When Will I Learn?

In my ongoing effort to be Mom-of-the-Year, and teach my children to care about the earth, we decdided to make little pinecone and peanut butter birdfeeders today. (Did I mention that it's MLK day and everyone is out of school? Did I mention that practically EVERYONE else has a hubby home today, except us?)
This is the mess my kids managed to create in about 2 mintues, making just 2 bird feeders. And I didn't even show you their gooeys hands, made worse when Wyatt dropped all his PB/Birdseed combo on his lap.
When will I learn to do these things outside?

Score 1 for the birds.

But the best part was when Jenna offered to help me vaccuum up the mess. I"m all about raising a child who helps...sure, go for it! When I came back from the garage, she had stopped and had a look of alarm on her face.
"Mom. It sucked up my sock."
Raise your hand if you think this was an accident.
That's what I thought.

Two Things:
1. My vaccuum cleaner is very powerful. (Yeah!)
2. My vaccuum cleaner comes about in many places. (Yeah!)
3. My vaccuum cleaner is dirty. (Yikes!)

Happy New Year!

Well, these little Oklahoma Children learned what cold really meant! When we got to Nebraska before Christmas, it was 5 degrees, with a wind chill I don't care to discuss! By the time we made it to South Dakota, it had warmed to the teens, and we had a lovely, light snowfall!
The kids went sledding at my Papa's hill. (These photos are taken BEFORE it all began....) Unlike the sledding in my day where we had to walk back up the hill (about 1/3 mile), my cousin hauled them up on the four-wheeler!

As you can see, Jenna has not yet gotten her wish of her two front teeth....she has a nice lisp going that we find pretty endearing.

Christmas was crazy and fun! My entire family was there, including 6 little ones. Santa made a visit to the kids, and was enormously popular with Wyatt!

We finished out the Christmas Craziness yesterday with the Curry Family. (Just in time to start thinking about birthdays....) Jenna cleaning up in the Barbie/Makeup Department, and Wyatt got a bunch of great trucks. The best moment was when Wyatt accidentally opened one of Jenna's gifts, and it was a Barbie Test. He smacked it with both fists and grunted in disgust....can't imagine why he didn't want it. He later found his Spider Man Tent, and as I write this, he is sound asleep in said tent on his floor.

Have a wonderful 2009!

My Fridge Runneth Over

I just opened my fridge, and I don't think I have ever seen it that full....it looks like a winning Tetris game!

We hosted 16 people for Thanksgiving, and had my family in from Colorado and South Dakota...it was such a great time!

Not many people in this day can host with both their family and in-laws and have everyone enjoy their day. We are so thankful to have had both our sets of parents here.

We'd love to hear about your weekend--did anyone do any crazy shopping trips? Any cooking disasters? Any new family traditions? Let us know!

PS We learned a new game of Speed Scrabble....totally addicting!

Happy Halloween

We did an old fashioned Trick or Treat tonite, and stayed in our neighborhood. The night is beautiful, and we got lots of treats, and even one trick. At one of our friends home, the 6th grade boy was hiding in the bushes and jumped out in a gorilla mask, much to Jenna's dismay!

Jenna got to dress up for school, since it was "Story Book Character Day". Wyatt, seeing her in costume, insisted on wearing his all over town today too. He did, however, decline any photo opportunity.....

Clydesdale Ranch

My dad came into town last week, so we went up to the Express Personnal Clydesdale Ranch. It was a beautiful day, and those horses are unbelievable. Wyatt has become quite fearless, and kept saying he was going to ride one of them. I really think he would have, had they let him.

The ranch is in a old Amish Barn, surround by white PVC corrals. Yep, they keep Clydesdales in plastic pens. (With an electric wire on the top panel)

We had a small picnic in front of the barn, sitting on the rocking chairs. When we sat down, Wyatt looked around and said, "So guys. How was your day?" I thought my dad was going to choke, laughing so hard.....

Toothless

After working on the since June, Jenna finally lost her 2 front teeth within a week of each other. Incidentally, she learned to whistle (been trying for a year!) this morning by sucking in through the hole!

Any ideas on what she should ask for at Christmas?

Swimming

This is my first attempt to put a video on the blog, so hope it works! This is from Sunday at the Curry's pool.