Skating

About a week ago our church rented out the local roller skating rink for a fun night out.  We got free admission, and only had to pay for rentals.  I thought that was a great deal!  

 Grace was given some of those plastic skates that go over shoes about a year ago.  She loves to put them on and "skate" around the house.  I personally do not like it, but she loves to skate.
So I thought this was a perfect time to really let her skate.

 Matt took her to the rink while I stayed back with Glen.  She was all smiles and giggles.  She loved skating and had a great time with Matt and Miss Jenn who helped her by holding her hand a lot!

 She skated almost a solid two hours.  A short break was taken to play with the games that are shown below, but other than a short break she was on the move.

 She talked about skating for days afterwards.

 I think she is a fan of this activity :)

Thank you Lindale for giving us this opportunity to try out skating with Grace.

The Bird

When I was young we lived on a dead end road.  When you walk from our house toward the dead end you would pass a house where the Yoders lived.

They had two boys (close to my sisters ages) and a bird.

The bird was an African Gray and his name was Jocko (not sure on spelling).

But the most important thing is that the bird TALKED!

He would say words, he would imitate the microwave, telephone, people blowing their nose, etc.

We took care of the bird while they were on vacation once and we had the best time with that bird.

So it made me very happy to realize that when Amy moved to her new house, she was just (once again) houses away from the Yoders.

And they still have that bird!

So Grace and Glen got to meet the bird 

 She liked getting up close and personal.

 She loved feeding him peanuts.  Glen would look at the bird and say "bird" then he would spend his time jumping on and off the concrete slab while saying "bird"

 I think that I was about Grace's age when we took care of that bird when I was young.  So it was fun to see Grace have this experience.

 The Yoders also had built a lean-to fort.

Grace and Glen loved going in and walking around.

Such an amazing field trip, and right in Amy's "backyard"

Glen's Bed

Recently Grace has really enjoyed crawling into bed with Glen to hug him and cuddle him.  

I love seeing the affection that she has for her brother, but the toddler bed that he slept in was just too small for the two of them.  

We happened to have a twin bed in our garage so we decided one weekend to put it up.

Like we did with Grace, Glen was there to take down the old bed

(but he was much more interested in playing with his fire truck)

 He also helped put the bed together.

 He looks so small in his twin sized bed.  But it fits the two kids better and he seems to love playing and rolling around in it.

Winter Fun (inside)

In between the snow storms that have hit us over and over again (it seems) 

we did have one nice evening out where we could play.

 Glen loved playing in his playhouse.

 But most of the time we are stuck inside where it is warm and dry.

The kids have taken to coloring.  

 Grace needs to make sure that all of her stuffed animals are healthy.

 And sometimes they need some medicine.

Glen has started to focus on a new skill of cutting.  I enjoy that he is working so hard at it, but it is a very messy hobby.

I just can not wait till we can play outside again.

Random Pictures of this Winter

With work, class, and life in general it has been a challenge to keep up with posts.  I hope to do better soon.

Here is how we have been this winter.

While waiting for Grace to get out of Preschool Glen got to play on the playground one snowy day.  He loved it! 

 I think I love just about everything about this picture.  Subjects, topic, lighting, coloring, I just love it!

 Hi Lacey, my name is Glen and I am your new best friend!

 Austin and Amy watching as Glen takes over Amy's phone.  He was one happy boy with a phone.

 A child of the 80's wanna be.  My Cabbage Patch kid, my ribbon hair barrettes, I just need to get some leg warmers for her for when she goes to dance... 

 He has his truck, he has his ball, what else does a child need to be happy?

It has been a good winter.

Glen Turns 2

On December 14th we had the joy to celebrate a little boy who turned 2.  Happy Birthday Glen!

 Grace (not pictured, because she lost interest), Grandma Sue, and I decorated the cupcakes.

Glen got to spend some time with Grandpa Steve.

We made a favorite food of Grace and Glen's in honor of their birthdays...Quesadillas!

Glen needed a bit of help opening his presents, but once he got the hang of it he was a master of ripping paper.

Everyone was watching to see what he might have gotten for his birthday.

Legos!  A favorite around this house.

Oh, this bag looks like fun.  It is bigger than Glen!

I made Glen a stuffed owl since that is his favorite animal right now.

But the Legos won out for which toy would be play with first.

An owl cupcake for the boy who loves owls.

Happy second birthday Glen,

We love you so very, very much!

Grace Turns 4

On December 14th we had the joy to celebrate the birthday of a very special little girl.  Grace turned 4!

20 Birthday Questions

1.  How old are you?  4
2.  Who is your best friend?  Grace H (from preschool)
3.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Candy Land
4.  What is your favorite color?  Blue
5.  What is your favorite food?  Quesadillas 
6.  What do you like to do with your family?  Hug and kiss me
7.  What is your favorite toy?  A ball
8.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  I want to go shopping
9.  What makes you happy?  God
10. What makes you sad?  Mommy and Daddy being mad
11. What is your favorite show to watch? Dinosaur Train
12. What is your favorite book?  Dick and Jane
13. What do you love to learn about? Games
14.What was the best part of your birthday?  Cake
15. Where do you like to go? A party
16. Who was your teacher? Mrs. Lawson and Mrs. Combs
17.What is your favorite treat? Lollipops
18. What do you think about before you fall asleep? Trolley (From Mr. Roger's Neighborhood)
19. If you could meet anyone famous who would it be?  Buddy  (from Dinosaur Train)
20. What was your favorite birthday present? Barbies and their clothes

Grandma Sue and I decorated the cupcakes.  Grace actually decorated about half of them with us, till she lost interest.  We had owls and stars because a favorite video of Grace and Glen's is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star where an owl flies to a star to go on an adventure with it.

 While Grace, Grandma Sue, and I were decorating the cupcakes the guys were having fun on the couch.

 We had a quesadilla bar.  Tortillas and fillings available with many griddles to heat it up on.

 After the food came presents.

 Grace got her first Barbie items.

 And they came from Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue.

 The Stars were for Grace, the Owls were for Glen.

 After a busy and tiring birthday it is nice to just sit back with Uncle Gary and Aunt Donna and play cards.

Happy Birthday Grace!