Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to find everything covered in snow ! The snow was even still coming down. Isaac informed me that it looked like the North Pole. The boys were so excited to finally have enough snow to REALLY play in. (Ian even wore his new snow boots to church today.) It looks like we will definitely have a WHITE CHRISTMAS!

I took this picture while standing just inside our front door. You can't even see the street in front of our house. The snow just goes straight across to the neighbors' houses on the other side.

Here is the front of our house all covered in snow. It really is nice to have some pretty snow instead of just COLD temperatures outside. I just wish I had gotten my grocery shopping done yesterday after all.

We took another picture of the front of our house at about 4:30 this afternoon. As you can see the snow is STILL coming down. Unfortunately we still don't have a snow shovel. After church, Rian borrowed one from our next door neighbor so he could clear our driveway and sidewalks. Isaac and Ian were so excited to put their snow clothes on when we got home from church so they could go outside and 'HELP' daddy clear the snow. We took the blanket off of Isabelle's car seat when we got home from church and thought this was pretty funny. It almost looks like she covered her eyes on purpose so she could sleep better or maybe just get some good beauty sleep.

Isaac's concert

Isaac expressed an interest in singing (I think after watching American Idol with Rian and I) so we signed him up for a local children's choir this fall. A friend of mine does it out of her home and does an AMAZING job. She has such an enthusiasm for music and singing that I don't see how anyone could not enjoy singing with her.

Last night Isaac's choir group had their Christmas concert and all of the kids did such a great job. Rian's parents were able to come over and watch Isaac perform with his choir. Isaac looked so handsome in his choir shirt and black pants and he was so much fun to watch. Isaac is the shortest one there in the front row. He is almost the youngest one in the choir.Isaac has a shy personality and started out pretty nervous up there in front of all of the parents and family in the audience. As the concert went on he warmed up and really enjoy himself. He went from just standing there looking around at the beginning of the first song ....

... to breaking down and showing off some dance moves on the last song. The last song had a very up-beat rhythm and the chorister told the kids to just have fun with it. As you can see in the picture, Isaac really did have fun with it. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't quite do his dancing justice. Everyone I talked to after the concert wanted to know where Isaac got his dance moves.

It was so much fun to watch Isaac sing and see him enjoy himself, too. Rian and I were so proud of Isaac for doing his best.

9 Months Old

It's been a while since I have posted and our little Isabelle has grown up SO much! Yes, she turned 9 months old today and she has learned so many new things.Not only has Izzie mastered crawling the real way (she started 'army crawling' around 6 months) she is pulling herself up everywhere. Of course this means that Izzie can get everywhere and is into a lot of things. Isaac and Ian are starting to realize that their stuff is not safe unless they keep it up high enough out of Izzie's reach. Even though Isabelle is a busy girl these days ,and is keeping me very busy, she is still a very HAPPY girl.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun-filled Halloween night. We started off with Rian taking the boys trick-or-treating around our neighborhood while Izzie and I stayed home to hand out candy.

Then it was off to one of our neighbors' for their annual Halloween party. Isaac was actually more excited to go to the party than he was about trick-or-treating. Rian and I were just fine with that because less trick-or-treating meant they would have less candy for us to deal with. They still ended up with plenty anyways. Our neighbors had their house decked out for the party and we had a great time. Isaac loved all of the games and Ian loved all of the snacks. They did everything from dancing, musical chairs to bobbing for apples. I think Isaac and Ian would have stayed there all night if we let them.

More cousins

My sister, Stephanie, just moved from North Carolina this week. Since Steph lived so far away before I hadn't seen her or her kids in about 2 years. Now they will only be about 3 hours away from us and I am so excited to have a someone from my family live within driving distance. My mom, Steph, and her 3 kids came to visit for a few a days to help pass some of the time while they waited for all of their stuff to arrive at their new house. (McKay is driving the moving truck across the country with his Dad).

Isaac and Ian were pretty excited to see Max and Renee and they got along really well. Ian and Renee are about the same age and it was fun to see them play together. (Logan and Izzie didn't make it in the picture.)

One of the days they were here, we went to a fun park. My kids call it the 'castle park' because the playground is so big and resembles a castle. If it wasn't so HOT we might have stayed a little longer. Afterwards we went to McDonald's to get some cool drinks and snacks.

It was so fun having everyone come visit, even if it was just for a few days. At least we know that we can come visit each other more often now.

Rolling over

Isabelle officially rolled over for the first time today. She has been really close for quite a while, she just couldn't quite get her legs all the way over. She finally did it this morning and, of course, it was while I wasn't watching. I was sitting right by her and got up to put some things away in the kitchen. When I came back she was on her tummy. At least I had the camera handy to get a picture of this momentous occasion.

Cousins

A few of Rian's siblings and their families came to town for a family reunion this next week. Isaac and Ian were really looking forward to seeing their cousins, Sara and Garrett. Sara LOVES babies and wanted to hold Isabelle every chance she got. Ian and Garrett were having fun on the swings.It's always fun to see family and get together. We were only missing Russ, Erica and Alice, and Kayleen.

4 Months Old

I feel like this last month has gone by faster than the others. Isabelle is 4 months old now and I can't emphasize enough that she is such a HAPPY baby. You just look into her eyes and she will smile and get so excited and it's hard not to smile or get excited right back. This last month Izzie has really started playing with and sucking on her hands. It is so cute when she gets her fingers or even her thumb in her mouth. She is also starting to grab on to things better and, of course, whatever she can grab she puts in her mouth. Usually the most convenient and easiest thing for Izzie to grab and suck on is the dress or shirt she is wearing at the time. Izzie is also starting to laugh and be more 'vocal'. I think she has the cutest little voice.

Swim Lessons

Isaac has been doing swim lessons for the past two weeks and he has really enjoyed it. We signed him up for the private lessons so there was only two kids with the instructor. It was just what Isaac needed for his first official swim lesson. (Yeah, I know I am a slacker mom for not signing him up sooner) If I would have know that Isaac would enjoy it so much I would have signed him up for more lessons before they were all full. Isaac's swimming instructor was Heather. She was so patient and good with Isaac. By the end of these 2 weeks Isaac was making some real progress and really trying things on his own. Now, if we can sign up for some more lessons at the high school during this fall and winter, he'll be all set for swimming next year. The class for Ian's age group was full, but he wasn't going to be left out. There was no stopping him from getting in the water, too. We just made him stay close by where Rian and I were sitting watching Isaac's lesson. Ian considered this his own swim lesson. We put Izzie's feet in the water and at first she didn't know what to think. She pulled her feet up right away a couple of times, but then she liked it and was really interested.

4th of July

Here are a few highlights from our 4th of July... First, we went to visit Rian's dad at the hospital, since he was going to be there all night. Isaac and Ian enjoyed seeing grandpa at work. We took a family picture in front of the hospital before we left. (That is a fountain behind Rian's head.)We took some more pictures of the kids with grandma and grangpa. For some reason the kids weren't very cooperative and nobody was looking in the right direction. Then we went back to Rian's parents' house for a barbecue with his mom. Boy, did Isaac and Ian enjoy their hamburgers. Even though the hamburgers were pretty big, they both ate the whole thing. We were all able to squeeze together on the kid's picnic table pretty well. Overall, it was a nice and relaxing day. We finished off the evening with our own private mini-fireworks show in the backyard. (I forgot to get pictures of the fireworks.) The kids and I watched Rian put on the fireworks from inside the tent set up for the boys to camp out in. Isabelle and I slept inside of course.