More Snow Adventures

These are the results of Kade and Abby's snow adventures today. They were making snow caves. I think they were a little disappointed that they couldn't fit in them. I give them credit for attempting it anyway. :)

Comfortable?

Cole enjoys playing the i-pod and "relaxing" on the bongo board.  That's one way to use it.  : \

Building with Snow

Kade and Abby finally got some snow to play in. They made a family of tiny adorable snowmen. Kade also made a fort for them. The cutest was when Abby would pack them around like babies.

My Hero(es)!

Darryl's Facebook post, "My boys playing Super Heroes. "Jay & Black Cop". Not your typical ones, but still pretty super and my heroes. :-). . . . Clint just corrected me. He is "The Black Fox". The Hero in "The Court Jester". Kade is Jay from Ninjago fame." I love the things they come up with.

Unusual Snow

We have had an unusual snow season this year. Last year was light but this year was remarkably light. There have been a few days this whole winter that we have had our lawns entirely covered with snow. Usually they get covered in Nov/Dec and we don't see grass again until April at the earliest. Well this year that isn't the case. Also, we usually have to shovel the snow off the garden in large chunks; Not the case this year.

Strike!!!

Cole has been so cute about bowling lately. He loves it. He loves to play it on the Xbox. He loves to set up our pins and bowl. He especially loves to go to the bowling alley. I love when he gets a strike. He dances and says, "Strike! Awe ya!" I wasn't so fond of him playing with the toy pins and ball at first. He would knock them over and I would stack them. He would know them over and I would stack them. He would . . . You get the picture. One day while I was on the treadmill he decided I wasn't going to be his restacker and he did it himself. Now he's the restacker and so I'm much more fond of it. :D

Nonsense Fun With Friends

The boys have so much fun playing with their friends.  I love when they are creative and just end up playing some kind of nonsense game.  Here they were making sandwiches.  They would say what kind of sandwich item they were and then they would layer themselves to make the sandwich(not in an orderly way).  I think it was more of just dog piling.  Preston has a laugh that just makes you laugh, and I couldn't really tell how much fun Parker was having.  He was all excited about making the sandwich but he didn't seem as excited during the dog pile.  He went back in again and again so I think he was having fun.  They were laughing so hard I had to take a picture so I would remember these times-- some of the best times.

Snowmen

The boys were having great fun flipping the snow all over. While getting out our snow clothes Cole discovered the snowman pieces. He put the hat on his head and then put the carrot to his nose and would say, "No-man!" He was so proud he had to show everyone. Fun times.

Cole age 3

Cole turned 3 today!  It never seems to amaze me how fast time can go by.  It feels like it was a long time ago that we found out we were going to have a 3rd baby but it seems like it was only a year ago that we were trying to get some sleep the night before the C-section.
At his 3 year well-child exam his stats were:
height 37.5"
weight 29 lb
head 52cm
However, on our family "measure me" ruler we marked him as 36 in.  I don't trust the Dr. office is very accurate because they lay them down on the bed and try to mark their feet and then their head-- what kid stays in the same spot for more than a millisecond?-- Not mine. 
Last year at his well-child the Dr. was a little concerned about the amount of talking Cole was doing--or better put-- not doing.  We discussed it and decided it likely wouldn't be a concern because he could respond correctly to commands and interacted well.  Turns out we were right.  Cole is a jabber box.  He would love to sit and have an hour long dialogue with anyone that has the time. :)  He loves to try to be "one of the boys."  He'll rough house with Kade and Clint and it always ends in tears.  Cole ends up crying because Kade and Clint treat him like he's as big as them-- too much. :*(
Or Kade or Clint(especially Clint) ends up crying because Cole is 3 and doesn't understand how to control his excitement in the game.  He'll throw something or hit the boys-- he's tough when he's got hard toys to hit you with.  He's our little mimic.  There is rarely a conversation that doesn't have an echo around here.  We all could sit and watch him all day and be entertained.  His spunkiness is so random and when he talks his whole face is involved in expressing each word.  He couldn't be cuter--actually, he could if he would never throw a tantrum. :)  His newest obsession is bowling.  He discovered this by playing it on the X-Box.  He is so funny to watch and many times he gets a strike.  He'll dance and say, "Oh yeah baby!"  If he doesn't get a strike he'll some times put his hand on his forehead, shake his head, wrinkle up his nose and mouth, and say, "Not a strike.  Not a strike."  Typically he's so happy in the morning.  He'll knock on our door and say, "Knock, Knock."  Then he'll burst through the door and say, "It's not night time.  It's morning!  The sun is up. Get out of bed!"  He's pretty dramatic.  If he gets hurt he needs hugs and, "Kiss better."  Then the dramatic whine stops and he's good to go.  He loves to play trains and motorcycles if he can get someone to play with him.  He's good to play alone while I am exercising or working on things but he's SO happy to have a playmate when he can.  When he eats he says, "Water, milk, water, milk."  This means he needs his sippy cup with water and his sippy with milk.  He'll take a drink of one and then switch and drink the other and then he'll take another bite.  He doesn't make it through a meal without tracking down both his sippies and getting them on the table.  We wanted to ditch the binki so we threw them away and told him they were lost.  (Nothing like ripping the band-aid off.)  He would grab my face and put his nose next to mine and say, "We find it okay! I know where is. If find it. I find it."  I had to tip his bed upside down, and go through every drawer before he'd go to sleep.  It really didn't take much more than that and he was fine with it being gone.  He doesn't sleep as late as he use to, or nap as long but at least the binki is gone before he's 16. :)   He has NO desire to use the toilet or even to sit on it.  There was a short time that he would say he needed to go and so we'd run and get him on but he would toot and then shout, "Yeah! I did it. I done."  Not quite what I was going for.  Now if you mention toilet he swings his hand back and forth and says, "NO THANK YOU TOILET! NO THANK YOU!"  At least he's polite.  Guess we'll work on it when he's ready. For his birthday when I asked him what he wanted for his cake he said fruit. SO . . . I made a fruit pizza. He loved it--as did everyone else. He was so happy with his castle building blocks and the train/tracks that Granny and Grandpa Bosshardt gave him. When he opened the card from Grandma Brown with money he kept saying, "Money?!. Tirty(thirty) dollars!" Such a funny, cute kid.

High School Girls Reunion

What fun! A Saturday lunch with girls I haven't chatted with in years. It was so great to catch up and fun and sad to see where life has taken them. I did go away a little sad because one of them has been dealing with some serious girl health issues and I wasn't aware of it. It was so hard to see her changed by her struggles. She is usually a very spirited person but this time she wasn't. It was so hard to see. I wish there was something I could do that would bring peace to her so she can be 'her' again. {Hugs} to her.

We made the front page!

Greg and Kelby built this awesome igloo in Neal and Marcia's backyard over Christmas break. It stayed up for weeks because the weather was so cold. The local newspaper came to get a picture of it and so the boys became celebrities. :) They were so excited to see themselves on a newspaper. I couldn't believe how big it was and how sturdy it seemed. I can now say that I've been in a real igloo. :)