what winter looks like

Lots of reading! The Mercy Watson series has been a major hit for all of us. Reading during lunch is our favorite time to read together.

Plenty of basement playing. the boys play hockey, ride bikes and scooters and do whatever they think up for hours on end...seriously!

Playing on their Nugget, aka the world's best Christmas present. it can be anything they imagine but they mostly like to make "obstacle courses" which translates to the boys running full steam at the Nugget and jumping on it, over and over and over. ;)

A few good snow days! Jake has asked a few times when we'll get more snow because we haven't had much good snow that they can play in. thankfully we did get one good sledding day in! This was Reid's first time sledding on a major hill and of course, he was all about it. Jake surprised me and loved trying to spin around on the sled as he went down the hill! He also tried to wreck into the snow every time too. :)

The next afternoon there was still enough snow for Deric to come up with this very creative snow fort! You know that was a huge hit for the boys!

Moving Reid into a toddler bed in Jake's bed! He did so well with that transition. The boys talk to each other at night but they haven't kept each other up too late. Its fun to listen to their conversations over the monitor.

A donut date with each of my boys! sprinkles are the favorite for both of them.

Lots of games from the library! We've always got at least one game on hand and we all love to play them. Blokus is a favorite for me and Jake; Sequence for Kids is a great one for the whole family to play together. Deric and I had a Qwirkle tournament a few weekends ago and played best out of three. I managed to win one night and that's the best I've ever done in a game against Deric. Good thing I'm not competitive. ;)


Bouncing and running 'til they drop at Flip Zone (a gymnastics gym) and Sky Zone (a trampoline park) over a long weekend in February.

Finding fun activities (thanks to Pinterest & Instagram) to do together! I love gathering the boys around the table with something new and interesting they can discover together. We're just beginning to teach Reid his letters and Jake does a lot of number activities since his reading is so solid right now. The boys obviously love activities like these and I also like finding ones that will teach them new skills and be entertaining at the same time!

Puzzles are one of Reid's favorite things right now! Lots of puzzles happen while Jake is at preschool and Reagan is napping...or not napping and watching the fun from my lap or her playmat.

And then there's this, just because... :)

celebrating Christmas with family

We lucked out again this year and got to host everyone at our house over Christmas! Huge shout out to Sarah and Drew for making the very long trek from South Carolina up north. The boys were so excited for their cousins to be here over actual Christmas, and we were excited too! They got in late the night before Christmas Eve, perfect timing to dive right into all of the Christmas festivities!

Things got busy as soon as all the boys woke up the next morning!


I always love Christmas Eve services at church. Throughout the month of December there's that feeling of excitement and anticipation for opening gifts on Christmas, but on Christmas Eve the anticipation for Jesus' return one day is more palpable to me. The focus is put where it should be and I always feel a sense of peace and calmness as I Take time to wrap my mind around the fact that Jesus was willing to come to earth and live human experiences just so he could empathize with us and later save us! Even through multiple trips to the bathroom, passing out of snacks and "shhh"s down the row, it was a special night to worship with family!



Hot chocolate treat before service!


Obligatory Christmas Eve photo in between prepping dinner and waiting for Deric to wrap up at church!

Christmas morning!

(And some Christmas pj photos from a few days later...)

Aunt Foo and Uncle Drew put sticky balls in the boys' stockings so Grandad drew a target on the door for them. They had a blast-- we probably could have stopped giving gifts at that point! 

There's always so much going on on Christmas mornings! Playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, assembling Lego trucks, nursing babies out of the frame ;) and trying to capture memories of it all!

We got all four boys these Ninja Turtle masks because they all like to pretend. The little masks are really tricky to keep on but the weapons got plenty of play time regardless! There's always someone around to fight crime.

Jake saw Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots at the store about a month before Christmas and mentioned it quite a few times for Christmas, so that was an easy choice for him. And its a great game for everyone! The boys love deciding who's Red Rocker and who's Blue Bomber before they battle it out.

All Deric's doing... :) She is the best gift this year!

Grandad's new scarf-- and new grand baby!

Eli got this Mickey couch and it was a big hit for all the kids. There were a few scuffles over the "doodah" (as Eli calls Mickey) couch but it became a big wrestling mat for everyone most of the time.

Over the next few days, the boys got some major playtime with all these new toys and their cousins too. They built forts, played superheroes, wrestled, colored, crafted...so much to do! Its so fun to watch them interact and play together...and to sit back and talk with my family while the kids are entertained by each other. ;)

Jake worked so hard on this "tunnel" for Eli and Reid. The sign was all his idea and he cut out most of the letters by himself. It says "let's go" but backwards. I love this age!!

We followed everyone up to Courtney's for a quick visit before we came back to town to celebrate Christmas with Deric's family. 

On our way back home, we stopped first to see Christmas lights timed with a local radio station. We could have watched for awhile but had a baby to get back home before the fussing started.

On to Christmas number two! Its so funny to me that Kensie's foot spa was one of the boys' favorite things to play with. She would play calm music and then scrub their feet after they had soaked them. Lego building sets, the Nugget couch, board games for kids and adults...all the best memories of time with family!

Reagan doesn't look thrilled here, but she is loving her new playmat!

Continuing traditions, giving gifts to the kids that they love and continue to enjoy, spending time with family and focusing on Jesus' love for me....this Christmas season will always be a great memory for me! 

Reid at 20 months

Absolutely loves wearing boots-- his rainboots have the #1 spot, but his snow boots, Jake's rain boots and even my furry boots are all contenders. He'll bang on the door to the mudroom until I let him get in there and find some shoes to clomp around in, and he doesn't take them off on his own. I usually sneak the boots off of him at meals or on our way upstairs for naps but otherwise he could clomp around the house for days.

Likes to wear (pieces of) the costumes. Just the cape or just the helmet is good enough for him. I can tell he likes wearing the cape and running really fast. His run is so cute because he's just getting it down and still kind of bobs up and down instead of going any quicker! He's just learning to jump and actually get off the ground too so he's learning to use the trampoline from Christmas as more than a spot to lay down and play cars. 

Stripped down after spaghetti for dinner but rockin' the knight costume!

Stuck on his paci (which he sometimes refers to as "papi") and his blanket. If I'm not careful he'll keep it in all day so I try to pop it out and keep it just for naps and bedtime, but you know that doesn't always happen. Church nursery: here's your paci! Grocery store: definitely getting your paci! Car rides: why don't I give you your paci?? ;)

At church today, after he put his hat on by himself. I couldn't fix it. It was too cute.

Speaking of his blanket, he is just the cutest. He finds the corners right away and rubs it on his palm, his cheek, his belly...he'll even rub it between his toes. Heaven for Reid would be his paci, his blanket and his favorite pair of boots!

Loves reading the Bible. He can say the word "Bible" pretty clearly and will look for it among his other books.

Wants to do exactly what Jake is doing at any given time. When Jake claps his hand, Reid claps his hands. When I gave Jake a band-aid the other day for a cut on his finger, Reid watched me put it on Jake's finger and then immediately stuck out his finger for a band-aid too. So of course I had to give him one, which he took off a few minutes later. Speaking of Jake, they play together all the time. They get frustrated with each other for sure, but they still don't go play different things. Its usually the Hot Wheels on one track or another but its interesting to me how closely they play even when they're not getting along. I hope they're always close, even despite arguments.

Jake was helping peel the carrots. Reid was helping eat them!

I have pretty good sous chefs! Transitioning them to head chef as soon as possible.

Apparently I wasn't making dinner fast enough tonight! He found his bib and a measuring cup and wanted to be held while I cooked. Maybe he was supervising for quality control? He constantly wants other people's food or any kind of condiment someone uses. If Deric puts salt on something, guess who needs some salt?! He does love condiments though, especially hummus!

Learning the in's and out's of Play doh. I had just taught him to hide the play doh under the cup and reveal it, which he thought was the best!





He is a kid of few words at this point but I know that any day now the floodgate will open and he'll seem like a totally different boy! I refer to him a lot as a "baby" still and I know he's not, but since he doesn't talk I think of him as younger than he is. And I do admittedly hold on to my "baby" when his big brother is growing like I can't even believe! I love these two guys so much.