"us"

Yep, I titled this one "us" because this is just "us", nothing really special here. The first picture is Wendell in his new jammies that he got for Christmas. I'm not sure what he thinks of them but we sure think he's cute (of course). You can't see it from the picture but it has a cape on the back of it. Phil said we should have bought him this for his halloween costume.


This next picture (below) is Wendell watching Phil shoveling snow. This was the most recent snow that occurred last night (maybe 1-2 inches this time). I think this month we've gotten enough snow and ice to last us the rest of the winter season. Normally, Phil enjoys shoveling but he says he's had enough. Hopefully if it stays warm then Wendell and I can go out an play soon. We haven't gone for a sled ride in a few weeks due to his cold/cough and the cold temp's.

And this last picture (below) is us on Christmas morning. We are believers in hanging out in your pajama's on Christmas morning so this is us, unpolished. Please don't zoom in, we seriously didn't even comb our hair for the picture.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Santa

Santa came to our house the other day to visit. We were sitting eating supper and all of a sudden Buster was barking like crazy... we noticed some dust coming out of our fireplace and we could hear some ruckus on the roof. We just sat and looked at each other wondering, could it be?

Ok, just kidding, we don't have a fireplace but Santa did come to our back door and knocked. Either way it was fun. We have survived 3 family Christmas' and a birthday party over the weekend. There were good moments and frustrating moments.. just like any other year.

I hope that each of you can spend some time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas and that is about a precious baby being born over 2,000 years ago. I know personally, Jesus, is a best friend to me. He is always listening to me and helping me get through the tough times in my life, he is my mentor and guides me in life. I am never alone in this world, even when Phil's at work and Wendell's napping. I always have a shoulder to cry on. So of course, in honor of my friend. Thanks Jesus, and Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Wendell's First Birthday Party At Home

We had our first "kid's" birthday party at our house today. I invited moms and kids over for a food and fun. The first activity was to make our own birthday hats, the kids colored on some construction paper and then we made little hats out of them. The second activity on the agenda was playing with homemade play dough. The recipe is pretty easy to make and turned out well. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested:

2 cups baking soda

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

Mix with a fork until smooth. Boil over medium heat until thick. Spoon onto plate or wax paper.

And our third activity was actually just watching a short video of the Veggie Tales. Then we ate homemade pizza, had some quick cupcakes and ice cream before everyone had to leave for naps. I think Wendell's highlights were drinking out of two cups, one in each hand, taking turns between the two. Then playing with the balloons and of course just having his friends here. Surprisingly, he wouldn't eat the cupcake or ice cream.. I guess next time I'll just make him chocolate chip cookies since I know he likes them. Thanks everyone who made it and prayers to those who stayed home sick. The last picture is of the "cake" I made. It's a caterpillar made with cupcakes and candy. Wendell actually turns 2 on Sunday, so I'm sure we'll have more birthday pictures to come!

disappointment

For all us UNI panther fans, we had a big disappointment yesterday. On home field, in the semi-finals, UNI lost at the last few minutes by one point. It was such a disappointment to go through the game with hope and then loose in the end. Phil's Christmas present this year was tickets to the playoff games so I feel kind of bad for him but we'll look forward to next year.

On a good note, we've been decking our house with our Christmas decorations and getting excited to have fun, food, and family time in the next few weeks. Phil has taken a few days off so that will be nice to have him around. We've got our house decorated and Wendell loves the Christmas tree. Now if only our outside Nativity set would stay up, then we'd be set. As you can see below, Wendell has lots of stuffed Christmas animals but his favorite is the green and red moose because it shakes and plays music.

The other exciting upcoming event for us is that Wendell will turn 2 next week so we're having a "kid" birthday party on Wednesday, and a "Grandparents" birthday party on Friday, and then his actual birthday is on Sunday. I will take lots of pictures and keep you posted.

We'll be busy the next few weeks so I apologize now if I don't get any new postings soon. Hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

cute couple? cute boots?

Wendell has lots of "girl friends" that he plays with but pictured above is Kate, the girl that Wendell has hugged and kissed the most, yes I said kissed. I think he has kissed her once, and she kissed him once or twice. They used to hug off and on but this last play date, Wendell tried to wrestle with Kate but I don't think she liked it. As you can see above by the kids' faces, the sledding date, wasn't quite the hit. Next time they want to go sledding, Sarah (Kate's mom) and I have agreed to hire a babysitter for the kids so us moms could have a fun time sledding.

Since sledding didn't go so well, along with playing at the park afterwards, we decided to come back to our place. As some of you know, Wendell has a thing for shoes, but most of you probably don't know that he loves girl shoes. Here is the latest of Wendell borrowing boots from his "girl friend" Kate. I guess he prefers the pink ones over his blue ones??

Future warning to Wendell's girl friends: keep your shoes on or he might borrow them, and usually he doesn't like to give them back.

winter is here

Yes, winter is officially here. We got about 3 inches of snow this past weekend. Every time I looked out the window, I was amazed that it was still snowing.

Here's Wendell getting a fun sled ride this morning. We decided to go out and venture in the snow and this is the first thing we did. He didn't seem too thrilled the first time but when we stopped he was ready to go again about ten minutes later.

This is what it looks like out our front door...

and this is out the back door.