guess who made this giant star.

We have had a fun week leading up to the big day. Liv has been doing Ice Skating camp and at the end of the day (noon) Linc and I go pick her up. The fun part about this is the giant GIANT

bounce house area they have set up at the rink. So linc and liv sneak in a little extra bounce time for 30 minutes and then we go home. It is so funny to see little lincoln trying to navigate his way through these big air filled structures..with his freezing red nose and big coat. Oh how he loved it.

We had some friends over the other night to play. It was fun and the kids were up LATE. but the next morning there was lincoln up before the sun at 7am. He is a slave to his bladder.

So we spent some time making Christmas cookies, and painting. Today's fun Christmas activity. Sleep in and use our new gift from jonny...netflix. Olivia is loving these Christmas cartoons from the 40's. Only one more window to open on the advent calendar.

lincoln: "when i grow up will i be a man?"

me: yes...what will you do when you are a man?

"i will fix the pool. and i'll have really
long feet so i can drive the lawnmower"

here is the beginning of our little ice rink.
more pictures to come.

Today we got some snow. After church we played in it for a couple hours...making snow angels

and having snow fights, and pulling the kids around behind the lawn tractor. fun stuff.

sweet ian eating apples




sleepy boy

I took the kids to ride on a train with santa on saturday morning. The train depot was really old and messy and awesome. They had these amazing giant old trains the kids could walk around in

and see all the details. We waited for quite a bit and when it was finally our turn we got on the little red caboose. The kids rode on these high up seats. my favorite tidbit of the day was a quote from lincoln..."wow, santas NOT a robot" Its true you know.

i adore this bed. made of pallets! look how it can just be rolled around wherever. when the boys move into their own room together i am absolutely making 2 of these beauties.

so we had the kids pictures taken last week...they turned out so good. we went to the woods to take them and it was very fall-ish (my favorite). i will post a couple when i get the cd back. I was down at the co-op yesterday and it was bustling with turkey buyers. The shipment from the farm had come in and we were all there excited to get our freshly murdered birds. ladies were comparing what weight we ended up with. thank goodness i made it really clear i needed the runt of the litter....because most were 18-25 pounds. my cute little guy is only 14 lbs, and hanging out in my fridge. also...he has a neck, thats just gross. happy turkey day eve.

One of the many things i love about lincoln is how he needs his lunch made just so.

linc needs choices. he cannot be given just a sandwich or a soup. he will say

"hey! this isn't lunch." i always have to give him a min. of 4 things on his plate. lunch is

definitely his biggest meal of the day, so i use it as an opportunity to load him up with

good stuff...and hey all i have to do is cut it up small, load it on a plate with its friends and

it always disappears.

today: carrots, cheese, turkey, apples, cereal, prunes.

we had a lovely Halloween. trick or treating was really fun for the kids this year. they got to try out the classic, ring the doorbell...wait for someone to come technique. they took turns ringing the bell and were so sweet and excited about it all. who wouldn't be. its Halloween.
we had dentist appointments yesterday. they were almost just as excited about that.

we were out by the fire last night cooking dinner....
liv says "why is the smoke following me?"
linc responds, so excited that he has an answer for her
" i know all about smoke...smoke follows beautiful. I knowed that from grandpa"

lincoln, ian and i went on a tiny road trip up to grabill last week. Our destination was the general store in the downtown there. they have really cute things there. tons of old junk.. piled high, just the way i like it. Then we stopped at the country sales. It was an interesting store, mostly all bulk style. they did have good peanut butter, great rice selection for pretty cheap, and also the popcorn and spices were good. ...but most of the stuff there had a pretty long list of ingredients. It would be a great place to do some food storage stock up though. Anyway the stores were fun, but the absolute best part was the drive. Oh man...the trees were amazing! The road was covered in leaves and we were crunching thought them. The day was beautiful so tons of little Amish carts and horses were out... and the trees...did i mention that. i love you fall. please dont leave.

Our October camping trip was a fun, cold time this year. I love camping...but having a 4 month old baby to take camping in the cold made me a bit nervous. He did so great though. He slept through the night every night in his little tent, inside our big tent. The first night we let liv sleep in with my aunt. I guess she was up all hours talking about how she couldn't sleep 'cause she really wanted to go fishing and find some frogs. Well she was able to do all that and more. I love camping, out in the trees and quiet night. There are not many things i love more than being cuddled up in a tent at night with my sweet jonny.
The weekend we always go, there is a big yard sale festival in the nearby little town. More yard sales than you can ever imagine. I was able to find exactly what i needed to finish a painting I have been working on, and jonny found some old tools. my aunt got this amazing map of Europe that had been from an old school.

Jonny thought it would be real fun if he bought the most powerful engines they make for olivias rocket. We lost the rocket. It must have burned up in the atmosphere.

This summer we saw a u.f.o. ....pretty sure anyway. Lincoln ran into the house to tell me "mom mom we just saw a USA!!!" that is exciting. We have been looking at the moon a lot, it is so amazing the detail you can see. The kids get pretty excited about the nights when we can get the telescope out. Here is jonny and the kids waiting for it to get darker. Also Linc got a pretty sweet spider man suit at a yard sale. check out those muscles.

olivia and virginia would each like a pair of these shoes. Liv probably wants hers in glitter.

We have this book called polka bats & octopus slacks. 14 stories by calef brown. It is really wonderful children's poetry book. Olivia & Lincoln (who is only 3) have memorized almost every poem in the book. Such a great book and a good way to help kids appreciate poetry and rhythm. Lincoln has added several words into his vocabulary...like polka turds and jury duty. Also it has fabulous illustrations...which is the icing on the cake. Anyway Linc must read it on a daily basis. I hope he writes another one soon.

I am quite sorry for the lack of posts. We have been having way to busy of a life to worry with the computer. But I am back! and will keep you all up to date. Our new baby Ian is doing great he is 2 months old and fat and happy. The kids just love him. We have had a good summer and are adjusting to our new home...but I am missing my old house very much. We are going to be celebrating liv's 7th birthday next week. seven. wow. The past few days liv has been working on a model car she got for christmas. She did a great job with minimal help..she is really proud of it.

Olivia made Lincoln a new doll.

its a sock.

I bought a car seat for the baby today. It is orange, and lovely. This little guy will make it so we can fit 3 car seats in the back of our vibe, or jonnys Volvo.... without having to turn into some minivan driving kind of people. yippie.

At school this week Olivia is "the queen for the week" which she is excited about. It means she gets to sit in a special chair, have a letter that I write about her read to the class, and she gets a friendship book from her classmates. Also she gets to bring in her favorite snack tomorrow. So I am currently making 22 brownies for her to take. I feel like if she is the queen....maybe she shouldn't have to bring her own brownies. :)
For the past little while Lincoln has insisted on doing EVERYTHING all by himself. Work the DVD player, answer the phone, get drinks, etc. He wants to get his clothes off on his own and get dressed on his own. It is very cute to watch this tiny little body struggling to put on a shirt. I am learning how to be patient, because everything takes a very long time to complete. I will sneak in some help when he doesn't notice...like just having him pull the button while i push it through the button hole. Or pulling the back of his underwear up over his buns...he always seems to miss that step. He has been talking to the (unborn) baby a lot he seems to think that if he speaks into my bellybutton that is probably the most direct route. He says " hello baby...will you play trains with me". so cute.

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okay folks, i guess its official. We are moving on. Here is our house...It is sad because I love my home, but also exciting to have a new adventure.
It has been crazy around here with the snow. Olivia had monday, tuesday, & wednesday off
and went back just in time for Valentines Day parties! woo hoo. We are headed to Albany to pick up jonnys car this weekend, and that will be interesting....and fun.

We made this wonderfully strange Oobleck...I think that's how you spell it. Anyway Olivia made it in school and just had to try it some more at home.

1 Cup cornstarch + 3/4 Cup water = wonderfully messy fun.

Here is Lincoln playing in his and Olivias room. They graduated to bunk beds to make way for the new baby. Lincoln has been sick a lot this winter with random yuckies. He has has a fever the past 24 hours. I am sure sick of winter...lets hope that groundhog phil brings spring early.