When in doubt, go out!

The weather was much nicer this week, so the kids and I went outside for walks in our neighborhood. Daniel pushed his wagon, and I pushed Rachel; the fresh air was good for all of us. Now when Daniel wants to go outside he grabs his socks and tries to get the baby car seat out of the closet.
These outfits are so cute on her! I am going to be sad when she outgrows her winter stuff.







Daniel was fascinated with the guitar when I recently went to visit my friend Angela. I just wanted to point out that the guitar is taller than Daniel is right now. Maybe we have a musician on our hands.








So today we did our monthly trip up to the house in NH. Everything looks good inside the house, but there is still a lot of snow up there so Kevin got a good workout shoveling. It is a fun little trip as a family, and sometimes I think Daniel remembers it because he always runs to the room that used to be his first. Tomorrow Kevin is helping me out at the nursery at church, and with being there early and the time change, it may be a rough start to the morning. Hope you all are able to find an extra hour to relax this week to replace the one we lost with the time change (except for those living in Hawaii who remain unaffected).

It's still winter

Kevin got an awesome opportunity to go to a Bruin's game this week. Here is a picture of the ice from his seat.

Rachel is looking cool in her shades. Is winter over yet?

Kevin had the kids on Thursday night while I went to a party at a friend's house. Here he is multi-tasking and doing very well with Daniel at his throat.

We got a great deal on a toboggan for Daniel, although I think the jury is still out on how much he likes the snow. Kevin got a workout going up and down a hill with toddler and sled in hand, but I think Kevin was more excited than Daniel to be out there. Here are my little snow bunnies.

So February was short and sweet, and now March is at hand. This is going to be an exciting month with Daniel's birthday right around the corner, and we will have a lot of opportunity to see family this month. Will March come in like a lion and out like a lamb? We shall see.

Rollie Pollie

So Rachel has learned how to roll over! And she is doing it all over the place. Oh no, she is getting mobile, it is time for me to pay a little more attention to where I put her.

Daniel here is trying to teach Rachel how to hold the blocks. He is polite and says "Welcome" after she holds it to his satisfaction.
Here is Daniel working on our budget for this week. This is part of our homework this week in our Financial Peace class.






So it was a good week overall, a four day work week is always a good one. I did happen to hurt myself around the house, I was using my crock pot and trying to get the meat to fall apart, and as I was moving it the broth splashed up at my face. I have a little burned mark, but am OK, and I think it could have been much worse. We bought a down comforter today and got a good deal on it. I got a cover for it and it is a new good look for our bedroom furniture. My curtains downstairs match the cover better, so I may just switch the curtains for a new look. How exciting. Random topic for the blog: I love Cadbury Eggs and we are in the season for them right now. I went to buy one for Kevin and myself (we don't share chocolate very well), and I think they are getting smaller! So if you are out and you see the Cadbury Eggs, please let me know if you think they are smaller than last year or so. It was quite disappointing. Enjoy the last week of February, it went by quite fast!

A week of new things

I just think this picture is funny. Oh the things Daniel does that I have pictures of that he is going to love when he gets older!

Rachel smiling in her pretty outfit after church. She likes it when you sing to her, then the smiles come freely!

This picture impresses on me the fact that kids watch what you do. Daniel watches us clean out our ears with the Q-tips, and when he gets a hold of some, walks around with Q-tips in his ears. And he is so serious about it.

So my little girl is growing up! She ate, and loved, rice cereal today. I forget how sticky that stuff is.

So the kids are growing and doing new things and Kevin got good news with his job this week. His current company matched the offer that the government position was offering, so he is happy they want to keep him and that he is getting a good raise. All our problems are not solved, but it is one step at a time in the right direction. God is good. We have had a good three day weekend with Kevin home and went to the indoor playground today. It is nice to do that with someone else, because I can't keep up with both kids by myself. May you find contentment in your week!

Always the photographer...

I am usually the one taking most of the pictures, but this time I thought I would try to be in some. So I had a photo shoot with Rachel. She is almost 15 lbs right now, and although I think her eyes are getting lighter, they haven't really decided yet.

Here is Daniel striking a pose in a 3T outfit (just in case you were curious what size he is in now). He rounds it out at 32 lbs right now, and I think he is growing even more lately, he is tripping a lot. I also taught him how to put his hand in his pocket, I don't think he has done that before.

I have to appologize if you have tried to get a hold of me lately and I haven't gotten back to you. For some reason my concept of time has been weird and my days seem to turn into weeks. We are attending a financial peace university class, by Dave Ramsey, offered by our church this evening and that will go for the next few weeks on Sunday nights. We do really well working within our budget and with cash, so we will see what this class has to offer. We are also being blessed and going out to dinner on Friday with other couples from our church for Valentines day, the babysitter is all lined up and we are ready to go.

All the little things

Here is Rachel trying to roll over, she is almost there!

I took both kids outside for a walk, and got a chance to use this super warm outift. It was a little too windy, but I count it a victory we got outside.

One of the days that Daniel didn't nap during the afternoon he crashed on the couch watching Thomas the train. I think dinner was peaceful that night.

So all the little things add up into a good blog topic. Kevin got bit by the basketball bug, and now looks forward to playing on Monday nights. It is after the kids go to bed, so I get some quiet time at home. Some things I learned:
- I tried to take both kids out grocery shopping this week and learned that it is still a little too difficult, so I will save the shopping for the weekends or only on desperate occasions.
- I also have been practicing my french horn more often and have been enjoying that.
- The weather was nice enough for me to jog this weekend and that also felt good. I may just sign up for the local Lowell half marathon in the fall, just to have a goal to work for this year.

I am not sure where the time goes, but the weeks have been going fast. Daniel has been thinking that he can pick his sister up and move her to where he want her to go, so I have been on patrol making sure he doesn't. He has been known to roll her over, I guess trying to help out. Other than that the house needs to be kept clean, meals need to be made, and naps need to be had. Hope you all have a good week!

Baby in a Bumbo

I am beginning to feel guilty that I don't have half as much pictures of Rachel as I have of Daniel at the same age. I need to start taking more of her. It is the second baby syndrome!
Rachel likes the Bumbo seat we borrowed from a friend. It is nice to have another place for her to sit in.
All of a sudden this week it seemed like Daniel decided that it was ok if Rachel touched him and he began giving her a whole lot more attention. I could even get them in a few pictures together!
Here is Daniel lining up some paper people. He has quite the sense of order!