especially in the winter, the kids love to play a game invented years ago by Matt and Nathan. The game is called Bears...or Baby Birds, or Koalas, or Tigers, or Skunks...you get the idea. It involves pretending like you are whatever fore said animal and then either taking apart the couch to build your cave, or hiding under the covers of my bed, which too is a cave. This year it's taken a twist and usually whomever is not participating between Matt and myself becomes the enemy of the animal. (for example, while playing skunks the other day, I was a coyote). In the summer, I would usually encourage some outside play instead since this does make a slight mess of the house, but it's a good way to pass the time in the winter. It also involves lots of snuggling, a favorite of everyones:)

Here is Nathan and Ella peeking out of a fort they created from the couch. I believe this time they were baby bears, eagerly waiting for some berries or looking out for a hunter of course.

Wii New Year Celebration.

For New Year's Eve, we decided to brave it and head over to the Kearns'. It was cold and snowy all day, but by dinner time it was just really cold (our car thermometer said -6). We had lots of yummy, bad-for-you goodies, but then danced it off while playing "Just Dance" on their Wii. Matt even danced to 2 songs (one by the Beastie Boys, and one by Katy Perry:)

The kids were entertained later by watching a movie. They all have a blank stare because we started the movie at 9:30. Usually they would have been in bed for an hour already!

Amy got festive for a little while.

Nathan also learned a new game...Ants in my Pants!

Addie went to bed at about 9:30 but the rest of the house, including Micah, stayed up until midnight. Our family did the countdown with our coats on, ready to leave at 12:05. This is what Ella looked like at midnight. Here eyes were open during the countdown, but not about 10 seconds later.

Here's a video of the kids dancing to a Michael Jackson song on the Wii. It's bizarre but cousin Mayah is infatuated with MJ, so she picked this song. This also highlights Addie's newest accomplishment: walking!

Thankfully everyone (including Matt & I) slept in the next day! We had a lazy morning and even made homemade doughnuts for breakfast...yummm!

Christmas with the Widmans.

My dad's extended family always celebrates on Christmas Eve. Since this is often the only time we all get together all year (though most are in SD, and I think all are in the midwest), it's always a "must attend" event. In the past few years, there's been a slight baby boom, so we've resorted to celebrating at a church, or this year's venue: the American Legion in De Smet. Here's a grouping of the 2nd cousins hanging out. If you count there are 8, and I think that this is about half of the actual total!

Here's Ella and her cousin Kendon. Ella stayed attached to the chocolate-covered dried blueberries from Harry & David most afternoon...she loves blueberries, and it doesn't hurt when they are covered in chocolate with a candy shell!

Nathan, Ella, and Mayah loved to play restaurant at the counter. They would "write down" your order and then hand you a raffle ticket.

Following a delicious lunch, lots of snacks, and a gift exchange, our family went to church in De Smet. Nathan was very proud that he got to hold his own candle during the singing of Silent Night. Ella "helped" my mom hold hers, and I did all I could to keep Addie away from mine!

Following church, we went to my parents to celebrate. All of my sisters and their families were able to make it this year.

Here's a group shot of the gang. This is kind of how photos go when trying to get everyone. Mayah's showing her undies, Katlyn is anti-conformity and refusing to smile... poor Micah got put in the corner. My children are of course sitting perfectly well:)

Micah, Ella, Braden, Mayah, Katlyn, Nathan, Adeline, and Kendon

After trying to photograph 8 kids, 3 should be easy right?

This was the best I got!

Ella.

Here's Adeline on a rocking horse she got from cousin Mayah. This picture shows a small glimpse of the maddness that occurs on Christmas. Lots of people, lots of presents, lots of food...but I must say that it is organized chaos. All of the childrend did a good job of waiting their turn and saying thank you (though usually after prompting).

Christmas morning the children woke up and got to open up 1 more present, from Santa. We've tried teaching Nathan about Saint Nicholas and that Santa is just something we do for fun, but he still believes that he's real, and will usually ask a question like, "but, what about the reindeerr?" It probably doesn't help that my mom gets them gifts from Santa and everyone else tells him that he's real. We're not too concerned about it though.
After breakfast we got ready and did our big trip to the Cities. We are all pretty sandwhiched in and filled to the brim with suitcases and presents. None the less, the kids are all troopers in the car. Usually it's just Adeline that might need a little extra attention to stay happy.

We had a great Christmas in the Cities with the Thompsons. Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted soon. (we fogot the camera in the car, so are just waiting to get some pictures from Angie).