Creative, Clever and Cute

My girls like to do my hair, and since I rather enjoy it, we spend much time with cold curling irons and combs on the couch.

David and I have been trying to be good about exercising. It has been so very cold that going outside is not even an option. However, the eliptical on the sunporch provides a great option that we both enjoy, as long as a good book is involved. I read while I do it in the afternoon, and then I bundle up to read to David while he does it at night. We think we're pretty amazing:)

Do we even need to elaborate on the "Cute?"

My little people absolutetly love the table made by Great-Grandpa Hayes. They do everything there. Our little Hayes loves that he can climb up and sit there all by himself. I love watching his bare little toes dangling down from the bench. Thank you for the table, Grandpa. It is a treasure!

Our Charming Lolee

Elyzabeth got to be a part of preschool this week when it was at our house. She did a good job of helping and remembering that she was not in charge.

Lolee found much more enjoyment in eating the marshmallow popcorn than gluing it onto her apricot tree. (I can't say that I blame her:) Our letter this week was P for popcorn and pizza, and lots of other great things that we never got to.

She looked so angelic that I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Though not quite so angelic, I thought her creativity more than made up for it. She has an amazing sense of style! So cute.

Playing with Daddy

The kids have a ball playing and wrassling with their dad. Watching them reminded me so much of when I was little and we used to play with my dad. It brought back some very sweet memories of Dad holding our hands and rubbing his whiskers with them, making us giggle. We rode on Dad's feet and climbed two-at-a-time into the legs of his sweathpants, stretching them out beyond recognition. He laughed at us as if we were really funny. I remember how there were few better sounds than Dad coming through the door at the end of the day, running to him yelling "Daddy!" as loud as we could. It is very fulfilling to hear my little ones doing the same thing. It is sometimes enough to make me quite homesick for simpler times, when I could just let me dad take care of everything, and I knew he would make it all o.k. I am so grateful that I have a dad that still takes care of us when we need him, and that he loves my children and plays with them like he used to with me. I am also very grateful my husband is in every way worthy to be a father, and who does such a fantastic job; I may even say, equal to my own Dad:)

Hayes is 18 months old

Hayes's favorite place to be is in the "tub-tub." It was his first word.

Hayes loves playing with his sisters. Picnics are still indoors for now, since our high temperatures have been around 10 degrees for weeks on end.

Hayes has some big shoes to fill. We sure hope he grows up to be like his dad. However, he loves shoes belonging to anyone and everyone, though maneuvering in them is sometimes challenging.

Sledding at Hayes park

Mom and the kids have gone sledding with our new Christmas sleds a few times. One day school was cancelled because it was -25 degrees, but the sun was shining, so we used the day to head out to the hill. Hayes Park has an awesome sledding hill that is perfect for us.

We bribed Daddy to come with us on Martin Luther King day. That was a nice break for Mom:)

While Grandma was still here Elyzabeth got very brave and let Daddy pull out her loose tooth with a pair of pliers. We can't believe she's old enough to be losing teeth already!

Grandma Teeples Came to Visit

Hayes very quickly took to Grandma. He loved having her around and all the extra attention.

We took Grandma on only one excursion, as it did not stop snowing from the moment her plane landed until her next plane took off. She needed to see where David goes to school. Seeing is believing, you know:)

The Trip Home and Niagra Falls

Hayes loved his cheesy crackers, but her got very tired of his hard seat in the car. It helped when we put an extra blanket under him for additional padding.

A potty stop made for a great photo-op with the Canadian Mountee moose to show that we were actually in Canada.

We made a freezing cold stop to visit Niagra Falls. It's not often one gets the chance to see them in the winter. It was beautiful, though frigid.

Inches of ice covered everything. The girls thought it was so cool. Lolee wanted to throw ice in the river and didn't want to leave. We had to force her back into the car.