February Snow

The taxes are done, the bathrooms are clean, and the laundry is washed. Yes, it is definitely Monday. Time to sneak in a little blog post. :)

No more mild winter! Our first big snow of the season came as soon as we turned the calendar page. No snow days though, since the storm hit on a Friday night. Still, I think it was great timing. It allowed Derek to be at home with us! That doesn't usually happen, so I will take it as a treat.

Kaleb cleared his bedroom window off just as I was taking a picture of it!

I had to go outside for the rest of my pictures. All I can see of Aaron is his nose!

Derek worked hard to clear our driveway. No more basketball for a while!

Braylen is a big help for Derek. He works just as hard as his dad.
Ginger's good at getting in the way.

She's always on the move, which makes it hard for me to get a good picture of her!

We left our backyard untouched...until the next day.

This snowy Saturday was perfect for my boys. They spent about 2 hours outside before lunch, and 4-5 hours outside after lunch! I couldn't even coax them inside for snacks! Kaleb and Aaron built a fort and went sledding on our neighbor's snow drifts. Braylen built another fort with his friend Matthew. Derek spent the afternoon clearing driveways around town, and what did I do? Well, someone had to stay inside and bake cupcakes. :) I know, it's a hard life, but somebody has to live it!

One funny before I go. The other day Aaron asked me, "How old do you have to be to be old?" Before I could even come up with a response he said, "97! So, you're not old Mommy!" Wow, Aaron, you can have two cupcakes for dessert! :)

Around the House

Even though today is Wednesday, it's kinda like Friday for me. With no school for the next 4 days, I'm trying to enjoy my peace and quiet while I can. :) It's cold outside today, so Ginger and I are staying toasty warm inside.

Here are some of our everyday moments around the house. Winter decided to return to our part of the country this month, although you'll see from my pictures that we enjoyed a really warm January.

Kaleb thought Rebekah's cake looked like a big donut
because it had chocolate frosting with sprinkles!

He still likes to play with his football game. :)

Aaron loves to watch football on Sundays. We're sad it's over now!

Ginger stays on her "bed" when Daddy's home. When he's not home, well...

They were very excited to see I put up a new net while they
were in school.

Aaron made this groundhog for Groundhog Day. However, the holiday's name didn't stick with him.
While searching in his backpack he asked me, "Where's my beaver-type animal?"

My boys repeatedly show me that the best toys are ones requiring them to use their imaginations. They frequently use an eclectic mix of toys to create a "game" all their own. We've never played the game "Risk," but the tiny figurines sure do get a lot of use! Walking through our family room right now is a bit of a challenge.

And just in case you're wondering why all of these pictures are of Kaleb and Aaron, well, here's why. If he's not in his room, or at a friend's house, Braylen spends his free time on the couch with his electronic "toy." Sometimes I wonder if we should put away our computers and phones and tablets and ipods for a week. But not in the winter of course! :)

Speaking of winter, next time I will write about our snowstorm. I might even have a few pictures. :)

Our 6th Derby

As I've been blogging for a few years now, I've learned how cyclical our family life really is. (not cynical!) For example, in late January/early February, what do I always write about? The pinewood derby, of course.

The difference this year is...AARON! It's finally his turn! He was 2 and 1/2 years old at Braylen's first pinewood derby. How he turned into a 7 and 1/2 year old in the blink of an eye is beyond me. But here he is, making his car with Daddy.

And here's Kaleb making his car.

Add some RED paint...

And what do we have here? All smiles with Daddy and his first derby car. :)

If you look real close, you'll see Aaron chose to put 3 holes in his car.
His uniform is all decked out with big brother's patches, but the beads are his. :)

Just a little "atta-boy" for my husband...Aaron chose to build the same car Kaleb built last year. And Kaleb chose a design that Braylen's made in years past. Derek could have very easily told them to use the cars we already have, but he didn't do that. He let them build new cars, which meant more work for him. I'm so thankful for my husband.

Kaleb and his bright orange car!

We have lots of memories wrapped up in these pinewood derby races. Some have been re-scheduled due to bad weather. Grandma and Grandpa usually come, along with my BIL and SIL and nieces. (Now Pam, I suppose you and Brandon are excused from attending 2008's derby...) This year we had great weather, and all of our in-town family came to watch.

Aaron salutes the flag during the pledge of allegiance.

Derek had the brilliant idea to bring police tape to the derby this year.
 It really helped keep kids off the track during the races.

Our cars never win first place, but to me what really matters are the memories that come from building the cars together with Daddy. And we rewarded the boys for their good sportsmanship with a trip to Dairy Queen. :) I was especially proud of Kaleb this year. For some reason, his car came in last place in all 3 of his races. He never complained, and he even congratulated the other boys. I want to be like Kaleb when I grow up. :) Tee hee!

I like to joke with people that the pinewood derby is the reason we enroll in Cub Scouts year after year. I wonder if anyone's picked up on the fact that I'm not joking! This really is the reason we're in Scouts!

Deer Season, Part 2

Over the years, I've learned there are two parts to my husband's hunting hobby: the hunt and making use of what was hunted. Early on, Derek took his deer to a meat locker for processing. He quickly learned how pricey that is, and our order wasn't even correct. Now he processes his own deer meat...with the help of his parents and our friend Shawn. For one weekend in late January, we had quite the party going on in our garage. I mean, in our meat locker. :)

They processed 250 pounds of meat!

Braylen was right in the middle of it all. :)

Even Derek's mom helped out. Did I mention they worked for 14 hours?

After the long Saturday in the garage, they put my kitchen to good use on Sunday. I continued to rotate sausages through the oven all day on Monday too! We now have more summer sausages, snack sticks, and jerky than we know what to do with! You might notice in these next pictures that Kaleb helped himself to samples of jerky...just to make sure it was good. :)

Yesterday I ran my oven through the self-cleaning cycle. Now we have full freezers, food to share with others, and a clean oven! Kaleb is most excited about the snack sticks. Since he loves breakfast and not much else, it's a challenge to find things to pack in his lunch that I know he'll eat. Ever since Derek made these snack sticks, I've been putting them in Kaleb's lunch. The other day he said, "I'm glad I don't have to eat sandwiches anymore!"

Even though it's a lot of work, I'm glad my husband enjoys his hobby. :) From the thrill of the hunt to the filling of our freezers...success!